“Are we going to Bighorn?” Kendra yelled over his shoulder.
“Yes. Is that all right?” Cooper shouted back.
“Yes.”
Cooper took the turns at safe speeds, but her laughter urged him on. Opening it up more, he flew down the road then swore when he saw blue and red lights flashing behind him. He swore softly as he pulled over.
“Way to go, Lang,” Kendra teased him.
“Shit,” Cooper muttered as he pulled off the road and shut the bike off. He waited until Kendra got off the bike then he swung his leg over, and stood. He took his helmet off, stared at the deputy sheriff walking toward him, and laughed.
“Hey Mont.”
Montgomery Bradford grinned at him. “I had a feeling it was you, Coop.” He turned his gaze toward Kendra. “Kennie?”
“Hi Mont.” Kendra grinned at him.
Mont stared at them. “Where are you heading, Coop?”
“Bighorn,” Cooper told his friend. “How do you like being a deputy? I haven’t talked to you since you were sworn in.”
“I like it. I’m on days so I get to spend evenings with Isabella and the kids.”
“How is Isabella? I’d love to see her.” Kendra asked.
Montgomery grinned. “She’s wonderful.” Cooper and Kendra laughed. “You two have fun, and Coop? Slow your ass down.”
Cooper saluted him. “Yes sir.”
“Smart ass,” Montgomery muttered as he walked away.
Cooper and Kendra glanced at each other and laughed. “Come on, let’s get going. I’ll slow down so I don’t get stopped again.”
“Spoilsport.” Kendra laughed.
“Are you going to pay for any ticket I get?”
“Oh hell no. You’re the one who thinks he’s a bad ass biker.”
“Darlin’, I am a bad ass biker.” Cooper winked at her, and then laughed when she blushed.
****
“You’re not going to believe what your wife is doing,” Tyler spoke into the cell phone.
“Tell me,” Jasper growled into the phone.
Tyler did everything he could not to laugh. He knew Jasper would kill him if he did. “She’s on the back of a motorcycle.”
“What?”
Tyler held the phone away from his ear and grinned. “I followed her today and she drove to Lang’s ranch. They just came out of his road a few minutes ago, on a motorcycle.”
“She went to Lang’s ranch?”
“That’s what I said, Jasper.”
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
Tyler was clenching his jaw to keep from being a smart ass. “If you think I can’t handle this job, maybe you should have gotten someone else.”
“I know you’re the best at this. That’s why I’m paying you so much.”
“I know what I’m doing. I’m following them but staying back a good ways.”
“Don’t let her see you again.”
“Jasper...” Tyler muttered.
“All right. All right. I’ll see you later.” He hung up.
Tyler knew Jasper had a serious problem when it came to his ex-wife. Tyler wasn’t sure about what happened but if Jasper was even half as obsessed when he was married to her as he was now, no wonder they were divorced. Jasper hired him to follow her and find out what she was up to since the divorce but he never said what he planned to do other than that. Tyler wasn’t in this to do anything illegal. Jasper paid him a lot of money, but he wouldn’t stoop to doing anything he could be arrested for. Taking a deep breath, he continued following the bike. This shit had better not get him in trouble.
****
As they rode through the park, Cooper slowed to pull into a parking lot and park. He shut the bike off and waited for Kendra to hop off, and then he swung his leg over the bike and removed his helmet. He watched her as she tried to unhook the cinch and grinned.
“Are you ever going to figure this out?”
Kendra laughed. “I doubt it.”
Cooper pulled the helmet off her and hung it on the handlebars. “Come on, let’s walk a little.” He took her hand and was happy when she didn’t pull away from him.
They walked along a path, passing other people in the park. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining down through the trees. The air had a cooling snap to it since they were in the higher elevations. Even though it was August, the mountains would soon become snowcapped. It wasn’t unusual for snow to move in right after Labor Day. They stopped along the trail at one of the lookout points and gazed up at the beautiful mountains. Cooper glanced over at Kendra. She smiled at him.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
“Yes. Beautiful,” he murmured. He wasn’t talking about the mountains. Cooper grinned when she blushed. “I’m wondering about something.”
“What’s that?”
“If I kiss you, will you knee me again?”
She laughed. “Maybe you should find out.”
Cooper groaned. “I’m scared.”
Kendra burst out laughing. “I doubt that.”
“Oh, I am. A man and his family jewels are sacred.”
Kendra placed her palms on his cheeks, day old whiskers teasing her skin, and pulled his head down toward her. “Kiss me, Cooper.”
Cooper’s lips touched hers, softly at first. He grinned against her lips when he felt her smile. “You’re killing me, darlin’.” She laughed that deep-throated laugh that had his groin twitching.
“I can’t believe you’re afraid of little ole me, Cooper.” She grinned at him.
“Well, since you kicked my balls back into my stomach, I’m very cautious around you.”
“I did apologize.”
“Uh huh, then laughed about it.”
Kendra chuckled. “I’m...”
“Don’t even try apologizing again. Just kiss me,” Cooper whispered against her lips.
