Her Sexy Texas Cowboy

by Ali Olson

  She seemed to be waiting for him to say something, but what was he supposed to say? Hi? Good to see you? Remember that time when I told you I loved you and all you could do was shake your head?

  Better not to say anything. After a few seconds, she sat down. Her eyes never left his, and he couldn’t have pulled his away if he wanted to. She said, “I’m sorry about yesterday. The truth is I’m scared. But I don’t want to lose you because—”

  She hesitated, and hope rushed through him like a wildfire. He tried to tamp it down, but it was impossible. “Because,” he prompted.

  “Because I love you, too,” she finished, a flush deepening the color of her cheeks.

  For a second he wondered if this was a delusion created by too-little sleep. His hand slid up her arm and cupped her cheek. She was real all right.

  A giddiness took over, and before he knew what was happening, he leaned in and took her mouth with his, feeling the pleasure of her lips erase all the tension that had built up in his body.

  He wanted to laugh, to pick her up and whirl her around, to kiss every inch of her until she came again and again.

  He opted for the third one. He’d do the others later, but a man had to have priorities.

  * * *

  NOW THAT SHE’D said it, the truth of her words left her feeling light and free. She kissed him back enthusiastically, and when they finally broke apart for air, she said them again. “I love you, Jeremiah.”

  He gave her his wonderful lopsided smile. “What took you so long?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was scared. I can be pretty stupid sometimes.”

  He pushed the hair out of her eyes. “You’re wonderful, Renee.”

  He pulled her closer and his mouth went to her ear. With a nibble at her earlobe that made her shiver with delight, he said, “I love you, too.”

  Jeremiah’s lips and tongue moved slowly down her throat. Renee continued with her prepared speech, even as his touches drove all thoughts from her mind. “You should know I don’t care about ranches and horses and chickens.”

  “Good,” Jeremiah answered, his hot breath on the wet trail he’d made causing her to gasp. “I hate chickens. They’re horrible devil-beasts.”

  He slid her down on the couch so he loomed over her, then moved on to teasing her nipples. Even through the dress, his touch made her moan deep in her throat as her nipples hardened into tight nubbins. “What about the ranches and horses?” she managed to get out while she unbuttoned his pants, eager to touch him.

  He growled as her fingers grasped his dick, sliding a condom along his length. She had felt silly at first when she’d gone up to her room and grabbed one before searching for Jeremiah, but now she was extremely grateful to her past self. When Jeremiah spoke again, his voice was ragged. “You know, I’ve never really loved being a rancher. I think I’m going to like living in the city.”

  Her stomach fluttered at the words. He was going to come to New York to be with her. She still hadn’t absorbed the idea that he would leave Texas to be with her.

  “We still need to do the Vegas rodeo, though,” he added.

  She could live with that. “I’ll even wear a cowboy hat.”

  She saw fire dancing in his eyes as his hands roved over her. “I’ve seen you in a cowboy hat. It’s a good look.”

  He slid her skirt up, revealing her thong. In seconds, it was pushed to the side and his fingers were playing her like a musical instrument. She arched her back against the couch, pulling him fully on top of her. She bit at his lower lip.

  He positioned himself against her, making her squirm with delight. “I think I’ll spend some time working on my art. Maybe do some shows or something.”

  She nodded, her eyes closed, nearly all her control gone. She could hardly keep the thread of the conversation going, but there was still more to say. “I’ll help you. I’ll have more free time, since I’m going to try working only normal hours for a change. Now that I have a reason to be home, it seems like a good time to try to work like a person who has a life outside of the office.”

  With that, he kissed her deeply as he buried himself inside her, making her cry out with the pleasure of it all. He groaned. “Yeah, I’m definitely going to love New York. It’ll be like a movie. A Cowboy in New York City.”

  She couldn’t respond with anything more than his name as he rode her toward oblivion.

  After, they rearranged their clothing and went back to the reception, giddy with the emotions of the last half hour. They walked to the tent hand in hand. As they entered, Jeremiah looked at her, as if waiting to see what she would do. Instead of letting go, she squeezed his hand and kept it in hers. “I suppose we should go tell them, now that we’re planning on a long-term relationship.”

  That idea sent a thrill through her, and his wide grin suggested that he felt the same. They strode together toward where Jessica and Aaron sat. Jessica eyed their clasped hands.

  Before her sister could say anything, Renee said, “Jessica, remember how you’re not freaking out, even when there’s no cake?”

  Jessica seemed suspicious, but only said, “There’s cake. Stew went to a store in town called Nothing Bundt Cake, so now we’ll be doing a Bundt cake cutting. He saved the day, even if his suit is a bad color.”

