Page 34 of Wrangled

Toby

A shiver trickled through me, and my next thought was definitely more carnal.

No one told me he was sexy.Better yet,mykind of sexy.

I gazed at the curls of gray hair showing at the open collar of his shirt. Tyler might have been a pretty young thing, but handsome older guys lit a fire under me every time.

Exceptthishandsome older guy was staring at me as though I had two heads.

I gave him my brightest smile. “You must be Robert Thorston.”

I wanted to run my fingers through that mat of salt and pepper chest hair, to tug on that amazing beard. Except I knew better than to get my hopes up.

Why are all the sexy men I lust after, always straight?

Okay, notalways, but enough of the time that I was convinced there was an immutable law of nature few people were aware of—women always went for gay men, and gay men went for straight guys. Oh, and bisexuals pretty much liked everyone.

Sure, they were stereotypes, but stereotypes often existed for a reason.

That hard stare hadn’t wavered. “You haven’t answered my question. Who told you you could ride that horse?”

The weird thing was, I didn’t think he was pissed, but in the grip of some other strong emotion that I couldn’t get a handle on.

That unflinching gaze told me he expected an answer.

“Paul did. He vetted me first, mind you, and made sure I could handle him.” I trotted over to him. “I’m Toby Merrow, by the way.”

He didn’t thaw an inch. “Well, Mr. Merrow, you shouldn’t be out here alone. Paul knows better than to allow it.”

“I’m afraid that’s my fault. I kind of insisted. I just needed—”

He straightened in his saddle. “I don’t want to appear rude, but your needs don’t come into it. No guests are allowed to ride unaccompanied. That’s one of the stipulations of our insurance.”

Nope, he wasn’t about to bend, not one goddamn inch.

“Then I’d better head back.” I trotted past him, tipping my hat as we came within a few feet of each other. To my surprise, he moved Rusty to trot alongside me. I arched my eyebrows. “I see. You’re escorting me?”

“You bet I am.”

“I managed to get here all by myself, you know.”

“Happy to hear it. I’m still riding back with you.”

We rode along the creek, leaving the cabin behind us. I wanted to ask him about it, but figured the mood he was in, I was unlikely to get an answer. His back was stiff as he rode, and I couldn’t help wondering what it would take to loosen him up. I waited for him to say something, even if it was to reproach me again.

Stony silence.

This sucks.We were almost at the ranch, and I couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I love the ranch, by the way.”

Crickets.

“It’s my first time on a dude ranch.”

Crickets.

“You’ve got a great team here.”