All the air escaped Daisy’s lungs in a whoosh when the
cowboy collapsed on top of her body. She sucked in air and
pushed at the weight, but her arms were pinned. She opened
her eyes to see a head full of dark hair and felt the sharp
bone of his nose pressing into her left breast. He raised
his head and looked over at her, his face only inches from
hers, his eyes zeroing in on her lips.
Hot damn! That’s one sexy face, they both thought at
the same time.
She shut her eyes and started to lean in for the kiss, then
reality hit. She had fallen flat on her back on the floor of
the Honky Tonk beer joint and taken the nearest cowboy down
with her. She popped her eyes wide open and wriggled back
away from the sexiest gray eyes she’d ever seen.
Oh, shit, who saw us? Daisy looked up to find
everyone staring down at them, the cowboy’s body still
touching her from breast to toe, even though he had rolled
to one side. The blush that filled her cheeks had nothing to
do with afterglow.
The joint was as quiet as a tomb. It was a hell of a time
for the jukebox to go silent.
“You all right?” Tinker, the bouncer, asked. He was hovering
over the two of them, worry etched in his face as he bent to
touch her shoulder.
“I’m fine. Make sure he is too,” she panted.
He’d seen the girl slip in the same slick puddle of spilled
beer and grab for him.
Daisy forced a smile.
Tinker held out a hand and in one swift movement the cowboy
was on his feet.
Tinker picked up Daisy carefully and set her on a barstool.
“You sure you’re all right?”
“My dignity is in tatters and I might have a bruise or two,
but I’ll live,” she said.
“I’d better get back to the door. Motion if you need me,”
Tinker said.
She nodded and raised her voice to the customers, who were
still watching the whole scenario as if it were an X-rated
movie. “I’m fine, everyone. I promise. Get on back to having
a good time.”
Someone plugged coins into the jukebox and George Strait’s
song “River of
Love” filled the
place. Several people started a line dance and by the time
the song ended everything was back to normal.
All except Daisy’s heart. It still raced.
She looked at the cowboy. He was just as sexy sitting on the
barstool as he’d been lying on top of her. “Sorry about
that. I hope you don’t have anything broken.”
The cowboy barely nodded. “Just a little stunned. Stupid
things like that happen so fast it’s like it happened to
someone else. Might have a bruise—but you broke my
fall.”
Daisy forced a smile.
“Guess we stepped in that beer at the same time.
