Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
A small laugh bubbled out of her, and the dimples popped.
“Oh damn,” Gathe said with reverence in his tone. “You’ve got dimples.”
She raised her eyebrows, watching him with amusement. I was sure she was used to guys reacting to her like this. The treatment she had been getting from me must have been throwing her for a loop.
“Are you going to hold on to her hand all day?” I snapped.
He smirked at me. “I might.” Then he looked back at Montana. “Tell me, is he being nice to you? If not, I can ask Linc to let me take his place.”
“This is the reason Linc has me watching her and not you. Exactly what is happening right now. He knows I won’t fuck her.”
The way her eyes flared made me mentally curse myself for saying that in front of her. Fucking Gathe was annoying me.
Gathe nodded his head toward me as he kept his eyes on her. “He’s ornery today.” Then he pointed at the foal. “You like horses?”
“This is my first time seeing them up close,” she told him, turning to look back at Diane and Heartland.
He moved beside her, placing his motherfucking hand on her bare lower back as he leaned down closer to her, completely ignoring the way she flinched at his touch.
“Let’s get these two out there to play, and we’ll go watch them,” he told her.
She didn’t say anything. Gathe tilted his head to the side and gave her one of his stupid looks that he knew worked on females.
Fucker.
“Um, okay.”
Her reply didn’t help my mood.
I watched his hand, waiting for it to move. When he finally took it off her to open the stall and let Diane and the foal out, I relaxed a little. But not much. There was no reason for that to bother me, except Linc didn’t want us fucking her.
He reached up to pat Diane as she walked past them and led the foal out to the fenced-in field at the opposite end of the stables. The foal ran playfully, excited to be going out, and Montana’s laughter at the sight drew my attention back to her. Damn, when she laughed, her face really did light up. It was bad enough that she looked the way she did, but add that shit to it, and fuck.
My eyes cut to Gathe, and he was doing the same thing. Watching her. I was tempted to text Linc and let him know he was out here with her, but I was out here too. They weren’t alone. He’d probably point that out, and I’d look like I cared for other reasons. Which I didn’t.
They followed the horses, and Gathe’s head was bent toward her as he said something, and she laughed again.
Who knew Gathe was such a goddamn comedian?
Eight
Montana
Gathe waved out the window of his truck and winked as he drove away from the stables.
He’d been there for almost an hour when Than told him that Linc had called for him to come to the main house. I enjoyed his company, but only because he was nice. He was also funny.
But he hadn’t been a complete distraction. My gaze kept roaming over to Than, who was cleaning the stalls.
At one point, Than pulled his shirt off, and I was answering something that Gathe had asked me, but forgot what I was going to say. Than hung his shirt over the fence, then took a water hose, leaned over, and poured water all over his head and chest. When he was done, he straightened, then ran a hand through his wet locks. I was transfixed. The water droplets running down his tanned chest and over his chiseled abs made my mouth go dry.
Gathe cleared his throat and snapped me out of it. The realization that I’d been ogling Than and been caught doing it made my face heat, and I knew I turned red as a beet.
Gathe had given me a knowing grin and shook his head. “His excuse for that display is gonna be that he was cleaning the shit from the stalls off him. But make no mistake. That was on purpose. I gotta give him props. It worked.”
The entire scene had been porn for females, but Than hadn’t done it for my benefit. I hadn’t said anything though. There was a chance Gathe was going to hate me, too, once Linc talked to him. I told myself that didn’t matter. I wasn’t here to make friends. I was here to safely get my high school diploma.
“Linc texted me a list of things you need for Monday. We have to make a run to town to get them,” Than told me.
I turned from Gathe’s retreating truck to look at him. He still wasn’t wearing his shirt, and I wished he’d put it on so I could think properly.