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“I mean, I assume you never have to explain yourself. You demand something and you get it.” He nodded in the direction of the brothers, who had already moved on to new prey. “Like them. I assume you decided they weren’t for you so you came to me.”

“So?” She grimaced. “It’s not like that at all.”

“So. Why?”

Her eyes narrowed at him, trying to figure out his angle. “Are you fucking with me?”

“Maybe a little bit.” He shot her a sexy grin. He didn’t just look good, but looked
damned
good when he smiled at her like he was, with a hint of teasing.

She gave his hand another tug. “Come on Connor, just dance with me.”

“When you tell me why you want me to.”

She threw back her head and groaned. “You’re exhausting, Connor.”

“The only one making this hard, darlin’, is you. Be honest and tell me why.”

Catching his gaze she realized this wasn’t a standoff she was going to win and get what she wanted. Men didn’t say no to her – they followed. But that wasn’t Connor and perhaps that was what was drawing her to him. He had a backbone with her; he challenged her, made her work for it and was making her see things about herself. She really liked it.

“Fine. You win.”

“Good.” He pushed himself off of the outside wall of the barn and took a step into her. “Then tell me.”

“Because you’re an aggravating jackass, but for some reason I kinda like you, despite the fact you hurt my feelings the other day.” She ran her free hand through her long locks. “And you’re not too hard on the eyes.” She scanned the people around them. “Best-looking guy here really.”

“You know I’m sorry for that comment. It was uncalled for. And I apologize. I’m not normally that much of an asshole.”
Amusement suddenly began to dance in his grey eyes. “Not too hard on the eyes, huh?”

“Yeah. Not too hard.” She shrugged, feeling a slight flush creek into her cheeks. “And maybe I could use a friend who has the balls to stand up to me once in a while.” She peered up at him and waited for his response.

“Come on,” he said, nodding toward the barn. “Your ‘jam’ is almost over, although I’m pretty sure the next song will suit you fine as well.”

Smiling, she allowed him to lead her through the open doors and into the barn where couples were dancing. As they reached the center of the makeshift dance floor, the song changed up and a slow melody began. Like the first song, she had no clue what it was, but she accomplished what she’d been hoping as she was pulled into his strong embrace; his hands slipping to her lower back, caressing her bare flesh. The warmth of his hands on her radiated through her and her body demanded she get closer and feel his warmth flush against hers.

She slowly slid her hand up his chest to lock her fingers behind his neck. His cologne drifted to her nose, drawing her in. The warmth of his body and hands on her were a delicious contrast to the coolness of the night breeze, coming in from outside of the barn. It felt so nice being close to him that she could almost forget the horror of a day she’d spent cleaning up after animals and that she didn’t want to be there.

She sighed and allowed herself the pleasure of feeling him swaying against her. A smile formed on her lips when his hands raked through her hair, lightly tugging at the strands. After a couple of minutes, she looked up at him, catching his eyes. “How come you spent the day avoiding me?”

He looked down at her. “I didn’t.”

“Now who’s the one lying?”

“Fine. You’re right. I was. I just needed some time to figure out how best to deal with you.”

“Deal with me? You make me sound like some sort of problem child.”

He cocked a brow up at her, not replying.

“That’s not fair. I did everything that was requested of me today. I didn’t bitch and I didn’t whine. I did it all, even though I was quite literally sick.” They were having a good moment, why would he ruin it by implying she was a problem to be dealt with, regardless of whether it was true or not?

He smiled, running his hand through her hair again, keeping her tight to him. “I know. William gave me a full report. I’m surprised, but extremely proud of you.”

~*~*~*~*~

“Oh yes, my chaperone.” She rolled her eyes at him. The tension in her body relaxed and she pressed herself tighter to him, her pelvis rubbing against his groin. “Smell me.”

“Excuse me?” It wasn’t too often he had a beautiful woman asking him to smell her.

“I smelled so bad I don’t think I’ll ever get the smell out of my hair.” She brushed her lips across the side of his neck. He didn’t know if it was on purpose or not, but her lips sent a rumble through him and he had to grit his teeth to keep from groaning.

