Cowboys & Bosses

by Piper Sullivan

  I grabbed her arm and pulled around the church, stopping her beside a large tree with plenty of shade. “I do know you, dammit! You love takeout and you hate to cook even though you do it well. You love old school soul and R&B, and you bite your bottom lip one second before you orgasm. You pick the olives from your salad and pizza but somehow love tapenade. I know that you love fiercely and protect even harder. I know that you love me and that it terrifies you.” She shook her head but I cupped her jaws to stop the movement, brushing my thumbs along her bottom lip. “It’s okay, it terrifies me too. I’ve never been in love before, especially not with a woman who hates my guts.”

  “Stop. I don’t hate you, Luke. I just don’t want to love you.”

  I scoffed. “And you think I want this? It feels terrible. I can’t stop thinking about you, can’t stop wanting you. I feel sick and I can’t eat or sleep, I don’t’ want to do shit other than drive by your place a thousand times just to make sure you’re all right.” Our lips met in a soft, gentle kiss. “I’m in love with you Talia and all I want is a chance to prove to you that I’m the guy you told Poppy I was.”

  “Shit, Maple?” I nodded and she groaned. “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t know either but I want to try. I have to try because I can’t think about living without you. I won’t.”

  “Luke.”

  “I love you Talia and I’m going to tell you every fucking day until you look me in the eyes and just believe it. I want you to see me, to connect with my gaze and know without a doubt that you are loved. That are you safe and protected and cared for deeply. Because you are.”

  Tears fell and she pressed her forehead to mine. “Luke, I love you too. I’m scared as hell and I tried to stay away from you, but I couldn’t.”

  I kissed her hard and fast because I could. Because nothing sounded sweeter than hearing her say she loved me. “Because I’m so damn irresistible?”

  “And modest,” she joked. “I really couldn’t resist you and now I don’t have to.” She kissed me then and it was everything a kiss should be, hot and sweet, long and drawn out, and it had lots of tongue. “But we need to go slow. I love you but I’m scared.”

  I smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her temple. “So you don’t want the ring in my pocket?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “That was a ring? And I thought you were just happy to see me.”

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around her as my heart beat at a rapid pace. It might not be the easiest path in the world but I knew Talia and I would be okay. She had sass and gumption, and I had her love. Together we could do anything and I had a feeling that we would.

  As soon as I could get my ring on her finger.

  * * *

  THE END

  Next is a preview from Accidentally Bound, one of my all time best selling Small Town Romances.

  Check out Trish & Mason’s story here!

  Preview:Accidentally Bound

  Mason

  Crosby and Kerry’s engagement party, no engagement rager, was off the hook.

  It started a few hours ago with an upscale gourmet dinner at one of those restaurants where the plates were more like art than food. But in all fairness, every bite had been delicious. Crosby’s band members were all in attendance, in various states of inebriation, which meant there were groupies galore. A few too many for my taste, and judging by the scowl she wore during the first half of the evening, too many for Kerry’s too.

  But once we all poured out of the reserved room in the back of the restaurant, we headed to a nightclub that only someone with Crosby’s star power could reserve for a whole evening. Sin Is In was as hot as the name itself, with two levels of dance floors complete with cages hanging from the ceiling, plus a patio entrance that led to a heated pool with colored lights. Perfect for the underwater shenanigans already taking place, and we’d only been here for an hour.

  “Any word from Trish?” Kerry slammed into my side in her effort to sidestep a pair of gyrating groupies who were putting on a show for the Hard Five drummer, Paddy.

  “I didn’t realize you invited her.” Based on the frown she sent my way, I guess I should have.

  She smacked my arm. “Of course I did, you jerk! She said she would try to make it, I thought for sure she’d show up.” Kerry’s pretty face twisted into a frown as she scanned the party again in search of Trish.

  I didn’t bother telling her that I wasn’t surprised at all that Trish didn’t show. She wasn’t much of a partier as far as I could tell, and partying with musicians seemed a bit too wild for her. This was definitely not a party for good girls. Crosby drank and smoked a lot of pot, but his bandmates and their hordes of women indulged in everything from coke to orgies, much of which was already happening, and the night had barely gotten started.

