by Susan Stoker
Used to her friend’s nonstop questions, Laine waited until she wound down to speak. “First of all, yes, the cowboy thing worked really well for Wes. When we walked into the barn he was shoveling shit out of one of the stalls, shirtless. And let me tell you, I almost had a spontaneous orgasm right then and there.”
Laine heard Mack laughing, but went on.
“Jack was cool. But I got sucked into a conversation about whether or not they should take shots that would show his face and Wes actually asked me,” Laine’s voice dropped, mimicking Wes’s low, sexy voice, “‘if you were dating the model, would you want your man’s face to be shown or not’?”
“He. Did. Not!” Mackenzie exclaimed, almost hyperventilating.
“Oh, he did.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said that if I was dating someone, I wouldn’t want other women to fantasize over my man’s face. That they could drool over his body, but his face was all mine. So Wes turned to Jack and told him ‘faceless’, and so he posed with his hat over his face.”
“Holy shitballs.”
Laine could understand Mack’s reaction, because it was much the same as she’d had standing in front of Wes when he’d asked. “And he’s taking me out next Friday.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, Mack. Truly.” Laine heard her friend sniff. “Are you crying? What’s wrong?”
“I’m just . . . I’m so happy. I love Daxton with all my heart, but a part of me was sad that you didn’t have a man of your own. I’ve had friends who I’ve grown apart from because they got married and went on with their married life. I didn’t want that ever to happen with us. And I’m just so happy. Because not only are you with Wes, but he’s a Texas Ranger just like Daxton. It’s like it was meant to be.”
“Mack,” Laine warned. “This is one date. Don’t marry us off yet.”
“I know, I know, but this is so cool. Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me.”
“But how do you know what to wear?” Mackenzie asked.
Laine snorted. “I know, right? That’s exactly what I said! He told me to dress casually, comfortable . . . and to show some skin.”
“You know what this means, right?”
“No, what?”
“We get to go shopping!”
Laine laughed at her friend. Shopping wasn’t usually her favorite thing to do, but Mackenzie was right, Laine wanted to look her best, and a new outfit that flattered her always made her feel good about herself and gave her a boost of confidence.
* * *
The next week seemed to go by extremely slowly. Monday came quick enough, and Laine and Mack had spent Sunday afternoon at the mall, but between indecisive homebuyers and house inspections that didn’t go the way the sellers wanted them to, it’d been a long week. Laine had only gotten to scope out one rural property as well, which was one of her favorite things to do.
But it was finally Friday. Laine had left work around noon so she could go home and get ready and try to get rid of her nerves. She’d taken a long bath to relax and dressed in the new pair of Lucky jeans she’d bought the previous weekend. She’d found the perfect blouse for her date as well . . . at least Mackenzie reassured her it was perfect.
It was a dark purple that looked black in low light. It was sleeveless, with a high neck in the front. It was made of a silky material that draped her flatteringly. It looked modest from the front, but the back scooped down to the middle of her spine, leaving most of her back bare. It wasn’t so crass as to dip down to her butt crack, but a nice, modest—if you could call this shirt modest—mid-back drape. A regular bra wouldn’t work with the shirt, but there was no way Laine was going without one. Her nipple hard-on fiasco was still fresh in her mind, so she’d made a detour to the lingerie shop in the mall and bought a bra that had one of those versatile straps to it.
Laine refused to get a push-up bra, not wanting to falsely advertise what she didn’t have, but she made sure there was adequate padding in the lacy contraption so if (who was she kidding . . . when) her nipples peaked, she wouldn’t advertise it to the world . . . or Wes. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. The straps wound around the sides of her ribcage and her lower back, safely tucked away below the drape on the back of the shirt.
It felt sexy and daring . . . and way more aggressive than Laine would’ve worn in the past. There was something about Wes that made her feel at ease and safe. His profession had something to do with that, of course, but it was ultimately him. He’d obviously been attracted to her, but other than the stolen kiss, he’d controlled himself and hadn’t acted like a hormone-driven asshole.
