“Churro?” Several minutes later, and Sabrina was peering around Tex, offering him a fried-dough olive branch.

  “I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do with you,” he said.

  “Oh, I’m sure you can think of a few things.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Tex craned his head around to investigate the churro, and she quickly held it out of reach of his horsey lips.

  “You are seriously testing my patience here, Sabrina,” Trevor growled. “Our event is next. In fact…”

  His eyes found Ellie Buckton, Frank’s wife, as she made her way out to the center of the arena. The smattering of applause from the last event died off, and she switched her microphone on. “All right, ladies and gentlemen!” she crowed. “Next up, we have the rescue race!”

  The audience erupted into excited cheers. Trevor watched the teasing expression on Sabrina’s face sober up fast. Evidently, she hadn’t noticed how many people had collected in the stands in the last five minutes. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house.

  “Everyone’s favorite event,” he supplied. He untied Tex and started to lead him toward the other assembled competitors. “Come on,” he said as he mounted. “We’re up third. Get up behind me and I’ll ride you out to your position when the time comes.”

  Pete took the churro back, and Sabrina mounted, settling in behind Trevor. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and his muscles tensed reflexively. He had to focus. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by Sabrina’s racing heart. By the way her hand snaked down to grip his belt….

  The first racers were a young couple, not much older than teenagers. They failed their event when the rider had to come around twice to rescue his partner, but the wide smiles on their faces as they galloped back to the start clearly showed that they were having the time of their life. The audience responded with rousing cheers once the pair had successfully crossed the finish line.

  The next couple was older—likely in their thirties—and a lot more experienced. They came hurtling across the finish line in less than thirty seconds, and Ellie turned the mic back on long enough to announce that the competition’s record had just been broken.

  Sabrina’s arms clenched nervously around his midsection. Trevor laid a pacifying hand on her elbow and squeezed.

  “Here we go,” he muttered, under his breath. He trotted Tex out to the center of the ring.

  When he felt Sabrina let go of his belt, he reached around to grab her arm and ease her drop to the ground. But instead of letting go, he bent low in the saddle and tugged her back to him.

  Kissing the top of her head, he whispered into her hair, “You got this—we got this. Let’s get out there and show them how good you are.”

  Sabrina lifted her head in surprise, her uncertain frown shifting into a smile. With a brief nod, she stepped away, and took her position, waving to the cheering crowd.

  “That’s my girl,” he called. He turned Tex around and trotted to the start line, grimacing when Ellie called out that the record to beat was thirty seconds.

  Adjusting his stance in the saddle, he petted Tex’s neck. “You ready?” The horse tossed his head in response, pawing lightly at the ground.

  The gun went off, and Tex leaped forward, straight into a gallop. They thundered toward Sabrina and were upon her in seconds. To her credit, she stood firm, her stance relaxed as she awaited their arrival.

  Taking the tight turn around her, Trevor thrust out his arm, and then he was hoisting Sabrina onto the saddle behind him, galloping on before she was fully seated. Her breathless “oomph,” followed by the tight grip of her thighs on his hips, was all the reassurance he needed.

  They stormed across the finish line in a great plume of dust. A few spectators cheered, but most sat silent, eyes trained on Ellie. She was squinting at her stopwatch, lips tightly pursed. Sabrina shifted against him.

  “What happened? Did we—”

  “Twenty-eight seconds!” Ellie held up her stopwatch, and the crowd went wild, and Trevor heard Sabrina’s answering shout—joy and surprise, and raw, primal triumph.

  “Another round of shots!” Pete cried. He slammed his empty glass down and signaled the bartender as the bar broke into raucous laughter and cheers of approval.

  “You guys!” Sabrina exclaimed in pleased exasperation. “You’re going to drink away all our prize money before we even get home!”

  Contrary to Sabrina’s halfhearted protests, the Wildhorse team had been drinking on the house for the better part of the evening. The winning team always drank on the house at The Tin Horseshoe.

