Page 22 of A Cowboy Of Her Own

Priscilla blew out a nervous breath and nudged her horse on. After a few feet, she glanced back over her shoulder to see the elk grazing and not paying attention to anything other than eating. Thank God, it hadn’t been a bear.

“What kind of bears are up here?” When he didn’t answer, she looked over to him. She could tell he didn’t want to answer. “Roark?”

He looked at her and she saw him huff. “Grizzly and black bear.”

“What?” she exclaimed.Oh, dear God! Grizzly.She felt sick.

“You’ll be fine. I have my rifle and pistol, if we need them. I’ve camped up here many times and never came across either.”

“First time for everything,” she muttered.

An hour later, Roark signaled for them to stop and then dismounted, but she stayed on her horse.

“Are you able to get down all right or do you need my help?”

“I’m afraid to move. My ass hurts so much.”

Roark laughed as he walked to her. “Come on. I’ll help you.”

Taking a deep breath, she swung her leg over and tried to step down but it hurt to move. When her leg hit the ground, it didn’t want to hold her. Roark’s arms came around her waist to steady her but the extra support didn’t help, she tumbled backwards and both of them fell to the ground. Luckily, for her anyway, she fell backward on top of him. She heard the wind whoosh out of him when they hit the hard ground. Snowy jumped around them in excitement, barking.

“Are you all right?” she asked him, trying desperately not to laugh.

“You’re heavier than you look,” he wheezed out.

She elbowed him and when he grunted, she smiled.

“That is not something you say to a woman.”

Roark chuckled. “Hell, I know. It just slipped out. You’re in great shape. It’s just when you fell against me, you were dead weight.”

“Good save.” She laughed.

“Now, could you get off me? I’d like to see if you damaged anything.”

She wiggled her butt against him. “It doesn’t feel like it.”

“Keep that up and we’ll just stay right here, sprawled on the ground… out in the open… where bears can see us.” She scrambled off him at the thought of bears coming near, and heard him laugh.

“Ouch! That hurt.” She brushed off the dust taking the opportunity to rub her butt.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have rubbed your sore ass against my crotch.” Roark got himself up brushing off excess dust.

Priscilla laughed. “You said you’d massage it.”

Roark stared at her for a long moment then shook his head. “Help me unpack then I’ll set the tent up. After that, I’ll take you to the pond.”

She nodded and helped him unpack the horse and set things up. However, when he set the tent up, she only watched because she knew it was better not to try to help at something she had no idea how to do. It was a small tent—perhaps only big enough for two people, if that. Close quarters for sure.

Priscilla sat on a log and watched the man work. When he shrugged out of his shirt, she almost slid off the log. Her legs went soft, and her insides fluttered like a kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken up residence there. The sweat covering him made his chest gleam. She watched him wipe his chest with his shirt then toss it to the ground before continuing to work on setting up the tent. When he crawled inside it, she was tempted to follow him in but when she stood to do so, he came back out. When Roark glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow, she quickly sat back down on the log.

“Were you going somewhere?” he asked her glancing around.

“Uh, no, I just wondered if you needed help,” she muttered.

“Really? When I'm almost finished, you decide to see if I need help?” He grinned at her and the reaction made those butterflies fly around her insides again.

Standing, she moved to the tent and rubbed the material between her fingers.

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