1
COLE
The best part of my day is when I leave the bunkhouse in the morning and look across the lawn. There I see Laura Callaway curled up with a book on her aunt and uncle's wide front porch.
I know that might sound obsessive, to be finding so much pleasure in just looking at a woman a hundred yards away. But you'd only say that if you haven't seen her. Laura has dark brown hair to her waist, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, a button nose, pink pouty lips, and dark brown eyes, rich enough that I could drown in them.
That girl, she's always reading. Her quiet beauty enthralls me even though I know she's off limits.
I'm a Texan cowboy here at the Callaway ranch and she’s the rancher's niece. She hasn't been here long, only a month, but damn, what I wouldn't give to spend even one day with her. I've hardly said more than good morning and good afternoon, miss. Of course, I want to say so much more. Namely, I want to tell her goodnight. But when I do that, it will be with her in my arms, alone, offering her a kiss on her lips that will lead to so much more.
As I walk out of the cowboy bunkhouse, my cock aches, the need within me strong. I want her so fucking bad. But seeing her will be better than nothing.
I’m spun up so damn tight. I'm a virgin at 25, lusting after a woman who is so far out of my league it's probably crazy.
Laura lives in another orbit, a different galaxy altogether. Me, I’m salt of the earth, grounded in reality.
I usually see her right about now as I walk down the steps of the bunkhouse but I frown, running a hand over my jaw, realizing she's not there.
Damn, the best part of my day is gone in a flash.
It's Saturday—my day off. I have tomorrow off too, which is Valentine’s Day, though it doesn't register as anything special. I’m not going to be spending it with anyone. Of course I’d like to spend it with Laura but I haven’t had the courage to ask her out. Every time I think I might walk up those front porch steps and make a case for myself, something stops me. Fear, probably. I’m terrified of her rejecting me. So I’m biding my time until I have my house built—something real to offer her, something to show for myself.
But with the day off, and no Laura here to wave to, I'm going to take advantage of the free time by going to town to get some errands done before heading to my property. I work hard five days a week on this ranch, and I’m glad to be leaving this place for the day.
It's not that I don't enjoy roping horses. Hell, it's good honest work, but I've been building my own house, working on clearing land, and making a place of my own, a place where I can leave my mark.
God knows my father didn't do so much. My ma died five years ago, and I never had the chance to grow up and give her the life she deserved.
Now I'm going to be ready. I'm going to build that house so that when I finally get a chance to show Laura what kind of a cowboy I am, she won't hesitate.
She'll see me, really see me, beyond the morning wave she politely gives me and the other ten ranch hands living here.
I drive to town in my truck. The town of Plain, Texas, has a small main street with the basics: a bookstore, a barber shop, a diner. I stop and get my bacon and eggs with a cup of black coffee, happy to be eating on my own terms at my own table, not at the ranch kitchen. Ella Callaway, the rancher's wife, makes good grub but sometimes it's nice to pay for my meal instead of enjoying the perks of room and board.
I leave a generous tip and the waitress Sandy turns to me with a grin, "Aw, thanks Cole. You’re always so good to me."
I shrug. "The least I can do, ma'am. Now you enjoy yourself," I say, giving her a wink.
She's probably two and a half times my age but she's always working here on Saturday mornings, and I appreciate her warm smile. I hold open the door for a couple as they walk in. They're in their sixties and the wife touches my arm. "Thank you, son," she says. I nod my head at her husband and keep on walking down the road toward the barber.
Taking off my cowboy hat, I ask for a cut and a shave.
"You got it, sir. Guessing you want the cut so you look good for the barn raising tomorrow?"