“I don’t know anything about art,” Cole said, snagging a water bottle from the cooler. “But I know I’m ready to see if you can put your money where your mouth is. If we can get this last batch of calves finished before five, I’ll have time to get to Betsy’s before she heads to her yoga class.”
“You do yoga?” Marisol asked, clearly surprised.
“No, I do my best to keep Betsy from going to yoga,” Cole said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Now come on, darling. You ready to show me what you got?”
“You bet your ass,” Marisol said, tossing her apple core over her shoulder.
And for the next three hours, she proved she knew what she was doing and then some. The woman wielded a scalpel like a surgeon, moved with the confidence of a seasoned ranch hand, and had a relaxed, easy way with the animals that seemed to calm even the most frightened calves. She beat her own self-professed record of four minutes per calf and left Cole struggling to get anywhere close to her best time of three minutes and twenty-eight seconds from penning to release.
“I would say I hate you for showing me up,” Cole said hours later, wiping the sweat from his brow after they had released the last calf into the holding pen. “But now I’m going to have time to shower before I go to Betsy’s, so I’ve decided to love you instead.” He held out his dirt and sweat streaked arms with a smile. “Come here, Mari, and give me some sugar.”
“Ew,” Marisol said, laughing as she pushed Cole away. “You’re filthy.”
“But I clean up real nice,” Cole said with a wink.
“Cut it out, Cole,” Bubba said, wrapping his arm around Marisol’s waist and pulling her closer, relishing how good it felt to have permission to touch her like this. “Flirting with Marisol is a waste of your time and energy.”
Cole shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. As the annoying middle brother, I’m obligated to flirt with your girlfriends. I used to flirt with Lily all the time, remember? Until she threw that watermelon at me at the Fourth of July picnic.”
“I’ll keep my eye out for watermelons,” Marisol said, in a teasing tone.
Cole threw a narrow look over his shoulder as he walked toward his four-wheeler. “Don’t get any ideas, beautiful. And you,” he added, pointing a finger Bubba’s way. “You still up for riding out Thursday? I’ve got jury duty tomorrow, but we have to find those missing head soon, or John’s going to have a heart attack while he’s puking his guts out.”
Bubba frowned. “I’m good to go, but I thought Lily said John was doing better?”
Cole straddled the seat of his ATV. “He’s moved from the bathroom to the bed, but he’s still not going to be able to ride anytime soon. It’ll be just you and me, unless Kip’s back by then.” He shifted his gaze to Marisol with a grin. “Or unless we can convince Mari to come show us how a roundup is done.”
“I can probably make time for that in my schedule,” Marisol said, casting a teasing glance at Bubba out of the corner of her eye. “Assuming I’m compensated appropriately, of course.”
“I’m sure Bubba will be happy to take care of that.” Cole chuckled as he gunned the four-wheeler to life. “Touch base with you tomorrow, Bubs.”
Bubba waved goodbye, but the moment he turned his attention back to Marisol, all thoughts of brothers, schedules, and cattle drives fled his mind, replaced by the driving desire to get her alone.
“What do you think?” she asked, leaning into him, wrapping her arms around his neck with a familiarity that felt just right. “Do you have enough energy to ride over to the ghost town, or should we put it off until tomorrow? I have to admit about the only thing I’m excited about right now is taking a shower, but I could rally if you’re up for adventure.”
Oh, he was up for adventure, all right, and he suddenly knew exactly where he wanted to take Marisol. “Let’s put off Old Town until tomorrow. I have a better idea.”
She lifted a brow. “What’s that?”
He tipped his hat back on his head until he could bring his lips closer to hers without bumping her forehead with the brim. “It involves you, me, and plenty of running water.”
She trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. “Tempting, but there is no way I’m taking a shower with you in your mother’s house. I’m way too scared of her.”
“You shouldn’t be scared, but I wasn’t talking about showering inside,” he said, sliding his palms over the curve of her ass, giving the perfect handfuls a squeeze before he forced himself to step away. “Stay here. I’ll be back in five minutes with everything we need.”
Marisol sighed as he moved across the grass to his four-wheeler. “Okay, but don’t be long. I might chicken out if you give me too much time to think.”
Bubba reversed course, striding back to Marisol, cupping her face in both of his hands, and staring deep into her eyes until he could tell she was really listening. “You aren’t going to chicken out,” he whispered, “because there’s nothing to be afraid of. Okay?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded slowly.
“And we can just take a shower if that’s all you’re up for,” he said, brushing his thumb across her sinfully soft cheek. “I’ve never wanted someone the way I want you, but there’s no pressure and no rush. We can take things as slow as you want to take them.”
Marisol nodded again, and that vulnerability he wasn’t used to seeing crept into her eyes. “I feel the same way. I…I want you so much,” she said, swallowing hard. “It’s part of what makes this scary.”
“No, it’s what’s going to make us amazing,” he said, relieved when her lips curved slightly at the edges. “Grab a water from the cooler and hang out in the shade.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be back before you know I’m gone.”
And then he turned and jogged to his ATV, knowing the only reason he would ever run away from Marisol was so he could come running back to her that much faster.