Page 33 of Ride Me Cowboy (Coyote Creek Ranch #1)

Chapter Nineteen

Cole

I SWORE I WOULDN’T BE like him when it came to fixing things.

Being a soft touch. But Beth’s different.

When I see her looking like she just was, all I want to do is wave some magic fucking wand and take away all her hurt.

I want to do whatever I can to write new memories over the top of old ones.

To show her that she’s not responsible for what that bastard did to her.

So, when she comes out to the truck, a little while later, it makes me real glad to see her react the way she does. I’ve set up a camping mattress flat in the tray of the pickup, and scattered it with blankets and pillows.

“How’d you feel about a little star gazing?”

She glances toward the house. “I thought you said you have an early start.”

“I always have an early start.”

“Sooo…won’t you be tired?”

I let out a laugh. “You’re worth being tired for.” I move around to the front passenger door and open it for her. “Whaddaya say?”

She does that adorable thing, biting down on her lip, so my cock jerks to attention. Those lips are some kind of magic.

“I say yes,” she whispers, but her voice carries to me on the gentle night breeze. As she comes close and then slides into the truck, I smell her sweet perfume and my gut rolls. I could get addicted to that smell.

I jump in behind the wheel and start the engine, pointing the car away from the house.

Mostly, on our runs, Beth and I have stuck to the tracks close by, in what we call the civilized part of the ranch.

Beyond that, there are miles and miles of fields for the cattle, the sprawling land following the line of the creek almost to the edge of Goodnight.

I bring the truck down the slope, behind the house, and follow the path that runs alongside the creek.

Beth is quiet beside me, and I hope she doesn’t have that asshole Christopher on her mind.

I grip the wheel more tightly, like I can physically dismiss the thought from both our heads.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” she says, turning in her seat and hooking one leg under the other—something that makes me bite back a laugh when I imagine myself even attempting it. But she’s so petite, she just folds up like that.

“Anything,” I say, wondering why I don’t regret it. I don’t usually give a woman free rein to hit me up with whatever question they’re thinking.

“What was that about earlier? With you and Beau?”

Her curiosity is natural. She’s only seen Beau and me on our good days. She could have no idea of what it’s been like here for us in the past. “We’ve got some history on the issue of his bull riding, is all.”

“I could see that. Because of his accident?”

“You know about that?”

I see her nod out of my peripheral vision. “Nash told me.”

My fingers tighten on the wheel again, as memories slam into me.

“What you don’t know is how bad it was. Broken arm, dislocated shoulder bone, cracked ribs.

” I say, grimacing internally at the thought.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know life out here don’t come with guarantees.

Every time we get on a horse or rope down a mustang, I know there are risks.

But bull riding is a whole other story. These guys, sometimes it feels like they’re putting themselves out there just looking to be hurt. ”

“I’m sure that’s not the case.”

“You have no idea what it’s like, watching someone you love get shook around like that.

” I stare straight ahead, frowning a little.

“Beau was damn good at it, though. One of the best I’ve ever seen.

He has this way about him—damn spooky, to be honest—of almost becoming one with the bull.

Even in the chute, it’s like he’s speaking to them.

They move like they’re thinking the same thing. ”

“That sounds kind of…incredible.”

I jerk my head once. “Yeah, it is that. But even Beau got thrown his fair share. The last time, with his head being hit the way it was, my dad put his foot down. Told him if he got back on a bull, he could forget being part of this family.”

She lets out a low whistle. “You don’t think that’s kind of harsh?”

“It had to be, to get through to Beau. There’s only one thing he loves more than bull riding, and that’s this ranch.”

“And his family,” she says, gently, then, more thoughtfully, “What about Austin?”

“What about him?”

“Well, a Navy SEAL isn’t exactly a low-risk job.”

“True. But it’s important.”

She nods slowly. “Yeah.”

“I hate it, every time Austin gets deployed. We know we’re saying goodbye for what could be the last time. But the work he does, the lives he saves, what he stands for, it all matters, you know? Whereas with Beau, it’s just reckless for the sake of it.”

I turn us away from the river, to crest up another hill, over the top of it, and back down.

