Some Cowboys Brave the Flames (Keagans of Copper Creek #10)

Chapter 12

12

Charlie

C harlie scowled at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t decide if she hated herself or if she hated Ash more.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him. Every time she slept, he haunted her dreams. She could smell his cologne lingering in every room of the house he walked through. Her body reacted not only to his smile and scent, but also to his touch.

It wasn’t often, but occasionally their hands would brush or they’d bump into one another in the kitchen. Teaching him was beginning to feel like torture. She couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to make him as miserable as he was making her.

He had to be taunting her, teasing her. That’s what this was. Every look he gave her made her stomach flip. And whenever she caught him staring, it took all her strength not to tell him to stop.

Ash was dating someone, for heaven’s sake. She didn’t want to be the person blamed for him breaking things off with her. And she definitely didn’t want to be with a guy who would cheat on his girlfriend.

Her scowl deepened.

“Be careful. You keep making that face and it’s going to stay that way.”

She glanced up and found Daniel leaning in the bathroom doorway. His arms were folded, and he smirked at her. Charlie stuck out her tongue at him, then reached for the door and flung it shut.

He stumbled back a step to avoid it, and she heard his grunt through the door. Then he knocked. “If Wade calls the house, tell him I’m out helping Ash learn how to lasso.”

Charlie scrambled for the doorknob and pulled it open. “What? Why?”

Her brother shrugged. “He said it looked like fun when we were at the picnic. But I think he just didn’t want anyone to outdo him the next time he’s invited.”

She fiddled with the doorknob in her hand thoughtfully. “Oh.”

He turned and headed down the hallway, leaving her to her thoughts.

Memories from the picnic hit her hard. It was strange to see Ash with her family and no longer view him like an older brother. He wasn’t just Mason’s, or Liam’s, or even Daniel’s friend anymore. He was Michael Ashton—hot firefighter who any girl would give their right arm to be on a date with.

She threw back her head with another disgusted groan. He’d never see her as more than his friend’s kid sister, which is why she knew that he was toying with her. He’d gotten a kick out of teasing her when they were younger. Why would it be any different now?

Charlie wanted to get him back. She wanted to fight fire with fire.

A wicked smile crossed her face as she turned to her reflection. She’d been paying attention enough to know that she had the ability to distract him. If she turned the tables on him, teased him, pretended to flirt with him—he’d panic as he had the other day when Liam had called them back to the clearing.

The last thing he wanted was to make her brothers mad. Not one of her brothers would put up with their sister dating one of their friends—especially Ash.

With quick, nimble fingers, she braided her hair into two braids.

His words echoed in her head. You’re perfect the way you are. Never change.

Without another look in the mirror, she darted from the bathroom and into her room to grab her hat and boots. Then she headed outside.

Just like Daniel had said, he and Ash were working on lassoing. A large red replica of a bull’s head had been positioned in the center of a corral. Neither Ash nor Daniel had noticed her approach, so she climbed up on the fence and perched on the edge.

“You’re releasing too soon. You have to hold it a little longer, like this.” Daniel demonstrated with the lasso in his hand and easily roped it around the bull’s neck.

Ash nodded and swung his arm around and around. Just before he was about to release it, she said, “You want to keep your wrist loose, too.”

He stiffened at her voice. The rope slipped from his hand and landed several feet to the side of his target.

Daniel glanced back at her. “She’s not wrong.” Clearly, he hadn’t noticed the way Charlie’s voice had affected his friend.

Ash turned around and faced her, tugging the rope back into a coil in his hands. His eyes narrowed, and for a moment she thought she saw fire burning in them. But just as quickly those flames disappeared. He hadn’t come over since their picnic last weekend, nor had they set up their next cooking lesson. Either he was busy, or he wanted her to sweat.

Well, too bad. He wasn’t going to win this little game.

Charlie flipped her braid over her shoulder and nodded toward the bull. “Well? Aren’t you going to try again? Don’t stop on my account.”

He turned forward, and Daniel demonstrated once more.

Her eyes locked onto the spot right between his shoulders, and she prayed he could feel her stare. She wanted him as thrown off as she’d felt in his presence. It wasn’t fair that he could have such an effect on her and it not go the other way.

Once again, just before he released the lasso, she said, “Maybe if you get good enough, you can show your girlfriend how much of a cowboy you really are. Girls are suckers for cowboys.”

She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw him flinch when she spoke. Was he feeling guilty over toying with her when he had someone else? If so, she was happy to revel in his discomfort.

An eye for an eye.

