High-Stakes Cowboy (WEST Protection)

by Em Petrova

  He cocked a brow at her. “You could put it a little nicer.”

  “Sorry.” She actually was. “Thank you for the ticket. You didn’t need to pay.”

  “I know. I’m countin’ on you to buy me a corndog later.”

  “Count on it. And some o’ those fresh-cut fries too.”

  “Hold that thought. First, I’ve gotta meet up with my brother and get a few things. Want to walk with me?”

  “Sure.” As soon as they started moving through the crowd, she noticed how many stares they were receiving. A couple cowboys gave Noah the chin-raise of universal male acknowledgement, and he did the same, only hotter. More than a few women were eyeing him and then shooting Maya Ray dirty looks.

  “Well, we’re making some people jealous anyway. We just need to find the two people we’re here to bother,” she said.

  He didn’t respond, and she looked up at his face in time to see the glare he was throwing at a guy standing in line to ride the electric bull.

  Maya Ray’s brows crinkled. “What was that about? You know that dude?”

  “He was starin’ at your legs too long.” The flat statement, delivered as though he had all the reason in the world to be irritated by such a thing as a man staring at her, shook her enough that she didn’t know what to say.

  With confident strides, he led her around the bleachers surrounding the rodeo stadium and clear to the back where the animals were kept.

  “What are we doing here again?”

  At that moment, she saw a guy appear, as tall, dark and ruggedly handsome as Noah. A single glance told her this was his brother, and she didn’t even need to see a dimple to know he was a Wynton.

  The man’s attention fell over her, and she felt a prickle of being sized up. As they approached him, Noah tipped his head toward her. “This is Maya Ray.”

  “Hi, Maya Ray.” The man also wore a black hat, black T-shirt and the same belt buckle with a star surrounding a W, just like Noah’s.

  “Hi there.” She offered him her best smile.

  He slid his gaze to his brother and cocked a brow at him, but Noah ignored the silent question. Of course his brother would question him being with a new woman. His family would know about his big breakup and was probably happy to see Noah moving on. Only it was all a ruse.

  “Thanks for agreeing to do this, Noah.”

  “Don’t even go there, Ross.”

  He flashed a huge grin, complete with Wynton dimple. “I’ll just show you around so you know where to watch for security issues.”

  Maya Ray’s ears perked up. “Security issues?”

  Ross threw her a look. “Didn’t my brother tell you he’s running security for me all week?”

  “No, he didn’t.”

  Noah gave a low groan that sounded like a first warning from a vicious animal before it struck.

  Ross shot her a wink and continued to circle the animal pens and to the back gates where the rodeo trailers would park. “This will be your post, brother.”

  “Pretty sure I’m the one who told you this is a prime example of a security risk.” Noah’s tone only seemed to widen the smile on Ross’s face.

  “Whatever. You’ll be armed, of course, and you’ll have an earpiece for communication with the rest of security.”

  “Fine. That all?” Noah eyed his brother.

  “No. I’m supposed to tell ya that the chicken roast and cornhole are on.”

  Some of the tenseness seemed to ooze from the set of Noah’s shoulders. “Ma told you?”

  “Yes. So stop poutin’ about lack of traditions and all that. Bring your girl here.” He nodded to Maya Ray.

  She didn’t know how to respond. Her agreement with Noah didn’t extend to personal affairs—they were only together to “run into” Jake and Shana.

  “Anything else?” Noah waited for Ross’s answer.

  “One more thing.”

  Noah stopped short of rolling his eyes. “What now?”

  “We could use someone to sell raffle tickets.”

  “We can do it,” Maya Ray spoke up.

  Noah looked down at her. She lifted her brows, trying to communicate that it was the best way to be in a prominent spot where their exes would see them. As if he understood her telepathy, he nodded.

  “We’ll work the booth. But not all evening. We got a date with some corndogs and fresh-cut fries.”

  Why did his grumbling sound so hot?

  “Let’s go, Maya Ray.” He caught her by the elbow and steered her quickly away.

