Kissing Her Cowboy (3 page)

Daisy nodded. She stood closer and whispered
near the stallion’s ear while stroking his neck, and Big Blue
seemed to revel in the attention. When Daisy advanced to petting
the horse’s forehead, Trey took it as a good sign. Her fingers
touched the soft flesh beneath the forelock and she grinned.

“He definitely likes you,” Trey said. Trey
liked her too. Daisy might be vulnerable in his world, but that
wasn’t all there was to her. Underneath she had a steely reserve he
wanted to understand.

“If you’re not in a hurry after your
lesson,” he blurted, “I’ll show you around the ranch. There’s a lot
to see and do. We can take my Jeep.”

She considered his offer then gave him a
warm smile and nodded. “I’d like that.” She gestured to her bike
shorts and sneakers. “Will my clothes cause a problem anywhere else
on the property?”

Trey shook his head. “Not today. But come
back for your next lesson ready to ride.”

***

Trey’s Jeep Wrangler trundled along the dirt
track surrounding the Breezy Meadows Ranch, and Daisy took in the
countryside. Rain had dampened the earth that morning, keeping the
dust and grit to a minimum and the temperature cooler than
usual.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said. Gently
rolling hills of green grass and shrubs surrounded them for miles.
The vehicle moved forward past fields dotted with wildflowers that
scented the air with lavender. Daisy leaned her head against the
passenger seat, closed her eyes, and breathed deep. “Greener than
other places I’ve seen in Texas. This spot reminds me of
Pennsylvania.”

When she opened her eyes, she found Trey
glancing her way. He slowed to a stop beside an enormous garden
protected by chicken wire. Bunches of romaine lettuce and heads of
broccoli and cauliflower looked ready for the kitchen; carrots,
celery, onion, tomatoes and more sprouted from freshly tended
earth. Sunflowers and gladiolus stood like sentries in the
background. Birds pecked seeds from feeders placed beside a nearby
pond.

“Do you miss home?”

Pangs of regret and shame chased Daisy’s
momentary homesickness away. “Houston’s my home now. My sister
needed me, and I had reasons for leaving my job. After her husband
was killed in Afghanistan she asked me to stay with her. I moved
here as soon as I could.”

Trey got out of the Jeep. Daisy followed,
and they strolled toward the water.

“Sorry about your brother-in-law,” Trey
said. He gave her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, and Daisy
breathed easier when he didn’t press for more explanation. She’d
never admitted to anyone that she’d run away.

She nodded. “Thanks.”

When they reached the edge of the pond, Trey
spoke again. “What about your boyfriend? Is he joining you here? A
woman like you must have left a man behind.”

She’d left an entire squad behind. “No one
special.” His frank stare told her he liked being direct.

A smile lifted Trey’s lips, and his blue
eyes brightened. “Works for me.”

He leaned down, picked a few buttercups and
laid them inside her palm. His fingers caressed hers when he
released the flowers, making her heart race, and Daisy took a
buttercup and placed it under his chin, looking for the yellow
reflection. According to the sunlight and childhood tales, he liked
butter.

“What about you?” she asked. “You must have
women chasing you all the time. Anyone special in your life?” She
twirled the buttercup and dragged it over his jaw line. The
delicate bloom caught on the stubble shadowing his gorgeous
face.

Trey took her free hand and pulled it tight
to his chest. Daisy could feel his heart beating fast, and when he
met her eyes he stood so close that his shirt brushed the skin on
her arms and raised goose bumps.

His expression turned solemn. “If I had a
girlfriend, it wouldn’t be right to be here with you.”

Daisy’s mouth went dry, both at their close
proximity and the significance of his statement. She ran her tongue
over her lips to moisten them and took a shallow breath. Her
abdomen fluttered and tightened, and a gentle throb built between
her legs.

“Oh.” That simple word was all she could
manage. Trey stared at her with open admiration, something she
hadn’t seen in a man’s eyes for so long that she thought she might
burst into tears. Her emotions tumbled like jigsaw pieces from a
box, needing to be sorted.

He released her wrist and drew back a step.
His fingers trailed the outside edge of her shoulder, slipped down
over her elbow and then across the sensitive skin inside the bend
of her arm. At the exquisite feel of his thumb skimming her flesh,
Daisy sucked in a breath.

