Page 35 of Her Bachelor Cowboy Billionaire

At the edge of the meadow, a stream rushed past, tumbling over rocks along the way. She dismounted and walked down to the edge of the water, where she had a good view up and down the creek. She squatted, cupped her hand, and dipped it into the water. The liquid was perfectly clear, and she was suddenly very thirsty. She brought her hand up and sipped. The water was cool, not icy, but still very refreshing.

Standing, she walked back up the hill to where Roark sat on Apollo. “What feeds this stream?”

“An underground lake. It’s quite clean, and the fish like it.” He pointed downstream. “A perfect spot for fly-fishing is down there, just around the bend.”

“I’d love to take a walk along the bank and get a look at it.”

“Let’s go then.” He dismounted and dropped his reins on the ground.

This was the second time she’d seen him do it and she just had to mention it. “It’s amazing that your horses are trained to ground tie. They train very few horses that way any longer.”

“As you can see, I have a lot of land where there is nowhere to tie a horse, so ground tying was a necessity.”

“I can understand that. It’s also a nice convenience.” She started walking. “Come on. I want to see this fly-fishing spot.”

“Right this way, sweetheart.”

There it was again. He called me sweetheart. Does he mean it as an endearment or something else?She walked along the bank until she reached the bend. Then she cut the corner to pass the bend in the river. Before her was a beautiful, calm and deep pool. “You were right. It’s perfect to fish from the bank or go down to the shore, but it looks too deep to wade.”

“It is, but it’s perfect for a swim.”

She shook her head. “Oh, no, I don’t do swimming in cold water.”

“Didn’t I tell you, there’s a hot spring that meets it? The water is quite mild here.”

“Really? You’re not saying that just so you can see me naked?”

“Well, I’d like to see you naked.” He waggled his brows and grinned. “But I’m not kidding about the creek. It really is nice and refreshing.”

“Okay, maybe I’ll try it…next time.”

He laughed. “Going to pack your swimsuit?”

“That’s the plan.” She grinned and turned back toward the horses. The sun was setting and she shivered in the light breeze. “I suppose we should head back to the ranch. When did you plan on coming back to camp?”

“I thought we could spend today and tomorrow at the ranch and come back here on Sunday. Does that meet with your approval?”

“Yes, that’ll work. Speaking of which, I need to do a little work while I’m here. I’ll try to do that tonight after we go to bed.”I need to write chapter fourteen and then the epilogue, and I’ll be done with that book. I can probably format it and upload it tomorrow. Then I can start on my next series. I think I’ll set it on a ranch in Montana.

Roark lifted his brows. “So we’re going to bed…together?” He winked.

She felt her face heat centered in her cheeks. “Not together…together. Together…apart.”

He laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m teasing you, but I won’t turn you down…when you’re ready.”

“I’ll remember that.”

I don’t understand myself. Why do I feel so comfortable with Roark? Why do I want to drop my clothes and let him make love to me? I know I can’t. I won’t be put in that position again. I will not let myself be hurt, and I’m afraid Roark could hurt me deeply because I care for him more than I’ve ever cared for a man and more than I want to admit.

* * *

The next day,they rode back to the stream. Jessica brought her flyrod and fishing vest. The vest held flies that her father had tied. She hadn’t been able to actually use the flyrod or the flies in ten years. It was time that she honored her father by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes, one he’d done with her.

Roark brought his flyrod, too.

“Are we keeping or releasing?”

He looked up. “I think we should release them since we aren’t camping and have no way of preparing them.”