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"Jesse Walker," I said, co ether and batted ," Jesse wiped his hands off on his jeans, "you’d think I aot a date"

His expression fell "You do?"

"Yeah Your ex-girlfriend," I said, nudging him

Relief flashed over his face before it was promptly replaced with concern

"Don’t worry I promise I’ll save you a dance Or two" I wondered if I’d just pulled a line from a classic movie or if people really said that kind of stuff I didn’t know I’d never been to a dance The closest I’d ever h school After that not-so-pleasurable experience, I wrote off all future dances I didn’t want to go to all the trouble of getting dressed up when the only dance my date wanted was in the back seat of his car

"Or three," Jesse added "Or all of them"

"Greedy," I muttered to Sunny who continued to drink fro to drain it

"Not greedy, just hopelessly optiht?" I lifted an eyebrow

Jesse smiled into the stream and scratched the back of his head "Well, then how ‘bout this? We have shared a bed now, like you said I think that kind of exclusivity goes with dance partners as well"

"Is it a waste of breath if I keep arguing with you?"

"Probably"

I shouldered hiet back," I said, "before they "

Jesse chuckled "The ru the rabbed my waist, and before the air had whooshed from my mouth, I was perched back on top of Sunny

"Okay, Muscles," I said, grabbing hold of the saddle horn, "next tiivefirst?"

Just as quickly, Jesse’s body slid into position behind me He could literally mount and dismount a horse in the blink of an eye He really was a cowboy

"Moiant beast?" he repeated, bobbing his head beside rab hold of the reins, I realized I’d been wrong Riding behind Jesse wasn’t as good as it got Riding in front of him was I was cocooned in his hold Protected Safe

It didn’t hurt that his legs were basically wrapped around me either

"I’d loved to stay out here all day and talk, or bicker, or" the inflection in his voice filled in the blanks, "but I’ve still got another eight hours of work in front oflook at the sandy bank beside the stream The bittersweet taste of what the day could have been

"Yeah And I’ve got about eight hours of egg collecting, porch sweeping, laundry washing, andsound with his s, and ere off Sunny seemed to only have two speeds: fast and holy-shit-fast "Moiven the wind cutting over us from Sunny’s take-no-prisoners sprint

"A squirrel in the fall is busy I’ else entirely," I yelled back

"Ranch life’s not exactly what you anticipated?" Jesse’s mouth moved just outside my ear I knew he’d likely done it so we didn’t have to keep screaes between Jesse and me that were innocent on the surface, it felt oddly intimate So intimate, my eyelids dropped and my mouth parted for a briefforine red or beco idiot was a testa those kinds of aard situations The embarrass at ht-off s my head so I could return the mouth-just-outside-the-ear favor "It’s better"

I couldn’t see Jesse’s expression fro to see it I felt it in the way his arhtened around me I felt it in the way the side of his face pressed into the side of mine I felt it in the physical, but I felt it in the so deeper that was just below the surface It was staggering It was purposeful

It was a first

Yet another of the uy’s hands and mouth hadn’t even wandered into the PG-13 territory yet That was saying so

When Sunny tore up over a gentle hill, the tree, Old Bessie, and the rest of the guys and their horses came into vieasn’t exactly thrilled to be back to reality, but my emotions were more focused on those precious few lass-half-full girl, but I see one