“Sparrow was real gentle, so I donated him to an organization that teaches disabled kids to ride.”
“What a great idea. Do you think you’ll ever get another one?”
“I’ve thought about it. It’s a commitment, though. Once you have a horse, you either take care of it every day or pay someone to do it. Ideally it should be you, so you bond with that animal. I do enjoy ‘em, though.” He looked over at her. “Want to stroke Winston’s nose? It’s like velvet. He loves being touched.”
He’s not the only one. She stepped closer and smoothed her hand down the horse’s nose. “It does feel like velvet. Do you like this, Winston?”
He blew air softly through his nostrils.
“I think that’s a yes. And now you can say you’ve made friends with a horse.”
“Yeah.” She continued to stroke Winston’s nose. “This is kind of fun.”
“You can branch out, reach up and scratch behind his ears, rub his neck.”
“Like he’s a big dog?”
“Exactly.”
Winston did his low huh-HUH-huh thing again.
“He’s telling you he likes that.”
“I like it, too. His coat is so warm and smooth.” She moved her hand in circles over his powerful neck.
“It is.” He cleared his throat. “But you need to stop, now.”
“Oh? Am I doing something wrong?” Turning her head, she met his gaze.
“Not wrong, but you’re doing something…to me.” Heat flared in his eyes.
Her hand stilled as her breathing kicked into high gear.
“Come on over here.” He guided her away from the stall and into a secluded corner at the back of the barn. Releasing her hand, he slowly pulled her into his arms, his gaze never leaving hers. “I’m going to kiss you, Emma, and I hope to hell you feel like kissing me back, because I need…”
Her heart performed a quick drum solo and she couldn’t seem to get enough air. “What…what do you need?”
He cradled the back of her head, splaying his fingers on either side of her ponytail. Then he leaned down until his mouth brushed hers. “You.”
Her pulse leaped as he took full possession of her mouth. She kissed him back, all right. And then some.
The response she’d locked down since arriving yesterday burst forth, bubbling through her veins in a wild river of pleasure. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she reveled in the urgent press of his lips, the eager slide of his tongue, the erotic taste of his desire.
With a soft groan, he used both hands to cup her backside and tuck her in tight against his hips. There was no mistaking that move. He wanted more than a kiss.
So did she. The firm ridge of his cock brought everything back—the wild nights that had steamed up the windows of her bedroom and left her breathless and satisfied. The laughter and the pillow fights. Drinking cocoa in bed and experimenting with whipped cream…
He lifted his head and gulped for air. “We can’t…we have to…”
“We have to go back to the house.” She drew in a ragged breath. “How long have we been out here?”
“Damned if I know.” His fingers flexed against the denim of her jeans. “And you’re definitely in great shape.”
She smiled. “We should have checked the time.”
“Didn’t think of it.” He nuzzled the curve of her neck. “Too busy thinking about this.”
Heaven. She tilted her head to give him greater access. “Admit it. You shaved for me.”
“For both you and the baby.” He nibbled her ear. “You taste delicious. Who needs dinner?”
“This isn’t about dinner. We’re Kendra’s guests. We can’t—”
“But I don’t want to let you go.”
“Mm.” She closed her eyes. “But if one of us doesn’t put a stop to this…”
“I will. Any minute, now.” He dropped soft kisses all over her face.
“It’s not like we can have sex.”
“We can’t?” He relaxed his grip and eased away from her. “I mean, I know not right now, but maybe later—”
“Later we’ll have our little munchkin.”
“Oh.” He looked sheepish. “You’re right. I’m not used to thinking in those terms.” He heaved a sigh. “So this is it, then? A quick make-out session and back to being platonic for the rest of your visit?”
“It might be for the best.”
He gazed at her. “Do you really think so?”
“I have no idea.”
“That makes two of us.” He recaptured her hand and squeezed it. “Let’s go see about that munchkin.”
Chapter Fifteen
Once Gage had a few brain cells working again, he questioned the wisdom of stealing those kisses in the barn. They only made him want more of what he couldn’t have. Not during this visit, anyway.
Now there was a setup for sexual frustration. Good thing she was sitting across the dinner table, out of reach. It gave him a chance to cool down and refocus his attention on Josh.
The little guy was currently putting on a show gnawing away on one of the smaller pieces of corn. Clearly this wasn’t Kendra’s first rodeo. She’d put a vinyl tablecloth under the highchair at the end of the long table.
She and his dad sat on either side of Josh and supervised his meal. With Emma’s permission, they gave him pieces of lettuce, a wedge of tomato and half of a dinner roll. He made a mess of all of it and a lot ended up on the vinyl cloth on the floor. They just laughed and gave him more ammunition.
Emma glanced across the table at Kendra. “I’m glad you had a cloth to put down.”
“I’m glad I saved it. That thing’s as old as Ryker.” She gave Josh the other half of the dinner roll.
“Josh is an enthusiastic eater.” Emma gazed at him with fondness. “And loves having an audience. Thanks for rising to the challenge and letting him interrupt your meal.”
His dad turned to her and smiled. “It’s a treat for me.”