Oh dear God, it’s been way too long…
It had been too long since he’d held a woman in his arms. Too long since he’d tasted the sweetness of a woman’s lips. Too long since he’d taken pleasure in the softness of a woman’s body.

“Well, do I stink?” She moved against him again, pulling him from his thoughts as a fresh apple scent drifted to his nose.

Dammit, is she tempting me on purpose?
She was so damned hard to read and it was so hard to determine if it was just another game with her.

“Well? Be honest with me, do I smell?”

He chuckled, hoping to cover his discomfort, but there was no way short of pulling away from her that he could cover the fact that he had an erection beginning to form.

“All I smell is the apples from your shampoo. It smells nice, Sam.”

“Oh thank God.” To his relief and disappointment, she snuggled
back in his arms to look into his eyes. “You know,
I was doing a lot of thinking while shovelling shit; I don’t mean to make people feel bad. I guess it’s kinda like you said a while back, no filter on my thoughts. I understand why you were angry. And I’m really sorry and not just saying that.”

He remained silent a moment. Either she was sincere or the best actress in the world. He was leaning toward sincere; he doubted anyone could fake the look in her eyes. “That’s a quick change of mind.”

“I had lots of time to think while I was elbow deep in manure. You see life an entirely different way after that experience.”

His smile re-emerged. “If it makes you feel any better you get tomorrow off and it’s not all about shit removal. I never really intended on having you do that, but you had me so damned angry.”

“Boy, do you ever know how to sweet talk a girl.”

The music changed up again, another slow song replacing the previous one. She felt amazing in his arms, her body swaying in perfect sync with the music teasing his body. “So can I ask ya a question?”

“I suppose.” He braced himself; he was learning she was predictably unpredictable. To his surprise, a part of him really liked that about her.

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend, or wife, or whatever?”

He tensed, his movements stopping completely for a moment. Connor forced a smile onto his face. “I just don’t. I’ve been busy I suppose and the single female pool in a small town like this is about as slim as the single male.”

“How old are you anyhow?” She fingered the collar of his black button-down shirt. “I mean, your brother is in his fifties, but you’re not near as old. What happened there?”

“I was a mistake.”

Her eyebrows shot up comically. “A wha–”

Laughing, he gave her a little hug and resumed moving to the music with her. “My brother was born within the first year of our parents’ marriage. They had a horrible time trying to conceive another child. They thought he was going to be the only one. Then… over twenty years later… I show up.”

She remained silent, and he could see her doing the math in her head.

“I’m twenty-nine.”

“Wow, you’re younger than I expected!”

He forced his face to remain serious. “Darlin’ you saying I look old? I can take that day off away from you, have you with a shovel come tomorrow morning.”

She swatted at his shoulder and gave him an unexpected kiss on the cheek. “No, I mean you look good, just different than I expected before I met you.”

“Ahhh. Old guy, beer gut, big ol’ Stetson hat?”

She nodded.

“I do have a hat you know. I even wear it frequently.” He winked at her and she grinned in response; the smile lit up her face beautifully. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen such a beautiful woman in his life as the woman before him at that moment. Her glossed lips parted and God help him he wanted to kiss her. The world around them faded, leaving only a soft melody in the background – and her. One kiss wouldn’t hurt. Just one.

“Hey, do you guys mind if I cut in for a song or two?” The moment shattered with the sound of Gina’s voice. “Oh shoot. I’m sorry you two. Am I interrupting?”

What in the hell was I just about to do?
He pulled away from Samantha and focused his attention to Gina. “No. You’re not. We were just…” He looked over at Samantha and she appeared as visually flustered as he felt.

“I’m going to go get another beer,” Samantha murmured, avoiding his eyes, slipping from his arms, turning and fleeing the barn.

Connor sighed and focused his attention back to Gina and smiled at her, hoping she wouldn’t notice how flustered he felt. “How could I possibly turn you down?”

