Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (5 page)

“I know
what you mean. Kissing you because he thinks you’re a beautiful woman isn’t the
same as him kissing you.
Right?”
Olivia gave her a sad smile.

Emma
nodded. “Yes, that’s it exactly. I just don’t know what to do about him. For
years,
I’ve wanted him and now he’s flirting with me,
but I don’t know what to do. He’s confusing me. Why is he so interested all of
a sudden? I don’t know how to handle him.”

Olivia
nodded in understanding. They sat there for a few minutes in their own thoughts
when the front bell rang, announcing a guest. Emma smiled
at Olivia and pushed off the bed. Together they walked out to the foyer only to
discover
Becca
and Jake standing at the
counter.

Emma
moaned. “No, you cannot have a room.”

Becca
and Jake laughed as
one. “I just
wanted to stop in and see how things are going,”
Becca
said, still smiling.

“I don’t
think she can drive past here without wanting to come in.” Jake grinned as he
leaned against the counter.

“Why
didn’t you just come in the back door?” Olivia
asked.

Becca
tilted her head. “I wanted to see how it was looking from
this side.”

Emma and
Olivia glanced over to Jake. He shrugged. “I don’t know how her mind works, but
I love her anyway.”

Becca
swatted at him making them all laugh. The door behind the
m opened and Ryder Wolfe walked in. He’d purchased
Becca’s
Paint horses when she decided to
open the B and B and needed gentler horses than Paints. He tipped his hat to
them. His eyes stopped on Olivia.

Emma
cleared her throat. “Ryder, have you met Olivia
Roberts?”

Ryder
shook his head, still keeping his eyes on Olivia. He grinned, showing perfect
white teeth. “No. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” He put his hand out
to Olivia. She placed hers in his, and grinned. They continued to stare at each
othe
r until Jake spoke up.

“What
brings you by, Ryder?”

“What?”
Ryder finally tore his eyes away from Olivia and looked at Jake.

Emma
could see that Jake was trying not to grin. “Why are you here?” Jake asked.

“Oh. I,
uh, wanted to tell
Becca
that one of the P
aints I bought from her is pregnant.”

“Oh wow.
That’s great, Ryder,”
Becca
told him with a happy grin.

Ryder
smiled down at her. “I stopped by your place.” He glanced at Jake. “But when
you weren’t there, I thought I’d just stop here.” His gaze returned to
Olivia. “I’m very glad I did.”

Emma
watched as Olivia’s smile grew. She wished she had that kind of confidence
around men. Olivia wasn’t shy about letting a man know she was interested. Emma
could never be that way. Men like Gabe Stone and Ryder Wolfe did
n’t normally pay attention to her. She blew out a breath.
Everyone turned to look at her. Her cheeks turned pink.

“I need
to…uh…do something,” she told them before she quickly left the foyer. She
entered her apartment, closed the door behind her, and took
a seat on the sofa, drawing her knees up and resting her
chin on them. She needed to find the kind of confidence Olivia had, somewhere.
She needed to dig down deep and find the strength to let Gabe know she wanted
him.
You just told him to stay away
from y
ou!
He was going to think she was a
nut case. When had her life become so complicated? The first time she saw Gabe
Stone, she fell in love with him. She’d been ten at the time and he was
seventeen, a young man. She grunted. Looking back, he’d still been a
boy. Now he was a man. Emma groaned. God! What a man.

But she
couldn’t be just a fling to him. Gabe had a reputation for sleeping around.
Then again, Jake used to have the same reputation and he settled down with
Becca
. Of course, Wyatt put them both
to sh
ame with his sexual exploits. She leaned her
head back and closed her eyes, wishing she knew what to do. It was a while
later, when Olivia knocked on her door and entered without waiting for Emma to
answer, that she knew she needed to know how Olivia did i
t.

“Are you
alright, Emma?” Olivia whispered.

Emma
nodded. “Yes,” she said as she lifted her head to look at Olivia. “Where do you
get your confidence around men from? I mean you and Ryder…”

Olivia
laughed. “I’m not shy at all. When I see something I want,
I go after it. I’m not saying you should be like me, but
it wouldn’t hurt to let Gabe know you want him. I suppose it comes from my
having to fight most of my life for what I wanted. I never had anything handed
to me. I had to, literally, fight for anythi
ng I
wanted. It’s what you have to do too, Emma. If you want Gabe you have to let
him know it in some way, and then fight for him.”

“I was
just thinking about that. I just don’t know how to go about it,” Emma said with
a weak smile. “Maybe you can give me
some pointers.”

Olivia
grinned. “Sure. I just have one question.”

“What?”
Emma asked hoping it wasn’t too personal.

“Why the
hell didn’t anyone tell me about Ryder Wolfe? The man is gorgeous. I have never
seen eyes that green—ever. He is a cool drink of
water
and I’m definitely dying of thirst, if you know what I mean. He’s so damn hot.”

Emma
laughed as a flush of heat crossed her cheeks. She could never be as confident
as Olivia was, but she’d settle for half. The woman was amazing. They sat
talking unti
l the setting sun illuminated the sky
with orange fading into mauve, and then finally disappeared behind the
mountains.

Later,
Emma sat at her window thinking of Gabe. The full moon cast a glow over the
ranch like a huge spotlight. She could hear the crickets chirping and the
whinny of a horse in the corral. Glancing up, she saw a shooting star and
smiled as she made a wish
for the only thing she
really wanted in her life. Gabriel Stone.

