“What? You mean, if I beat you in a thumb war, we’re square?”
“No,” he scoffed. “It’s a test. You ready? Set...”
“What kind of—”
He didn’t let her finish. Before saying “go,” Colton twisted her hand, captured her thumb with his and pinned it down.
“You cheated.”
“So?”
She squinted up at him, her thumb still trapped beneath his. “One more.”
“Fine.” He released her thumb but still held her hand in ready position, though his pinky finger tickled the inside of her wrist, distracting her. “Ready...”
“Go.” She dodged his big thumb with quick movements before managing to get on top of him. “Gotcha!”
So what if it was only for, like, a millisecond? She dropped his hand before he could slip out and beat her.
“Best of three,” he said, his voice low, though his dark eyes twinkled dangerously.
The third time was an all-out battle, not just between hands and thumbs but their whole bodies. Ash tried to block him with her back so he couldn’t see what he was doing, which only resulted in him tripping her—gently—and lowering her to the grass.
“What the...”
He settled his weight on top of her, holding her hand above her head, continuing to wrestle with her thumb while she attempted—unsuccessfully—to wrestle him off her body. What she did manage to do, however, was experience the wonderful weight of Colton on top of her: his legs twining between hers, his pelvis flush with hers.
Wait.
What was that?
Was he aroused?
The idea that Colton Cross had a hard-on because he was wrestling with her had the opposite effect of what she would have thought. There was not one part of her that felt incensed. On the contrary, Ashley fought an instinctual need to grind her pelvis up into him. More, to spread her legs and let him settle that steely part of him right along the seam of her shorts. She was so taken by surprise by her body’s response to his arousal, she forgot completely about what was happening between their hands.
“That does it.”
Colton claimed his victory by slowly pushing himself to his feet and extending his hand to help her up.
Of course she ignored it. Dusting herself off, Ashley steadied her features, determined not to show how much she’d enjoyed the impromptu wrestling match.
“You going to tell me what that was all about?” she asked, hand propped on her hip, gaze avoiding his.
“I just needed to make sure you’re strong enough.”
“Strong enough for what?”
“You’ll find out. Come on.”
Colton strode toward the parking lot on the other side of the stockyard, forcing Ashley to run to keep up.
“Strong enough for what?” she repeated as she raced after him. “And where the hell are we going?” He wasn’t going to make her ride a bull or something, was he?
No. Maybe a cow. That would be appropriately humiliating.
Colton didn’t stop until he reached his Dodge Ram 4x4, which Ashley knew was his by the sound of the doors being unlocked by a fob.
Turning, he waited for her, resting his fists on his hips. “See, after a ride, I’m always sore. I usually go to Lucy down at the clinic for a massage.” Then he pushed his pelvis forward and stretched backwards, groaning as he straightened again. “But I figure I’ll save myself a hundred bucks by letting you give me one instead.”
“You want me to give you a what?” Ashley sputtered. She looked Colton up and down. Then up and down once more.
“You heard me. C’mon. Get in.”
She shook her head. Oh, no. This would not be good. “I can’t. I’ve got to be at work by seven.”
“Plenty of time. It’s just a massage. That’s all.”
Sure, but last time she’d given a massage to a man, that wasn’t all. That was only the beginning.
* * *
AFTER HIS RIDE, Colton had gone to the trailer to see how well it was set up. He’d gotten the whole massage idea quite by accident. It was when Angus, one of the hands who helped out as an outrider, was rubbing down his horse’s legs. It made him realize that he’d forgotten to book an appointment with Lucy. Quickly following that thought was the realization that Ms. Feisty in the short shorts owed him.
A + B = C.
Simple.
Then he’d come back to the trailer to see if it would work for said appointment. All he’d had to do was hook up the electrical outlet and the water hose, and she was good to go. He’d picked up a few groceries and some beer from the corner store down the block from where the trailer was parked on the end of Elm and then had come back to meet Ashley.
He’d had no intention of making this about anything other than a massage, until they started wrestling.
Goddamn.
She may be tiny, but she was strong, and feeling her writhe beneath him with those long, bare legs and that taut tummy? Well, fuck it all, he’d gotten the stiffest Johnson he could remember having in a long time.
“So, where are we going to do this?” She eyed the couch and the bunk near the front of the trailer.
There was a slide-out bedroom in the back, and Colton indicated that direction with a swing of his head. “Bedroom in the back.” He’d already made the bed with clean sheets from the cupboard.
“Do you have any lotion or anything?”
Shit. He knew he’d forgotten something. Reaching overhead, he opened a cupboard searching for something. There was a bottle of olive oil and some coconut oil. He passed them to her.
“Do you want to taste like olives or coconut?”
“And who might be doing the tasting?”
Her eyes went large before quickly narrowing.
“Seeing as you’re my girlfriend and all...”
“Cool it, Colton.”
“I’m just teasing.” He leaned over her and plucked a blade of grass out of her mussed hair, a reminder of the wrestling match.
Bam.
Just like that, blood pounded toward his cock.
What
