Overprotective Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,22

trotted toward Ted and his troop of dogs with the one who’d gone to greet her. Ted’s deep voice said something as he crouched down to love on Ursula, and Emma actually felt a rush of jealousy. For a dog.

But Ted had his hands on her, and he spoke to the dog in a kind, loving tone. Emma came up behind him, and he turned to look at her. “Good morning,” she said. “I see you’ve found your pack.”

He grinned at her and said, “Morning.” He looked back at Ursula. “She’s a real pretty dog. German shepherd. What’s her name?”

“How do you know she has one?”

“She doesn’t live outside with the other dogs,” he said. “My guess is she belongs to Ginger, which means she has a name.” He looked up at Emma expectantly, and with his dark eyes so open and so eager to know, Emma found him boyishly charming.

“Ursula,” she said. “What did you name your other dogs?”

“One is Simon,” he said. “Randy, Paula, and Ryan.”

Emma looked at him while she absorbed the names. She giggled and shook her head. “I see where you’re going with this. Let me guess…you only got to watch American Idol in prison.”

Ted chuckled and shook his head, finally abandoning his administrations to Ursula so he could stand. “No, but my mother loved the show. I’d call her every week, and she’d spend at least half of our time updating me on the show, the contestants, and most of all—the judges.” He looked off into the distance, a happy glint in his eyes. “My mother sure did love the original judges. Simon was her favorite.”

“Ah, so that’s why you arrived at Simon yesterday.”

“Yeah.” Ted started walking again, and Emma fell into step beside him. “You going to the stables to feed your babies?”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “How did you like your morning yesterday? Get along all right with Jess and the other horses?”

Ted tipped his head back and laughed. The sound poured out of him and added to the beauty of the morning sky. Emma just kept her eyes on the ground, though a new measure of warmth filled her from top to bottom in less than a second.

“She’s kind of protective of those horses, isn’t she?” Ted asked.

“Jess is great,” Emma said. “But yes, she loves those horses as if they were her own flesh and blood.”

“I liked it,” Ted said. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I don’t think I messed up too badly. No equines died.” He chuckled again and glanced at her.

Emma met his eye, and something strange and powerful and wonderful tethered them together. She knew what it was—attraction and desire, the finding of a kindred spirit—but she hadn’t felt it for a long, long time.

“How do you like the ranch?” she asked.

“The ranch is great,” he said.

“What do you like most about it?”

“Like most?” Ted seemed to really think about her question. “Well, I have my own bedroom. That’s a nice change. I can shower for as long as I want.” He reached up and ran his hand down the side of his face. “I can leave the house whenever I want, and there’s no razor wire here, and I can grow a beard.”

“It looks good,” Emma said, realizing too late what she’d given away. But her mind was still hung up on not being able to leave a house when she wanted to. What a simple freedom she didn’t want to take for granted.

But Ted just asked, “You think so? It’s been so long since I’ve been able to let it grow, that I’m not really sure how to deal with it.” He scratched his face. “It itches.”

“You’ve got to put this beard oil on it,” she said. “Spencer knows all about that. You should ask him.”

“Beard oil,” Ted said as if he had no idea such a thing existed. “All right. Thanks. I will.” They reached the stables, and Ted reached to open the door. He paused though and looked at her. “You really think it looks good?”

“Yeah,” she said, and before she knew it, she’d reached up and ran her hand down the side of his face, his whiskers soft yet bristly at the same time. She pulled in a breath when she realized what she’d done, and her eyes flew to his.

Desire and shock sat in his expression, which was about what flowed through her bloodstream.

“I think it looks great,” she said, the words scratching in her throat as her hand finally