Free Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) by Donna Michaels Page A

Cole replied,
looking from her to his brother. “You’re the only single girl standing here.”
    “Then I’ll go get another.” She
laughed and would have left if Connor had kept his pain-in-the-butt mouth shut.
    “She’s too chicken, little brother.
Must be a city girl thing. No backbone.”

Chapter Five
     
    C hicken?
    City girl?
    No backbone?
    Okay, so Connor was right about the
city girl and the chicken part, but Kerri sure as heck had a backbone. A strong
one. She’d been through a lot the past two years and learned plenty about
herself. Resilient. Tough. Strong and resourceful. She didn’t need this smirking
cowboy saying any different.
    Her mind reeled. This was a good
opportunity to show him, and her, just what she was made of. She’d survived a
cheating spouse, a divorce, the death of her brother-in-law, an earthquake,
explosion, and the loss of her home and business. It was about time she tackled
her sexual inadequacy.
    And what better subject than the
man whose lips had barely touched hers last April, hardly giving her a chance
to respond before he ran away? She needed redemption. Deserved redemption. Would have her redemption, darn it!
    Besides, it’s only a kiss. Nothing
more. And there were others there. They weren’t alone. She could do this. She would do this.
    Mind made up, Kerri set her
shoulders and walked to him. Baby steps . She could do this, she told
herself again.
    Connor just sat there, lazy
amusement lighting his expression as he looked up at her, daring her to run. 
    She didn’t. This needed to be done,
as much for him as for her. She’d probably be sorry later—would definitely be
sorry later when her mind was clearer. But with her anger still lingering, she
drew on the strong emotion and forced herself to use Connor as a guinea pig to
her ‘recovery.’
    Talking her knees out of buckling,
barely, she looked down at the smug cowboy and sighed. “I take it you’re not
going to stand?”
    “No.” His dimples appeared.
    Bugger.
    From the corner of her eye, Kerri
could see her sister shake her head and heard her say, “Big mistake, cowboy,” under
her breath. Jordan knew the strength of Kerri’s backbone.
    At least someone did.
    Ignoring everyone, Kerri sat right
down on Connor’s lap causing him to unfold his arms and stare at her through
startled eyes.
    Good.
    Unexpected move number one.
    Aware that his arms were at his
sides, and he appeared to deliberately refrain from touching her, Kerri decided
her goal would be to make him touch her. Once he did, she could break the kiss.
    Now, if only she knew how to
make him touch her. She had no friggin’ clue. With the exception of Kevin, the
last person she’d kissed didn’t even like women. How in the world to get a
virile man like Connor to break his control was way out of her repertoire of
experience, and exactly the challenge she needed.
    Heart hammering in her chest, palms
sweating, she told herself this kiss wasn’t about what Connor wanted her to do
to him…it was about what she wanted to do to Connor.
    Finding herself face to face with the
potent man for the first time in her life, she felt less intimidated. He no
longer towered over her. They were…equal.
    She liked equal .
    Clearly waiting for her next move,
he sat still, spicy aftershave tickling her nose, and she was so close she
could see every gold fleck dancing in his brown eyes as amusement sparked with
heat. When the warmth of his exhale hit her face, a swarm of butterflies
settled low in her belly. Massive ones. Huge. The size of mutants.
    But she refused to lose her nerve. Raising
her chin and ignoring the incessant beating of her heart, she removed his
Stetson and handed it to Kevin.
    “Here, hold this for Connor,” she
said without looking at the dreamboat cowboy. “He doesn’t need it right now.”
    Right now. Right. Because she was
going to…what?
    Lordy, what am I doing? She
had no idea, but refused to panic. Go with your instincts .
    Okay. Right.