Romance: Cowboy Way of Love by Undiscloseddesires2015 Page B

out
whether I like them or not.” She looked down at her curves.
“Besides, I might just be a little too big for any pony you’ve got
around here.”
    Hunter snorted. “Trust me,
that’s not going to be a problem.”
    Peony slid her hands over
her stomach, in an almost unconscious gesture. Then she looked
around, anxious to see who might have seen her make that motion.
Luckily, everyone’s attention was elsewhere. Everyone’s, that is,
except for Hunter.
    “ If you’re worried about
what I think you might be,” he said, “I can promise you that won’t
be an issue.” He reached out and took Peony’s hand for a moment.
“I’ll put you on my own mare, LouLou. She’ll behave every step of
the way. And I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”
    Peony’s eyes searched
Hunter’s. “You can’t know,” she said.
    “ I can guess,” he
replied.
    “ And that doesn’t bother
you?” Peony said.
    “ Should it?” He let go of
her hand. “If there’s somebody…if I need to step back…”
    Peony shook her head.
“There’s nobody.” She laughed. “I mean, obviously, there was
somebody. But not like…well.” Her face fell, and she looked at her
shoes. It was the most heart breaking thing Hunter had ever seen.
He had to strain to hear her words. “Not the way there should have
been.”
    “ Hey,” Hunter said gently.
He slid his fingers under Peony’s chin, carefully forcing her gaze
up to meet his. “Life is funny. There’s no such thing as what
should have been. That doesn’t exist, outside of our minds. There’s
only what is, for real, right here and now.”
    “ That’s easy to say when
you’re a good looking rancher who’s got everything,” Peony snapped.
“But when you’re looking at life as a single mother…and I don’t
even have a real job yet; it’s just freelance contract work.” Tears
filled her eyes. When Peony looked at Hunter, a single drop slid
out, fat and shining. She angrily wiped it away before it had a
chance to reach her cheek. “That’s my here and now.”
    “ No,” Hunter said. He
shook his head. “Your here and now is a beautiful morning in the
Texas hill country. You’ve got a chance to go for a ride on one of
the best looking, best tempered mares between here and the Rio
Grande. You’ve got a cowboy ready, willing and able to meet your
every need…”
    “ That’s you?” Peony asked.
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it came close. Hunter
couldn’t help but notice how she checked him out in that moment,
taking in his broad shoulders, the way his arms filled out his
shirt sleeves, and, for one breath taking moment, the way his jeans
fit. “Because meeting all my needs could be a pretty tall
order.”
    “ I’ll do my best,” Hunter
said. “That’s what I do.”
    “ That’s all anyone can
ask,” Peony said. Her gaze dropped, and Hunter wasn’t sure if he’d
said something wrong. Then she looked back up, with a brave, bold,
confident smile. “Why don’t you introduce me to Miss
LouLou?”
    LouLou tended to be a
one-man horse; she got a little skittish when anyone but Hunter got
too close to her. But with Peony, she was different. Hunter was
pleased to see how she behaved like a perfect lady, using her lips
to delicately take a sugar cube from Peony’s flattened
palm.
    “ So soft,” Peony breathed.
She turned toward Hunter. “Is it okay if I pet her? Like on her
face?”
    Hunter laughed. “She loves
to be scratched between the ears,” he said, demonstrating the
affectionate gesture his mare craved. Peony mimicked his gesture,
and squealed in delight when LouLou lowered her head and came
closer to get more love.
    “ She likes me!” Peony
said. She turned to Hunter, wide eyed. “That’s amazing!”
    “ I told you she was a good
girl,” he said. “I was there when LouLou was born. It was just
after Christmas, and we had a hell of a time getting her Mama to
stay in the barn. She wanted to be out with all the other