My One and Only Cowboy

by A. J. Pine

  He popped down the kickstand and dismounted. “Ain’t that the truth? Shall we go inside and get saved and sanctified?”

  “You’re expectin’ a lot out of one single preachin’.” She took off the helmet and fluffed out her hair with her fingers.

  “Do you know how sexy you are when you do that?”

  “Really?” She tilted her head to one side.

  “Oh, honey!” He groaned. “Let’s skip church and take this bike out to the barn or better yet to the springs,” he said.

  “Can’t. Mama is saving us a place,” she said.

  He slipped his hands around her waist and swept her off the cycle as if she were one of those tiny women who weighed only slightly more than a feather pillow. When he set her on the ground, he cupped her chin in his hand. The soft, sweet kiss left her wanting more and seriously considering his offer.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said we are sitting with Mama,” she said breathlessly when he clasped her hand in his and started toward the church.

  “You think I’m not tough enough to sit on the same pew with your mother?” He opened the door for her and stood to the side but he didn’t let go of her hand.

  “She’s pretty mean.”

  “Since you held your own last night with my mama, I’ll do my best not to crawl under the pew and cower in fear,” he teased.

  Several heads turned when they went inside the church but after the news of a kiss that morning right out in public, holding hands didn’t seem like such a big deal. Daisy was sitting near the middle on a pew all by herself. She nodded at them when Brody stood to one side to let Lila enter ahead of him before he took the spot at the end.

  “You aren’t late,” Daisy whispered.

  “Neither are you,” Lila said.

  “Please tell me I did not hear a motorcycle out there in the parking lot.”

  Lila shook her head. “Can’t tell lies in church, Mama.”

  “And you wore a dress. The whole town probably knows what color your underpants are,” Daisy fussed.

  “White. Bikini with lace around the top. Since it was Sunday I left the red thongs in the drawer,” she said.

  “Great God!” Daisy gasped.

  “Yes, ma’am, he is.” Lila smiled.

  “It’s Happy, Texas. I swear to Jesus, it makes people crazy.”

  Lila nudged her. “There’s a song that says that you’re always seventeen in your hometown.”

  “Well, whoever sings it is a genius,” Daisy whispered.

  Lila sang with the congregation and made an effort to focus on the preacher’s Sunday night sermon about how everyone should be thinking of how fast time flies. He snapped his fingers and said that it wouldn’t be long before it was time for each and every one of them to leave this earthly world.

  “Ever had sex on a Harley?” Brody whispered.

  His breath sent shivers down her backbone. “No, but I’ll give it a try if you’re willing.”

  “Oh, yeah!”

  Daisy elbowed her on the upper arm and she straightened up. She wasn’t the only one who was the same in her hometown. So was her mother.

  As soon as church services were over, Lila leaned over and said, “Mama, it’s only two hours until you have to leave. Let’s sneak out the side door. We’ll meet you at the café.”

  “Let me tell Laura good-bye and I’ll be right behind you,” she said.

  Brody parked the cycle in the garage and got off, and they both removed their helmets at the same time. Lila hung them on the handlebars and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. His mouth closed over hers and the only thing that mattered was that he was with her right then at that moment. He was a big, tough cowboy but in the hot garage, his heart and soul melted.

  If he could live right there for the rest of his life, he would have been a happy cowboy. Just let him have Lila to come home to every evening after a long day of ranching or even fighting with Sunday and the world would be all right.

  The kiss ended and he held her close to his chest for another moment. “It’s been an amazing weekend. I’ve loved every minute of it. I can’t even begin to think of you leaving at the end of summer.”

  “I agree,” she said, and took a step back when the sounds of a car engine approached. “That would be Mama turning into the parking lot.”

  “I think your mama might know that we have already kissed each other more than once,” he said.

  “Surely not,” she teased as she crossed the garage floor and unlocked the door. “Well, look who’s here to meet us. Here, you can hold Cora. She’s a sweetheart.” She picked up both kittens and handed him the white one.

  “Hey, I figured y’all would already have the ice cream ready for sundaes.” Daisy followed them into the apartment, and crossed the living area and into the café kitchen. “I’m having a triple dip and then I’ll sleep all the way to the Harrisburg airport.”

  “You going to work tomorrow or are you going to rest a day or two?” Lila asked as she hugged Duke to her chest.

  “Put those cats back out in the apartment. If we got a surprise inspection and they found cat hair in this place, we’d get a citation and we ain’t never had one,” Daisy said.

  “I’ll take them back.” Brody picked up Cora by the scruff of her neck and carried both of them across the utility room.

  “So,” he said when he returned. “Are you ready to go back to Pennsylvania?”

  “I’m ready to be back in my routine even if I’m not ready to tell Lila good-bye. I hate that part even worse than she does,” Daisy answered. “I’m not on the schedule until eleven for the noon rush, so I’ll sneak in a few more hours of rest before I have to go in.”

  “Did you get back with that lady who called to reschedule?” Lila asked.

  Daisy nodded. “I did but Molly asked me to wait a week before I make arrangements for you to talk to her. She and Georgia are thinkin’ about buyin’ me out. I hope they do.”