  “Nice meeting you,” she called back to Ross. His brother waved.

  After they were out of earshot, she nudged him with her elbow. “You’re a little grumpy with your brother.”

  “He’s being a pain.”

  “I didn’t know you were working security.”

  “Ross just asked me. He’s been in charge of it here at the fair for the last few years, but this is his first contract with the rodeo.”

  “I see.”

  “It was a good call to say we’ll work the raffle. Everybody buys tickets. We’re sure to see our exes.”

  She bobbed her head. “My thoughts exactly. Let me buy you a lemonade before we head to the booth. It’ll be hot working in the sun.”

  She steered him to a lemonade stand and bought two. Then they set up at the raffle table to sell tickets. Turned out Noah knew everybody, and everybody liked him. So many people stopped to chat with him, and he had a way about him that put people at ease and made them smile. Several times, she watched him nonchalantly hand the person the pen and a packet of tickets to fill out his name, chatting away the whole time so she wondered if the poor person ever realized he was agreeing to dole out twenty bucks for the tickets.

  After it happened one more time, she shook her head at him.

  “What’s that for?” he asked.

  “I’ve just learned you’re a salesman too.” A familiar face appeared at the next booth, and her heart juddered in her chest. “Time for action. Kiss me, Noah.”

  His brows wrinkled in question and then it dawned on him that their exes were nearby and it was time to put on their performance.

  He closed the gap between them. When he clamped his hands on her hips and tugged her flush to his hard body, all the while staring deeply into her eyes, she felt her breath come faster. Were their exes seeing this? She sure hoped so.

  Slowly, he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. The slightest hint of pressure sent a tingle along her nerve endings, awakening the ones that remembered his past kisses far too well. What he did next caught her off-guard.

  With his thumb on her chin, he opened her mouth for him to sweep inside. This was no gentle kiss—he plundered her. Ravished her. Stole all thoughts about where she was and what she was doing here as he demanded she respond to the caress.

  She threw her arms around him, clinging. He lifted her off her feet, and she brought one boot up into the air in that all-time pose of the happy female half of a couple. He angled deeper, taking her lips and tongue for what felt like endless moments.

  Someone whistled at them, and Noah lifted his head. Over his shoulder, she spotted Jake and Shana rushing away.

  “Wait! You didn’t buy any tickets!” she called out.

  Noah slanted a grin at her, but his eyes still glinted with what she thought might be the burning affects of that kiss. She felt a full flock of butterflies in her stomach for the same reason and hoped she didn’t wear a dopey look on her face too.

  As he stared down at her, he narrowed his eyes. “You’re getting a sunburn.”

  Her eyes rounded. “Crap. I forgot sunscreen.”

  “I know where to get some. Be right back.”

  She watched him swing away from the table for a moment and then she held out her arms to look at her red forearms. Touching her fingertips to her cheeks, she found them hot and stinging slightly. Great—she must look like a tomato.

  When he returned to the table with a bottle of lotion in his big ha
nd, his stare locked on her face. He winced.

  “Oh no. Is it that bad?” she whispered.

  “Pretty bad.”

  “Well why didn’t you say something before?”

  “I didn’t notice before.” He popped the top of the sunscreen and squirted an ample amount in his palm.

  “You can’t use that much on me—I’ll look like a ghost.”

  “Better than a tomato.”

  She groaned.

  He dimpled up, damn him, as he smoothed sunscreen down her forearms. “Gonna have a farmer’s tan too.”

  “Fantastic.”

  He flashed his pearly whites too, double damn him. “Here, tip your face up.”

  She did as he asked. His fingers didn’t feel so callused sliding over her face. She watched him as he slathered her in sunscreen, and his expression of total absorption in his job only helped when Jake and Shana hurried past the table.

  Noah flicked his gaze after them and then grinned. “Perfect timing.” He dropped his hands. “There—you’re good.”

  “Did you get it all rubbed in? I don’t want white squirts left on my face.”

