Page 18 of Ash on the Range (Red Hart Ranch #6)

Cassie

Red Hart’s yard was packed with people. I didn’t recognize half of them but it seemed like Eve and the rest of the RHR regulars knew everyone.

I wandered at Eve’s side, my vision blitzed out by the stadium sized lights that illuminated the entire ranch from mountain to mountain.

For the first time after dark I could see everything.

The fields stretched out either side of the ranch, treed foothills disappearing into the sides of the mountains that left the big house to one side of the gully.

A rodeo arena had been set up in the field directly opposite the house just outside the yard where everyone else parked and milled about.

I was glad we had a place to stay, because I’d hate to have to move my car any time soon.

Vehicles were parked end to end in neat rows where Jude and a handful of ranch hands in high vis neon vests directed traffic as locals piled in from neighboring farms.

Considering how remote Red Hart appeared when I first pulled into the property with Will, it didn’t seem as though there were that many farms about.

But the event had boosted the local population into action.

Headlights still lined the long drive as I peered about Eve’s shoulder into the distance where I thought the road was further along the few rambling hillocks to the big branded sign bearing all her work.

“They just keep coming,” I muttered in something akin to awe, wrapping my arms around myself.

Eve had insisted I borrow a black top of hers, a one-shouldered stretchy affair shot with silver thread that left my back bare beneath my hair if I took my jacket off—also borrowed—and black.

I tried to sneak Will’s hoodie into tonight's wardrobe, but Eve wasn’t having any of it, and stole it away, promising I could have it back at the end of the night.

At least I got to wear my own jeans and boots.

My hair hung past my shoulders, wild and free because Eve also styled that.

By the time she was done I felt less like me and more like a toy doll, Red Hart style.

Right up until she whispered, ‘he’ll love it,” in my ear, and walked away.

And when I looked at just-mussed-hair me with the smokey eyes in the mirror, wearing black and silver, with a pair of dangly earrings and peeking a little bare skin as I walked, I had to agree.

Will might actually go a little nuts after the way he touched me today.

I swallowed at the memory of our morning make out session on the sofa before everyone else got up that grew hot and heavy pretty fast. My jeans still smelled faintly like him, and I squeezed my thighs together at the memory of how he’d made me come for him again just with a few touches.

I swore that man knew my body far too well.

I missed him so much, and I hadn't seen him since breakfast when Eve placed two thermoses of coffee in front of my face and a chopping board to one side.

Five loaves of bread followed and I was a sandwich machine from there on in, buttering and stacking bacon and eggs like a pro within seconds.

By the time I locked up, Will and half the kitchen was empty, and people milled about outside, getting their jobs for the day before the rodeo started in full.

I vaguely recalled his kiss on my cheek before he left, and that mark stayed with me through the day.

I stuck my hands into the jacket cropped at my waist and scanned the crowd for Will’s familiar form but I couldn't spot him. Gage passed us as Eve diverted to talk to someone else she knew, and a fresh cup of hot coffee in a takeaway cup marked Beanie’s was thrust into my hand by a woman with a beaming smile who talked over the top of everyone else.

“Thanks!” I yelled over the crowd. “Is this for Eve?”

"It's yours!" she yelled back, pointing to thick black lettering in a hand I recognized across the top.

For Cassie. Love, Will.

Oh, fuck. That wasn’t a dream after all.

My world stopped while the chaos of the Reed Hart rodeo fluctuated around me in a swirl of color and lights. I stared at those words for heartbeats that took too long, my blood sluggish as they permeated my brain.

He said it back.

I said it first.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I was half asleep when he came in. Actually, scratch that. I’d been fully asleep and I hadn’t meant to say that to him, or anything at all. It’d just kinda of slipped on out because I'd been thinking about it for a while now and…

It was true.

I squeezed my eyes shut, probably marrying all of Eve’s beautiful handiwork, and sucked in a handful of breaths that refused to sink into my lungs or go further than my throat. Something was in the road. My brain, maybe. Or my heart.

Or my soul.

Because that was the sort of limit that Will Kirk hit on me. Soul deep. And I knew it. He was that deeply etched in me and walking away from him at the end of this would hurt like hell. I didn’t just love him.

I loved him. With everything I had.

Breaking out of my haze, I opened my eyes and snagged Gage’s sleeve as the older ranch hand strode past. Lost in my head I felt like everything had taken minutes when barely a breath had passed.

