Page 13 of His Cowboy Heart

I had to look away as the man’s long, slim fingers skimmed over the horse’s neck. I was in the process of examining the bridle for any leather that might have been starting to wear thin when I heard my unwanted visitor say, “The things I could do to you.”

My dick instantly responded to the husky declaration before my brain processed the fact that he wasn’t talking about me. He was stroking my horse’s long mane. It took him a moment to recognize the fact that I hadn’t made a sound or even moved, so my rampant imagination took advantage of the momentary peace and drew me a mental picture of those same long fingers sliding over my skin before eventually settling along my jaw. His fingers would caress my beard which wasn’t overly long but more than just scruff. His eyes would be on mine the whole time so he could see what his touch did to me.

Too intimate.

The silent warning returned my focus to the present, only to find that now I was the one being stared at. “I was talking about his hair,” the young man said nervously. “I was just thinking about all the colors that you could dye some of the strands. I mean, just for fun or something.”

“Well, I guess as long as you don’t use colors that remind you of some special…friendyou left behind, it would be fine. He’d be the laughingstock of all the other horses on the ranch, but he knows he’s ten times as hot as any horse here, so…” I left the sentence unfinished and shifted my body so the outside wall of the stall hid my burgeoning erection. Who would have guessed that a discussion about giving my horse colorful highlights did absolutely nothing to tame my lust?

“No, that guy, the one with the ginger… it was a long time ago and it didn’t mean?—”

“None of my business,” I interjected.

My indifference should have done the trick, but the awkward silence returned. “Did you need something else?” I asked as I struggled to keep my growing need tethered. I needed the guy out of sight even if it wouldn’t get him out of mind.

“Sorry about the Hot Cowboy thing… I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s not like I really meant it. I mean, yeah, you’re hot but in a straight guy kind of way,” the young man blabbered as I began putting the bridle on my horse. “Not that straight guys call each other hot or anything… I mean, maybe they do, I don’t know. I wasn’t like… trying to hit on you or something. And that kiss, you know, in the alley. I know I kissed you back and I’m sorry for that because I didn’t realize you thought I was a girl… woman. It was just… it was a highly charged moment, but it didn’t mean anything. I never even thanked you for what you did… not the kiss… the guys. I think it was really brave helping someone like that, even if you thought it was a woman you were helping.”

The young man abruptly stopped and shook his head. “Fuck, I’m not saying this right. I won’t tell anyone about it, okay? And I won’t try to hit on you or anything. It was just a stupid nickname; it didn’t mean anything. The way I was dressed that day—it’s complicated but that’s not the point.”

The poor guy was so on edge that Lovey began to squawk in his hold and even my horse turned his head to nudge his arm.

“And what happened with the laundry. I was being a dick. It was just one of those things but instead of thanking you for trying to keep me from getting hurt, I got all defensive and stupid and embarrassed. I know none of it meant?—"

I was on him before he could even finish the sentence. I caught his mouth with mine and swallowed down the rest of his words. He squeaked in surprise but within seconds he was kissing me back. His back was pressed up against my horse’s neck and he still had the chicken in his arms, so that made it a little easier to break off the kiss. “If you say it didn’t mean anything one more time?—”

“Won’t,” he blurted and then he was kissing me.

I’d only kissed him to shut him up so he wouldn’t keep marginalizing that first kiss, but I forgot about all of that when he opened his mouth under mine, inviting me in. At some point, he’d either released the chicken or she’d slithered out of his hold because his arms went around my neck. He was desperately trying to pull me down as he stood on his tiptoes.

I had to stop it. I just had to because nothing good could come of this. If I was certain he knew it would only be about sex, I wouldn’t have hesitated to take him right there in a shadowy corner of my horse’s stall. “What’s your name?” I growled against his lips when we were forced to come up for air.

“Jules,” he responded and then he was slashing his mouth over mine again. At some point, my horse had moved or maybe I’d moved him, I wasn’t sure. Either way, it allowed me to back Jules up until his back hit the wooden wall behind him.

“Jules,” I breathed against his mouth.

It fit him perfectly.

Just like he fit me perfectly.

When I grabbed his ass and lifted him so we’d be eye level, Jules automatically wrapped his legs around my waist. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, beating exponentially faster with every touch, every press of his lips against mine. It was getting harder and harder to catch my breath and before I realized it, the panic that I’d thought I’d left behind me returned with a vengeance. I practically dropped Jules, so he was forced to hold his own weight. I tore my mouth from his and backed up several paces. I bent at the waist and rested my palms on my knees.

“Flynn?”

“Don’t!” I snapped when I sensed Jules reaching for me. “Don’t touch me,” I warned. I backed away from him until my back hit the opposite side of the wall. It wasn’t until a fuzzy nose bumped my face that my senses began to return to me. I didn’t even remember how I’d come to be sitting on the floor of the stall or how long I’d been there. Jules was long gone.

What the fuck had happened? I hadn’t experienced a bout ofthatkind of panic for more than a year. Why now?

I looked up at the wall opposite me. The one I’d been ready to fuck Jules against.

I shook my head in disbelief.

Well, you wanted to keep your distance from him.

“Mission accomplished,” I whispered against my horse’s cheek. “Mission fucking accomplished.”

ChapterSix

JULES

---