Page 9 of A Cowboy Takes A Chance

“I did. I was having problems with one of the poles, so Rodney helped me.” She knew he’d changed the subject because it was making him uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I noticed.”

Turning her head, she looked at him and immediately wished she hadn’t since he didn’t have his shirt on.

“If you saw I was having problems, why didn’t you help me?”

“You didn’t ask,” he said and shrugged.

Her gaze roamed over that magnificent chest and down his six-pack stomach. Her eyes followed the trail of hair that arrowed down from his belly button to disappear into his jeans.God!She was such a sucker for a sexy happy trail, and his was mouth-watering. He wore a chain around his neck, the type the military wore for their dog tags, but he had what looked to be two wedding bands on it. One was a lot larger than the other one, and she had a feeling they were his and his wife’s.

“I wanted to see if I could do it myself. Besides, you were busy helping Bett. She seems to need a lot of help.”

“Meow,” he said quietly.

“Excuse me? I am not into catfights. She’s after you and if you can’t see that—”

“Of course I can, but why does it bother you?”

“I didn’t say it bothered me.”

“You didn’t have to.”

She snorted. “Oh please. Women like her love the attention. I’d rather try to do things on my own.”

“I have to help if she asks me because she’s a guest.”

“Do you sleep with them too, if they ask?”Why did you ask that?

“You asking?”

She stood so quickly she got a head rush. “No! I am not asking.”

“Good, because there is no fraternizing between guests and staff,” he growled as he stared up at her.

“I know that, and you don’t have to be so rude about it.”

His eyebrows rose. “You think I'm rude?”

“You didn’t have to snap my head off.”

“I don’t want you getting ideas.” He stood and looked at the creek. She could see a muscle twitching in his cheek. Why was he so angry?

“Oh, dear God! Conceited much?” Turning to the creek, she squatted down when a few of the others came through the brush.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Bett said then she looked at Presley and Jaxon then she narrowed her eyes. “Did we interrupt something?”

“Not a thing,” Presley said as she stood. “I need to go eat. I’m starving.” She made her way through the brush back to the campsite. One of the couples sat there on the log.

“We saved you a burger like you asked. For some reason, they’re delicious cooked over a fire.”

“That’s true.” Presley smiled as she took a seat beside them.

As the day wore on, some of the guests took walks or cooled off in the creek. Presley watched Bett do her best to get Jaxon’s attention. He kept busy around the site and taking care of the horses. The sun began to set, and the temperatures started to drop quickly. Jaxon kept the fire going then stood and walked into the woods again. Presley watched him go. A few seconds later, Bett followed him.

****

Jaxon walked through the woods. He’d pick up some logs, but he wanted to get away from everyone for a few minutes, he was soangry with himself for the way he’d spoken to Presley and because he’d wanted to kiss her. As he marched through the brush, he hacked at branches with the machete he’d brought along, as if it were his feelings he was chopping down.You haven’t been involved with a woman since Bethany, and now you just decide you want to kiss one?If he were honest with himself, he’d admit he wanted her. Be buried deep inside her. Damn, his dick was getting hard. He wanted to watch her face when her orgasm took her over the edge.Damn it!He paused when he heard a twig snap then silently swore when he saw Bett walking toward him.

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