Chapter Three

A week
later, Gabe was working alongside his ranch hands mucking out the stalls, but
his men kept looking at him as he shoveled harder than they did. They had no
idea how
much he needed to get his mind off Emma, and
that kiss. Tossing and turning had become his nightly ritual for the past week.
He could still taste her lips. Fleeting as it was, it had packed a punch. The
minute his lips touched hers, he was a goner.
What t
he fuck were you thinking?
He’d asked himself that question
repeatedly and still had no answer. He wondered what was going through her
head. Was she angry with him?

If only
he could get the kiss out of his head. It never should have happened. He knew
that.
Emma was a marrying kind of woman. She wanted
commitment. The word made Gabe cringe. He wasn’t ready for all of what came
with it. Sure, he loved kids, but he never thought of having his own. He wasn’t
getting any younger though, he probably should’ve had
a wife and a couple of kids by now. Mumbling, he jabbed the pitchfork into the
hay, lifted it, and tossed the hay to the other side of the stall. The sweat
was rolling off him. He stopped and pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket
to wipe off his face
. His T-shirt hung on a hook by
the stall gate.

Would
Emma ever speak to him again? Gabe stopped and laid his arms across the top of
the handle of the pitchfork.
What the fuck were you thinking?
The look on her face after he
kissed her made his heart slam
against his ribs. She
looked shocked and surprised at the same time. Tears glistened in her eyes.
Christ! He felt like such a dumbass. He tossed the pitchfork down and strode
out of the barn. No one said anything even though he knew they all watched him go
. They knew not to if they wanted to keep their job. He
went inside to shower. He knew Emma was working with Misty again today and he
planned to be there. He didn’t care if she wanted him there or not.

* * * *

Emma ran
Misty around the barrels. As she ci
rcled the second
barrel, Misty knocked it down. Emma shook her head, but she’d make Misty go
around again. She pulled the horse to a stop at the end, and then spurred her
again. She noticed the barrel she’d knocked down was back up. She quickly
glanced tow
ard the railing and saw Jake there.
Heaving a sigh of relief, she sent a smile his way and rode Misty around the
barrels. This time horse and rider made it around all three without touching
them enough to knock them down. Emma was so proud of Misty she let
out a loud cheer. Jake clapped his hands as she rode the
filly over to him with a big grin on her face.

“I knew
she could do it,” she exclaimed. “She just needed some practice.”

Jake
laughed. “I knew you could get her there. She won’t do that for anyone b
ut you.”

She
laughed with joy, for success had its own thrill, and dismounted. “I’m going to
wipe her down and give her an extra treat.”

Jake
nodded at her. “
Becca
wants to know if you want to
stay for dinner.”

“I’d
love to. I’ll be right in after Misty is
taken care
of.” She smiled as Jake tugged on his hat in cowboy fashion and left the arena.
Becca
was lucky and Emma could see how
easily she’d fallen in love with Jake. He and his brothers represented the
essential cowboy. Thinking that about Jake brought
her thoughts to Gabe.
Shit!
She’d gone most of the day
without thinking of him. She muttered as she wiped Misty down, but just about
jumped out of her skin when Gabe spoke from behind her.

“Did
Misty piss you off or is it me you’re still angry with?”

Emma
spun around to find him leaning against the doorjamb of
the stall. His hands tucked deep into the pockets of his jeans and his black
T-shirt emphasizing his broad chest, and muscled
pecs
. The sleeves were tight around
his biceps. She bit the inside of her
cheek to hold
back a groan of appreciation. “I’m not angry with Misty…”

Gabe
straightened up. “Then it must be me.”

She
shook her head. “I’m not angry with you, either. That kiss wasn’t enough to get
angry over.”

“You
sure seemed angry with me after that
kiss,” Gabe said
in a low voice.

Emma
turned back to the horse and continued brushing her. She just wanted Gabe to
leave. There was no way she could come on to him as Olivia had suggested. She
knew she wasn’t the type, or Gabe’s type. The thought of sex te
rrified her, especially sex with Gabe. She felt him behind
her. When he ran his fingers through her ponytail, she shivered.

“It’s as
soft as silk, just as I thought. I wonder what your hair looks like down around
your shoulders,” he murmured. “Or spread
out across a
pillow.”

Emma
turned toward him and looked up into his face. “You’ll never know.”

His
mouth twitched, and one corner hitched up under the sexy mustache she
remembered teasing her lips. “I wouldn’t bet on that if I were you.”

His
words made her
back up so suddenly, she bumped into
Misty. The horse pushed back against her, and knocked her into Gabe. His arms
went around her waist as Emma put her hands on his shoulders with every
intention of pushing him away. She raised her gaze to his and swallo
wed. His head dipped and his lips touched hers. Emma tried,
she really did, not to moan but it escaped her anyway, and she felt Gabe grin
against her lips. It should have angered her, but she was too far gone with the
touch of his lips and his mustache tic
kling her. He
deepened the kiss, dipping his tongue into her mouth. It wasn’t her first kiss
but never, never ever, had there been one like this. Her arms slid around his
neck and her fingers splayed into his thick hair, knocking his hat to the
floor. She
felt his hands move to her hips, and pull
her against him. She could feel his erection straining against his jeans.
Another moan slipped out, this time from Gabe. She wrapped her arms tighter,
trying to pull him even closer, but then she suddenly pushed ag
ainst his shoulders.