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She was suddenly wide awake, muscles tensed. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?" she said with a choked laugh. "What is there to talk about?"
His muscles bunched under her cheek as he shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, we're having sex, which is kind of a big deal—"
"It doesn't have to be." She propped herself up on one elbow. His eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. Guess her casual attitude surprised him. "It's not that big of a deal to me—don't get me wrong, this is the most fun I've had in a long time. But I don't need to put a label on it. Besides, it's only been six months since I was officially released into the wild. So you don't have to worry that I'm setting you up to be the next Mr. Colleen."
"So, what, I'm just like, your rebound guy to get you back on the horse?" Though his tone was light, she could see the tension in his jaw.
"You make it sound like I'm using you." Wasn't she, though? A stab of guilt hit her in the chest. "I like you, JT. And the sex is... there are no words." Relief washed through her as his jaw relaxed and a self-satisfied grin pulled at his lips. "But I'm not ready to jump into anything that resembles a committed relationship."
And I'm pretty sure I never will be.
"Hopefully you're okay with that."
"Of course I'm okay with that." Because what red blooded American male wouldn't be over the moon at amazing no-strings-attached sex with a beautiful woman?
Him, apparently. He was surprised to find how much her words stung, and called himself all kinds of stupid for the fact that they did. What did he expect her to say. "JT I've realized you're the man of my dreams, and I'm actually happy that my husband left me for another woman because it freed me up to be with you?"
Damn it. This, he realized, was why he'd hesitated to get involved with her. Not because she was his friend's sister, not because he was afraid she would get hurt again. Because he liked her. Too damned much. And even though he hadn't admitted it to himself, he'd thought about what a future with her might look like.
How, unlike his last serious girlfriend, Colleen would fit perfectly into his life at the ranch. She grew up here, she knew what life in a small town was like, understood the unique demands of his job. Hell, their families were even neighbors.
And the fact that she was beautiful, smart, funny and kind, not to mention he'd had a hard on for her since his junior year?
How could he not see potential for a match made in heaven?
Jesus, when had he become so sappy? Besides, didn’t he know better than to get ahead of himself? Just because he and Colleen shared a few laughs and a great time in bed didn’t mean they were destined for happily ever after.
He needed to take it slow. Like her, he was coming off being hurt, but he was pretty sure that the sting of his breakup was nothing compared to the hurt she'd suffered.
He needed to bide his time, be patient. An image popped into his head—a quarter horse he'd acquired last summer. The four-year-old gelding was a beautiful beast who had the potential to be a great cow horse. But he'd been badly abused by his previous owner and was skittish and head shy and nearly impossible to saddle at first.
It had taken a week of JT simply standing in the corral with a can of grain before the horse was brave enough to investigate. A few days later, he ate from JT's hand, and a few days after that, he let JT stroke his neck for a few seconds before he ran off, bucking and snorting.
Colleen was like that horse, wounded and skittish and afraid of getting hurt again.
He just needed to go slow, earn her trust. There would be plenty of time to figure out if what they shared had any potential to get serious.
"What are you thinking about?"
He wasn't about to tell her the truth. He didn't claim to be an expert on women, but he knew enough that they tended not to find comparison to an eight-hundred-pound animal flattering. And if she knew his aspirations to hang onto her for the long haul... she'd light out of this cabin so fast she'd leave skid marks.
He slid his hand down to the small of her back. "I'm thinking I still can't believe I've got Colleen Murphy naked in my bed. I must have done something really good in a past life to get this dream to come true."
"Oh yeah? So you used to dream about me in your bed?" She gave him a sly smile and traced her fingers down his abdomen, stopping just short of where his rapidly thickening cock tented the sheets.
He pulled her to settle on top of him, letting out a low sound as her soft tits rested against his chest. "I think any guy who watched you bouncing down the hallways of Sweet Grass High in your cheerleading outfit had that dream. Jesus, you in that tiny little skirt with your perfect legs and sweet ass..." he slid his hands down and gave her cheeks a squeeze.
She squirmed against him in a way that had his cock surging against the smooth skin of her stomach. "Ooh, tell me more about how hot I was," she said with a little laugh.
"There's no was, darlin'. You're still as hot as you were in high school, if not hotter. And smart and funny on top if it... You, Colleen, are the complete package."
The next day as she worked her shift at the ER, memories of the night before picked at her. Not just the memories of off-the-charts sex, but of JT himself.
Even though he didn't say it, she knew he was a little disappointed when she expressed her desire to keep things casual. He saw something in her, someone who could be more than friends with benefits.
The complete package, he'd called her. The kind of woman who had everything to offer.
Growing up, that was exactly what she had strived so hard to be. She had to be perfect at everything. It wasn't enough to be just popular; she needed to be liked. So, no matter what mean girl tricks some of her friends might have pulled, Colleen was unfailingly kind to everyone. It wasn't enough to be on the cheerleading squad, she had to be the captain. In school she had to make the honor roll every quarter and in college, to graduate with honors.
