Submitting to the Cowboy

ky

d the air was ripe with cheap beer and the smell of hay. Squeezed up against the bar, I accepted

ead in a cowboy hat," I said

as a guy in a cream colored cowboy bump

based on the size of town," I remarked,

's why. It's never this crowde

ered, amber hued lighting. The rich scent of hay, hops, and sweat. I doubt

rned back to Danica and lean

as she gazed around the room. "I worked for a widow here in Mason Creek starting when I was fourteen. She left her property and house

ushing twenty-seven. I noticed her eyes went a bit cloudy wit

market in town once a week, but I occasionally drive to

'd fought for what she had now, and that kno

he first person I'd run

but that's because it's the only place for sixty miles to get a drink and a burger. There's

y talking to the towering stranger who'd crushed me to the wall earlier. The man's back was to me, his b

nt to be overheard saying his name. Like his name was a curse, or a death

t. He couldn't be more than thirty at the most. The way the dim light in the bar touched his cheek illuminated a sc

our life, Skylar. Just s

bloomed through my veins. I loved a challenge. Maybe that's why I ended up with a bum kne

eve it. He doesn't take no for an answer and has no qualms when it comes

talking

heart as we turned to face Grady, who was standing direc

" Grady laughed, then motioned to the b

, going as far as to grab her arm as

words drowned out by the music now blaring from the jukebox. "He's had a vendetta against th

o do with me, though?"

rty to extend their land holdings, Skylar," Danica whispered in my ea

her face going hard as steel a

anding directly behind me now, towering over me and casting me

head to confirm it. I gritted my teeth, thinking back on the look he

n sizing

l a week ago. Land I didn't know what to do with. Land th

ke the profits and run. I could buy a storefront, start a dance school,

y heart hammering in my chest. He wanted what was mi

d and looked up

g my land to yo

n at me. His hat sent shadows over the sharp planes of his unusually handsome face, that sh

and I fought the urge to flinch a

nding a flurry of gooseflesh over my arms and legs. He leaned down, dominating me with his

my spine but I

hallenge. The only time I'd ever just straight up walked

her, Ben," G

t," Ben said smoothly, leaning an elbo

d if she'd heard what he said to me, but I found it unlikely. The bar thrummed with music a

gold, a color I'd never seen on anyone before. A muscle in his jaw tick

arm and pulled me away from the bar, Grady groaning

ntil we reached that narrow front hallway and the bulleti

ff the board and crumpled it

leav

t up, smoothing it open bet

tin board, our eyes locking. I glared, pressing the tack in

d under my breath as w

us, the warm night air smelling briefly of hay and cigarette sm

g Ben to walk out and beat the shit out of me. Was it wrong that I suddenly longed to see what those hands felt like against my skin? Probably. I shoved the though