Her Cowboy Distraction Read online

  He motioned toward the barn and corrals in the distance. “You make a lot of lists?” he asked as they began to walk.

  She turned to look up at him, as if surprised by the question. “Yes. I never thought about it before, but I guess I do. Oh, I don’t write them down, but I do keep mental lists in my head. Smells I like, foods I dislike, places that make me feel warm and places that make me feel cold and so on.”

  “Will Grady Gulch go on your places that make you cold or places that make you warm list?” he asked, more than a little bit fascinated by the workings of her mind.

  “Definitely on the warm list. It’s a wonderful small town where people seem to genuinely care about one another. You can feel the friendliness, the caring when you walk down the streets of Grady Gulch.”

  Not for men like me, he thought. Grady Gulch had definitely been a cold place for him since the night of the tragic accident that had forever changed his life.

  “Aren’t they beautiful.” Lizzy danced two steps ahead of him as they approached the corral, where five horses grazed peacefully in the morning sun. She turned to look at him, her pretty features radiating excitement. “Which one am I going to ride?”

  “That all depends on which one chooses you,” he replied.

  She looked up at him as if curious, and he couldn’t help but notice the length of her long eyelashes, the delicate curve of her jawline. “Chooses me?”

  He nodded. “My dad always believed that the relationship between a person and a horse was a sacred thing and that it was far more important for a horse to choose a person than a person to choose a horse.” He stopped short of the corral fencing and motioned her forward. “Go on, just stand at the fence and we’ll see what happens.”

  Even though she gave him a questioning glance, she not only walked up to the corral but also stood on the bottom rail of the fence, making him realize for the first time that she was probably not much taller than five foot three. Funny, anytime he’d thought of her over the past week, she’d been taller, much bigger in his mind.

  “What now?” she asked as the horses pranced on the far side of the corral.

  “Patience,” he replied, deciding he definitely enjoyed the way her tight jeans cupped her rounded bottom.

  “Not particularly my strong suit,” she replied with a laugh.

  He took a step closer to her. “But it’s a must when you’re dealing with animals.”

  He wished he would have had more patience that night. For just a moment Janice’s face flashed in his head, a frozen frame of the last time he’d seen her. Her blue eyes had flashed with frustration, her mouth thinned with exquisite anger. If he’d just managed to find a little patience that night then maybe the end result would have been very different.

  “Look, they’re coming closer.”

  The vision of Janice in Daniel’s head snapped away, and he was grateful for Lizzy’s voice brimming with excitement to bring him back from the edge of his dark memories.

  Lizzy appeared to vibrate with animation as the mares came closer to their side of the corral. As he watched her, felt the energy wafting from her and noticed the way her hair sparkled in the sunshine, he was determined that for the rest of the day he wouldn’t let thoughts of Janice intrude.

  For just this single day he’d allow himself the unusual indulgence of feeling something other than his own sorrow and guilt.

  Today he was going to allow himself to enjoy a woman named Lizzy and for a little while remember what it was like to truly be alive.

  * * *

  Lizzy had a feeling Daniel was looking at her butt. Even though she was trying to stay focused on the magnificent animals in front of her, she was intensely aware of the magnificent man behind her. And she could swear as she looked at the horses she could feel the heat of his gaze on her behind.

  She was just about to turn her head around to see if she was right when one of the horses broke away from the others and approached where she stood on the fence. The chestnut-colored horse held her ears forward, as if curious to hear whatever Lizzy might have to say.

  “Hi, baby,” Lizzy said softly. The horse had beautiful eyes and moved even closer, flaring her nostrils precariously close to Lizzy’s face. Lizzy stood frozen, unsure what to do. The horse neighed softly.

  “That’s Molly, and it looks like she chose you,” Daniel said as he stepped up beside Lizzy.

  “What’s she doing with her nose? It looks like she’s trying to inhale me,” Lizzy exclaimed.

  Daniel gave a short, deep laugh. “She’s taking in your scent. That’s how horses identify each other.” Molly neighed again as if to punctuate his sentence.

  “So, what happens now?” Lizzy asked, ridiculously pleased that she’d been chosen at all. Also the short but sweet sound of Daniel’s laughter tickled her.

  “And now we’re going to take Molly into the barn and you’re going to do a little grooming on her. That will help build some trust between the two of you.”

  Lizzy watched as he opened the corral gate and grabbed a rope that was coiled on the post. It took him only a minute to get the horse out of the corral, and she followed after them as he led both the horse and her into the barn.

  The barn was huge and held the wonderful country odors of hay and leather, of horse and grain, but Daniel’s woodsy cologne and clean male scent had teased her since the moment she’d climbed into his truck.

  He looked hotter than ever today in his jeans and a gunmetal-gray T-shirt that perfectly matched his eyes. He’d seemed tense when she’d first gotten into the truck, but she’d felt him relaxing with each mile they’d driven.

  Now he appeared completely at ease, his features relaxed in a way she’d never seen before, and it only made him more attractive. “This is a currycomb,” he said as he handed her a soft bristle brush. “You use it in a circular motion on her. Normally I don’t groom them until after a ride, but Molly loves to be groomed, and if you do a little now it will assure her that you’re a friend.”