  Lila put her kitten on the sofa and led the way into the café. “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t like Florida. It’s a perfect retirement place.”

  “It’s not Happy,” Brody said. “They were born here and they know everyone in the place. The café has been the hub of all the gossip and news since you first put it in, Daisy, and they miss their place in the fun.”

  “You’re probably right.” Lila got out the ice cream.

  Daisy split three bananas and laid them in the fancy glass boats. “I was born here and was in the middle of that hub for years and I still miss it. Someday, maybe when I retire, I’ll come back home. But that’s a long way off and who knows what’ll happen between now and then. Well, that’s everything except the cherries for the top,” Daisy said. “We might as well make this a classic banana split to celebrate, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lila bent to get the jar of maraschino cherries from the bottom rack in the refrigerator. The tail of her dress slid above her knees, showing a lot of those sexy legs. Brody got a visual of them wrapped around him and the pressure started to build behind his zipper. He quickly turned around and made himself think about ice cream.

  “Crazy, ain’t it? If Molly and Georgia decide to buy the place, they’ll be coming home from pretty close to the same place in Florida that you’ll be returning to,” Daisy said.

  Lila set the cherries on the table. “I’m not going back. If Clancy won’t let me out of the contract, I’ll take a year’s sabbatical. Maybe I’ll work on my master’s degree.”

  “Oh?” Brody’s heart threw in an extra beat.

  “If he lets me out of the contract, I might try Montana or Wyoming next, or maybe I’ll go back to Conway. I kind of liked it over there.” She scooped out a perfect round of ice cream.

  “Why Wyoming?” Daisy asked. “I’d think you’d get tired of taking those tests every time you move.”

  An empty feeling, as if someone had ripped his soul out and threw it in the trash, hit Brody in the chest. He’d been living in the present, but
soon he and Lila would have to face the next step. And he’d have to figure out how to live without the hope of seeing her every day.

  “Why don’t you teach around here? You haven’t tried Texas yet.” He took the scoop from her. “Here, let me do that.”

  “Seventeen,” Daisy said.

  “What’s that mean?” Brody deftly put three mounds of ice cream on each banana.

  “The song,” Lila answered.

  “You mean that one by Cross Canadian Ragweed?” Brody asked.

  “That’s it,” Lila said. “It says that you’ll always be seventeen when you go home again.”

  “I’m not,” Brody said.

  Daisy topped off her banana split with a layer of whipped cream and then carefully carried it out to the dining room. “No, but Happy has seen you mature from a reckless teenager to a responsible adult. Folks saw her leave and then when she comes back, she is that same girl because there was nothing in between.”

  He handed Lila the chocolate syrup. “How’s that a reason not to teach in Texas?”

  “Not all of Texas, just Happy. No one will look at her like a responsible adult. They’ll whisper behind her back and remember the stupid things that she did.”

  She passed the chocolate back to him and finished her toppings. “Mama’s right, you know.”

  His phone rang. “Excuse me, this is Jace. I have to take it.”

  He stepped away from the table but locked gazes with Lila while he talked. “You can take care of that, Jace. I’ll be home after a while.”

  When he slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket, she raised an eyebrow. “If you’re needed at the ranch…”

  “We’ve got a cow that’s calving out of season. Jace knows how to pull a calf and Granny is there to help if he needs it. Let’s go join Daisy.” He smiled.

  “So if they let you out of the contract, you’ll move again? Want me to take a long weekend and fly down to help?” Daisy asked when they’d sat down across the table from her.

  “I’d love it,” Lila answered. “I’ll let you know tomorrow or the next day. I’m going to call Clancy. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it after his visit here.”

  “I’ll be glad to take a few days off and help you,” Brody said quickly. She might have put Clancy going but the man could swoop in with a lot of promises and smooth talk and convince her to stay in Florida. Then he’d have a whole year to win her back. As badly as Brody hated to be away from her, anywhere was better than Florida.

  “I’ll take all the help I can get but first I have to find another job.” Lila ran a hand from his knee to his thigh under the table.

  He shoveled ice cream in his mouth to cool him down and to keep from moaning. He’d miss her touch, the way her hair smelled and everything about her when she was gone. Skype was a good thing but it would never take the place of having her right there beside him sending desire through his body with nothing but her touch on his leg.

  Chapter Seventeen

  A flash of lightning shot out of the dark clouds as Brody drove the motorcycle out of town that Sunday evening after their ice cream date. To the north, Lila could see stars and a sliver of a moon. But to the southwest where the storms usually originated, the sky was black with only an occasional burst of light. She counted when the next streak zigzagged as if trying to reach for the treetops. Ten seconds. That meant the storm was ten miles out. Depending on whether it was traveling slowly or with the speed of a bullet, it could hit in a few minutes or take half an hour.

  The first drops of cold rain hit when they were halfway between the café and the ranch. Then the hail started pinging off her helmet and stinging her back when it hit with the force of the high wind pushing it. Brody turned into Henry’s old ranch and drove straight to the barn.

  She hopped off the back of the bike as soon as he stopped and slung the barn door open wide enough that he could drive inside. By the time he’d parked, she had her helmet off and was wringing water from her dress tail.

