Page 14 of The First Day of Breeding Season
Ace is one of our smaller geldings, and a good pick.
Nodding to them, I take off to find her, trying to ignore the way my pulse jumps at the promise of another encounter.
I hear her laughter before I see her. “You’re eager, aren’t you? Me, too. I’ve never slept under the stars before. You might need to keep me warm.”
An intense, possessive energy drives my legs faster, all the way to the end of the barn—where I find her flirting with a horse.
Not Theo, not Benji.
Just Ace.
“Bet you’ve never slept with a nerdy college student before,” she murmurs as she adjusts the straps.
Fuck me.I clear my throat.
She whirls around. “Drew!”
She traded her cut-off shorts for a faded pair of blue jeans that are just as kind to her generous hips, and in place of the naughty t-shirt is another CSCC pun shirt, a long-sleeved tee that readsBorn To Ride, Forced To Go To CSCCwith a saddled up horse behind the text. It almost makes her look like any other ranch hand.
Almost.
But I see her, and the effort she’s making, so I focus on the horse. “Ace is a good pick for you.”
She smiles almost shyly. “He seems like a good boy.”
I step closer. “You can’t sleep with him for warmth, though.”
A startled laugh rips out of her. “Oh, I know…” Her words trail off as I come to a stop way too close to her. “I know,” she repeats, now whispering. “That was a joke.”
“I thought you were flirting with one of the ranch hands,” I admit.
She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t. I won’t. I’m here to be a complete professional.”
Real shame, that. For the first time in my adult life, I’ve never wanted to find a balance between the personal and professional so fucking badly. “You need a boost up, then?”
“Oh.” She turns and eyes the stirrup. Ace isn’t that tall, and as she promised, she’s an experienced horsewoman. “I’ve got it.”
I stay close, just in case. And when she gets her foot in the stirrup, my hands go out,just in case. She launches herself into the air, and her hip brushes against my palm. Reflexively, I curl my fingers.
The warm weight of her ass in my hands is enough to make my cock spurt seed in my jeans, even though I just took myself in hand in the shower.
She settles in the saddle, and it takes everything in me not to squeeze her thigh before I step back. “All right, then. Take him out to the paddock.”
I follow her outside.
I’ve never wanted to stick this close to any other ranch hand, to be sure that I’m the first one to praise someone for riding well. Never wanted to catch any other worker around the waist and help them down, making sure they brush against the front of my body so they can feel how much I want them.
My head is spinning as I join Raul and my brother, who have both turned to watch Brynn put Ace through his paces in the paddock.
Trick nods at her. “She looks pretty comfortable.”
She sure does. And it’s easy to get lost in watching her.
“What do you think of Raul’s plan?” Trick shoves my shoulder. “Earth to Drew.”
“What do I think about what?” My gaze doesn’t leave the paddock.
“Keeping more of our heifers this fall. We could probably handle another thirty head?”
