Texas at Dusk

by Delores Fossen

  Since it would no doubt only lead to more sex, Ryland stopped kissing her so he could study her eyes, her expression. Her mouth had curved into an evil little grin. A siren’s smile. But there must have been something in his own expression that had her blinking.

  “Oh,” she said. “You want to talk now.”

  No, he didn’t, but Ryland wasn’t sure how to play this. They could just continue to have sex until they burned out this greedy lust, or they could be responsible adults and make sure neither of them had another broken heart in the near future.

  Of course, his body was pressing him to take the sex option.

  However, there was a problem with that. The lust might not burn out. In fact, long bouts of sweaty sex might just remind him of the good old days. Days that he might want back again.

  That meant they should talk.

  As much as it pained him, Ryland picked up Nova’s clothes and handed them to her.

  “Uh-oh. Talk,” she concluded.

  Ryland didn’t watch her dress. There wasn’t enough willpower in Texas for him to do that. Nope. If he stayed while she wiggled into that bra and dress, he’d have her back against the wall in no time. Instead, he went to the kitchen and took out two bottles of beer from the fridge. He opened them and had a long drink from his.

  He forced himself not to play the what-if game. Or ask “What now?” Ryland just waited for her, and thankfully she was dressed when she finally joined him. Dressed and still looking amazing.

  “Sorry, but I don’t have any wine,” he said.

  “This is fine.” She had a sip of her beer, and her eyes stayed locked with his over the bottle. “So, what have you decided?”

  That was definitely a hard question, and even if he had the answer, Ryland wasn’t sure he would have given it to her. If he said he wanted her back in his life, it could send her running. If he said he was looking forward to no-strings ex-sex, it could send them back to the wall—with nothing resolved other than their next orgasms. While resolved orgasms was a priority of his, so was holding on to his sanity.

  “You want to go on a date?” he settled for asking.

  Judging from the way her eyebrows rose, she hadn’t been expecting that, but she certainly didn’t dismiss it. Not at first, anyway. A slight smile tugged at her mouth, and then she sighed.

  Yeah, he knew all about the meaning of that sigh. Even incredible sex couldn’t erase the rift between them.

  Sipping more of her beer, she went to the large window in the breakfast nook of his kitchen. It was one of his favorite spots because it overlooked the pastures. He could sit there in the morning with his coffee and watch the horses. Like now. There were three of them grazing near the fence.

  “You always said you’d do this,” she commented, her attention fixed on the horses.

  Ryland made a sound of agreement and joined her at the window. “And you always said you’d be a photographer. Judging from your work that I saw at Ro’s, it looks as if we both got what we wanted.”

  After a long pause, Nova mimicked his sound of agreement. They did indeed have what they wanted. When it came to their chosen professions, anyway.

  The silence came, settling between them, and Ryland figured Nova was dealing with as many thoughts and concerns on this as he was. She finally turned to him, but before she had a chance to say anything, they heard a vehicle approaching the house.

  Ryland cursed and hoped it wasn’t his mother. After he went to the front and saw who it was, he cursed some more.

  Because it was Barry.

  Nova muttered some profanity, too, when she spotted him getting out of his car. “Don’t answer the door.” But the moment those words left her mouth, her phone rang.

  So did Ryland’s.

  “Ro,” she muttered, glancing at her phone.

  “My mother,” he said, glancing at his.

  Neither of them took the calls, but their phones immediately dinged with text messages before they launched into more rings. Ryland didn’t see who had called Nova this time, but his was from Nico. He let it go to voice mail just as Barry knocked on the door. Not a soft knock, either. It was frantic, loud and hard.

  “I’m sorry, Nova,” Barry called out, surprising both Ryland and her. “But you should know...” He paused, muttered something they didn’t catch. “I accidentally released the photos.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  ACCIDENTALLY.

  That was the word that roared through Nova’s head, but it didn’t roar alone. There was that other word—released—and she suspected that was the reason Ryland and she were suddenly getting lots of calls and texts.

  The anger came. Man, did it. And Nova had no intentions of buying that accidentally or Barry’s I’m sorry. Apparently, neither did Ryland because he threw open the door as if he’d declared war on it, and in the same motion, he grabbed onto the front of Barry’s shirt and hauled him to his toes.

  “I’m sorry,” Barry repeated.

  While Nova doubted the sincerity of his apology, she didn’t doubt his fear. She could see it all over his face. That was probably because he thought Ryland was about to punch him. On some level that would have been satisfying for her to see, but Nova knew it would only make things worse. That was why she gently took hold of Ryland’s hand to get him to release Barry.

  “It was an accident,” Barry went on, and he immediately gave his shirt an adjustment to put it back in place. “I had the photos loaded on an email to all my contacts. To Ryland’s contacts that I was able to get, too. But believe me when I say that I never intended to send them.”

  “Then why were they loaded on an email?” Ryland snarled. He might not have still had a fist-hold on Barry’s shirt, but there was plenty of anger in his voice.

  Barry shook his head. “It was just a threat. A stupid one. I thought if Nova believed I would send out the photos, that she would end this sham of pretending to get back together with you.” He stopped then, his gaze combing over them.