  “This might be too much for Trish.”

  “Judgmental, much?” Kerry glared at me, then shook her head in disgust before a shocked gasp left her mouth. “Damn!” I felt Kerry’s gaze on me, taking in my reaction to the woman in red. And I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to.

  Trish was hot. No, she was more than hot in a skintight red dress, she was goddamn breathtaking. The dress showed every dip and curve she tried to hide behind those little khaki and denim skirts and shapeless tops she usually wore. The kindergarten teacher clothes were gone, replaced by a sensual woman who knew her worth and dared any man to question it. The dress was low cut offering up more than an eyeful of creamy cleavage, and it stopped a few inches above her knees, making her legs look endless.

  My cock stood at attention, thinking about those legs wrapped around my waist. My neck, while I buried my tongue deep inside her wet little pussy. And the little details, the delicate chain around her ankle and the cuff on her arm, made a sexy little package that had my dick pressing uncomfortably against my zipper.

  She looked unsure as her gaze took in the party and the scantily clad women who showed off their bodies with ease. Trish found her smile when she spotted Kerry and waved. “What a great party,” she said breathlessly and wrapped Kerry in a hug. “Congratulations!”

  “Thanks, Trish. You look…super fuckin’ hot in that dress, girl!”

  She blushed prettily and, yep, my cock grew even harder in my pants. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure what to wear, but it looks like I made a good choice,” she said, once again looking around at all the X-rated fun happening poolside.

  “Who knew you’d clean up so well?”

  Kerry slugged my arm. Hard. “Don’t be such an asshole, Mase!”

  “He can’t help it,” Trish told her with a sad smile. “I think I’ll go find a drink.” She barely looked my way before sashaying off, oblivious to all the male eyes taking in those traffic-stopping curves.

  “What is your problem?” The anger in Kerry’s tone was real. “Why are you being such a jerk to her?”

  “It’s fun.” I shrugged and hid my guilt inside another glass of scotch. Trish looked hot, too hot tonight, and I hadn’t been able to resist. But the hurt in her eyes wasn’t what I wanted.

  “You’re an asshole,” she said once again and stormed off in search of her fiancé.

  I was an asshole and I owed Trish an apology, which she would get. Later. When I had more booze in me. Until then I found a spot near the bar so I could watch to see how the good girl partied. At first, Trish did exactly what I thought she would, nursed a drink by herself. But soon the sharks smelled blood in the water and they circled, flirting with her and offering her drinks. Making her smile. And worse, making her laugh, but it wasn’t that polite fake laugh she used with her customers and the old biddies in town. No, this was a loud laugh, deep and husky. The laugh of a woman who knew how to have a good time.

  Eventually a few bold ones asked her to dance, and I grinned in anticipation of the inevitable rejection. But once again Trish shocked the shit out of me and accepted dance after dance, shaking her fine ass.

  I wanted to intervene when Paddy pulled her too close, but she grip
ped his upper arms and that sexy smile never left her face. She was enjoying it. Enjoying him. With shaggy silver hair and a perma-tan, he wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good looking dude, but Trish was enthralled by him.

  Fucking celebrities.

  “It’s a fucking party, man. At least pretend like you’re having a good time.” Crosby snuck up on me and smacked my back. “I have a rep to protect.”

  I snorted at that, my gaze still trained on Trish. “Your rep was shot the minute you became a one-woman man.”

  “Worth it.” His gaze followed mine, and a low laugh escaped. “Maybe you’re not too far off, my friend. You can’t seem to take your eyes off the pretty little baker.”

  I snorted. “Just making sure she’s all right.”

  “Seems to be having a good time,” he said with amusement ringing in his voice. “Unlike you.”

  After her third dance with Paddy, Trish kissed his cheek and gave him a long hug before waving him off and heading back inside. Probably going back to her room to read. “I’m having fun,” I told him, clearly distracted.

  “Maybe. But why don’t you go make sure she makes it to her room safely.”

