She shook her head. “No, I’m single.”
“So, why can’t we go out on a date? Are you afraid that you won’t be able to keep your hands off my body?” he teased. “I won’t mind if you touched me. Hell, I might even encourage it a little.” Lucas ran his long finger down the side of her jaw.
Moving her head, Danya leaned back from Lucas as much as the table behind her would allow. God, why did he have to smell so good, like all American male and cologne? His entire aura was making her think thoughts she shouldn’t. Why did he have to be so potent without even trying?
“I made a promise and I can’t break it, not even to go out on a date with you,” she answered, hoping Lucas would let it go.
Stepping back, Lucas gave her the space she believed she craved. However, once his body heat was gone, Danya instantly missed it and wanted it back.
“What kind of promise?”
She eased away from the table so Lucas couldn’t block her in again. She didn’t see why they were even having this conversation. Nothing had happened between them. Sure, the sizzling hot chemistry was there more than it had been with any other man in her past, but a promise was a promise and she was going to keep it.
“Not to date anyone who signed a contract with Akayie’s photograph studio. It never works out and my best friend’s success is more important than me going out on a date with a good-looking guy.”
A purely masculine smile spread across Lucas’ handsome face as he took a step closer to her. “So, you think I’m good looking?” he asked in a low, sexy voice, staring into her eyes.
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, making her breath catch. “I like hearing that come from this beautiful mouth of yours.”
No…No…No… her mind shouted as she leaned closer to the warm, intoxicating heat of Lucas’ perfect physique. She shouldn’t be doing this, but she was finding it hard to stay away from the pull he seemed to have over her.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered as Lucas removed his hand and lowered his mouth towards hers. “I think─”
Shaking his head, he stopped her from talking with this heated look in his eyes. “That’s the problem. You think way too much,” he whispered right before his mouth captured hers in a hot kiss, pushing all other arguments from her mind.
* * * *
“He’s absolutely amazing. I can’t believe I’m looking at him. I’m beginning to see why you spend so much time in your office hidden away from the world,” Akayie praised, reaching out to touch the black thoroughbred. “He’s truly breathtaking. How long have you had him?”
“A little over a week. He’s still wild and not ready to be entered into any events like the Kentucky Derby, but he’s getting there with the help of Jackson.”
“Who’s Jackson?” Akayie asked, removing her hand from Duke and looking at Rowan. He looked so good in his checkered shirt and tight, blue jeans with his black cowboy hat pulled down low over his eyes. She wasn’t fooled that he wasn’t paying attention to her. She’d felt his eyes on her while she was patting the horse. Rowan may be quiet, but he was deadly and the hidden danger in him excited her. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped up in his strong arms, held close to his well-formed body and kissed by his firm, sensual mouth.
“The trainer I hired to get some of the wildness out of Duke. “
“Some wildness is good,” she said, turning to stare at the beautiful animal next to her.
“I agree having a little bit of a free spirit is a good thing, but not with a thoroughbred. Duke needs to be conditioned to be like my other racehorses.”
“Rowan, if you have cared for horses as long as you have, you should know by now that no two horses are alike.”
The corners of the mouth she couldn’t stop staring at lifted up into a smile. “Akayie, thank you for your advice, but I make sure my trainers treat my horses with actions that are clear, firm, and direct. It always works best even on a horse as stubborn as Duke. I can’t allow him to even think he ranks above me. He learns from small daily events and I can’t let him get out of hand.”
Titling her head, Akayie ran her gaze up and down the length of Rowan’s body. He was always so tightly coiled. She bet if she undid one button on his shirt that he would completely come apart. Rowan probably couldn’t do something spontaneous if his life depended on it. Not that she was wild, but she did go out and have fun every once in a while. She hadn’t done it in a very long time.
“You’re staring at me. Why?”
“I wasn’t staring at you,” she lied, moving away from Duke and towards the back of the stable.
Rowan caught up with her in two long strides. He wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her back against his chest. “Akayie, you aren’t a good liar. You’ve been looking at me ever since we came in here. Do you have something you want to tell me?”
Trapped by the intense look in Rowan’s hazel eyes, all she could do was shake her head as her heart sped up in her chest, beating like a caged bird against her ribs as the attraction she felt for Rowan grew into a fever pitch.
“I’m disappointed,” he said as he brought his mouth mere inches from hers. “I thought maybe you were hoping I would kiss you, because it has been all I’ve been thinking about since you walked into my office looking so damn beautiful. You’re bad for me, but right at the moment I don’t give a damn if you are because I have to taste you,” Rowan admitted right before took her mouth with his.
Chapter Fifteen
The strong hardness of his lips against hers sent new spirals of ecstasy through her. For a tiny second, Akayie thought about pushing Rowan away because she was breaking her own rules. However, when Rowan’s tongue traced the corner of her mouth, the thought completely vanished from her mind like a puff of smoke.
Instead, Akayie stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around Rowan’s neck, and kissed him back with a hunger that shocked her. Sure, she had been kissed before but not like this, like he was a man dying of thirst and her mouth was the water he had been praying for.
