Cocky in a Cowboy Hat (Crossroads Book 3)

by Em Petrova

  Crouching next to him made her all the more aware of this attraction swelling in her by the day. At first, Aidan’s rugged good looks had caught her eye. But as the days passed, she grew to enjoy his company. He was different from her ex in all ways, and that was a good part of it. But mostly she felt at ease with him—with so much in common and working in close proximity to him, he’d become the friend she hadn’t had in a long time.

  “Here, you do the next one.” From under the shade of his hat, he eyed her.

  She took the wires from his hand, fingertips grazing warm, rough, dry skin. She tried not to suck in a breath in response, but her insides jittered.

  As she wound the wires together to create the electrical circuit, he nodded at her progress. “Yeah, now snip that one. That’s it. Good.”

  She looked up with a smile. “How long will it take to be electrified?”

  “Soon as the sun hits that panel, it will start to charge. Should be fully charged by evening.”

  “That’s fantastic.”

  He nodded. “Next for the water and to set those heavy gate posts. I think I’ll ask my cousin Kaoz for help with those.”

  She bristled. “Why can’t I help?”

  “Because they weigh a hell of a lot, and it’ll take two of us to manage it.”

  She twisted her lips, eyeing him. “I’m strong.”

  He looked her over. “You smell strong.”

  Her jaw dropped. Did she stink? She put on deodorant that morning, but she had been working in the hot sun all day. Her top clung to the sweat on her lower back and perspiration trickled down between her breasts to dampen her bra, but she didn’t smell herself.

  Reaching out, he stuck his index finger beneath her chin and closed her jaw. A huff of indignance escaped her as she jerked from his touch—his touch that left a lingering burning sensation where his finger had been.

  “I do not smell!”

  His crooked grin could do more than melt off a woman’s panties. It made Liberty want to lock her arms around him and shimmy up that big, broad body of his and see how sweaty they could get together.

  “You sure about that?” His teasing tone roused more interest in her.

  “Yes,” she said with some force.

  He outright laughed. “You’re right—you don’t smell.” He grabbed the rest of the unused wires and carried them to the truck parked not far off in the field. She watched him for a moment, intrigued by his long strides and the pull of denim across his ass. “You comin’?” he shouted over his shoulder at her.

  Not yet, but I want to. The dirty thought made her blink in shock. She hadn’t thought of herself as a sexual being in many months. Her battery operated boyfriend hadn’t seen the light of day in a long time, and she hadn’t let her fingers do the walking either.

  Being around Aidan Bellamy, sexy hot rancher extraordinaire, made her feel…awakened.

  She looked between him standing at the truck and the open spot where the gate would be. She jogged to catch up with him. When she reached the truck bed, he glanced her way.

  “I think I can help you set those heavy posts. We can use the front end loader to hold them upright in the holes instead of manhandling them.”

  His dark brow arched up and disappeared under that swath of hair that insisted on falling across his forehead. After studying her face for a heartbeat, he nodded. “Could work.”

  “I think it will.”

  He dragged a heavy tool box across the bed of the truck toward him, which sent a few posts for the fence toppling. She lunged forward to catch them from rolling out of the truck onto him just as he threw out an arm to stop the pile.

  She gasped. Trapped between the truck and his heavily muscled arm, she couldn’t think of a more precarious spot to be in with her boss—or one she wanted more.

  “Damn,” she heard him mutter almost inaudibly.

  Her backside crushed up against his hips, and he leaned over her, each of them holding the posts from rolling. She shifted.

  “Don’t. Move,” he grated out.

  A wave of dizzy excitement struck her. “Okay,” she said a bit breathlessly.

  Was it her imagination or was his mouth insanely close to her ear? The arm thrust across her body came in close contact to her side. If she moved even a little, her breast would brush against it.

  “Grab that wire so it’s not crushed when I let go, Liberty.”

  She reached for the roll and then it happened—her breast swayed into his arm. Her insides flamed. He issued a low groan.

  It wasn’t only her imagination, was it? The man wasn’t immune to her closeness either.

  “Go ahead and turn around. As soon as you’re out of the way, I’ll let go of the posts.” His gritty tone rushed across her ear.

  Suppressing a shiver, she did as he instructed. Clutching the wire, she inched around in a circle until her hips bumped his. God, could this precarious position get any damn hotter?

  Only if he kissed her.

  She tipped her face up. Their hat brims bumped because he was staring down at her too. For a slamming heartbeat, she studied his ice blue eyes. Her imagination might be playing tricks on her, but she swore she saw a spark of desire there.

  All at once, he released his hold on the pile of posts. They rumbled like an avalanche into the side of the bed, raising a clattering noise that also shook the truck.

  But Aidan slipped his arm up around her as a shield. “You could have gotten hurt.”

  “The posts were rolling and about to come out on you.”

  He didn’t move, even though he could. “You shouldn’t put yourself in harm’s way.”

  She searched his eyes. “Just helping out a friend.”

  Several seconds passed. Neither moved. Finally, he released her and stepped away. “We’ll head back for the front end loader. See if we can wrap up this project. If it doesn’t work or it’s not safe, I’ll call Kaoz.”

