Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
JASMINE
“Come on, girl,” I breathed out as I rounded the first barrel.
Juniper took the turn too wide, and I grunted in frustration.
I only had a couple weeks to prepare for my first race, so I needed to nail down these turns.
My chance at the pro circuit was finally within reach, and I wasn’t about to let it slip through my fingers.
Coming out of the turn, I pressed my legs into her and leaned forward, urging her to move faster.
She took my cues and shot off toward the next barrel.
With my eyes trained on the pocket as we neared it, I signaled her to slow down before pulling back the reins in my left hand to turn her nose.
This time she bumped the barrel, and I ground out a curse.
I was tense, my body strung tight as a bow, and it was affecting my riding.
These were amateur mistakes, ones I shouldn’t still be making with weeks of practice under my belt.
We raced toward the third and final barrel, and this time, she made a tight loop around it without bumping it.
“Yes!” I breathed out in celebration.
“You need to keep your heels down going into those turns,” a gruff, masculine voice called from the gate of the corral.
I turned to find Gabe leaning against the metal rungs, forearms resting on the top, and one booted foot kicked up on the bottom, and my heart rate picked up.
He was a vision in his worn blue jeans that molded to his muscular thighs, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal those corded forearms that made me salivate.
He’d only been back for a few days, but every moment I spent in his presence ratcheted up my desire for him.
Since I frequently helped out the ranch hands and gave a few riding lessons during the week, I spent a lot of time in his proximity, but because he’d been so busy, this was the first time he’d seen me practice.
I trotted over to where Gabe stood, stopping right in front of him.
I turned to take him in, my breath catching when he tilted his head up to look at me.
The brim of his cowboy hat partially shielded his face from the sun, but it couldn't hide his cerulean eyes that sparkled like the Caribbean Sea. I’d always thought they were beautiful, but now I found myself completely mesmerized.
It’d be so easy to get lost in them if only he’d look at me the way I longed for him to.
Shaking away those thoughts, I lifted a brow and shot him a playful smirk. “Been watching for a while then, huh?” I asked, then swung my leg over Juniper’s back and dropped to the ground before closing the short distance to Gabe.
A flush spread across his cheeks as he watched me approach, and his Adam’s apple bobbed with a rough swallow. He cleared his throat before responding.
“I noticed you over here practicing. Wanted to see if you still had it,” he replied, a challenge in his tone.
“Still had what?” I asked, folding my arms over the rail between where his forearms rested. To his credit, he didn’t react, nor did he retreat like I’d expected. He held his ground, continuing to tower over me as I propped my chin on my arms.
“Talent. Grit. Determination.” His voice was low and husky as he listed off my attributes. My stomach tightened at the sound, and a zing of excitement skittered down my spine. Had his voice always been so alluring?
“And what conclusion did you come to? Do I still possess all those qualities?” I asked, secretly hoping he’d say yes. I still desperately sought his approval, though I tried to play it cool.
“You do,” he replied, pride lacing his tone. “You’ve got real raw talent, but that only takes you so far. It’s your dedication and hard work that truly elevates your performance and sets you apart,” he declared. I preened beneath his praise, and my chest warmed.
“But you’re distracted,” he added, his brow pinching slightly like he wanted to scowl but wasn’t fully committed to it. I wanted to ruffle his feathers, to get a reaction out of him. I wanted to make him blush again. It was satisfying to watch the stoic cowboy get all flustered.
“Is that so?” I asked, a hint of challenge in my tone.
He nodded with his lips pressed into a thin line, his composed demeanor never cracking.
My eyes fell to his mouth, and his unaffected facade slipped.
There was a slight hitch in his breath, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips.
“I wonder why that is.” My voice was so low, it was nearly a whisper.
I let my eyes trail down his body, not bothering to hide my appreciation, before dragging them back up to his.
His gaze heated, the normally bright blue now two molten pools of darkest midnight.
A muscle in his jaw ticced, and his nostrils flared.
In a flash, the look was gone. Gabe pushed off the fence, and I was left wondering if I’d imagined it. Was it just a fantasy to hope he felt the same yearning for me that I did for him?
Before either of us could say more, a loud whistle split the air, and I jumped. Gabe casually took a step back, holding my gaze for a moment, his eyes full of something I couldn’t name, before turning around.
“Let’s go, Montgomery,” Jeremiah, one of the ranch hands called from the truck I hadn’t seen nor heard pull up.
I’d been so consumed with Gabe, everything else had fallen away.
His presence drove me to distraction to a point that was damn near dangerous.
Gabe turned to take in the cowboy hanging halfway out his window.
“The Johnsons just dropped off a yearling that likes to bite,” he added with a wide, mischievous grin.
