Page 52 of Take Me Please, Cowboy
Ansley shook her head, not following.“Why is that?”
“Rye didn’t tell you about Jasper?Our brother has CP, cerebral palsy, and needs a chair—” She broke off, realizing Ansley still didn’t understand.“He was hurt at birth and doesn’t walk.He’s in a wheelchair but there are a lot of places he can’t go because it’s not accessible, which is what fueled my interest in universal design.”
Ansley glanced at Rye who was about to join them.“I had no idea.”
“Rye is pretty private,” Josie answered, “and protective.Jasper’s had a hard year.We’ve all been worried—” She broke off as Rye reached their side and gave her brother a dazzling smile.“Rye, look who I found.”
Ansley couldn’t take her eyes off of him.His chiseled features were every bit as handsome as ever, and yet his expression was shuttered.He didn’t look happy, but he also didn’t look upset.He just looked like a stranger.
Josie said something about needing to find the ladies’ room and slipped away, leaving Rye and Ansley alone.Ansley didn’t know where to look.She didn’t know what to say.Her heart raced, and she felt a little light-headed.She should have eaten more today.The glass of champagne on an empty stomach probably wasn’t the best idea.“Hello,” she said huskily.
Rye leaned and dropped a kiss on her cheek.“It’s good to see you.”
His deep voice was both familiar and bittersweet.It took everything within her to remain unmoved.“This is quite a surprise.”
His lips twisted ruefully.“I hadn’t planned on coming, but once Josie saw you were part of tonight’s exhibit—” He broke off, jaw working.“No, I can’t blame this on my sister.I wanted to see you.I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but here we are.”
“Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?”Ansley asked.“We didn’t part as mortal enemies, did we?”
“No, but it wasn’t an easy goodbye.”
“You blocked my number.”
Dark color suffused his cheekbones.“I couldn’t leave the door open.I didn’t trust myself, not when it came to you.”
She searched his eyes trying to see past his polite veneer.Was all the warmth truly gone?Had he managed to smash all feelings?
“Your sister is quite lovely,” Ansley said, trying to think of something safe for them to discuss.“In every way.”
“Which is another way of saying that she’s nothing like me,” he said, an eyebrow lifting.
Ansley couldn’t repress her smile.“I’m sure you just have different strengths.Yours are just more… manly.”She nodded at his arm.“Did that happen in Idaho?”
He shook his head.“Nope.Eureka.Tumbled off the fire station roof.”
“Sounds awful.”
“Certainly a longer, harder fall than from a horse.”
It was hard to keep her emotions in check when she wanted more, when she longed to feel his lips against her cheek, to smell the clean spice of his aftershave.He was here, so close, but also too far away.“But you’re okay,” she said.
“I’m going to be fine.”
It struck her that maybe they were talking about two different things.Her eyes burned and she looked away.Josie was standing in front of one of Ansley’s big canvases studying it intently, and Ansley felt another awful pang, wondering how these two worlds had suddenly collided.This wasn’t what she wanted, and it certainly wasn’t what she needed.Josie being here was fine, but Rye?She looked up into his face, her gaze meeting his and holding.No, Rye shouldn’t have come.
But as their gazes locked, the connection was still there, just as intense and potent as it always had been.A traitorous fire flared within her, the heat making her tremble.She didn’t want to feel anything for him, and yet Rye still undid her, every bit as real and potent as the last time she saw him.
But then, nothing had really changed between them.He was who he was, and she responded to him as she always did.He was still tall and tough, hard and handsome, and intoxicatingly male.
She still wanted him, still wanted his mouth and touch, his arms, strength, and warmth.Even after his cold, callous treatment, she still cared.
How stupid, how unfair.There was no justice in the world, was there?
*
Somehow Josie workedher magic, inviting Ansley to join them for an after-cocktail-party bite and drinks to celebrate Ansley’s first show.
Ansley had tried to get out of it, but Josie was terribly persuasive, and incredibly sweet and wore down Ansley’s defenses, just as she did with everyone.
