Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers)

attention, but the only thing keeping his attention was knowing that Gemma was right across the hall from him. After they got back to Miss Lily’s yesterday, she’d locked herself up for the rest of the day and night. This morning when Miss Lily had brought her a breakfast tray, Gemma had told her that she didn’t want to be bothered. When Cy heard that, he called Ahmed who sent a guy to watch her while he spent the day at the farm. He cleared brush, cut fence boards, and helped Pierce herd some cattle with the help of Cade’s dog, Justin, and Miles’s dog, Bill.
    How could Cade let his dog run around with that bow? It was embarrassing. This week it was purple with white polka dots.
    “You wouldn’t wear that, would you?” Cy asked Fred who was curled up in his arms. Fred looked up and stuck out his little pink tongue. “Exactly. You’re a man’s dog, aren’t you?” Fred gave a little bark and then rested his head on his tiny feet.
    “You’re one to talk! You’re holding a frou-frou dog, for crying out loud, and you’re making fun of Justin?” Pierce had teased.
    Cy had taken Fred with him to the farm where he had enjoyed running through the fields and leaping through the tall grass. When Pierce had asked for help, he hadn’t really known what to do with Fred. He dug around the barn and found a backpack that Fred jumped into happily. Cy put it on and he and Fred enjoyed the horseback ride, although Cy was a little worried that Fred was starting to get a big head. He barked as if he were giving orders to Justin and Bill as they moved the herd.
    The sportscast resumed and Cy looked at the clock. Another hour had gone by. It was eleven at night and he had been cut off for as long as he could stand. It was time to see Gemma again. And maybe, just maybe, he would get to see a whole lot of Gemma again. She was mesmerizing. He’d never been with a woman so passionate and free in bed before. He couldn’t wait to find out what new things they’d try tonight. With a cocky grin, Cy opened the door to the hall.
     
    Gemma rolled her neck from side to side to ease the cramping. She had gotten about four hours of sleep last night and was exhausted. While she had translated her sister’s notebooks, there were still key questions to be answered.  The trouble was she just didn’t know how to answer them.
    Gia had left clues she was sure made sense to her sister but ran Gemma in circles. She didn’t know who the contacts were that Gia referred to only by code names. After finally giving up, Gemma had turned to the flash drive only to meet a dead end there, too.
    It didn’t help that every five minutes her thoughts ran back to Cy. The way he treated her as delicate china, always opening doors, helping her through crowded rooms, protecting her with his life during jailhouse riots. It wasn’t something the average woman could say. However, she now totally understood her friends’ fascinations with cowboys. The way his jeans fit, the way he looked wearing his cowboy hat, and the pure chivalry had her thinking relationship thoughts she wasn’t sure he wanted to hear.
    It was also hard to stop thinking about him with the bed right there next to her. No matter where she went in the room, as soon as she turned around she saw the bed and her mind instantly went to the other night and the following morning. Cy had proven that sometimes dreams can’t live up to real life. She had never been so secure with someone before, and it left her both slightly embarrassed and wanting more at the same time. She couldn’t believe she’d done that thing she’d only read about in magazines. She really should write them and tell them it worked. But then she would also think about the pictures sent to his phone and an imaginary bucket of ice water would hit her. Women were trying to claw their way into his bed and she not only fell into it, she literally leapt into it after a few nice words from him.
    Stop thinking of it , Gemma scolded herself. She needed to focus on what was before her. The bed was literally right before her. Oh God, she was thinking about it again. Gemma turned and banged her head on the desk. Focus , she told herself as she tried to banish the image of Cy before her with his hands and mouth and . . . Dammit . Gemma jumped up from where she was sitting and headed straight for the windows. She needed air to clear her head.
     
    Cy opened his door in eager anticipation and didn’t see the white-haired woman