“Be right there,” Gabe replied with a wave.
He blew out a breath, hands planted on his trim hips.
“Better get back to work,” he said, staring out across the field.
He didn’t spare me a second glance before turning on his heel and heading for the truck.
He hopped in the passenger seat, and they rode off, leaving me watching him with longing.
“Better close your mouth or you’ll swallow a fly.”
My head snapped to the left where my grandma Rose stood, her silver hair perfectly coiffed into a chin-length bob, her floral knitting bag slung over her shoulder.
She wore a knowing smirk, and panic tightened my throat.
How long had she been standing there? Had she witnessed the exchange between Gabe and me?
She might have claimed her sight was too bad to drive, but the woman missed nothing.
That eagle-eyed stare saw everything it wasn’t supposed to, and she wasn’t above using that knowledge to her advantage.
That was how I got stuck taking her to her knitting club. Extortion.
She had caught me sneaking in one night after a drunken bonfire with my boyfriend.
I was only nineteen and had been out most of the night, only creeping in an hour before my dad would be up to start work on the ranch.
When I tried to skirt around the side of the house to climb back into my bedroom window, she called to me from the front porch.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, covering my mouth to muffle my yelp of surprise.
She interrogated me about where I’d been, who I’d been with, whether we’d been safe, and if any of us had driven drunk.
When I answered all her questions satisfactorily, she nodded her acceptance.
“All right, I’ll keep this little indiscretion between us as long as it doesn’t happen again.” I breathed a sigh of relief, but before I could thank her, she added, “And you agree to drive me to my knitting club.”
I snorted a laugh, not only at the memory of how my sixty-eight-year-old grandmother had hustled me, but also at the fact they still claimed it was a “knitting club.” It was really just a boozy brunch for her and her sisters to gossip.
Sure, they did some knitting while they were there, but she always came back tipsy and never showed me what she’d made.
I suspected the bag of knitting supplies was just a front, but I didn’t call her on it.
She didn’t owe me an explanation, nor did she need to justify spending time with her sisters.
They were all close and ensured our extended family stayed connected.
All the cousins and second cousins had affectionately dubbed them the Granny Gang.
“If you’re done salivating over that cowboy’s cake, we’ve got places to be.” I nearly choked at her use of modern-day slang to refer to Gabe's very sexy backside.
“Gigi, where did you learn that?” I asked as I led Juniper to the barn.
“What?” she asked, feigning innocence. “Everyone says that nowadays. And it makes perfect sense considering you just want to sink your teeth into it and—” She let out a little dog-like growl and mimed taking an aggressive bite out of something.
“Dear Lord,” I said under my breath. This woman would be the death of me. Senior citizens weren’t supposed to act this way. “I thought Mom was taking you today since she needs to run to the bank.” For once, I thought I was off the hook and would have the morning to catch up on chores.
“Asher is sick, and his mom worked a double last night. RaeAnne offered to watch him so she could sleep and Jacek wouldn’t have to call out of work.
Poor little fella won’t even let her put him down.
I don’t want to bother her with this.” My little nephew, Asher, was the light of all our lives, and I hated to hear he was sick.
Gigi was right. Mom didn’t need to be bothered with this while she took care of him.
“Alright,” I said, resigned. “Let me put Juniper up.” I settled my horse in her stall and tossed a couple flakes of hay into her feeder, giving her an affectionate scratch between her ears and planting a kiss just above her muzzle.
She let me this time, most likely because of the hay.
She could be prickly at times, hence her name, and sometimes would snub me if she was in a mood.
“Let’s go, Granny Cougar,” I instructed when I emerged from the barn, looping my arm through hers, and walking her to my car. Then I drove her into town where I would have to turn her loose on society.
“Don’t get arrested, and don’t sexually harass the wait staff,” I instructed as I parked in front of Gigi’s favorite brunch spot. I was only half joking. She and her sisters were known to get a little out of hand after a few too many mimosas.
“I can’t make any promises,” she announced with a wink before opening her door and stepping onto the sidewalk.
Her sisters spotted her as she approached the entrance and immediately greeted her with hugs.
They waved at me excitedly, and I waved back, pulling away before they could rope me in to join them.
I didn’t feel like having my love life—or lack thereof—analyzed or speculated on, and I certainly didn’t need them trying to hook me up with their hairdresser’s son or the town’s new pharmacist or whatever new man was on the market these days.
They were sweet as pie, and I loved them dearly, but they liked to meddle way too much, and I wasn’t falling victim to their disastrous, albeit well-meaning matchmaking schemes again.
Besides, I only had eyes for one man. It didn’t matter that he was completely off limits.
No one in this town could compete with my dad’s best friend.