Weekend Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #1)(26)

Like a movie, the events of the last twenty-four hours rolled through her mind. Every single explosively hot orgasm tightened her stomach and made her pu-ssy clench. No, she wouldn’t go back and change her decision. If nothing else, she would have those memories to fantasize about for the rest of her life. She knew there was no future here. Four men and one woman was not a stable relationship. All of her life she had watched her mother struggle with a broken heart, and if she bared her soul to the four brothers, she knew she would find herself nursing an emotional wound too. It just wasn’t worth it.

Gaining her control back, she decided the best way to keep her mind off the future, was to focus on the present. A smile graced her face as she prepared a couple of sandwiches and headed off toward the barn in search of Parker.

****

Parker had just finished spreading hay in one of the stalls when Rachel sauntered into the barn looking sexy as hell. Short denim shorts that rivaled anything Daisy Duke ever wore showcased her long, slim legs that ended in tiny bare feet with sexy pale pink toenails. The afternoon sunlight caught her brown hair making it glow a copper color, and her big brown doe eyes looked a little apprehensive as she looked around the barn.

“It must be my lucky day,” he said as he leaned the pitchfork against the wall and began removing his leather gloves. He waited for her to come to him, pleased when she did so as soon as she spotted him.

“I figured you probably hadn’t had anything for lunch yet, and Rogan, Hudson, and I just had sandwiches.” She held a plate out to him with two sandwiches on it, both neatly made and cut in half diagonally. For some reason the little extra effort sucker punched him in the gut. How many years had it been since a woman cared enough about him to make him lunch? When he tore his gaze away from the tiny triangular sandwiches, he found her staring at him with an odd expression. “Well?”

Embarrassment flooded through him, “I’m sorry, what did you ask?”

Her lips turned down in dismay, and she suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “I just asked if you could take a break, but if you’re busy it’s no big deal. I could use a nap, so…yeah…maybe I should just go back inside—”

She started to turn away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her words and her motion. “Wait, don’t go. I will gladly make time for a break as long as you promise to sit with me while I eat.”

The smile of pleasure that graced her beautiful face was nearly enough to unman him, and he swallowed back a groan.

“Sure.”

He led her out the doors of the barn and over to several bales of hay that were stacked near the corral. She barely glanced at the seat he gestured to, and he watched in surprised fascination as she took several steps closer so she could lean on the fence and watch his horse in the enclosure.

“Did you enjoy your ride this morning, sunshine?”

She gave him a confused look before nodding, “You mean with Rogan? Yes, I had a great time. He took me out to the pond, and I taught him how to skip rocks.”

Parker laughed loudly. That was what he loved about Rachel Morgan. She found the fun in everything she did. “Good, you’ll have to grant me the privilege of taking you out on the trail sometime. The Carrion River is only about a day’s hard ride from here, and there are several good camping sites around there.”

A wistful expression drifted across her features and she pursed her lips as though deep in thought. She didn’t even acknowledge his words, and it stung. He bit into a sandwich and forced himself to chew. It was probably a great sandwich, but at the moment it tasted like sawdust. His normally take charge attitude was suffering a major setback and the blame lay solely at her feet. When she was around he couldn’t seem to focus on anything, but her. The idea that she wasn’t feeling the same way was painfully sharp in his brain.

“What’s his name?” she asked as she watched the stallion graze in the field.

“Romeo.”

She laughed and it rippled through him teasing at the need in his gut. “Really? Where is Juliet?”

“Pregnant in the other barn. She should foal anytime, so she can’t be with her lover.”

Rachel’s eyes lit up as she finally turned and faced him. “That seems rather unfair. To take two star crossed lovers and keep them apart when she’s obviously facing something so monumental.”

He couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. “Yeah…well, I have a pretty good feeling they will be back together soon enough. Besides, Romeo here is quite the ladies’ man. Juliet is the third mare he’s knocked up this year.”

“Really? Wow! Impressive odds. Guess Juliet probably learned her lesson. The pretty ones are always the playboys.” She looked up at him through her eyes lashes with a teasing smile, but he couldn’t help but think there was more to her statement than just a joke.

They sat watching the big black stallion as he slowly moved around the corral, and Parker hurried to eat the rest of his meal. When he swallowed the last bite and put the plate down on the hay bale, he looked up to find her watching him instead. A wave of apprehension went through him. This was the first time he had been alone with her, and all he wanted was to strip her clothes off and claim her in every physical and emotional way, but it was more important they talk. He had questions he needed answered.

“Do you want a quick tour of the horse barn?”