A Cowboy’s Promise

by Marin Thomas

  Be careful you don’t get burned, a voice inside her head warned.

  Burned? Not possible when she knew exactly where Matt stood—opposite her. Making love with him would be an exercise in pure pleasure—nothing more. No commitment. No future. No expectations save for the here and now.

  “Are you sure?” No man had ever gazed at her with such desire in his eyes.

  “More than sure.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt broke off their kiss and twirled one of Amy’s bouncy curls around his finger. “As much as I’d like to make love to you on this swing, my leg won’t cooperate.” He stood and held out his hand. The glow of the full moon reflected off Amy’s face and the warmth he read in her eyes brought him back for another kiss.

  Pressing his lips to hers, he hoped to reassure himself that making love wouldn’t change things between them. There was one certainty Matt clung to—he was going back to Oklahoma when the mares became pregnant. The rest was up for grabs.

  “Everything will be all right,” he whispered, wondering if the words were meant to reassure him or her. As their tongues mated, Matt concentrated on blocking out the voice in his head that was hell-bent on instigating a fight with his conscience.

  Amy wouldn’t make love to you if she knew you’d coaxed Ben into the card game.

  She’s sleeping with you because you paid her mortgage, bought groceries and babysat the girls until she found a sitter.

  Matt prayed Amy’s decision to make love with him wasn’t grounded in gratitude. He wanted her to want him. To desire him. He was tempted to crawl out on a limb and confess his feelings, but no decent poker player showed his hand first.

  He danced Amy toward the door, then ended the kiss.

  “Last chance.” He nuzzled her temple, breathing in the sweet scent of freshly washed hair. “No turning back once we’re inside.”

  The pad of her thumb brushed his chin. “Maybe you’re having second thoughts?”

  Damn. What happened to his poker face? Was the turmoil gnawing his gut that obvious? Shoot, Amy was a widow. A mother. And a woman struggling to make it on her own. Any of those things was reason enough to keep his pants zipped.

  He struggled to believe his helping Amy for a couple of months while he got what he wanted—stud service for his mares—would make amends for taking advantage of Ben. But Matt wasn’t such a jerk that he didn’t admit Amy, Wild Rose and Lily Pad had worked their way into his heart these past few weeks.

  “I’m sure about one thing, Amy. You.” He took her mouth, passion overriding lingering doubts and self-recrimination. He had one objective—to get this woman upstairs in bed. With him.

  As soon as they entered the kitchen, Matt reached for the hem of her nightshirt and lifted the material over her head. Her bare breasts begged for his hands and mouth. They made it as far as the hall bath before he had Amy up against the wall. Her lush breasts filled his hands as he bent to taste them.

  Her fingers sifting through Matt’s hair, Amy’s sighs filled his ears. Encouraged by her sensuous squirming, he snuck his hands beneath the elastic of her panties and cupped her smooth, bare bottom, bringing her firmly against his erection.

  Their breathing ragged Matt decided he couldn’t wait any longer and pressed Amy against the wall. When she lifted her leg and rested her knee on his hip, he teased the moist curls between her thighs. His mouth on her breasts, Amy bucked, her movements erratic. Determined she reach fulfillment, Matt dropped to one knee, ignoring the pain that shot through his injured thigh.

  “Matt what…What are you…Oh…”

  While his hands caressed her breasts, his mouth and tongue coaxed Amy higher. A few moments later, her head thunked the wall and a moan erupted from her mouth. Her legs folded and she slid down the wall until her bare fanny bumped the floor. Her breath puffed against his neck. “Matt…I…Holy cow…”

  After a lingering kiss, he said, “Help me get to my feet.”

  Amy wiggled into her panties, then scooted out from beneath Matt. She steadied him as he braced his hands against the wall and pushed himself upright. His leg throbbed, but then so did another part of his body. “Here.” He removed his T-shirt and tugged it over her head. “In case the girls wake up.” He had a feeling the trek upstairs wouldn’t be stealthlike.

  They paused three times on the steps to exchange kisses, then again on the landing. Amy’s hands were all over him—not that he was complaining but, it made traveling to their final destination time-consuming.

