9781618857279MakeMineaCowboySullivanNC (7 page)

He
laughed and leaned over to kiss her cheek. Goose bumps rose on her arms when
the smell of his cologne reached her nose. Of course, he had to wear her
favorite scent, damn him.

“It
was a compliment. We’ll have to talk more tomorrow, but for now, let’s get you
settled in your room. Hopefully, you can get a few hours of sleep before the
foal is born.” She bit her lip. “What?”

“Can
you get into the kitchen?”

“Sure.
Why?”

“I’d
love another one of those dessert things we had at dinner.” She smiled hoping
she could persuade him to sneak into the kitchen to swipe one of the decadent
chocolates for her sweet tooth. She had a terrible one, especially right before
bed. Ice cream usually calmed her cravings at home, but here, she needed to
improvise, if only she could get Joel to go along.

The
warm chuckle coming from his mouth made her smile. She liked his laugh. Hell,
who was she kidding, she liked everything about him from the top of his sexy
cowboy hat to the tip of his cowboy boots—the man had it all. Those lips made
her want to kiss him into tomorrow. His chest made her want to bury herself
against those muscles. She wondered what he’d look like without a shirt. Did he
have chest hair? A lot? A little? She knew he had a six-pack. No cowboy who
looked as good as he did, didn’t have a six-pack, or sex-pack, as she liked to
think about it. He had some of the prettiest blue eyes she’d ever seen on a man,
along with eyelashes any woman would kill for. What would his hands feel like
stroking her skin?
 
Did he have a sexy
happy trail?
God, I want to find out.
A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

“What?”

“Nothing.
I just had a thought.”

“Anything
you’d like to share?”

“Really?
I shouldn’t because it would totally embarrass me.”

“About
me?”

Heat
crawled up her neck as she blushed.

“Ah.
It
was
about me.”

“Totally.”

“Share.”

“Nope.”

“Why
not?”

“Because
you don’t need your ego stroked, I’m sure.”

“Sure
I do. Stroke me, baby.”

She
rolled her eyes and smiled.
 
I know he doesn’t need a bigger head.
“All
right. I totally pictured you without a shirt and I wanted to know if you had a
little happy trail like most men with dark hair like yours do.”

“Oh,
you kinky girl, you.”

He
laughed. The rich, deep sound sent shivers down her back.
Damn, the man could turn me inside out and upside down
. She hadn’t
even known him very long. This wasn’t good. How would she feel after being
around him for several days? She hadn’t quite decided how long she planned to
stay at the ranch, but she knew it would be more than a day or two. The
opportunity to have firsthand knowledge of cowboys, how they work, etc. wasn’t
something she wanted to pass up. “So?” she asked, her bravery waning now they
were back at the ranch.

“Happy
trail, huh? I’ve never heard anything referred to as that before. Explain what
you mean.”

“You
know. The trail of hair usually linking chest hair to pubic hair.” Her face
flamed with heat. How did one discuss this kind of thing with a man?

“Oh
that!” He laughed again.
The bastard
.
“Yes, I have one. Wanna see?” He started unbuttoning his belt buckle as she
shrieked.

“No!
I mean not here.”

“I’ll
show it to you any time you want.”

“You’re
just teasing me now, Joel. It’s not funny.”

“I’m
not teasing. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of men nude before or in only
underwear, right?”

“Well
yes. Some have them and some don’t. I’m curious about you since the hero in my
head is turning out to look a lot like you.”

“Aw,
how sweet. I’m the hero in your next book?”

“It
all depends on how the days I’m here at the ranch turn out.”

“How
do you want them to turn out?” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

“You’re
an impossible flirt.”

“Yep.”

“I
bet every mama in this town turns their daughters’ head away from you and your
brothers when you hit Main Street. The whole
lot of you are
like this, aren’t you?”

“Definitely,
but the mamas are after every one of us to marry their daughters.”

“Really?”
His eyes crinkled at the corner as he glanced out the window.

“It
looks like Dad is headed to the barn. Let’s go see what’s up.”

“Oh.
Great!”

She
met him around the front of the car seconds later. He grabbed her hand again to
help guide her to the barn he said, since darkness had fallen in an inky black
curtain on the ranch. Soft country music wafted from the speakers next to the
bonfire where several people sat around the crackling light. They would go
there after the barn, she hoped. She hadn’t been to a bonfire since summer camp
approximately fifteen years before.
S’mores
? Hmm.
She’d have to ask Joel if they had chocolate, marshmallows, and graham
crackers, but then again, if she had her choice, she’d take the chocolate
dessert they had at dinner. The smooth chocolate and whipped cream mixture was
what chocolate dreams were made of.

“Careful.
It’s so dark you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. Without a
flashlight, you could twist an ankle or something.”

“But
look at all the stars.” She stopped so she could look up at the night sky.
Billions of stars winked off and on lighting up the sky. “Look! A shooting
star.” She closed her eyes to make a wish though she couldn’t believe she
wished for a kiss.

“What
did you wish for?”

“I
can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

“Sure
you can. I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”

“All
right. I wished you would kiss me.”

She
could see the white of his teeth as he smiled. “Is that all?”

“Yes.”
The word came out in a soft whisper.

