Ride With Me: A Possessive Cowboy Romance

by Joanna Blake

I had a sneaking suspicion he was there to watch me, too.

  Tom had a way of hanging around whenever we came to the club. He was always nice. Almost too nice. Like the way he held your hand a few seconds too long when he shook it.

  To be honest, he made my skin crawl.

  Male attention was part of the gig though. I knew it. So I always let loose when I performed, letting out all the pent up sexual energy ride out and over the audience.

  Lord knows, I had a lot of pent up energy.

  Normally I was utterly focused on the music. But tonight I was distracted. Restless. In fact I’d been like that all week. Ever since Jake Delancey had cornered me in the alleyway. That was his name. I’d heard all about him since learning it. He was bad news. Very bad news, considering my reaction to him.

  He'd been about to kiss me. I knew it. And damn if I hadn't wanted him too.

  Just for a moment. But it was a moment of pure weakness. A moment I’d been revisiting non-stop for days now.

  What the hell had gotten into me? He was a bad boy. And worse than that, he was rich. It was a horrible combination. But I was reacting to him all the same.

  I closed my eyes and let it rip. The song was an upbeat take on an old standard. I loved singing it. But all I could see when I closed my eyes were his bright blue ones staring back at me.

  Damn it all to hell and back again!

  I finished the song and stalked off stage without a word. I needed to take a break. I had to focus on the task at hand. I was here to sing, dammit! And to be dreaming about Jake Delancey of all people was foolish in the extreme.

  Oh yeah, I’d heard all about him this week. Jake Delancey was back in town. He was the talk of the club. The town too. And with good reason.

  He was born rich but a rebel, choosing to eschew all his family wealth and trappings. Shirl had told me that he was persona non grata at the Country Club and everywhere polite company met. People put up with him for his father's sake. Harrison Delancey was a big deal in this town. The whole family was. Except the youngest son.

  Jake Delancey was bad news. Everyone said so. I knew it my gut.

  But not for the reasons that everyone else thought he was dangerous. Oh no, this was a very specific kind of danger. To me.

  And that didn't even begin to cover what I’d heard about the women he'd dated.

  Apparently, Jake Delancey went through women like tissue paper. Rich, poor, it didn't matter. The only thing they had in common were good looks. That and the fact that they all ended up falling in love with him.

  Damn if it wasn't easy to see why.

  Jake was exceptionally handsome. His symmetrical face, the straight nose and strong jaw, the wavy sandy brown hair that curled just so over his forehead.

  Never mind those bright blue eyes. The damn things looked radioactive. But in a good way.

  And that wasn't even talking about his body. He was tall but not too tall. Built but not too built. Slim but not too slim.

  In short, Jake Delancey was perfect.

  Cruelly and impossibly perfect.

  Impossible to resist.

  Which was bad news for me because he seemed to have taken a shine to me. More than a shine. I just knew I hadn't seen the last of him. The way he'd looked at me had sent shivers down my spine… and elsewhere.

  It had been a long time since I felt anything even close to that.

  "There you are."

  I turned to see Tom watching me smoke and pace. He looked like a cat watching a mouse. I did my best to hide my annoyance. We needed him. We needed the gig.

  Did he have to skulk about when I was just trying to be alone?

  "Hey."

  "Are you going to do another song? Because I thought we could get a drink or a bite to eat after."

  I shook my head and tossed my smoke to the ground.

  "I have to be at work at 6 am. I'm working a double."

  He smiled but it didn't quite meet his eyes. It wasn’t that he was ugly. He wasn’t, not by any stretch of the imagination. Tom was attractive in an overly groomed way. The sort of guy girls called a metrosexual. His eyes were dark and piercing, his suit well cut, his straight teeth a shining bright white. It was obvious that he worked out.

  He had to, to achieve that over grown muscle head look. But he just didn't do it for me. I wished he did, since I knew he could basically make or break my career in the Nashville scene. His club was the launching pad for many huge music careers.

