Home > Roping The Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins #2)(6)

Roping The Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins #2)(6)
Author: Alexa Riley

“I’ll leave you to it, man,” Ben says as if reading my mind.

“Put the word out,” I tell him as he heads around the other side of the porch. He knows not to go around the front where he can be seen. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with all these men being around her. I’m either going to have to get a ring on her finger fast, or learn to deal with this jealousy I have. I wonder if that’s even possible after witnessing my brother over the last year. Seems the Jennings men have a jealous streak a mile wide when it comes to their women.

When I turn, I see Luciana standing there looking at me, one hand on her little hip and her big brown eyes narrowed on me. Her hair is in a braid like always, and my fist clenches as I think about taking it down and running my hands through it.

She’s so small it makes me wonder how she can handle some of these animals. How she’ll handle me. She says something in Spanish, and that only makes me smile. No way am I telling her I understand every word she just said. I need every advantage I can get with her.

Chapter 4

Luciana

Curses fly out of my mouth as I stare into the steel-blue eyes that have been haunting me. The eyes I see every time I close my eyes and think about my future. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, now that I’ve started down this new path.

I’d always has a small crush on Blake, which is why I avoided him, thinking nothing could come of it. We come from two different worlds that are literally miles and miles apart. It could never work between us, and I didn’t want to walk down a path that led only to heartbreak. After losing my mom I knew I was still too fresh to take that kind of pain again. It was best to stay clear of it, but now it seems to be standing right in my path, and the look in his eyes says he's got no plans on moving anytime soon.

He leans against a post on the huge front porch of a beautiful farmhouse. It looks like something out of a magazine. There are rolling green hills all around us, with a big red barn close by. The place looks like something you’d dream of when you thought of a Texas ranch, and I fell in love the second I drove around the bend and saw it. It’s everything I’ve ever wished for in a place to live and work. Including the dark blue eyes that don’t ever seem to leave me when I’m working in town.

Maybe this is some kind of mistake. But my heart tells me that this is more than a coincidence. Like I always thought from the moment I’d seen Blake, if he wants something, he gets it, and I’m not naïve enough to think he had his sights set on me and I didn't know what to do with that and what it means to have a man like Blake set his sights on you. Is it for fun? To pass the time? Or is it something more? His eyes make me think it’s more, but I don't know if that’s the truth or what I want the truth to be.

“Welcome to the Braided Rope.” he says, pushing off the porch and walking towards me.

His easy smile is there, even through the rough shadow of his short beard. The stubble does little to hide the deep dimples on either cheek, and the lines around his mouth show that he smiles often. He’s wearing a white T-shirt snug tight to his muscles, worn jeans, and tan boots that look perfectly broken in. But the worst part is his cowboy hat. It’s black and pulled down low, and it makes him look like every cowboy wet dream come to life. If he were wearing a pair of chaps I might not be strong enough to keep from climbing on him. As it is, I’m having to hold myself back. It’s like I’ve driven up to my own little fairy tale and I want to throw myself right into his arms and into that life. If only things in life were that easy. I know I have to work hard for everything I want in life…and there is no way this could be that easy.

“Don’t tell me this is your ranch,” I say, looking around like someone else is going to pop up and tell me this is all a joke.

“It’s yours now, too,” he says, and for a second I think he means something much more than my home while I get my farm hours. The thought makes my heart miss a beat. Warmth floods my system. “I’m Blake Jennings, and I’m really happy you’re here, Luciana.”

He holds his hand out to me, and I look down at it. His deep voice rolls over my skin like a massage, and I lean towards him involuntarily. I reach out, placing my hand in his, and look up through my lashes to see his smile is gone and he’s looking at me from under the brim of his hat with hard eyes. His jaw is clenched, and his grip on me tightens. For half a second I’m scared, but then that melts away into something so much more. The nervous feeling I had dissolves and a warm heat forms in my belly. I reach up to tuck a stray hair back behind my ear, and have to take discreet deep breaths to keep from passing out. The intensity of his presence is so intimidating yet comforting. He’s like a stallion with all that muscle and restrained strength. He’s holding back, I can feel it. But I don’t know for how long. And that’s what scares me, and attracts me to him.

The sound of a rooster crowing breaks the spell, and I look over to the barn.

“That would be Spartacus,” Blake says, still not letting go of my hand.

“You named your rooster Spartacus?” I can’t help the laugh in my voice.

“Sure. It fits him. He’s always going around telling everybody what to do.” He shrugs, and his soft smile is back. “Let me show you the house and we can talk about what you’ll be doing here.” A teasing glint hits his eyes.

“I didn’t say I was staying.” I pull my hand from his grip and take a step back. I need to get my head in control, and I can’t when he’s so close to me and giving me those panty-combusting smiles.

   
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