Page 59 of Back in the Saddle

Caroline looked at him, horrified, but when she saw his amused expression she laughed.Americans.

‘We thought that was the end of it. Seems that they’re more stubborn than we gave them credit for,’ Hunter said.

‘Would you sell it, if it was up to you?’

He pursed his lips. ‘It isn’t up to me.’

Caroline knew that she shouldn’t push the conversation. She noticed how, when he spoke about the ranch, it was in a way that he felt the duty to his family and people working there. It sounded like he accepted that responsibility without dwelling on whether it was what he wanted to do. She hoped he’d figure it out, whatever it meant to him. But knowing that his father didn’t have long left … It probably wasn’t the right time to think about it now.

‘Look. A photo booth.’ Hunter pointed towards a square red box not far from the bar. ‘Should we do it?’

Caroline looked ahead. The queue wasn’t moving very far, and she wasn’t that thirsty. Besides, they didn’t have any photos together. It wasn’t the first thing on her mind, and it wasn’t like they were a couple. Or something. But she always found photo booths to have this nostalgic feel about them.Like something that could help freeze a precious moment in time.

‘Let’s go.’

This time it was her turn to tug on his hand.

The inside of the photo booth was tight. It also smelled vaguely of beer and fried onion, not the most pleasant combination.

Hunter reached into his pocket, taking out some coins. He pushed them into the marked hole and the light above their heads came on.

‘It’s definitely cosy,’ he said, squeezing in next to her. ‘I think you might need to—’

‘I can move this way if—’

‘Ouch, that’s my rib.’

‘Sorry! I didn’t mean to,’ she said quickly, reaching for his chest. She put her right hand flat against the left side of his ribcage, feeling how his chest rose and fell when he breathed.

Hunter shuffled closer to her. ‘You know, it might be best if you sit on my lap. Just saying, no one will get injured then!’ He tried to lift his hands up in defence but there wasn’t much room to extend them.

Caroline cleared her throat, a wave of heat throbbing in the bottom of her belly. Without saying anything, she tried to carefully lower herself on his lap but he grabbed her waist with both hands and helped her with the movement.

He grinned widely. ‘That’s better, no?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On whether you’ll continue grinning like an idiot to yourself or kiss me already.’

His lips touched hers, his arms wrapping tighter around her waist. She opened her mouth, welcoming his tongue into a languid dance.

She could tell the flash went off once, twice, three times … But she didn’t look. She had just a vague awareness of her surroundings, because her head was spinning. Beer and onions forgotten.

‘Is that what you wanted?’

‘Well … This is more like what I had in mind,’ she whispered, grazing his bottom lip with her teeth.

He moaned against her mouth, grabbing a handful of her hair. When he kissed her neck, she felt like she was struck by lightning. Any kind of neck action from Hunter had the power to arouse her, fast. He just seemed to know exactly the right spot to awaken her senses.

They jumped apart when a loud beep signalled photos being printed and vended outside. Caroline’s eyes sparkled as she picked up the strip. Her breath froze mid-exhale as she stared at the people in the photos. Laughing, smiling. Carefree. They looked like they were a couple of teenagers in love.

She swallowed the bunch of butterflies swatting their wings inside her throat.

Not dating. Not a couple. There’s a ticking clock on this thing, a voice in her head nagged and her heart skipped a beat.

Whatever happened from now on, she would hold on to this photo strip. Not because she loved him – that would be preposterous. It was a reminder that there was joy in her. Whenever she would inevitably forget it, she could pull up these photos and remember herself in this moment. The freedom of being who she never got a chance to be after her mother got sick. She had missed the fun part of her late teens and her early twenties; afterwards, things had only got more serious.