Chapter 6

Samantha kept replaying the moment with Connor over and over in her mind wondering what would happen if they hadn’t been interrupted. She went to sleep thinking about it and awoke the next morning thinking about it. The drive home later that night had been made in silence, with a quick “good night” as they retired to their respective rooms. It made her unsure and she hated the feeling. Had she imagined the moment?

After taking a quick shower, she slipped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Today her t-shirt featured the faces of the stars of The Big Bang Theory: Dr Cooper, Dr Hofstadter, Dr Koothrappali and Mr Wolowitz. She pulled her hair into a ponytail high on her head and made her way downstairs. She had to admit, it felt nice not having to worry about her wardrobe and make-up and looking perfect. It was a really freeing feeling just to let loose and be herself. If she were to be honest with herself she really wasn’t sure who she was without the life she led in New York, but was anxious to find out.

After doing a thorough search of the house she wandered outside in search of Connor. Today was a new day. She was anxious to see if the previous night was just a fleeting moment or if maybe there might be something there.

She found Connor by the stables with William, securing a saddle on one of the male horses.

“Hey guys.” The two men quit talking to focus their attention on her as she approached.

“Afternoon Samantha,” William said, turned to Connor, nodded and left them alone, heading toward the milking parlour.

“Didn’t think you were ever going to wake up. How are you feeling?” Connor snugged up the saddle of the horse in front of him and approached her.

“I only had a few beers.” She shrugged, thrusting her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and rocking back on her heels. “That would be considered a light party night for me.”

“Don’t think I want to know what a hard night would be.” He smiled down at her and her heart did a little extra beat.

Reaching up on her tiptoes, she gave the rim of his black Stetson hat a tap. “It actually looks pretty good on ya.”

Chuckling he readjusted his hat. “Well, thank you Ma’am.”

Laughing, she jerked her head toward the horse. “So, what are you doing?”

“I was going out for a ride. I always go out on Sunday mornings. Just a little late today.”

“Oh.” She clucked her tongue off of the roof of her mouth and jerked her thumb toward the house. “Guess I’ll just…”

“Do you want to come with me?”

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “I’ve never ridden before.”

“Come on,” he motioned for her to follow him into the stable. “You’re gonna learn today. We just got finished cleaning Chelsea so we’ll saddle her up and you can take her. I’ll show you how to clean them down to prepare them to ride later.”

“But I don’t know how to ride.” She followed him into the stable. It had eight stalls for the horses and she immediately noticed two more fawn-colored horses she hadn’t noticed the previous couple of days.

“It’s not rocket science darlin’, I think you’ll do okay.” He grabbed number of items from the wall, passed them to her and then grabbed a saddle, hoisting it up and over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get her saddled up.”

With her arms loaded, she followed him out of the stable and over to Chelsea, who was busy grazing. The horse’s head perked up and it eyed them both as they approached, but didn’t move.

“Pay attention because I’ll be expecting you to do this yourself next time.” He grabbed the saddle pad and began getting Chelsea ready for her, explaining each piece of equipment and why it was important. Samantha watched, but it wasn’t so much the procedure that she was watching as it was Connor. Her eyes scanned his broad, powerful shoulders and down his back. His t-shirt hugged his lean torso and coaxed her eyes to travel lower to his tight ass covered in faded denim.

She felt a flutter in her stomach and a building of tension between her legs as she watched him. There was no doubt about it, she wanted him. Last night hadn’t been just a passing thing, brought on by alcohol and a fun and romantic setting. The question was, what to do about it?

Piece by piece Connor removed all of the equipment from her arms until her arms were empty and Chelsea stood before them ready to ride. “There, she’s ready to go. Think you’ll be able to do it yourself next time?”

Not a chance
, she thought, but smiled and nodded saying, “Not a problem.”

“Good.” He patted the saddle. “Up you go. Left foot in the stirrup and swing your right leg over.”

She stepped up to the animal and placed her foot in the stirrup. Seeing her uncertainty Connor stepped up behind her and placed his hands on her hips. “Go ahead, I got ya.” His breath teased the back of her neck and she tensed a moment fighting the temptation to lean back into him. “It’s okay.”