High-Stakes Cowboy (WEST Protection)

by Em Petrova

  A kernel of warmth bloomed in his chest at that thought. A series of loud blasts turned his attention to the lights flashing in the sky. He chuckled at the percussion that seemed to drive straight into his body.

  Maya Ray looped her arm around his neck, burying her face against his chest as she laughed through the loud ones too. Then she peeked out at the increasingly bigger light displays until the finale.

  Watching fireworks with his ex had never been so fun. Actually, last year, she hadn’t wanted to sit in the bed of his truck, and making out would have been strictly off-limits.

  Wonder lit on Maya Ray’s face, and colors washed over her skin, making it glow like a rainbow.

  When the final firework exploded, she issued a long, loud hoot along with every other person in the field—except him. He was too busy enjoying her response.

  Cheers sounded, and then engines revved as people in the field drove out. He didn’t move, and neither did she.

  “I should get going.” She sat up and started to scoot to the edge of the tailgate in order to jump down.

  “Where’s your car parked? I’ll drive you to it.”

  “I can walk.”

  “Well, wait a few at least. It’s dark and pedestrians around all these big trucks don’t mix.”

  To his relief, she stopped. He sat next to her and they watched the trucks and headlights. One truck hit a muddy patch, and true to the nature of any boy in Stone Pass, the driver set the vehicle into a donut spin. A bunch of other drivers honked their horns on every rotation he made.

  When Noah looked at Maya Ray, he saw her smiling at the antics. Shana would have shook her head and declared them to be immature.

  What was up with him comparing the two women now?

  He wanted to bring up the fact he’d just pleasured her. He felt the moment hanging between them. But without any clue how to broach the topic, he said, “How’s the sunburn feeling?”

  “It’s okay. Stings a little, but the aloe helped.”

  “Good.”

  Silence hovered between them.

  “You know, I don’t even know where you work,” he said. The truck came out of the donut and the driver honked the entire way off the field, rendering it impossible to speak until he drove away.

  “I work for my uncle’s water testing company.”

  “The Water Guru’s your uncle?”

  “Yes.”

  “You got roped into the family business?”

  “I went to college for environmental science. There’s a lot of fracking around here, and that affects the water table. I like helping to keep an eye on the safety of people’s water.”

  He nodded.

  “What about you?”

  He reached for his hat and settled it firmly on his head. “Ranchin’ family, remember? I train horses all day.”

  “Sounds awesome.”

  “That’s the glamorous term for fighting stubborn yearlings and shovelin’ shit.”

  She smiled. He studied her for a minute before deciding that while their conversation seemed easygoing, she still appeared tense. He probably messed things up by making a move on her, and his cock was still battering his fly with no hope of release unless by his own hand. At this point, he wouldn’t have a choice but to ease himself.

  “I bet training horses means you’ll be waking up early tomorrow.”

  “Yes.”

  She hopped off the tailgate and smoothed her skirt down her thighs. “It’s late. You’d best get home. I’ll see you later, Noah.”

  He watched her walk away from the truck and disappear into the darkness. Why did watching her walk away leave him feeling empty?

  Chapter Five

  Maya Ray’s face really did resemble a tomato.

  Not one of those barely red, pale ones seen on a supermarket shelf but a big, fat heirloom variety her grandma grew in her garden. The ones that made the best, richest tomato sauce and made for the yummiest sandwiches.

  For the color of her complexion, she wasn’t feeling it so much.

  She groaned and turned away from the mirror. After five days the burn wasn’t showing signs of fading. At least it hadn’t peeled as of yet—she credited Noah’s aloe for that small blessing.

  Noah…he was becoming a problem. He’d texted her several days in a row asking her when they were going to stalk their exes with a big LOL at the end of the message. But she’d ignored the texts and didn’t reply.

  And for days she’d been asking herself why.

