Josh's Justice, Cowboy Romance (Bad in Boots, Book 4) (2 page)

Sabrina cast Elise a nervous glance. “I’ve never ridden a horse before.”

“This is your welcome.” Mace put his hand out. When she put hers in his, expecting him to shake it, he held fast and looked at Colt. “Give her a boost, bro.”

Before Sabrina could decline, Colt had grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up on the horse in front of Mace. “Enjoy your tour,” he said, then shot his brother a meaningful stare. “Behave.”

Mace gave a deep laugh and turned the horse around. As they walked out of the stables, the unfamiliar, swaying movement made Sabrina tense. Gripping the saddle horn for support, she tried not to let her anxiety show.

Once they’d reached the open fields, Mace wrapped an arm around her waist. “Relax, Sabrina,” he said, amused. “It’s half the battle in learning to ride a horse.”

As Mace urged his horse into a trot and then a full gallop, taking off across the green pasture, Sabrina forced her mind not to think about falling and being trampled by hooves.

After a while, Mace slowed his horse to an easy pace and pointed out different sections of the Lonestar ranch where the cattle and horses grazed.

The moment he started to pull his arm away from her waist, Sabrina clasped his hand and held it in place. She did
not
want to fall off this horse.

Mace wrapped his arm around her waist once more, pulling her against his chest. “Better?” he asked in a soft tone.

Sabrina nodded. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t mind a bit?”

“’Cause I don’t, darlin’. Not at all.”

“So I’ve heard. Your reputation proceeds you, Mace Tanner.”

“Ah, someone’s been talking about me.” His tone dropped to a seductive whisper. “I hope it was all good.”

“Considering my source was a man, er…I hope not,” she teased.

“No worries there.” He adopted a smug smile. “Must’ve been jealous.”

“Are you always so sure of yourself?” she asked, both intrigued and entertained by his sexy confidence.

“Why not?” His shoulders moved behind her in a shrug. “I have nothing to lose.”

Sabrina shot a huge smile over her shoulder. “I like your attitude.”

Mace eyed her, then chuckled. “I think we’re going to get along just fine, Sabrina. Elise tells me you’re here for a week.”

“Yeah, I’m taking some time away from work to relax and um…find my inner self.” She adopted a serious look while mentally snickering. What would Elise think of her plan?

Mace drew his own conclusions as to her meaning. Spreading his hand across her rib cage, he said, “Just let me know if you’re up for it. I’ll be glad to help find out exactly what makes you purr.”

His comment made her heart beat faster, but underneath that irresistible sexy confidence, her instincts told her Mace always held a part of himself back. She recognized that attribute well, since she’d perfected it.

She smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Mace nodded and returned to his tour guide duties. “Ever been on a ranch before?”

She shook her head.

Turning his horse toward a different pasture, he said, “Let’s go meet some of the Lonestar ranch hands. They’d love to tell a beautiful woman all about what they do on a daily basis.”

“And what do you do? Well, besides flirt outrageously with your female guests.”

“You mean there’s more to life?” A shocked look crossed his face before he sobered. “I help run the ranch, but I spend most of my time marketing the rodeo side of the Lonestar. What about you? What do you do when you’re not flirting with men you’ve just met?”

“Touché.” Sabrina loved that Mace gave as good as he got. “When I’m not taking a long overdue summer vacation, I help run an advertising agency in Arizona.”

“Darlin’, we should definitely exchange notes,” he commented, his tone more than a little suggestive as his grip on her waist tightened briefly.

“You are too much,” she snickered.

“I’m a man. You’re a gorgeous woman. I’d be a fool not to try.” He shrugged, completely unrepentant.

She tilted her head and smiled. “I imagine it’d be so easy to fall under your spell.” Mace’s compliment really boosted her spirits. She’d taken this vacation to get away. Her confidence had really taken a beating with Jeremy’s rejection. He’d broken up with her, claiming that she was too rigid, and that she tried too hard to control every aspect of her life, even him.

She’d been so careful in dating, passing on a lot of date opportunities over the years. She’d rather be alone than go out just for the sake of going out. Then she met Jeremy. They’d been together for almost a year, and she thought he understood her, but apparently he never really tried. Maybe that was her problem. Did she expect men to dive deeper when all they were really capable of was skimming the surface? 

