Fuck! I could not sleep at all. All I could think about was Ari. Ari in her bikini, Ari out of her bikini, Ari riding on that damn horse and racing with me, Ari smiling as she was just letting go while riding. It was clear to me she loved being on a horse, and she was a damn good rider. We argued most of the damn day, and I blamed myself for that. I just couldn’t help it. She was so fucking cute when she was mad.

Even though we fought a fair bit, the conversation we had while we sat along the river letting our horses cool down was probably the best damn twenty minutes of my life. We didn’t fight, didn’t call each other names . . . we just talked. She told me she wanted to live in the country, on a piece of property not as big as the ranch, but with plenty of land for horses. My heart soared. I planned on buying the property that backed up the Mathews ranch. It wasn’t anything like this ranch, only two hundred and fifty acres, but I’d been talking to Garrett tonight and the family that owned the small ranch was desperate to sell it. I guess their grandparents owned it and they just wanted it gone so they could keep up their city lives in Austin. There was a small ranch-style home on the property, two wells, and three tanks. Perfect for horses and a few cattle, and Garrett already said I could let my cattle graze on the Mathews ranch as well as the horses. It was a dream come true. I hadn’t even told Gunner about it yet.

On the trip back from the stables, I decided I was going to talk to Ari. I needed to see if we could make a go at being something more than friends, especially now that I knew she wanted the same life I did. I planned to talk to her after dinner. I was going to just tell her how I felt and pray she felt the same way. I dared to let myself get excited.

That was until I saw her bouncing downstairs right before dinner with Ellie and get so excited when a text message from that cheating bastard Jason came through. Her excitement sent a clear signal. She obviously loved him. Fucking prick didn’t deserve Ari. She was way too good for him, and he would end up cheating on her, just like he did with all the other ones.

I tried to clear my thoughts so I could get to sleep. After tossing and turning damn near all night, the clock read 4:30 a.m. when my eyes finally closed.

The next morning, I woke up to find Garrett and Ari sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. Where the hell was everyone else?

“Where is everyone?” I asked as I poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

“Emma ran into town to attend a church meeting. Gunner mentioned something about giving Ellie another first, and they took off for town. Gramps here was just bitching to me about a fence that needs repairing.”

I had to let out a chuckle at Ari’s reference to Gunner’s grandfather as Gramps. Only Gunner ever called him that.

“What fence needs fixin’, Garrett? I can head out and fix it for you,” I said as Ari quickly shot her head up and looked at me.

“Well, it’s on the north side of the ranch. Butts up against the property you’re interested in buying,” Garrett said with a wicked smile on his face.

Fuck me. Ari sat up straighter and gave me a look of pure shock.

“What? You’re buying property out here? Since when did you decide this? Does Ellie know? What about Gunner, does he know? What in the world are you going to do out here? I can’t believe you didn’t tell us—”

“For Christ’s sake, Ari, please shut the fuck up!” I said as I shook my head. Goddamn it, that girl could just rattle on.

Ari shot me a dirty look, and I could tell she wanted to say something back to me but didn’t because Garrett was sitting right there.

“Anyway, back to the fence. I can take the truck and head on over there right now,” I said as I saw Ari still staring at me. I’m sure she had a million questions she wanted to ask me. Thank the fuck I was leaving to mend a fence.

“Oh, Jeff, that would be great since Gunner took off with Ellie, and Drake and the boys ran into town to get feed and run some errands. I don’t want you going alone, though. Ari, you go with him. It will do you good to get some fresh air.”

Ari and I both looked at Garrett and spoke at the same time.

“What?”

“No, really, Garrett, I’m perfectly fine heading out there on my own, there’s no need for her to come.”

Ari nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, I was just planning on sitting in the porch swing and reading, so—”

“Well, then that’s perfect. Take your book and read while Jeff fixes the fence. I have a strict rule: no one out in the pastures by themselves.”

“Oh, well, um . . .” Ari said as she shrugged her shoulders and looked at me.

Fucking great. Just what I needed. I was going to have to listen her go on and on for at least an hour while I fixed the fence.

“I want you to take the Jeep though. I’ll go and get it ready while you go change into some working clothes.” If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn he just gave me a wicked grin and then winked at me. What the hell?

I stood up to go change. I looked at what Ari was wearing. Short shorts, a T-shirt, and some flip-flops.

“Maybe you should at least put on some sneakers, Ari.”