She pressed her lips to his, and then he took control. He deepened the kiss and moved his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers. Her moans shot straight to his cock. He picked her up and sat her on the wooden rail that ran along the path. Moving her legs apart, he stepped between them. Fuck! The woman could kiss. When she sucked on his tongue, he almost lost it. He slowly lifted his mouth from hers and stared into her eyes. Someone walked by and remarked something about a lucky girl making Cooper chuckle. He leaned his forehead against hers.
“Damn woman. Now I wish I’d kissed you like that before.”
“I didn’t give you the chance. I should have,” Kendra told him. “Wait. Come here.” She leaned toward him and dipped her tongue into the dimple in his chin.
“What was that for?”
She grinned at him. “I’ve always wanted to do that.” She shrugged.
He frowned at her thinking it was an unusual thing to do, but then shrugged too. “How about we find somewhere to eat?”
“Sounds good.”
They returned to where they’d parked the bike, and rode it to one of the Mexican restaurants outside of the National Forest. After sitting down and ordering. Cooper realized he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
“You’re really beautiful, Kendra.”
“Stop.”
He laughed. “Why? I can’t say I think you’re beautiful?”
“You’re embarrassing me.”
“I don’t mean to do that. I’m just making a statement.” He couldn’t stop looking at her lush lips and he wanted so badly to lean across the table and taste them again.
“How do you shave that?”
“Shave what?” He frowned.
“That dimple.” She grinned at him.
Cooper laughed. “Very carefully.”
“Seriously. How do you get a razor in there?”
“Since it’s not that deep, I don’t have that big of a problem. It’s not like it’s a Kirk Douglas dimple. No one has ever asked me that before.” He shook his head in wonder.
Kendra tipped her head down but he knew she was smiling. When she raised her
head and looked at him, he could see the laughter in her eyes. “I was thinking that maybe you had to stretch your chin out and shave it.”
Cooper burst out laughing, drawing stares from other patrons. “I imagine if someone has a real deep chin dimple, they do. Mine isn’t that big of a challenge.”
The server brought their food and the subject of his dimple was thankfully forgotten as they dug in.
****
Kendra couldn’t believe she was actually sitting here with Cooper Lang. It had been a dream for so many years. She was so in love with him and when he kissed her, she didn’t want him to stop. The man could really kiss. Where was this going though? Did he think she’d just hop into bed with him?
“I’m not going to bed with you, Cooper,” she told him suddenly.
Cooper choked on his drink. “I don’t recall asking.”
She snorted. “Please. Most men think they can get a woman into bed after spending the day with her.”
“True. But I know better with you. I’m not saying I don’t want to get you into bed, but I know it will take time.”
She leaned back in the booth. “So you do think you’ll get me into bed?”
He grinned at her. “Eventually.”
Kendra’s jaw went slack. “Oh my God! You are so cocky.”
“Confident. Not cocky.”
She stared at him, and then burst out laughing. “Same thing. We’ll see, Cooper Lang. We shall see.”
“Want to make a bet?” He leaned across the table and grinned at her.
“What kind of bet?” she asked cautiously, narrowing her eyes at him.
He sat back. “I bet I can get you into bed.”
“Yes, I understand that, but...what do we win?”
“Ahhh, I see. Well, obviously if I get you into bed, I win you.”
Kendra laughed. “And if you don’t? What do I get?”
“Whatever you want, darlin’.”
“I’ll think about it.” She picked up her glass and raised it in a salute.
Cooper smirked and raised his glass to her. “You do that.”
Kendra tried not to think about going to bed with Cooper. God! If his kiss made her hot, what would it be like to have sex with him? She had a feeling he was very good at it and that scared the hell out of her. She never felt anything being with Jasper. He wasn’t good in bed and didn’t care if she was satisfied, or not. It was almost over before it began. Why had she insisted on staying a virgin until her wedding night? If she hadn’t, she’d have known how bad he was at it, although even having nothing to compare it to, she knew. There was no spark, no thrill, and certainly no orgasm. Only if she counted his. She mentally shook her head, stared at Cooper, and suppressed a shiver of delight thinking of what he might do to her. When he grinned at her, she wondered if he could read her mind. She hoped not but she still felt the heat pour into her cheeks.
“What’s going through that beautiful head of yours, Kendra?”
“I refuse to answer on the grounds it may incriminate me.”
Cooper laughed. “Okay. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. Just let me go to the little girls’ room, and then we can leave.”
“I’ll meet you out front.” Cooper offered his hand, which she took, to help her slide out of the booth. She stared up at him. He had the most amazing eyes.
“Your eyes are so pretty,” she murmured.
“The one gift I received from my mother.”
“I’m sorry, Cooper. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
He shrugged. “It’s all right. Nothing I can do about it. I’ll be outside.”
She watched him pay the cashier, and then go outside. Sighing, she walked toward the restroom. A server smiled at her.
“That man of yours sure is gorgeous. Where can I get one?” she asked Kendra.
Kendra grinned. “Dry River.”
