Page 11 of Untamed

He tips his hat in our direction, eliciting an eye roll from me.

“They’re all stupidly good-looking,” Poppy says, still looking at me from where she sits on her horse.

“Must be something in the water on this ranch.”

She laughs. “Think it can still have effects on adults?”

“Lord, if it does, I might just move here.”

“You don’t need it.” She rolls her eyes.

“Neither do you.” I raise an eyebrow in her direction. She’s gorgeous. Poppy needs zero help in the looks or personality department. Me, on the other hand? I’d do anything to change some of these tattoos. And my taste in men.

“Hey, pretty ladies!” Hayes shouts.

God, he is painfully beautiful. There is nothing sexier than a strong man on a strong horse doing cowboy things. Has he always looked this good? I mean, I’ve had a crush on him since I was eight. But this Hayes isn’t a boy any longer. He’s got a few days’ worth of five-o’clock shadow, and the muscles he’s sporting these days are those of a man.

I’m a little breathless.

“What brings you all the way out here, darlin’?”

And a little weak in the knees.

“Poppy thought it would be fun to watch y’all try to wrangle in that calf,” I tell him as he hands off the roped calf to Rhett. It’s young enough to walk like a dog back to the field it came from. At that age, they’re playful but easily led. “Figured one of you would fall and make an idiot of yourself. I was hopin’ it’d be you.”

Wells snorts so loudly that I struggle to keep my own laughter contained.

“That’s not a very nice thing to hope about someone, River.” Hayes’ grin is playful.

I shrug. “It’d be funny, though. And that’s what counts.”

“Thought you’d be workin’?” He ignores my jab and walks his horse up next to mine. Poppy has jumped off her horse and walked it over closer to Rhett and the calf. I can hear her cooing at the little creature from here.

“Speaking of,” I say, glancing at my watch. “It’s time for me to head that way.”

“Let me walk back with you.”

“I’m not walking.”

“Funny.” He grins.

“You weren’t there to help me with Betty the last few days.” I turn my horse back in the direction of the rescue barn where I parked, and Hayes follows suit.

“Rhett’s not been too easy to slip free of. And I had to help chop wood today,” he says. “No getting out of shit like that when Rhett and Wells are involved. So, you’re workin’ at the bar tonight?”

“Same as every Saturday.” My voice is laced with mock excitement. Working at a bar, a restaurant, or retail, you never get a weekend off. But I need the extra money, and in a small town, the tips are actually really good.

“I’ll be there tonight.”

“Lovely. Have fun.”

“You could save me a dance,” he says.

“I’ll be working, Hayes. And this little truce we have only exists in that barn.” I point in the direction of the big barn, where Betty is probably taking her late-afternoon nap. And I realize as the words leave my mouth that this little conversation we’ve fallen into feels too comfortable. I’ve let my guard down around him, and it’s only been a few days. If I’m caving this soon, what’s it going to look like a week from now?

I roll my shoulders back and try to build the walls back up.

“Oh, come on,” he says, reaching across the gap in our horses to nudge my arm. “Bill isn’t gonna care if you take a three-minute dance break.”

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