Page 29 of The Devil in Blue Jeans
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’re doing our yearly roundup and auction. That consists of moving the two-year-old horses from their field and bringing them up to the pastures here. We sort them then decide which ones stay for training. Those get put into another pasture, and the others go into the paddock there.” He pointed ahead of him, before addressing her again. “We hold a big event here where people from all over North America come to purchase one of our horses.”
“What exactly is the big event?” she asked.
“We host an auction with a catered meal with Big Boy’s barbeque, and we enjoy some horses.”
She kept trying to see where she fit in. “What exactly am I going to do in all of this?”
“Today we’re doing a couple things. First, I’m going to show you around the ranch and introduce you to everybody here. If you got any questions for any of the cowboys about what they’d like to see at the bar, or what they think is missing, feel free to ask them. There’s a good group of people working here.”
“Okay.”Good.She needed to get her answers and get out before she had another mental breakdown and jumped the hot sex in jeans next to her.
He tilted his head. “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
She nodded. “A couple times, but I’m not experienced. I’ve mostly gone out on the trail rides on vacations and things like that.”
“A little experience is better than nothing,” he said. “I figured today we could work with giving you a riding lesson. And then after that, you’ll need to go home and pack a bag for your stay here.”
Her brows rose and she cursed the heat brimming inside at the inappropriate thoughts filling her mind. “Why do I have to stay here?”
Like he was plucking those thoughts right out of her mind, he smirked. “We head out at sunrise tomorrow and ride out to the horses. It’s a day’s ride out and it’s a day right back, so we’ll be camping out.”
“Like in a tent?” she asked.
“No tent,” he said. “Under the stars.”
She sighed, imagining the bugs that would crawl over her. “We couldn’t make an exception for one little tent?”
Again, a single brow lifted. “You did say you want to understand our way of life, right?”
“Yeah, I said that.” She began regretting saying that though.
“There’s no better way to understand life in Timber Falls then coming out with us on the roundup and experiencing what we do.” A pause. Then he took a step forward, closing the distance between them. “Besides...” His voice lowered into a husky tone, seeping heady heat into her entire body. “It gives a little more time for you to get to know me.”
She watched him carefully, looking for some trick, some play she was missing. She simply didn’t see one, and that was the most dangerous thing of all. “You can stop this you know.”
He took another step forward, bringing all that strength close. “Stop what?”
“Whatever happened before is out of my system,” she said firmly. “It was a weak moment on my part that will never happen again.”
His mouth twitched. “You’re trying to tell me that with this kind of chemistry between us, you’ll be able to sleep next to me and not want to kiss the hell out of me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” she said, adamant.
He chuckled, low and deep. “Yeah, we’ll see about that, Kitten.” When she frowned at the nickname, he tapped her nose. “All claws, hisses and bites, but exceptionally cute.” Before she could react, he closed the rest of the distance, only centimeters between them now. She felt his breath on her lips, making her melt into her boots. “Gotta say, though, my favorite is when you’re purring beneath me.”
Her breath hitched, stealing all logical thoughts from her brain.
He smirked, gestured ahead of him. “Come on, Kitten, let me show you around.”
Somehow, she remembered how to make her legs work and she followed, reminding herself of one very important fact—He is the devil!
As Jaxon stepped out of the rustic wooden barn after having spent the last hour showing Charly around the ranch, beams of sunlight spread across the area, bathing it in a gentle, golden glow. His gaze wandered across the sprawling expanse of lush grasses speckled with wildflowers that danced in the breeze. The horses munched happily on grass, their coats shining brightly in the sun. He looked over at Charly and smiled fondly at her content expression. Surprisingly enough, she seemed right at home despite being a city girl.
Jaxon led Charly toward a cowboy waiting by the sand ring. “This is Charly,” Jaxon said as they drew nearer. “Decker, this is Charly.”
Decker gave her a thorough glance over and smiled, crinkling his dark eyes at the corners and showing off pearly white teeth. He held on to the reins attached to Thunder, their ranch’s most docile horse. Thunder had once been Jaxon’s father’s prize possession, a beloved horse that knew and loved his job. Jaxon stared into the horse’s dark eyes and his chest softened, feeling like his father was there watching over the ranch.
Decker tipped his black cowboy hat. “Well, hello there, Charly.” He beamed with too much enthusiasm for Jaxon’s taste.
