Hot Cowboy Nights (Lucky Penny Ranch #2)(63)

The donkey hopped up into the trailer without a bit of a problem, and Toby came back for the second one. That time was a different story. The plain donkey had to be coaxed all the way to the trailer where he sat down and refused to get inside. No sir, he was not going to do one thing but sit there on his butt and bray like he was being slaughtered by coyotes.

Lizzy bit back a giggle.

That scene was symbolic of Toby’s life up to that time. The fancy donkey was like the bar bunnies who couldn’t wait to go home with Toby, to jump through hoops to do what he wanted and do anything to please the hot cowboy. The plain donkey was Lizzy. She knew who he was, what he was, and worried that what he had been would never change. She was the one sitting on the ground fretting that he could never really stay with someone as plain as Lizzy Logan.

Finally, Toby pulled the donkey’s ear straight up and whispered something in it. The little gray feller got to his feet and without another peep, hopped up into the trailer beside the spotted one.

“What did he say?” Melanie asked.

“I’m not sure I want to know. Do they have names?”

Melanie shook her head. “Terry won’t let me name them. If I do, then I get attached and cry when he sells them. It’s worse since I got pregnant, the weeping that is.”

“That’s what Allie tells me.”

“She’s pregnant?”

Lizzy nodded. “And so happy. She thought she couldn’t have children.”

“I’ve got to get back over to Dry Creek and catch up on everything.”

“Nadine has a café between my store and Mama’s. Come on over and we’ll have lunch. I might even get Allie to join us.” Lizzy smiled.

“And you’ll tell me more about Mr. Sexy out there?” Melanie grinned.

“Never know. Did you hear about the town reunion? It’s next week, the Saturday before Independence Day. Some folks call it a big town reunion; others are sayin’ it’s a festival. You should come over then,” Lizzy said.

Melanie laid a hand on Lizzy’s shoulder. “I was so glad to move from Dry Creek to Wichita Falls when I was in the seventh grade that I never wanted to see that town again. But lately, I miss the folks, so I just might come over part of the day.”

Toby fastened the doors of the cattle trailer and swaggered over to the barn. “Thank you so much. If you’re ready, Lizzy, I reckon we’d best get these fellers on home before dark. Thank goodness I’ve got a couple of apples so they won’t hate me for uprooting them too badly.”

“I’m ready. Nice seeing you again, Melanie. Let me know if you are coming over for the festival,” Lizzy said.

“I sure will.” Melanie waved until they were out of sight.

“So you know her?” Toby asked.

“Went to school with her until we were in the seventh grade. Then her folks moved to Wichita Falls. She and Terry have been married about a year,” Lizzy answered.

“What are you going to name the new livestock?” Toby asked.

“They’re your donkeys, not mine.”

“If they were yours what would you name them?”

“Hey, I’ve got four kittens without names,” she reminded him.

“I’ll help you name them if you’ll help me with the donkeys.”

“Do you name all your cows?” she asked.

“No, but that’s different. Cattle might stay with me for years but it might go to the sale barn or eventually when we get things running good, we might have our own ranch sale. But the donkeys will be with us until they die, and they can live a long time so they need names.” They crossed the river bridge, entered Throckmorton County, and left Young County behind.

“I’ll have to think about it. We could each make a list of kitten names and donkey names and choose from it.”

“Deal!” he said.

An hour later the donkeys were in the pasture, had been given an apple each, and were checking out their new abode. The spotted one stayed close to the cattle, but the gray one circled the fence line, his ears perking up every time a coyote howled in the distance.

What would she name those critters? Their personalities were so different, but she had no doubt they would protect the herd.

Toby slipped an arm around her waist and drew her close to his side. “Some folks get a dog when they begin a serious relationship. Do you think it says something about us that we got two donkeys?”

Serious relationship?

First her blood ran cold and then it hit a simmering boil. The knee-jerk reaction was to hop over that fence, tear out across the pasture, and not stop until she was behind locked doors at her house. Once that settled, the next thought was that if this was serious, then what the hell were they doing watching a herd of cows and two donkeys when his trailer had a really nice bed?



Toby had studied women. He’d learned from the time he’d had his first sexual experience what it took to make a woman happy. He could read their faces and their body language and knew when they were faking and when they were truly satisfied.

But that night, standing there by an old barbed wire fence with sounds of a late spring night around him, he knew true fear. He’d proven that he and Lizzy could make each other very, very happy. But that was sex, and what he wanted now was to make love to this woman. To figure out what drove two people into a place that they wanted to never leave; that was the goal, and he had no idea where to start.