The Cowboy's Claim

by Nina Crespo

  He caught her off guard as he released her and twirled her around. When he took her back into his arms, her leg slid between his, aligning their hips and melding her to his chest...just like during their kiss in the pasture.

  Nearby, Adam and Bethany danced just as close. When Adam spun her around, in one deft move, Bethany snagged his brown cowboy hat from his head and put it on hers. Bethany wound her arms around Adam’s neck, and he rested his forehead to hers as his hands slid to her waist.

  A hint of envy filled Chloe as she longed for that kind of intimacy with Tristan, but unlike Bethany and Adam, that kind of closeness would put all eyes on them, making people wonder about them, and raise questions that she didn’t even have the answer to about her relationship status with Tristan.

  Needing to change focus, Chloe looked to his cowboy hat. His other hat was in the front seat of her rental, parked just off the road near the pasture gate along with the cars of other Spring Fling attendees. She’d planned to hand it over to him after the party.

  “Your Stetson reminds me, I need to give you your ball cap back.”

  “Or you could trade up.”

  “What exactly does ‘trade up’ mean?” The huskiness in his voice made her look directly into his eyes.

  Tristan’s slow lean in near her cheek brought her closer to him, and she drew in an unsteady breath as his lightly whiskered cheek grazed hers. “You tell me.”

  At the end of the party, Chloe pitched in with everyone else cleaning up the pavilion.

  She hadn’t talked or been near Tristan after they’d danced together, but like a sixth sense that she’d just developed during the party, she knew exactly where he was, helping the DJ load his equipment into the back of a trailer hooked to a van.

  Her gaze kept drifting to meet his. It had been that way for hours, even in the midst of them holding conversations with other people.

  You tell me.

  She’d asked the question, and he’d given her an answer. Now it was her turn to respond.

  A short time later, the staff and their families said their goodbyes. One by one, cars pulled onto the road illuminated by the late-evening sun as everyone headed home.

  “You sure I can’t talk you into taking these?” Rina pointed to the paper plate filled with brownies in her hand as the two of them walked out the pasture gate, headed for their cars.

  “Thanks, but no. They’re too good. I’ll just eat every single one of them.” Or not. The fluttery feeling tumbling inside of her as she’d thought of Tristan didn’t leave room for anything else.

  “Why do you think I don’t want to ride back with them.” Rina laughed as she got into her bluish-gray four-door sedan. “I think I’ll drop them off at the sheriff’s office on the way home. See you later.”

  Chloe opened the door to her car that was parked two empty spaces over from Tristan’s.

  His hat sat on the front passenger seat. She reached over and picked it up, and when she stood straight, she glanced over her shoulder.

  Tristan walked toward her.

  Her heart sped up as the last of the cars drove away.

  They were alone.

  As he stood in front of Chloe, he gave her one of his small, sexy smiles. “Is that for me, Ace?”

  His gaze dropped to the ball cap clutched in her hand.

  She could give him the hat and endure weeks of pretending the kisses they’d shared didn’t matter, but the truth was, she wished for more. But unlike the brownies, she couldn’t just not indulge. She was tired of trying. And as far as answering his question, sometimes it was better to let actions speak louder than words.

  Chloe took his Stetson off his head and put it on hers. As he stared into her eyes, she raised up on her toes and kissed him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Anticipation made Chloe tremble as Tristan shut the back door of his cottage behind them. They leaned on opposite walls in the entryway.

  Four solid thunks echoed in the small space as their boots, along with their socks, hit the floor.

  Finally, they could give in to the invisible but tangible connection that had been teasing and taunting them for weeks.

  He reached for her and she went to him, immediately winding her arms around his neck. He swooped under the brim of his cowboy hat, still resting on her head, and covered her mouth firmly with his.

  Desire flowed through her with a deepening kiss. In between teasing nips and brushes over each other’s lips, they shuffled down the back hallway into the kitchen. A few steps past the stove, he picked her straight up, and a small squeal shot out of her. The hat fell off as he carried her the rest of the way down the side hall leading to the bedroom. As she grasped onto his shoulders and looked down at him, the sexual hunger in his eyes made her heart beat harder. He was just as impatient for this as she was.

  As soon as they made it past the threshold, he partially released her and she slid down his torso. The slow drag of her fabric covered nipples down his hard pecs awakened nerve endings. Her breasts felt full and heavy. Her feet touched the floor and as he kissed her, longing slowly and sweetly grew inside of her.

  Tristan glided his hands down her back to cup her butt and bring her firmly against him. The feel of his jean-covered erection against her lower abdomen stole a breath.

  He trailed kisses from her cheek down the side of her neck. “I need you.”

  The heat from his openmouthed kisses made her shiver. “I need you, too.”

  They both reached for the top button of his shirt at the same time. In between more feverish kisses, she unbuttoned from the bottom up while he tore at the buttons from the top down. Finally they were done and he shrugged the shirt off.

  She sucked in a breath, struck motionless, admiring what she’d only been able to dream of for too many long days and nights. Perfection. Chloe pressed her lips to his chest and soaked in the heat of him with her lips and fingertips, caressing over the dips and valleys of his abs. Her hand came to the button on his jeans and she popped it open.

