Imperfect Harmony (Big Sky Cowboys 3)
Page 10
An hour or two later,Horse was herding me toward the door. He’d hovered by my side most of the night. Much to my chagrin, I liked having him as my shadow, and maybe it was the beer, but I was starting to feel like Sean’s take on Horse’s feelings for me might be right. He held up my jacket for me to put my arms through. I didn’t feel ready for the night to be over.
I acquiesced to the jacket, but argued, “No, we should stay.”
“The place is closing, Sarah. It’s time to go, babe.” He smiled a megawatt smile at me that I didn’t know he had. Also, he called me babe. Did he have any drinks? I don’t think he even had a beer.
“Did you drink?” I asked.
“One, a while back.” He ushered me out the door.
“Where did Sean go?” I asked.
“The others left about an hour ago, but you were talking to that man from Lexington.”
“What man from Lexington?” Uh-oh. Maybe I was drunk. I was leaning against Horse’s side and he had his arm around me, but I wasn’t certain that he was showing me affection. There was some possibility that cuddling me into him was pure function so that I didn’t fall over. Either way, he was so tall and warm, I cuddled closer into the crux of his armpit, sort of resting my head on his shoulder. For a second, I thought I felt him tense, but then his hand curled around my hip and he hooked his thumb through my belt loop.
“They left me with you?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“That seems inconsiderate,” I said. There was a chill in the air and the cool breeze felt good on the skin of my cheeks.
He laughed. “Agreed.”
“Are we walking back to the hotel?” I asked. I wanted to just so I could stay close to him a little while longer.
“No, I called an Uber. I told him to meet us there.” He pointed to the corner where the street met the parking lot.
“Why are you taking care of me?” I asked.
He was quiet for a minute, and then, in a tone that was somewhere between surly and sweet, he said, “Because I want to.”
Butterflies erupted in my belly.