Free Hot for You by Cheyenne McCray Page A

chin jutted out as she looked at him
stubbornly. With a shake of his head, he boosted himself up and
swung his leg over the horse and seated himself behind Carilyn.
Their bodies were snug against each other. He whistled to Molly who
was standing a good twenty feet away. She trotted closer, but
wouldn’t go near the snake’s body.
    He wrapped one arm around Carilyn’s waist and
handled the reins with his other hand. As they headed toward the
ranch house, Molly fell into stride behind Holly.
    Carilyn leaned back against him and he liked
the way her body felt next to his. This wasn’t the way he’d have
wanted to get this close to her, but she felt comfortable in his
arms.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said. “But I don’t think I’m going
to be playing Jeopardy anytime soon. Having a hard time thinking
straight.”
    “All part of the concussion.” He let the
horse walk rather than trot to keep the jostling to a minimum.
“You’re not driving anywhere for at least twenty-four hours.”
    “I need to set up my laptop in the morning so
that I’ll be up and running by Monday,” she said.
    “Honey, you’re not going to feel like doing
anything that requires brain power.” He gripped her more tightly.
“You’re going to need to make yourself relax, no matter how hard
that seems to be.”
    “I’m not a workaholic,” she said. “But I do
like to keep on a schedule.”
    He barely kept himself from nuzzling her hair
as he held her. “Sometimes you’ve got to just give in to the doctor
whether you want to or not.”
    She gave a soft laugh. “If you say so, Dr.
McBride.”
    “I say so.” He gauged how far it was back to
the house. It was a good twenty-five minutes away from where they
were now. “Now do what I said and relax the best you can.”
    As she settled more fully against him, she
sighed. Even though she was injured, his body reacted to her firm
bottom against his groin. He ground his teeth, trying to think
about something that would get his mind onto other things.
    He let her rest and she didn’t seem inclined
to talk, which was expected after this kind of injury.
    “Tell me about growing up on the ranch,” she
said after a while.
    He told her some stories from his childhood,
which brought back memories he hadn’t thought about in a long
while.
    Clint and Cody had both been into rodeo from
a young age, but Clint had been the one who excelled at it and had
gone on to be a champion when they were out of their teens. Clint
had left at the height of his career. Cody had focused on ranching
before he decided to go to college to get a degree and get on with
the Prescott Fire Department.
    “Why did you choose to go into that field?”
she asked.
    “I always admired firefighters,” he said.
“When I was just a kid I remember firefighters coming to my school
and telling us about their jobs. I guess that’s when the seed was
planted. I went into ranching to start with because that’s what my
family did. I enjoy it, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as serving the
community as a firefighter.” He thought about those days. “But I
love ranching, too, so I have the best of both worlds.”
    “It sounds like you do,” she said softly.
    They reached the ranch and rode straight up
to the house. He dismounted then helped her get off the horse and
left Holly and Molly waiting outside. Carilyn still seemed
uninjured with the exception of the concussion and head wound.
    Inside he had her lie on the couch. “How’s
the pain?” he asked.
    “I have a dull headache.” She pinched the
bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “I think the
Tylenol is helping keep a full blown headache away.”
    “I’ll get you some water.” He stood and went
to the kitchen to get her a glass of ice water and returned a few
moments later.
    After she’d taken a few sips of the water, he
set the glass on the end table. “You rest now. I’m going to check
on you every now and then. Okay?”
    She let out a