  Nova wasn’t sure what Barry saw that had his eyes widening, but it was possible that Ryland and she looked as if they’d just had sex. Heck, they might even have a hickey or two. Neither one of them had exactly been gentle with their neck kisses.

  She huffed and folded her arms over her chest—which possibly had hickeys, too, but if so, they were covered with her clothes. “And how exactly did you accidentally release them to everyone?”

  “I was going to delete them,” Barry quickly answered. “I swear I was, but I dropped my coffee on the keyboard, and it must have hit the send button instead.”

  Nova hoped her flat look conveyed her massive skepticism about that. “And what exactly made you have a change of heart and consider deleting them?”

  This time, Barry wasn’t so quick to answer. “My mother. She called me and told me to quit bothering Ryland and you, that it was obvious that you two were still in love and should be together.”

  A stunned silence followed Barry’s admission. Ro believed they were still in love? Wow. Of course, the woman had seen them kissing, so maybe that was where she’d gotten the idea. But it wasn’t true.

  Was it?

  The question hit Nova like multiple sucker punches from people who knew how to punch. Part of her had never stopped loving Ryland. She supposed that was natural, since they’d been each other’s first lovers and had dated all through high school. That created a kind of intimacy that didn’t just disappear, but love...

  Well, heck.

  Since she wasn’t stupid and didn’t especially like lying to herself, Nova had to admit that love indeed had been part of that whole sex-against-the-wall encounter. A big part. Sex with Ryland could only complicate their relationship, and yet she hadn’t stopped it. Hadn’t been able to stop it, she mentally corrected. That was because she’d wanted him more than a non-complication.

  More than air.
r />   And she still wanted him.

  Sex didn’t always equal love, but in their case, it was a good start to proving it. Being around him had brought that all back, and this time she didn’t believe being away from him would dull her feelings. Out of sight definitely wouldn’t be out of mind.

  “We can salvage this,” Barry went on, breaking the silence. “We can tell Mom that the pictures are fake, and she can help get the word out to everyone. Especially our clients. They aren’t going to be happy about this,” Barry added in a mumble.

  No, they wouldn’t be. In fact, this could do exactly what Nova had feared—hurt Ro’s company.

  She looked at Ryland to see how he was handling this. Apparently, not well. She could have cracked walnuts on those hard jaw muscles of his, and he was practically vibrating with that need to stomp Barry to dust. Nova took his hand—which was also rock hard—and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “How much will this hurt your business?” she asked.

  Her question seemed to pull Ryland out of an angry trance, and he lifted his shoulder when he looked at her. “Don’t worry about me. I can fix things. Heck, it might even get me some new customers.”

  Maybe, but this was going to fuel gossip for a long time. Both here in Coldwater and with anyone connected to Texas Trends. It still wouldn’t fix things, but there was something she had to do. Nova took out her phone and fired off a text to Ro, one that she showed Ryland.

  I’m sorry about the pictures, Nova messaged the woman. I’m resigning from Texas Trends. Consider this my thirty-day notice. If you want to fire me before that, I’ll understand.

  Nova hit the send button and then showed it to Barry.

  “No!” Barry practically shouted. “You can’t quit.”

  “I just did.” Of course, that meant she’d have to decide how she felt about doing that. Nova didn’t think regret would set in, but soon, very soon, she’d have to figure out what her next steps would be. A new job. Maybe a new place to live.

  Maybe doing those things with Ryland in mind.

  Since that did indeed put him in the forefront of her thoughts, Nova turned back to him. “How many hickeys do you think I gave you earlier?” she asked Ryland because she thought he could use the levity.

  It worked. His jaw relaxed a little, and he gave her a look so searing hot that it could have dissolved rust.

  “Not enough,” Ryland answered, the corner of his mouth lifting into an almost smile.

  Nova smiled, too. Yes, this was love, all right. There’d been plenty of “best parts” during sex, but this was an amazing best part, too.

  “Well, maybe I can remedy the hickey situation,” Nova told Ryland in a purr. First, though, she had to deal with Barry. “Never contact Ryland or me again,” Nova warned him—no purr that time—and she shut the door in his face.

  She thought that maybe Ryland would object to that. After all, he hadn’t had his say to the little weasel, but he only pulled her into a kiss. A really good one. Of course, Ryland probably wasn’t capable of a bad kiss.

  In the back of her mind, she thought that maybe Barry would try to interrupt them by knocking on the door and demanding to say something else they wouldn’t want to hear, but several moments later, she heard the sound of him driving away. That caused Nova to move right into the kiss that Ryland was already deepening. Her body started to send her get-naked signals.

  Unfortunately, while Barry hadn’t interrupted them, their phones did.

  For Ryland, it was another call from his mother. For Nova, it was from Ro, and while she would have liked to put off this conversation for a bit, she respected Ro enough to answer. Nova put the call on speaker, though, so that Ryland could hear. That way, she wouldn’t have to repeat the chewing out that she was no doubt about to get.

  “Barry was just here,” Nova said the moment she answered. “He released the photos.”

  “Yes. I got them.” Ro made a weary sigh. “I also got your resignation text.”

