5. Cole
5
COLE
I fucked up. I know I did.
I wasn’t kissing her to teach her some kind of fuckin’ lesson. I kissed her because I wanted to, because I needed to. Just the thought of her with another man has me wanting to kill someone.
I barely slept last night and rode out onto my ranch just as the sun was coming up. I know I need to think and figure out things, and the best place for me to do it is on the back of a horse. I ride until my horse Zeus and I are both breathless. I didn’t have a plan on where I was going, but it’s not completely strange that I end up out at the old swimming hole that’s on the edge of the Reid property line. I sit on Zeus and stare at the big magnolia tree, remembering the past.
It was shortly after Sassy had turned twenty last year that I found her out here in nothing but her bra and panties, swimming.
My cock flexes in my jeans just remembering the way she looked as she climbed out of the water.
I stare at the exact spot I saw her and get lost back in time. It was only last year, but it could have been yesterday it’s so vivid in my mind.
She doesn’t realize I’m watching her. My horse is grazing at the grass beneath his feet and I’m gripping the leather reins in my hand tightly.
She’s smiling, not a care in the world. She doesn’t realize that her underwear is translucent and is showing everything. Either that or she doesn’t care because she thinks she’s out here alone.
“Sassy,” I say, and my voice falters with a squeak. I clear my throat and try again. “Sassy,” I say louder.
Her head jerks as she finally spots me. I climb off of my horse and tie him to the fence before jumping over it onto her land. She’s watching me, smiling.
I take her in from the top of her head to the ends of her bare toes. She’s curvy, and she’s definitely a woman now.
“Hey, Cole,” she says with a smile on her face.
I pull my hat lower on my head as if that’s going to stop her from seeing the attraction on my face. “Sassy, you shouldn’t be out here.”
She looks at the fence line and back at me in confusion. “I shouldn’t be out on my property?”
“You’re at least two miles from your house, and no one’s around.”
She points to her horse that’s tied up to the tree. She has a rifle hooked into her saddle bag. Rolling her eyes, she tells me, “I have my rifle. I’m protected, Cole.”
Stubbornly, I tell her, “You still shouldn’t be out here...in your underwear.”
It’s then that she realizes what she’s wearing. She looks down at herself and sure enough, she spots her hard nipples pointing right at me through her thin bra. Her face turns red, but she doesn’t try to hide herself. Nope, she wouldn’t be Sassy if she did. If anything, she pulls her shoulders back, pushing her breasts out even more. “I don’t see what the big deal is. I was out here by myself.”
I walk closer to her, and she wavers for just a minute. I think she’s going to take a step back, but she surprises me when she stays where she’s at. I walk around her because I’m an idiot and a glutton for punishment, wanting to see all of her. Her ass is perfect globes, and my hands are itching to grab on to them.
I move back around to the front of her. “You’re not here by yourself now. Anyone could walk up on you.”
She lifts her head and boldly meets my gaze. “Yeah, but it’s just you, Cole. I’m not afraid of you.”
My eyes glitter. I want to bend her over my knee and spank her pretty ass for putting herself in this position. It’s probably true that no one would stumble on her out here, but if I did, one of my ranch hands or her dad’s ranch hands could do the same.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of me.”
She shrugs. “I’m not.”
I smile and put my hands deep into my pockets. “You walk around your ranch like that?”
She looks down at herself as if she doesn’t see what the big deal is. I swear this image of her is burned into my mind forever. I won’t be forgetting it. “In my underwear? No, of course not.”
I nod, and I know I shouldn’t ask the next question, but I do it anyway. Maybe because it’s just the two of us out here and it’s the only time I’ve ever been completely alone with her. Or maybe because she’s all I’ve thought about, and I need to know the answer. “Anyone see you like that? Ever?”
She scrunches her nose up and seems to think about it. “Are we counting the girls in gym class in high school?”
I shake my head side to side.
She brings out her hand and acts as if she’s counting on her fingers. When she gets to her second hand, I’m ready to go off. But then she raises her head with a glint in her eye. “Just one person... just you.”
I let out the breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. It comes out in a big poof of air. “So I’m the only man to have seen you in your underwear?”
She swallows, licks her lips, and nods her head. “Yep.”
It’s not my place, and I know I should keep my damn mouth closed, but I can’t hold it in. “That’s good, Sassy. Boys your age only want one thing. You should wait... before you show another man what you look like under your clothes.”
She leans down and looks at herself again. “What do you mean? I look the same with clothes on... or at least a bathing suit.”
I shake my head and try to hide my laugh. She may be twenty years old, but her dad has sheltered her most of her life. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’ve made sure to keep men away from her. “No, honey. Trust me. You definitely look different like that.”
She tilts her head to look at me. There’s a question in her eyes, and before I change my mind, I say to her, “What is it? You look like you have a question. What is it?”
She licks her lips nervously. “I do have a question.”
I nod, following the path that her tongue took across her lips. “Yeah, you can ask me.”
She nods and swallows hard. “The boys at school always made fun of me. Said I was an ugly tomboy. Do you think I’m ugly? I mean, do you think any man will ever look at me and think I’m pretty?”
Two thoughts go through my head. The first is that teenage boys are idiots. The second is that I’m wondering how she doesn’t see what I see.
I lift my hat off my head and hold it to my chest. “Okay, so whatever idiots said that to you lied. They probably said it because they knew they weren’t good enough for you-“
She interrupts me with a surprised gasp. “Good enough for me?”
“Yes. You’re pretty, Sassy. Smart, kind, funny, independent, you don’t take shit from people, you’re good with animals...” I let my voice trail off before I admit to her what I really think about her. About how she’s always on my mind and I dream about her every night. Yeah, I’d better keep that to myself. “One day, you’ll find a man that treats you right. Don’t waste your time on the ones that don’t see your value.”
She nods her head, and a grin overtakes her face. “You think I’m pretty?”
I laugh. Of everything that I just said, that’s what she’s hung up on. “You’re beautiful, Sassy. Don’t let anyone ever make you think different. If they do, tell me and I’ll take care of it.”
She looks at me curiously. “Why are you being nice to me?”
I gape at her. “Aren’t I always nice to you?”
She tilts her head back to look at me. “Yeah, you are, but you never talk to me.”
I don’t deny it. As a matter of fact, I go out of my way to avoid talking to her, but I can’t explain why. “Will you do me a favor?”
She doesn’t hesitate. She nods her head vigorously, always happy to please.
I put my hat back on my head and shove it down over my forehead. “Don’t go showing your body to men that aren’t worthy, sweetie. Promise me no more swimming in your underwear.”
She shrugs. “Okay, I promise.”
I remember that I forced myself to walk away from her after that. I could have stayed and talked to her all day, but I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with just looking at her. No, I would have wanted to touch her, and I knew I shouldn’t.
I turn Zeus around and look in the direction of Sassy’s ranch. Can I let her do this? Can I let her auction herself off and maybe marry another man? All this time, she’s been right next door and I’ve told myself that I’m too old for her and she deserves a better man than me, but we’ve reached a crossroads. I let her do this and I may lose her forever.
Fuck! I know I can’t let her do it. I can’t sit by and let another take what’s mine—and Sassy’s mine. She has been since the day I saw her coming out of the water in her underwear.
With determination, I ride back toward the ranch. I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. First, I need to wrangle myself an invite to this auction... and then I’m going to win me a virgin.