On her feet, she’d strapped a pair of open-toed sandals with a slight heel. Not high enough that she’d have to worry about tripping over her own feet, but enough to give her an extra inch or so. They had a thick block heel and a delicate strap that wound around her ankle.
She couldn’t wait to see what Wes had in store for them tonight. Laine had spoken with Mack earlier, promising to call no matter what time she got home that night, as was their custom. It was five twenty-three when her doorbell rang. Laine was glad Wes was early; she couldn’t stand when people were late. Her grandmother had been late for everything when Laine was little. They’d usually tell her something started fifteen minutes earlier than it did, just so they could get there on time.
Looking through the peephole to make sure it was Wes before she opened the door, Laine unlocked the deadbolt, opened the thick oak door and stared at the man standing on her stoop.
Wes looked every inch as delicious today as he had the week before. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a western style shirt that had what looked like snaps up the front of it. It was a deep purple color . . . not as dark as her own shirt, but purple all the same. It figured they matched. They really were on the same wavelength.
The top two buttons of his shirt were open and Laine could see he was wearing a white tee under the button-up top. He had on a pair of what she would call “dress-up boots,” as they looked shiny and pristine.
To top off his outfit, he was holding a black Stetson in one hand, and a single purple rose in the other. She had no idea where in the world he’d found a purple rose, but at the moment, she didn’t care.
“Hi, you look amazing,” Wes observed as she simply stood there staring at him.
His words shook her out of her holy-hell-is-this-man-hot daze. “Oh, yeah. You do too. You want to come in while I get my purse?”
“No. I’ll wait here.”
“Really?” Laine asked, somewhat confused. His answer wasn’t what she’d expected.
“First, even though you invited me, I don’t want to overstep my bounds. Second, if I come in, I’m not going to want to leave. So yeah, I’ll wait here.”
“Oh . . . okay.” Somehow she’d forgotten how blunt the man could be.
He held out the rose to her. “Better take this and put it in some water though. Wouldn’t want it to die while we’re out and about.”
Laine reached out and took hold of the rose, bringing it to her nose to smell before telling him, “Thank you. It’s beautiful. I’ll be right back.” She whirled around, leaving the door open, to head back inside to fill a glass of water for the flower and grab her purse.
After a quick trip to the kitchen to fill up a large glass to put the rose in, she went back into the living room where she’d been pacing before Wes arrived, and over to the coffee table. She grabbed her purse and her sweater, which she’d put on the back of her suede couch so she wouldn’t forget it, and headed back to her front porch and Wes.
He took a step back as she exited the house and waited patiently as she locked her front door. Laine put her keys in her purse and hooked it over her elbow as she turned back to him. Wes held out his hand, indicating that she precede him down the two stairs and to her front walk-way. She felt his hand on her bare back
a split second before he spoke in an almost too-casual way.
“Mind you, I wasn’t disappointed in the least when you opened the door, but I was a bit surprised at your choice of attire. I figured your interpretation of ‘showing some skin’ was different than mine . . . but I was okay with that.” Laine felt his thumb caressing her spine as they walked toward his large black truck. “But it’s a good thing I turned down your invitation to come into your house, because, darlin’, if I’d have seen the back of this shirt before you asked me in, I would’ve taken you up on it and we wouldn’t have left at all.”
Laine smiled and looked over her shoulder at him. The compliment was awesome to hear and if she was being honest with herself, she would’ve been disappointed if he hadn’t said anything about it at all. She’d chosen it to on purpose to try to make an impression. It was nice to have that validated. Wes was walking next to her, and she shivered once again as he shifted closer to her and his hand wrapped around her bare side under her shirt, not quite inappropriate-for-a-first-date territory . . . but close.
