Page 28 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

She trailed her fingers along the wooden doors that lined each stall and hummed to herself. The fact that Ash could cause this amount of upset probably meant she needed help—that, or she needed to find a guy who could distract her from him.

The problem was, there wasn’t anyone who could compare.

He knew her more than she’d allowed any guy to get to know her. And she felt she knew him, too. He was a good guy. Someone who could be sweet and loving but firm at the same time. He’d helped her realize how silly it was to be upset over a guy who didn’t deserve her time. To her, Ash was perfect, and no one would ever compare.

Charlie made it to the end of the row of stalls and reached inside to her horse. Rose had been a scrawny horse they’d rescued from a farm that had gone under. At times she was skittish, but not when it came to Charlie. She stepped forward, and Charlie rubbed her nose.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Ash’s low growl startled Charlie and she jumped, spinning to face him.

“What?” she asked, breathlessly.

He took a step toward her, his eyes flashing dangerously. “You’re toying with me,” he accused. “You’re baiting me.”

Her eyes narrowed. Good. She’d been successful. “I’m not doing anything,” she said, her chin lifting. “Nothing that you yourself haven’t already done.”

Ash’s jaw tightened and he took a step back, running a hand through his hair. “I knew I shouldn’t have come today. It was too soon.”

She frowned. “Too soon for what?”

He ignored her, and that familiar tension rose inside her, burning with irritation. She’d been dealing with keeping her own feelings at bay—feelings she had for him—because he was off limits. There were too many reasons he was out of reach, and each passing day only made her want him more.

Charlie balled her hands, her teeth clenched. “You’re the one toying withme.”

His gaze cut to her so sharply she could almost imagine it slicing right through her. Once again, he stepped closer, this time his body nearly touching hers. “Toyingwith you? Is that what you think it is?” There was not a degree of teasing in his tone. It was low, dark and guttural. The sound of it felt so familiar—like her own desires that had been squashed and suppressed and yet wanted to be set free.

She blinked, and her hands pressed against the wall of the barn. She wasn’t scared of him. Not in the slightest. She was more afraid of what she might do if she lost control and just pulled him in for a kiss like he’d done to her all those years ago.

He hooked his finger under her chin, his eyes searching hers, the frustration easing and turning into something softer. “You don’t see it, do you? You can’t begin to understand the way you affect me.”

Charlie swallowed hard, her pulse thrumming through her body—her chest, her neck, right down to making her legs weak.

Ash’s scowl returned. “And the worst part is that it will never work between us. I will never be able to make you mine.” He said the words more to himself than to anyone else. They were quiet, a breath of a whisper, but she heard them. And they tore something free from inside her.

She wanted that, too. The desire to give her heart to him was so strong that she opened her mouth and tried to tell him as much. But the reality set in too quickly like claws digging into the warm flesh of that erratic beating heart. Charlie brought her hands around and pushed him back a step. “You have a girlfriend,” she spat. “You shouldn’t be saying stuff like that to me. Make up your own confused mind and figure out what you want, because I assure you,shewouldn’t want to know that this is how you feel.” The nameless, faceless woman who wasprobably better for him than Charlie would ever be seemed to choke her, making it difficult to say her next words. “Blaming others for what you can’t have isn’t going to work.”

Charlie shoved past him, her shoulder bumping him to the side as she stormed out of the barn. She got a few yards from the door before she bumped into a hard body. Daniel grunted, and she glanced up into his surprised face.

“Charlie? What’s the?—”

“I’m fine,” Charlie muttered. There was no way on earth she was going to out Ash. As much as she knew she needed to take a break from spending time with him, she knew her brothers needed his friendship. They were a close-knit group. They leaned on each other—even if it was for companionship. Daniel, above all the others, needed that friendship most. With all her brothers married or engaged, Daniel was left as the odd man out. She wouldn’t dream of taking away the one guy he was actually hanging out with.

At Daniel’s incredulous look, she repeated. “I’m fine, Daniel. I just have a headache. I’m going inside. See you at dinner.”

“Yeah,” he said. “See you at dinner.”

13

Ash

Ash had nearly lost control.

Again.

He put a hand on his lower back as he paced a few steps and shook his head.

Who was he kidding? He’d definitely lost it. He’d showed his hand. He’d tempted fate first at the family picnic, then again here. There was so much wrong with how everything was playing out.

Charlie was right about one thing. He needed to figure out what he wanted and what he was willing to do in order to get it.

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