Page 8 of Reaching Little Robyn

“Well, then I don’t suppose you mind if we have company for lunch,” Hayleigh said.

“What?” Robyn looked up to see what had to be the world’s sexiest cowboy looking down at her.

“Mind if I join you?”

The question had Robyn inhaling sharply which had the dino head sliding down her throat and cutting off her air. Panic set in when she realized she couldn’t breathe.

“Whoa!”

The word was accompanied by the noise of a tray dropping as the cowboy released it and rushed around the table. Robyn was jerked out of her chair and had a pair of arms wrapped around her chest.

With a sharp upward press just beneath her breasts, Robyn watched as a half-eaten dino nugget flew from her mouth to land directly on top of his bowl of mac ’n’ cheese which had somehow survived its drop to the table’s surface.

“Crap on a cracker!”

Hayleigh’s signature phrase had Robyn moaning as the arms around her turned her effortlessly and then lifted her into the air until she was eye-level with her rescuer.

“Kill me now,” she managed, only to cringe at the sound of the croak in her voice.

“Now, that would be a shame since it seems I just saved you, don’t you think?”

Robyn truly didn’t know what to think, but managed to nod, her blood heating when the man’s lips curled in a panty-dampening grin.

“Are you okay, little one?”

She nodded again which only made his grin grow wider.

“You sure?”

A third nod had Robyn’s face burning. She must look like one of those bobble-head dolls fans were given at baseball games. Making a determined effort, she took in a breath, praying her words wouldn’t come out covered in gravel. “I’m sure. You can put me down if you want to.”

“What if I don’t want to?” the cowboy asked.

His question had far more than her face burning. The six words had her core clenching and her heart beating far faster than it had when she’d been choking. “Then don’t.”

Evidently satisfied with that answer, the cowboy smiled and sat in the chair he’d pulled her out of, never letting her go, simply rearranging her so she was sitting on his lap. Her mind filed away the fact that the arms holding her were clad in a blue shirt with the prettiest mother-of-pearl buttons down its front. She had a fleeting moment to wonder what the chest beneath the denim would look like if she ripped the shirt open before her attention was diverted as the cowboy lifted her glass of water to her lips, holding it in place as he ordered, “Sip.”

Without hesitation, she obeyed. It wasn’t until she’d taken two more sips and he lowered the glass to the table that she realized this wasn’t a fantasy. Of course the “Wow!” chorused in stereo by Hayleigh and Sadie might have had something to do with her snapping back to full consciousness.

“Now, let’s not go and spoil a great thing,” the cowboy said when she began to push up off his lap.

“But I-I don’t even know you!”

Maybe not but your body sure doesn’t care does it?

Robyn attempted to ignore that stupid little inner voice. What did it know anyway?

“My name is Winston, but my friends call me Rooster.”

Rooster?

It turned out nightmares could actually play out in daylight hours as Robyn’s senses came back full force. With a shove that had the chair tipping backward, Robyn was up and off the man’s lap and was halfway across the cafeteria when he yelled at her to wait.

Not only no, but hell no!

This time she was in complete agreement with the voice. Seemed like it truly was the voice of reason when her body was… well, was just stupidly hormonal. Putting on speed, she ran out the door and across the lobby, ignoring the cries of Sadie and Hayleigh to wait. She even ignored the very man who’d offeredher a new start. She’d apologize to Master Derek later, but right now, she had to get away.

“Who needs mac ’n’ cheese anyway?” she muttered half an hour later as she cracked an egg into the skillet. “And dino nuggets are far too dangerous to eat!” She added another egg, watching the grease from the bacon she’d just fried sputter and pop as the yolk hit the hot surface. Robyn turned to press the lever to lower the bread into the depths of the toaster for the second time. When she had toast, she wanted actual toast and not bread that had been barely warmed.

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