  My feet were already moving before Crosby had finished speaking. I kept my distance, curious to see what she would do, where she would be. “Hey, Mase. Where ya been?”

  I looked down at the busty redhead I’d shared a few nights of fun with more than a few years back and smiled. “Hey Cindi. I’ve been around, but I have to go right now.” My gaze scanned the dark club interior in search of the red dress, but Trish had disappeared.

  “I’m in room 1706,” she whispered in my ear, pressing big fake tits against me, which sadly had no affect since my cock had someone else on the brain.

  By the time I made it out of the club, Trish was gone. She could have already been in one of the elevator cars, but several people still lingered and looked like they’d been waiting awhile, so I turned left and caught a flash of red. There she was, perched on a stool inside the hotel bar. Like a cliché.

  Slowly, I made my way over. Her legs were crossed with one elbow leaning against the bar, a dirty martini in a chilled glass in front of her. Looking like a wet dream from a long-ago time.

  “Hey.” I hated the way she tensed at the sound of my voice. “I’m really sorry, Trish. I can’t seem to stop being an ass around you.”

  She took her time responding, to the point I thought she might ignore me the way she’d done on the plane. Finally, she turned, big blue eyes a little glassy from the booze.

  “Yeah well, you don’t try all that hard.”

  “It’s true,” I admitted. “But it’s only because you look so cute when you’re pissed off.”

  “Cute,” she snorted, repeating the word like I’d called her ugly. “Another, please.” She waved the bartender down and motioned to her glass.

  “Maybe you want to slow down on the drinks, Cupcake.”

  She growled at me. Actually growled, and, sick fuck that I am, my cock grew hard all over again. “I may be small Mason, but I am an adult and I will decide when I’ve had enough.”

  “See, so hot when you get all angry.”

  Her lips twitched and I knew she was feeling a little tipsy. Just like me. “Cute, not hot. Remember?”

  “Cute, definitely, but in that dress Cupcake, cute goes up to hot as fuck.” I leaned in close enough to see the threads of silver in her blue eyes. “Hot as fuck,” I said again for emphasis.

  “Careful Mason, I might think you actually like me.” She knocked back the rest of her drink like a champ and shoved away from the bar, legs wobbling just a little when she stood. Enough for me to grab hold of her waist to steady her. “I’m fine,” she insisted and tried to pull out of my grasp.

  “That’s the problem, Trish. I do like you.”

  She scoffed and straightened herself before sauntering away in fuck me stilettos. “Don’t do me any favors, okay?”

  Instead of arguing, I stayed by her side as she walked across the lobby and pushed the elevator button. She stepped inside the shiny brass car and pressed the number to her floor. My floor.

  Our floor. “I don’t need an escort, Mason.” She glared up at me, pulse beating faster when I stepped into her space. Her tongue slicked across her lips, leaving a streak of moisture that made me want to do the same. “It must be the lack of ponytail,” she mused.

  I turned to face her, my body pressing her into the corner of the elevator and I ran a hand through her silky blond waves, pulling a few strands around her shoulders. My gaze focused on the one lock that curled into a ‘s’ between her cleavage. That sexy little gasp she let out caught my attention. The pounding pulse in her throat, the way her blue eyes turned the color of the night sky, it was the perfect combination for me to do something wildly stupid. Before I could think better of it, my mouth crashed down on hers, shocking her.

  At first.

  Trish went stiff, but I knew it wouldn’t last, not when my tongue slicked back and forth across the crease of her mouth. Not when I nibbled her bottom lip and pulled another gasp from her that allowed me to slip inside her hot, wet mouth. Tasting faintly of juniper berry and something sweet that I just knew was all Trish, she let her tongue join the party. It was a tentative taste at first, but then she sucked on my tongue and I pushed against her, deepening the kiss, not giving a damn that we were in an elevator that could stop at any time.

  Then she wrapped her arms around me and moaned, pressed those gorgeous tits right up against me and I was lost. Who knew good girls kissed like sin? She pulled back too soon, wearing a tipsy grin, eyes near black with desire.

  “That was nice.”

