Free Reckless for Cowboy by Daire St. Denis Page A

‘Oomph.’
    I look down. It’s Cooper’s big body that broke my fall. He rolls me over protectively, keeping me out of the way of Sugar’s hooves until she makes a break down the field.
    “Are you okay?” I ask, scrambling out from under him.
    “Am I okay?” he stands. Grabbing my shoulders and looking me in the eye. “Are you ?”
    Out of the blue, my legs buckle and Coop catches me. He whistles and his horse jogs over to us. “Can you stand?”
    “Yeah, I think so.” I try to stand but my legs are noodles. Then the pain hits. Everywhere. I can’t distinguish where it starts or where it ends.
    “Shit,” he whispers under his breath. “I need you to try to mount. Do you think you can do that?”
    “I don’t know.” I lean on him while I try to put my left foot into the stirrup. The horse is so much bigger than Sugar and the stirrup is so much higher. With Cooper’s help, I somehow manage but it takes another couple of tries to get my right leg over the saddle. Cooper mounts behind me. He’s sitting in the saddle and I’m basically in his lap. With one arm wrapped tight around me, he nudges the horse forward while I marvel at how much my attention is focused on how good Cooper feels beneath me despite the fact I hurt everywhere else.
    We ride back to where Fritz and the others are working. Cooper tells him what happens and asks him to find and take care of Sugar. “I might need to take Brooke to the hospital.”
    “No problem,” he says. “Leave Billy by the porch. I’ll take care of him too.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I don’t need to go to the hospital,” I say.
    Cooper doesn’t respond. When we reach the porch, he slides off the horse and raises his arms to catch me about the waist as I ungracefully dismount.
    “Honestly. I’m fine.”
    He continues to ignore me as he carries me into the house and sets me on the big butcher-block island in the kitchen. Carefully, he removes one of my boots, like he’s afraid my foot might come off with it. Then he pulls off the other.
    “Cooper. I’m fine.”
    Starting with my ankles he runs his hands up one leg then the other, squeezing carefully as he goes. “Does this hurt?”
    “No.”
    When he gets to my right leg and squeezes my knee, I let out a yelp.
    “Dammit,” he says beneath his breath. “You probably twisted your knee when I pulled you off. Let me see it.”
    I try to pull my jean leg up but it won’t come up far enough.
    “We’re going to have to take them off.”
    My hands are shaking. I have no idea if it’s the result of falling off the horse or if it’s the fact that Cooper is helping me undo the fly of my jeans—again. He’s tugging on the waistband as I wriggle my hips to get them off my butt. Gingerly, he pulls them down my thighs until both knees are exposed. Just above my right kneecap is a large puffy spot that’s already turning purple. He probes the sides of my knee and it’s only when he gets to the bruise that I flinch.
    “What’s your verdict Doctor Hays?” I ask, trying to lighten his somber mood.
    He ignores me as he lightly twists my knee this way and that. When I don’t cry out in pain he sighs in relief. “This isn’t a sprain. It’s just a bruise. Maybe your knee hit the saddle horn when I pulled you off.”
    “I’m sure it’s fine. Let me try standing again.”
    “Not yet.” He comes around behind me and runs his hands up and down my neck, gently turning my head left and then right, tilting it forward and back. He follows the muscles from the base of my skull down my neck and into my shoulders, pressing as he goes. “Undo a few of the buttons on your shirt, will you?”
    “Sheesh, Coop. If you want to get me naked, just ask.” I joke.
    “Dammit, Brooke, this isn’t funny.”
    I’m completely unprepared for the anger in his voice. I’m even less prepared for how his words make me feel.
    Dammit Brooke, would you stop that?
    Dammit Brooke, can’t you do anything right?
    Goddammit Brooke,