Rodeo Romance (Contemporary Western Romance Short)
into their conversation.
    Trisha had been laughing and stuffing her face, so she hadn’t noticed the huge cowboy who had walked up to their table. He was in full cowboy gear down to the chaps encasing strong muscled legs.
    “Well, hello.” Cindy wasted no time as she turned on the charm. Trisha tried to respond, but had half a chicken leg in her mouth. All she could manage was a grunt. “Would you like to join us?”
    “I’m Jake McCabe.” He stuck his hand out to Cindy. “My brother tells me you two ladies are my new ranch hands.”
    “We sure are.” Cindy beamed, taking his hand in hers, giving him her prettiest smile. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always wanted to see what it was like working on a ranch. I’m Cindy.”
    If Trisha didn’t know Cindy as well as she did, she would have choked on the damn chicken, which seemed to be growing in her mouth. Actually it wasn’t all chicken, but a big piece of gristle, which she realized as the man, who looked like he stepped off the pages of a romance novel, stared at her.
    “You must be Trisha.” His cowboy hat shaded his eyes, but his smile showed straight white teeth. The best Trisha could do was nod, taking the large hand he held out in a firm shake. “Enjoy your dinner and I’ll see you in the morning, unless I see you in the recreation hall later.”
    “Bye now,” Cindy cooed, watching him walk away. “Holy shit, look at that ass in those chaps.”
    Trisha grabbed a napkin spitting out the piece of gristle. “Dammit,” she cursed, slamming the napkin down. “Why do I do the most idiotic things?”
    “What?” Cindy finally pried her eyes off Jake McCabe’s ass long enough to look at Trisha. “I didn’t see you do anything.”
    “That’s just it.” Trisha snorted. “Right before he walked up, I took a big bite of chicken, which had a bigger piece of gristle. I couldn’t say anything for fear of it shooting out of my mouth and injuring the man. He probably thinks I’m a damn mute.”
    Cindy stared at Trisha before she burst out laughing.
    “Glad you find my humiliation hilarious,” Trisha grumbled. “Just once, I would love to see you do something stupid in front of a man, especially a man like that. It would make my day.”
    “Oh, I’ve had my moments.” Cindy was still chuckling.
    “Yeah, well, I haven’t seen it so I don’t believe you.” Trisha narrowed her eyes at her. “All I ever see is them bowing down like slaves ready to do your bidding.”
    “Ah, bullshit.” Cindy snorted then looked thoughtful. “But what an awesome mental image.”
    Trisha pushed her plate away, her appetite vanishing with her embarrassment.
    “He did smile at you,” Cindy added as she stood.
    “Yeah, he probably felt sorry for the mute girl.” Grabbing her plate, Trisha followed her, dumping her uneaten portion in the trash, before placing her plate in a large plastic container with the rest of the dirty dishes.
    “Come on. Let’s go walk around a bit.” Cindy put her arm around Trisha. “And you know if the mute thing works with a man like that, I’d use it.”
    “You would.” Trisha replied with a smirk. Both women laughed, easing Trisha’s discomfort.

CHAPTER 3
    After exploring some of the ranch, they found an old wooden fence overlooking a small pond. Trisha climbed up with ease and sat down.
    “I hope I don’t get a splinter in my butt.” Cindy moaned and groaned her way into a perched position beside Trisha.
    “You really are a city girl,” Trisha teased with a nudge before looking up at the sky. “It’s beautiful.”
    “Yeah, it is.” Cindy also looked up, but then frowned over at her. “What do you mean ‘city girl?’ Like you’re Annie Oakley or some shit.”
    An eerie howl in the distance filled the silence. They both looked at each other.
    “Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that.” Cindy cautiously looked over her shoulder.
    Trisha also peered around. “It was probably just a neighbor’s dog.”
    They

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