  He interrupted her plans by pulling up the hem of her dress. She raised her arms, making it easier for him to lift it up and over her head.

  As he dropped her dress to the floor, his jawline angled with his heated gaze. His eyes stayed on her as she popped open the front closure of her beige lace bra and took it off along with her matching bikinis. As if he was transfixed, he took her in from her head to her polished pink toenails.

  Tristan reached out and glided his palms over the outer swells of her breasts, down her rib cage, and through the dips of her waist.

  Her legs grew weak and as she swayed forward, he pulled her to him. “You’re so beautiful.” The huskiness of his voice flowed over her smooth, warm, and wonderful like his caresses.

  “You are, too.” Chloe glided her arms up his chest and around his neck.

  She grasped his nape and kissed him. The new sensation of being with him skin to skin made desire, heady and hot, uncoil.

  Tristan turned her around and urged her backward. The backs of her knees hit the mattress, and he followed her down on the bed. Every brush of his lips—from the notch in the middle of her throat to the swells and peaks of her breasts, down her belly, and moving lower—made her ache.

  Chloe arched up underneath him, losing herself in erotic sensation. Was it possible to die from so much pleasure? By the time he stripped off his boxer briefs and jeans, and sheathed himself in a condom, she was lost in it and craving more.

  Tristan thrust inside of her, setting a slow pace that pulled out her moans, gasps...made her beg. He kissed down her cheek to nip her earlobe and whispered, “Not yet.”

  She followed his lead and wrapped her legs around his hips. Her heart pounded as she matched his quickening rhythm, holding on to him as his back muscles bunched underneath her palms.

  Pleasure began to unfurl from her toes, rising
inside of her, making her cry out his name as she climaxed. Soon after, he found his release.

  * * *

  “Thanks for letting me borrow your shirt.” Chloe snuggled next to Tristan in his bed with her head on his bare shoulder.

  “You’re welcome.” He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close.

  Just like with his hats, she looked good in his black T-shirt, too, and the fact that she’d accepted it from him when she’d gotten out of the shower, versus putting on her dress, meant she wasn’t in a hurry to leave.

  Maybe it was because of the weather. He glanced to the side window. The sun had set a couple of hours ago and the corner floor lamp illuminated the rain, trailing down the glass. It fell steadily, drumming a quiet beat on the roof of the cottage.

  Or maybe it felt just as right to her to be there as it did to him to hold her in his arms, no longer denying the attraction that existed between them.

  Chloe traced a lazy pattern in the middle of his chest, raising tingles and need.

  He glanced down at her, but she wasn’t paying attention to him or what she was causing to happen below his waist. Her focus was on the photos sitting on the dresser against the wall. She’d glanced over them earlier when he was looking for a T-shirt to give her.

  Tristan kissed her forehead. “What’s that frown about?”

  “Am I frowning?” She laughed. “I didn’t realize it. Nothing really. I was just wondering.”

  “About?”

  “Your cowboy hat. Is it the same one in the photos?”

  “It’s one of them. A few got crushed by a bull who got the best of me.”

  She slightly shuddered. “Better your hat than you. Rina mentioned you were the only one in your family who chose bull riding as a sport. Why? Who turned you on to doing it?”

  He didn’t pick up any judgment in her tone. Just curiosity. Still he tipped up her chin to look into her eyes and steal a quick kiss. “For years my father didn’t just work at the stable. He was also an off-site sales rep for a company that sold tractors and other heavy equipment to farms and ranches. Growing up, sometimes, I’d go with him to visit clients during my summer school break.”

  As much as he loved the family atmosphere at the house, he looked forward to those rare overnight trips in the car with just him and his dad. His father could stick to one topic for hours—the pros and cons of the types of cars on the interstate, what it took to build a house, the ups and down of politics, competitions he’d been in, how to close a business deal—and he’d never grown tired listening to him.

  Tristan continued, focusing on answering Chloe’s question. “One day we were in Kentucky, and we stopped at a place where the owner was a former bull rider. He was coaching his son and another guy from Brazil to ride. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen it done before, but for some reason, that day, it clicked. I told my dad I wanted to learn.”

  “So that’s when you started calf riding, right?”

  “Yeah, let me guess. When you went to Rina’s she pulled out at least five albums and bored you with pictures?”

  “Not five of them, just two.” Chloe grinned. “And it wasn’t boring. I liked looking at all of those cute pictures of a younger you.”

  “Don’t tell her that or she’ll lure you back to her place to go through her entire album and memorabilia collection. Five albums is a conservative estimate, and that’s not including scrapbooks and the pictures filed away on her laptop and phone. The only upside is the cocktails she’ll make for you.”

  “Oh, stop.” Chloe playfully poked him in the side. “I think it’s great that Rina has the history of your family in one place.” She rose from his chest and propped herself up on her elbow beside him. “Why did you stop bull riding?”

  “The first time?” He rested an arm behind his head. “I joined the military. There wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities for it.”

  “And after that?”

