Her Rancher's Caress: (Taken by Cowboys: Part 3) A Billionaire Western Romance Read Free Page A

continued. “But I hope you didn’t feel that my anger was directed at you. The last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt you, Jess.” He put his hand to her face as she closed her eyes, relishing the warmth and tenderness of his touch.
    She almost forgot that Nate was on her other side—until she felt his hand fall on her lower back. She started and gasped slightly, and the hand was gone. The touch had been so light that she couldn’t be sure that it had even happened.
    She turned away from Spencer and stared down at her lap. “So what do we do now?”
    “That’s what we’ve come here to figure out,” Nate said, his voice slightly hard. “We decided that there was only one way to resolve this. Short of a shoot-out, that is.”
    “And what’s that?” Jess asked. Her heart was palpitating.
    “We want this to be entirely your decision,” he said.
    She looked up. “Meaning…”
    “Meaning we want you to choose,” Spencer said.
    She turned to him. This was all too much—if this kept up, she was going to get whiplash. “You’re asking me to choose between the two of you?” she asked in disbelief.
    “Do you have a better idea?” he asked.
    “I suppose not,” she said, bewildered. She supposed she should have guessed it would have come to this—but now that it was in front of her, she wasn’t prepared to make the choice.
    There was a moment of tense silence. “Like, right now?” she asked weakly.
    “I don’t think this can remain unresolved much longer,” Spencer said. “Of course, if you need more time—”
    “I can make you laugh,” Nate said suddenly, cutting him off. “Remember how much fun we had today?”
    Spencer scoffed. “That means nothing. I make you feel safe. Don’t I, Jess?”
    She looked from one to the other. This was all too confusing. Memories of the day flashed through her mind. Nate did have a way of bringing out her adventurous side—he had gotten her to ride a horse, for goodness’ sakes. So what if she had almost fallen off?
    “I can make you feel so good, Jess,” Nate murmured, putting a hand on her thigh and running it slowly up and down. She inhaled sharply. “You can’t have forgotten that massage.”
    She felt Spencer stiffen on her other side. She gasped as she felt his hand move to the back of her neck, massaging the base of her scalp.
    “I want nothing more than to make you happy, Jess,” Spencer said. She turned to meet his gaze. His dark brown eyes bored into hers. “I want to treat you like a queen.”
    She tried to take in their words and formulate logical thoughts. She was being asked to make a choice, after all, between these two men. She realized that they had each moved closer to her, probably a subconscious effort to win her sympathy. Now they were touching, Spencer’s torso leaning lightly into her own and Nate’s taut thigh flush against hers. She felt like her body was turning to butter from all the heat. A warm coil of desire suddenly sprung in her belly. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to regain her composure.
    “I can’t choose,” she burst out finally.
    “What do you mean, you can’t choose?” Nate said. “I hate to be cocky, but is it really much of a choice?”
    “Oh, please,” Spencer said, his voice heavy with contempt. At her words, his fingers had tensed up at the base of her scalp, raking her hair. Along with Nate’s hand moving up her thigh, she thought she might faint. “I’m sure Jess is just being polite by not rejecting you outright.”
    “I…I just need some time to think.” Her insides were churning like a storm brewing over a mountain. She was breathing hard.
    “We’ll leave you to it,” Spencer said, standing up. She was grateful that he took her cue. Nate followed suit, and Jess walked them to the door.
    Before following Nate out, Spencer turned and gave her a long, lingering look, stopping for a while at her chest. She realized her nipples were hard as pebbles, pushing through the thin fabric of