me getting up like a fire’s been lit under my ass. Scurrying over to Five, I straighten out her saddle, check her hooves, anything to keep myself from looking over at his naked form.
“Hand me my clothes, will ya?” Water is dripping down the shorts he’s twisting in his hands. “What?” Five is nuzzling my hand. I pretend not to hear him.
“Clothes, Sugar.” He says deeper, not at all like he thinks I didn’t hear him.
“Hmm? Uh, yeah, sure.” Be cool. It’s just a naked, wet... hot, naked... naked, JT. The clothes are in my hands. My feet are walking towards the tree. Just before rounding the tree I turn my head, extending my hands with his clothes hanging from my fingertips.
I feel him grab my wrist and the clothes disappear from my hands. A warm breeze caresses my neck. Kiss me. I will him. “Thank you.” He says softly, placing a chaste kiss on the inside of my wrist. My knees go weak feeling the heat of his lips. I’m burning to turn my head. Instead, I walk back over to Five.
I don’t bother to ring out my clothes. I’ll just change when I get there. The wetness of my jeans is going to chafe me but it’s worth being uncomfortable to spend time with JT.
When he emerges from behind the tree he has his wet boxer briefs in his hand. He smirks when he sees me glance at the lower half of my body. The blood is rushing to my cheeks again. I quickly go back to fiddling around with the saddle.
“So...” I start to say, trying to think of anything but JT, riding commando. “Kip says you’ve been helping out with the finances at the ranch?” He seems to stiffen a little. “Uh huh.”
We both mount up and start walking back down the path, side by side. I keep my face averted from his. Blushing is embarrassing enough. Maybe if I don’t look at him I can focus on what I want to say. “Do you think you could, maybe, take a moment to catch me up to speed with whatever you’ve been working on? You know, if you have time, I mean.” Get a grip Lil’.
“Yeah,” he replies like he’s surprised. “Absolutely.” I wonder what he thought I was going to ask. “In fact, I am free tonight. I just have to run back over to my place and grab my laptop. Why don’t I run to town and grab some dinner. We can make it a dinner meeting?”
“Oh,” wow, okay, dinner meeting. Kind of like a date?
“Yeah. It’s a date.” Oh no, did I say that out loud? I look over. He’s trying to hide his amusement.
Eight
After Lily and I take care of the horses I get in my truck and head over to the Tanner ranch. My Dad is based out at the Boulder office. I manage the ranch here with the help of Langston and his sons, longtime friends of the Tanners. They’ve been with our family for so long we consider them relatives. They are all out on the range or doing chores so it’s pretty quiet when I pull up. The place has been self-sufficient for a long time now.
The look on Lily’s face was adorable when she mentioned a date. I don’t think she meant to say that out loud but I’m glad she did. We’re not kids anymore and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. Eventually, we’re going to have to talk about it but for now I’m just going to enjoy her company. Being with her, talking with her, it’s like we’ve been friends this whole time. If she knew how closely I kept an eye on her, she’d probably freak out.
My shower is a warm reprieve but I start thinking about sweet vanilla and the softness of Lily’s skin. I turn the water cold and try to douse my body’s eagerness. As soon as I am out of the shower getting dressed my mind wanders back to Lily. This girl is really getting inside my head. I tried for so long to block her out. I can’t think of a good enough excuse not to let her in anymore.
The house is so quiet. My home office is on the first floor and faces Lily’s ranch. I can’t actually see the main house but I know it’s there. I had left my cell phone on my desk so I would remember to