Rodeo Romance (Contemporary Western Romance Short) by Teresa Gabelman Page B

making her afraid to do something wrong, Jake did not. With Jake, she felt comfortable, like anything she said or did would be okay with him. She’d already made a fool of herself in front of him and he was still talking to her, even kissed her. Once again, her stomach tightened as her heart fluttered at the memory.
    Taking the steps two at a time to their cabin, she walked in. Cindy stood in front of the mirror admiring herself. She had left early to get ready for her date with Sam. She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. “So you finally got your date with Sam, huh?”
    “Yes. Jake has been keeping Sam off the ranch with a bunch of rodeo business, but he finally had a night free.” Cindy twirled this way and that. “Does this dress look okay?”
    Trisha looked at the simple black summer dress and smiled with a snort. “Cindy, anything looks good on you. You could wear a brown sack and still look amazing.” Trisha gave her a teasing narrowed eye stare. “I should really hate you for that.”
    “You could never hate me.” Cindy did the duck lip face in the mirror before spinning toward Trisha, getting a good look at her. “You are a dirty mess. Are you sure you’re going to be okay here all by yourself?”
    Trisha agreed; she was a dirty mess. Planting flowers and carrying bags of potting soil wasn’t clean work, not that Cindy would know anything about that. She ignored Cindy’s assessment. “I’ll be fine, Mom .” Trisha rolled her eyes. “Is Sam picking you up here?”
    Just as she asked, there was a knock at their door. Excited, Cindy headed toward the door, fixing her hair on the way. Taking a deep breath, she opened it. “Hey, Sam.” Cindy smiled, making room for him to step in. “Let me get my purse.”
    “Damn, woman. I’ll be fighting the men off you.” Sam watched Cindy’s ass as she collected her purse, then spotted Trisha sitting on the bed. “Looks like you had a fight with dirt and lost.” He gazed up and down her body slowly. His heated perusal made her uncomfortable, putting her on edge.
    “I’ll see you later.” Cindy went to hug Trisha, but stopped. “Girl, you are a mess.”
    “I’ll shower.” Trisha chuckled. “Have a good time,” she called out, her increasing dislike of Sam growing.
    After a long hot shower, Trisha sat in the middle of the bed, her phone in front of her. Despite being turned off, she knew not even that would stop Doug from calling. With a sigh, she snatched it up, turning it on. Before she could even look at the messages, someone knocked on her door. Tossing it on the bed, she went and opened it.
    Jake stood there, leaning against the doorframe. “You shouldn’t just open your door without asking who it is.”
    “Since it was unlocked, I don’t think that matters.” Trisha smiled.
    “Keep your door locked,” he ordered, looking behind her. “Where’s Cindy?”
    “She had a date with Sam.” Trisha wrinkled her nose.
    Jake frowned and then straightened from the doorframe. “Would you like to have dinner?”
    “Sure.” Trisha smiled, walking outside, shutting the door behind her. “I was just getting ready to head that way.”
    “No, I mean with me.” Jake adjusted his cowboy hat.
    “Oh, okay.” She nodded, pleasantly surprised. “I would love to.”
    He settled his hat low over his eyes looking down at her. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, you’re going to ruin my plans for a nice dinner, and instead, I’m going to start with dessert.” He bent down, kissing her lips softly. Taking her hand, he led her around the side of the cabin where a beautiful black horse stood, munching on the flowers growing around the border.
    “Spirit, you’re going to get me in trouble,” Jake scolded as the horse looked up and nickered loudly.
    “Ah, are you tired?” Trisha eyed the huge horse. “I can meet you at the—”
    Jake laughed loudly. “No, I’m not tired and that’s not where we’re going.”
    “Don’t you have