The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,11
stopped. He hadn’t seen her do that since she was a kid. But she was no longer a kid. Jennifer Barrett was all woman from the top of her gorgeous blonde head to the tips of her red-painted toes.
“I love this time of day,” she said softly without opening her eyes. “It’s like the world breathes a sigh and snuggles in for the night.”
Why did she have to talk about sighing and snuggling? He remembered sitting on the porch in the glider with Caroline shoved up against his side, her finger twirling in his hair, her soft whiney voice begging him to spend less time tending to the ranch and more time tending to her. He shook away the memory. “Come on, I’ll show you the horses.”
When he opened the barn door, Jennifer’s eyes widened at the long rows of stalls lining each side, with a freshly swept brick alleyway.
“The barn is much bigger than I remember. Very nice.”
“Yeah,” Rafe said, resisting the urge to puff out his chest. “We redid it from the ground up. It holds three times as many horses than it did a few years ago.”
A few horses poked their heads out and pricked up their ears curious about their visitors. One of the barn cats, who was perched on a bale of hay grooming his paws, hopped down to the barn floor and rubbed his golden-colored body against Jennifer’s leg. That cat didn’t like anybody.
Jennifer leaned over and scratched the old tom behind his ears. The cat’s purr increased to a satisfied rumble. Her jeans stretched around her perfectly shaped rear and the tail of her top pulled upward exposing an expanse of skin. His fingers itched to touch her there and find out if her skin was as soft as it looked. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans instead.
When his horse, Silver Bells, who he affectionately called Possum, stuck his gray head over the stall door, Jennifer rubbed his neck and muzzle while he blew softly over her fingers, his eyes half-closing in adoration. She used to be afraid of horses. Jennifer crooned to Possum and the big lug couldn’t take his eyes off her. I know how you feel, pal.
Molly’s pony, a dainty white mare stuck her head over the low stall door with her ears pricked and soft whickers issuing from her muzzle. Jennifer swept her hand over the pony’s neck and the animal closed her eyes as if to sleep.
“She likes you,” Rafe said.
Jennifer smiled. “She’s a sweetheart.” She looked up at him, her eyes glistening in the soft light of the barn, her lips slightly parted. His gaze slipped to her mouth and a vein thrummed in his neck. “Remember that day you started teaching me to ride?”
How could he forget? She’d been shaking like a bare branch in winter, her face pale, her hands gripped the saddle horn until her knuckles turned white. She’d pasted on a fake smile to try and hide her fear, but he’d seen through her.
“Yeah, I remember. You were terrified at first but after a few turns around the paddock you started to relax.”
“While I’m in town, would you consider continuing those riding lessons?”
No, Rafe screamed inside his head. Teaching Jennifer to ride meant spending even more time with her outside of their working relationship. He wanted nothing to do with the temptation standing before him. Forget about touching her, McCord. He imagined helping her onto a horse for her first ride, her sparkling eyes and perfectly shaped lips tempting him. Not to mention her sweet butt as it settled into the saddle. He wouldn’t stand a chance. At the moment he couldn’t think of a good reason to refuse. “Sure, if we find ourselves with some free time.”
She rubbed the pony’s silky neck. “Great, I have some friends who are members of a riding club and I’d like to join.” She fixed her gaze on his. “You know it really wasn’t the horse I was afraid of. It was you.”
Shock bucked around inside him. “Me?”
A light blush climbed her cheeks. She shrugged and focused back on Lucy. “What I mean is I had a terrible crush on you.” She glanced at him and started laughing. “Don’t worry, I got over it.”
***
Sweet jiminy Christmas. She’d never gotten over it.
JC walked beside Rafe toward the house wondering why she’d gone temporarily insane and admitted that to him and asked him to give her riding lessons too. Maybe it was the quiet