“I wasn’t expecting you to be such a good kisser,” I say, and Colt drops his head, resting it briefly on my shoulder.
“I wasn’t expecting to kiss you today, but I’m not complaining.” He repositions himself and sits next to me. Our shoulders press together, and I turn my head toward him. Colt assesses me in the quiet way he does so well.
“What?”
“I don’t kiss a lot of people, Ethan.”
“I figured. Are you okay with this?” I don’t really know if I’masking him if he’s okay with kissing me or okay with kissing me while we’re technically working, or even if it’s something else.
He takes a few beats before he replies. “In this moment, yes, I’m okay. When we get back to the ranch, and I go home…I don’t know.”
Colt closes the small space between us and kisses me again, the tentativeness from the first time gone. I smile against his lips. “I could kiss you here all day. Nobody has ever kissed me like this.”
“Like what?” he asks before sitting back against the tree.
“I don’t know. It’s just…different; like it’s the only thing you have to do today. I like it, though.”
“Me too.” He smiles, and he’s back to the shy cowboy. “Do you want to fish more?”
“You know, I think I’ll pass. But I’d love to watch you fish, and I’ll just take photos if that’s okay?”
“That’s okay. But if you change your mind, let me know.”
Colt kisses me again quickly before walking back to the river’s edge. After setting my rod aside, he pulls a cigar from his fishing vest, and my eyes widen as he lights it. He stows the lighter and draws on the cigar before leaning his head back and blowing the smoke up into the sky.
I don’t care for smoking, but watching Colt enjoy a cigar is a turn-on for reasons I can’t explain. Maybe it’s because I thought he was too innocent for something as badass as puffing on a cigar. It’s not a thick cigar, but it’s small enough that he holds it in his mouth while he casts and draws the line back, puffing on it here and there. He’s effortlessly cool and completely in his element.
Pushing off the tree, I walk over to the horses where I stowed my camera bag. Yes, I brought a spare battery pack, but I also brought the camera so I could take some shots with a better zoom. Colt catches my movement, andI give him a thumbs up that all is well with my good thumb.
Why is that cigar so sexy? I can’t stop watching.
He hooks a fish and clamps the cigar between his teeth as he pulls the fish in. He doesn’t use his net this time. Standing in deeper water that threatens to spill into his boots, he holds the fish with one hand and removes the hook with the other. It’s efficient and effective, and my dick definitely likes it. Before releasing the fish, he turns my way with it, cigar at the corner of his lips and the fish glinting in the sun.
I snap photos like my life depends on it, while my knees quake. Colt releases the fish and returns to fishing. I need to return to work mode, and quickly. The ranch gifted us this single day, but we both still have work to do.
After strolling along the river and taking more photos, I return to our spot and find Colt removing his rubber boots.
“Did you find anything on your walk?” he asks when he notices me.
“Some cool-looking rocks; saw some fish in shallow water. That was neat.” When his gaze meets mine, I just go for it. “A super-hot man smoking a cigar and fishing. I liked that a lot.”
Colt looks away and fights a smile. “Thanks. Um, we should probably eat and start back soon.”
“Sure.”
He hands me a paper bag from one of the saddlebags. Inside is a simple ham sandwich on white bread, a cookie wrapped in cling wrap, and an apple.
“I used to get a lunch like this at a summer camp I went to.”
“Oh?” Colt chews and swallows. “What kind of camp?”
“Maybe camp isn’t the right word.” I laugh because it’s likely not. “It was a program to teach kids about photography. The only outdoor part of it was wandering city streets and parks to takephotos.”
“Is that what got you into this…influencer stuff?”
Colt’s brows scrunch together, and I’m internally sighing at how adorable it is.
“Sort of. You really want to know how this kind of thing became my job?”
