Page 27 of Riding Into Love
“So, you’re only keeping me around because my dad asked you to?”
“No. I gave you a shot because I was honor bound to. But you’ve earned your place. You’re a hard worker, and you know your way around horses.”
“Gee, thanks. You’re really buttering me up, aren’t you?”
“Would you stop? What I’m saying is, I wouldn’t have kept you around if you weren’t good at your job. And you’re good. Better than I expected.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“You bet your ass, it is.”
River shakes her head and sips her beer. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Anytime, darlin’.”
The next hour flies by as we eat and drink and talk about everything and nothing at all. The crowd starts coming in, and the volume inside the bar rises, but we hardly notice at all. At least, I don’t. River has captivated my every thought.
I want her. Plain and simple.
But I can’t push her. I have to let her come to me.
“You about ready to call it a night?” I ask her.
“Yeah, sure. Let me run to the bathroom real quick, and then we can go.”
“All right.”
River scoots her chair back and stands. “Be right back.”
I watch her walk off, admiring the view. That girl has the sexiest legs, and that ass—damn, I could write poetry about it. But it seems I’m not the only one who notices.
A man sitting at the end of the bar is watching her too, and something in his stare makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I throw back the last of my drink and wait for her to come back, keeping an eye on the guy. He’s still watching her, and when she caches sight of him, her face turns whiter than a ghost. She stumbles, tripping over her own feet, and that’s when I know something is very, very wrong.
I stand, knocking my chair back. It falls to the ground, and several people look over at me. But my focus is solely on River and the man reaching out to grab her arm.
I move so fast, everything blurs. I’m around the table, between them. “Everything okay, River? Do you know this guy?”
“N-no,” she stammers. “Never seen him before in my life.”
“What the hell, River?” the man asks, reaching around me to grab her arm again.
“Get your fucking hands off her, or I’ll rip your goddamn arms off.”
He drops his hand. “Look, I just want to talk to her. We go way back.”
“I said no.”
“This doesn’t involve you, old man. So, if you’d kindly fuck off—”
“The lady doesn’t want to talk, and unless she says otherwise, I suggest you find someone else to bother. Understand?”
His eyes hold mine for a long minute, and then, without warning, he’s moving. His fist connects with my jaw, and stars dance behind my eyelids. The taste of copper coats my tongue.
“Colby!”
I shake it off and tackle him, shoving him against the bar. My fist slams into his cheek, and blood splatters. The bastard has a glass jaw. Good to know.
He tries to hit me again, but I’m too quick. I duck out of the way and come up swinging. This time, I nail him in the side. He doubles over, and I bring my knee up, nailing him in the nose.