Slowly, Rowan’s hand slid down her back and cupped her ass, pulling her closer to his hard erection pressed against her stomach. She moaned softly in the back of her throat and tried to move even closer to his welcoming warmth.
“Damn, baby, you taste so good,” he whispered, voice rough with desire, against her lips that were still moist from his surprise kiss.
She didn’t know what to say, so she leaned back in his arms, staring up heated gaze. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. What could she say after a kiss like the one Rowan just gave her?
“We shouldn’t have allowed that to happen,” he said, brushing his thumb over her swollen bottom lip.
“Why not?”
Was that her voice sounding so breathless and raspy? God, what had this guy done to her? She hated to think how she would feel after they had made love.
Stop right there, her mind screamed. You can’t let Rowan know your secret. He will react the same way every other guy has done. He won’t want anything else to do with you.
“Because instead of moving away from you, all I’m dying to do is pull you back into my arms and kiss you until I get my fill.”
Akayie looked at Rowan with surprise, remembering his earlier hostility towards her when she first arrived at Braden Ranch. What had changed with him?
“I thought you hated the sight of me being here, but now you’ve this urge to kiss me senseless. I find this change in you hard to believe,” she said, trying to move around his hard, unyielding body.
Rowan moved closer, pressing her back against the stall, making her even more aware of him. “I know I wasn’t that welcoming when you first arrived, but I was instantly drawn to you. I didn’t know how to handle it, so I fought to keep you at arm’s length and hope this chemistry I felt with you would pass.”
As their eyes met, she felt a shock run through her.
No…No… She couldn’t let hersel
f have a tiny bit of hope when it came to Rowan. It wouldn’t be fair. She had to stop this before it went any further. He wouldn’t want her, not after he found out about her secret.
“You’re right. The kiss was a mistake. I shouldn’t have encouraged you. I apologize, and I promise it won’t happen again.”
Deep, masculine laughter filled the stables as the horses moved inside their stalls. “Sweetheart, you couldn’t have encouraged me if I hadn’t wanted you,” Rowan admitted a second before he recaptured her mouth in a searing kiss.
All other arguments she might have had faded the second Rowan’s tongue slipped between her lips and tangled with hers. For a long moment, Akayie felt as if she was floating as Rowan continued making love to her mouth with his. Growling low in his throat, he thrust his hips against hers, making her suddenly aware of how fast they were getting out of control. She had to put the brakes on this. They were making out in the stables were anyone could walk in on them at any given moment.
She eased her mouth away and placed her hands in the middle of his hard chest and gave him a tiny push. Yet, he still stood so close to her body that she could feel the heat from his. God, why did he have to be so wrong for her, but the very thing her body wanted desperately?
“We, we…” She gasped to regain her breath as Rowan’s hot gaze roamed over her body from head to toe. “We need to stop, Rowan. Someone could come in at any second and catch us.”
Holding her eyes with his, he ran his hand up and down her bare arms. “Hell, right now at this very moment I don’t give a damn if they do. I wouldn’t give up kissing you for anything in the world. It is the best thing I have done in a very long time, but I understand. We do need to stop. I can’t give Morgan something to torment me about,” he said, moving back until there was enough distance between them.
Akayie was trying hard to get her emotions back under control that she almost missed what Rowan’s slip of the tongue told her. Excitement raked through the entire length of her body at his words.
“You were discussing me with Morgan besides wanting me off your property?”
Sighing, Rowan took his cowboy hat off his head and ran his fingers through his thick hair. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, like he was debating if he was going to tell her the truth.
“Well?” she persisted.
“Alright, alright,” he sighed. “Morgan wanted me to admit that maybe my dislike towards you was masking something else.”
Akayie tried not to smile at how hard it was for Rowan to say he might actually like her. She wasn’t expecting anything more than maybe dinner and a few kisses between them. It made her feel good to know she was throwing him off balance.
“Like what?” She eased closer to Rowan until she was standing within touching distance of his warm, male physique. She was dying to reach out and touch him, but instead she slid he hands into the front pockets of her blue jeans. She’d been the one who wanted to put the brakes on, so she couldn’t send mixed signals by touching him.
“How I might be a tiny bit attracted to you and could be fighting it,” he confessed.
“Are you?”
One dark eyebrow arched over a pair of hazel eyes that looked more green than brown while Rowan stared down at her. The scent of his spicy cologne, hay, and the outdoors took over her senses.
“I─”
“Hey, Ms. Mathis, I’ve been looking all over the ranch for you. Are you ready to start taking my pictures for the calendar? Sorry, I’m a little late. I got held up on the other side of the property fixing a broken fence.”
Tearing her eyes away from Rowan’s searching look, Akayie found Daniel standing only a few feet behind them. Thank God, he hadn’t walked in earlier when she practically had her tongue down Rowan’s throat.
“It’s okay,” she answered quickly. “You’re late, but I was talking to Mr. Braden so I had lost track of time myself. Why don’t you walk with me to the photo location? I want to go over a few things with you anyway.”