“We can still go back inside. We haven’t left yet,” Laine noted enthusiastically. She was all for the dating thing, but with the way she felt while around Wes, and with his warm palm on her side, she could totally do the sex thing first, then the dating thing.
She felt his hand squeeze her waist in reaction to her words, before he relaxed. “Nope. No can do. We’re out, and we’re staying that way . . . at least for a couple of hours. I’ve got plans, woman, and your seduction attempts will have to wait.”
“My seduction attempts? You were the one who told me to show some skin,” Laine protested weakly, loving his sense of humor.
“You’re right, I did,” Wes chuckled as he clicked the locks on his truck. He opened the passenger door without another word, finally easing his hand out from under her shirt to hold it out for her to grab on to as she hiked herself up and into the seat. When she was settled, Wes leaned in, resting one arm against the doorframe.
“I don’t know what it is about you, Laine Parker. I gave myself a talk before I got out of the truck. I told myself I would keep my hands to myself and be a complete gentleman. But there’s just something about you that makes me want to chuck all that away and take you down to the ground and ravish you. I don’t know if it’s the look in your eye that tells me you want to do the same thing to me, or if it’s just some crazy ‘it’s been too long since I’ve held a sexy woman in my arms’ thing. Whatever it is . . . rest assured, I like it. I like feeling this way. And just so you know, as much as I might want to, I’m not going to make love with you tonight. I find myself wanting to draw out this anticipation. I have a feeling the wait will be worth it. That you’ll be worth it.”
Laine didn’t know what to say, she could only sit there with her mouth open in shock as Wes leaned back and shut the door, sealing her inside his truck. As he walked around to the driver’s side, Laine muttered to herself, “Holy mother of God. I’ve hit the mother lode.”
4
Wes held on to Laine’s hand as they left the movie theater. He’d done the typical dinner and movie date for their entertainment that evening. It wasn’t that unique, but he wanted to put her at ease before they headed back out to his ranch. She knew he was a Texas Ranger, but that didn’t mean she should trust him immediately. Just being in law enforcement didn’t mean a man was trustworthy, although it should. Nothing pissed him off more than a crooked cop.
He’d been completely bowled over by her tonight. First, standing on her doorstep and getting a look at her bare back as she’d turned away from him almost made him shoot off in his pants. Wes knew he wasn’t a young man. While he’d seen his fair share of pretty women in his forty-two years, something about Laine was different, and she turned him on, big-time.
Her shirt, showing off her entire back, wasn’t what he’d expected when she’d turned to lock her door, but it was a nice surprise. He’d grilled Dax earlier that week, wanting to know as much information as he could about Laine before their date. Dax didn’t say a lot, it wasn’t in his nature to gossip, but he did say enough for Wes to understand that she was a good person, and if he played with her emotions, Dax would kick his ass.
It was the implied threat that did the most to convince Wes that Laine was someone he wanted to get to know better. If Dax didn’t seem to care if Wes wanted a one-night stand, it would mean Laine wasn’t relationship material. It seemed like Laine was a woman who had a good head on her shoulders and she knew what she wanted . . . and as it turned out, it looked like she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
They’d gone to a local hole-in-the-wall steak place that Wes knew about. He’d assisted the owner with a robbery investigation a few years back, and the man hadn’t ever forgotten. Wes made a point to eat there as often as possible, which wasn’t a hardship since the food was delicious. Laine had laughed without being self-conscious, and had warmly greeted the owner as if he was a millionaire instead of just a humble local restauranteur.
She was good company, eating a hearty dinner and not counting calories, laughing at his stories, contributing to the conversation easily, not bragging about her career, and not acting over the top regarding his. In short, Laine was interesting, funny, sexy, and Wes couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.
He hadn’t lied to her earlier when he said they wouldn’t make love that night. Oh, Wes wanted inside her more than he wanted a lot of things in life, but he was enjoying the heavy glances and the way she made his heart rate increase with every small touch. Wes wanted to draw it out because he knew when he finally got Laine in his bed, it was going to be mind-blowing.
