CHAPTERFOUR
Cole
Emily Haskins enchants me.This beautiful city girl has my country heart wrapped around her little finger, and she doesn't even know it.
She agreed to have dinner with me, and even though she's dressed casually in jean shorts and a red tank top, she conducts herself with class. She might as well be wearing a long evening gown. She moves so fluidly. Everything about her is graceful. I’m not a romantic man, but she's poetry in motion. Like the sun, she shines so brightly it almost hurts to look directly at her.
Me, on the other hand? I’m unpolished and underdressed. The restaurant I brought her to isn’t a super fancy joint, but it's not a hole-in-the-wall diner either. I look precisely what I am—an undeserving country boy with dirty jeans who stinks like a stable, yet this gorgeous woman is laughing at every stupid joke I crack.
She's so different from the woman who hissed at me like a viper that first day. I see now that had something to do with her mother pulling some shady shit. She led Emily to believe she wanted to spend time with her, but her boyfriend conveniently turned up at the resort.
It’s clear Emily doesn't want to talk about her mother, so I listen as she talks about her job. I love the way her eyes glow with passion when she speaks about what she does. It's obvious she loves it.
I can relate. I feel the same way about working with horses.
“I'm a bit of a workaholic,” she finally admits. “This is the first vacation I've ever taken.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. “What about all work and no play?”
She shrugs and lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “I am rather dull.”
Denial crashes through me like a freight train, and I reach across the table to grab her hands. “You are not dull, darlin’. You’re brighter than the sun on an August morn.”
She blinks before she laughs teasingly. “Are you sure you're not a writer in your spare time? You certainly have a way with words, Mr. Montgomery.”
“Cole,” I correct her.
“What?”
“Call me Cole.” My voice comes out husky, but I'm dying to hear her say my name.“I need to hear what my name sounds like in that pretty voice before this night is through.”
“I think I need to be getting back, Cole.” Her voice is shaky and breathless.
My cock responds to the sound of my name on her lips. It swells to full mast and presses against the zipper of my jeans. She’s shut the night down, but she said my name, so I'll take it as a victory.
I throw some money on the table to cover the check. “Here, let me walk you to your cabin.”
“Oh, that's okay. You don't have to.”
“I know I don't have to, darlin’, but I want to.”
She bites that damn lip again, and it's enough to drive me crazy. I want to bite it myself and see how her lips taste. I already know she's going to be sweet as sugar.
We walk in a charged silence, me holding her hand like I’ll never let go. I might not.
When we get to her cabin, her mother is sitting on the porch with her supposed boyfriend. They’re laughing and kissing and humping all over each other like horny teenagers.
Emily's countenance instantly sours. “Jesus,” she mutters, her face turning scarlet. “I'm sorry about this. My mother is worse than a teenager.”
I smile at her reassuringly. “I'll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Yes.” She returns my smile. “I can’t wait. I'm eager to see what it feels like.”
My mind takes that statement and runs in a thousand directions with it—all of them sexual.
“To ride the horse, I mean. I can’t wait to see what it feels like to ride a horse,” she rushes to add.
Her face is flushed so prettily, and I decide that making Emily blush will be my new life mission.