She just looked at me, nodded, and went upstairs.

Five minutes later, I walked out to the Jeep that Garrett had already pulled up to the house and left running. That was strange. I heard the front screen door shut and I turned to see Ari walk out in the same clothes, only she had changed into a pair of black cowboy boots.

Holy fuck, I’d never in my life seen anything so fucking sexy than this girl in a pair of shorts and cowboy boots. I had to take a few steps to ease my growing erection that was pressing into my fucking zipper.

She walked down toward the Jeep and smiled at me as she hopped into the passenger seat. Damn, she even had on a cowboy hat. How the hell did I not see the hat? I let my eyes roam down her legs and then back up again. God, I wanted this girl so fucking badly, but I needed to get a grip. She had a boyfriend. She was not meant to be mine.

Garrett gave me a slap on the back and a wink. “I put plenty of water in there for y’all and even a few snacks, just in case!” Then he laughed as he walked back toward the house. He waved and shouted back to us.

“Y’all have fun.”

I got in the Jeep and looked at Ari, who shrugged her shoulders and put in her earbuds to listen to her iPod. Yep, this was going to be fun.

I spent the next hour mending a fence that I swear looked like it had been cut in four different places on purpose. Nah, who the hell would cut the fence on purpose? I was about finished when I looked up at Ari sitting in the Jeep kicked back and reading her book. She looked hot as hell with those legs propped up. They looked so smooth. I bet they were smooth. Just like her back was so smooth. I was able to get a feel of it when I was desperately trying to get her bikini top back on before Dewey saw her. I wiped the sweat off my face with my T-shirt and started to gather up the tools.

Fuck, with it only being nine in the morning, it sure as shit was hot out. I brought the tools back over and put them in the back of the Jeep. I let the pliers fall hard against the metal floor and Ari jumped out of her seat. She ripped her headphones off and gave me a go-to-hell look.

“Fucker! You scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry.”

I grabbed a water from the cooler and took a long drink. I couldn’t help but notice her watching me drink it. I wiped the sweat one more time off my face before I got in the Jeep.

“Finally. It took you fucking long enough to fix a damn fence that should have been fixed thirty minutes ago.”

“Well, if you thought you could have fixed it sooner, why the fuck didn’t you bring you sweet ass over and help me?”

“Yeah, right. I kind of enjoyed the show,” she said with a wink.

I turned the key over in the ignition and nothing happened. I let it off and tried it again. Nothing. Strange. I turned it over again. Nothing. I did this four more times, and now Ari was sitting up looking at the ignition, willing it to start.

“Oh no . . . No! No! No! No! No! Jeff, tell me that this piece of shit is going to start!” Ari practically shouted in my ear.

“Okay, this piece of shit is going to start.”

Ari shot me a look and jumped out of the Jeep.

“Do something!”

“Jesus, Ari, calm the fuck down, it’s not like we are stuck in the middle of nowhere. Garrett knows we’re here, and when we don’t come back in the next few minutes, he’ll know something is wrong. We need to just be patient and wait for someone to come looking for us.”

I ran my hands through my hair as I watched her pace back and forth with that sweet ass swaying from side to side. The thoughts that were running through my head were not good, and I needed to stop. I had to reach down and adjust myself more than once.

I pulled out my phone to see how long we’d been gone. Just a little over an hour and a half, so if Garrett was the one who noticed the broken fence, he would know that I should’ve been done by now and would be heading back.

After about thirty minutes of Ari pacing back and forth, she pulled out her cell phone. She started walking all over the place holding her phone up. What the fuck is she doing?

“Ari, what the hell are you doing?”

“Well, while you’re being a lazy as sitting underneath that tree, I’m going to try and get a signal to call someone to come save us.”

“Save us?” I let out a laugh as she turned and shot me the finger.

“Yes! Save us. It’s getting fucking hot out here, and what if we run out of water? Did you ever think of that, Jeff? Huh?” Ari jumped back up on the Jeep and tried to get as high as she could.

“Jesus Christ, Ari, it’s not like we’re going to be stuck out here for days. Stop climbing all over the fucking Jeep. You’re going to fall and get hurt.”

“Fuck off, dickwad! I got a signal last night, maybe I will again.”

“Oh yeah, when you got a text from your boyfriend. How’s that working out for you, Ari, dating a douchebag like Jason Reed?” I asked with a smile. I’ve never known that guy to remain faithful to any girl he has ever dated. I couldn’t stand that motherfucker.

