Read The Cowboy's Temptation for Free Online

Elissa gasped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know who was in the house and I just heard sounds. I’m so sorry,” she said, staring up into the man’s mysterious eyes.
     
“So you meant to protect my home from me?” He stepped back slightly, giving her a few inches of space.
    Elissa noted his broad shoulders and the fact that he smelled extremely nice. It was a mix of hay and sweat and something a little tangy that she couldn’t define. “Well, like I said, I didn’t know it was you.” She looked down at the floor, then back up into his dark eyes.
“And if I was a burglar, what were you going to do? Brush my hair to death?” he teased, glancing down at the hairbrush in her hand.
    Elissa couldn’t think anymore. Now that her nervousness was gone, her body was reacting to his harder one against hers. He was teasing her? This didn’t seem like the austere man who had picked her up at the airport earlier today. “Um….I….Jake, I’m sorry.”
    Jake knew he should move away but his body wouldn’t take orders from his mind anymore. He’d been thinking of her soft, blue eyes all day and wondering if she really felt as good as he’d remembered. And now he knew. She felt better. And all she was wearing was a thin tee-shirt that barely covered her thighs. The gentlemanly thing to do was to move on down to his bedroom so she could get back to bed.
“Why are you so scared?” he asked instead.
“Well, I….I’m just not used to the sounds yet,” she said. It was feeble but it was also the truth.
     
“You don’t look like you sleep very well at home,” he said, releasing one hand to gently touch the dark circles under her eyes.
    His touched caused her entire face to heat with embarrassment and something else she couldn’t define but made her stomach flip-flop. “No. Not very,” was all she could say.
    “Well, I hope you sleep better now. I promise to protect you against all other invaders,” he said, smiling down at her face. “There’s a rabbit that sometimes gets into the garden. I’ll be sure to warn it away in case it makes too much noise. I imagine he’ll be just as terrified of your hairbrush as I was,” he chuckled, then sauntered down to the hallway to disappear a few doors away.
    Elissa stood there for several minutes, trying to calm down her nerves and her body’s reaction to Jake. Once she felt her legs would hold her up, she walked to her room and closed the door, falling into bed. She thought she’d be awake for several more hours but the next thing she knew, the sun was coming up over the horizon and she heard the back door slam shut.
    Elissa woke up and stretched, walking over to the French doors that opened onto a small balcony. She saw a tall man walking across the backyard and instinctively knew that it was Jake. He had a confident walk, she noted. She liked that about him. It wasn’t practiced or stiff, like the brokers in New York. He walked with a purpose and determination. With a touch of arrogance, she thought.
    Rick pulled out a brown horse and walked her up to Elissa. “This here is Jemima. She’s the sweetest, gentlest horse Jake owns. I think you and she will be good friends,” Rick explained, patting the horse’s nose.
Elissa watched the extremely large animal with wary eyes. “Are you sure she’s nice and docile?”
     
Rick chuckled. “She sure is. Don’t worry. She won’t throw you.”
     
Elissa stared at the horse’s soft brown eyes and decided to trust Rick. “Okay. What do I do?”
     
Rick walked the horse over to the mounting block. “I guess the first thing to do would be to climb on.”
     
“What’s going on, Rick?” a deep voice behind Elissa asked.
     
Elissa tensed, knowing that voice well now. She turned to see Jake standing in the sunshine with his hat low over his eyes, hands on his hips and waiting for an answer.
    Rick didn’t seem to take offense at Jake’s curt tone. He simply smiled at Jake and tipped his hat back slightly. “Elissa