5. Callie

Abig, familiar truck pulls up outside and I move to the front door, smiling back at Jenny. She's my new help because I'm gonna get burned out if I don't have some help.

"Just make sure that you get those cupcakes and muffins mixed up for the morning and keep this door locked since we're closed. I'll be here first thing in the morning to get them started for tomorrow's sales."

She nods and her pretty green eyes smile. She wrinkles her nose, her freckles making her look way younger than her thirty-five years. "I'll take care of everything. Just go have fun."

It's been a week since we became a couple and Rory really likes to keep up appearances because he's come to see me every single night after he gets off work. Even if he just sits and watches me make up batter for the morning's bake.

He steps out of the cab of the truck, dressed in a sleek t-shirt that fits across his big, barrel chest like a second skin. I lick my lips.

Lord, that man is good to look at.

He stops in front of the glass door and smiles and just like that my heart skips a beat. I unlock the door and smile at him happily, pushing my unease at the joy I feel when I see him away. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Hey," he murmurs huskily, his green eyes darkening to shimmering emeralds. "You look gorgeous tonight." My breath shivers out of me and goosebumps dance on my skin.

I grin up at him and he reaches out a hand to tuck my hand into his. "It's not every day that a real-life cowboy is going to teach me how to ride."

He rolls his eyes and I wave at Jenny as he sets his warm palm on my back and butterflies skitter back and forth in my belly. She locks up with us on the other side, smiling and waving.

"Let's go, princess. I've got two very gorgeous horses dying to meet you."

"Oh, well, I'm dying to meet them too. And we're gonna have a talk about not hurting me."

He turns to me and his warm palm cups my chin, lifting it so that I can't avoid his gaze. "They won't hurt you. I won't let them. I've got the most docile horse from the ranch set aside just for you. I promise that you're safe with me. You'll always be safe with me."

I can't look away and my breath crashes to a stop in my chest. His gaze studies me and my belly drops like I'm on the downside of a rollercoaster. He grunts and I lift on my tiptoes to run my fingers down his chin, feeling the stubble on his cheeks rough on my fingertips. His sharp jaw clenches.

He growls and my belly flips. I love that sound. He's all male. All animal and so fucking tempting that I can't help myself.

I reach up and my lips skate along his cheek. Right in the middle of the street like there's no one around us. Just the two of us lost in our own little world as the world bustles around us, ignoring our careful maneuverings to find just the right way to touch, to taste.

Heat flares under my skin and I suck in a sharp breath, startled at the wave of lust that almost knocks me to the ground.

Stunned at the answering heat that flares to life in his eyes.

But we both move away and he clears his throat, yanking his hat off his head and running his calloused fingers through his golden-brown hair.

"Baby, you're killing me. How the hell do you do that to me with just a fucking touch?"

But he doesn't wait for me to answer. Instead he steps away and grasps my elbow to lead me over to his truck. He moves closer as he opens the door and holds my hand to help me up onto the running board and then up onto the bench seat. He reaches across me and pulls the seatbelt tight.

He's so close that I can smell the cologne that he wears and the clean, musky scent of him underlying it. My head reels and I suck in a big, deep draw of it like a fucking addict, feeling it coil inside my belly, my heart skipping wildly as I feel the sheer magnetic force of the biggest man I've ever seen pull me into his orbit, drawing me tighter into the deepest fascination I've ever felt in my life.

He smells so good. His big, rough hands slip alongside mine and then he moves away and it feels like the slow-motion of the world speeds up again. I suck in a ragged breath and struggle to pull myself under control.

He stalks around the front of the truck and then jumps up onto the seat, slamming the door behind himself.

He stares straight ahead, his granite jaw clenched hard, the muscles working back and forth.

He starts the truck and we drive in silence until he mutters, not even looking at me, "I'm sorry. I should learn to keep my hands to myself."

And I can't possibly tell him that I'd rather he kept his hands all over me. Because I've never felt better than when he touches me.

I can't tell him that either.

"I promise I'll do better, Callie. I shouldn't make this awkward for you. You're doing me a favor after all."

I smile weakly at him and mutter, "it's not a problem. It's not like you did anything on purpose. You're just a man with manners."

He flicks his gaze at me and grimaces. "An old man with manners. That's me."

My eyes drink in the man beside me. He's raw and wild and untamed, just like the land around us.

And there is definitely nothing old man about him. He's all man.

A man that I want desperately. A man that I can't have.