Cowboy Casanova

Chapter Five- Black Beauty

"Shouldn't you be- I don't know- doing stuff with cows?" I asked Luke as I unwound his arms from their spot around my waist.

He laughed, "Sorry to disappoint babe but your dad wanted me to stay and make sure you got settled in alright."

"Thanks but I've got Jenna." I turned to the brunette standing beside me.

She ducked her head, "Actually, I have a barrel racing practice at nine thirty," she glanced at her watch. "It's eight forty five right now, I probably need to go get Cherry ready. You're welcome to come if you'd like."

"Who's Cherry?" I asked.

"She's my barrel racing mare."

"Okay, you totally lost me," I scrunched my nose up in confusion.

"Don't worry Jenna, I'll explain to Miss City Chick here while we watch you," Luke said before grabbing my hand and leading me back toward the barn.

"Ew, don't hold my hand," I said, trying to shake off his iron grip that was firm, but gentle at the same time.

"Ew," he mocked in a high pitched voice, "Afraid to get cowboy cooties?"

"Nooo," I said, dragging the word out. "I just don't feel comfortable with you doing that."

He stopped abruptly and turned to look me square in the eye, "Babe, holding hands is just the beginning. Just you wait."

Shocked, I yanked my hand out of his and ran. The boots made it hard but soon I was away from the barn and away from Luke. I headed toward a fence where I climbed up and sat on the rail. I gasped when I realised what I was looking at. A large black horse was standing on its two back legs.

It landed and took off running. It caught a glimpse of me and ran toward me, stopping about ten feet away. "You're gorgeous," I mumbled softly.

Its large black ears pricked at the sound of my voice. It was at that moment that against my better judgement- I dropped softly down into the pen with the horse. It snorted and took a step back.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," I told it gently. I held out my hand and its ears flicked back and forth.

We stood like this for about five minutes before the horse saw something behind me and took off, kicking out and squealing. I whipped around to see what it was that had scared the beautiful creature. What I saw surprised me.

Standing outside the fence was a young man who appeared to be a cowboy. He was shaking his head, "You must be new 'round here."

I nodded, "Yeah, so?" I lifted myself up onto the fence.

He motioned to the horse in the distance, "He's a dangerous one."

I rolled my eyes, "Who are you and what are you doing here? Did Luke send you after me?"

"Luke? Oh, the work hand Luke. No, can't say I've ever talked to him." He squinted at the sun. "To be honest, I'd stay away from him. He's nothin' but trouble."

I rolled my eyes, "Tell me about it! He is so unbearable!"

"Talkin' 'bout me again babe?" I felt his presence behind me before his arms wrapped around my waist. I felt his body tense up and his breathing become shallow. "What are you doing here, Gabe?" His arms left my waist and he stood up fully.

"Talkin' horse to this girl," the guy- I'm assuming Gabe- said, motioning to me. "She was messin' with Black Assassin over here." He pointed to the black beauty in the distance watching us with one eye while eating.

Luke turned to me, "Stay away from Satan over there. No one can get through his head, he'll probably get sold for dog food."

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed.

"You still never told me why you are here Gabe," Luke turned his attention back to the tall young man standing in front of me.

"I told ya, I was talking to her."

"First of all, that doesn't explain why you were here in the first place and second, "her" has a name. A beautiful name," he winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Kennedy Drake," I said holding out my hand to Gabe.

He shook it firmly, "Gabriel Lincoln, my family owns the ranch down the road."

"Which leads me to my next question," Luke started. "What were you really doing before you found Ken?"

Gabe rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "No reason, don't worry about it, I'm leaving anyway." With that he strode away and hopped into a nice Ford truck parked a little ways away.

"Hmm, I'll find out sooner or later what he was up to," Luke mumbled to himself.

"Maybe he didn't have an ulterior motive," I sniffed. "He seemed really nice."

"You obviously don't know Gabe," he snorted. "You ready to go see Jenna practice?"

I looked at him, "That depends, are you ready to stop trying to make moves on me? And I want to know about Gabe and why you don't seem to like him very much."

He hesitated then nodded, "Deal, but-"

"Nope," I shushed him, "No buts."

He smiled, "You're learning."

He helped me off the fence then led me toward a big oval filled with sand and surrounded by lots of seating.

"Why are there so many seats?" I asked him.

He smiled, "We host our own rodeo once a year and trust me, you need all those seats with how many people come to watch me win."

I groan, "Still arrogant."

He laughed, "Actually the rodeo is coming up pretty soon, it's the last week of the summer season, a week before you leave to go back to Cali."

We sat in some seats not to far from the arena- according to Luke that's what it is called- and he started talking.

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Sorry, had to cut it short or this chapter would have dragged on! You'll learn about Gabe in the next chapter and about the black devil horse!

Promise I'll update sooner!! 😘

Thank you for all of your comments and votes!! 💕💕