“Won’t know just how easy it’d be to fall under my spell until you try…” Mace countered, his teasing suggestion drawing her out of her reverie.

His skill in turning even the most mundane conversation into a flirtation made her laugh. “Why do I feel like the hare to your rabbit? I’m here for a week, Mace. Think marathon, not sprint.”

Chapter Two

“Sure you don’t want me to help you with that?” Mace drawled from his leaning position against the stable door.

Sabrina tossed her long dark braid over her shoulder and blew wispy bangs away from her eyes to look at him. “I know exactly what you want to help me with, Mace Tanner, and the only one getting a rubdown is Lightning.” She smirked, then turned back to the horse to unbuckle the saddle.

“I’m good with my hands. It’s been a few days now. How long you gonna keep me at bay, darlin’?”

“’Til the cows come home.”

After several seconds of total silence, the sound of a cowbell ringing and mock mooing coming from the stall doorway had her laughing out loud. Pulling the saddle off the horse, she put it away and called over her shoulder, “Go back to work, Mace. I’ll join you for dinner later.”

“You know you’re breakin’ my heart, don’t ya?”

When Sabrina cut her gaze back to Mace, he had a cowbell hanging from his neck and his hand over his heart. The expression on his face reflected sheer pain.

She snorted. “The only thing I’m breaking is your string of successful seductions.”

Elise’s laughter floated from behind Mace before she appeared beside him. Looping her arm around her brother-in-law’s, she bumped shoulders with him. “She’s got ya there. Come on, Mace. You’ve played constant host since Bri arrived. Let’s give her a few moments alone.” She locked gazes with Sabrina and rolled her eyes. “Even if she wants to spend them working.”

Sabrina shrugged. “The horses enjoy it…and it relaxes me, strange as that sounds. See you guys in a half hour,” she called after them as Elise pulled Mace away.

Turning back to Lightning, Sabrina looked around for the grooming brush until she spotted it up on a wood shelf on the wall. “Didn’t these Tanner men realize that not everyone in this world was over six feet tall?” she muttered to herself as she stood on tiptoe to try to reach the horse brush from the high shelf. Not quite tall enough.

She lowered her arm and looked around the horse’s stall. No stepstool in sight. Sighing, she stood on her toes again, straining her calf muscles. Her fingers brushed the bristles, then pushed the brush back away from the edge of the shelf.

Great. Now she couldn’t even see it.

Lightning neighed, apparently impatient for her to get on with the grooming part. After being on the ranch for three days, Sabrina still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ride a horse by herself, but she’d asked Elise to show her how to groom one. Turns out she really enjoyed the task. It was like pet therapy or something.

Eventually she’d work her way up to riding a horse on her own, but in the meantime, she convinced Elise to let her give Lightning a good rubdown when her friend arrived back from rides with Colt.

Mace had been a gracious host and constant companion, all the while never giving up on seducing her. And as much as she had fun joining in their outrageous flirtation, she didn’t let it go any further.

She liked Mace, found him very attractive, but she held back, not really sure why. She didn’t feel guilty not indulging with Mace, because the only rule she’d planned to follow while here was; “if he trips your trigger, go for it”. Mace made her laugh and her ego soar, and she could see how he’d trip many women’s triggers, but she just wasn’t one of them. She had to give the man an “A” for effort though. Sabrina snickered as she put one hand against the wall while reaching up in one last attempt to retrieve the grooming brush.

“Here, let me help ya.” Strong hands came around her waist at the same time a hard chest pressed against her back, causing her to freeze and her heart race. He smelled so good, like faint cologne and leather. God, he smelled of
leather
, she thought as he easily lifted her so she could retrieve the brush. Sabrina quickly grabbed the brush and waited for the man to set her down so she could see his face.

Instead, he lowered her slowly to the ground, his voice’s deep timbre skidding down her spine, “I don’t think I’d ever be allowed on this property again…” He paused and let go of her waist to push her heavy braid away from her neck, then whispered in her ear, “if Colt knew the impure thoughts running through my head right now.”

Sabrina’s heart slammed as heat rushed to every part of her body. She couldn’t believe her reaction to this man she’d yet to see, but who obviously mistook her for someone else.

