Free Ropin' Hearts: The Boot Knockers Ranch, Book 4 by Em Petrova Page B

her mom.
    “That was our last conversation before Daddy called and told me about the cancer.” Her voice sounded small and wispy. But Ty heard.
    With extreme tenderness he directed a lock of her hair behind her ear then leaned in and kissed the spot between her brows. She let her eyes fall shut, drinking in the man he truly was. He wasn’t judging her or making her feel more guilt than she was already burdened with.
    She slipped her hand around his nape and held him close, just breathing the same air. After five breaths, unease stole over her. She didn’t like sharing that time in her life, not even with her father. And she really didn’t like remembering.
    She couldn’t let this be her last statement to Ty. Her brain caught up and she found she did have a smart remark to bait him with.
    “Did you forget to take your pill today?”
    “What?” He pushed away to stare into her eyes.
    “Your blue pill. The one that keeps you going. You have a willing woman alone and you’re not even aroused.” She pushed upward against his hips, noting a leap against her lower belly that said she’d spoken too soon.
    “I don’t need a pill to keep me hard.” Amusement quirked his lips upward.
    “No?” she taunted. Damn, he was like cowboy crack and she was suddenly a junkie.
    “Nope. I can go all…night…long.”
    His drawled words and the intense way he looked at her dialed up her need. But instead of taking her, he pulled her to her feet and took her back to the fence.
    “I’d tell you to stay off the ranch, but I know you won’t, Bree. So I’ll just say ‘see you later’.” He dropped her a wink she would feel the repercussions of for days.
    The country singer’s powerhouse note trilled through the bar. Couples revolved on the dance floor and cowboys were bellied up to the bar. Bree leaned back in her chair, bored out of her mind.
    She pinched the straw in her fruity drink, between her fingers, and stirred. She had as much interest in her beverage as she did this scene. In her college days she’d gone to bars like this looking for some fun, but now…she felt far removed.
    The kind of fun she was looking for was on the Boot Knockers Ranch.
    In the past month since her escapade in the mud with Ty and—what was his name?—she’d come to realize she needed something more than what she’d been originally searching for. The other Boot Knocker was a hunk but she needed more than a fun romp.
    Like something Ty had given her with only his words and looks. Hell, even that hosing off had revved her engine. Why?
    She’d been trying to figure that out, with no luck. And she’d had plenty of time to think. She’d attempted to keep her father happy by hanging around the ranch and acting like the perfect daughter. Tonight she’d come out with her old high school girlfriend Tia as a way to shut off her brain for a night.
    She couldn’t get Ty’s dark, smoldering stare out of her head. She displeased the hell out of him, so why was that a turn-on?
    “Wanna dance?” A cowboy extended a hand, smiling at her from under his battered hat brim.
    She shook her head. She had no interest in a cowpoke when men like the Boot Knockers existed. “She might want to dance.” She pointed at her girlfriend, who jumped to her feet, throwing Bree an unapologetic grin as she was whirled onto the dance floor.
    The song changed and a line dance broke out. Sighing, Bree hunched over her drink and sipped it. Strawberry and alcohol teased her taste buds but she wanted so much more.
    She had to get to the Boot Knockers Ranch. Not to find Ty—no, she needed to avoid that tease at all costs. But to find someone who made her insides tingle as much as Ty had that day, and who actually delivered.
    She glanced at the wall clock sporting a beer logo. It was late, but maybe slipping in under cover of darkness would work. She understood a bit more about the workings of the ranch now, and surely she could find someone to play with.
    Standing, she