Page 69 of Austin
“I had to see,” she said, bringing her forehead to rest against his chest and exhaling deeply. He wrapped his arms around her a little more tightly.
“See what?”
“Why I can’t get you out of my head.”
He understood exactly what she was talking about. He smiled a little then cupped her chin in one hand, tilted up her face, gently kissed her again.
“Hey!” He turned to see Gage heading down the hallway. Austin kept his arms around Kristen as the bull rider walked by.
“Nothing to see here,” Austin said to his friend.
“Bet there would be if I hung around.”
Austin snorted as Gage disappeared into the changing room. “You want to get out of here?”
“I wouldn’t mind being alone with you for a while.”
“Wait here while I grab my stuff.”
Kristen followed him to his hotel, parked next to him. As soon as they were out of their respective vehicles, he took her hand. It felt right to have her there. Scary right.
But he wasn’t going to talk yet. There were other ways to communicate and as soon as the door was closed behind them, he did his best to show how glad he was to see her.
And she seemed equally glad to be with him.
*
Was there anythingbetter than waking up next to a bull rider?
Well…not just any bull rider. Her bull rider.
Kristen pushed herself up onto one elbow, lightly brushing his hair away from his forehead, one of the few places she was fairly certain wasn’t in some way sore. Although…
“You haven’t been hit in the head lately?”
“Are you questioning my judgment?”
She laughed. “No. Just checking for safe spots to touch.”
He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers, setting their joined hands on his chest. “All parts are safe…within reason.”
“Mmm.” She stretched out on her side again. “Are you checking out today?”
“Yeah. Going to the Forty-Six to see my brother before he and Shelby head off to Tennessee and I travel south to Cheyenne.”
“Your brother is going to Tennessee?”
“He’s a technical advisor for another of Buck Creighton’s documentaries.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah. He fell into a good thing. And it’ll keep my dad happy.” He pulled her closer and she eased her thigh on top of his, then pulled it back off again. “Stop worrying about hurting me. It’s giving me a complex.”
“I wasn’t worried about it last night.” She smiled and raised herself up on her elbow again so that she could see his face. “If I didn’t have commitments, I’d go to Cheyenne with you.”
He dropped a kiss onto her hair. “Those damned commitments.”
“Yes.” She smoothed her palm over the hard planes of his chest. “I’m going to ask you for a favor.” His muscles tightened ever so slightly beneath her palm, and if her head had been on his chest, she probably would have heard his heart rate kick up. “And please know—I’m saying this more to me than to you. Can we not analyze? Or dissect? Or do any of the things that will bring me crashing back to earth?” She let out a small breath. “I want to enjoy this for a while longer.”
