Cowboy on the Run by Devon McKay Page A

pace with his hand on her shoulder. His touch awakened a stirring of arousal as a flash back of memories hit her full force. Hesitant, she faced him, knowing her reaction to him might prove fatal.
    “I’ve got plans, Jess, real plans. I’ll know for sure tomorrow. It’ll keep me busy for a while, but it will be good for me. I think you’ll be proud of me.”
    “Oh, Nate. I’ve heard all this before. Big plans.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Like when you wanted to join properties to make the largest cattle ranch in all of Randolph County? Or better yet...I love this one...your great idea to breed horses, which lasted less than a week? And then there was the chicken fiasco... Need I go on?” She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and started walking again.
    The man was ridiculous. He had more schemes than common sense and not one of these fleeting concepts ever made it past the dream stage. She wasn’t the same naïve girl who jumped on the bandwagon at his every suggestion. Not anymore. Jessie refused to be his biggest cheerleader, and instead climbed onto the tractor.
    And why did he insist upon calling her Jess anyway? She cursed, flustered by the way the familiarity of her nickname had rolled off his tongue. It would be so much easier if he hadn’t come back into her life, if he didn’t stare at her with his intoxicating gaze or smile in his special way, splintering her heart into a million tiny pieces, again.
    She spared one last glance at him. He was still standing by his horse, his stature regal and proud. Her heart slammed hard in her chest. The vision would be impossible to erase, imprinted in her memory forever.
    “I was always proud of you, Nate,” she confessed, starting the ignition. She paused, one hand on the gear shift. The memory of him holding a large blue ribbon danced before her eyes. She switched the key to off again, spinning in his direction.
    “Remember that one year at the fair?” Jessie grinned, the recollection releasing a floodgate of treasured moments. “You placed first in calf roping. First! My word, you were a sight to see.”
    “The credit goes to Cinnamon. She was one hell of a horse,” he returned, a large smile splitting his face, his eyes dreamy in retrospect. A second later, a scowl took its place. “That was the night I left. All because of a stupid bet...I still can’t believe the old man lost her,” he stated in a quiet, hateful tone.
    There was so much pain in the dark blue depths Jessie grieved for him, wanting to shield him from the past, but knew better. The boy she had known would never accept the consolation. He would’ve considered such an act to be one of pity. And although this man standing before her was no longer the same boy, she had no idea what he would do if she reached out to him.
    “Cinnamon deserved better. You deserved better, Jessie.” He stepped forward, close enough to touch her.
    In an instant, his demeanor changed from fury to remorse. Her body stiffened in response. Although his words were sharp and poignant, she wasn’t ready for the sincerity.
    “Hell, even my old man deserved better than what I did to him. I was just so hurt, so angry...you know? I loved that damn horse,” he admitted, his voice heavy with emotion.
    “I loved her, too. Did you know my dad tracked down the man your dad lost her to and paid him double to get Cinnamon back for you? Yeah, we stabled her for over a year.” She smiled, picturing the affectionate horse who’d helped fill in the emptiness Nate had left behind.
    “I had plans of entering her in the calf roping event the next fall at the fair, but...” Jessie clamped her mouth shut, stopping the flow of words. It’d been close, almost admitting she couldn’t very well be roping calves considering she’d just found out she was carrying twins.
    His twins.
    Her face flushed, the warmth continuing to spread through her body. She should tell him, but was unable to voice the words as the old anger