  For the next few minutes she worked on the horse with Daniel instructing her. Although she tried to stay focused on the task at hand, it was impossible with Daniel so close to her. His body radiated an evocative heat, and several times he placed his hand over hers to show her how to move the brush, causing her heart to bump up its rhythm in response.

  “Okay, let’s saddle her up and we’ll take a ride,” he said. She was almost grateful to know that within minutes they’d be on two different horses and separated by enough space that she’d be able to take a full breath. Standing so close to the handsome man made her feel as if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

  It took another twenty minutes for him to saddle Molly and the black horse he was riding for the day, whose name was Dandy. “Are you nervous?” he asked when it was time to get on the horses. They stood just outside the barn with a gentle early June breeze that stirred his thick, slightly curly hair.

  “A little,” she admitted as she looked up at the back of the horse. “It looks like a long way down from the saddle to the ground.”

  “Molly is sweet as sugar and you won’t have to do much but hang on to the reins or the saddle horn. If you’ve ever seen a Western movie then I’m sure you know how to get on a horse, but I’ll stand right here in case you need some help.”

  There he was, standing so close to her she could smell the heady scent of him, felt as if she wasn’t getting quite enough air to survive. She quickly placed her left foot in the stirrup and with a burst of adrenaline pulled herself up and over, using the saddle horn for leverage.

  “You’re a natural,” Daniel said, obviously pleased by how easily she’d made it into the saddle, which creaked with an oddly comforting noise beneath her weight.

  “Thanks,” she replied and leaned forward to stroke Molly’s neck and then grabbed the reins loosely in her hands. “Now, you be a nice girl and don’t make any sudden moves.”

  Daniel laughed again, that low, deep rumble that Lizzy found amazingly wonde
rful. “You’ll be just fine,” he assured her as he easily mounted his horse. “Just relax and go with the movement of the horse.”

  As Dandy moved toward the open pasture in the distance, Molly followed right behind without Lizzy having to do anything. It took a few minutes for her to get accustomed to the motion of the horse, but she did as Daniel had told her and just relaxed to enjoy the ride.

  The horses walked side by side at a leisurely pace, and for several minutes neither Daniel nor Lizzy spoke. Lizzy merely enjoyed the breeze on her face, the novelty of her first horseback ride and the beauty of the land that surrounded them.

  Still, there was no way she could keep her gaze from darting to Daniel. He definitely looked as if he belonged on the back of a horse. His posture was relaxed, and yet he seemed completely in control of the entire area around him.

  “Do you work all this by yourself?” she finally asked to break the comfortable silence between them.

  “Pretty much, although I do hire in or barter for some extra help at different times of the year.”

  “Must take a lot of work to run a place like this.”

  He flashed a full smile, and the power of it warmed her from head to toe. “So does waitressing. I guess if you really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel so much like work.”

  “Point taken,” she agreed. “And you love doing this.”

  He nodded. “It’s pretty much all I’ve ever known, but yes, I love it. I never really wanted to do or be anything else other than a rancher.”

  “That’s what life is all about, finding your happiness,” Lizzy replied. “Did your wife like to ride?”

  “No.” The smile that had warmed his features only seconds before vanished, and Lizzy mentally cursed herself for bringing up a subject that so obviously filled him with sadness.

  “It’s a beautiful day,” she said after she thought too long of a painful silence had reigned. She hoped to bring that smile back to his lips.

  “Probably not as nice as those California days you had selling surfboards.”

  “Sun and surf are vastly overrated, as far as I’m concerned. California is beautiful, but it’s not the place for me. Besides, I got tired of the sand. It gets into everything.”

  “When you’ve finished with this bucket list of yours, will you return to Chicago?” He looked at her with curiosity.

  “Probably,” she replied after a short hesitation. She shrugged. “It’s what I know, where I grew up. I guess it makes sense for me to end back up there.”

  “And will you return to the same kind of work you were doing before?”

  Lizzy frowned as she thought of going back to the ad agency. “I don’t think so. I’m not sure what I’ll eventually decide to do, but it will definitely be something that I love and something that gives me time to enjoy things other than work.”

  “Ready to go a little faster?” he asked.

  She flashed him a challenging grin. “However fast life takes me, I’m always more than ready.” She swallowed a squeal as Dandy took off at a gallop and Molly gave chase. Lizzy grabbed onto the saddle horn and held on for dear life.

  Once again as her body found and meshed with the rhythm of the horse, a thrilling exuberance filled her. They galloped for several minutes. The wind through her hair, her very first gallop on a horse and the sight of Daniel just ahead of her, everything combined to create one of those moments she knew would go on her list of best experiences ever.

  Across a fenced area in a separate field, she saw another cowboy on a horse in the distance. Daniel raised a hand in the air in greeting and the other man waved back.

  They slowed to a walk once again when they approached a thick grove of trees. He pulled his horse to a stop and Molly stopped, as well.