  “Nice?” That kiss was about ten miles south of nice, and she knew it. “If that’s what you call a nice kiss, I want a not-so nice kiss.”

  She laughed and stepped off the elevator, leaving me to follow. After that kiss and the way the dress hugged her ass, how could I do anything but follow? “I’ll bet you do.”

  “I do,” I insisted, catching up with her just before she leaned against her door. “You do too.”

  She shrugged, and dug her room keycard from her cleavage with a grin. “Maybe I do, but the difference is that I have an excellent imagination.” The green light flashed on her door and she pushed it open triumphantly. “See you in the morning, Mason.”

  That’s what her words said, but she should have locked the door behind her. That would have been the safe thing. The good girl thing to do. Being the nice guy that I am, I locked the door behind me and found her kicking off her shoes in the living room. “I’ll get that zipper for you.”

  She shrieked and turned with wide, shocked eyes. “What in the hell are you doing in my room?”

  “You left the door open in obvious invitation.”

  She snorted and crossed her arms, drawing my attention to that swell of cleavage. “Right, because you’re so hot I must want to sleep with you?”

  I dropped down on the sofa in her one-bedroom suite, crossing my ankle at the knee. “Who said anything about sleep, Cupcake?”

  She growled and went to the bar, pulling out a small bottle of Patron. “Is that what this is, your ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ moment?”

  I shrugged. “If that’s how you want it to be, but honestly I just want to see what your not-so nice kiss tastes like.” My words got to her. She sucked in a breath and licked her lips like she was searching for a taste of our last kiss.

  “One kiss and then you’ll leave?”

  Holy shit, was she for real? My senses instantly went into overdrive. But I had to play this cool, not scare her away. “If that’s what you want, but I have to warn you Cupcake, you won’t want me to.”

  She chuckled, and the sound was husky, thick like honey and shot straight to my cock. “We’ll see, won’t we?” I nodded, but I couldn’t speak when she walked towards me, hips swinging in an erotic beat that matched my pulse. Trish hiked up her skirt and climbed onto my lap with a smile before sh
e cupped my face.

  “Kiss me, Cupcake.”

  She swallowed my groan and licked my lips, starting the kiss right at ten. The wet heat between her thighs scorched me through my jeans and I growled and pulled her closer until she gasped. That gasp tore something primal, something hot inside of me, and I found the zipper on the side of her dress and tugged it down slowly, waiting for her to stop me.

  But she was oblivious as she fucked my mouth while she used my body to push her closer to climax.

  “Mason, we can’t…”

  “We don’t have to,” I told her as I nibbled down her neck and sucked my way across the soft skin of her collarbone, doing my best to convince her otherwise. “Whatever you want,” I told her and flexed my hips so she felt me between her thighs. Those dark blue eyes stared at me for so long I was sure she would slide off my lap and kick me out.

  Instead she slammed her lips to mine again, continuing to grind against me for all she was worth. Moaning and panting against me, she kissed me like I had never been kissed before. It wasn’t elegant or seasoned, but it was still hot as fuck, especially the way she stopped to suck on my tongue or nibble my bottom lip. My hands went to her ass, holding her right where I needed her until she tore her lips from mine on a moan.

  I took advantage of the break to tug on the hem of her dress until it was on the couch beside us. “Fucking hell, Cupcake.” Red lace cupped her tits, showing off the barest hints of nipple that made my mouth water. She grinned and reached between her breasts to pop the clasp, revealing perfect creamy tits with big, pink nipples. Hard pink nipples. I wrapped my mouth around one and sucked, hard, smiling at the sounds she made and the way her hips pressed against me.

  “Mason,” she groaned and arched her back, feeding those perfect nipples to me.

  I accepted them, licking and sucking, back and forth. Biting the tip and making her hiss out a breath. Yeah, she was fucking feeling it. Her tits were magnificent, but I needed more. I stood and laid her down on the sofa, taking in the sight of good girl Trish in nothing but a tiny scrap of red lace, wondering if she was completely shaved or if she had one of those landing strips. Maybe even a full bush. “You’re right, Cupcake. You are not cute. You,” I told her and knelt before her, “are stunning.”