Free A Touch in Time by McKenna Chase Page A

to do was go about relationships the way Marissa did. Enjoy the sex without getting emotionally involved.
    “Okay, getting back to the height issue,” her friend said, pulling Brianna from her thoughts. “Those cowboys might not be as tall as you like, but they wear their jeans tight and they’ve got abs that beg a girl to run her tongue over them.”
    Brianna groaned. Her friend wasn’t playing fair. She knew she was a sucker for tight jeans and great abs.
    A bell sounded and the chute gate slid open. The first rider shot out, seated astride one very pissed off bull. The cowboy’s thighs clenched against the snorting beast in an eight second war of wills.
    Brianna found herself wondering what it would be like to have a man ride her with that same amount of determination. The thought of it had her squirming in her seat.
    “Like what you see?”
    She turned to her friend. “What?”
    “That’s Grant. Definitely worth the ride.”
    Brianna rolled her eyes. Another of Marissa’s conquests. “I need a beer,” she said, reaching for her purse.
    “No,” her friend argued. “What you need is to ditch that e-reader you bought. Ever since you got it you’ve been comparing every man you come across to those tall, dark and handsome heroes you’ve become addicted to. They’re fiction, Bri. As in not real. Probably written by women like yourself who still believe there’s such a thing as a perfect orgasm.”
    “I know the difference between real and fiction,” Brianna whispered back. So she liked to fantasize about the perfect man. That didn’t make her delusional.
    Her friend quirked a perfectly plucked brow.
    “Fine,” she conceded, ignoring the stares around her. “I wish I’d been born a hundred years ago. Back when men were men and lived by a genuine code of honor that doesn’t exist today. Happy now?”
    “That’s it,” Marissa exclaimed. “You are not reading another book!”
    Brianna stood, dragging her purse strap up over her shoulder. “I’m making that beer run. You want one?”
    “Yes. Two in fact, because my best friend has lost her mind and is driving me to drink.”
    Brianna couldn’t help but laugh. Marissa had been a drama major for a reason. She bent to whisper to her friend, “I will get back in the game, but it’s going to be at my own pace. And I will have that perfect orgasm.”
    That said she made her way along the railing to the steps. She was almost there when the arena lights began to flicker like strobe lights all around her. She shut her eyes against the dizzying effect the pulsing beams had on her. A buzzing sound filled her ears, growing louder. She looked to Marissa and the rest of the crowd who seemed completely unaffected by the almost blinding flashes. Their attention was drawn to the rider in the arena.
    She stepped back against the railing in an attempt to steady herself, but was closer to it than she thought. Arms flailing, she fought against the momentum that carried her helplessly over the top rail. With a terrified shriek, Brianna found herself plunging headfirst toward the dirt-packed arena floor below.
    * * *
    “Ma’am? You okay?” A gloved hand pushed the hair from her face.
    Brianna moaned softly as she struggled to open her eyes. The bright glare of the arena lights had her squinting in protest.
    “Where the hell did you come from?” a deep, very masculine voice asked beside her.
    A shadow moved over her face, allowing her to finally open her eyes.
    Worried brown eyes stared back at her from beneath the dusty brim of a cowboy hat.
    Her fingers curled into the dry dirt at her sides. Dirt? Then she remembered she hadn’t been in her seat, she’d been going for a beer when she lost her balance. “I...I fell.”
    “Obviously,” the man replied with a frown as his hands moved over her.
    She tried to pull away, but didn’t have the strength. “What are you doing?”
    “Making sure nothing is broken.” His fingers eased up her sides, carefully