“I have no idea where we are,” she says, a small smile on her lips, as she lets the topic of Beau drop. “Is this all your land?”

For now. “The ranch extends almost to the edge of Goodnight.”

Her brows shoot up. “I had no idea it was so big.”

“One of the biggest in the area—one of the oldest, too. The Donovans were one of the first ranching families to put down roots out here.”

“I did get a sense of that,” she says, smiling.

“Yeah, it’s been us and the Callahans just about as long as anyone around here can remember.

” I pull the truck to a stop and cut the engine.

“My ancestors helped build the town, as it is now. It was my great, great grandfather who set up the school, his wife the church. And, legend has it, the town was named in his honor, after he passed.”

“Goodnight?” she asks, crinkling her nose. Looking adorable. “That was his name?”

I grin. “Last word he ever said.”

She laughs at that. “Seriously?”

“That’s the story. You disappointed?”

“No. It’s sweet.” She reaches out, puts her hand on my knee, tentatively. “You’re so much a part of this. It’s so much a part of you.”

I glance across the plains, toward one of the biggest trees on the property. “Yeah.” My voice is roughened by feeling. I don’t want to lose even one square inch of this place, even to the Callahans, who I know would do right by it. By us. “I guess you could say that.”

“It must be incredibly grounding, to have somewhere that really feels like home, deep in your bones.”

“You don’t?”

She gnaws on her lip, thinking that through. “I mean, I’m sure I will,” she says, slowly. “But I can’t really imagine going back to our apartment. I thought…I think I’ll buy somewhere else.”

I hate how tentative she sounds, though. How uncertain. I’ve only known Beth a few weeks, but I feel like I really do know her, like I understand her, and I just instinctively get that she wasn’t always like this.

I see glimmers of her confidence all the time. More and more so, in fact. But then, she slips back into her shell, like she’s worried I’m going to come down on her if she says the wrong thing.

“Beth, honey, you can buy and live anywhere you want. Ain’t no one’s job to tell you what to do with your life.”

She blinks at me in surprise. She does that a lot, too. As though she doesn’t realize I understand her as well as I do.

“Yeah,” she agrees, slowly. “I guess I just don’t want to let anyone down.”

“Let who down? That bastard’s family?”

She flinches, then. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

“What for?”

“Reacting like that. It’s just, I’ve spent a long time protecting him, covering for him, lying about him. It’s really strange to talk to someone who gets what it was like.”

“I don’t get what it was like,” I correct, softly though, putting a hand on her cheek and stroking her soft skin. “No one ever really can, unless they’ve lived it. But I know your marriage is still haunting you, and I’m sorry for that.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”

“I’m sorry it happened to you. I’m sorry it happens to anyone. Anyone who can be violent to a person they love doesn’t deserve the oxygen they breathe.”

She sucks in a breath and shakes her head slightly. “Do you…mind if we don’t talk about it?”

I feel like talking about it is the only way she’s going to get through it, but I’m not going to push her. She has to make her peace with what happened and that’s going to take time.

“Good thing I didn’t bring you out here to talk,” I say with a wink, intentionally lowering my voice to a suggestive husk and then grinning at her, so she knows I’m kidding, even when I’m kind of not.

The way Beth and I have been sparking off each other, all I can think about, most of the time, is losing myself in her.

Not to mention, the physical element of this feels a lot safer than when we talk.

When we really crack each other open and peer beyond the sides of us we’re usually happy to show the world.

At least, that’s how it feels for me. I’ve got the Cole Donovan I’m happy for people to know, the Cole Donovan who’s all bluster, who can walk away from people just like that.

Beth digs deeper though, and for some reason, I don’t seem able to stop that.

And sometimes, I don’t even think to mind.

“Are you saying you want to ride me, cowboy?” she purrs right back, her own smile equally teasing.

“Fuck, Beth. Don’t tempt me.”

“Tempting you is kinda the point.”

My cock is so hard against my jeans that it’s actually painful. “Let’s get out of the truck,” I mutter, jumping down and slamming the door, in my haste to get to her side and drag her into my arms.