“Me, too,” Kendra said. “It’s like being the relievers for the starting pitcher. We’re well rested and raring to go.”
“Good description. And he’s having the time of his life.”
“Oh!” Kendra left her chair. “I have video of Grandpapa Quinn walking him through the house.” She came back with her phone and handed it to Emma. “Take a look.”
“I want to see this.” Gage got up and walked around to peer over her shoulder. The scent of her perfume tempted him but he concentrated on the video. “Wow, Dad! You have him practically walking!”
“That’s how I used to do it with you kids. Just get behind you and hold your hands. It works.”
“We made it through the entire house,” Kendra said. “He’s seen the whole setup.”
“Only time I picked him up was when I wanted him to look out the window so he could see the chicken coop. Too bad the chickens are tucked in for the night. I’ll bet he’d have loved watching them.” He turned to Josh. “Next time, little buddy.”
“Pa-pa-pa-pa.” Josh went back to mouthing the dinner roll.
“I would love to see them, too,” Emma said. “Do you get fresh eggs?”
“I sure do.” Kendra took back the phone when the video ended and scrolled through her pictures. “Here’s the coop Trevor built for me.”
“It’s a Victorian house! How cool.”
“It’s a blast having chickens. I always wanted to.”
“I’m sure Josh would be excited to see them. Like I said, he’s having the time of his life. Gage talked about taking him for a short horseback ride, too.”
“With me holding him, of course.” Gage returned to his seat. “Just a short circuit around the pasture.”
Kendra nodded. “I did that with all my boys. Got ‘em used to horses from the time they could sit up.”
“I did the same,” his dad said. “Great idea to start Josh on it now, son.” He turned to Emma. “Maybe I could talk you into driving over to my place in the morning. Gage can saddle up one of o
ur horses and that way I can—”
“But Dad, you work in your studio every morning. It’s your special time.”
“And that’s important, but this little shaver is leaving on Monday and tomorrow is filling up.”
“It is?” That was news to him.
“Yep. Kendra, did you tell them about the raptor center?”
“Whoops. Forgot. Zane said you could come over around eleven. Does that work?”
“Sure does,” Emma said. “Thank you for arranging it.”
“Anyway,” his dad continued. “After the raptor center you’ll want to head to the soda fountain for a sandwich and a hot fudge sundae. Then Josh will need a nap, and poof! The day’s gone. I can forgo a couple of hours in my studio in the morning if the payoff is seeing my grandson sit a horse for the first time.”
Gage looked over at Emma. “What do you think?”
“I think that would be wonderful. He’s a lucky boy. It’s like a grandkid’s paradise around here.”
Kendra beamed at her. “I was hoping you thought so, because I have a huge request.”
“What’s that?”
“Quinn and I would love to keep him tomorrow night. Quinn’s already shown him the crib he’d sleep in, and if you bring him a little early he can help me feed the chickens, and we can take him down to the barn, and sit on the front porch for a while, and—”
“You can tell she’s not very excited about this plan,” his dad said with a smile.
Emma looked startled. “You mean overnight?”
“If you’d consider it,” Kendra said. “You and Gage could go out for a nice dinner at the Guzzling Grizzly. Nicole will be performing tomorrow night and she does this singalong thing that is really popular.”
“It’s amazing.” Gage hurried to add his two cents. “The energy of the place shoots up about a thousand percent when everyone joins in on the old country favorites.” He focused on Emma. “I guarantee you’d have fun.”
“I’ve never left him overnight before.”
“There’s always a first time.” Kendra’s voice was warm with understanding. “And you’d make Quinn and me really happy. What a pleasure to have him all to ourselves.”
“Well…I guess it’s not like we’d be out of touch. I’d have my phone with me and you could call or text if anything came up.”
“And we would,” his dad said. “Instantly. I promise you we wouldn’t try to wing it.”
Emma smiled. “Considering the combined parental experience you and Kendra bring to the task, you’d probably handle an emergency better than I would.”
His heart beat faster. She was seriously considering the idea. Which could mean…better not let himself go there. It could show in his expression. Maintain. Maintain.
“And like Kendra says, there’s got to be a first time and who better than you two?” Emma took a breath. “It would be a good thing for both Josh and me. Thank you. I accept.”
Gage worked very hard to mute his response. Even so, his exclamation of “Great!” was likely too enthusiastic if his dad’s raised eyebrows were any indication.
The meal ended soon after that. The combination of a long day and a short nap had finally caught up with Josh. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Gage carried him out to Emma’s car and the baby was asleep by the time he was belted in. “I think we wore him out today.”
“You know, that’s okay.” Emma stowed the baby backpack on the floor of the car and softly closed the door. “His world has just expanded and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
“What time should I have a horse saddled in the morning?”
“How about nine? That gives me plenty of time to get us both ready for the day. Besides, Mrs. Stanislowski told me that Sunday breakfast is the highlight of the week at the B&B.”
“You don’t want to miss that.” He’d contact Mrs. Stanislowski in the morning and make sure she had his credit card on file to take care of Emma’s bill.
