Free Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series by Patricia Watters

distracted and unfocused and trying to tell me something, and making no sense." He released her and handed her the cue stick. "Now you can go back to what you were trying to say when I interrupted you."
    Genie had not yet recovered from the feel of Josh's lips on hers and the closeness of his arms around her, and she knew her hands were too shaky to shoot, so she licked her lips to stop the tingling, drew in a long, slow breath to clear her mind, and said, "The way it works is that over time you begin to get a gut feeling that tells you whether or not you'll make the shot. You'll just look at the pocket, look at the ball, wait for the yes in your head, and shoot. It's an intuitive gut thing that takes time to develop. I felt it just before I missed that last shot, but I didn't take the time to realign myself and have faith in my subconscious."
    "And I think you missed because that intuitive gut thing you're talking about was telling you that a man in the room wanted to kiss you and your subconscious mind was telling you to go ahead." This time Josh took the cue stick from her hand and hung it in the rack.
    "I thought you wanted to learn how to run four balls," Genie said.
    "I did," Josh replied, "but I can think of better things to do with our time right now."
    When he started toward her, Genie backed away while saying, "I don't know what you have in mind but that was a pretty reckless thing for us to do."
    "Reckless? " Josh said. "We kissed."
    " Yes, but it's reckless when it doesn't mean anything."
    "It meant something to me ."
    "Sure, you're a man and men like getting things going with women, but I have a little sister to raise , and going around kissing men can't be a part of it."
    Josh walked up to her, and this time Genie didn't move when he curved his hands over her shoulders, looked at her steadily, and said, "I don't go around trying to get things going with women. I kissed you because it's been coming on since I was in the hospital. I'm also aware that you have a little sister to raise, which is why I want to take her riding tomorrow and be the one to give her her first riding lesson. Can that be a part of raising Abby?"
    " I don't know," Genie said.
    " Then I'll answer for you. Right after dinner I'll have a horse saddled for you, and Abby will ride in front of me, and we'll ride to the box canyon so you and Abby can see the petroglyphs, but on the way I'll take you to a spot where you'll see a view you won't soon forget."
    Josh moved toward her, like he was going to kiss her again, but before he could, Genie ducked her shoulders from beneath his palms, and said, "I need to get back to the house."
    "Then we're on for tomorrow?" Josh asked.
    "Well, yes, I suppose so," Genie replied.
    When she turned to leave, Josh called after her . "Incidentally," he said, "that shirt looks good on you. You're beginning to look like a ranch girl."
    Genie laughed. "At least you're not telling me I look like Nurse Ratched in western wear."
    Josh smiled in amusement and said nothing more.
    It wasn't until Genie was approaching the house that the impact of what Josh had said a few minutes earlier hit her. He'd kissed her because it had been coming on since he was in the hospital , which made no sense. She'd thought she'd made herself clear, even while she'd wanted to do exactly what they'd just done, so it seemed he was an unusually perceptive man. He also wanted to be the one to teach Abby to ride and even asked if that could be a part of raising Abby, almost as if he was asking if he could be a part of raising her.
    So, it seemed, Josh was living the same pipedream as she, a pipedream that attempted to morph two diametrically opposed lifestyles into one, which wasn't going to happen. But she would allow Josh to teach Abby to ride. He was experienced on a horse, and it wouldn't be right to deny Abby that simple pleasure. Besides, she'd been curious about the petroglyphs since her last visit, she reasoned, and tried not to analyze