Page 5 of Back in the Saddle

She had told herself she’d try new things during her year in Oklahoma.

This would definitely be new and unlike her.

‘This is going to sound ridiculous. You need to know that I know it does sound ridiculous,’ she mumbled.

Hunter quirked his brow. ‘I’m intrigued. We’ve gone from flirty, to serious to ridiculous now.’

Caroline inhaled sharply. She was so going to regret it.

‘Well, this is … I mean …’ She swallowed against a hard lump in her throat. The room was spinning in front of her eyes and Hunter was the only firm and steady thing in her eyesight. ‘You can say no, of course.’

‘I don’t think I could say no to you.’

She snorted, her vision snapping back into focus. ‘What if I asked you to take off your clothes and do a chicken dance on the bar?’

His knee brushed hers. Electric sparks snuck through the two layers of denim, rushing up to her chest. ‘I’d ask if you want me to make stupid sounds to go with the dance.’

Her breath hitched as she watched his hand drawing close to hers. She didn’t pull away. ‘What if I asked you to jump off a bridge?’

Hunter chuckled, brushing a calloused finger over her wrist. ‘Damn, there are no in-betweens with you, are there? Either a chicken dance or killing myself. I was hoping there were more things in between.’

‘What things did you have in mind?’

The tips of his fingers moved down to her palm. ‘Well, starting small, I was hoping you’d ask me to kiss you, right here.’ He drew a circle over the sensitive spot on her right wrist.

Her eyelids fluttered. A simple touch didn’t have a right to feel this good. She pushed her brain to remember the anatomy of the hand and dermatomes, wanting to name a precise nerve she could swear at for putting her in this strange trance, but she came up blank.

‘What if I did ask for that?’ she said, reason be damned.

‘I’d have to oblige you. Otherwise, what kind of gentleman would I be?’

Caroline drew in a shaky breath. Someone pushed against her back as they tried to get through to the bar. The place was getting busier with more locals eager to enjoy the start of the weekend. It was crowded enough that no one was paying them any attention.

She looked up at Hunter. ‘Would that chivalry extend to my lips?’

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. But the trace of bewilderment drained from his features almost as quickly as it appeared. ‘Is that the ridiculous question you wanted to ask me?’ His fingers curled into her palm.

Caroline snatched her hand away. ‘If it was, would you?’

Hunter jumped off the stool, unexpectedly closing the distance between them. He was even taller and broader than she’d thought when he was sat down. The heat coming off him through the shirt made her dizzy.

He leaned over, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered, ‘Ask me and you can find out.’

‘I’m not going to beg you to kiss me.’

‘I didn’t say anything about begging.’ His lips brushed the side of her ear, again.

She shook her arms like she wanted to release all the tension and electricity and things she didn’t have a name for. Things she had never felt before.

‘Good. Because I don’t beg anyone for anything. Ever,’ she said, her tone defiant.

His lips peeled from her ear, and he looked into her eyes. ‘Never?’

She shook her head.

Hunter let out a low chuckle. ‘Well, that sounds like a challenge for another day.’

‘All I hear is talk but you still haven’t kissed me.’