  She didn’t want to stalk their exes anymore. The idea grew stale after only a few days. She’d still like to see Jake’s eyeballs bug out of his head when he saw Noah kiss her or whisper into her ear. The things he whispered always made her laugh too, being as far from sexy as a whisper could get.

  Catching herself smiling now, she pressed her lips together to change her expression.

  Okay, maybe she did still want to drive her ex crazy for a few more days.

  Her bright red face had kept her indoors, and she didn’t want to be seen with such a gross discoloration of her skin. Yeah, that was it.

  Except it wasn’t. It was Noah.

  She had to admit it—her momma taught her never to lie, especially to herself, since it was the most dangerous kind of lie. Truth was, she didn’t know how to act around Noah now.

  Now that he’d kissed her in the dark without their exes around to see.

  Now that he’d shimmied his hand under her skirt, inside her panties, slipped his fingers into her body…and she’d ridden the thick, callused digits like she never wanted to stop.

  Her face burned as she added a blush to her already hot skin. Confusion flooded into her brain, filling it with a dense fog she couldn’t manage to see through no matter which direction she looked.

  Why had she let Noah put his hands on her? Bring her to orgasm?

  Because she wanted it, pure and simple. Being kissed by a gorgeous hot cowboy and made to feel beautiful and desirable was the best ego boost a girl could ever need after getting dumped by a jerk like Jake. Problem was, next time she and Noah got together, would he try to kiss her and shimmy his hand into her panties?

  God, she hoped so.

  She swatted away that thought like a pesky bee coming at her. No—she did not hope Noah tried to touch her in that way again.

  If they continued with their act of pretending to be in a relationship for the sake of their exes, he would touch her.

  And she’d like it too much.

  Once again, she arrived at the real root of her problem. She liked Noah’s kisses. The cowboy knew exactly how to drive her craziest, and she needed to avoid him for that reason.

  She also couldn’t continue ignoring him.

  She pulled on her boots and swung back to glance at her reflection in the bedroom mirror. Did she look so bad now? She prodded her cheeks. They weren’t nearly as red as they’d been a few days before. She could show her face in public.

  Why could she hear Noah teasing her for the brutal sunburn? She bit down on her lip to keep the smile off her face, despite nobody being around to witness it.

  Spinning from the mirror, she swiped her phone to reply to Noah. For a heartbeat, she didn’t know what to say.

  Thanks for the crazy-good orgasm in the bed of your truck. I’m still tingling when I think about it.

  Definitely not.

  Her thumbs worked over the keyboard. Sorry I’ve been busy lately. Do you want to meet?

  Several seconds passed where she wondered if he gave up on their odd, days-old friendship. Who could blame him? She didn’t know how to make sense of what they were to each other…or if she was even pretending anymore.

  She started to rub at her face and then remembered how painful it would be to do that. She dropped her hand, and just then her phone vibrated with a text.

  Yes, let’s meet.

  Coffeeshop? Feed store?

  Fishin’ hole. Derby’s on.

  The fishing derby was a big part of the summer festivitie
s surrounding the rodeo. Though water sports had nothing to do with bucking broncs and bulls, tradition in Stone Pass saw half the townspeople at the fishing hole to see who snagged the biggest fish of the day. With prizes going to longest fish, heaviest fish, prettiest fish and even youngest fisherman to catch a fish, everybody had reason to get in on the fun.

  I’ll be there.

  Make it quick, Maya Ray.

  Her stomach dipped at the text and how easily she conjured Noah’s deep, rough voice as though he spoke those words aloud. Also, why did it turn her on when he gave a simple command like that?

  Easy. Just watch the fireworks. When he pressed his big palm down on her belly, anchoring her to the bed of the truck instead of allowing her to get up and flee in embarrassment for just having orgasmed all over his fingers, she’d experienced the same leap in her stomach.

  Pocketing her phone, she reached for her cowgirl hat. No way would she go without sun protection this time. She checked herself out in the mirror one more time and groaned as she realized she was primping.

  To show that rotten ex of mine what he’s missing out on.

