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Mrs. Samuels. Hearing someone else say those words caused a shiver to race up her spine. Alex swallowed, taking a few moments to regain her senses. Jesse still held her close, the warmth from his body more pleasant than it should have been. “Yes.”
As she thought he would, he lowered his head to kiss her again but she pulled far enough away he lost his grip on her. “You can’t kiss me anytime you want to, Jesse.”
“Yes, I can.” It was ridiculous how easy it was for him to do just that. He took his time, lingered for long minutes, tasting every inch of her mouth until her limbs felt weak and shaky and her heart was beating so hard she could hear it pounding in her head.
Pulling away, he said, “I could do this all day but I need to get this herd moving, so wash that plate and help Isaac pack up.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her back to the wash bucket. It took several moments to regain her senses enough to realize he’d walked away, but his parting words rang clear inside her head like an order.
The blasted plate was still lying on the ground and it galled her to bend over and pick it up. She grumbled as she washed it, then dried and put it away. She was still mumbling under her breath when Isaac showed up, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Don’t say it.”
“Say what?” He grinned while packing the last of the pots away.
“You know good and well what.”
Isaac shook his head and braced his hands on his hips. “One of these days, you two will realize you’re much happier together than apart. That is if you can keep from killing each other until that happens.”
Alex scoffed. “I doubt that. My life was just fine until he showed back up.”
“And boring, if I remember correctly. How many times were you in the bunk house complaining about how bored you were and asking me to talk your father into letting you help wrangle the horses and cows?” She opened her mouth to respond but he held up a hand, halting her words. “Tell me you haven’t been more at peace with life since he showed back up in town.”
She thought about it and bit her tongue. So, what if things were happening now and she wasn’t bored with the day in and day out of life in Willow Creek. And who cares if every passing second was anyone’s guess as to what would happen. Just because Jesse was there didn’t mean life got interesting for no other reason than he was in her breathing space.
The knowing look in Isaac’s eyes earned him a face and she turned after making one at him, his laughter following behind her as she headed toward Owen and the hobbled horses.
It was a coincidence that life got interesting at the same time Jesse showed up. It wasn’t him that made this adventure appealing. She’d been determined to sneak off on the cattle drive to get away from him and Hugh. He’d been the one to mess that plan up by tagging along.
She spotted him riding along the outer edges of the cattle line. He looked strong and capable of doing anything as he sat his horse. As much as she hated to admit it, he struck a fine figure.
That traitorous voice in the back of her head whispered that every inch of the man was hers for the taking too, all she had to do was reach out and accept everything he offered.
For whatever reason, Alex barely glanced his way the rest of the day. She didn’t speak to him either. If Jesse had to guess, he’d say it was the fact he made her wash his plate that had her in an ill mood.
Of course, it could have been all those kisses he’d given her in front of anyone looking but she’d enjoyed those. He could tell by the way she’d kissed him back, the small cooing sounds she’d made deep in the back of her throat and the way her fingers gripped the material of his shirt as she pulled him closer.
He smiled at the memory, looking toward the front of the herd where he’d seen her last.
The sun was getting low in the sky, shafts of bright orange, purple and pinks streaking across the horizon. It would be time to stop soon and make camp for the night.
He looked for Ben. The last time he’d seen him, he’d been riding the left side of the herd. Asking his friend to do what needed to be done without being told was a given, and the rest of this bunch pretty much had a handle on things even though they were still a bit green, so he headed toward the front of the herd, then past it to the chuckwagon in the distance.
The first thing he noticed when he approached the wagon was Alex was missing. He nodded his head at Isaac when he noticed him. “Have you seen Alex?”
“Yes.” Isaac pointed toward the horizon. “She rode ahead. Told her not to go alone but you know how hard headed the girl is.”
Jesse clenched his jaw. “Find a place to stop for the night and make camp. I’ll go find her.”
Clicking his tongue to get his horse moving, he raced across the prairie, searching in every direction for his missing wife. Despite his ire at Alex for going off alone, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips the moment he thought the word wife. Fight him as much as she wanted, but the fact remained, Alex was his wife, like it or not.
He saw her a few minutes later, off to the right on an incline. She was sitting tall in her saddle, looking out across the plain. The colorful light show the sun was displaying lit the sky behind her and she looked as if she’d drifted into a painting.
She didn’t look at him when he rode up beside her and stopped. He could see why. The plain below them was covered in the greenest grass he’d ever seen. It stretched as far as the eye could see but it wasn’t the grass that held his attention, or Alex’s if he had to guess. It was the horses. “How long have they been there?”
“They were grazing when I rode up. I’ve been here at least twenty minutes.”
They sat and watched them in silence for long moments, the sky changing colors and painting the wild horses in hues of black, browns and reds.
“My grandpa said when he moved to Willow Creek, there were wild horses everywhere.”