  Renee wanted to comment on the fantastic shop name, but there were more important things to focus on. “Well, you didn’t freak out about that, so I’m sure you won’t freak out about this, either. Jeremiah and I are a couple.”

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we know.”

  “You know?”

  “Of course. You two weren’t exactly all that good at hiding what was going on,” Jessica said, smirking. “I mean, you’re really not that subtle. That day you two were putting up the lights, you were making out right next to the door. You really didn’t think I saw you? And your footsie under the table bordered on pornographic.”

  Renee was amazed. “You saw us? And you didn’t say anything?”

  Jessica shook her head. “Nope. We wanted to give you two a chance to make it happen on your own before stepping in with an added push or two. Remember how I said I owed you for your help with the wedding? Well, now we’re even.”

  A realization swept over Renee and she slapped her head, feeling incredibly stupid. “There was no burst pipe.” It wasn’t a question.

  Jessica laughed so hard she couldn’t speak. Aaron took over, “I was so sure you two would figure that one out and see what we were up to, but Jessica said she could pull it off. I’m still surprised neither of you saw through that. I lost a bet there.”

  “What did you bet?” Jeremiah asked.

  Aaron didn’t answer, but his smirk and the way Jessica blushed said it was something inappropriate to discuss in public.

  Renee narrowed her eyes. “Wait. If you wanted us to get together enough to come up with a reason to kick me out of your house, and you knew what was going on the whole time, then why did you keep barging in on us?”

  Jessica said, “Oh, that was just because it was more fun that way. Watching you two pretend to be innocent and trying to act cool when it was so obvious was absolutely hilarious.”

  Renee couldn’t believe her sister. She’d been set up and had had no idea. Jessica seemed so proud of herself.

  Jeremiah wrapped his arm around her waist and turned to the newly married couple. “I’m going to kill both of you, you know that, right?” he said, but his mouth was spread in a wide grin.

  Renee smiled, too. They’d been tricked, but she had to admit, it was the best trick of her life.

  Jessica stood. “It’s time for the cake cutting now. Are you ready to watch us cut a very beautiful last-minute Bundt cake? I’m sure it’s going to be delicious.”

  Jessica looked at them as if daring anyone to disagree
.

  Nobody did, and everyone watched as Jessica and Aaron sliced into their last-minute cake.

  Everyone except for Renee and Jeremiah. They were too busy staring at each other to see anything else.

  Epilogue

  “I JUST GOT off the phone with the bakery. The cake is now on its way to the reception hall.” Jessica said as she strode into the room.

  Renee looked at her sister in disbelief. “You called them again? I told you to leave them alone the last time you called a half hour ago.”

  Jessica looked at herself in the mirror, adjusting her midnight-blue bridesmaid dress so it fell perfectly over her rounded stomach. “I know, but I just wanted to double-check.”

  “Double-checking was at least five calls ago. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t deliver my cake out of spite.”

  “Oh, you’ll have cake. They know exactly how important it is that there’s cake at your reception. I made it very clear to them.”

  Renee didn’t want to think about what Jessica might have said to the poor woman who owned the bakery. “I’m going to hope they think you’re a crazy pregnant lady and don’t charge me extra for the annoyance.”

  Jessica waved her hand in the air, as if it was ridiculous to think that anyone would mind being repeatedly called and threatened over the delivery of a baked good. “I’m your maid of honor. It’s my job to make sure everything’s perfect.”

  It really wasn’t, but Renee didn’t say anything. She had known Jessica would become the ultimate wedding planner before she even asked her sister to be the maid of honor. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be Jessica. So there was nothing she could do but let her sister indulge in some of her more neurotic traits and relax, knowing that everything was in good hands.

  “Thanks, Jessica,” she said. “I know you’ve got it under control. Nothing will go wrong, I’m sure.”

  Jessica was about to respond when her phone buzzed with an incoming text. Worry lines appeared on Jessica’s forehead as she read whatever it said, and Renee waited for whatever bad news her sister had gotten. “Did I speak too soon?” she asked.

  Jessica looked up and gave the bride a tight smile. “Don’t worry. I can take care of this. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

  With that, she started to rush toward the door. “The ceremony starts in fifteen!” Renee called after her sister, but by the time she finished, the door was already closed and she was alone, wondering what had happened. Whatever it was, she doubted it was anywhere near as bad as Jessica thought it was.

  With a few minutes alone in the little bridal room that adjoined the chapel, Renee sank into the couch in the corner, her skirt poufing up as she did so. She chuckled to herself, amazed once more that she’d ended up in a poufy white gown covered in sparkly rhinestones. Who would have guessed?