  Didn’t matter though. Even if he could get me a spot on the charts overnight. I wasn't cheap and I wasn't for sale.

  Hopefully he would understand that I wasn't going to sleep with him just to get ahead.

  With the assessing way he was looking at me, it wasn't likely.

  I smiled but there was a cold feeling in the pit of my belly.

  My mother taught me to always listen to my gut. Right now it was practically screaming at me.

  Look out.

  Chapter Seven

  Jake

  It had been a week. A whole week of this bullshit. I could feel the walls closing in on me, all the time. The only time I felt free was when I was riding.

  I climbed onto my bike, eager to get as far from home as possible. I was avoiding my brothers again. Every damn day either Daniel or Jackson had cornered me, trying to talk me into staying on. Being part of the horse breeding business again.

  Permanently.

  I wanted to be here for the old man. I wanted to help my brothers. Even to agree to stay on for a time until the will because a non issue. But every instinct I had was telling me to run. Not to get boxed in. Not to settle. Not to be tamed.

  The estate was a cage to me, and I was like a wild animal clawing to get out.

  It's not like there wasn't room for all four of us in the house. The four of us, the staff, even dad’s nurses. There was room for dozen more people, truth be told. The mansion was almost a hundred and fifty years old and enormous. It was built to impress and intimidate and it did both tasks admirably. There were fifteen bedrooms, sitting rooms, ten baths, an enormous kitchen, galley, bar room, study, library, billiard room, conservatory, dining room, living room and drawing room.

  Yes, we had one room just for drinking and another one just for playing pool.

  That didn’t even cover the stables, which encompassed two large buildings, including a training facility where riders came for lessons and to stable their horses. Then there was the garage with servants’ quarters above it, a greenhouse and numerous storage sheds. The largest shed was bigger and better equipped than most people's houses.

  We sure as shit weren't going to get into each other’s hair. Hell, if I skipped meals the only place I saw them was at the damned liquor cabinet. And none of us liked to talk when we were imbibing. To a southern man, drinking was serious business.

  But it wasn’t all bad here.

  In some ways, it might be time to take a break from running. Try something different for a change. And I missed working with the animals. Daniel was telling the truth when he said I was a natural with difficult animals. I was. And they did something for me, too. Calmed me somehow. Gave me a purpose.

  But I couldn't think with my big brothers breathing down my neck all the damn time. I’d dutifully gone to see my father each day before drinking myself into oblivion. Today was my first sober day in a week.

  I needed to clear my head. A good ride would do that. Or a good fuck.

  Or both.

  Immediately that hot little waitress from the club sprang to mind. I felt my groin tighten at the thought of her. All week I’d been ready to pop, just thinking about her. I felt like a goddamn teenager in the throws of puppy love. I didn’t like feeling this way. But it didn’t matter. She had her hooks in me and she didn’t even know it.

  I started the bike and pulled out into the road, not intending to ride anywhere in particular. I roamed the back roads, the wind at my back. The sky was starting to get dark when I recognized the stretch of road I was on. I smil
ed grimly as I pulled into the back entrance of the Country Club.

  I almost laughed out loud. I’d been riding aimlessly for hours. Somehow I’d ended up here.

  I knew why.

  I was looking for her, of course. Even though she hadn’t given me the slightest bit of encouragement. She’d practically hissed at me like an alley cat when I tried to joke with her last time we’d spoken.

  I just couldn't seem to stay away.

  I parked my bike and waited outside the service entrance far from the overhead lights. I knew I would catch her out here eventually. If she was working, sooner or later she'd sneak out for a smoke.

  Twenty minutes later my prayers were answered.

  I watched from the shadows as she looked around nervously, then headed for a copse of trees on the far side of the lot. Right near where I was parked.

  I smirked as she walked gracefully across the parking lot. Having no clue what she was walking towards. Like a deer walking right towards the hunter.

  Let the games begin.