“Jealous much, Jeff?”

“Hardly.” It fucking cut me to the bone knowing that that fucker got to hold Ari in his arms. Kiss her endlessly. The thought of him taking her virginity . . . It just fucking pissed me off. He didn’t deserve her.

“Oh. My. God. I can’t believe this! We are going to have to be out here for hours. No one has come yet, and it’s been over two hours. What if they all left? What if they think we decided to go to the river and cool off, or you decided to check out that little piece of land you want. What if Garrett left and didn’t leave a note where we were? And Gunner and Ellie come back and they think we’re just riding or . . . or . . . or, fuck, I don’t know . . . What would two people who can’t stand to be around each other be doing? Fuck, why can’t I get a signal!”

Ari jumped off the Jeep and was now pacing and holding her phone up in the air again. I was going to fucking choke her if she didn’t shut the fuck up soon!

“Come on! Fucking phone. Why the fuck do I pay for all that extra shit if I can’t even get a goddamn decent signal! Maybe we should start walking. Maybe we should start yelling. Yeah, then someone would hear us. Sound travels in the country pretty far, right?”

Holy hell! I can’t take it any longer. I need her to shut her up.

“Maybe if we just—”

I jumped up, grabbed her, and pushed her up against the Jeep . . . I looked down into those beautiful green eyes of hers and my heart fucking melted.

“Maybe, Arianna, you need to just shut the fuck up.”

I don’t know why I did it, but I kissed her. My God, her lips felt like heaven . . . Just like the last kiss she gave me at Brad’s party. The same kiss I had been fucking dreaming about every day since it happened.

I was afraid she would push me away but she opened her mouth more with a small moan and let my tongue start exploring. She deepened the kiss by grabbing my hair and pulling me in closer. Holy fuck, my head was spinning. Before I could stop myself I was pressing her up against the Jeep harder. I wanted to crawl into her goddamn body and stay there forever.

I started to put my hands under her shirt. Her skin was so goddamn soft I couldn’t take it. She moved her hands under my T-shirt and started moving up and down along my back sending jolts through my entire body. I’d never in my life experienced such a powerful kiss.

Just when I didn’t think it could get any better she reached in between us and started to move her hand along my erection. I moaned into her mouth and she pressed against me harder. I took my hand and started to unbutton her shorts and was about to slip my hand in her pants.

What the fuck was I doing? I needed to stop, and right now before this went any further. I started to pull my hand away, but she grabbed it.

She was practically panting when she barely pulled away from my lips. “NO! Please don’t stop, Jeff, please . . . I need this so fucking bad!”

My brain stopped functioning and I put my hands down her shorts and into her panties. I ran one finger through her lips and slowly slid it inside her . . . Fuck me.

“Holy fuck, you’re so wet, Ari.” She moaned as she pushed her hips into my hand and started moving. I slid another and then another finger into her and started moving faster as I kissed her again.

Ari pulled away from my kiss and threw her head back. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She grabbed my T-shirt and started moving her hips faster.

“Oh my God, Jeff! Ohh God, yes . . . Oh, Jeff, yes!”

I reached up under her shirt again with my other hand and pushed her shirt and bra up and started to suck on her nipples. She smelled so fucking good, like vanilla. I teased her one nipple with my tongue and then pinched it with my teeth, and that’s when she started screaming out my name.

I thought I was going to die right there as I heard my name being called out from her beautiful lips. I pulled away from her breast and watched her as she came apart in my arms. I felt her clenching tighter on my fingers and it was the hottest fucking thing I’d ever experienced. It seemed like her orgasm went on forever before she finally brought her head back straight and looked at me. I swear it was like she was taking a part of my soul right then and there. She slowly started to smile at me . . . Holy shit, her smile. If she only knew how that smile could make me do anything she asked of me.

I couldn’t breathe. My heart was beating faster than ever and pounding in my ears. Ari’s breathing was getting back to normal as she stared into my eyes. I couldn’t stop looking at her. My eyes dropped to her lips as she licked them. Fuck, my knees almost gave out on me. I pulled my hand out from her shorts.

What the fuck did I just do?

“Jeff, I want you more than anything. I want to feel you inside me . . . Please, I need you . . .”

What? No! No, this was all wrong.

“No, no, this was a mistake, Ari. This shouldn’t have ever happened.”