  The jukebox blared, the booze flowed, and the atmosphere was charged and festive. Marcy, his ex, was trying to catch his eye from across the room, but Trevor only had eyes for one woman, and she happened to be seated right next to him.

  He leaned across his stool to whisper in Sabrina’s ear, “Just be glad they haven’t tried drinking out of the trophy yet.” The hand that wasn’t holding his beer hovered over the small of her back, and Sabrina relaxed back into it. She seemed fully conscious of what she was doing, and he reveled in her own secret signals. Every glance of hers he caught was somehow coded; every lyric of every country song that came up on the jukebox seemed somehow written for this moment.

  “I tell you!” Pete whooped. “That’s twice the record for the rescue race was broken in one competition! I’ve never seen that, not in any event in any year! And now it’s the two of you who hold the record.” He clinked his shot glass with Sabrina’s. “And the way the boss carried you back across that finish line like that…” He cocked a sly eyebrow. “In some counties, the two of you’d be married.”

  Trevor recalled only too well the way their bodies had nested and rocked together as one. He eyed Sabrina sidelong, but she refused to meet his gaze. She was smiling fit to split the seams of her gorgeous face, but his intuition told him she was imagining the exact same thing. The expert way she worked her hips in the saddle, every clench and slide in perfect tandem with the way his body moved—no wonder they had won so handily. They were a good fit when it counted.

  He wanted to experience that with her out of the saddle. He wanted her, and she knew it. She had to know it. He pressed the small of her back a little more firmly and was rewarded when her hand alighted on his knee beneath the table. He felt a stirring between his legs, but took a casual sip of his beer before entering back into the conversation.

  “Sabrina’s got this…this…” He gesticulated vaguely in the air above his head and chuckled. “This Christmas tree ornament she hangs above her door. Everywhere you go, ain’t that right, Sabrina?”

  “Yes, Trevor, that is right.”

  He was intent on driving her home tonight, so he set his beer down unfinished.

  “But it’s not a Christmas ornament,” she continued for the benefit of the Wildhorse team. “It’s something my grandfather gave me. I’ve always thought of it as a good luck charm.” She shrugged.

  “I’ll drink to that.” Rodrigo raised his glass. “It certainly paid off for us today.”

  Pete looked up, hopeful. “Could I borrow it next year? Couple more wins like that, I could afford my own ranch.”

  Lorne laughed. “Dream on.”

  Pete frowned into his beer. “Nothing wrong with a dream or two. Haven’t you got some?”

  Trevor didn’t know about Lorne, but he had a few. “Come on,” he said, and grabbed Sabrina’s arm, leading her out to the dance floor.

  “Where are we going?” She squirmed in his grip, but didn’t pull free. “You’re not actually pulling me out here to dance, are you?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Trevor wheeled and tugged her fully into his arms. There were a few other couples out slow dancing already. He could hear the jeers coming from his employees at the bar, but knew it was only a matter time before they followed suit before they got left without a partner. “You’re the most beautiful woman in this room,” he said as they swayed together.

  “Oh, I don’t know…” Sabrina blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. “But by all means, keep talking.”

  Trevor smiled down at her. Even in the low light of the bar, her cheeks glowed warm and pink from the alcohol. She was starting to get a tan, he noticed. It only brought out those kissable freckles of hers even more.

  “There’s something about you,” he said. “It’s hard to describe. But even if you were ugly, I think I’d still want you. I’d still want that fire in you, the way you go for what you want. You never give up. You don’t back down from a fight.” He winked. “But you’re not ugly. You’re the farthest thing from it. You’re prettier than the sky on a cloudless night.”

  Sabrina’s gaze warmed. She relaxed in his arms. Trevor tightened his grip on her a little more.

  “While we’re making confessions, I know there’s more to that story about your grandfather’s star. Whatever you didn’t want to say in front of the others, you can tell me.”