  Chapter Eight

  Elle

  "You really are a bad girl, aren't you?"

  I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the husky voice coming from the shadows behind me. It was Jake Delancey. He was here, lurking in the bushes. Naturally. I turned and saw him, trying to act like he hadn’t been in my every thought for the entire week. He was leaning against a motorcycle at the ass end of the parking lot.

  Sneaky bastard.

  Sneaky gorgeous bastard, I thought, admiring the way his hair curled over his forehead and the way his long legs were encased in rugged looking jeans. A roughed up leather jacket covered his broad shoulders with a black tee barely visible underneath. It was a far cry from his fancy clothes the other night. I realized I liked him better this way.

  He looked as dangerous as he was.

  "What are you doing here then? Trying to scare people to death?"

  "Waiting for you."

  I stopped short, having no idea what to say to that. I had suspected as much. But I hadn't really thought he'd come out and say it. My stomach did a flip flop as butterflies seem to dive around inside me.

  I glanced around to make sure no one was watching and lit my smoke. That's what I’d come out here to do anyway, wasn't it? I walked behind the bushes, doing my best to ignore him.

  He trailed behind me, but he didn’t try and grab me. He causally leaned against a tree trunk. The man was always leaning, looking utterly relaxed. And yet somehow like he could jump into action at a moment’s notice. Part of me wished he would walk across the clearing and kiss me senseless. I tossed my head, glaring at him. He grinned at me insolently, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. He was incorrigible! He was a bad boy through and through.

  But dear God, did he have to look like James Dean?

  It really wasn't fair. He was far too tempting. He was making puppy dog eyes at me so I sighed and held out a smoke.

  "I don't smoke."

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  "So what do you want, then?"

  His grin got even wider and he raised his eyebrows, leaving me with no doubt about what he was after.

  "You're out of your mind if you think I would—"

  "Would what?"

  He was laughing at me now. I stomped my foot in annoyance. I wasn't going to say it. He knew I wouldn't say it. That's why he was laughing so damn hard.

  "You nearly cost me my job!"

  He sobered immediately.

  "Would that really be so bad?"

  "Yes! It would! Not all of us are born with a silver spoon in our mouths, you know."

  He pushed back from the tree. Now he was the one who looked annoyed. No— he looked angry. And determined.

  "I think you could do a little better than this place. Serving a bunch of rich assholes."

  I raised my chin, instantly defensive.

  "That's pretty funny coming from you, Mr. Rich Arsehole.”

  Now he was laughing again.

  “Arsehole?”

  “Shut up. Besides, I'm only working here until my papers come in!"

  "Well, have they?"

  Tears stung my eyes. Why should I care what he thought?

  "No. There was a mix up and…” I trailed off, feeling embarrassed. Feeling worthless.

  He grabbed my arm and stared hard into my eyes.

  "I'm just teasing you, Elle. I was never good with paperwork either."

  I blinked up at him as he slowly lowered his head towards mine. He was going to kiss me. Oh dear Jesus. I had to put a stop to this. As quickly as possible. But I felt strangely reluctant to do it… his lips found mine then, and all thought stopped.

  His lips firm and supple. Warm. I felt goosebumps break out on my arms.

  A man shouldn't have lips that soft.

  I shook myself mentally and pushed against his chest.

  "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

  "I'm kissing you. DOn’t make me stop.”

  The raw need in his voice made the breath catch in my throat. But I shook off the bewildering feelings he was conjuring up inside me. I glared at him instead.

  “I told you to let me go!”

  Are you sure?” He asked, with raised eyebrows.

  “Yes, I am damned well sure!”

  “Well, if you insis—"

  He let me go abruptly and I fell backwards against the shrubs. And kept falling. I let out a surprised sound as I fell.

  "Oh!"

  He caught me just before I hit the ground. Unfortunately the momentum was too much and we both tumbled into the bushes. He landed on top of me, his big warm body pressing into mine intimately.

  Very intimately.

  Oh dear Jesus.

