His hands held onto my cheeks and he gently lifted my face up so I was forced to look him in the eyes. Suddenly I felt like a teenager hiding in the barn with my boyfriend. It was invigorating as I sat in anticipation of his kiss.
My lips felt dry and I licked them in preparation for his kiss. I felt my breathing as it quickened and I tried to calm myself down before his lips made it to mine.
Garrett moved slowly and intensely as he let his lips barely touch mine. There was electricity between us and I felt it buzz through my body without warning as his lips continued their gently soft touching of mine.
“Mmmm,” I moaned out unconsciously.
“What if I don’t want my personal space?” he said. “What if I want to share a tent with you?”
His breath was close to my neck and I felt the warmth of his body as he stood close to me. I knew I should keep my distance though. Our little trip was for business and getting my father a good sales price for the land. It would be fun to hang out with Garrett, but that was it and nothing else, or so I tried to tell myself. I wasn’t taking him with me because I wanted to screw the guy, I simply wanted to get to know him more.
“Two tents,” I said firmly as I gently pressed him away from me and jumped down from the haystack I was sitting on.
“You drive a hard bargain.”
“Get ready; I don’t want to miss the sunset,” I ordered as I smiled at him.
“Oh, yes, ma’am,” he teased me.
I hurried off to get the rest of the things we would need for the evening. We had to have some food, sleeping bags, fire starters, and varies other items to make the evening enjoyable. I also had to make sure the horses would have enough food and water for the trip. It was exciting to run around and gather everything we needed though. I actually felt like I was doing something useful and that motivated me.
For the months I had been at the ranch I knew my parents appreciated having me there, but I hadn’t really felt like I was all that much help. I had an MBA from Harvard; I should be able to figure out some way for my parents to be successful in their ranch. Financial issues were my specialty and bringing in money was what I did best. But my father still wanted to run the ranch the way he always had, and for every ten suggestions I made to him, he thought only one was a decent idea. It had become difficult for me to gather the courage to even offer new ideas to him.
I knew that there were changes that could be made to help the ranch be more successful though. We had cattle roaming all over the land and my father didn’t sell them off at all. He insisted that he was growing his heard to sell someday, but it had been ten years and he hadn’t sold it at all. Well, I finally convinced him to sell one of his bulls; he was shocked at the price we brought in. It was a small victory, but enough that I thought my father might actually consider listening to my ideas more often.
“I’m ready to ride,” Garrett said as he came up behind me.
His tight t-shirt and jeans seemed to hug every muscular curve that he had and I had to check to make sure I didn’t have my mouth open as I stared at him. He was freshly showered with his hair still wet and his face clean shaven. Instantly, he made me want to change, too. I was sweaty and gross from working all day and I wasn’t about to spend the evening sitting next to him and having him think I smelled disgusting.
“Okay, load up the horses with Forest and I’ll be right out.”
I hurried back to the house and ran into the bathroom. Quickly, I turned the water on and jumped in before it had even had a chance to warm up. I washed my hair, shaved my legs, and made sure to apply some body wash as I cleaned myself up. It wasn’t that I was planning on doing anything naughty with Garrett; I was just planning on flirting. I wanted Garrett to want me; to desire me; to feel totally distracted by wanting me.
It was probably one of the fastest showers of my life and I quickly got dressed in some clean clothes and braided my hair into two braids to keep it from soaking my t-shirt. I set a sweatshirt on my bed and pulled on a cute pair of boots when my mother knocked on the door.
“Everyone’s ready,” she said as she walked in. “You look nice.”
“I just didn’t want to stink,” I answered as I saw the look in her eyes.
She was judging me and I felt it. I’m sure she thought I was taking Garrett out to the river so we could screw each other. Even if I had those desires toward Garrett, we were hardly talking. All I wanted to do was flirt, spent some time, laugh, and enjoy an evening away from the ranch. And of course, I wanted to get my father the pictures he needed to sell off the land.
“Have fun.”
I waited for her to give me some sort of lecture about how I didn’t know Garrett and should be leery of him, but the lecture never came. Certainly, she had some feeling about me riding off for an overnight with one of the ranch hands? She wasn’t just going to be fine with it, I waited in anticipation for what I just knew was coming next.
“It’s just work, mom; I’ll get the photos and be back tomorrow morning. By the way, what changed your mind? Why were you okay with me bringing Garrett?”
“He told you he wouldn’t go unless your father agreed, didn’t he?”
“Yes, that was why I went to see father.”
“I knew he was a good man at that mome
nt. You know I understand that you’re a grownup, now right?” She said with a huge smile. “I’ll let you make your own decisions about who is a good guy and not. You’re not a naive teenager anymore; I don’t have to make those choices for you.”
“So you think Garrett is a good guy?”
“I really don’t know him that well. But your father likes him, so that is a positive sign. Although, I don’t know how much your father would like Garrett if he knew you two were sleeping together.”