“Why the fuck not?” Rodeo asked. “The bike’s fine.”

Denver walked over and sat on the ice chest. “Yeah, but you’re head isn’t.”

“How is that different from any other fucking day?” Rodeo sank down farther in the chair like a sulking teenager.

Cole looked at Denver. “He has a point.”

Rodeo sat up and forward now. He was angry and disappointed but the medics had, no doubt, made the right call.

“Shit, you know how many times I got bucked off a colt and woke up five minutes later to climb right back on. Didn’t have any monster sized helmet on either. Just my black Stetson. Maybe it’s time to head back to Montana where they’re not a bunch of fucking worry warts.”

“Don’t know what to say, bro,” Cole took on a more sympathetic tone. “Guess you just need to rant and get the steam out of your engine. We’ve all gotten hurt out there on the track. It sucks, but you’ll get past it. There’ll be more contests.”

“I’ve got to get my gear on for my next run.” Denver patted Rodeo’s shoulder. “If you’re up for it, we can head over to Nick’s Saloon later. A few beers and some heavy flirting will take off the edge.”

“Hey, Denver from Boston,” Cole called as he walked away. Denver looked back at him.

Cole lifted his chin. “Give gravity the finger for us out there.”

Denver nodded and walked toward his bike.

Chapter 22

Kensington

The farrier’s truck rolled out of the gate. I grabbed the broom to sweep up the hoof filings he’d left behind. He’d taken longer than I’d expected, and I had only a few minutes to shower and get ready for Cole to pick me up. I’d been with him most of the day, and I couldn’t believe how excited I was at the prospect of seeing him again. If all had been going along like my usual dating history, I should have already been bored, or turned off or irritated by him. But I wasn’t. Not in the slightest. The opposite in fact. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked him. A first in my rather pathetic dating life.

A chorus of low, content horse snorts followed me as I carried the broom back to its rack on the barn wall. Deep voices rumbled just outside of the stables. I recognized my dad’s laugh. He stepped into the breezeway, and Cole stepped in behind him.

“Dad, I thought you and Mom had already left.” I’d planned to be showered and dressed and parent free by the time Cole came to pick me up. I had only briefly introduced him to them once. Mom wasn’t great at hiding her opinion of people, and since Cole didn’t look anything like her idea of the perfect, polite and proper son-in-law, I expected her to show her obvious distaste and embarrass the heck out of me.

“We were just on our way out the door when this nice young man came walking up the front steps. You don’t bring Cole around enough, Kensie.”

Cole grinned. “Yes, Kensie, John and I were just talking about a golf day. My dad plays a little golf too. Of course a few of the country clubs have him blacklisted.”

Dad bellowed out a loud laugh.

I was slightly speechless. “Uh, where’s Mom?”

Dad knew exactly why I was asking. “Your mom is waiting for me. I wanted to make sure Cole found his way out to the barn all right.”

The massive red barn would, of course, have been impossible to miss. But I knew my dad well enough to know that he was having a good time teasing me with this.

“Well thanks, Dad. Have a good time with Mom.” I walked him out of the barn. “Was Mom civil?” I whispered from the side of my mouth.

“Like a blushing schoolgirl. Your mom was quite the Nicky King fan in her day.”

“I did not know that. I just can’t match a rock and roll groupie with the woman standing in our house in her austere pumps and fitted Chanel suit.”

“She had some fun days. You know, before she became that Chanel suit lady.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Have fun tonight.” He looked into the barn and waved. “We’ll talk soon about golf, Cole.”

“Looking forward, sir.”

“I like him.” Dad winked at me and returned to the house.

I walked back into the breezeway. “I just need to close up my office.” As I went to sidle past Cole, his arm shot out and he pulled me to him.

“Thought we’d never be alone today.” His mouth covered mine for a long, deep kiss. Like always, I became putty in his arms. My body sank against his, and I reveled in his body heat, his soapy scent, his touch.

“Exactly where is this office you mentioned. I’ve always had a fantasy about an office desk and a hot executive with a pencil behind her ear and high heel shoes clacking against an office tile floor.”

I leaned back and peered up at him. “You’ve been watching porn, haven’t you?”

He lifted his hands. “Guilty as charged. But it’s been awhile.”

“Right. Awhile.” I stepped out of his reach. He plodded behind me to the tack room slash office at the back of the barn.

“What can I say? My dad has the largest and most impressive porn collection on the west coast.”

I glanced back over my shoulder at him. “Source of family pride? And how do you know it’s the most impressive?”

He shrugged. “Because he’s Nicky King. Who would have a better collection than him?”

“Point taken.” I stepped inside the office and waved my hand around with a flourish. “Not exactly sexy. And as you can see, the desk is hardly big enough for my stuff, let alone for a satisfying round of sex.”

Cole stood in the center of my shabby office, looking rather large and intimidating in the small square space. He glanced around. “I don’t know. Looks pretty sexy to me.” He walked over to the wall with the saddles and tack and smoothed his fingers along a pair of reins. He breathed in deeply. “Something about all these straps and chains and that overwhelming scent of leather is kind of turning me on.” He walked back over to the desk and gazed at me in that way that always made me feel as if I’d forgotten to button my blouse. “Of course, you could be standing in the center of a morgue, and I’d be sporting a hard on.”

“You had me at leather but lost me at morgue.” I walked to the front of the desk and leaned against it.

He crossed the room, and without touching me, managed to stand close enough to make every fiber in my body react to his nearness. I could feel my heart tumbling against my ribcage as it once again rushed to keep pace with my erratic pulse. Cole affected me profoundly, both physically and mentally.

Discretely, he reached for my hand. “Waiting for one of those long words that makes me extra hot for you. I think some highbrow vocabulary will work well with my office fantasy.”

“You mean like—I tend to be too loquacious.”

“Yeah, that’s it, baby. Can’t pronounce it, but it sounds very fucking erotic.” His arm wrapped around my back and our bodies pressed together. His erection strained behind the fly of his jeans.

I smiled up at him. “It means I talk too much.”

“See, that works.” He reached up and his callused thumb snagged my bottom lip and dragged it down a bit. “To me, anything that involves this mouth is erotic.”

I snuggled harder against him. “Proving that you can make anything dirty if you just put your slightly warped one-track mind to it.”

“Guilty as charged.” He reached down to my pants and unbuttoned them. “Now take off those boots and these jeans.”

I leaned against the desk and yanked off my boots.

“Just in case we’ve got any snoopy, tattle tale horses out there.” He walked over, slid the door shut and turned back to me as I slid off my jeans.

“Tattle tale horses?” I asked suddenly feeling a little nervous and completely excited about his office fantasy.

“When you’ve lived long enough with Some Pig, you begin to realize that the animals are far more cunning than first thought.”

He returned to his spot right in front of me and pushed my panties down with one finger. I stepped free of them. The slightly stifling air in what was no more than a box stall added to the heady feeling his hungry gaze was stirring up. He fished a condom from his pocket and dropped it on the edge of the desk.