  Once inside the bedroom, he shut the door and Amy flipped the lock. In a matter of seconds she had his zipper open. “I know you’re thinking I’m a horny widow.” She shoved his jeans over his hips, exposing his erection.

  “You don’t hear me complaining.”

  “Mmm,” she murmured, her fingers sliding inside his briefs. This time his skull thunked the door.

  A few more strokes and she sorely tested Matt’s control. He shucked out of the rest of his clothes and Amy kicked free of hers. Matt’s T-shirt landed on the other side of the room, along with her panties. Naked at last, they stared, eyes devouring. When Amy licked her lips, Matt growled.

  He backed her up until her calves bumped the mattress, then she reclined on top of the bedspread, tugging Matt along. He rested his sore leg across her hips, which brought their lower bodies into perfect alignment.

  “You’re beautiful, Amy.” A swath of pink exploded across her cheeks and Matt peppered the trail with kisses.

  “You don’t have to say that,” she protested. “I know what I am—a plain Jane.”

  “Plain gorgeous.” He trailed a finger along the faint blue vein bisecting her throat. “Your breasts are sexy and full and they make me want to bury my face in them.”

  Arching, she invited him closer. He nuzzled the soft swells, inhaling her tantalizing scent before feasting on the bountiful treasure.

  “My turn.” She rocked against him, her fingers toying with his nipples.

  On the brink of losing it, he pulled Amy beneath him. “I want to be inside you.” He snatched his wallet from the nightstand and found a condom inside it. Amy helped sheath him and then he forgot everything and everyone but her. He wanted to confess how much he liked her. Admired her. But feared he’d bungle the words. Instead he used his body to show her.

  Amy revealed a playful side, tickling a chuckle out of him one second, then taunting him with seductive whispers the next. She told him how handsome he was. How sexy she found his body. He’d heard the same words from other women, but only Amy’s opinion mattered. The truth was in her brown eyes and he basked in her approval.

  “No one’s ever made me feel the way you do,” she sighed in his ear.

  Moved by her confession, he kissed her gently. Amy was his here and now. For the moment—his world. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid inside her. Mouths fused, he mimicked the movement of his lower body with his tongue. Time passed in an erotic haze of sensation. A blur of spikes and dips, culminating in a spiraling ascent, which propelled them into a world where the past was forgotten and only the future existed.

  AT 3:00 A.M. SUNDAY MORNING, Amy awoke to find herself snuggled against Matt’s warm body. She brushed her finger against his six-pack, then nudged his groin with her knee. Perfect.

  His snores tickled her ears and she smiled, rubbing her cheek over his smooth chest. The poor cowboy was tuckered out. Matt was so much more than she’d first assumed when he’d shown up at the farm. And the possessive heat in his eyes when he’d slid inside her had captured her heart. Yep, she’d fallen head over heels for another cowboy. And this time it wasn’t a youthful crush.

  This time it was love.

  Matt might be a cowboy, but he was honest and decent and good with her daughters. Amy closed her eyes and pictured the four of them as a family raising horses on the farm, spending her days and nights with Matt at her side.

  He made her feel feminine and beautiful—as if the eight extra pounds she’d struggled
to shed the past two years had only added to her attractiveness. The rodeo cowboy had his pick of women—the fact that little ol’ her turned his head darn near intoxicated her.

  Don’t become too smug. The voice in her head reminded her of the woman she’d overheard Matt discussing with Lily in the bathroom not long ago. Kayla had broken Matt’s heart, leaving Amy to wonder if he’d ever allow himself to love another woman. Was it possible to coax Matt into risking his heart again? Did she dare try?

  Amy struggled to come up with a list of things she and Matt had in common besides a love of horses. After little success she composed a mental tally of things they didn’t have in common.

  He was rich—she was barely scraping by.

  He was famous—she was…well, Amy. Plain ol’ Amy.

  He had no children—she had two daughters.

  He regarded the glass of life half-full—she viewed it half-empty.