“I’m touched that your dad will change his work schedule for this.”
“Which tells you just how badly he wants to do it.”
“I can tell, which is one of the reasons I went along with the idea. The first time Josh sits a horse as your dad phrased it, must be a big deal.”
“You’ve got that right. The family photo albums have a picture of each of us on that day. It’s not like we had to do anything except sit in my dad’s lap, but the significance of it was huge.”
“I’m getting that. This might be more important than Josh’s first solo steps.”
“It is to horse people. It’s the passing of the torch.”
“Then Josh is supposed to grow up to be a cowboy? If I pay attention to that old song, I shouldn’t let him.”
“Yeah, well.” Gage smiled. “It’s a great song but I can’t go along with the message. Josh could do worse than a career working with horses.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She made a movement to go. “I should probably get that little guy home.”
“Right.” He walked with her around to the driver’s door. “It appears we have a date for tomorrow night.” He said it casually, as if he hadn’t pinned all kinds of hopes on that event.
“Guess so.” She turned to him. “You sounded happy about that.”
He didn’t have enough light to see her expression. “I am happy. How about you?”
“It should be fun if I’m not on pins and needles worrying about how Josh is doing.”
“Then I’ll just have to keep you thoroughly entertained, won’t I?”
She tossed her keys from one hand to the other. “Think you’re up to it, cowboy?”
She was in. Excitement left him breathless. “Yes, ma’am, I do.”
“Are you sure about that? You’ve only given me one real kiss since I got here. How do I know whether you can deliver on your—mmph.”
He kissed her for all he was worth, holding her steady with a firm grasp on her shoulders. The sweet connection with her mouth flooded his body with heat that arrowed straight to his bad boy.
As her lips softened beneath his, as she moaned and opened to the thrust of his tongue, joy rushed though him. He’d driven to Great Falls two days ago because of this…transcendence.
Sinking into a kiss with Emma meant surrendering to the magic of something he couldn’t quite explain. He’d only found it with her.
They’d been good together, the best. Neither of them had been ready to admit it. Maybe they weren’t ready now, either. He needed more time alone with her, much more time. Tomorrow night would be a start but he already knew it wouldn’t be enough.
* * *
The next morning at breakfast with his dad and Pete, Gage discussed which of the three horses in the barn would be best for Josh’s first experience.
“Any of them.” Pete ate his last piece of bacon. “Too bad you don’t have a horse out there, bro, since I assume you’ll be the one doing the honors.”
“He will,” their dad said. “That’s tradition. I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to do it, but I’ve had my turn, four times.”
“Then which horse do you think I should saddle up?”
“I agree with Pete. They’re all sweethearts and would be reliable. But since you don’t have a horse of your own, how about using mine? Then we’ll memorialize Banjo in a picture as well as Josh’s first time.”
Gage smiled. “I was thinking that, too. A buckskin will be a little different. As I recall, we have a lot of bays in those photo albums.” He pushed away his plate. “That reminds me. Do you have the old photo albums handy?”
“In a box in my closet. I’ve considered getting some of those pictures digitized before they get any more faded. Did you want to have a look at the one of you on a horse when you were a little squirt?”
“I was thinking about it. Emma might get a kick out of seeing me when I was around Josh’s age.”
“Then I’ll dig that one out for you.” He left the table and carried his
dishes to the sink. “It’ll take me a while to find the right album.” He opened the dishwasher and put his plate in. “So you and Pete should go on out to the barn.”
“We’ll do that. Is Kendra coming over?”
“Yep. She said she’d get here as soon as she could.” He closed the dishwasher and left the kitchen.
Pete finished his coffee and put down his mug. “We do have a lot of bays in those family pictures, now that you mention it.”
“Because they’re popular. Wes chose one.”
“And I picked Clifford partly because he’s a strawberry roan and I wanted something different. Do you ever regret giving away Sparrow?”
“No. He didn’t fit my lifestyle and he was perfectly suited to that program.”
“What about now?”
“Emma asked if I planned to get another one. I told her I was thinking about it. They do tie a person down, though.”
“So does a kid.”
He met his brother’s gaze. “I’m aware of that. It’s one of the reasons I’m not rushing out to get a horse.”
“Yeah, although…”
“What?”
“Never mind.” He stood and picked up his dishes. “Let’s go get that buckskin ready for his close-up.”
Chapter Sixteen
Emma slowed the car as she came to the end of a winding dirt road and her tires crunched on a circular gravel drive. Although Quinn’s house wasn’t as large and impressive as Kendra’s, Emma liked it instantly.
Maybe it was the warm brown shade of the wood exterior and the rustic look of the wooden shutters. The rockers sat slightly askew on the front porch and a magazine lay on a nearby table, as if someone had just left to refill a coffee mug. Tall, feathery pines grew close to the house and several small birds hopped around on the porch floor as if searching for crumbs.
Sparrows? Gage had named his horse after a small bird, not an eagle or a hawk. She was curious about that choice.
She stopped in front of the house and looked across a clearing toward the barn, where all the action was taking place. Three pickups, including Gage’s, were parked to one side of the double door.
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