  Yeah, he’d opened the door to that by saying “the first time.” Usually, he was more concise with his response to that question, but with Chloe, it had just come out.

  But no matter how easy it was to talk to her, now wasn’t the time for the long answer to that question. It contained drama, chaos and gut-twisting turns that would ruin the moment.

  He faced her, propping his elbow underneath him. “The second time was for the stable. I needed to take my place here.” She went to ask another question, but he briefly laid a finger to her lips. “Enough about me, tell me about you. Did you always want to be an actress?”

  From the look in her eyes, he hadn’t fooled her. She realized he was purposely diverting the conversation. “I don’t know about always, although I did play Moses in a church play when I was six. I ran around practicing parting the Red Sea for weeks wearing a gray beard.” She lowered her tone. “Speaking in a deep ominous voice.” Chloe laughed. “I drove my older brother, Thad, and my parents nuts.”

  A vision of a pint-sized Chloe wearing the beard raised a chuckle in Tristan. “What finally made you stop doing it?”

  “The neighbor’s dog ate Moses’s beard.” Her eyes narrowed playfully. “But I’m pretty sure my big brother had something to do with it.”

  “It’s great that your family is so supportive of your career.”

  Her smile faded. “More like tolerant. They’re not exactly thrilled that I didn’t join the family business.” The teasing tone she was trying for wasn’t quite there.

  “What type of company is it?”

  “Not a company, a profession. My dad’s a cardiologist. My mom is a dietitian. And Thad, he’s a paramedic.” She plucked at a loose thread on the pillow case. “They’re a little more supportive of me now than when I started. But from their point of view, the careers they’ve chosen are sensible and serve a practical purpose. Mine doesn’t. I think on some level they expect me to show up on their doorstep with my stuff in moving boxes, ready to admit I made a mistake and that I need their help to start over.”

  She was so driven as an actress, he’d assumed her parents had instilled that in her by rallying around her like his family had done for him when he was younger. But during competitions, he’d also witnessed inner drive coming from too much judgment. Some succeeded. Others couldn’t get out of their heads long enough to move forward because they were always hyperanalyzing their performances. The rest usually pushed too hard and wound up with injuries, in some cases those injuries had been career ending.

  It was hard to imagine what Chloe was telling him, but the slightly sad expression on her face confirmed it.

  He glided his finger down her cheek. “When they’re watching you give your acceptance speech for the award you’re going to win for this movie you’re auditioning for, I bet that will change their minds.”

  Her smile came back with a laugh. “Yeah, that could do it.” She cleared her throat and mocked holding an award and looking sincerely into a camera. “I’m so honored to accept this. And I must give a huge thank-you to Moonlight Joy and Thunder Bay for making it possible. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

  “Wait a minute.” He took advantage of her being slightly off-balance and rolled Chloe under him. “Thunder gets a thank-you but I don’t?”

  She laughed. “I’m starting to like him a little better.”

  “And his owner?” He kissed her and need grew inside of him as she glided her silky-smooth legs over his.

  Chloe smiled against his lips. “I like him even more.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Late Saturday afternoon, Tristan sat at his desk in the office at the stable.

  Gloria, deep into some report, tapped away on her computer.

  They usually worked a few hours on Saturday, but this time they had a little more catching up to do after taking off for the Spring Fling party.

  He was supposed to be reviewing the care journals for the horse
s, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to Chloe. He hadn’t really seen her since Wednesday. The next workday had been busy, and she’d already had dinner plans with staff from the guesthouse.

  Unable to sleep, he’d given in to calling her later that night to see how her day had been.

  They’d talked about a few things, including childhood pranks. Apparently one of the waitstaff she’d gone to dinner with was exasperated with her young son. He’d scared her awake that morning by leaving a huge plastic spider for her to find in the shower.

  Did you pull any pranks when you were a kid or were you a Goody Two-shoes? Chloe had asked over the phone.

  No, I definitely wasn’t a Goody Two-shoes. One weekend, our parents were away, and I’d been put in charge of making breakfast for me, Zurie and Rina...

  Telling the story of how he’d frozen the cereal and milk in bowls overnight, and in the morning, poured a little milk on the top so they wouldn’t notice when they sat down at the table to eat their Sugar Pops, had almost made him laugh just as hard as it had then. Especially as he remembered Zurie’s and Rina’s bewildered expressions when they’d first tried to dig into the frozen bowls with their spoons.

  He hadn’t thought about that day in a long time. It had felt good to share it and recall the fun they’d had growing up together.

  He and Chloe had then moved on to random topics that popped up.

  Her favorite color—she couldn’t settle on just one: pink, peach or red, depending on her mood. His: navy blue. His favorite holiday—Thanksgiving. Hers was Halloween. She loved dressing up and going to parties. Recent trips: Him to Kentucky to deliver a horse that had been boarded at the stable to its owner’s new home. Her to New York to see the musical Hamilton.

  Yesterday had been another busy day, and that evening, he’d had to attend a business mixer the mayor of Bolan had hosted. When he’d gotten back home, Chloe had called him, and once again they’d talked for hours. He’d awakened tired in the morning but also happy they’d made dinner plans.