Not My 1st Rodeo by Donna Alward

She put her hand over his. “Aw, hell, you have to know I’m kidding. You probably have the least ego of anyone I’ve ever met.”
    He moved his thumb, rubbing against the tender skin of her cheek, the teasing expression gone from his face. Just tenderness remained, and her heart did a crazy weird thump thing. The sun created dappled shadows around them, the birds in the trees and the rushing stream their background music. And when Brett leaned forward and kissed her this time, she met him halfway, curling her hand around his neck and drawing him closer.
    This kiss was different, Melly realized. Better. One hundred times better. There was still sweetness and passion, but now there was something more. Trust. Acceptance. Possibility. All the things she’d wanted and had been searching for.
    And when he pulled her into his embrace and wrapped his arms around her, she figured that maybe she’d been right after all. Maybe there really was nothing like a cowboy.

Chapter Nine
    The leaves on the poplars and birches were like millions of gold coins, glowing against the blue sky and creating a gilded carpet on the forest floor.
    Brett held Mel’s cold hand in his as they ambled through the grove, something they often did on Sunday afternoons when she came out to the ranch. Her favorite spot had now become his too. They often sat on the creek bank and cuddled together, isolated from the outside world. The last time they’d come out here, they’d made love under the canopy of the trees. It had been the first time since they’d decided to start over. For Brett, it had been something particularly precious. It hadn’t been the rushed and fevered joining that they’d experienced at the beginning of their relationship. It had been slow and profound. It had stirred something inside him that he welcomed and yet scared him too. He’d fallen in love with her, heart and soul.
    â€œWhat are you thinking?” Mel asked, nudging his shoulder as they walked. “You’re awfully quiet.”
    â€œI was thinking about the last time we walked out here,” he replied, squeezing her hand.
    â€œOh, right.” She looked up at him and her eyes twinkled at him. “Listen, cowboy, it’s getting a little chilly to be sneaking off to have sex in the great outdoors.”
    â€œI can think of ways to keep you warm.”
    â€œI just bet you can.”
    He could hear the trickle of the creek ahead, but he slowed his steps, nervous but in a good sort of way. Today was the right time. He wanted to take things to the next step.
    So he tugged on her hand, pulling her off the dirt path. The light in her eyes told him that sneaking kisses would be a welcome pastime, so he indulged her by pressing her against a smooth birch trunk and tasting her lips, slowly and thoroughly. As always, her gentle touch made his body spring to life, and before long they were both breathless.
    â€œYou’re very good at that,” Mel whispered, snuggling close against his jacket. “I missed you this week.”
    â€œI missed you too.” He’d rented a room with a kitchenette at a local motel while the house was being built, and it was damned lonely at night. “Our phone calls just aren’t the same as seeing you in person.”
    â€œHey, I showed you how to chat on your laptop.”
    â€œDidn’t the dating site thing convince you I’m a techno-idiot?”
    She laughed. “Maybe you just need to be properly motivated. I’ll have to make the view…interesting.”
    â€œTease.”
    But he loved it. Ever since they’d cleared the air, she’d been so open, so amazing. It wasn’t perfect; nothing ever was, and they both knew it. It was, however, a real revelation to be so compatible with someone. They liked and appreciated so many of the same things. She embraced his way of life because she’d lived it and loved it herself, and he’d never