Chapter 6 Taylor
Oh, my heavens. That man looks like he stepped out off the pages of a magazine, Taylor thought.
It took her a full minute to catch her breath and to will her heart to slow down. The butterflies in her stomach were exploding exponentially.
His upper body was tanned and he had the perfect rancher’s body. His arms were thick and the muscles on his chest were clearly defined. He had the standard six-pack abs.
Taylor hadn’t felt an attraction to a man so intense since she first started dating Carl. Biting her bottom lip, she thought, You must get yourself together.
She went into the kitchen and made him a cup of coffee and a cup of hot tea for herself.
“I got the idea that you aren’t a super huge fan of hot tea.”
The sexiest grin she had ever seen flashed across his face. “Not really, no. Thanks for this.” He raised the coffee cup and took a sip.
She sat down next to him in front of the fire. “You know, when your pants dry, they are going to be so incredibly stiff, you might not be able to walk.”
“It could be a challenge. I’m wondering if I should roll over, though, to give my backside a chance to dry, too.”
Taylor had already noticed that the man had a nice-looking hiney. The thought of him laying on her floor, without a shirt, showing his butt, even if it was encased in perfectly fitting jeans, was almost too much.
He rolled over and Taylor closed her eyes and took a sip of tea to hide her reaction.
“Thank you for going into the creek after the calf. It only swells like that a week or so out of every year unless we get a lot of super heavy rains,” he said. “Those waters can be very dangerous and you could have easily been swept away.”
“I know, but I couldn’t let that terrified baby drown,” she said. “She might be dinner later, but right now she’s just a baby who needs to be happy grazing and being with her mama.”
“They should be happy while they are alive,” he agreed.
“I know about the rise and fall of creeks, though. I have a great friend who lives in Kansas. There is a creek out there, called Stranger Creek. Most of the time it is dry or nearly dry. I was visiting during a rainy season and I kid you not, I saw a combine floating down the creek.”
“Large amounts of rain in a short amount of time will definitely have that impact,” he said. “I’ve never lost an animal to it, though. The calf must have wandered off,” he said. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
He turned back over and sat up. The flames made him look like he was glowing or had some kind of golden aura about him. Lane stared into her eyes and then leaned over. He put one hand on her cheek and pressed his lips to hers.
At first, it was a very gentle kiss, but as she responded, the kiss deepened. She inhaled his scent and it seemed to permeate through all her cells. Embers that she had thought were dead kindled back to life and flames of desire started to burn deep inside of her.
The cool night air clashed with the heat from the fireplace and from their bodies. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as Lane explored her mouth.
She wrapped her arms around him, her fingers splayed out across his hard muscles. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. Taylor was certain that her heart was going to explode out of her chest.
A loud buzzing noise startled them apart.
“I guess that means my shirt is dry,” he said in a husky voice. “I should get it and go home.”
For the briefest second, Taylor wanted to ask him to stay. Then, she told herself that it was way too early to be thinking that.
“I guess it does,” she replied. “Loki is probably ready to get back home, too.”
“He’d be happy where he is all night long. There is plenty of sweet grass to munch on,” Lane said.
He likely realized that his words sounded like a self-invite to stay, he quickly brushed a kiss across her lips and left.
She stared at the door for a minute, half hoping that he would come back in and they could see where things would go, while also hoping that he didn’t because she wasn’t ready for the relationship to go that far – if what they had was even a relationship.
Taylor pressed her hands to both sides of her head. It was buzzing like white noise on an old television set.
Sighing heavily, she grabbed her phone.
“What’s up?” Melissa asked.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“At the beginning,” Melissa suggested.
“You know that I’m working for Lane Johnson and we talked about how he is an incredibly sexy man.”
“Yes. I told you it was alright to look at the menu even if you can’t afford to buy the dish.”
“Welllll,” Taylor said, raising her voice a couple of octaves. “I might have asked for a free sample.”
“You did what?”