  He had big plans for his horse-breeding operation—she wanted a little piece of security for her and the girls.

  Everything about Matt was bolder and bigger—right down to his sexy smile. He popped against the canvas of life whereas she blended into the background.

  Matt’s energy and optimistic attitude made her wish to step out of her comfort zone and lay everything—even her heart—on the line for him. But their lives were headed in different directions—his to Oklahoma and hers right here on the farm. Watching Matt drive away at the end of the summer would be difficult even if her heart hadn’t taken a nosedive for him.

  “I can hear your brain thinking.” His voice rumbled across the top of her head.

  Smiling, she brushed her fingertips over his abdomen. She shifted in order to see his face, then sucked in a quiet breath at the tight lines bracketing his mouth. “Your leg is hurting, isn’t it?” She popped off the bed and snatched her bathrobe from the hook on the inside of the closet door. “I’ll get the pain medicine.” That he didn’t protest verified her suspicion. She hurried to the kitchen, poured a glass of iced tea and grabbed the bottle of Naproxen.

  “Here.” She placed the pills and the tea on the nightstand, then helped Matt sit up. “What are you smiling about?” she asked when he grinned.

  He waggled his eyebrows at the front of her robe where her breasts threatened to spill out. “Stop that,” she scolded, tightening the belt before she brushed at a strand of his mussed hair.

  “You’re incredible.” He caught her hand and brought her fingers to his lips.

  Knees weak, she sank to the edge of the mattress. Her conscience insisted it was okay to love this man. Here in her room she could be what she wanted. Do what she wanted. Dream what she wanted—that all her tomorrows included Matt. As long as she understood that the moment she left the bedroom her world would revert to normal. And normal meant that one day soon Matt would leave her behind.

  She offered her mouth. Matt took it. Their kiss was soft and gentle. “Come to bed with me,” he whispered, then coaxed her tongue into dueling with his. Unable to refuse him anything—even for his own good—she slipped out of her robe. His hand clutched her naked hip, then curved around her waist…over her bottom…along her thigh. His callused fingers tickled the sensitive skin behind her knee before traveling to the front of her thigh and inching upward…inward.

  Her nipples hardened and her head fell forward as she basked in his caresses. Then Matt moved the covers aside, sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her between his thighs. So what if he wouldn’t allow himself to fall in love again? Amy was positive she wasn’t merely another notch in the cowboy’s championship belt. She yearned to confess her love, but settled for conveying her feelings through sighs of pleasure.

  Carefully, she straddled his lap, his erection nudging her heat. “All I want is to be with you,” he whispered. “Around you. In you.”

  She grabbed the words and tucked them into the corner of her heart. Words would have to be enough. For now. Forever.

  He sheathed himself, then they took off again on another journey where Amy played make-believe with her and Matt’s future.

  MATT’S SLEEP-FOGGED BRAIN woke in bits and pieces. He resisted opening his eyes; instead he fantasized about Amy and the incredible night he’d spent with her. He’d been so sure that he had a handle on his feelings for the woman, but after making love with her, holding her…he was out of his ever-loving mind if he believed he’d drive off into the sunset without a worry in the world once the mares conceived.

  Right now the idea of walking away from Amy left a bad taste in his mouth that had nothing to do with needing to brush his teeth. Why was he attracted to a woman who didn’t have her act together? Who struggled with bad luck and bad times? Who wanted his help, not him?

  He slid his leg sideways, enjoying the feel of the cool sheet against his skin. The light behind his closed eyelids told him that it was way past rise-’n’-shine time. A part of him wanted to remain in bed and not face Amy. Would she fantasize that their lovemaking was equivalent to their own happy ever after? He hoped not. After mulling it over, he decided he’d better concentrate on SOS and his mares. From now on he’d stick to business—horse business. He cracked an eye open, surprised to discover he wasn’t alone in the room.

  “Are you gonna sleep all day?” Two little flower buds peered at him from the end of the bed.

  Lily moved closer and set her rubber duck on his chest. “Duck.”

  “Thanks, Lil.” He glanced at Rose. “Where’s your mom?”