He missed again. And again. And a third time before she decided to climb down from her perch.

Daniel muttered something about getting a drink and that he’d be back. Charlie smiled to herself as she headed for the barn. Maybe she’d go for a ride to get away from the ranch while Ash was around. She could only play the game so long before she started feeling guilty herself.

No one else was in the barn when she got there. Only a handful of horses were in their stalls, too. Her brothers had to spend the day rounding up the cattle to move them to a closer pasture, but one that hadn’t been used in a while.

She trailed her fingers along the wooden doors that lined each stall and hummed to herself. The fact that Ash could cause this amount of upset probably meant she needed help—that, or she needed to find a guy who could distract her from him.

The problem was, there wasn’t anyone who could compare.

He knew her more than she’d allowed any guy to get to know her. And she felt she knew him, too. He was a good guy. Someone who could be sweet and loving but firm at the same time. He’d helped her realize how silly it was to be upset over a guy who didn’t deserve her time. To her, Ash was perfect, and no one would ever compare.

Charlie made it to the end of the row of stalls and reached inside to her horse. Rose had been a scrawny horse they’d rescued from a farm that had gone under. At times she was skittish, but not when it came to Charlie. She stepped forward, and Charlie rubbed her nose.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Ash’s low growl startled Charlie and she jumped, spinning to face him.

“What?” she asked, breathlessly.

He took a step toward her, his eyes flashing dangerously. “You’re toying with me,” he accused. “You’re baiting me.”

Her eyes narrowed. Good. She’d been successful. “I’m not doing anything,” she said, her chin lifting. “Nothing that you yourself haven’t already done.”

Ash’s jaw tightened and he took a step back, running a hand through his hair. “I knew I shouldn’t have come today. It was too soon.”

She frowned. “Too soon for what?”

He ignored her, and that familiar tension rose inside her, burning with irritation. She’d been dealing with keeping her own feelings at bay—feelings she had for him—because he was off limits. There were too many reasons he was out of reach, and each passing day only made her want him more.

Charlie balled her hands, her teeth clenched. “You’re the one toying with me .”

His gaze cut to her so sharply she could almost imagine it slicing right through her. Once again, he stepped closer, this time his body nearly touching hers. “ Toying with you? Is that what you think it is?” There was not a degree of teasing in his tone. It was low, dark and guttural. The sound of it felt so familiar—like her own desires that had been squashed and suppressed and yet wanted to be set free.

She blinked, and her hands pressed against the wall of the barn. She wasn’t scared of him. Not in the slightest. She was more afraid of what she might do if she lost control and just pulled him in for a kiss like he’d done to her all those years ago.

He hooked his finger under her chin, his eyes searching hers, the frustration easing and turning into something softer. “You don’t see it, do you? You can’t begin to understand the way you affect me.”

Charlie swallowed hard, her pulse thrumming through her body—her chest, her neck, right down to making her legs weak.

Ash’s scowl returned. “And the worst part is that it will never work between us. I will never be able to make you mine.” He said the words more to himself than to anyone else. They were quiet, a breath of a whisper, but she heard them. And they tore something free from inside her.

She wanted that, too. The desire to give her heart to him was so strong that she opened her mouth and tried to tell him as much. But the reality set in too quickly like claws digging into the warm flesh of that erratic beating heart. Charlie brought her hands around and pushed him back a step. “You have a girlfriend,” she spat. “You shouldn’t be saying stuff like that to me. Make up your own confused mind and figure out what you want, because I assure you, she wouldn’t want to know that this is how you feel.” The nameless, faceless woman who was probably better for him than Charlie would ever be seemed to choke her, making it difficult to say her next words. “Blaming others for what you can’t have isn’t going to work.”

Charlie shoved past him, her shoulder bumping him to the side as she stormed out of the barn. She got a few yards from the door before she bumped into a hard body. Daniel grunted, and she glanced up into his surprised face.

“Charlie? What’s the?—”

“I’m fine,” Charlie muttered. There was no way on earth she was going to out Ash. As much as she knew she needed to take a break from spending time with him, she knew her brothers needed his friendship. They were a close-knit group. They leaned on each other—even if it was for companionship. Daniel, above all the others, needed that friendship most. With all her brothers married or engaged, Daniel was left as the odd man out. She wouldn’t dream of taking away the one guy he was actually hanging out with.

At Daniel’s incredulous look, she repeated. “I’m fine, Daniel. I just have a headache. I’m going inside. See you at dinner.”

“Yeah,” he said. “See you at dinner.”