Then he took her hands in his and spun her slowly out from his body, making her practically ache to return. When she looked back at him, his eyes had lost their laughter, and she saw an intensity that should have sent her flying for the door. Instead, she felt heat flush her cheeks and make its way south as she struggled to swallow.
He pulled her back toward him, taking both of her hands in his and sliding his fingers to link with hers. She felt her pulse in her ears, pounding relentlessly as she registered the scent of his soap and aftershave in the same breath.
But the moment she was struck with an indescribable desire to step closer to him—to meld herself to him—he smiled, somehow breaking the intensity of the previous moment.
“Want to try that tricky spin again, cowgirl?” He started to twirl her, but the drinks were catching up with her, and she grabbed his arm.
“I think I’m not quite sober enough for spinning, cowboy.”
“Gotcha. Want to head back to the table?”
No. No, I want to stay out here on this sticky dance floor all night long, just feeling your heat and smelling your soap and wanting you.
“Or would you rather stay out here and dance?”
“Um—”
“I know. It’s a tough call. Go back to a too-small table with too many people already at it, or keep dancing with Mister January.”
“Mister Jan—” She sputtered out a laugh.
He sighed. “Kyla made me and Decker flip for it. He got December.”
“Because?”
“Because we refused to take off our shirts and wax our abs, so we couldn’t be the summer guys. Which is just fine with me. I’m already mortified to be on a frigging calendar.”
Jess laughed. “I really need to see this calendar.”
“Yeah, so do I, so I can buy up every single copy and never let them off the ranch.”
“Is Ma going to make them available on the website?” Jess pretended to think. “They’d make a great present for my gals back in Boston.”
“I mentioned the part about how much I hate this idea, right?”
“Yes. Yes, you did.” Jess tried not to smile, but couldn’t bite her cheek before one slipped out.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “Maybe? A little?”
“Right.”
“Okay, a lot. Yes, I’ll admit it. But think about it: Women have been degraded for decades on these ridiculous calendars. I’m kind of okay with a hot cowboy one for a change.”
“Even if I’m one of the cowboys being degraded?” He nodded, smiling through his attempt at a serious face. “I see where this is going.”
“Kyla’s a very talented photographer. I’m sure her shots are classy and respectful.”
“Well, you let me know when you see them. She refuses to let any of us look until the damn calendar’s printed.”
“Ooh.” Jess manufactured a concerned expression.
“What does ooh mean?”
“Nothing.” She smiled brightly. “I’m sure it’s all fine. She definitely wouldn’t have dug up old pics from the past, right?”
Cole stopped moving. “What kinds of pics?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She shrugged, picturing one particular shot Kyla had showed her last year of Cole hosing himself down after a long, dusty afternoon on the trail. “Certainly not one of you…with a hose…and no shirt.”
He growled and pulled her back into his chest, laughing as he swayed back and forth with her nestled in his arms. “There better not be one of those in circulation.”
She rested her cheek against his chest, feeling the reassuring thump-thump of his heartbeat through his shirt. His arms tightened around her back, but instead of inciting her panic reflex, it made her sigh in contentment. When she felt his hands slide to brace her rib cage, she didn’t flinch.
When he pulled a few inches away and tipped up her chin with his fingers, she—for the first time in years—didn’t try to run.
But he did.
Chapter 15
“Shit.” Cole thumped the steering wheel with the heel of his hand as he drove out of the Salty’s parking lot half an hour later.
“Oh, boy.” Decker rolled down his window, laying his arm on the frame. “What are you so worked up about?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay. Not Jess, then.”
Cole sighed, frustration coursing through his body. “I was trying to do the right thing.”
“Looked to me like the right thing might have been to kiss her.”
“She’d been drinking, Decker.”
Decker shook his head. “She was a little tipsy. Not drunk.”
“Same thing.” Cole growled as they pulled onto the highway, heading back to Whisper Creek. The girls were two cars ahead of them, with