by Tessa Layne
“That’s it,” Lexi said in a hushed voice. “Let her get to know your scent, first. You can talk to her, if you like,” she added after a pause.
He wasn’t sure he had a voice anymore. He swallowed. “Hey, girl,” he said softly.
Winny huffed again, nose pushing against his hand.
“She’s asking for pets. You can scratch her between the eyes, or around her ears, or pet her jowls. She likes that,” Lexi coaxed.
“You like that, girl?” he asked, bringing both hands to her head, and scratching her in the places Lexi had instructed. “Her nose is so soft,” he said with wonder in his voice.
“She’s one of the sweetest animals I know,” Lexi said with approval in her voice. He liked pleasing her, and the horse. “C’mon Win, let’s get your halter on.” She grabbed a contraption that hung on a hook next to the stall and slipped it over the horse’s nose and ears. “This is a halter, we use it for leading the horses.”
“And that’s different than a bridle.” He’d watched half-a-dozen videos last night, familiarizing himself with riding tack and the basics of saddling a horse.
Her mouth twitched. “You’ve done some homework. Are you ready to try and saddle her?”
“Sure, why not?” He knew the basics, and was sure she wouldn’t hesitate to correct him if he made a mistake.
Lexi hooked a lead line to the halter. “Let’s see how you do moving her out of the stall, then.”
For a moment dread pooled in his stomach. What if he spooked the horse? What if the horse didn’t like him? He’d watched plenty of videos about unruly horses. Enough to know that sometimes a horse just took a dislike to a person.
“It’s okay,” Lexi cajoled. “I promise you she’s super gentle. Just talk to her. Lead her out the door and loop the lead line over the paddock fence out there.”
“C’mon, Winny,” he said with a burr in his voice. “Let’s go.” He opened the stall door, and gave a gentle pull. The horse followed him without issue. Jarrod’s heart pounded all the way to the barn door, and when he’d successfully looped the lead line over the fence, a thrill of elation ran through him.
A moment later, Lexi joined him with her horse. “This is Oreo. He’s a real sweetie. Why don’t you stay with the horses and I’ll bring out the tack?”
“You can’t carry it all by yourself,” he challenged. “Let me help.”
“If you insist,” she said over her shoulder, already on her way back into the barn. “I’ve spent my whole life saddling horses without help from anyone.”
Jarrod hurried after her, not about to let her do the heavy lifting while he stood around doing nothing. What kind of ass did she take him for? At the threshold of the tack room, he paused. Lexi’s back was to him, and he took a moment to fully appreciate the heart shape of her ass, and the way her jeans gently skimmed over her hips. He’d loved her all buttoned-up in lawyer skirts and heels, but this… was a thousand times better. She was softer, so much more approachable like this. Yet stronger, too. Admiration for her swelled within him.
“You gonna help, or just stare?” she said, back still turned.
“Both,” he admitted.
Her head swiveled around, and her gaze collided with his. Electricity arced between them, making the air crackle with sexual tension. Lexi looked away first, pink staining her cheeks. “Saddle blankets are over there,” she mumbled, hauling a saddle off its stand.
“Here, let me,” he urged, closing the distance between them.
Lexi moved to block him. “No one,” she said with a grunt, hauling the saddle into her arms. “Touches my saddle.” She swung around and gave him a wink. “Bought this with my county fair winnings when I was sixteen. It’s my baby. You can grab that one, there.” She motioned with her head to a saddle in the corner, as she stepped past him and into the hall.
Jarrod followed her out with the other saddle, gently laying it on the ground next to hers, then went back for the blankets. Lexi looped two bridles over her arm and followed him back outside. “Do you think you can saddle Winny by yourself? I need to run up to the house.”
He gulped. “Sure.”
Lexi laid the bridles over the fence. “Hold off if you’re worried. I’ll just be a minute.”