  Then why did a vision of Noah appear in her mind?

  Going would probably be a mistake, but on the way out to her car, she grabbed her fishing rod from the corner of the mudroom.

  Driving across Stone Pass toward the river, she didn’t find herself searching the streets for Jake’s car. She must be getting over him, but she didn’t know how to feel about it. Did it make her shallow to feel less of a pang of pain so soon? Another knot of confusion to heap onto her current state….more fog to swim through.

  She sighed and shook herself. The derby always proved to be fun. She hadn’t attended in several years, but she and her uncle discussed it with several customers this morning at work. The prizes this year seemed to be more on the extravagant side—such as a brand new rod and reel instead of a certificate for a roast beef dinner at the Stone Pass Family Restaurant.

  When she arrived at the river, she struggled to find a place to park along the road. She slipped her small car between two Chevy trucks and then her heart gave a wild flip as she spotted Noah’s truck parked a few vehicles away.

  Her stare slid over the bed—where he’d laid her down on the blanket and taken her to new levels of pleasure with his fingers. And the way his hand bumped her clit rhythmically as he delivered, long, deep strokes…

  She shivered and swung her gaze back to the truck bed. The goosebumps on her neck and the way her nipples pinched told her she was far from immune to Noah Wynton. Better to face him now than continue to avoid him and run into him in town. Just because they seemed to never be in the same place at the same time before now didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. Stone Pass was far from huge.

  As she gathered her fishing rod, she found herself taking fast strides. Fish didn’t drive her as much as a certain dimple did.

  Okay, more confusion. Thicker fog. Maybe seeing Noah would clear some of it away and she’d understand her feelings and thoughts.

  The fishing hole was lined on both sides with people of all ages. When she spotted a group of men, all wearing black Stetsons, her step faltered. Noah hadn’t mentioned being with his family.

  “Hi, Maya Ray,” a friend of her father’s called out as she passed him.

  “Hi, Mike. Planning on winning that rod and reel combo this year?”

  “Darn tootin’.”

  She smiled at his enthusiastic and countrified response and continued to pick her way toward Noah. The broad set of his shoulders shouldn’t bombard her mind with memories of times she either clung to them or buried her face against them, but there was no escaping now—he’d spotted her.

  His eyes seemed to burn out from under the brim of his hat as she approached. He didn’t smile, and she didn’t get a glimpse of the dimple. In fact, his dark brows crinkled in the center.

  Drawing on her inner actor, she smiled and threw a wave. He broke free of his group and met her along the shore. As he looked into her eyes, she found herself smiling for real.

  Then he returned it, dimple and all.

  Relief swept her. They were okay—well, as okay as possible in their situation.

  He gestured toward her hand. “You brought a rod.”

  “Um…” she looked around, “isn’t that the point?”

  “Yeah. C’mon. You’re on my team.”

  She didn’t have a chance to ask about the team before he grabbed her hand, engulfing it with deliciously rough fingers and leading her toward his family.

  They all turned to look at her. Ross arched his brows in a smug manner.

  “Everyone, this is Maya Ray. Maya Ray, you met Ross. This is Boone, second born of the Wynton boys. And Josiah came third. I’m the youngest.”

  She nodded at the three men who shared various features with Noah.

  “And this is Silas Shanie. Still don’t know why he hangs out with us Wyntons, but stick around and you’ll see a lot of his ugly face.”

  The man with bright green eyes tossed her a ready grin and tugged the brim of his hat with the most gentlemanly of country boy manners.

  “Hello,” she said to all.

  Finished with introductions, Noah grabbed the end of her rod where the fly was hooked into the eye. “Pretty good fly. Where’d you get it?” he asked.

  “I tied it myself.”

  Brows shot up as the men traded looks. Ross cleared his throat loudly, and Noah twisted from his menfolk to bend his head over the fly. He poked the feather.

  “Ring-necked pheasant?”

  She nodded. “Some deer hair too. Here.” She pointed.