  Someone knocked on the door. She assumed it was her mom, coming to tell her what Jessica was dealing with. “Come in,” she called, not moving from her spot.

  Jeremiah poked his head into the room. “Is Jessica gone?”

  Renee felt a rush of affection as her husband-to-be walked in, a giant smile on his face. “I wanted us to have a couple of minutes alone before the ceremony,” he said, sitting beside her on the couch.

  She looked him up and down, enjoying the way his suit hugged his body. “You look amazing,” she said, reminding herself that she couldn’t undress him at that exact moment.

  He wrapped an arm around her bare shoulders. “You, too. This is the dress I’ve heard so much about but wasn’t allowed to see, huh? Wow. Worth the wait.”

  It was only then that she remembered she was in her wedding dress. “You weren’t supposed to see me before the ceremony, you know.”

  He gave her his lopsided grin. “I know. Jessica wouldn’t have let me in.”

  Realization dawned on Renee. “You sent that text.” He didn’t deny it. “What did you tell her?”

  “I said that Aaron couldn’t find the boutonnieres.”

  She glanced at the flower pinned to his breast pocket. “She’s going to kill you when she figures out it was a lie.”

  Jeremiah shrugged. “She can’t kill me. It would ruin the wedding, which is her main priority today.”

  His logic was infallible—she had to give him that. She snuggled closer to him, shoving sections of her dress out of her way to do so. “Another woman asked about my ring this morning. The lady at the hair salon wanted to know if you would be making more of them. I gave her your number.”

  She glanced down at the delicate golden band wrapped around her left ring finger. The intricate details still amazed her, and she couldn’t imagine how much time and work Jeremiah had put into secretly creating it before he proposed. It was truly a thing of beauty.

  He squeezed her closer. “I’ll think about that after the honeymoon. Right now, there are other things on my mind than building up a new business.”

  “So you’re ready to give up your bachelorhood in about ten minutes and settle down as an old married couple?” she asked, looking up at him.

  His eyes roved over her body again, making her skin tingle. “If it means I get to see what you’re wearing under this dress later tonight, then absolutely.”

  She gave him a seductive smile. “Not much.”

  He leaned in, his lips inches from hers. “My favorite,” he whispered, tugging at a loose strand of her hair.

  She lost herself in his eyes as he closed the gap between them.

  Just as their lips touched, Jessica’s voice broke into the moment, forcing them apart. “No! Hair, makeup, dress! You’re going to ruin all of it!”

  They both looked at the angry pregnant lady towering over them. “You’re not even supposed to be in here, Jeremiah. You need to get up to the altar.”

  She shook her head at him. “Do you have any idea how worried I was when I got your text?”

  Renee tried to stifle her laugh at her sister’s serious manner, but she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. “Jess, you need to calm down. Everything’s fine. You’ve done a great job. Now relax a smidge and let me enjoy my wedding.”

  Jessica looked as if she might give some sort of a retort, but then she took a deep, calming breath. “Okay. It’s your wedding—you do what you want. But Jeremiah, you need to be out of this room in forty-five seconds if we’re going to keep to the schedule.”

  Jeremiah nodded solemnly, but his eyes sparkled. “Thanks for being so relaxed about everything.”

  Jessica either missed or chose to ignore his sarcasm, because she just smiled and nodded at him.

  Renee waited for a second, then realized her sister was going to keep standing there unless she said something. “You might want to turn around if you don’t want to watch us making out for the next forty-five seconds.”

  Jessica rolled her eyes and turned her back. “Thirty-five.”

  Renee’s gaze went to her husband-to-be. “We better make this time count,” she said.

  He didn’t need any more prompting than that, pulling her close and pressing his lips to hers. The world disappeared as she savored the moment.

  It took three tries for Jessica to pull them apart. “Okay, now you really are behind schedule,” she told them.

  Jeremiah leaned his forehead against Renee’s as they caught their breath. “Are you ready?”

  She smiled up at him. “I am.”

  He shook his head. “It’s ‘I do.’ You might want to practice before yo
u get up there.”

  Renee rolled her eyes. “You better get out of here before Jessica has a meltdown. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  He gave her one more kiss, then left.

  Renee stood, and Jessica fussed around her for a few moments before declaring everything perfect. Then Jessica handed Renee her bouquet. “Love you, little sis. Let’s go get you married.”

  Renee nodded, unable to speak, and followed her sister out the door. Her heart was too full for words as she walked out to join the man of her dreams.

  * * * * *

  Read on for a sneak peek at UNDER PRESSURE, the first book in New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster’s explosive new series.

  For the men of the Body Armor agency, the only thing more dangerous than the job they do is the risk of losing their hearts.

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