Without thought, I stood, tipped over my chair in the process, and swiped all the shit from his desk and onto the floor. Things scattered and crashed, but it was my ragged breathing that was the loudest.
Rob didn’t move. Didn’t act the least bit surprised. Because he’d fucking done it on purpose.
“She’s nothing but fun,” he said.
“Fuck you,” I snarled. I set my hands on his desk, leaned in. Met his gaze head on. “No one touches her. No one breathes her in.”
I stormed out of his office, pissed as hell. But all I heard behind me was Rob’s calm chuckle.
He was my friend. He was my alpha. He was also an asshole.
13
CHARLIE
After the horseback ride with Clint and Johnny to show me more of the ranch than the stable and bunkhouse, I walked from the stable out to the pasture where Serafina was grazing. I wanted to check on her, but really, I wanted a spot all alone. My body was sore in all the best ways—and not from the ride the guys had just taken me on. Their ranch was beautiful, and I could see why they were content to be here. I almost had the urge to pick up roots and stay.
It had been a little weird because it had been the most erotic horseback ride I’d had in my life. Well-worked clit kept rubbing on the saddle, reminding me of how much fun Levi and I had the night before. Feeling that way while riding between two other guys, not Levi, had made my thoughts extra naughty. The feelings extra intense.
Which reminded me… I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Keely as Seraphina trotted over to say hello.
“Hey girl,” Keely answered.
“The deed’s been done.” I stroked behind Seraphina’s ears to greet her. A smile spread across my face, not sure if it was because I was happy to see my favorite horse or because I’d taken a hot cowboy for a ride.
“Yes! You had sex? With the hot cowboy? Congratulations!” Her enthusiasm over my sex life made me smile.
“Sure did. And it was better than I imagined.” The warm breeze ruffled my hair, and I tucked it behind my ear.
“Ooh, tell me everything.”
Setting my foot on the bottom rail of the fence, I said, “Let’s just say I plan to make up for lost time while I’m here.”
She squealed. “So it wasn’t just a one-time thing?”
“Our agreement is it’s a fourteen-day thing. For the fourteen nights I’m here.”
She was quiet for a second. “Oh. My. God. I’m swooning here. That sounds like the title of a movie. Fourteen Nights with a Cowboy.”
“Uh, yeah, no. That lacks a ring.” I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“Two Weeks in Paradise? Fourteen Nights to Heaven?”
“Oh my God. Please keep your day job.” I giggled. Actually giggled. And laughing wasn’t usually my thing. I might have been as uptight as they said, but now? I felt different. More relaxed. Calmer.
“Sooo… how was it?” she wondered.
I sighed, as if that said it all. “Super hot. It started in the stable and then moved to his bed.”
“In the stable? Girlfriend, you’re leaving stuff out.”
“I’m not telling you every dirty detail.” I was leaving some of it just for myself.
“Did you sleep with him? I mean sleep-sleep?”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see. “No, that felt too intimate.”
“I know what you mean. You wouldn’t want to get attached when this is just a sex thing.”
“Right,” I said quickly although my stomach dropped to my boots. Why had Keely calling it just a sex thing bother me? That was exactly what it was. What I wanted. What I’d validated when I left his room for my own.
And yet, at the same time, that seemed to demean what we actually had.
But now I sounded crazy. We didn’t have anything but chemistry. There was no relationship here. Nothing more than a wild fling.
I heard a thud and one of Keely’s kids break into screams. “Shit, I have to go!” she said.
“Yep. Catch you later.” I hung up and tucked my phone back in my pocket.
I patted Seraphina. “What do you think, girl?”
A strong arm banded around my waist, and I gasped. “I know what I think,” Levi growled in my ear.
I relaxed, then laughed—it seemed to be a more frequent occurrence today—and laid my head back on his shoulder. He hoisted me off my feet and bit my neck.
“What do you think?” I spun in his arms when he set me down, flung my arms around his neck as I looked up at him.
“I think you need to get fucked again.” His eyes took on a yellow-ish glow in the fading light.
“Is that right?” I curled my fingers into the hair that stuck out beneath his hat, but couldn’t stop smiling.
“Yep. But let’s go to the fair first. I have to show off my prowess at the game booths.”