Page 34 of Charming the Cowboy
“I know you’re going to do it. I really do.”
Just then, the first group came up, a family of five, and he got out of the wagon, and helped the kids get on board, and then even gave the adults a hand up, and she was instantly envious, because they got to touch his hand, and she had been stubborn and feral, and hadn’t allowed it.
But she didn’t have time to stew about it, because more and more groups arrived until the wagon was full, and it was time to take the first route around town.
She took a deep breath and began her lightly spooky story, which incorporated some of the town history, as she went into the different ghosts that her little ghost met on his way around.
The kids were charmed, and not scared, which was definitely the idea behind choosing that story, and when they finished the first ride, she could only hope that they’d all had a great time.
The next round of people had a group of kids that were a lot more rambunctious, and her story was punctuated by continually telling a little boy named Aiden that he needed to sit down.
She didn’t mind the rowdy kids, honestly. They were cute. Though she did have to pull one of the little boys back into the wagon after he nearly tipped himself over the side, and she could’ve done with the parents paying slightly closer attention.
Still, she felt like it was successful, and when Cooper pulled the horses back to the stopping place and then got out of thedriver’s seat, she was reminded of the tension between them. It had been interrupted for a moment. It had been distracting enough that it hadn’t been the only thing on her mind, which was kind of magical. Except that it was the two of them.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
He lifted a brow. “Do you know how to get the horses ready to go back in the trailer?”
“No. But I could learn.”
“I think teaching you would take longer than actually doing it.”
He had a point. And it wasn’t like she wanted to learn just for the sake of it. Not that she didn’t like horses, but she couldn’t say that they were a hyperfocus of hers.
Eliana and Cooper were very different people because of the families that they were born into. She was off in the clouds half the time, thinking about things like curses and magic and manifestation, because her mother and her grandmother believed in those things so strongly. Because they had seen those things show up in their lives over and over again, and they had passed that wisdom on to her, on to Marcus.
And then there was Cooper. Who had his feet so firmly rooted in the soil of Wild Rose Point, and didn’t seem to be overly focused on things he couldn’t see or touch or smell.
She had to wonder if he would be that way if he had been raised in different circumstances. If he would love horses. If he would be a cowboy. Would he want to start this brewery? Would he have wanted a ranch? Was he a cowboy because it was in his blood, passed down to him by his father, or because it would’ve been in his blood no matter what?
Basically, she was wondering if they were destined to be two completely opposite people from the beginning of time, or if there was common ground somewhere between them, some understanding that the two of them could find somewhere.
She watched each and every one of his methodical movements, and decided that she wasn’t sure she wanted to be more like him, or that she wanted him to be more like her. It was the difference between the two of them that fascinated her. And fascination was all it was ever going to be.
His large hands moved firmly, surely, and quickly over the harnesses, and then he stroked the horse, patted it on the rump, and she jerked slightly, imagining those hands moving over her body, patting her.
Good Lord.
She was having some kind of sensual hallucination. She had been caught off her guard because she had forgotten about it for a moment.
And now, it had returned to her in full force. Now, she was unbearably aware of him. Of the spark that had ignited between them a few days ago.
She knew what it was like to be held by him, even though he had just been keeping her from falling to the ground. It had been as easy for him to keep her from falling out of the wagon as it had been for her to keep an unruly six-year-old from falling out of the wagon. He was so strong. Capable, coordinated –
“Yes?”
He wasn’t looking at her, his focus was on the horse, and yet he clearly felt her staring at him.
“I didn’t say anything,” she responded.
“I know you didn’t say anything. But I can feel you watching me.”
She hesitated for a beat. Because she could either pretend she had no idea what he was talking about, or she could proceed.
“Just enjoying the view.”
She bit the inside of her cheek as soon as the words exited her mouth. It was risky. She didn’t even know why she’d said it.Didn’t know what she was risking when it came right down to it. After all, this could lead to anything, not ever.