  Her heart tripped hard and fast. Whatever had just happened—had almost happened—made her wobbly as she moved to get in the truck. Besides the fact each of them seemed to be affected by the tight situation and touching when they never did before, she felt a newfound appreciation for Aidan. She’d offered her advice and a solution—and he took it. He listened to her and they were going to put the plan into action.

  That was no small thing to her, not after years of the total opposite. Even when Redding accepted her idea, he never gave her credit for it and passed it off as his own. But Aidan saw her differently—and she liked it almost as much as the feel of his body pressed to hers.

  * * * * *

  Aidan clamped his teeth together at the remembered feel of Liberty’s round ass snugged up against his groin. Christ, now he was growing hard again.

  He paced out of the barn, throwing looks at the property. What he needed was a good hard gallop or something to demo—anything to work off this sexual energy that seemed to be crippling him right this minute.

  He did have a nice-sized log out behind the barn to split for firewood. And when he finished that chore? He could move on to giving the stock tank a good scrubbing. So what if he had to do it in the dark? It might keep his mind off other things he could do in the dark.

  After a detour to the shed to grab an ax, he strode around the barn to start on the log. It’d fallen some weeks ago during a big storm, and the furthest he’d gotten was to drag it out here near the wood pile and chop it into foot-long pieces. It laid here ever since.

  “Now’s as good a time as any,” he muttered. He stacked a ten-inch diameter log on top of his chopping stump. He squared up to take a swing. When he brought the blade down in the center along an existing crack, the impact of the blow vibrated up into his shoulders. The wood didn’t split on the first try, as it often didn’t, and he worked his blade free, stood back and chopped again.

  Three strikes later, the wood split into two. He repeated the process to break each down into smaller sticks that could be used for a campfire or in the wood burne
r he didn’t often need in Georgia but might come in handy on a cold winter night.

  An image of Liberty cuddled up on the sofa next to him, wearing fuzzy socks and with a cup of cocoa in hand had him grunting on the next blow. Dammit, there must be an end to this attraction that had morphed into downright want.

  How would he ever continue working alongside her and keep a tight rein on his control? The woman was driving him crazier by the day—sometimes the hour—and he felt a pull on his boots, like he was about to swirl down a drain and give in to his urges.

  To kiss her. Touch her. Take her to his bed and love her like the woman needed to be loved.

  “Fuck.”

  “Fuck what?”

  He whirled. Jesus Christ, the dirty word coming off her sweet, plump lips almost had him tossing the ax aside and pounding his wood into her toned body.

  Without responding, he swung to the chopping block again. In quick succession, he split three more sticks. Liberty circled until she stood in his line of sight. Was she purposely taunting him?

  “Do you need something?” he ground out.

  “I heard the noise and thought I’d see what you’re doing. You use firewood?” She pushed her hat up enough so he could see her entire face without a single shadow playing across it.

  He grunted. “Sometimes.”

  “Like when?”

  He flattened her in his stare. “Like winter.”

  She eyed him right back. “Oh. Do you use it to heat the hot tub?”

  Must she bring up the topic of the hot tub? His balls ached enough without thinking of her bare naked in the swirling waters. “The house,” he answered, swinging again.

  She watched him for a long minute while he chopped faster and faster, but it only took him a few more sticks of wood to realize no amount of physical energy expended would ease the sexual energy that needed to go.

  “Can I give it a try?”

  He paused, closing and then opening his eyes. He straightened and held out the ax handle for her to take.

  Her eyes gleamed like warm toffee.

  “Have you ever chopped wood before?” he asked.

  “No. But how hard could it be?”

  With a shake of his head, he battled not to kiss that sass off her lips. “Hard if you’re not strong enough.”

  “Oh, I’m strong enough.”

  “Care to place a wager on that?” What made him challenge her?

  “Sure.” What made her accept?

  He stepped aside to watch her first attempt at a swing. The ax clearly weighed more than she first guessed, because partway through her swing, she stopped and repositioned her stance.

  “Square your hips.” Goddammit, stop looking at her hips.

  When she wiggled side to side, he squashed his molars together in an effort to restrain his groan.

  As she brought the ax head down onto the wood, her top tugged against her breasts, outlining them. The blade didn’t even penetrate the surface.

  Stop thinking about penetration.

  “Here, lemme show you.” He moved up behind her, and she froze.

  So much for beating down the sexual energy with hard work.

  He settled his hands on her hips. “Like this. Plant your feet. Yeah, that’s it.” He had to shut his eyes again to shove out the images of grinding his erection against her backside while he buried his lips against her throat.

  He released her hips and shifted her hold on the ax handle. Her breaths were coming faster, and his own breathing sounded like a freight train.

  After he stepped back, he nodded. “Okay, swing.”

  She stared at him for a thumping heartbeat and took the swing. Then again. And again. When the wood split into three pieces, she set the ax on the ground and let out a whoop of delight that brought a grin to his face.

  “It really isn’t hard, is it?” She set a new chunk onto the stump and took another try. After three more pieces fell to the ground, she sent him a look. “Do they always split into three?”