She started to speak when the stranger set her away, saying in a gruff tone, “I’m sorry, Elise. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Sabrina turned around, eyebrow raised. “Then, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not Elise, so those impure thoughts can just stay between you and me.”

He quickly swiped his straw cowboy hat off his head and an embarrassed expression crossed his face. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Please forgive me.”

As she scanned the man’s six-foot tall form, the first thing that came to mind would definitely fall in the impure thoughts category. Trim, jean-clad hips, a silver and gold buckle, a black T-shirt that fit his muscular physique very well, broad shoulders, and the sexiest, square jaw she’d ever seen. She usually preferred clean cut and custom suits to overnight scruff and Wranglers, but the intense look in his arresting teal green eyes before he realized she wasn’t Elise is what ultimately snagged her attention. She’d love to have a man look at her like that. He had the sexiest wavy blond hair she’d ever seen. It was an appealing just-rolled-out-of-bed look that made her want to touch it.

“Impure thoughts are only bad if they aren’t returned,” she said, flashing a grin.

His regretful look changed to surprise, and then a broad smile spread across his face. Placing his hat on his head, he held out his hand. “I’m Josh Kelly. My family owns the neighboring Double K ranch.”

Sabrina shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Josh. I’m Sabrina Gentry, a college friend of Elise’s visiting for the week.”

Josh’s grip was firm, and once he shook her hand, he didn’t let go. “Are you from Virginia too?”

She looked down at their clasped hands, mesmerized by his warmth and the tingling sensation sliding up her arm. Blinking to clear her head, she met his gaze. “No, I live in Arizona.”

“Ah, so you’re used to the heat, then.” His Texas drawl, coupled with his arresting gaze lingering on her lips, made her stomach dip. 
Was it getting hot in here
? She let go of his hand and turned to begin brushing Lightning. “Yes, I’m very used to the heat.”

She froze when Josh’s hand landed on hers. “Here, this is how you do it,” he said as he towered behind her and guided her hand across the horse’s back, showing her the best way to stroke the hair with slow, precise movements.

His cologne tickled her nose as he demonstrated his technique. When his chest brushed against her back, she resisted the urge to lean against him, but she couldn’t help closing her eyes and inhaling his arousing, masculine scent.

“See,” he said as Lightning pawed the ground. “She likes slow but firm strokes.”

Sabrina’s body instinctively migrated closer to him, her arm moving fluidly with his. She liked a man who took the time to understand what a woman really wanted, even if that “woman” was an animal. That just meant he’d be even better with the human variety.

When Lightning neighed, Sabrina opened her eyes in time to see Josh put his hand out and the horse turn to rub her nose in his palm. She chuckled. “You sure have a way with women, Josh Kelly.”

“I try my best to please,” he spoke close to her ear, the deep baritone sending all kinds of sexy thoughts through her mind.

“I’ll just bet you do. How sorry were you that Colt snagged Elise?” she asked as he let go of her hand and moved to stand in front of Lightning to rub the horse’s nose.

Josh shot a grin her way. “Elise who?”

She snickered. The man was quick, she’d give him that.

“Josh?” Elise called as she rounded the corner to enter the stall. “There you are. I saw your horse and wondered where you went off to.”

“Hey, Elise. I came looking for you and ran into Sabrina.”

Sabrina watched Josh’s reaction to Elise with interest. His relaxed stance had changed to an alert one the moment she entered the stables. Interesting.

“Thanks for coming,” her friend replied. “You ready for the kids?”

A half-smile tugged at his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. “The Lonestar’s a hard act to follow, but we’re working on an activity I think the kids will love.”

“That’s great,” Elise said, beaming. “They were so excited when I told them your ranch was their camp’s next stop.”

“We’ll be ready for them. You ah, mentioned a bull in your voicemail.”

Elise nodded. “We’re hoping to trade it for another horse, like Colt did with Lightning. Are you interested in taking a look?”

“Yeah.”

“Lightning was your horse?” Sabrina turned a narrowed gaze toward Josh. He’d led her to believe Lightning had taken to him so quickly.

Josh winked and tapped his fingers over his heart. “She misses me sorely.”