“I had a girlfriend before…uh, before I met
you.” His voice deepened and acquired an edge. “She dumped me when
my prospects for the future… no longer met her expectations.” He
looked away, and Daisy realized they’d touched a subject he’d
rather avoid. That was okay, though; it could wait. She had secrets
of her own.

“Her loss.” She said the words and meant
them. Somehow she knew Trey would become an intimate part of her
exciting, frightening, challenging new life. The realization filled
her with optimism.

She looked up just as Trey looked down, and
the unmistakable glint in his eye told her he intended to kiss her.
He closed the remaining distance, wrapped his arms around her
waist, and brought his mouth to hers.

She leaned into him, savoring the first
sweet taste of his lips and tongue and the feel of his strong hard
body as she draped her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss
and left Daisy breathless. Her heart hammered like it would burst
from her chest. Her legs trembled. Her hands roamed Trey’s neck and
scalp beneath his long, sun-bleached hair like they had a mind of
their own.

When they broke the kiss for the simple
reason they needed air, Daisy lowered her arms. Trey did too. He
looked down at her with his bright blue eyes and that easy smile
she found so devastating, and he summed up their kiss in one
succinct word.

“Wow.”

The world around Daisy slowly swam back into
focus. “Yeah.” Sometimes directness
was
best.

She and Trey walked side by side to the
Jeep, brushing hands, each letting the other know their kiss meant
something yet allowing enough space to avoid assuming too much.
When they reached his Wrangler, Daisy glanced sideways at Trey and
smiled inside at the satisfied expression on his face. Things had
definitely changed between them.

She could hardly wait to see what happened
next.

Chapter Four

It was past time for a shove.

“Okay,” Trey said to Daisy the next day in
the corral, trying to hold his temper. Either she wanted to join
the Mounted Patrol or she didn’t. He kicked the dirt at his feet
and gritted his teeth against the pain the motion caused. “Stop
stalling. Just do what you have to do.”

He’d thought she’d broken through her fear
during their tour of the ranch after their awesome kiss. She’d
seemed open and relaxed around the other hands and animals. She’d
fed a mare an apple and watched a steer graze in the pasture. When
he walked her to her car at the end of her visit she kissed him
goodbye, and that second kiss lightened his step the rest of the
day. But now…

He glared and thrust a finger in Big Blue’s
direction. “Get on the damn horse.”

He’d never gotten personal with a student
before, but Daisy was unlike anyone he’d ever met. She’d gotten to
him like no woman had ever done. He’d spent a huge chunk of time
prepping his stallion for her first ride. The horse had been
cleaned, brushed, saddled, and fussed over with carrots and sugar
cubes to keep him happy. Another half-hour had been spent coddling
Daisy.

Trey’s arms ached from holding the stallion
steady. He’d pampered, reassured, and instructed Daisy till she’d
given him fits. Still, she wouldn’t get into the saddle.

“I need another minute!” The pink splotches
under her freckles spread from her cheeks and trailed down her
neck.

When she dug in her heels and tightened her
jaw, he tried to reason with her one last time before he quit out
of sheer frustration and pain. His back was killing him. “Do you
want to stay in Houston or not? Didn’t you say this was the only
way?”

She had gotten under his skin, and he didn’t
want her to go back to Pennsylvania. If Daisy couldn’t ride, she
couldn’t work in Texas. If she didn’t stay in Texas… Well, her
success wasn’t just about her career anymore. For him it had
already become personal.

He tried again. “You’re a cop! You arrest
people and carry a gun. Chasing criminals takes guts. I promise
you, riding a horse isn’t half as tough.”

Daisy refused to budge. Her eyes were full
of an emotion he couldn’t identify. Was it really fear? Could she
truly be terrified of an animal as beautiful and majestic as Big
Blue?

Trey sighed. Softening his tone, he tried
another tack. “Judging by your reaction to riding a gate, I think
you’re gonna love the real thing.”

Daisy’s nostrils flared, and her eyes
narrowed in annoyance.

Uh-oh
.

She hitched a thumb at Big Blue. “
You
ride. Show me how it’s done.”