  His brows rocketed up, and she realized how that sounded. She shoved him in the shoulder. “Stop! I’m red enough without blushing.”

  He chuckled. “I say we make our escape in a few minutes and saddle some other poor bastard with selling tickets while we grab some food.”

  “I’m up for it. I think I’ve had enough sun for one day.”

  When his stare lit on her face again, and the corner of his mouth quirked up, she knew what he was seeing must be bad.

  Later, when they were standing in the long line waiting for their fresh-cut fries, Noah slid his hand tenderly under her hair, leaned down and kissed her without warning. The soft brushing of his mouth almost made her forget how much her skin hurt, and she hardly processed that thought before he pulled away in time for her to see Jake staring straight at them.

  Did she even care about continuing with this act? After all, if Jake wanted Shana, Maya Ray couldn’t stop him. And running into him so often in the past few days had started to make her feel a bit immune to him. This time, she didn’t even experience that sharp dip of her stomach she experienced from looking into his eyes.

  The confusion crisscrossing her system left her a bit slow, so when it was her turn to order, she forgot what to say.

  “Two large orders of fries,” Noah ordered for them.

  The guy who took their order slid his gaze to her face and then he cringed.

  “Sunstroke,” Noah said in a loud whisper to the guy and pointed to his temple.

  Oh Lordy. As if Maya Ray wasn’t a hot mess without half the fairgrounds thinking the sun had boiled her brain and it ran out of her ear.

  When they walked away with big cups of fries in hand and a corndog on a stick each, she sent Noah a glare.

  “What?”

  “Do I really look that horrible?”

  He slid his stare over her face, from stinging forehead to the hot, tight point of her chin. “No. You look beautiful.”

  * * * * *

  After that scorching kiss back at the raffle ticket booth and the tender one waiting in line for fries, compounded with the knowledge that Maya Ray wore his pink beard burns on her inner thighs, Noah had been sporting an erection all afternoon.

  She just had to wear that tight little miniskirt too, didn’t she? All part of the act, he was certain, but now their ruse was beginning to affect him probably more than their exes.

  He threw Maya Ray a look. Her poor face and arms. Who scorched in the early evening sunshine in Montana? Apparently a pale, freckled woman like Maya Ray. If her cheeks were this much on fire, he’d like to see those marks on her thighs.

  He ground his teeth on the thought. Their evening together was coming to an end. They didn’t really need to keep trying to run into their exes once the fireworks started, did they?

  What if he wanted to watch the display, though? It was one of the best shows in three counties.

  While she stood talking to an old friend, she shifted her weight from hip to hip. Noah’s gut burned at the view of her ass in tight, short denim.

  Before he knew his own mind, he stepped up behind her, putting a palm to her lower back. She went dead still. “Excuse me for interrupting. I just wondered if you want to catch the fireworks.”

  Her eyes looked so white against her beet-red face that the blue seemed amplified to a whole other spectrum of color.

  “Sure. Fireworks sounds great. I’ll see you soon, Abby.”

  As he led her away to where his truck was parked in the field, she was silent. “We’ll have a great view from the field. How’s that sound?”

  “Great, actually.” When they reached his truck and he lowered the tailgate, she put a hand on his arm. “Noah, we don’t need to watch fireworks together. I don’t think our exes will see us out here.”

  He turned his head and met her gaze. “I know. It’s only fireworks, Maya Ray.” He located a blanket and spread it over the tailgate so her bare legs weren’t touching the cool metal of the truck.

  Before she could hitch herself onto the edge, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her. Her jaw dropped before he released her to take a seat beside her.

  “Oh, almost forgot.” He hopped off again and rooted around in the front of the truck. He returned with a bottle of green aloe.

  She gaped at him.

  “For your sunburn.”

  “Thank you.” She opened the lid and squirted some in her palms. She first smoothed it over her arms and then did the same to her face. Afterward, she released a sigh of relief.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Much. Thanks.” She leaned back on her palms, looking at the still dark sky. She swung her booted feet, and the action caused her skirt to ride up her thighs more.

