Page 6 of A Cowboy Takes A Chance

“She does, and I never know whether to ask if she’s talking to me or not.”

Presley laughed. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

“Exactly. Is this your first time here?”

“Yes. A friend of mine was here last year and loved it. When it was time for a vacation, I decided to come here.”

“We come every year,” the woman told her.

“Wow. You must love it.”

“We do. We never do the ranch work. Well, Theo did it once, and swore never again.”

“I learned my lesson. That is some demanding work.”

“I’m Gina Lynch, and this is my husband, Theo.”

“Presley Reynolds. It’s nice to meet you.” Not able to stop herself, she glanced behind her to see Jaxon leaning forward in the saddle with his forearms crossed on the pommel, looking so at home on the big black and white horse. He was a gorgeous animal, and the horse wasn’t bad either, she thought as she smiled to herself.

As the morning sun beat down on them, Presley pulled the front of her shirt out andblew a refreshing breath down onto her chest. The sweat trickled between her breasts and down between her shoulder blades. Taking her hat off, she fanned herself with it. When she reached for her water, she dropped it and was about to dismount to get it when she heard hoof beats and Jaxon spoke to her.

“I’ll get it. Sit tight.” Stopping by her horse, he leaned over to pick it up without getting out of the saddle then handed it to her.

“Thank you. If I would have tried that, I’d be flat on my face in the grass.” She smiled.

“Then I’d have to pick you up too.” They stared at each other until he frowned at her.

“Yeah, I know. Get in line.” She nudged her horse to catch up with the others.Damn man.

****

Jaxon didn’t know what his problem was with her. Other than, he was attracted to her but didn’t want to be. Damn, she was beautiful, though. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to look at the front of her T-shirt. It was sweat-stained, and he could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra since he could clearly see her nipples, just as any other man here on the ride could.Fuck!Watching as she lifted her hair off her neck,he was angry that he wanted to place his lips there.

While he watched her, she stood in the stirrups and pulled something from her jeans pocket and began pulling her hair into a ponytail. She stretched the band around her hair, and he was glad when she placed her hat back on her head and nudged the horse to get back in line. Wonderful. Now she was at the back with him. Looking over her shoulder at him, she quickly faced the front when their eyes met.

“We won’t be out in this much longer,” he said then could have bit his tongue for even speaking.

“I hope it’s cooler like you said.” She spoke without turning around.

“There’s a creek you can cool off in. It’s not real deep, but you can at least get in. The cooler temps won’t be until tonight, once the sun sets. It may be August but this close to the Glaciers it can get into the mid to upper forties.”

“Wow. Really?”

“Yep. That’s why you have blankets. The tent will keep your body heat in, but it will still be chilly.”

“How much further?”

“Just over that rise. A few more minutes.” He glanced at his watch to see it was almostten. Once the tents were set up, he’d get busy on making lunch.

“I’ll be glad to see that creek. It is so hot out.” She raised her face to the sun.

“You did wear sunscreen, right?”

“Yes. I’ve seen enough bad sunburns not to use protection.”

“How did you end up here?”

“My friend was here last year. She loved it and suggested it to me when I said I was taking a vacation, and I needed this.” She glanced at him. “How is your hip and leg?”

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