Looking from Rowan quickly back to her, Daniel said. “Did I interrupt something?” he asked. “I can come back later if you need to do it.”
“No, you are fine. We were done talking.” Akayie started walking away from Rowan, but his long, tanned fingers wrapped around her elbow, preventing her from moving another step.
“Daniel, do you mind waiting for Ms. Mathis outside? We still have some things we need to discuss about the layout of the calendar. She will be right with you as soon as we are done.”
“Sure, I can,” Daniel said before spinning on his heel and hurrying down the front of the stables.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, jerking her arm away. “Did you see how he looked at us? It was like he knew we were kissing right before he came in here. I thought you didn’t want any gossip or scandal here on your property. Keep acting like that and you will stir it up all by yourself.”
“I didn’t lie to him,” Rowan said, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “We weren’t done talking and we didn’t need an audience while we finished our conversation.”
Akayie moved Rowan’s hand away from her mouth then shook her head. “I can’t stay here any longer with you. I need to leave and get with Daniel. Now, we can talk later in your office when you come back from your meeting. I have to take these photos before I lose the light I need.”
Rowan cursed under his breath. “I won’t be back for hours. I have back to back meetings in Dallas. What are you going to do to keep yourself busy after you finish with Daniel?”
“Since I’m staying here now I should be around when you get back, unless one of these cute cowboys I’m taking pictures of asks me out on a date,” she teased, winking at Rowan.
Wrapping his arm around her arm, Rowan took her into the empty stall behind them and pressed her body against the wood with his. “None of them better get that idea in their heads because I don’t like anyone giving you looks at all. We are starting to build something and nobody better mess with what I consider mine.”
As his eyes met hers, Akayie felt a shock run through her as she took a breath of utter astonishment at Rowan’s comment. She was constantly being surprised by this unpredictable man.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Braden. A few kisses between us doesn’t make me yours,” she corrected. “I can still go out with any man you employ here on this ranch and you won’t have anything to say about it.”
Taking a quick look around, Rowan jerked her back against his body and planted another tantalizing kiss on her already swollen mouth. His kiss was challenging as it was rewarding. Coaxing her lips open with his thrusting tongue, Rowan shattered the rest of her argument with the hunger of his kisses.
Slowly, he lifted his head, holding her gaze with his. “Sweetheart, you can’t still deny there’s something between us after that damn kiss.”
Grinning, Akayie pushed Rowan away from her body, spun around, and walked back towards the front of the stable’s entrance. She hadn’t moved ten steps before Rowan’s deep voice called after her.
“Where in the hell are you going? Aren’t you going to answer me?”
She stopped.
Akayie glanced back over her shoulder at Rowan, who hadn’t moved from the spot where she left him. He was steadily watching in her that way she was growing to like more and more.
“Yes, I felt something from our kisses, but I want more than that. So, you have to prove to me that you’ve more going on than that. A lot of men can be excellent kissers and losers in other areas of their life. Show me something different,” she challenged then pivoted towards the front of the stables.
Rowan’s rich laughter followed her until she made it outside. She would have never guessed when she got up this morning she would end up kissing Rowan. She truly believed he hated everything about her, but his kisses a few minutes ago just proved her wrong. She could still feel the warmth from Rowan’s masterful kisses. He had completely shocked her, but it had been one of the best surprises she had experienced i
n a long time.
She couldn’t help but be excited about what was happening between them. It might not lead to nothing more than a few kisses, but she would enjoy what came, whatever it may be. Rowan had a way of making her crazy one moment and then anticipating what would happen next. Yet, he made her want to learn what truly made him tick. The guarded look was still in his eyes when she stared at him. She noticed something different today. An attraction was there, however, and it was mingled with something she that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
But, he was finally allowing her to see that part of him was actually drawn to her. So, if she was able to break down a tiny piece of that wall surrounding him, what would she be able to uncover if she kept chipping away at him each and every day? Persistence was the key and she wasn’t ready to give up on him yet.
Feeling happier about her day, Akayie went towards the next destination for her job, wondering what else she could do to draw Rowan outside his office even more.
Honestly, she wanted to spend all the time she could with the handsome rancher before she left the ranch and headed back home.
“Ms. Mathis, are you ready for me now?”
Spinning around, Akayie spotted Daniel standing a few feet behind her, sliding his cell phone into the pocket of his jeans. “Oh, yes. I’m ready,” she answered, embarrassed that he had caught her daydreaming about Rowan.
“Is everything going okay with the calendar?” he asked, stopping a few feet in front of her.
Frowning, she looked at Daniel. “Yes, everything is fine. Why do you ask?”
“I was surprised to see Mr. Braden in the stable area talking to you.”
“Why were you surprised?” she asked as they started walking towards the other side of the huge property.
“Mr. Braden stays in his office for hours and hours at a time. The only times I remember him coming out are to give us new rules involving the horses. Or the last time he pulled you to the side, and I remember how angry he had been. I thought maybe you went to another spot you shouldn’t have.”
Rowan Page 11
