Cowboy / Small Town Collection

He crossed his arms, the veins in his forearms popping. “Why are you out here in the first place? This is private property, after all. I probably should have led with that, but you’re just so darn pretty I got distracted.”

My face instantly heated at the compliment, and I giggled like a schoolgirl. “I’m lost.”

“Figured that. Where’re you headed?”

“I was headed south and obviously took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.”

He was wearing a devilish smirk that said he caught me staring, but when the tips of his fingers brushed against mine, I completely froze. So did he. His throat cleared, and he dipped his chin, appearing as tongue-tied as I felt. “Why don’t you come back to the ranch with me? It’ll be a while before we can get the tow truck out.”

I think it was the speed at which Hunter lived out a Western right before my eyes that overshadowed the severity of my situation until just then. “Crap…” I pinched the bridge of my nose, praying that I’d be able to get out of this. “Crap, crap, crap.”

“Summer, relax.” His voice and his words had the desired effect because I took a half-hearted breath while he spoke. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll help you figure it out, okay?”

It was the sympathy coupled with his sincerity that made my lip quiver, and it didn’t matter what I told myself or how much I tried to hold them in because those damn tears began to sting my nose. I shook my head to try to hide it. “I can’t ask for your help. I don’t even know you or anything about you except for the fact that you’re a real-life cowboy.”

“I am. So tell me, what kind of cowboy would I be if I didn’t gallop in on my horse and swoop up a damsel in distress?”

I wanted to argue that I wasn’t a damsel in distress, but when I tried to come up with an argument as to why that wasn’t true, I had nothing. And when I realized just how limited my options were, I felt myself about to crumple under the weight of it all. But I didn’t have a chance to because I was suddenly swept up in his arms, and as I kicked my legs out, I grabbed his chest… his defined chest, and frankly, I stopped caring about anything other than him. “What are you doing?” I was unsettled about the situation, but surprisingly, I wasn’t scared of him. I’d proven to be a horrible judge of character in the past, though, so that wasn’t saying much.

“I’m doin’ what any real-life cowboy would do; I’m ridin’ off into the sunset with a distraught female.” He walked the few steps to his horse, and I wiggled to get down, but he held me tight. Then he kind of tossed me up, so I had no choice but to straddle the beautiful beast. I wasn’t even able to protest before he swung up and seated himself behind me. One strong arm wrapped around my belly, and he used the other to pick up the rope and the reins, and the way I felt with him holding me was like nothing I’d ever experienced in my life. It was perfect.