He
stepped in front of her and slipped his hand along her cheek to bury his fingers
in her hair.
God, it felt wonderful.
The
slight tug on her scalp set her heart to racing a hundred miles a minute. A
flutter started in her belly, spreading lower until she felt on fire from his touch.
She closed her eyes as his warm breath spread across her lips. Her lips parted
on a sigh, accepting the warmth of his mouth. His lips were soft, yet strangely
unyielding, like he wanted to absorb her strength through her mouth. One of his
hands rested on her hip, pulling her into the curve of his body. His chest felt
hard beneath her hands. The soft brush of his tongue on her lips parted them to
his invasion. She wanted this, needed to feel alive, needed to be a woman
again.

A
soft moan escaped her as he took the kiss deeper, bringing both of his hands up
to cup her face.

The
sound of wolf whistles brought her back to the present as she heard the
catcalls from his brothers near the fire. Joel stepped back, breaking the kiss.

“Sorry.”

“I’m
not. It was totally worth it.”

He
laughed and grabbed her hand again as they continued on their way to check on
the foal.

The
barn came into view when they rounded the corner of the house. The large, two
story structure with wide doors stood outlined by the moon in the background. A
single, bare light bulb in the middle of the row of stalls reflected the black,
wrought iron parts of the upper doors where the horses could stick their heads
through. The barn was pretty fancy from what she knew about barns. Wood
surrounded the bottoms of the stalls and each one had a sliding door. One off
to the right stood open. She could see Joel’s dad crouched on the floor next to
the mare’s head.

“How
is she, Dad?”

“She’s
laboring pretty hard, son. I hope she foals soon.” His big hands ran down the
heaving sides of the mare. “I think the foal is pretty big for her, but she
could drop it shortly.”

“Do
you mind if I stay and watch?” she asked.

“Oh,
hi.
I didn’t see you there.” He glanced back down to
the mare. “You can stay as long as you like but it might be a while yet.”

“I
don’t mind.” She took out the ever-present notebook from her purse and jotted
down information. She wanted to get the whole thing on paper for her next book.
There’s nothing like having a cowboy helping with a laboring horse to make the
cowboy image stick in the reader’s mind. She wrote more details, the position
of the horse, the coloring of her coat, the rapid breaths, the concentration on
Joel’s father’s face, the worry line along his forehead like laugh lines around
his eyes and mouth. It mesmerized her how he ran his hands on the mare’s
stomach, calming her in the process. She could see the horse physically relax
as he worked them down her side. She would have to ask more questions when all
was said and done. Details like the gestation period for a horse, whether they
could be ridden during pregnancy, how big a normal size foal is. All of this important
information she needed…eventually. For now, the process looked worrisome for
the two men.

Joel
crouched down next to his father, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Want me
to check her?”

“Sure.
Maybe you can tell if things are progressing. I haven’t checked her in a bit.”

Joel
stood and grabbed a long, plastic sleeve from the shelf outside the stall. Once
he had it slipped on, covering his shirt to his armpit, he kneeled near the
horse’s rump and moved her tail out of the way. A lump formed in her throat as
he slid his hand into the back of the horse.

“Appears
it’s in the right position,” he said. “I can feel the hooves and they seem to
be right side up. Its nose is right there, too. I think she’ll deliver soon.”
He peeled off the sleeve and tossed it into a bucket in the corner.

“We’ll
just watch and wait then.”

“Do
horses normally deliver without complications?” she asked with her pen posed to
write down his answer in detail.

“Yes,”
the older man answered. “The horse does all the work most of the time, although
we do have to step in occasionally. There are times where they
come
nose first or with their hooves upside down, which can
be a problem. With something like that, we call the vet.”

“Fascinating.”
The horse grunted as her legs flailed for a few seconds. Mesa could see her
side ripple with a contraction. Moments later, two tiny hooves appeared.

“Looks
like it’s time,” Joel said, moving away from the horse.

With
a gush of fluid, the foal made his entrance into the world. Slimy mucus hung from
its body. The mare struggled to her feet, and then began licking the foal
clean.

“Oh,
it’s beautiful!” Tears stung her eyes. She’d never witnessed anything so
precious in her life. “Will it start nursing right away?”

“Usually
within a couple of hours. The mother will clean it up first.”

The
baby stood on wobbly legs for a few seconds before it nuzzled against its
mother seeking out her nipple. “Oh look! It’s already trying to walk and feed.
This has been fabulous. Thank you.”

“We
didn’t do anything.” Joel’s father chuckled. “The horse did all the work.”

“But
you allowed me to witness this. I’ve got some great notes for my next book. I
can’t thank you enough.”

“Our
pleasure.” Joel moved closer to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders.
“I’m glad you got to watch the birth. She’s the only one we have close to
delivery.”

She
smiled, snuggling into his side to absorb his warmth. The wind seemed to have
kicked up a bit, cooling down the heat of the day.

“How
about we head to the fire so you can get your fill of that, too?”

“I’d
love to.”

“I’ll
check on her later, Dad, if you want me to.”

“Thanks,
Joel. I’ll stay with her for a bit to make sure the foal is nursing. If you
want to check her before you head to bed, I would appreciate it.”

“Sure.”

“Have
fun by the fire. The weather seems to be cooling down with the wind kicking
up.”

“Yeah,
you never know about Texas weather in April and May. It can be unpredictable.”

Joel
spun her around and headed toward the barn doors with his arm still around her
shoulders. The weather had indeed cooled down, and goose bumps rose on her arms—though
she wasn’t sure if they were from the wind chill or the sexy cowboy next to
her.

The
flames rose into the night sky, stretching like fingers toward the inky
blackness. Several people surrounded the warmth, absorbing the heat into their
fingers by holding their hands or feet out toward the fire. Joel found them a
carved out seat made from an old log. The bottom had been smoothed out of the
cut log to make a great chair.