Love Thy Neighbor

Katie gazed across the open field to Ryan McDermott’s ranch. Without fail her insides plummeted just thinking about him.
They had a past, not a good past, but a past none the less. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t erase the scenes of that rainy afternoon they’d spent together.
As her mind wondered to that day the images played again in her mind. Just the name Ryan McDermott brought a jolting sensation tumbling through her.
She remembered every detail of that day as if it was yesterday. She’d been out riding one afternoon when a thunder storm came up without warning. The rains were torrential as jagged streaks of lightning hit the earth with frightening speed and thunder boomed overhead.
Katie remembered slapping the rump of her horse with her open hand urging him to go faster. The small cave in the cliff was the closest shelter she could think of at the time. Her home was way too far to try to make it before the heavens opened.
By the time she reached the trees around the entrance to the cave she was soaked. The wind howled around her head blowing her long hair into her eyes as she dismounted, secured the reins of her horse to a tree and sprinted for the safety of the cave.
Once inside, she was shocked to see she wasn’t alone. The cave was ablaze with the bright flames of a fire, its casting off shadows that danced across the dark rock walls. Turning, she jumped in alarm when she came face to face with Ryan McDermott.
There he stood, near the fire, butt naked. As she watched her mind began to register little things like the smell of burning leaves and the dank musky smell of the cave.
Straining she could still hear the rain pelting the rocks around the cave entrance. She began to shake, her mind finally acknowledging her drenched condition; dismissing her wandering thoughts she moved closer to the fire never letter her gaze move from the magnificent male specimen that stood before her.
In the background she still heard the heavy sound of rain beating down outside the entrance. Even though she was chilled to the bone, she realized it wasn’t the rain causing her reaction. It was the sight of Ryan that had her heart thundering in her chest.
Katie couldn’t stop starring at the most beautiful sight she’d ever witnessed, a naked bronzed body…a beautiful artistic rendition of the male in full form. She should have been embarrassed, but she wasn’t.