Panic filled Cheyenne’s eyes as she pushed the gun away gingerly with a grimace.
“I’m all for guns,” she said. “I’m just not into using them myself. I trust people.”
I put the lead over the right side of the horse to make her stay. I didn’t want her running off on us. She was abused and skittish, but she also seemed to do good at going with the flow of things. I just hoped the gun wasn’t going to scare her off, I was a little worried about that.
“You trust people too much,” I said, and pulled out some earplugs. “Here. Put these in so you don’t go deaf in the process.”
“How will I hear you then?”
Our fingers brushed when Cheyenne took them from me. I waited until she pushed them into her ears before I took my stance behind her. Taking a deep breath, I placed my arms around Cheyenne’s slim body and encouraged her to grab the .9mm by showing her how to properly hold the gun. The smell of her soap filled my nose with cinnamon and vanilla when her braid brushed up against my face.
Every single one of my muscles coiled. It was tempting to drop my arms and smooth my hands along the soft curve of her waist. The recoil of the gun caused Cheyenne’s body to jerk back against mine in surprise at the force. She kept ahold of the gun though and turned to give me an excited look that instantly brought a smile to my face.
I didn’t mind the feel of her firm ass pushing up against my groin briefly either. I let her shoot a few more rounds, enjoying the closeness of her slender body next to mine.
Before I could savor the closeness, I felt my phone buzzing from inside my jacket pocket. I took the gun back from Cheyenne as she pulled out her earplugs with a confused frown.
“Tiffany’s calling,” I explained when I looked at my phone. “She hardly ever calls. Let me see what’s going on with her real quick.”
“Of course,” Cheyenne said. She took a step back to give me some space, even though it wasn’t needed.
“What’s up? You okay Tif?”
“Um, sort of.”
Concern shot through me at the tension in Tiffany’s voice. I looked over at Cheyenne who returned my stare in concern.
“What’s going on?” I asked, clicking on the safety of my gun before holstering it. “What happened?”
“I was trying to get to the top of a bookshelf. The shelf wasn’t… it wasn’t secured to the wall.” Voices echoed in the background. “I’m okay. It fell on my leg, but there was a tourist here who helped me. They called 911.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” I demanded, running a hand through my hair in aggravation. “Hang on; I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“I should be at the hospital by then,” she said, then groaned i
nto the phone. “I think it’s broken, Colt. I can’t feel it. I can’t even move it.”
Turning on my heel, I jogged back up the hill with Cheyenne right behind me. I caught sight of Rick’s truck parked right behind me and gritted my teeth.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital then,” I said. “Call me if something else happens. Tell those paramedics to call me.”
“What’s going on?” Cheyenne cried out, grabbing ahold my arm. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, no. I’m not sure. She was climbing up a bookcase, and it fell on her leg somehow. They’re taking her to the hospital right now. Her leg might be broken.” I fished through my pockets desperately looking for my truck keys.
“Where are my damn keys? Why the hell is Rick blocking me in?”
“Colt.”
I stopped at the sharpness in Cheyenne’s voice. She took my hand in hers, squeezing it gently as she guided me in the direction of her truck.
“I’ll drive,” she said. “You need to calm down. Look, the paramedics are there, right? She’s in good hands right now.”
She opened the passenger door for me, and I got in, somewhat perplexed. I never accepted help or handouts of any kind. One thing I prided myself on was being the person who could help others and be the rock in a time of crisis. It struck a chord in me when Cheyenne climbed into the driver’s seat, and I realized that I appreciated having someone there to help.
Not caring if it was crossing a line, I reached out to touch her hand as she pulled out onto the highway in the direction of the hospital. Our fingers threaded together, and a bolt of pleasure went through me. I caught Cheyenne’s gaze briefly before it returned to the road in front of her.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m glad you’re here.”