The server laughed. “I think I’ll be making a trip down there soon.”
Kendra waved at her and headed to the back to the restroom. Once she was finished, she headed out through front door to find Cooper standing by the bike. She headed toward him. He hadn’t seen her yet so she was able to check him out without his knowing.
Like the server had called it, he sure was gorgeous. A light breeze ruffled his dark hair. His T-shirt hugged his pecs and the sleeves were tight around his biceps, and he had one hell of a body. Her eyes instinctively fell to his fly and she moaned. Damn. On his feet were black biker boots. She was almost to him when he turned to look at her. She almost stumbled.
“No cowboy boots when you ride a bike?”
“No. Not heavy enough for me. I wear them when I work on the ranch though.”
“And a cowboy hat instead of a helmet?” She smiled.
“Of course. I am still a cowboy, darlin’.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Just something about a cowboy, that’s all.”
She laughed when Cooper growled. He handed her a helmet and helped her cinch it. He put his own on and straddled the bike. She hopped on behind him. He leaned back.
“You hang on real tight now, darlin’.” He started the bike.
The bike rumbled under her as she wrapped her arms tightly around him and laid her cheek against his back. She smiled when he put his hand on her knee as he drove them out of the parking lot and onto the open road.
****
Tyler sat up and sighed with annoyance when he saw the bike coming out of the park
“About fucking time,” he muttered as he started the car and pulled out behind them. He let them get a little ahead of him so they didn’t see him or suspect him of following them.
Kendra looked a little too comfortable on the back of the bike with the way she was leaning into Lang and hanging on to him. Jasper wouldn’t like that at all. Tyler used his phone to snap some pictures just in case Jasper didn’t believe him when he told him about it. He chuckled as he thought of Jasper’s reaction. The man had a bad temper to say the least. Tyler had seen it plenty of times in the office and being Jasper’s right hand man, he’d been on the wrong end of it more times than he liked. But since Jasper was paying him fifty thousand dollars just to follow his ex-wife around and report back to him, he had no problem doing it as long as he didn’t expect him to do anything illegal. It was one reason he couldn’t take the chance that Kendra or Lang saw him. Especially if they were together. Kendra would no doubt tell Lang about him following her, and Lang would tell her about his visit to his ranch. No, that could never happen. He’d just hang back and watch then report to Jasper as he was told to do. He could do that for fifty thousand dollars, easily.
Chapter Six
Cooper steered the bike into his driveway. He loved the feel of Kendra behind him...her legs alongside his hips and her arms surrounding his waist. Now, how could he get her to stay for a while longer? He hated to see her leave. He pulled the bike into the bay of the shop and waited for her to hop off the back. After swinging his leg over the seat, he turned toward her as he unhooked the strap of his helmet. She was struggling with hers again.
“Grrrr! This is kicking my ass.”
Cooper chuckled. “I’m telling you, you just have to keep riding to get used to it.” She gazed up at him and his heart slammed into his ribs. Oh hell no! He cleared his throat. “What do you want to do now?”
“What do you want to do?” she whispered as she stared up at him.
He pulled the helmet off her and placed it on the bike then he turned toward her and cupped her face in his hands then leaned down to kiss her gently. He reached down and picked her up. “I’ll break my neck if I keep kissing you like that.”
She laughed. “I like you picking me up.”
“So,” he whispered as he moved his lips to her neck, “about that bet.”
“I haven’t decided yet,” she said then moaned when he nipped her neck lightly.
He set her on her feet. “How about dinner lat
er?”
“You want to take me on a date date?”
“You don’t want to go on a date with me?” When she grinned up at him, he almost pulled her into his arms and carried her into the house. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You going to answer the question? Or just keep smiling at me?”
“I’d love to go out to dinner with you,” she said softly.
“How about dinner here? I make a mean trout.”
She smiled up at him. “I love trout. I’ll be back at six thirty or is that too late?”
“Nope. That’s perfect. It will give me time to get some things done.” He kissed her quickly. “Go away. I’ll see you later.” Cooper smiled when she started walking backwards away from him. She gave him a little wave, hopped into her car, and drove off.
****
As Kendra drove home, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. It had been a wonderful day and she couldn’t wait to get back to him later. She pulled into the driveway of her parents’ ranch and after parking by the back door, she ran up the steps, and entered the house. Her parents were in the kitchen and sprang apart when Kendra entered. She grinned.
“What were you two doing?” She laughed when her mother blushed.
“I was kissing your mother,” her father said with a satisfied grin.
“Thought so.” Kendra waved her hand toward them. “Have at it. I’m going to get some rest, and then I’m going out.”
“Out? Where?” Angela asked her daughter.
“Leave her alone, Angie. She’s old enough to do what she wants,” Hudson Mattingly teased his wife.
It still amazed Kendra that her father called her mother, Angie. Everyone else knew Angela Mattingly as just that, Angela, and it was what she wanted people to call her. But Hudson could get away with it. To Kendra, it was his term of endearment for her mother.
Cooper Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 3 Page 6