The movie had been an action flick, her choice. The special effects were overdone, as was the acting, but they both knew they weren’t really there for the movie. He sat next to Laine with his arm tucked around her waist, his hand under her shirt, as she cuddled into him. Thank goodness he’d had the foresight to choose one of the newer cineplexes that had the rocking seats with the armrests that could be folded up.
Her perfume distracted him from the movie and after it was over, if someone had asked what the plot was, Wes wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to say anything about it with any conviction.
“Thank you for a wonderful night,” Laine said as they headed toward his truck in the parking lot.
“Oh, the night isn’t over yet. The best part is still to come.”
“The best part? Even better than the fried Oreos at dinner? You’ll have to try pretty hard to top that one, Ranger.”
“Darlin’, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Wes felt Laine shiver at his endearment, but was too much of a gentleman to say anything about it.
He drove them to his ranch, and to her credit, she didn’t protest or otherwise tell him to take her home.
When they stopped, she commented dryly, “I thought we weren’t going to have sex.”
“We aren’t. First of all, I said we weren’t going to make love, not have sex. I have a feeling it will never be just sex between us. Secondly, I want to show you something . . . and no, it’s not in my bedroom,” Wes joked before she could comment. Her snarkiness was just one more thing he liked about her.
Wes grabbed her hand and relaxed when she didn’t hesitate to squeeze his in return. “Lead on, oh fearless cowboy. But remember, I’m not wearing my boots.”
“You don’t have far to walk, just hold on to me and I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” He led them to the barn, grabbing a canvas jacket that was hanging on a hook just inside the double doors. He helped Laine into it then continued, holding on to her hand, to the backside of the large structure, relieved to see the four-wheeler sitting just where he’d asked his foreman to put it when he was done with it for the day. He threw his leg over and looked back at Laine. “Climb on, darlin’.”
“Really? Cool!”
Wes was relieved at her reaction. Once upon a time, he’d wanted to do this same thing with another woman he’d just begun to date, and she�
�d recoiled in horror at the thought of riding through his ranch on the back of an ATV.
He took a deep breath as Laine didn’t even hesitate and got on behind him. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his back. Wes took a moment to enjoy the sensation of being in Laine’s arms. He could feel her warmth soak into his skin and suddenly had a vision of them lying in bed snuggled together, just like this.
He sat up a bit straighter and put one hand on her thigh next to his, and with the other, he reached behind him and awkwardly wrapped it around her back. They sat like that for a moment, before Wes reached for the handlebars and started the machine.
Being careful not to go too fast so the ride wasn’t as bumpy—and to make it last as long as possible—Wes finally pulled up to their destination and cut the engine. They were in the middle of his largest pasture, and once the light to the four-wheeler was cut, it was pitch dark.
“Wow, I didn’t realize how dark it could get out here,” Laine said with a nervous laugh.
Wes helped her stand, and kept her hand in his. He reached into the bag between the handlebars, pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on. “Yeah, without the moonlight or the city lights, it’s tough to navigate. Here, watch your step, we don’t have far to go.”
Wes kept the light focused on the ground so they wouldn’t step into a hole, any cow patties, or trip over any rocks or sticks. Cognizant of the sandals Laine was wearing, he’d wanted to get as close to their destination as possible with the four-wheeler, while still keeping it a secret until the last minute. After a few minutes, he raised the light and showed Laine where he’d been taking them.
“Oh my.”
“Is that an ‘oh my, this is neat’ or an ‘oh my, what in the world was he thinking’?’” Wes teased.
“Definitely the former. This is amazing.”
Wes shrugged. This was two plastic lawn chairs, the kind where you were mostly reclined when you sat in one, sitting side by side. Each had a throw blanket on the seat in case it got too chilly. There was a bottle of wine and two glasses sitting in a small basket next to them. It wasn’t fancy, but it was something Wes thought Laine might like.