  “That’s some cold rain and biting hail.” She shivered.

  He quickly hung his helmet on the handlebars and gathered her into his arms. “I know where we can wait out the storm.”

  “Tack room?” she said.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  With his arm still around her, he headed that way. Not watching where she was going, she stumbled over the white mama cat and had to do some fancy footwork to keep from falling and pulling Brody down with her.

  “Poor old thing must crave company,” Lila said. “You should take her home with you. Kasey’s kids would love her and she wouldn’t be lonely.”

  “Why don’t you take her home? She could snuggle up next to you at night and keep you warm,” he said.

  “That’s your job.” Lila groped around for the string that would turn on the light. Finally her fingers found the same old wooden thread spool at the end of a length of jute twine and she gave it a tug. “Well, would you look at this,” she said.

  There was a small electric heater in the corner, a tiny air conditioner in the window, and a futon on one wall with a quilt tossed over the back.

  “Paul turned it into a poker place a few years ago. Said he needed a room for the boys on the nights when the girls gather at his house for those church meetings every month,” Brody said.

  “I don’t remember anything in here but lots of musty old saddles and a couple of horse blankets.” She wrapped her arms around herself trying to get warm.

  He hugged her close to his own chilly, wet body. “Hail produced a cold rain. You’re shiverin’, Lila. Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.”

  Brody slowly removed her dress and draped it on the back of a chair. His warm hands on her chilled skin as he unfastened her bra and removed it made her shiver even worse but it had nothing to do with the weather. He gently hooked a thumb under the edge of the elastic on her bikini underwear and strung warm kisses from her belly button to her toes as he pulled them down to her ankles.

  Then he stood up, grabbed a quilt, and whipped it around her body. “As warm as it is in here, your things will be dry by the time the storm passes.”

  She adjusted the quilt like a sari and undid the snaps on his shirt one at a time as she started undressing him. Running her fingers through the soft black hair on his chest, she tiptoed and kissed him on the chin. Then she quickly undid his belt buckle and pulled his jeans off, admiring all the hard muscles from his broad shoulders down his ripped abdomen and the V that led down below his flat belly. Then she took his hand and led him to the futon. In a blur the quilt left her body and she sat down, pulling him down with her. She moved into his lap and covered them both.

  His fingertips grazed her jawline, tilting her chin for the perfect angle so that his mouth could cover hers, and she leaned into the kiss. The tip of his tongue touched her lower lip, asking permission. She opened slightly and he eased inside as the hail and rain made beautiful music on the barn’s old tin roof.

  His work-roughened hands lightly skimmed from her shoulders, ever so slowly down her bare arms. When they reached her fingers, he made slow circles on the tender part of her palms as he deepened the kiss. Her body on fire, she pressed closer to him, her breasts against his chest.

  Then his hands were on her back, massaging and working kinks out from her shoulders all the way to her butt and then down the backs of her legs. The kisses got hotter and hotter until she couldn’t bear it anymore. She wiggled a few times and guided him into her but he controlled the movement with a long, slow gliding motion.

  “My God, Brody,” she panted.

  “Good?” he asked as he maneuvered her onto her back and laced his fingers in hers, holding her hands above her head. “There is no one else on the earth right now but me and you.”

  “Good isn’t even close,” she said.

  Talking stopped and they moved together until she was frantic with need. He slowed down and let her cool down just enough to catch her breath, then started building the speed agai
n until she squealed his name and dug her fingernails into his back.

  The heat as she tumbled into steaming hot desire into complete and utter satisfaction was more than she’d ever experienced, even with Brody. He rolled to one side but the futon was so narrow that they were still plastered together. She kicked the quilt off to one side and slung a leg over his body to keep him from falling off on the rough wooden floor.

  “That was amazing,” he whispered.

  “I know.” She stifled a yawn. “Don’t you love the sound of rain on a tin roof?”

  “Mmmm,” he said as his blue eyes fluttered shut.

  Brody awoke to her soft breathing. The rain had stopped and he could see stars shining in the window above the air conditioner. As hot as it was and as much as he would have loved to have had cool air, he didn’t want to wake Lila. That would mean they’d have to go home and he didn’t want to ever let go of her.

  “Hey.” She opened her eyes slowly. “What time is it?”

  “Have no idea. Phones are on the table over there,” he said. “Let’s lock the door and live here forever.”

  She snuggled down deeper into his arms. “Sounds like a plan to me, but I bet Molly would send out the National Guard if I wasn’t in the kitchen by opening time. It’ll be strange not havin’ Mama there.”

  “So that means our date is over?” Brody asked. “I think it better be. I’ll get dressed and walk home. You can take the bike.” He sat up and rolled the kinks out of his neck. “I love sleeping with you. I love the way you fit in my arms.”

  “Me too.” She left the futon and went straight for her clothing.

  “Seems a shame to cover something that beautiful.” He grinned.

  “Right back at you,” she told him. “I’ll take you home, Brody. You don’t have to walk.” She checked the time on her phone and gasped. “Holy smoke! It’s four o’clock.”

  “Be best if that loud bike don’t go roarin’ down the lane at this time of morning, don’t you think,” he said.