Free Choice of Love by Norma Gibson Page B

a nice mild tempered mare.” He took her hand, feeling a weird jolt of electricity; he glanced at her wondering if she felt it too. She was looking up at him in wonder but she said nothing. They stopped in front of a medium sized mare with a rich chestnut coat. “Go ahead rub and rub her coat, bond with her a bit”, Devin encouraged.
    “You’ve obviously lost all sense, no way am I touching that animal.” Mary Lou folded her arms.
    Devin rolled his eyes and reached out and grabbed one of her hand “Hey, what are you- before she could finish had his hand on top of hers and guided toward horse. Her palm made contact with the horse’s thick coat. Devin’s hand stilled covered hers, guiding her movements. Mary Lou’s lips broke into a smile, “Wow, her coat is so soft. This is amazing.”
    “Her name is Lucy” Devin informed her.
    “Hi, Lucy, you’re so gorgeous”, Mary Lou whispered. She looked up to find Devin staring down at her. “What?” she asked, feeling a bit awkward.  She always felt uncomfortable when people stared at her.
    “I’m just wondering how you taste” he breathed.
        Before she could respond his lips captured hers stealing her breath. She only reached the middle of his chest so he had to bend; she rose up on the tip of her toes and bent her head back to provide him better access to her lips. She opened her mouth tentatively because she wanted to know how he tasted as well. And the man tasted damn good! The intensity of the kiss deepened as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth; she allowed him entry and their tongues mingled gently.  He pulled her more tightly to him crushing her breasts against his chiselled chest.  Mary couldn’t believe she was being so passionately kissed by the sexy cowboy. Holy shit! She must be dreaming. She was attracted to him from the moment she had laid eyes on him, but she had no idea he was even thinking about her in that way.
        Devin broke the kiss when Mary Lou’s soft moan penetrated his lust hazed mind. He broke away from her, shocked at his loss of self control. She was gazing up at him wide-eyed and dazed. “I’m so sorry, that shouldn’t have happened” he said turning abruptly away. What the hell was he doing? She was a guest at the ranch for God’s sake. Now she probably thought he was some kind of sex-crazed pervert.
        Disappointment washed over Mary Lou. Oh hell he regretted their kiss. He was probably disgusted by it, by her. Memories of her ex began to surface. “He had once told her that she was frigid and didn’t have a sexy bone in her body.” She put the memory aside before she began to weep like a fool. I guess he isn’t really attracted to me after all she thought sadly .  God, can I be any bigger of an idiot? She mentally kicked herself, straightened her tank to top, put on a brave face and said “It’s all good, let’s just pretend it never happened”.
        Devin stared down at her wanting to respond, to say anything that would remove the hurt he detected in her tone; the hurt that she had tried to hide, with her suddenly developed nonchalant attitude. She couldn’t fool him that easy, he knew she was as affected by the kiss as he had been, or she wouldn’t have responded so passionately.  What was her problem any? She had gone from hot to cold so swiftly, leaving him in a whirl of confusion? He only pulled away because things were getting out of control too rapidly, and she wasn’t one of his usual hit and leave it flings. He sighed inwardly and decided to let the issue rest, for now.
    “Have you ever ridden a horse before?” He quickly changed the subject.
    “Never” she relied.
    “Ok then let me show you how.” He reached out to assist her onto her mare.
    She stumbled back, “I can manage on my own, just tell me what to do.”
        Great, now she doesn’t even want me to touch her he thought, annoyed with himself for initiating that kiss. “Ok just hook your left foot in the