Chapter 18
brIAR
He was unbelievably handsome. It could be the few drinks that I had in me, but there was no denying it, especially after his rather abrupt, forward, and demanding statement earlier. Where the strength to reinforce that this date was only for tonight came from, I had no idea, but now I was questioning my conviction with that.
Kicking my legs back and forth on the tailgate of whoever’s truck this was, I finished the last of my beer and watched Cassidy with a couple of his guy friends. Even though I was sitting alone, I knew he knew where I was. His constant glances as well as guiding the group over to me again and again reinforced things.
Luckily, most of the “girls” that Laura Marie had mentioned would be here hadn’t appeared yet, so it was me, Cassidy, and several of his guy friends. “You gonna serenade your girl yet?” the curly, blond-haired guy I think was named Joe asked my date. Then Joe swung his pale blue eyes to me. “Cassidy here can sing like you’d never believe.”
My mouth fell open. “You can sing?” I blinked at my date, who merely chuckled.
“Goldie, I think you forget we’ve not known each other that long,” he answered.
“So? If you’re gonna ask a lady on a date, that might be something you share with her,” I teased.
Joe clapped Cassidy in the back and grinned. “I’ll go get my guitar,” he said and jogged to the cab of the truck.
Tawny eyes locked onto mine. Bright orange swirled amongst the sea green and turquoise depths of irises that held a world I judged too quickly. My entire body turned warm as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and closed the distance between us.
Cassidy pushed between my legs, and with each step keeping us apart, my heart pumped harder. Blood raced into my ears, drumming with the heat that flashed across my skin. “One song, that’s it,” he muttered low, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“Technically, you also still owe me some dancing,” I flirted in response, my eyes darting down to his hands that hovered next to my thighs. His fingers trembled, reaching toward me, and then he paused and braced against the tailgate instead.
A tiny crack split through my heart as it hit me. He was still trying to respect boundaries I’d unintentionally set by not wanting to even talk about us kissing, even if I didn’t want him to right now. If I had just accepted that it was okay to have feelings for someone as quickly as I had, for someone who was anything but the expectations that I’d come with, we’d be further along in this dance we were doing.
It was my fault. There it was.
“You can touch me if you want,” I whispered, still stuck on his large hands that twitched next to me—hands that my body remembered exactly how they felt when he’d been kissing me. “I want you to,” I added and finally lifted my gaze to his.
Hazel eyes bore into my soul, his chest rising and falling rapidly as finally, his palms rested on the top of my thighs. In that moment, my entire thoughts became lost in his. I was his, and at least for tonight, Cassidy Duke was mine. There was an innocence in his gaze that wrapped me up in his desires. Something genuine and sincere about everything he’d confessed, speckled within the coils binding us together.
Everything that had once pushed me to kiss him came flooding back like a tsunami. All it would take was grabbing his crisp, forest green, striped button-up and tugging him forward to claim his lips.
My own mouth wanted a reminder of his taste, of the feel of his tongue against mine. It was more than a want, it was something I needed, nearly ready to beg for it from him. Even after hardly a full conversation for almost a week, my craving for him was still this strong.
His lips parted just slightly, drawing my gaze to the satin that waited just a few inches away. The shadows along his jaw deepened by the stubble and dark canvas stretching above us. What would be the harm in letting him in? I hadn’t set out on finding someone during this journey, I’d merely wanted brief safety away from a man who scared me.
Yet the safety that I found wasn’t for that reason, but as if here, this close to Cassidy, life itself became safe. Any terrifying thing I would face, was facing, wouldn’t be able to touch me with him around.
“Cassidy,” I whispered.
His brows twitched, warm breath washing over my face as he exhaled deeply.
And a guitar strummed, crushing the cocoon that blanketed warm around a man I shouldn’t be falling for but was.
Cassidy inhaled, his broad chest expanding with the breath, and he leaned away, a tight smile pulling on his lips.
“Alright,” Joe said. “How ’bout that song ‘Wondering Why’ by The Red Clay Strays. Y’all heard it?”
Cassidy’s tight smile shifted into a crooked grin, and then he began singing. Joe strummed in rhythm as his red-headed friend whose name I didn’t know pulled himself up beside me and used the tailgate for a drum.
Joe had not been lying, and I couldn’t look away from Cassidy. I’d never heard such a unique but amazing voice. A little bit of grit mixed with that western, mountain accent of Cassidy’s in a tune that I finally placed. This was the same song he’d been whistling while tracking Bud.
And he suddenly tugged me down from the truck. Fingers slipped into my right hand, gently pulling me into his body as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed his palm against the flat of my back. Cradled within his embrace, he swayed with the music. Not missing a single note, his voice carried a calm whisper across the cool night air.
One of his other friends, Wyatt, danced with a girl who’d shown up a few moments ago, and strangers that I’d not seen somehow found their way over to our little group. My gaze caught the arrival of the scowling face of Laura Marie and a few girls standing around her, but I let it go.
Falling into Cassidy’s slow dance, his chest vibrating with each note ringing from his lips, everything else faded away. His cheek pressed against my ear; it didn’t bother me at all that I was taller than all the other women here.
Right at this moment, I felt more desirable than almost any other moment of my life. On top of that, all of the other times I’d felt this way could be attributed to events occurring with Cassidy, which was not lost on me. But instead of feeling annoyed like I used to feel, I was blissfully happy.
While I hummed along with him, his hold tightened against the small of my back. He was actively seeking to have me closer to him. And I didn’t protest. Pressing flush against him, as snugly as I could, I melted in his arms.
