Free Reckless for Cowboy by Daire St. Denis

digging fence holes off in the distance and Cooper steers our horses in their direction. It quickly becomes apparent that I don’t need to do anything to guide Sugar—she’s going to follow Cooper wherever he goes.
    God…maybe the horse and I do have a few things in common.
    Coop introduces me to a red-faced, barrel-chested man named Fritz Helmig, the ranch manager. Apparently it was Fritz’s wife, Annie, who provided the fresh bread and stocked the fridge this morning. I can tell Fritz is curious about me by the way his eyes keep darting my way. I can also tell that he could talk Cooper’s ear off. After about five minutes of non-stop ranch talk—most of which sounds like a foreign language to me—Cooper promises to come back right after Stampede and work out some of the issues Fritz is concerned about.
    Turning, Cooper gives his horse a nudge and the big animal starts to jog a little. Without any help from me, Sugar follows, bouncing me around like a kernel of corn on a hot griddle.
    “Sorry about that,” Cooper says when he hears my frantic ‘whoa’ as I try to slow Sugar down. He stops so Sugar can catch up. “How’s your butt?”
    “Sore.” I blush. I don’t think the saddle is entirely to blame.
    He smiles and then looks around at the rolling prairie to the east and then turns his head to the range of mountains to the west. “To be honest, the other reason I brought you here is that I haven’t been back in a while and I’ve been neglecting things.”
    “Killing two birds with one stone?”
    “Sort of. You don’t mind do you?”
    I shake my head. “Where are your parents?”
    “Arizona. They live there full time now. They wanted to sell, but I convinced them not to. They used to come back during the summers but since Dad’s heart attack, mom won’t let him. Too stressful.”
    “So it’s just you here.”
    “Yep.”
    “It’s a big place and a lot of responsibility for a single guy.”
    “Yep.” He shifts in his saddle as his horse moves in front of mine.
    We follow a single track through a field of sweet-smelling clover. The air is alive with the buzz of insects and I feel myself start to relax. Finally.
     “Fritz is great,” he says over his shoulder. “He basically runs the place and I show up on occasion and tell him he’s doing a good job.”
    “Don’t you want to be here?”
    He takes his time answering. “I do. But then I’m here and…” he glances back at me and doesn’t finish his sentence. He stops his horse. His face is calm but his eyes are wide and his muscles are tense like he’s about to jump into action. “Brooke, don’t move.”
    “What? Why?”
    “Sugar must have stepped on a hive because you’ve got a swarm of bees following you.”

 
     
    Chapter Seven
     
    I hear him clearly the first time, but I still ask again. “A swarm of what?”
    “Bees.” He’s slowly reaching for Sugar’s bridle when I feel her twitch beneath me.
    Then all hell breaks loose. She jumps. I didn’t know horses could jump. I mean I know they can buck, and leap, but four hooves off the ground at once? Then she twists and turns like she’s chasing her tail.
    Then she runs.
    With all her jumping and twisting, I’ve lost the reins so I hold onto the saddle horn. Wind whips hair into my eyes. I’m blind and terrified and have forgotten everything Cooper taught me about how to stop a horse without using the reins. There was something about sitting deep but I can’t even keep my butt on the saddle, let alone sit deep.
    Just when I think she’s going to gallop on forever, she slows down. That’s when the bucking starts. I’m both terrified of staying on and terrified of falling off. The jolting pain lances through me from the soles of my feet to the crowns of my teeth. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a black blur. The next thing I know, strong arms are wrapped around me and I’m falling, or slipping or something. I land on something soft…and warm…that goes,