The Ranch Hand and the Single Dad: A Gay MM Cowboy Romance (Farthingdale Ranch Book 3) by Jackie North

Author:Jackie North [North, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Rain Press
Published: 2021-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

18

Austin

At the other end of the porch from Austin, looking like he was about to head off into the trees and go back to his room, was Clay. He was without his straw cowboy hat for once, and had spruced himself up. Even from this distance, Austin could see his curved smile, his freshly shaved face. Could imagine he smelled the cologne that Clay might have put on, evocative as it warmed against his skin—

These were not new thoughts, they weren’t. But they were coming all at once, like a spiral of energy pushing into him, creating more thoughts and more ideas, all of which were about Clay.

Had he liked the painting Austin had given him? Or was he embarrassed by Austin’s lack of talent? Would Clay figure out how much courage it had taken Austin to try his hand at painting another human being?

Would he pick someone to dance with and make his way across the dance floor so Austin could see him in action up close? Maybe Clay would take a break from dancing and he and Austin could grab a bottle of water from the cooler by the porch and—and then what? What did one do in these situations? He’d forgotten, if he ever even knew, and a hardy sense of nerves began to squash all the expectations that had been rising in him like bubbles.

Then Clay saw him and, in that brief second, before Clay figured Austin could see him, he saw Clay wasn’t smiling. The normal happy-go-lucky mien was gone and in its place was something withdrawn and quiet. Clay wasn’t dancing, he was merely watching.

Clay raised his hand to catch Leland’s eye, perhaps so he could then assume he’d been counted on the roster as having attended the dance. Leland waved back. Then, dipping one shoulder, Clay began to slide into the trees.

Without thought, Austin raced along the edge of the dance floor just as the band began to play something that might have been Stand By Your Man or might have been something far more obscure. Either way, Clay, all shaved and sweet, was headed back to his room like the last kid to be selected for a side of dodgeball.

Which wasn’t right. Clay worked too hard not to have at least a little fun and besides—Austin had a brief flash in his head of him and Clay dancing together. Dancing was a prelude to kissing and kissing was a prelude to everything else, much of which felt like a mystery to him at that very moment, when he stepped into the shadowy dusk of the trees.

“Clay, wait.” Austin reached out and tugged on Clay’s sleeve, only to have the sleeve tugged out of his grasp as Clay turned around. “Are you not staying for the dance?”

“Well, Leland saw me there, so—” Clay looked up at him, shadows of branches flitting across his face, the fairy lights flickering in his blue eyes. “And I’m not much good. It’s not as critical that staff attend, now that our numbers are going up.

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