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“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Exactly.”

She laughed softly. “Anyway, where are you taking me, cowboy?”

“There’s a nice spot I think you’d like over by the creek.” That and that’s where the cows were, so I guessed this ride wasn’t entirely leisure. I had an excuse to be out here, with her.

“You have a creek?” Was that excitement I heard in her voice? If so, I was going to run with it.

“Yeah. It cuts through the property, it’s where the cows are at the moment. So, I’ll show you some true Texan longhorns.”

“Are they fluffy?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Nah, they’re not fluffy. You’re probably thinking of highland cows.”

“Yeah, probably. I’ve seen photos of these little ones with horns, and they are really fluffy and cute.”

She seemed to be asking a lot of questions. But I wasn’t going to stop that. Her having an interest in the property could simply equate to her having an interest in me. Or Colton, but I didn’t want to think about that.

I watched her scan the land around us as we slowed, and I leaned over in the saddle to open a gate for us to enter Maddie’s paddock. “What’s over there?”

She pointed at the weed-filled, rock-strewn paddock nearby. “Nothing much. My grandfather seemed to think there was oil under it, so we can’t really do much with it. It would make the cows sick, and grain just won’t grow there. We use it for shooting practice mainly, there’s a junkyard on it too. But you don’t need to see that.”

“Oil?” She walked Ducky through the gate. “Why don’t you just sell the mineral rights or lease it? Have you done the magnetic surveys and such?”

Her questions made me uneasy. Her interest in anything related to the oil industry set me on edge. Especially when I already had someone sniffing around, sending offers to lease some land from us. “No. We won’t ever do that, not when our family has worked so hard to stay on the land, we don’t want anyone coming along to dig it up for a pittance of its worth.”

“Fair enough.”

“You seem to know about this kind of stuff. Dealt with it before?” My tone was harsh, and she fell silent, even though it looked like she was about to say something more.

Her eyes quickly flicked away from me and towards the paddock we were discussing. “I’m a lawyer, I studied a wide variety of topics while at law school.”

Perhaps I could have her look over the paperwork for me? Nah. It was a private family business matter. I didn’t have the right to share it with anyone without my siblings agreeing to it first. “Right.” It’s my turn to nod, then, to ease the conversation back to lighter topics, I added, “The creek is just over the hill and through another gate.”

I see her expression lighten, happiness appearing once again at the idea and she tried to nudge Ducky into a trot, but the stubborn bastard only snorted and continued walking.

Closing the gate behind us, so the animals didn’t get out, we continued on our way. Silence encompassed us. I looked around at the field we were in; the further we travelled, the closer we got to the creek. I heard the running water before we caught sight of it.

Sienna rose in the saddle, looking over the crest of the hill we were going up. I watched her closely, and knew the exact moment she saw the water. A smile spread across her face. It rivalled the sun with how bright her face was now.

We continued down the hill, coming ever closer to the water’s edge. “It’s beautiful.”

Coming to a stop, I threw my leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground, patting Cisco on the neck before walking towards the woman accompanying me. “Hey now, Ducky,” I soothed as I got closer. When I reached them, I slid my hand up his neck to the reins, then smoothed over Sienna’s fingers and took them in my own, pulling them over the pommel and resting them on the horse’s mane.

“Where are the cows?” she asked.

“They’re around. I’m sure they’ll come closer soon. They tend to be a pretty inquisitive bunch when they want to be.”

That laugh of hers tinkled around us once more. “Of course.”

“Time to hop down.” Before I could overthink it, I slid my hands up and around to grasp her waist..

“Help me down?” she asked.

Looking up at her, I saw the hint of a cheeky grin appearing. Helping her up a little she lifted her leg off the side of the saddle and over the pommel to come together with her other one. As I helped her down, she fell forward a little. I wasn’t prepared for that, and she crashed against me. I caught her, steadying us both before we toppled over. As she slid her body against mine, I reveled in being this close to her once again, and as her face lined up with mine she leaned in and kissed me.

It wasn’t an overly passionate meeting of our lips, but it wasn’t a quick peck either. I savored the feel of her skin on mine, and I swiped my tongue over her bottom lip. She responded to my touch with a soft feminine moan and opened her mouth just a little.

With a Herculean effort, I pulled back for the second time today and allowed her to continue to slide down further, until her feet hit the ground. Her hands wrapped around my biceps, and she leaned in closer, resting the side of her face against my chest. Just over my beating heart.

Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her, slowly raising one to cup the back of her head. As I looked over her much shorter frame to the gushing water behind her, I couldn’t help but think this was something I could get used to.