Roping Your Heart by Cheyenne McCray Page A

me and shattered bones in my face and all over my body. I screamed and Woody heard and got the horse off of me before he managed to kill me.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember much after that.”
    “Damn.” The horror of what Cat had been through swept over him. “I’m sorry, honey.”
    “It changed my life, that’s for sure.” She sighed. “Toby couldn’t cope with it, especially the differences in my looks and the brain trauma. He couldn’t handle all of the slow progress with this therapy and that. He took off for Wyoming last I heard.”
    “That sonofabitch,” Blake growled.
    She shrugged. “That was a long time ago.”
    “You suffered brain trauma?” he said.
    She touched the side of her head and gave a crooked smile. “I can show you the scars. Brain surgery and everything.”
    “Do you have any problems left over from the trauma?” he asked.
    “Other than the occasional nightmare or migraine, no,” she said. “Although I do get a few aches and pains during rainy weather and my joints creak.”
    “Hell, my joints creak sometimes,” he said with a grin. “Just don’t tell my brothers or they’re going to start calling me old man.”
    She returned his grin. “Can’t imagine anyone calling you old man.” She looked at the power in his body, his muscular frame. “You work out a lot, don’t you?”
    He nodded. “I run the hills around here and I have a weight set in a back room at the ranch. I started running and lifting when you left—it was a way to work out my frustrations. Eventually it became a way to relieve everyday stress.”
    The thought that he’d started lifting and running because of her made her wonder if that had been a good thing. The results had certainly been rewarding.
    Their dessert arrived—a big fondue pot of pure dark chocolate along with plates of sliced fresh fruit that included strawberries, banana, and pineapple. There were also cubed pieces of brownies and golden pound cake.
    “Oh, my.” Cat closed her eyes and her chest rose as she inhaled and gave a happy sigh as she opened her eyes. “Smells heavenly and looks so good.” She stabbed a strawberry with her fondue fork and twirled it in the chocolate.
    “Sure does,” Blake agreed, holding back his amusement at the enthusiastic way she greeted the dessert. He pierced a chunk of brownie with his own fork.
    She drew her strawberry out of the chocolate fondue then plucked it off with her fingers. She closed her eyes again as she bit into the chocolate dipped strawberry. “Mmmmm…” She sounded and looked slightly orgasmic as she ate it.
    His jaw tensed, an ache suddenly tightening his groin. Damn, that was hot.
    She opened her eyes and caught him watching her. “What? Do I have chocolate on my face?”
    He couldn’t help a quick grin. “You look cute eating chocolate fondue.”
    She looked a little embarrassed and maybe a little shy. “Aren’t you going to have some?”
    “You bet.” He dipped the brownie cube into the fondue then brought it out and popped it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed then said, “That is good.”
    With a smile, she said, “This was a great idea.”
    He nodded. “We’ll have to thank Tess.”
    Despite saying she was full earlier, she ate every piece of fruit, brownie, and cake on her plate and he did the same.
    “That was so very good,” she said and smiled as the server took the dessert fondue away.
    Moments later, cups of coffee were brought to them to finish off their evening.
    Blake set aside the last bottle of beer and took a drink of his coffee then set the cup down. He looked at her a long moment before he said, “Nineteen years ago the last thing I heard was that you were leaving town with Toby.”
    Cat looked down at her coffee cup and wouldn’t meet his gaze for a long moment. When she finally looked at him again, she said, “It was probably the second biggest mistake of my life.”
    “What was the first?” Blake asked.
    Her cheeks flushed.