  “Outside feeding the horses.”

  Today was Sunday. Enough lazing around in bed. He swung his legs off the side of the mattress, making sure the blanket concealed his naked state. “You girls go outside and play while I take a shower.”

  “Mama said we gotta babysit you.”

  Suspicious, he asked, “How long have you been watching me sleep?”

  “Forever.” Rose clicked the button on the walkie-talkie. “Mama, Mr. Matt’s awake. Over.”

  “Tell Mr. Matt I’ll come up to the house in a minute.”

  Matt motioned for the radio. “Mornin’, darlin’.”

  “How are you feeling? Over.” She sounded all businesslike.

  “Lonely. Want to come inside and keep me company? Over.”

  After a long pause…“Amy’s busy feedin’ the horses, but I’d be happy to keep you company. Over.”

  Matt’s face flamed. “Hey, Jake. Over.”

  “Heard about your leg. Stopped by to help Amy with the horses. Over.”

  “I appreciate that. Over.”

  “No problem. Best be on my way now.” Jake was silent for a moment, then said, “Amy explained about the rat.”

  Matt quickly covered the speaker with his hand, but Rose’s gape confirmed he hadn’t been quick enough. “Gotta go. Over.” He turned off the walkie-talkie.

  “What happened to Sophia?” Tears pooled in Rose’s eyes.

  Refusing to have this conversation half-naked, he insisted, “Wait downstairs. I’ll explain everything after I put some clothes on.”

  “You killed her, didn’t you!” Rose fled the room.

  “Lily, go with your sister.” As soon as the toddler left, Matt tossed on the T-shirt and jeans he’d worn yesterday, then hurried after the girls. He entered the kitchen as Amy walked in from the porch. She froze when she spotted him and immediately his mind recalled her naked body sprawled across his. He shook his head to dispel the picture and concentrated on the crisis at hand. “Where’s Rose?”

  “She’s not in here with you?” Amy fled outside, taking the porch steps two at a time.

  Unable to keep up, Matt trailed behind, wincing at the pull of sore muscles. He hobbled around to the side of the house where he found Amy attempting to coax her daughter from the playhouse. Ignoring her sister’s sobs, Lily chased a butterfly in the garden.

  “Let me talk to Rose.” He sent Amy a silent message. This is between Rose and me. You aren’t supposed to know, remember?

  With a nod, Amy coaxed Lily
inside the house. Rose’s sniffles tugged at his heart. The Olson females had sure had their share of misery lately. “Can I come in?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Matt opened the miniature door and crawled inside, leaving the lower half of his body lying outside the house. What to do—fib or tell the truth? Neither choice held much appeal. He settled for a little bit of both. “Yesterday Sophia left the tack room and snuck into SOS’s stall.”

  The little girl’s dainty chin rose. “Didn’t you feed her?”

  “I fed her.” Shoot, he’d tried using Amy’s leftover casserole to coax the rat into the trap, but the rodent wouldn’t touch the stuff. “I guess I didn’t feed her enough because she went searching for more food.”

  Rose hiccupped. “What happened to her?”

  “She got caught under SOS’s hooves.” He spared her the gory details.

  “Did she cry?”

  “Nope. Not a peep out of her. It happened so fast she didn’t feel a thing, honey.”

  Rose rubbed her hand across her runny nose. “Can I see her?” She must have sensed he was about to protest because she begged, “Please.”

  “Sure. But not right now. I’ll make a little box to put her in, then you can decide where to bury her.”

  The child responded with a shuddering sigh.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I know you and Sophia were good friends.”

  Right then the child launched herself at Matt, flinging her arms around his neck. She wailed against the front of his shirt and he held her gently. “Don’t cry, baby. Please, don’t cry.”

  Her sobs grew in strength and Matt was desperate to stop the tears. “Tomorrow we’ll go adopt a puppy,” he blurted.

  Rose lifted her head and rubbed her watery eyes. “I can have a dog?”

  Shit. What had he gone and done now? “Yes, you can have a dog.” If I’m able to talk your mother into it.