  “That was absolutely thrilling,” she exclaimed.

  He laughed. “And that wasn’t even a run.” He dismounted with graceful ease. “There’s a stream here and a pretty place I’d like to show you. We’ll let the horses take a little breather, take a little walk and then head back. Can you get down on your own?”

  He moved closer to Molly’s side, and suddenly Lizzy didn’t want to get down on her own. She wanted his big, strong arms around her as she slid from the horse’s back. She wanted to get up close and personal with the heady cologne and clean maleness that had dizzied her senses whenever he got near her.

  “I’m not sure,” she said.

  “Same way you got up only backwards. Don’t be afraid. I’ll catch you if you fall.”

  As she swung her right leg back to dismount, she was actually grateful for his arms reaching up for her as she nearly fell backward.

  She felt herself with her back sliding down his broad chest and his big, warm hands on her arms until her feet hit the ground. His nearness felt so good, and there was nothing more she wanted to do than lean back against him and intensify all the crazy, thrilling sensations that danced through her entire body.

  He quickly stepped away from her, and when she turned to look at him his face gave nothing away to indicate that he’d felt anything remotely similar to what she’d just experienced. “Let me show you the stream,” he said and began to walk on a well-worn path through the trees.

  Lizzy followed close behind him, wondering what in the world was wrong with her. Why was she feeling such a sharp edge of desire for a man who was so obviously off-limits? A man whose heart was still so bound to a woman he’d lost.

  It was apparently some wild and crazy hormonal thing, some quirk of chemistry that she just needed to ignore. He led her to a small clearing that was bisected by a clear stream. Wildflowers dotted the area and with the full-leaved trees surrounding them, she felt as if she were in a secret garden.

  “Oh, Daniel, this is beautiful,” Lizzy said.

  “My dad used to call this place his chapel.” He pointed to a large rock that jutted up from the edge of the trickling clear water. “And that was his thinking rock.”

  “He sounds like a wonderful man.” A wistfulness shot through her as she thought of her own father, who had been reliable only in his complete and utter unreliability. “The two of you were close?”

  Daniel nodded. “Both my mom and dad were great.” He motioned her to the thinking rock, where she sank down as he leaned with his back against one of the nearby tree trunks.

  “And you were an only child?” she asked.

  Once again he nodded. “And I’m guessing you were an only child, too.”

  “Yes, it was just me, although for a while I pretended I had a little sister. I drove my mother crazy, kind of like the imaginary friend scenario.” She smiled at the memory. “I made Mom set a place for my sister at the table. She had to be buckled into a seat belt in the car. I even tried to make Mom punish baby sister Sarah for things I had done.”

  “How did that work for you?” he asked with a touch of humor lighting his eyes.

  “As you can imagine, it was never Sarah sitting in time-out, it was always me,” she said ruefully.

  A bird sang from somewhere nearby and the leaves of the trees whispered with the breeze. “This is such a peaceful place. Do you come here a lot?” she asked.

  “I used to. Not so much anymore. Spring is a pretty busy time around the ranch, so it’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

  “And here I am taking you away from all your work,” she replied.

  He smiled again, that breathtaking grin that she thought she would never get tired of looking at. “Spring is behind us and summer is here. Summer is the time to kind of kick back and just watch things grow.”

  “That sounds nice.” There were things she’d like to ask him, about his past, about the woman he’d lost, but she told herself that not only did he not seem open to discussing anything like that, she shouldn’t want to know anything personal about him. Besides, she didn’t want to steal that easy smile from his mouth, see the tension creep back into his shoulders by bringing up uncomfortable subjects.

  “Who was that you wav
ed to in the other pasture?” she asked, more to keep the conversation rolling than any real curiosity.

  “One of the Benson brothers. Their place is next to mine. Do you know them?”

  “Sam and Adam come into the café pretty regularly,” she replied.

  “There’s a third brother, Nick. He’s the youngest, but he left town a while back and hasn’t been back.” Daniel shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “I imagine Mary told you about what happened to my wife and Cherry Benson.”

  Lizzy nodded. “She told me there was a car accident and both women were killed. I’m so sorry for your loss.” The words sounded inadequate even to her ears.

  “Thanks. What about you? Any marriages in your past or present?” he asked in an obvious attempt to swerve the conversation away from his tragedy.

  “No marriages past or present,” she replied. “Not even any close calls.”

  “Really?

  “Oh, there’s been a few very brief relationships, but nothing serious.”

  “Not the marrying kind?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I haven’t met the right man yet, and right now I’m not looking for him.”

  He pulled his hands from his pockets. “The bucket list.”

  “Exactly.”

  They both fell silent, and this time Lizzy didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes and listened to the rush of the wind through the leaves and the murmur of the stream flowing over stones.

  “If I were you I’d spend a lot of time in this place,” she finally said. She opened her eyes and found him staring at her intently.

  The peace and quiet of the little clearing snapped with energy as, for what felt like an infinite period of time, they gazed at each other. Lizzy’s heart banged hard and fast as she felt herself leaning forward slightly, as if unconsciously wanting to get closer to him.