  Sabrina turned her face away and pressed it into his shoulder. “I take that star with me everywhere,” she said finally, “because of what it represents. My home burned down when I was eight years old. I remember the smoke. I remember my dad pulling my sister and me out of bed. I remember watching the fire take it all while we stood across the street. Even with such a huge fire blazing, it was so cold that night.

  “We went to live with my grandparents for a bit after that. I always loved visiting them on their ranch in the summer, but this time, it didn’t feel like a vacation. I couldn’t stop thinking about our house burning down. Even at night, the nightmares…” She shuddered. “So, they put me to work harder than ever before, to help take my mind off things. I hated it at first, but it’s like you said. I can’t resist a challenge. I started to look forward to getting up in the morning again. And by the end of it all, when we were ready to move out, Grandpa pinned that star to my chest so I would always remember what a star I was. I felt so proud. I realize how silly this sounds, coming from a grown woman,” she finished abruptly.

  Trevor could feel her heated cheeks through the fabric of his shirt. He was so stunned with Sabrina’s story that it was several moments before he realized they had stopped dancing. He resumed with the next beat, and she followed his lead, moving with less self-assurance than she had before.

  “It’s not silly,” he promised her. “Sometimes the people we love and the important memories tied to them imprint themselves on things. Hell, I polish my father’s old rodeo saddle every morning, even though I never intend for anyone to use it again. It’s the first thing I do when I get up, and the last thing I look at before I shut the lights off in the barn.”

  “I had no idea,” Sabrina whispered. She looked up at him again, and this time Trevor stopped dancing deliberately. He smoothed a strand of hair back from her face and fought the inclination to lean in. He still didn’t know how far she wanted to take this thing with him.

  “You want to get out of here?” he asked in a throaty whisper.

  Sabrina nodded. Then asked, “What about the horses? Don’t they still need to be trailered and taken home?”

  “Pete will see to them,” he said. “We drew straws earlier to see who’d be in charge of the trailer.”

  “Very diplomatic of you, Mr. Wild,” Sabrina said approvingly.

  Trevor offered her his arm, and she looped her hand through it. They walked out of The Tin Horseshoe together, never pausing to look back.

  10

  SABRINA

  “Want me to turn the radio up?” Trevor asked her.

  Sabrina nodded too quickly. “Oh…sure! I love this song!”

  She grimaced in the darkness of the pickup’s cab. Trevor only chuckled and reached forward to oblige her.

  “It’s the song we were just dancing to,” he said in amusement. “‘When the Stars Go Blue.’”

  Why is this so awkward? Sabrina mentally berated herself. She glanced out the window but found that, for the first time ever, it was nearly impossible to pay attention to the fading sunset and vast Texas mountains. Not with Trevor sitting beside her. Why are you so awkward? Where’s the confident flirt from the rodeo earlier today? Where’s the Sabrina who knows exactly how to drive Trevor Wild crazy?

  It was one thing to flirt, she realized. It was a whole other thing to know how and when to pull the trigger on these feelings both of them were fighting and failing to suppress.

  What would be so wrong about giving over to her attraction, anyway? Sure, she knew it was wrong; getting involved with a client violated every one of the rules she’d set out for herself when she started her glamping business. But it would only be while she was here. Once the job was done, she could leave Wildhorse and its owner behind and get back on the road, ready for a new job in a new town.

  Yet the thought of walking away from Trevor and his ranch stole the breath from her lungs. She couldn’t start something with him, not when she knew she wouldn’t want to finish it. That she’d want it to last far longer than her contract.

  And with the cowboy now sitting in silence beside her, she wasn’t sure he was ready to take the risk, either. Trevor was methodical; he was set in his ways. He had already changed so much of his life just to allow her to jam her foot through the door. Was it fair to expect anything more from him? Was it possible—really possible—that he returned her feelings?

