Page 15 of Big Burly Foreman

I walk to the mirror and stare at my reflection. I really do look a lot like my mother with our matching blonde hair and facial features. I get my green eyes from my dad, but people always tell me I am the splitting image of my mother’s younger self, and today, I got all dolled up for . . . him.

My cowboy.

I used makeup for the first time all summer, put more effort than I usually do into myself, and even shaved for him. I thought . . .

“What’s with the heavy sigh?” Luna whispers, but it’s she who sounds like she’s out of breath.

“I was supposed to meet someone, but forget about me. What the heck are you doing? You sound out of breath.”

There is some shuffling before she speaks. “Yoga, and what do you mean you were supposed to meet someone?”

“Uhm, well . . . I’ve been flirting with this guy for years. He’s a cowboy at our ranch, and we agreed to meet up later, but I didn’t expect I would be invited out for dinner.”

“Wait, is this the cowboy you’ve been whining about for the last two years? Logan?” she asks excitedly, but doesn’t give me time to respond before carrying on. “Don’t waste time explaining. What you need to do now is to come up with some excuse to leave dinner and go find your cowboy.”

“But—”

“Ash, you’ve been pining after this cowboy and his Adonis muscles for years. You need to drop everything and go ride his lasso.”

“I don’t think you know what that is . . . or how it works.”

“Whatever. Just go, Ash, stop stalling.”

“Wait,” I call out before she can hang up, “I’m nervous. I don’t know what I am doing. I’ve never . . .”

“He will know what to do,” she says without hesitation. “Older, wiser, and all that jazz. Now, go and tell me all about it tomorrow.”

I throw one last look at my reflection before leaving the bathroom. I realize I haven’t come up with an excuse yet by the time I’ve made it to the table.

“Oh, you’re back,” my mother says with a relieved sigh. “Joseph was just telling us about that time—”

“I have to go, Mom,” I interrupt, certain I am not interested in hearing about another adventure. The more he speaks, the less truthful he sounds.

“Go where?” She looks up at me, her eyes panicked.

“Home. I just heard from Luna that . . . uhm, her iguana died,” I blurt out.

Her brows draw in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, Mom, my best friend is an emotional wreck, and I need to be there for her. She would do the same thing if something happened to my goldfish. Anyway, I promised her I would video call her to comfort her, so I have to leave, but please, enjoy the dinner without me.”

I grab my purse and sprint out of the restaurant before they can stop me and ask for the nonexistent lizard’s name. I can’t believe I couldn’t come up with a better lie than that, but I can’t think about it now.

It worked, and that’s all that matters.

I grab a taxi just outside the restaurant, wincing at the time displayed on the dash. I figure it’ll be pretty late when I make it back to the ranch. I don’t even have Logan’s number to call him, but he promised he’d find me. I can only hope that he will find his way into my room before the night’s end.

***

A hand grabs onto my arm the second I walk into my bedroom and a palm clamps over my mouth before I can open my lungs enough to scream. The hand on my arm moves to my stomach, and I am pulled into a muscular chest.

My first thought is that I walked in on a robbery because I was so eager to leave dinner early, and the next is that it’s a kidnapping. I start kicking, but the arm around me has an iron grip, and all I do is exhaust myself, as it doesn’t move an inch.

“Calm down, princess,” a deep, familiar voice growls into my ear, and my body stills. A warm sensation drops to my stomach, and a deep longing takes place of the fear that’d been rocking my core just mere seconds ago.

I gasp when he shifts behind me, his heavy erection brushing against my ass.

“I’ve been waiting for hours,” he growls, but doesn’t let go of my mouth long enough to hear my reply. He runs his hand over my stomach, slipping it under my top and cupping my breasts over the bra, sending a deep ache between my thighs.

---