  He stifled a groan. All day long he’d burned to shimmy that tight skirt up and look at the marks he made on her. Then show off his own cat scratch.

  What was wrong with him?

  She turns me on.

  And not for revenge, either.

  He wanted to touch her more, like they had that first night when they hadn’t struck a deal to try to drive their exes crazy—just them. Tangled up. In bed.

  He didn’t realize he sighed until she pivoted her head to look at him. “Long evening, huh?”

  Seeing how he’d been hard as steel for most of it, yeah. “It was all right.”

  She stole a peek at him. “I had a good time. I didn’t expect that.”

  Staring at her, inches away, her lips full and beckoning him, he threw away all good sense. He reached out and yanked her into his lap. Her round ass hit his groin, and he groaned as she gasped.

  He slammed his mouth over hers, stealing any other sounds she might make. When he angled his head, thrusting his tongue between her lips, she shoved his hat off his head and plunged her fingers into his hair.

  He couldn’t help it—he ran a hand up her bare leg from knee to crotch, thinking of beard burn and how easy it’d be to put more there. She cried out as he stroked his thumb over the crotch of her panties.

  She let her legs fall apart, giving him complete access. He rolled her back into the truck bed, covering her with his body to keep all eyes off her as he wiggled his hand inside the cloth of her panties and nestled a fingertip over her slick seam.

  “Oh God!” She wiggled against his hand. He captured her lips again, holding her body prisoner with his tongue and a single fingertip, which he slipped up and down her folds, finally coming to rest on her clit.

  The scrape of her fingernails over his scalp had his cock ready to burst. He tunneled his finger into her pussy, twisting it to work himself inside her body. Liquid heat penetrated his skin, and he battled for control. While kissing her with long, deep passes, he began to finger-fuck her nice and slow.

  Each squeaking noise she made, he trapped with his mouth. Passion flared up. What he wouldn’t give to drop his jea
ns and claim her right here. Feeling her writhe in pleasure was the next best thing.

  She pushed her hips up, working herself on his finger. Fuck, could she be any hotter? Wetter? He sank two fingers in all the way and the heel of his hand brushed over her clit.

  “Yessss,” she moaned out. “Don’t stop!”

  He’d like to see the person who tried to make him. Staring down at her beautiful face contorted with pleasure had him about to blow. He bit off a growl and took her lips again, fucking her with his fingers and her mouth with his tongue until her insides clenched and he felt her mouth go slack under his.

  She came with a hard pulsing shudder just as the first firework hit the sky. Pastel colors lit up her face as her release continued for several seconds. When she collapsed, breathing hard, her hand fisted in his hair, their eyes met.

  Her eyes cleared of the sexual haze faster than he expected, and she released her grip on his hair. Slowly, he eased his fingers free. He wanted to lick them clean, but something about her tense pose kept him from doing so.

  She closed her legs and shoved her skirt down. She started to sit up, and he rested a hand on her stomach to hold her.

  “Easy. Just watch the fireworks.” He spoke as if he was soothing a horse, but right now, she acted just as skittish.

  Another huge firework shot into the sky and exploded above them in a flower shape light display. Two more accompanied it. After five more, he felt Maya Ray relax a bit. He was far from it, though. With her scent hanging in the night air and his fingers still damp from her release, he didn’t think he could be more worked up.

  No doubt she was sexy as hell, but he’d never acted this bold before. When courting a woman, he did things in order. A first date—maybe dinner. Holding hands. A parting kiss goodnight, chaste with no tongue to show respect. Then seeing each other a few more times before acting on his physical desires.

  With Maya Ray, everything was back-asswards, and he didn’t know what to think about that. They slept together right out of the gate, and all those intimate touches and looks were feigned.

  Are they?

  Turning his gaze from the sky, he centered on her face. If she didn’t want him just a little bit, she wouldn’t have allowed him to bring her to release. Hell, she wouldn’t be able to get off at all if she didn’t trust him.