Page 87 of Rope Me In

I groan. He’s way too excited about eating food then going to check cows for pregnancy. “I thought you were joking about that earlier.”

His eyes shine with laughter, and he shakes his head. “Ranch life isn’t glamorous, darlin’. Sometimes you gotta stick your arm up a cow’s ass.”

Just as Kade finishes, Art walks by with a wheelbarrow full of muck. “You’re a kinky motherfucker, Kade,” he says, shaking his head with a grin.

“You have no idea, Arturo.” Kade winks and turns back to me. The heated look in his eyes now dark with lust has meforgetting about ranch life and clenching my thighs together. Only Kade could make me do a one-eighty like that.

It also has to do with the fact that we haven’t had more than make-out sessions and heavy petting since that night in the truck. Not only has ranch work increased significantly, but Jake also asked us to pick up extra shifts at Night Hawk. A social media post went viral, and we’ve been slammed with wedding parties.

It didn’t help that Gavin took a break from his shifts to focus on the dude ranch as well. Kade said he expected that news at some point, but I could see it shocked him. Not because of the reasoning, but because he learned it from Jake and not from Gavin himself. Kade divulged to me that it hurt his feelings to find out that way, but when I suggested he speak with his brother, he said he wasn’t ready to go there yet, that he was still thinking about everything we talked about at Devil’s Rock.

I think a part of him also wants Gavin to be the one to break the ice. At this point, it feels like a vicious cycle that someone needs to break, but I’m letting Kade work through his feelings because I know he’s been pushed enough.

I just hope he talks to Gavin soon so it’s at least less awkward between them. When they see each other, they keep things strictly business, but I can tell that they both want to say something and are too prideful to do it.

“Presley.” My name brings my attention back to him. “What are you thinking about?”

I brush my more serious reflections away, my eyes moving to his mouth. My lips part, and when I meet his gaze again, his pupils are darker, and the way he’s focused on me makes goosebumps pebble across my skin despite the warmth of the day. Now I’m only thinking about what his lips feel like on mine and how his hands feel on my body.

“Kade,” I say, the arousal evident in my voice.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” he repeats. His tone is commanding and heady this time, but before I can answer, thedistant sound of Art and the other ranch hands talking outside reaches my ears.

While Kade and I haven’t exactly hidden our attraction to each other, we haven’t publicly made any sort of declaration regarding our budding relationship or kissed in front of anyone. Jake is really the only one who knows exactly how much time Kade and I spend together outside of work. But the rumor mill has spun their theories since the night Derek came to Night Hawk, enough that Blake and June tried to ask me if there was something going on between us one morning over breakfast, but I played coy, not wanting to dive into it with anyone when Kade and I haven’t even talked about it. That fact would have given me anxiety in the past, but after going through my last toxic relationship, it’s nice to just take things day by day and spend time together when we can.

Kade encroaches on my space, backing me up until I’m against the stall wall. “Lemon,” he whispers. “Do I need to take you over my knee?”

I suck in a sharp breath and study the planes of his square features. My nipples go hard against my bra at the suggestion. “I was thinking about you,” I finally say. “About us and how much I miss you.”

He grins, knowing exactly what I mean. “Then what do you say we spend our lunch break getting a little up close and personal.”

I lick my lips as he takes the pitchfork from my hand, propping it next to us before pressing his warm body into mine. It reminds me that we’ve been working all morning. “We’re all sweaty—and anyone could walk by.”

He waggles his eyebrows. “Even better.”

I swat his chest playfully, but I’ll admit a part of me loves that he doesn’t care about showing public affection for me or that I probably look like I rolled around in shavings—two things my ex would have balked at.

Kade tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “I know it’s been hectic lately.” He nips at my lips. “So let’s be a little reckless, darlin’. Let me kiss you”—his lips move to my ear—“touch you a little.”

I stifle a groan from his hot breath on my ear and grind my hips into his.

“Presley.” He runs his hand up my neck, thumb pressing into my pulse. “Can I kiss you?”

I look into his eyes and think how the old Presley would’ve never considered making out with a guy in a horse stall with people nearby. But Kade has made me more than just happy—he’s turned me into a woman I hardly recognize. But I can’t say I don’t love it.

“Yes.”

Not wasting another moment, he grips the back of my skull and crushes my lips to his. I open my mouth with practiced ease, letting him lick inside so our tongues tangle together. I moan into the feeling and taste of him, the sounds of the barn and my worries about our coworkers fading to the back of my mind.

He keeps one hand in my hair then runs the other down my side and over my stomach, still being careful not to press too hard and make me uncomfortable. The thoughtfulness he shows, even in our heated moments, has me wanting to tear his clothes off. That image has been running through my mind more and more each day.

When my nails dig into his biceps, he groans into my mouth and presses his cock against me, moving his hand to my thigh so he can hitch my leg up over his hip. The new angle has my sex right over his length, pressing the seam of my jeans into my clit. I let out a cry into his mouth, thankful it mutes the noise.

Just as I tug the damp strands of sandy-blond hair at the base of his neck, a throat clears.

I let out a squeak of surprise and pull back. Kade doesn’t jump away quickly like I would’ve if I was in his position.Instead, he releases my leg and kisses me on the nose before turning to tip his hat to his brother.

“Gavin.”

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