I don’t even know what song he sang next, but he didn’t let go of me. His voice was soothing, and that’s all that I cared about.
Then I was suddenly twirled around, and there was nothing but a fiddle and a guitar playing as we began country swing dancing. Something I’d not done in a long time. Something that I’d only ever done with my dad, I was now doing with Cassidy. He threw me around like I was nothing, and my throat was hoarse from the laughter by the time we finished.
Hand in hand, we disappeared from his group of friends, wandering over to the food carts. I ended up with a burger, some fries, and my bum on a cold bleacher seat. Munching happily on the food, my gaze drifted away from the arena where a cowboy had just dallied his rope around his saddle horn, to the cowboy seated next to me.
Serenity was written all over his face as he put the last of his fries in his mouth. And something caught my eye. I followed his line of sight and realized he wasn’t even looking at the competitor in the arena but the horses warming up in a smaller pen along the outskirts of the stadium.
“Whatcha watchin’?” I asked, feeling content, and shoved another bite of hamburger in my mouth.
“That red roan out there in the warm up area. He walks big,” Cassidy mumbled.
“He walks… big?” I furrowed my brows and scanned the horses, finally finding the red roan that was being led by his rider closer to the starting gate of the arena.
“Yeah, look at his hind end. I bet he’s got one heck of a stop on him,” Cassidy continued, almost as if he wasn’t entirely aware that he was speaking.
I studied the horse, but still had no idea what he was talking about. He walked like any other horse. “I’m confused,” I answered.
Cassidy tapped my knee and pointed off to the left. “See that one? Watch the back end. That sorrel mare takes these tiny tiptoe-type steps. She’s got some nice muscling, but getting down in the dirt and a quick sliding stop isn’t going to be as natural to her as it is for the red roan.” I watched the new horse for a moment and then darted my gaze back to the red roan.
“How’d you notice that?” I asked, and he shrugged his shoulders as the next rider trotted into the arena.
“I thought that most people saw those things.” He lifted his brows and glanced at me.
“I wouldn’t have noticed that if you hadn’t said anything.”
“Oh,” he casually dismissed my compliment.
And it hit me. That’s what Rooney saw in Cassidy while training him. That’s what Rooney had picked up on when Cassidy worked with him. Cassidy noticed things, watched for things with horses, that most people wouldn’t unless purposefully seeking them out. Even though I’d started horses, trained them, I wouldn’t have thought to look for that. Ever.
“Why does it seem like Weston has no idea you can train horses like Rooney knows you can?” I blurted out as Cassidy watched the calf roper tie off the steer’s legs.
“We started a couple horses as kids when my dad was still running things. Trial by error, that’s for sure,” he mindlessly began and snatched a fry from my basket. I swatted at his hand as a smile raised the corners of his lips, and he quickly shoved the fry into his mouth. “Anyway, Weston eventually took over and expanded the herd, the business, everything. It was either we keep starting our horses, which takes time and resources, or pay someone else to start them to free up more time for other things on the ranch. That’s what he chose. I haven’t started a horse since before I was an adult, other than my time with Rooney, and I never felt like it was worth mentioning. So, I don’t think Weston, or really anyone in my family knows about it. And it’s not in my job description to say anything about it. I get to put finishing touches on them all the time, like the one I had you ride that hadn’t been roped off before, but that’s ’bout it.”
“Thanks for that, by the way,” I teased, then shoved the rest of my burger in my mouth.
He chuckled. “It was my pleasure. Anyway, I get why he does it this way. It’s more profitable to not raise them from foals since our use for them is to work the cattle that actually bring us money.”
“You know, if you say things like that to an outsider, they’d say that’s cruel.” I bumped my shoulder against him.
“Those horses love their job, and you know we take good care of them,” he answered and dove for another fry. I whacked his hand, my fingers stinging upon contact. “Ow,” he whined.
“Don’t steal my food,” I chided, and he threw an arm around my shoulders.
“Just one?” he begged, pushing his bottom lip out.
“No.”
“Come on, Goldie. Pretty please?” He tipped his head toward me and widened his eyes.
“Your puppy dog face may work on others, but these are really good fries. No.” I pushed against his cheek, and he grinned. Leaning away, he turned his gaze back to the arena where they were setting up for barrels next.
And even though his focus drifted away from me, he left his arm around my shoulders. Biting back the smile that crept across my own face, I stuck another fry in my mouth. I liked this too much. My heart felt light as my stomach danced with the whispers of feathers brushing lightly against the chambers that stirred with longing.
I finished my food while we watched several cowgirls race around the barrels, and he silently slipped the empty red-and-white checkered paper containers from my hands. Stacking them with his, he leaned toward my ear.
“I’m gonna go toss them real fast,” he whispered, his breath washing gently across the side of my face. A shiver danced down my neck and along my spine.
I nodded but didn’t say a word as he stood up and politely excused himself down the aisle. Part of me was ashamed to admit that I totally watched his butt, but the majority of me had nothing to say but a glowing review of the sight. He was in a class all on his own, and there was that entire side of me that still wondered why he liked me. What was it about me that caught his eye?
Brushing the crumbs from my fingers, I made sure my hair was still gently tucked into my waistband, so it wasn’t sitting against the bleachers, and returned to the rodeo at hand. Music pumped in the background of the cheering erupting from the stadium. Horses snorted, hooves sprayed sand up behind them as each rider turned their horse around the barrels, chasing a trophy that even Cassidy had once sought.
The last time I’d been in a rodeo was in high school, and while I missed the thrill and rush of adrenaline that came from it, I was living something even more thrilling.
Also quite a bit more terrifying.