“We went to church together on Sunday and hung out all day together. We held hands and he gave me a peck on the mouth as he left the cabin. Tonight, we were wet after rescuing a calf from the creek and he was half naked trying to dry off. He kissed me and it was enough to make my toes tingle,” Taylor confessed. “I literally had to bite my tongue to keep me from asking him to stay longer.”
“I’m not really sure what to say. On one hand, I’m glad that you are finally putting a toe in the water after Carl, but I’m a little worried about whose pond you put your toes in.”
“Love the metaphors,” Taylor laughed.
“I’m an English teacher. Quit changing the subject.”
“I know. You’re right. But he’s such a great guy. He’s sweet and smart. He also has a body that could stop a speeding train in the dead of night.”
“That good, huh?”
“Better.”
“All I can say is be careful with your heart. He is the first man you’ve spent any real time with since Carl died. You are in the middle of an emotional time since you just lost the ranch, which was a huge link to Carl. If you are going to sample any more of that dish, I would say proceed with extreme caution.”
“I will,” Taylor said. “I have no plans on marrying the man tomorrow.”
“Don’t jump in bed with him, either,” Melissa said, bluntly.
“I’ll do my best,” Taylor laughed.
They talked about Melissa and the fact that she just broke up with her boyfriend, who was cheating on her.
“I’m going to focus on becoming a board certified teacher and not even worry about men,” Melissa said. “I actually feel better knowing that I only have to worry about myself and my dog.”
They ended the call after an hour of chit-chatting. The last image in Taylor’s mind was of a gorgeous rancher without his shirt.
The next morning, she and Lane acted like nothing had happened the night before. He gave out assignments and Taylor groaned internally. He had assigned Anthony to work with her and Lane on the range, rounding up, vaccinating, and branding the range cattle.
They used motorcycles to herd the cattle into a pen. There was no shoot, so each bull or cow was roped and put on the ground. Lane held the head while Anthony branded the animal and Taylor vaccinated it. The process took just a couple seconds for each animal. It was then released back onto the prairie.
Anthony glared at her every chance he got. “You should try doing the hard work for a change.”
She ignored him.
“Do you think a delicate flower like you could use this branding iron all day or hold the critters down?”
Taylor acted as though she didn’t hear anything.
He was getting increasingly frustrated because he couldn’t get a response out of her. At one point, they finished with a young bull and Lane had just released him. Anthony walked past her and purposely pushed her, although he tried to make it look like an accident.
Taylor had enough. Her heart thundered and she gritted her teeth. She wheeled around and put her finger in his face.
“Do it again and I swear, I’ll send you so far back in time, that you’ll be able to attend the first Thanksgiving.”
Taylor was exhausted at the end of the day but wasn’t quite ready to go back to her cabin.
Sam approached her with a smile. “Robert and I are heading to the Bull Horn tonight. You want to join us?”
The Bull Horn was a bar.
She stepped in close to him so she wouldn’t be overheard. “Is Anthony going?”
“No. He wasn’t invited.”
“Then, I’m in,” she said.
She bought the first round of beer since she was the newbie.
“Anthony’s been giving you a hard time, huh?”
“Yeah. He looks down on me because I’m a woman. If he keeps it up, I’ll have to knock him down a peg or ten.”
“I believe you can do it,” Sam said. “I hope I can watch.”
“Hopefully, I won’t have to. Who’s up for a game of pool?” Taylor asked.
The three of them played several games of pool and darts. Taylor cleaned house, and she came out a hundred dollars ahead.
“Another game?” Taylor asked.
Both men held up their hands in a surrender motion.
“You took all of our money,” Robert said. “You’ll have to buy the next round.”
A voice behind them said, “The next round is on me.”
Taylor turned around to see Lane standing behind her.
They sat down at a table and Lane ordered the drinks. Then, with their knees touching, he held her hand under the table while Robert and Sam jokingly complained about how Taylor stole their money by being a pool and dart shark.
All Taylor could think about was whether she was making a fool of herself and if she was going to end up with a broken heart.