Free A Real Cowboy Never Says No by Stephanie Rowe Page B

wolves...or rattlesnakes...or mountain lions.
    A loud thud sounded from the barn, jerking her attention back there.
    The door slid open. She gripped the windowsill in sudden nervousness, but quickly realized it wasn't a jet-black panther intent on making her his midnight snack. It was a huge dark horse, trotting easily out the massive barn doors. Chase was silhouetted on his back, a figure so imposing that she shivered in awareness. He spun the horse deftly around to close the barn door behind him, his cowboy hat and broad shoulders creating a breathtaking silhouette. He moved in perfect unison with the animal, as if they were one.
    After shutting the door, he swung the horse toward the hills, and she caught her breath, leaning forward to get a better look. The pair went still, poised in suspended animation as they prepared for flight. The moment was pure, unbridled freedom, a man and his horse, unlike anything she'd experienced in her life.
    She was used to a life of service, never being away from home for more than an hour, in case her mother needed her. And yet, this was Chase's life, climbing onto his horse for a midnight ride, just because he wanted to.
    Yearning coursed through her, an almost painful craving for a life beyond what she'd lived. She wanted to be more than she was, to live more than she'd done, to be brave enough to step out over an abyss just to see what would happen when she went airborne. Suddenly, the night didn't feel like the oppressing constraint of isolation. It felt like a fresh start, a chance to live again.
    Chase turned his head suddenly, looking directly at her window. She stiffened. Could he see her? She knew she should probably duck inside and pretend she hadn't been playing the part of a voyeur, but she didn't move.
    A part of her wanted to be caught by him, to be swept into this surreal moment of magic and moonlight, of cowboy and horse.
    He swung his horse toward her, and urged the animal into a lope. Anticipation pulsed through her as he neared. He reined the animal into a sliding halt just outside her window. Since it was a ranch house, she was almost exactly level with him. He was so close, she could almost touch him if she reached out.
    "Can't sleep?" he asked, his voice somehow deeper and sexier in the shadows of the moon.
    "The wolves woke me up." She was in awe of his mount. The horse stood quietly, intently focused on his rider, awaiting the next command. He had a white blaze on his face, and a sock on his left hind leg. Other than that, he appeared to be a deep, rich, beautiful brown. "What's your horse's name?"
    "Red Devil, but he lets his friends call him Red." Chase's face was shadowed beneath his hat, hiding him from her. "Did the wolves scare you?"
    She shook her head. "It was beautiful."
    "Want to go see them?"
    She caught her breath, jerking her gaze from his horse to him. "Now?"
    "Yep."
    Her instinct was to refuse, and retreat responsibly into her bed, so she would be rested and capable of handling life in the morning, as she'd been doing for the last eight years. But instead, she smiled, unable to keep the anticipation off her face. "I'd love to." Somehow, in the darkness of the night, immersed in the vastness of his ranch, real life didn't seem to matter. The only thing that mattered was embracing this moment.
    He grinned, his teeth glistening white against his shadowed face as he held out his hand. "Hop on, then." He edged his horse closer, clearly intending to have her ride with him.
    Excitement rippled through her. Ride double with him into the moonlight to look at wolves? This was so not her life, was it? "Okay." She started to reach for him, and then suddenly remembered that she was wearing only a light camisole, no bra, and a pair of thin, cotton sleep pants. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks "I'm not dressed. I should put on jeans—"
    "You look perfect to me. It's unseasonably warm for this time of year. You don't need anything else." There was a sensual undertone