“Have you seen Will?” I yelled, my voice straining in an attempt to get above the cacophony ringing between my ears.

Gage met my eyes and raised his gaze over my head as hands settled on my waist.

“Here.”

I nearly spilled my coffee as I spun in a circle to face Will. His grin sharpened into something wicked, his eyes sweeping over me to settle back on my face.

“Damnit, Will,” I muttered, biting my lip. Butterflies rioted around my ribcage. Inside or out, I couldn't tell. “Was this you?” I waved the coffee in his face.

He squeezed my sides tight. “Better not be anyone else with my name telling you they love you,” he murmured, low enough for the words to reverberate along my spine, pulling me close enough for me to hear him over the crowd. “I like this look on you.”

“Just like?” I sassed him, looking up through my lashes. I mean, a girl didn’t go to college without a few tricks.

“I like.” His thumbs brushed over the skin on my belly where my top had ridden up in a sensual gesture that reminded me of…other things. “Are you ready for tonight? I think we’re about to start."

Energy buzzed off him that I hadn’t seen before. Mind, I met Will after he fell off the last bull he rode so, I hadn't seen this part of him at all before and it was…

Electrifying.

I drew back to study him in full. A black shirt with long sleeves decorated at the collar and cuffs with white and silver piping highlighted his full chest and narrow waist where the shirt tucked into a fresh pair of jeans.

Aqua and black fringed chaps hung from his hips over a fresh pair of jeans and his dress boots.

A belt buckle I hadn't seen before rested at his waist. I reached out and ran my thumb across the bull standing still with a rider on its back before a cross.

“What’s this?” I looked up as his smile disappeared.

“My grandfather used to ride. He was damn good, too. Won a few things. Thought he might wanna see this ride tonight.” A muscle in his jaw ticked beneath the bright lights. For a moment I thought he might say more, but he didn’t.

Will looped his hand around mine, drawing me through the crowd. I clung to my coffee, grateful for the path he carved. Eve spotted us as we passed, giving a little wave. I raised my coffee in salute, managed to take a sip, and kept walking.

We wove our way through the crowd until we reached a spot near the edge of the arena, away from the stands.

“I thought we were heading for the.” I pointed to the staggered rows of metal seating the RHR/rodeo boys had erected during the day.

Will laughed, winding an arm around me as he tucked me into his side. “Hell, no. If I'm gonna eat dust tonight, I wanna see your pretty face close up when I do it.” He leaned down and kissed me.

I swore the entire arena—crowd, dust, chatter and all—disappeared the moment his lips touched mine. Will’s hand cupped the back of my head and my hands grew lighter as he held me close, parting my lips with his and delving deep until I sighed and reached into his embrace.

“Fuck, that’s worthy of falling hard and fast,” he murmured against my mouth, handing me my coffee back.

“I…what?” I asked, dazed as his hands dropped to my waist again, squeezing gently.

“Think your boy has it bad for you.” A deep voice spoke over my shoulder and a large hand jolted Will sideways, though he never let me go, tucking me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me. “Will. Hi, Cassie.”

“Denver?” I peered over my shoulder and smiled. “It feels like it’s been ages. Where did you park?”

The tall rodeo organizer scratched his chin. “Somewhere I'll never find my trailer, that’s for sure. Or get out for the next week.” He shrugged like that didn’t matter.

Maybe to him, it didn’t. The rodeo boys worked on their own timetable apart from during the season. Then it was ride, pack up and move to the next location, set up, ride and do it all over again.

Will wrapped an arm around my waist. “Good thing everyone’s staying here for a few days.

” He pointed out everyone I knew from traveling with Austin.

“Flint’s riding shortly. I think he’s up first. Sammy Littlefield and Jesse Reeves are about as well.

Over…there.” He pointed at the shute where several sets of shoulders were.

“And Heath's playing rodeo clown, as usual.” Denver braced his forearms on the railing beside me, though I felt dwarfed next to him.

He was the only person I’d seen who might actually rival Travis’s six foot five height. Speaking of…

“Where’s Travis?” I looked around, but couldn't spot the tall ranch owner and in a crowd that shouldn't be possible.

“He's an emcee tonight.” Eve slipped into the spot Denver vacated, tipping his hat and murmuring his excuses. “Up there.”