Heat rose along the back of Trey’s neck, and
he cleared his throat. He shuffled from one foot to the other. He
hadn’t ridden since the day the steer stomped his back. His doctor
said he’d be able to ride again, in time, but he hadn’t figured out
when that time would be. He hadn’t tested his limitations in weeks.
Not after the last time, when it had hurt so bad. Maybe he was just
as afraid of riding as Daisy.

“Can’t.” He walked Big Blue closer to the
fence and tied the reins.

Daisy followed and folded her arms. “You
mean
won’t
. You expect me to ride but won’t show me
how?”

Trey shook his head. “Can’t.”

Broken-down rodeo riders were as common as
cactus in Texas, but she wouldn’t know that. He let out a long
breath and told Daisy his pathetic story. How it had taken only six
seconds for him to get tossed and stomped by a bull in the final
round of the biggest contest in Texas and had his back broken.

“It was touch and go for a while, but I made
it through. Still…my rodeo days are done. My riding days, too,
until my spine fully heals. I worry that my back won’t support my
weight in the saddle. A wrong move might cause permanent damage.”
He’d wanted to win prize money to finish the porch on the house
he’d built. He’d hoped to fill that house with a wife and kids one
day. Then Gail left him and his prospects for the future looked
bleak. Sometimes fate bucked as much as a bull ride. And now for
Daisy he’d probably lost his cowboy shine.

Instead of showing the disdain he expected,
Daisy moved close and kissed him gently on the cheek. “I’m so
sorry,” she whispered.

Daisy’s pity was the last thing he wanted.
His former girlfriend couldn’t stand to see him broken, either.

“I’ll be fine. Good as new.” That wasn’t
quite true, but it was close enough. He’d return to full duty
around the ranch as soon as he got the doctor’s okay. He’d keep
offering riding lessons too. Sometimes it took something bad to
happen to learn you had something else to give.

Daisy leaned away from him, and her eyes
shone with tears. “We’re quite the pair.”

Her lips quivered in an attempt at a smile,
and Trey realized she suffered a different kind of pain. Maybe
personal tragedy had brought her here. He brushed his thumb against
the corner of her mouth. “Want to tell me what happened to
you?”

She could blink away her tears but not the
regret he saw in her eyes. Meeting his gaze she said, “I had a bad
fall, too, in a way. It shattered my psychological spine. I lost my
nerve.” Daisy let out the longest sigh he’d ever heard. Pain,
humiliation, and relief all seemed to ride out on that breath. “My
partner got shot and killed several months ago, and it was my
fault. We responded to what we thought was a simple case of
shoplifting at a corner market, and weren’t expecting serious
trouble. When the suspect pulled a gun, I flinched instead of
shouting a warning. The man shot my partner and ran off. While I
stayed with my partner and waited for help, I let the shooter get
away.”

She rubbed a hand over her forehead. “After
my partner died, Internal Affairs cleared me of wrongdoing, but his
family and some of my coworkers weren’t as forgiving. I lost the
respect of my peers and much of my community. The press crucified
me. I’ve only been able to live with myself because I helped track
down the killer and put him in jail.”

She looked away as more tears appeared. “I
love law enforcement. I love being a cop. I just need a fresh
start. Which means this job in Houston.”

Trey pulled her to him and held her for what
seemed like a long time. Neither of them spoke as they propped each
other up, building strength inside their mutual embrace. Finally
Trey said, “I’m sorry about your partner. I won’t offer you
platitudes about grief and needless guilt; you’ve probably heard
enough of them.”

She felt warm and soft in his arms, and he
couldn’t resist brushing her temple with a kiss. When she trembled,
he whispered, “I can promise you one thing. If you get up on that
horse, you’ll feel like the most powerful woman in the world.
Riding Big Blue will be a great start to rebuilding your
confidence.”

Daisy tilted her head back and sniffled.
“You’re not just saying that because I’m your student?”

Trey smoothed a hand down a length of her
hair. He let the wisps around her shoulders drag through his
fingers, and the fiery tendrils felt soft and silky to the touch.
He resisted the urge to continue, to stroke the crown of her head
and let his fingers get lost in the strands. “I’m saying it because
it’s true. And because it’s important that you know it. You’ve
become much more to me than a student.”