“I’ve got it.” Thank heavens he had a photographic memory. He’d memorized the process and the hardware. What was most important was that Winny felt comfortable with him, so he spent another minute talking to her in a low voice, and petting the places she liked to be touched. Then he grabbed the saddle blanket, placing it firmly in the middle of her back, not too far forward, not too far back. It was like Goldilocks, everything needed to be just right. Then he placed the saddle on the blanket and pulled the cinch tight, but not too tight, against her chest. He unbuckled her halter, but kept it loosely around her neck. “Will you drop your head for me, sweetheart?” he crooned as he gently pushed down her nose and slipped the bridle on. She accepted the bit without incident, and pride surged through him as he surveyed his work. Not bad for a novice. Not bad at all.
“Looks good,” Lexi said with a note of admiration, checking that he hadn’t buckled the bridle too tight. “Check the cinch again once I have Oreo saddled. You might need to tighten it one last time before we go out.”
“Ready to scuff up those shiny boots?” she asked when she’d finished saddling Oreo.
He glanced down at his feet. There was a fine layer of dust coating his Justin boots, but they still looked brand new. They’d definitely need to be worn in before he went and talked to the other ranchers about Marshall’s idea. No one would take him seriously if he looked like a city poser. “More than ready.” He grinned over his shoulder as he placed a foot in the stirrup and hauled himself up. Getting into the saddle took more effort than he’d imagined, but at least he was strong and in good shape. If he’d let himself go, like many of the lawyers he knew in D.C., he’d have humiliated himself.
Lexi’s expression told him all he needed to know. He’d surprised her. He liked keeping her off balance, doing the unexpected. Not for the first time, he wondered what she’d think of Marshall’s suggestion that he run for mayor. “We need to shake up the town,” he’d said. “It’s been business as usual for over fifty years, and now the rest of the world is passing Prairie by. We need new blood, new ideas.”
Jarrod had agreed to think about it. The idea was intriguing enough that after he’d finished watching horse videos last night, he’d stayed up until nearly dawn, searching all sorts of public records information on Prairie. Marshall was right, Prairie was under-leveraging their resources, and he was the kind of guy that could help launch Prairie into the twenty-first century. A question ate at him though, as Winny turned and followed Oreo out of the barnyard. What would Lexi think?
Chapter Fourteen
“You’re riding really well,” Lexi said in a voice full of approval, when they reached the far side of the property. “You’re gentle with the reins. Most beginners pull too hard on the bit, which makes it uncomfortable for the horse.”
Jarrod gave a silent fist-pump. “Winny makes it easy.” In truth, every minute they rode, he felt more and more at home on the older mare. A tightness in his chest that had been present ever since losing Jason began to ease in his heart. “I can see why you ride every day.”
“It’s part of why I love ranching. It’s been good to be home.”
“Is it why you left D.C.? Because you missed this?”
“I did miss this, I didn’t realize how much until I came home.” Her jaw set. “But no, I left D.C. because I didn’t have a choice.”
“I don’t follow.”
She shot him a sharp look, eyes dark and stormy. “My firm sacked me after I lost the case. Worse, they made it very clear to every other firm that took environmental cases, that I was incompetent.” She practically spit out the word.
“How did I not know this?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” she said, voice still clipped. “It happened around
the time your brother died.”
An unexpected wave of grief rolled over him. The loss was still too fresh, too razor sharp. One moment, he could be fine — maybe not quite happy, but on the road getting back to that place — the next, he was crippled by pain so intense it took his breath away.
“Jarrod? Are you okay?”
His eyes snapped to hers. The anger was gone, replaced with concern. “I’m not,” he said honestly.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” she offered quickly. “I mean, you can if you want… but only if you want.”
“I… thank you.” He dropped his head, touched by her offer. He talked with Jamey when the pain became too intense, but he was the one who should be comforting his little sister, not adding to her own grief. And he’d learned in the weeks following his brother’s death, that most people become intensely uncomfortable where matters of death were concerned. So mostly he grieved late at night, in the quiet of his room.