  Nova sighed, too, and yep, it was weary as well. “I’ll put it in writing if you need it—”

  “Are the pictures really photoshopped?” Ro interrupted.

  “No,” Nova admitted. Best to come clean about everything. Who knew that good sex could act like a truth drug. “I took them when Ryland and I were together. They were meant to be just for us, but I left them on my computer and Barry stole them.”

  “Yes,” Ro repeated. “I’ll be dealing with my son about that. I can’t fire him, but I can make him sorry he did this.”

  Nova smiled in spite of the situation. That might indeed be enough punishment for Barry.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t undo how others will feel about these pictures,” Ro went on. “And for that, I deeply apologize.” She paused. “What will you do? What are your plans?”

  Good questions. Nova wasn’t sure she had any good answers. “I’ll give that some thought. Maybe I’ll move back into my house with my aunt.” Though sharing space with Liddy Jean’s weird causes might be tough. Plus, there were the spiders. “I might even start my own photography business.”

  One of Ryland’s eyebrows arched, and he smiled. Clearly, he approved, and much to Nova’s surprise, so did she. The devil was in the details, though, and she wasn’t sure she could support herself while she got new clients. The clients might be a problem, too, if folks objected to those risqué pictures of Ryland and her.

  “I want you to consider staying on at Texas Trends,” Ro added after another pause. “And before you say no, just hear me out. You could work more from home and only come into the office once or twice a week for meetings and such. That would prevent you from having daily contact with my idiot son and would give you more time with Ryland.”

  Nova had indeed already opened her mouth to say no, but that stopped her. It sounded, well, perfect. Except for the part about her living with Liddy Jean, but maybe she could learn to coexist with spiders and protest signs if she got to see Ryland more.

  But how did Ryland feel about that?

  Ro continued before Nova had a chance to find out.

  “The pictures are real,” Ro said. “And so is your reconciliation with your husband.”

  “Yes,” Ryland verified at the same time Nova said, “Yes.”

  That sent Nova’s gaze colliding with his, and she saw not only his smile but that he was telling the truth.

  “Good,” Ro went on. “You two look right together, and I suspect the only reason you broke up was because you were too young. Too unyielding. My advice would be to yield more and make lots and lots of love. You’d be surprised how really good lovemaking can soothe the rough times in a relationship.”

  It could indeed do that. So could good kisses, and Ryland gave her one of those now.

  “Further advice,” Ro added. “If you take pictures of the two of you, password protect them. Take some time off, Nova. Spend it with your husband. And next week call me and we’ll work out your new schedule. That is, if you want to stay on at Texas Trends. Do you?”

  Finally, this was an easy question to answer. “I do. Thank you for this, Ro.”

  “My pleasure. Now, before I hang up and deal with my son, I just have to know. You don’t have to tell me, of course, but I’m hoping you will. Call me a romantic fool, but I want it to be true. Are you really still in love with Ryland?”

  Oh.

  Nova’s stomach flipped on her. She was indeed still in love with him, but she hadn’t intended to tell her boss before she told Ryland. And Nova hadn’t intended to tell him until they’d had a chance to catch their breaths and maybe have sex a time or two more.

  Nova muted the phone for a second. “I’m in love with you.” She didn’t wait for his reaction—which she was certain would be stunned surprise. Instead, she unmuted the call and told Ro, “Yes, I’m in love with Ryland.”

  “Good. Then take two
weeks off.” Ro was chuckling and sounding very happy when she ended the call.

  Ryland’s phone was still dinging with texts, and he fired off a quick response to his mom. Nova and I are fine, he messaged. Will call you soon.

  He turned off his phone and slipped it back into his jeans pocket before he took hold of her shoulders and looked at her. “You’re in love with me.”

  She smiled when she realized it wasn’t a question.

  “I’m in love with you, too,” he added. Not a question, either. He leaned down and kissed her. Long, hard and deep. Just the way she liked his kisses. “Want to go on a date?” Now, that was a question.

  “Yes, after we have sex.”

  He grinned against her mouth. “Good idea.” Ryland scooped her up and headed toward the bedroom.

  And Nova knew then that she was about to have a new “best part” winner.

  * * *

  SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM

  In order to clean up his player reputation, rodeo champ and cowboy Nico Laramie asks his best friend, Eden Joslin, to pretend they’re an exclusive couple. But one kiss with the woman he’s always kept at a distance and Nico knows this fake relationship is about to turn into something very real...

  Read on for a sneak peek at Sweet Summer Sunset, part of the Coldwater Texas series from USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen.

  “You’ve been avoiding me,” Eden added, and she set the grocery bags on the small kitchen counter.

  “I have,” he admitted, and he wanted to wince. This was the problem with crossing a line with a friend. He wasn’t used to putting on mouth filters when it came to Eden. “I wanted to give us both some time.”

  Her eyebrow came up, and she huffed before she mumbled some frustrated profanity under her breath.

  “See?” he snapped, as if that proved all the arguments going on in his head. “We’re uncomfortable with each other, and it’s all because of the kiss that shouldn’t have happened.”

  She stared at him a moment, caught onto a handful of his shirt and yanked him to her. She kissed him. Hard.