  “Where are we?” Sabrina asked suddenly. They were driving up an unfamiliar hill that overlooked Wildhorse Ranch. She rolled her window down and poked her head out in wonder. The sun was down now, and the stars…the stars were incredible, scattered white gemstones across the navy blue sky. It was all she could do to keep herself from gasping at the sight overhead.

  “Come on.” Trevor put the truck in park and got out. He opened Sabrina’s door for her and guided her around back. Sabrina hesitated, half nervous, half excited.

  “What are we doing?”

  “You’ll see,” said Trevor. He unlatched the tailgate and let it down, and held out his hand to help Sabrina step up.

  “You keep a bedroll back here?” she asked suspiciously. The truck bed rocked as Trevor pulled himself up after her.

  “Sure. I keep most of my camping stuff back here.” He untied and unfurled the bedroll. It was incredible to Sabrina that such a simple gesture could make her feel more like royalty than she ever had in her life. She lay back on the mat, gazing up at the sky. Trevor stretched out beside her so they lay shoulder to shoulder.

  “So you’re telling me you bring girls out here all the time,” she teased.

  “Never brought a soul out here with me,” Trevor promised. He turned his head toward her. “But after your story about that star, and how much it means to you, I wanted to give you a real one to hold onto as well. You can choose whichever one you want.” He pointed toward the night sky. Without the light pollution of the city, Sabrina could clearly see the brilliant, beautiful smear of the Milky Way.

  There was nothing she could say in response to Trevor’s gesture. Nothing she could do, except turn into him and press her lips to his.

  He held himself still beside her. When she deepened the kiss, and even made to slide up against his chest, he took hold of her shoulders and pushed her onto her back. The rich taste of the beer he had been drinking lingered on his tongue, but she knew he wasn’t drunk. He’d only ordered one beer, and he’d left the bottle half-full.

  “Trevor,” she whispered, but that was all, just his name. She had expended all her words for the evening. Every argument, every clever quip and talking point, faded from existence as Trevor Wild took her in his arms and kissed her until the stars spun overhead. His hand slid up her stomach to tease her breast, and Sabrina stripped her shirt off and tossed it into the far corner of the truck.

  A gust of cool night air, combined with Trevor’s forceful fingers, coaxed her nipples to tautness. Sabrina let her head fall back. She tried to even out her breathing, but her efforts proved fruitless the moment Trevor lowered his mouth to take her other breast into the warmth of his mouth.

  “Ah!” Sabrina gasped and strained against him, but there was no resistance to be mounted against such a wonderful sensation. His tongue traced the tight flesh, his teeth grazing her nipple. She thought she would go mad, feeling so riled up and unfulfilled. Her hands found the front of his jeans and jerked them open. He groaned a light “careful” under his breath, but never ceased in his attentions.

  Before she could get his pants down and take hold of the erection straining against his boxers, Trevor drew back from her. Sabrina made a throaty noise of dismay, but he had only withdrawn to help her wriggle out of her jeans. Despite what he’d thought about their restrictiveness, they slid off her easily now, exposing her hot pink thong. She heard him groan again as he fell upon her. Trevor likes thongs, she realized with a wicked smile. It was an observation she intended to file away for later, but soon he was groping and kissing and thrusting himself against her enough to make her senseless.

  “The back pocket of my jeans,” she gasped. She turned her head to search the shadows of the truck, but she couldn’t see where her discarded clothes had gone. “I have—”

  “I’ve got us covered,” Trevor groaned into the hollow of her throat. “My wallet.”

  A new sensation came over her as she slid a hand into his back pocket and located the square of old, worn leather. His quiet reassurance deepened the warmth of the arousal that spread through her body.

  Sabrina drew his wallet out and extracted the condom. “I’ve got you covered,” she whispered. She made eye contact with him as she tore the plastic packaging open with her teeth; Trevor groaned. She worked the condom down over his erection slowly, relishing the easy way her hands slid over the latex. The additional lubrication it provided was heavenly—she could only imagine how it felt for Trevor.