  “No, that was only luck. The way the wood’s naturally splitting.”

  That arch of her brow should have warned him for what she said next. “Since you already lost the last wager that I wasn’t strong enough—”

  “I never said that.”

  She continued, “I’ll bet that you can’t split the next one into three.”

  Dumb luck would need to be on his side, but he still said, “I’ll take that bet.”

  “What are the stakes?” She passed him the ax.

  “A week’s worth of dishes.”

  She opened her mouth to speak.

  “And running the vacuum.”

  She closed her jaw. After a moment, she said, “Fine.”

  He raised the ax but stopped with it poised over his head to look at her. “If I split this in three, you lose.”

  She slowly nodded.

  Just as he began to swing, she called out, “But you won’t win.”

  Using all his brute force, he slammed the blade into the center. A loud crack split the air, and the sticks of wood toppled to the ground. He issued a loud hoot of victory and stepped back with a grin.

  “It’s only luck,” she said with a sour face.

  “Did you want to get out of chores that bad?” He feigned a pout.

  She stomped her foot. “Yes, dammit.”

  He didn’t stop himself from laughing. She was too damn cute.

  “Tell ya what. If you split the next one three ways, I’ll do this week and next.”

  “You’re on!” Striding up to him, hand out, she had an extra sway of confidence to her hips.

  This time when he relinquished the ax to her and watched her position herself, he didn’t attempt to give her pointers.

  She started to raise the ax.

  “It won’t split three ways four outta four times.”

  “We’ll see, won’t we?” She wiggled her hot little ass, and he rubbed his jaw to keep himself from drooling.

  When she struck the surface and the wood split three ways, he dropped his head back and cussed at the sky.

  Her light, tinkling laughter swirled across his senses. She set the ax on the ground and brushed off her hands in an exaggerated manner. “Guess that means more time in the hot tub for me…since you’ll be doing all the house chores for two weeks.”

  She walked off holding up two fingers and leaving him more tortured than ever at the thought of her spending more time in the hot tub.

  * * * * *

  Liberty let out a moan as she sank against the seat of the hot tub. The jets were positioned perfectly to hit the sorest points on her spine, and she couldn’t think of a better ending to the day. When she finally purchased her own place, she planned to buy a hot tub for herself.

  She threw a look toward the sliding glass door. A warm yellow glow projected from the inside, and she half expected to see Aidan standing there watching her.

  He watched her a lot. She watched him back.

  She wanted the man, pure and simple. Damn if she shouldn’t run for the hills, though—she didn’t want or need a man in her life after the hell she’d been through—but each time she thought about leaving, her stomach fell hollow.

  It could be gas or indigestion. She hadn’t really been eating that well the past few weeks. But she knew it was neither of those things. She liked Aidan—as a man, a friend and she liked every square inch of his big, hard, insanely muscled and hot body. Part of her wished he’d join her outside tonight…after he stopped running the vacuum.

  She strained to hear the hum of the appliance, but he’d moved toward the bedrooms and she could no longer hear him outside. Just in case, she’d worn her bra and panties into the hot tub. The cotton would conceal at least some of her body in the event he did wander outdoors.

  To check, she hoisted her bottom half out of the water and looked down at her crotch. Oh crap. The blue cotton, while concealing the color of her pubic hair, had molded itself into the seam of her pussy in the most exposed and erot
ic of ways.

  She quickly dunked her body into the bubbling water. Well, she wouldn’t be climbing out while he was present.

  The massage jets worked their magic on her spine, leaving her relaxed and limp. After the long day of work, she let the world float by with each pop of a bubble on the surface.

  Closing her eyes, she tipped her head toward the dark sky. If she wasn’t careful, she could easily fall asleep in here and cook herself. She released a long, low moan of content, when she heard the swoosh of the door sliding open.

  As she jerked upright, she glanced around to see Aidan crossing the deck to her. Even in the dim light projecting from the house, she saw he wore no hat or boots. His outline appeared to be chiseled from oak or granite by some master carver.

  Again he dragged the lawn chair to the edge of the hot tub and dropped to it. “Nice night.” He didn’t look down at her.

  Why did that leave her feeling disappointed?

  “Very nice,” she answered.

  “We made good progress on the land today. That gate idea you had worked out better than I expected.”

  She twisted to look at him. “Are you surprised that a woman had a good idea?”

  He settled his gaze on her. “You’re putting words in my mouth, Liberty.” Why did he have to speak her name that way, all taffy soft and sweet, drawled out syllables?

  She sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Actually…” No, she couldn’t go there. Talking about her past with this man would add another dimension of intimacy she wasn’t prepared to delve into.

  He leaned forward, arms on knees. “What were you about to say?”

  She let her fingers ripple through the water. “Nothing important.”

  “Everything you say is important, Liberty. I know you struggle with confidence at times, but you don’t have to prove anything to me. I already know you’re more than capable of working on a ranch or whatever else you put your mind to.”

  Tears burned at the backs of her eyes. For a moment, speech evaded her, but he continued to stare at her as if waiting for a response.