Cowboys Mine by Stacey Espino

over. I’ve known them since I was a little girl.”
    “But you’re not a little girl anymore, are you? You
look very much like a woman to me.”
    Eva swallowed hard, staring at the path they’d just
taken. Should she run? Or was she just overreacting? “Thank you,” she
whispered.
    He backed her up until she hit the side of a small
wooden shed. It hid their view from every angle but the dense forest behind
them. “I’ve invested a lot of time in you, Eva. Don’t you think I should be
rewarded?”
    She narrowed her eyes, not understanding his meaning.
“I thought you were going to show me something.”
    “I plan to, darlin’.” He reached down and began to
fiddle with the buckle on his leather belt. She glanced down and couldn’t
believe what was happening. Her father was the essence of an old-fashioned
cowboy. Honor, loyalty, and his word meant everything. She couldn’t even
remember a day he’d raised his voice at her mother.
    Wade may have bragging rights in the ring, but he was
no gentleman. Adrenaline spiked through her veins. For once, she wished the
overbearing McReed brothers were there to pound Wade into the earth.
    “What are you doing?”
    He tried to kiss her neck but she turned away in
distaste. “Stop playing hard to get. Do you realize how many women I’ve turned
down this week for you?”
    “I’m sorry you expected more, but I’m not interested.”
    He laughed without humor. “Too late for that. You
can’t expect to tease a man and walk away.”
    “I need to go,” she said, pushing him back. He clasped
her wrists in one hand and refused to let her leave.
    “Didn’t I make myself clear?” His words were angry,
his face changing into something new and terrifying. “You’re not leaving until
you pay up. Either open your legs or suck my dick, either way is fine by me.”
    ****
    “You get a hold of her?” asked North.
    Colton shook his head. “Second day with no answer. I
hope Aunt Laura remembered to stop by.”
    “It’s a good thing we’re heading home tomorrow.”
    Their mother may be a grown woman, but she was
incapable of taking care of herself with an addiction ruling her life. No
matter how cruel she was to him these days, North still worried about her.
    “There’s nothing we can do now. We might as well head
to the judging,” said North.
    They’d both been avoiding Eva like the plague. They
fought to be the first one out of bed and out the door in the morning. North was
a fucking mess. It was nerve-wracking wondering if Eva regretted their night of
passionate confessions. Would she play it off? Hate them? Resent them? He felt
like a bastard for taking anything she’d offered. She was innocent, reacting to
the raw lust between them. Or was it really love?
    He wouldn’t be able to handle a rejection from Eva. It
would destroy Colt. After their dad walked away, his twin focused all those
feelings of abandonment on Eva Ford. She was his rock, and it seemed they both
needed her as much as air.
    “Maybe we should wait a while. I don’t think the
judges will be by until the afternoon,” said Colt.
    “We have to face her sooner or later.”
    “I don’t think I can. Last night I lost control. I
never should have given in like I did. She probably hates me.”
    North smirked. “She was offering, but you didn’t take,
Colt. She’ll know that.”
    His brother ran both hands through his mess of dirty-blond
hair. “This is crazy, you do realize that?”
    “Since when has our family ever been normal?”
    They walked along the path, careful not to speak too
loud. The event grounds were bustling with people, horses being walked by, and
vendors calling out their wares.
    “What about Mr. Ford?” asked Colt, his voice sober. “I don’t think I could take it if he shut me out.”
    “I love him, too,” said North. “But I also love Eva.”
    “I’m not as simple as love. Even if he approved, he’d
expect one of us, not both.”
    North didn’t want to think about