As if Blake knew I wasn’t going to listen to that advice, she put me through a grueling lesson. She had me doing some of the most confusing patterns and Storm was not in the mood to work extra hard today, so by the end of it, he was making my work challenging as I fought his stubbornness. I was dripping with sweat by the time we called it a day.
Just after lunch, I finished up hosing Storm down and putting him out in his paddock to run around when Ty came strolling down the aisle.
“Hey, beautiful.” His words made my heart sing. His jeans and boots were wet, and I could see dark patches on his navy shirt as well. Just like me, he must have just finished washing his horse down. I didn’t know their work routine, but I had always imagined them being out a little later than this. I glanced at my watch.
“We came in early. Everything looked good in the northern fields. We’re just waiting on the supplies to fix one of the fences on another part of the property.” He answered my unspoken question.
“You beat Scott out of the wash stall?” I asked, indicating his wet clothes with a wave of my hand. I was hoping for a subtle way of asking about Scott. I think I nailed it.
“Not happy to see me?” He feigned hurt, grabbing his heart dramatically and smiling devilishly.
“Well, I figured you guys were like a package deal.” I winked. Fine, ditch the subtly and go for flirting. He was on to me, and I was going to make the most of it.
He chuckled. “Depends on when you want us together and when you need us independently for our individual skills.”
Oh, God.I’m pretty sure I moaned out loud.
No, I was sure I did based on how the corner of his mouth hitched up. Fuck. Ty really knew what he was doing.
Just then, the sound of boots hitting concrete caught my attention. I looked over Ty’s shoulder and saw Scott walking toward us. I licked my lips. God, he was so damn sexy with that swagger of his. I bet he didn’t even know he was doing it.
When I looked back at Ty, his eyes were locked on my mouth.
He glanced up and caught me watching him, and a warm smile broke out on his face. My heart did a little pitter patter.
“Hey, Grace,” Scott said when he finally joined us. I could see that he was also covered in water spots.
I couldn’t help it, but the vision I had of the two of them made me giggle. “Did you two have a water fight?”
“It gets hot out there in the sun. Needed to cool off a little.” He glanced at his clothes. “Look who’s talking.” His eyes grew darker as they raked up and down my body, sending a shiver down my spine. This time, he wasn’t even trying to hide his interest.
“Same. The sun is brutal. And so was Blake’s training. Plus, Storm likes to play in the water.”
“What are you doing until dinner?” Ty asked.
“I’m going to shower and then go help Jessie.” I glanced at my watch again. I did actually need to get moving if I was going to be in the dining hall on time. “Wish I could stay and chat, but I have to get going.”
“Need someone to help scrub your back?” Ty offered temptingly.
My breath grew choppy at the thought of Ty in the shower with me. Thankfully, Scott backhanded him in the chest, which gave me a few moments to hide my growing need for them.
“Maybe next time when I’m not on a time crunch.” I bit my lip.
Ty groaned and ran a hand down his face.
Oh, God. I was in so much trouble. I really hoped they were both into me like I was them. I really didn’t want to spend another night imagining them from afar. I turned and headed toward the bunkhouse, calling over my shoulder, “See you guys in a couple of hours.”
I may have spent a little extra time in the shower than was completely necessary. And there may have been a time or two when my hands ran down my body and imagined Ty and Scott doing the same to me. In the hope that tomorrow I might wake up in one of their beds, I made sure to use my favorite shampoo, shaved my legs until they were super smooth, and exfoliated until my skin glowed.
I darkened my lashes with a little mascara, dusted a light blush on my cheeks and applied a light lip gloss. Nothing too much, but I wanted to look nice for them tonight. I hadn’t felt the butterflies in my stomach like I did with the two of them in ages.
When I walked into the kitchen to meet Jessie, she was smiling, waiting for me to arrive.
I played dumb. “What?”
“Oh, I know that look.” She circled her finger at me. Of course, she knew.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I fought my smile.
“Uh, huh. Come on, let’s get cooking so you can enjoy dinner with two very handsome cowboys.”
We laughed as we got to work. Jessie was a hoot. I loved her. I missed some of my old teammates, but none of them had even reached out to get in touch with me. It was nice to have another girlfriend to have around.
Jessie had me help her prepare an amazing lasagna. And then another one and then another one. We made six in total. She said we had to feed a herd, and that they really loved when she made this. There were never any leftovers. When the schedule showed lasagna night, everyone showed up.