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She stood back and looked at her work, the heat of the afternoon making her forehead sweaty. She didn’t wear a cowgirl hat, and she was probably burnt already.
“Stay there,” she said to Hershey as if the horse were a dog. “I need a hat.” They kept extras in the stables for the kids who came to ride, and Jane intended to get one of those.
Instead, she spun and ran straight into a very solid chest.
“Whoa,” a voice said, and oh, she knew that voice. It rumbled in her head, her eardrums, her throat, her chest, her stomach, and then her heart.
Cord Behr.
The man had been the fantasy of Jane’s childhood. Just because almost fourteen years had gone by since she’d gotten herself and him into a heap of trouble in the family shed, didn’t mean that had changed.
She still had a mega-crush on the man, and as he put his hands on her elbows to prevent her from falling down, stars shot through her veins. She blinked, and she got stars set against black plaid.
He backed up a step, but he kept his hold on her. “You okay? You’re not going to fall down?”
“I’m okay.”
Only then did he pull his hands away, and Jane didn’t like that at all. She looked up at him, his dark blue eyes almost black in the shadow of his cowboy hat. He gave her that lopsided smile that she wanted to kiss so badly. She wanted to know if her straight lips would fit against his slightly crooked ones, and she was willing to bet the rest of her inheritance that they would just fine.
So, so fine.
“Howdy, Miss Jane.” He tipped his hat at her. “You goin’ riding?”
“I was hoping to,” she said. “I just needed a hat.”
“It’s real hot today.” He nodded like getting a hat was a good idea.
She wanted to reach out to him and run her fingers up his forearm and suggest he come riding with her. He wouldn’t, though, as he was at work, and she’d only get rejected. Painfully.
Besides, she knew now not to play her cards so openly. She could flirt in more subtle ways. “Are you almost done with work?” she asked.
“Yeah, almost.” The work never really ended on a farm, but neither of them said that. “Keith and I are gonna head in to see Mike when we’re done.”
Jane’s interest piqued. “You are? My daddy wouldn’t let me go.”
Cord reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. Though he was almost forty years old, it was absolutely adorable. “Keith said Mike might not let us in, but that we ought to try. The thought counting and all that.”
Jane wanted to invite herself along, but she didn’t. “I’m sure my uncle will text how he’s doing soon,” she said. “He should almost be done.” She started to move past Cord, because she wasn’t sure how much longer she could suppress her flirting.
She went into the stable to get a hat, and it took her several tries to find one big enough for her head. They were for the kids who rode, after all.
Outside, she found Cord standing next to Hershey, adjusting the strap on her saddle. “Did I do it wrong?”
“Just a little,” he said over his shoulder. He moved away from the horse as Jane approached, a grin forming on his face. “Nice hat.”
She put one hand on top of it and stuck out one hip. “Right? I’m like, totally ready to ride now.”
Cord swept his gaze down her body and back to hers. If she wasn’t mistaken, pure heat lived in those gorgeous eyes, and the breath left Jane’s body.
“I’d love to see you get in the saddle,” he said, his voice sounding rusty and overused.
Jane looked down at herself—and that was when she realized she wore a skirt. She jerked her head up again, her eyes wide. Cord simply looked back at her, and she had not been mistaken.
The man looked at her with pure interest in his eyes, and Jane couldn’t help opening the box where she’d stored the fantasy of him and her together…and letting it bloom right back to life.
12
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Jane said, her voice more vibrant now. “Go get me a stool so I can get on Hershey.”