“When Caro lost her first fiancé, it was heartbreaking for all of us. But it took her a long time before she was able to talk about it. Take your time.”
They rode on in silence. Eventually, the sound of the birds and the wind rushing over the grass began to calm the grief beast that raged inside him. The steady rhythm of Winny moving beneath him, the way she chuffed on occasion and pricked her ears brought him out of his thoughts and back to the present. They approached an outcropping of trees along the bank of a river, and slowed.
“This is the far end of our property. Steele Creek winds its way to and through town, and has been a natural dividing line for many of the ranches in the area — including the Sinclaire and Hansens.”
“This is the same creek?”
She nodded with a smile. “It’s one of the many things that ties us together. Whatever happens to the river, happens to all of us.”
Huh. To him, a river had always been ‘just’ a river.
“When I was a teenager and I needed to get away, this was where I’d come. I brought a picnic, so we can stop here a while.” She dismounted, and pulled out a blanket she’d tied behind the saddle.
Jarrod followed suit. “So that’s what you’ve been carrying slung over your shoulder? Lunch?”
“More like an afternoon snack.” She spread out the blanket underneath a tree, sat, and began to pull off her boots and socks. “Much better,” she said as she wiggled her toes.
He sat down next to her, pulling off his boots and socks, too. “I didn’t realize how hot my feet were getting,” he said, relieved by the cool air kissing his feet.
“It takes a while to get used to your boots,” she said. “But they’ll become your favorite pair once they’re broken in.” She reached into the satchel and pulled out two icy brown bottles, handing one over. “An experimental batch from Big Mike.” She popped off the lid, and handed him the bottle opener. “I hope you don’t mind being a guinea pig.”
“Not at all.” Jarrod took a long pull, enjoying the hoppy bite and piney tang coating his throat. “This is good. Really good.”
“Big Mike’s Brewery has been a great addition to Prairie in the last year.”
It was on his tongue to tell her about Marshall’s suggestion, but he held off. It was too soon to talk about replacing the mayor when he’d only been buried a day. And he had no desire to talk town politics when there was a beautiful woman at his side. “What else is in your magic bag?”
“Nothing much.” She pulled out three plastic containers. Apples, cheddar cheese, smoked sausage, and cookies.
“Are you kidding? This is a feast.” He leaned over, and gently kissed her sweet, soft mouth. “All of it,” he added in a husky rasp. He half-expected her to pull away, duck her head and reach for a slice of cheese or something, but she didn’t. She kissed him back. Tentatively at first, as if the passionate kissing of last night had been a figment of his imagination, but then with increasing fervor. With a groan, he dropped to his back, pulling her on top of him, not caring if he spilled his beer. He wanted more of her mouth on his. He could taste the beer on her tongue, and heat. So much heat between them. He burned where her body pressed against his, cock swelling to press against her hips.
He drew a hand down Lexi’s spine, and lower, palming her perfectly heart-shaped ass. The denim was as soft as he’d imagined. She ground her hips into him, tongue hot and demanding as she made greedy little noises in the back of her throat. He pulled at her shirt, freeing it from her jeans, fingers skating along the sensitive skin of her lower back. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he muttered, pressing a kiss to the hollow of her neck where her pulse raced. “About how you felt under me, how soft your skin is.”
She answered with a little moan that turned his cock to steel.
Maybe he shouldn’t be saying these things, maybe he was revealing too much, but he couldn’t stop. And she didn’t seem to want to, either. But still, he had to make sure. Because this time, if things went too far, there would be no undoing it, no pretending there wasn’t something between them. “I want you, Lexi, but this time, no pretending there’s nothing between us. No pretending like nothing’s happened. I won’t be your secret. Not here.”