  Jake Delancey was hard.

  Jake Delancey was hard down there.

  He grinned down at me unrepentantly, not the least bit concerned about his massive erection. And it was massive. Abnormally so.

  I couldn’t do anything but stare up at him, in utter shock.

  Shock… with a touch of curiosity. A warm feeling spread through me. This was what sex was all about. Getting close to a gorgeous man like him.

  Hell and damnation. It was more than a touch. I was curious as hell. More than I should be, certainly. I was a business woman. I needed to focus on my career. Not be rolling around in the bushes with some rich bad boy who was used to getting whatever he wanted!

  My mother would not be proud of me in that moment.

  He was going to kiss me again. I wanted him to. But I shouldn't let him… his lips met mine and I melted despite my many, many misgivings. All thoughts of annoyance gone as he slanted his lips over mine, gently urging my lips to part. The moment they did his tongue dipped inside playfully, teasingly stroking against mine until I was tingling all over.

  His hand shifted upward, to circle my breast and—

  Bright light flashed over us where we lay on the ground and I squinted, seeing a pair of loafers not far away.

  "Miss Gavin! You will leave the premises at once! Your employment is immediately terminated!"

  Oh no.

  OH NO.

  Mr. Peabody was standing three feet away from us with a flashlight in his hand.

  Chapter Nine

  Jake

  I would have laughed at the expression on Elle's face if it hadn't been such a serious situation. In fact, I almost did laugh. Just before I saw her eyes fill with tears.

  I cursed under my breath. This was the worst possible outcome. I had just royally screwed myself.

  I’d gotten the girl fired. Not just any girl either. The girl I was rapidly becoming obsessed with getting into bed.

  Damn it all to hell.

  There was no way she was going to sleep with me now.

  I wasn't sure which one of us was more distraught in that moment. Her or me. It was a close call, certainly.

  I was debating whether or not I should go after Mr. Peabody or try and kiss her again. Both seemed equally fr
uitless. I licked my lips and decided to go for the second option. I tried to look remorseful as I lowered my head to her delectable lips one more time.

  She smacked my shoulder. Hard.

  Damn, but the girl could throw a hit!

  "Get. Off. Of. Me."

  I eased back regretfully. She'd felt so good in my arms, even squashed underneath me in the bushes. But she looked angrier than a wild cat and just as dangerous. I stood up and offered her a hand. She took it, but not without snarling at me as I pulled her up.

  "Great. Now I'm back to eating crackers for dinner."

  My stomach dropped. Was she really that destitute? A gorgeous girl like her must have some sort of money to look that good, right?

  But maybe not…

  I took a closer look. She wasn't wearing more than a lick of makeup, and her hair was simply styled. No jewelry other than a simple gold cross at her throat… I started to think I was a fool. The girl was naturally beautiful, to say the least, but that didn't mean she wasn't in a tight spot.

  I glanced down at her shoes and my stomach dropped. They were ancient looking. Like not even from this decade. The pointy oxfords looked beat up. One of them was held together with duct tape.

  Goddamn it, Jake, what have you done?

  "Don't look at me like that."

  "Like what?"

  She straighten up and brushed the leaves off of her. I couldn’t help but admire her gorgeous figure. And the way she was holding it together. The girl had grit.

  "I don't want your damn pity. I'll figure something out. I always do.”

  She’d caught my look. She was smart as a tack on top of being gorgeous, I realized. That was not necessarily a good thing.

  It sure as shit made her harder to get into bed.

  "I'm sorry Elle. I didn't mean to—"

  She brushed herself off and started walking past me down the driveway out of the country club. I watched her, my eyes on the elegant sway of her back. Then I realized she was heading for the street on foot.

  Jesus, didn't she even have a car? Something twisted inside me. I’d really hurt someone. Someone I had nothing but admirations for. Admiration and off-the-charts lust. I was starting to feel genuinely guilty, and not just because she’d just become much harder to fuck.