Her Cowboy (Book One Of The Brave Series)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter 29

M.

His hand felt so warm holding mine as he drove through the snow. Even though I didn't know the destination I didn't care, and I wasn't worried. I scooted closer to him on the bench seat, our legs touching each other as I rested our hands on my leg. I looked up at him and felt a tug in my chest. He was such a handsome man. He wore his usual cowboy hat, a white t-shirt underneath a heavy jacket. Blue jeans and well broken in cowboy boots finished off his rugged look and every part of him brought my attention closer to him.

"I got somethin' on my face Hun?" he asked, still focused on the road but smiling. His dimples were so cute when he smiled like that. For a moment I felt like a lovesick puppy at the things I was noticing in him and I liked the feeling. I didn't want it to go away, but I'd continuously had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind since I last had that nightmare. Something felt off and it bugged me that I couldn't pin point what that feeling was. I shook my head mentally and cleared my thoughts to come back to reality.

"No, nothing on your face." I said smiling up at him.

"Oh, okay, so you were just staring at my handsome manly features then." he said nodding. I laughed and slapped his chest gently.

"Hush up." I said, not necessarily denying it but not confirming it either. I felt Asher's hand slip out of mine only to wrap right around my shoulders and pull me tightly against him.

"Yes ma'am." He said before taking a turn into a parking lot. I looked up and noticed where we were.

"Bowling?! I haven't gone bowling in years!"

"Then let's get in there." He said hopping out of the truck and reaching out a hand to help me down. I was excited.

A.

When her eyes lit up with excitement I felt two things. The first was the weight of not knowing what she would like to do falling off my shoulders. Anna had said fun activities that we could both enjoy, and I had gone with bowling, so I guess I was right. The second feeling was a rush of excitement all my own at making her happy. Hand in hand we rushed our way into the bowling alley and got a lane.

There were other couples there with friends or just by themselves, all somewhat recognizable from school. Families were there with their kids and having fun, laughing, eating, and bowling. It was loud and full, but not crowded, nor deafening. It was comfortable.

.....

"I kicked your tushy!" Madeline called out in victory as we made our way out of the bowling alley two hours later. She was hopping around like a bunny on drugs as she teased and poked at me. I kept laughing at her antics as I opened her door and watched her hop in.

I jogged around the other side of the truck and hopped in. Thank God it wasn't snowing still because that meant my plan was going to work out even better.

"I can't wait to tell Anna how bad you lost. She will never let you forget."

"We're not done yet." I said turning the truck over.

"We're not?" she asked, confused. I shook my head.

"No ma'am."

"What else is there?" she asked.

"That's a secret." I said pulling her close and heading out to no man's land.

M.

We were driving for a while and I wondered if we were ever going to stop when he took a turn off road and into a small opening in the woods. I was confused as to what the plan was here and then we hit the bumps. The truck dropped and came back up over and over and the only thing that kept me from falling all around the cab was Asher's arm wrapped tightly around me. It was fun, and I found myself laughing and enjoying the bumpy ride. The world went by in blurs of white, green, and brown. It was night time, but it was so easy to see with the full shine of moon reflecting off the white snow.

We went over a few rougher trails and a couple more turns when he finally stopped. We had come to a big clearing, layered in snow. I looked over at him.

"What are we doing here?" I asked. He just smiled and hopped out of the truck. Confused, I got out as well and made my way around the truck bed where he began taking off the bed cover.

I watched as he set it on the ground gently and I looked over. There was an air mattress tucked into the bed and on it were multiple blankets. In the corner were some of my favorite snacks.

"You ever look at the stars, away from the city lights?" he asked stepping in front of me so close that I had to look up.

"Can't honestly say I have." I breathed out, my chest tightening as the smell of him surrounded me.

"Well," he said leaning down and putting his hands on either side of my hips, "There's a first for everything." He said before lifting me off the ground gently and setting me on the bottom of the air mattress.

.....

"Oh, that's the little dipper, and the big dipper, and Orion's belt! Gosh you can see everything from here." I said gleefully.

"I know right?" he responded. We had been sitting here for about an hour now just looking at the stars. One hand held his and at some point, we ended up laying side by side. We dug into the snacks and talked about anything and everything. It felt so right. The nervous bug in my stomach was completely gone now and it was so easy to tell him about my life and he did the same.

I looked to the sky.
"It's so beautiful." I said watching a shooting star.

"Look, a shooting star! You gotta make a wish." I said pointing towards where it went. His

hand came up next to mine and grabbed it, entwining our fingers.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered into my ear. My chest tightened again, and my face started to burn.

"That's not a wish." I said, my voice low.

"I don't need one." He responded.

I turned my head towards him only to find our faces were inches apart.

"Madeline, so beautiful, so smart, kind, strong, and caring. So perfect." He leaned in close but

stopped centimeters from my lips.

"May I be the man to have the honors of being your first kiss?" He asked. I looked up into his

gorgeous green eyes.

Without a doubt.

"Yes." Not even a second went by before his lips touched mine and my world exploded. His

lips were soft but his kiss rough and passionate. It was a clumsy kiss at first, but we quickly found our own rhythm. When his tongue touched my lips, the kiss intensified, and pins and needles ran through my body, my toes curling in my boots. His hand cupped my cheek and mine ran through his hair.
The need for air forced me to pull back and when I did I saw the passion in his eyes, so intense, so intimate. His hair was in tangles as he looked down at me.
"Wow." I said.
"Yeah." Was his only response. He leaned down to kiss me once more, but the shrill sound of my phone ringing pulled me back. I looked down. It was Mrs. Tyler.
"Hello?" I asked answering it.
"Madeline, thank goodness, I've been trying to reach Asher for the last twenty minutes! You need to come home immediately." The panic I heard in her voice made me nervous.
"What happened?" I asked sitting up. My stomach dropped at her next words.
"Your Mom. He took her."

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EDITED VERSION

J. Vas