Page 25 of October’s Cowboy Beau

I held out my hand. “Fair enough.”

She took it. When her boots hit the ground she didn’t let go, and for a second we stood next to the wagon with our hands still joined and the grounds quiet around us. Yesterday’s kiss had changed the rules.

“Are you going to kiss me again?” she asked.

“I was thinking about it.”

“You spend a lot of time thinking.”

“Not usually.”

That made her smile.

I put one hand at her waist and leaned down to kiss her. There wasn’t any hesitation on her part. Caroline stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my neck while I pulled her closer. The kiss turned deeper before either of us tried to slow it down.

Hank shifted behind me, making the harness hardware jingle. I forced myself to pull back.

“I’ve got horses to take care of.”

“Your timing is terrible.”

“They don’t care.”

“I’m starting to understand where I rank around here.”

I smiled. “You hungry?”

“That depends on whether a cinnamon roll counts as dinner.”

“It doesn’t. I’ve got chili.”

She looked at me, then toward my truck. “Is this your smooth way of inviting me to go home with you?”

“Probably not smooth.”

“No. But I’ll give you points for effort.”

“Come eat.”

Caroline nodded. “Okay.”

CHAPTER 6

CAROLINE

Following Beau’s truck out of Mustang Mountain felt like a much bigger commitment than agreeing to a bowl of chili. His taillights stayed a few car lengths ahead of me on the dark road toward the Jordan ranch as the temperature on my dashboard kept dropping. I turned up the heat and tried to convince myself I was going for dinner because I’d only eaten half a cinnamon roll all day.

That might’ve worked if I hadn’t spent the whole drive thinking about the way he’d kissed me next to the wagon. By the time he turned into the ranch, I’d stopped pretending I was only in it for the chili.

He parked by the barn and went to unload Hank and Gus, talking to them in the same low voice he used whenever he worked. I leaned against the fence and stayed out of his way. Some people would’ve rushed in to ask what they could carry. I didn’t know enough to be useful, and Beau didn’t need somebody in the way while he settled two horses that weighed more than my SUV.

He checked their water and ran his hands over both of them before he shut off the barn lights. I liked watching him work. That had stopped surprising me somewhere around the parade route.

“You could’ve gone inside,” he said when he joined me.

“I don’t know where inside is.”

He pointed toward the house. “The big building with windows.”