  “Real nice. Who taught you how to tie flies?”

  “I taught myself. From a book I got for Christmas when I was twelve.”

  Ross made another noise in his throat.

  “Someone smack Ross on the back,” Noah drawled. “He seems to be choking.”

  Boone made a show of hammering the brother between the shoulder blades while Josiah and Silas laughed.

  “C’mon, they’re making so much commotion, they’ll scare away the fish.” Noah grabbed his own rod and led her a few feet away from his team. “You know how to…”

  She already had her line in motion, whipping her rod back and forth and then releasing the line for a perfect cast. The fly landed on top of the sparkling water, and she shot him a grin.

  “I see you can handle yourself.”

  She liked the note of pride in his voice. Grinning, she said, “Got it covered.”

  He made a cast too, and they stood side by side, working their lines as the water carried their flies downriver.

  * * * * *

  Noah swore if his brothers cleared their throats one more time, he wouldn’t be responsible for dunkin’ them in the river.

  The minute Noah told them Maya Ray would be joining their team, they started in on him, pummeling him with questions. And Silas had been at Jake’s party that night and remembered seeing her wearing the cutout red top.

  Apparently, a lot of guys noticed how sexy she looked in that top, according to Silas, at which point Noah threatened to undo all the hard work his orthodontist did on his smile when he was fifteen.

  The threat only set his buddy and brothers off again. He didn’t need more questions, especially in front of Maya Ray.

  “Your sunburn’s fading.”

  She looked up, pure joy written across her beautiful face. “Really? That’s sweet of you to say. I was thinking how terrible I still look.”

  He wanted to ask if the burn was her reason behind ignoring him the past few days. Of course, his logical mind attached all kinds of reasons to the slight—like them having a finger-banging make-out session in the back of his truck during the fireworks.

  Hell, now he couldn’t stop thinking of those soft, sweet moans she made or the way she shook at the last.

  He scrubbed a hand over his face to clear his thoughts. “You don’t look terrible.”

  “Thanks.”


  “I’m glad you joined us. Even if my brothers and Silas are pains in the ass.”

  “They’re fine. I know what family can be like. So…have you seen Jake and Shana recently?”

  “No.” He hadn’t really been looking, if he was honest. He’d spent more time looking out for a head of thick, wavy brown hair. He’d even taken a drive by the water testing office where she worked, but they happened to be closed for lunch and Noah hadn’t seen any sign of Maya Ray.

  “Neither have I. I haven’t gone out much the past few days, though.” She dipped her head.

  “Have you competed in the derby before?” he asked as he drew his line and made another cast.

  “Not in a few years, no. My dad used to bring me when I was little. You?”

  “Family tradition for twenty years. I can’t let down Team Wynton. Last year…” He cut off, about to tell her about how his ex refused to come. Meanwhile, Maya Ray not only put in an appearance, looking adorable with her fading sunburn and wearing a Stone Pass Girls Do It Better T-shirt from the local souvenir shop, but she brought her own rod. And not only her own rod but her own tackle, which she tied herself with instruction from a book she received as a gift as a child.

  Damn, he wanted to put his hands on her again just for being so awesome. But that would be a very bad idea. Without cover of darkness to conceal her from view, he couldn’t answer for what might happen.

  After about half an hour in the same spot, they edged down the bank. He noticed how his brother kept shooting them looks. Ross had already reported to their momma that Noah had a new friend in his life, and Noah had spent most of breakfast deflecting questions he didn’t know how to answer and vowing to break his oldest brother’s neck.

  Maya Ray let out a sudden gasp. She jerked on her line and then cried out. “I got one!”

  Team Wynton rushed over, crowding in as she reeled the fish to shore. As soon as the fish popped out of the water, Noah gaped in shock. She didn’t just have a fish on the line—she had a whopper.

  “Dannng. That’s gotta win longest fish,” Boone drawled.

  “Or heaviest. Look at how that line sags,” Josiah cut in.