She raised her head, giving him a long stare. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. The air left his chest, squeezing his insides tight. God, he felt like a teenager the first time he’d asked a girl out, tongue-tied and scared as fuck she’d say no. He didn’t want her to say no. If she said yes, he’d give her everything she ever wanted. He’d be attentive and thoughtful, okay, he’d still tease her, because there was no way he was quitting doing that, but the rest of it, he’d do. And he’d keep her in so many orgasms that she’d be the most relaxed, happy woman in Prairie. But she wasn’t saying anything, and as the seconds ticked by, a sick feeling developed in the pit of his stomach.
“I… yes,” she answered with a tentative smile after what was probably only a few seconds. “No secrets.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I’d like that very much.” It was crazy, agreeing to be Jarrod’s… whatever people called it these days. Girlfriend? Main squeeze? Friend with benefits? Lover? That just sounded weird, but in essence that’s what they’d agreed to. But everything inside her sang yes. They were both in a very different place than at Carolina’s wedding. And D.C. seemed like another planet entirely. Here at home, she was just Lexi. Animal lover, activist, rancher. She bent her head, mouth turning up as she kissed him with a giddy laugh. “I hope you brought condoms,” she muttered after they’d lain on the blanket making out like teenagers in the dappled shade.
“Always.”
She pushed herself to sitting, and began to undo the buttons on her shirt, one by one. Jarrod watched her avidly. She preened under his heated gaze, arching her back, revealing the skin and the treasure beneath her shirt. She shrugged out of it, tossing it to the side. Leaning over him, she did the same with his shirt, slowly revealing the skin and light smattering of hair that sprinkled his chest. He was as glorious as she’d remembered, muscles hard and rippling under her touch. He lifted to an elbow and in seconds, his shirt joined hers.
Sitting back on her heels, she reached for the clasp on her bra — a front clasp — and snapped it open, freeing her breasts. Jarrod sucked in a breath, eyes darting between her nipples, as if he was contemplating which one to devour first. She brought her hands to her breasts, cupping their fullness, enjoying the weight of them in her hand. Already, her nipples were pulled tight, aroused and anxious to be touched. She swept her thumbs over the hard peaks, before giving them a pinch that sent shoots of pleasure straight to her pussy. “Come here,” Jarrod growled, reaching for her. “Let me do that.”
She was more than happy to comply. His hand wrapped around her back and he pulled her onto him so that she straddled his hips. She made sure to settle on top of his bulging erection, giving her pussy a little friction while they played. Jarrod brought his head to her breast, taking a nipple. His mouth was hot on her skin,
his tongue lashing at the peak over and over until she moaned and wriggled against his hard shaft. He repeated his actions on the other one, licking and sucking, alternating between the two, licking the sensitive underside until her chest was slick with his ministrations. This was so much better sober. The sensations so much more intense. Waves of pleasure rippled through Lexi as she arched into Jarrod’s mouth, his hands. The sun through the leaves felt warm on her back, heightening her awareness, sensitizing her skin. She wriggled down, settling herself between his legs and set to work on the button of his jeans. In short order his jeans were open and he was helping her push them down, but he wasn’t going fast enough for her taste. She slipped her fingers inside his boxer briefs and gently tugged, freeing his enormous cock.
It took her breath away. It was bigger than she remembered, long and thick, and jutting straight out. The flared head glistened with precome and she could see the vein throbbing along his shaft. It was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen.
“Wait,” Jarrod choked out.
Her head popped up. Was he serious? Wait to take him into her mouth and devour him like a popsicle? Or her favorite flavor of ice cream cone?
His eyes were glazed. Wild, even. “Pants off,” he ordered.
“Mine?”
He gave her a lazy grin. “Only one of us is wearing pants.”
Her eyes flicked from his bobbing cock to the fierce determination on his face. “Okay?” She wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this, but she’d play along. She quickly shimmied out of her jeans, leaving the lacy panties she’d picked out especially for today’s ride, just in case, in place.
“Those, too.”
“Aren’t you even going to enjoy them?”
“Believe me, I am. But I’m going to enjoy you without them even more.”