Claimed by the Cowboy (Sons of Chance #3) - Vicki Lewis Thompson Page 0,17
He messed with the buckle on the left stirrup and kept brushing her leg in the process. She could have moved her leg out of the way, but she chose not to. His touch gave her the kind of shivers she hadn’t had in ten months.
He finished with the left stirrup and moved around the back of the horse to repeat the same procedure on the right side. She could swear his breathing had changed.
“Try that.” His voice was as calm as ever, but he didn’t look at her.
“How’s it supposed to feel?”
He glanced up at her then, and his gaze was a lot more intense than it had been earlier. “It should feel…” His voice grew husky. “It should feel good.”
Her breath caught. “I don’t know what good feels like.”
Groaning softly, he squeezed his eyes shut. “Damn, Josie.”
“I’m talking about the saddle.”
He opened his eyes and looked into hers. “No, you’re not, and neither am I.”
Heat sluiced through her.
“Maybe we should stay in the corral.”
“Sounds boring.”
“Sounds safe. You’ve never ridden before, so walking around the corral is probably the best—”
“I’d rather ride on the trail.”
He gave her a long look. “All right. Then let’s check your stirrups so we can get going. Stand up. There should be daylight between the saddle and your… and you.” He swore softly again and looked away. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes.” She pressed the balls of her feet into the stirrups and rose up. “How’s that?”
“Fine.”
“You didn’t look.”
“Yeah, I did. You just missed seeing it.” He untied the reins from the hitching post, knotted them together, and lifted them over Destiny’s head. “Hold these in your left hand.”
She took the reins and their hands brushed. Once again her nerve endings played the Hallelujah Chorus.
As if he needed some distance, Jack stepped back to deliver further instructions. “This horse neck reins. That means you lay the reins on his left side and he’ll veer right, and vice-versa.”
“Got it. How do I make him stop?”
“Say whoa and pull back gently and evenly on the reins. It won’t take much. He has a soft mouth.” Then, as if he couldn’t help himself, Jack’s gaze went to her mouth.
Acting without thinking, she ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips. Jack kept staring at her mouth, and she found herself leaning forward.
No telling what might have happened next if a rugged-looking cowboy who appeared to be in his late fifties hadn’t called out from the doorway of the barn. “Hey, Jack, I’m going to run into town and pick up a couple of new shovels for the barn.”
Jack blinked and gave his head a little shake before turning toward the barn. “That’s fine, Emmett.”
“Oh, and have a nice ride, Josie,” Emmett said. “You’ll like Destiny. He has an easy gait, like sitting on a rocking chair.”
“Thanks, Emmett.” Josie recognized him now. He was Emmett Sterling, the ranch foreman. Every once in awhile he came into the Spirits and Spurs for a beer, but he usually kept to himself so she had never gotten into a conversation with him.
“I doubt I’ll be back in time for lunch,” Emmett said. “Unless you have an objection, I’ll stop by the Bunk and Grub on the way home and check out a drainage problem in Pam’s vegetable garden.”
Jack smiled. “No problem. Have fun.”
“It’s not like that, Jack. I’m just being neighborly, is all.”
“I understand, Emmett. We surely don’t want Pam thinking we’re a bad neighbor. I’m glad you’re on the job.”
Emmett snorted and waved a dismissive hand before heading for one of the two trucks parked beside the barn.
As Jack untied Bandit, he lowered his voice so only Josie could hear. “He’s sweet on Pam, but he won’t admit it.”
“Why not?” Josie was very fond of Pam, who owned a local B&B. “She’s wonderful, and they’re about the same age.”
“She’s also loaded, and Emmett has some very old-fashioned ideas about money.”
“That’s too bad.”
“They might work it out, yet.” Gathering the reins in one hand, he swung effortlessly up on his horse. “Ready?”
Oh, yeah. It wasn’t the prospect of a horseback ride that had her quivering like a bowlful of jelly. When she looked at Jack sitting astride that magnificent black and white Paint like some dark warrior of old, she was ready for whatever he had in mind. She sat there in total awe.
Jack’s horse danced around and tossed his white mane while Destiny simply stood as if planted in the dirt. Josie didn’t care a bit. She was content to