“Huh?”
“Can you go harder?”
“Um. Sure.”
There. That was even better. She hit some tender spots in his lower back, making him grunt.
“You sure that’s not too hard?”
“No. It’s perfect.”
“Okay.”
She continued to work those muscles, one side and then the other, and Colton felt as if he’d died and gone to heaven.
“I don’t get it,” she said, breaking the silence.
“Don’t get what?” he eventually replied.
“Why you feel the need to ride a bull. A bucking one at that.”
“Dunno. Runs in the family, I guess.” Even when he was a little kid and had watched his older brothers ride, all he’d felt was excitement and an incredible amount of impatience for the day he’d be allowed to ride.
“But you’re so sore and stiff right now. It can’t be good for you.”
“Maybe, but you don’t feel it when you’re doing it.”
“Really? What do you feel?”
Colton was going to say something trite, just to get her to stop talking so he could enjoy the massage in silence. But he paused and thought about the question for a second. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“Is it the thrill? The danger? The rush?”
“Yeah, it is those things, but...” Colton thought about it for another few seconds. “It’s more like—I don’t know, maybe this sounds stupid, but—for those eight seconds, I’m there. I mean, I can’t think about anything else. I’m completely focused on what I’m doing and where I am and how it feels. Those eight seconds are a lifetime. And it’s—I just like being in that space of complete concentration. With nothing to distract me. Not what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Not the things I regret about yesterday. It’s just me and that damn bull for eight, very long seconds.”
He shifted beneath her, thinking about what he’d just said. It was the truth. Maybe the truest thing he’d ever told anyone.
It was a few minutes later that he realized Ashley’s hands had stopped moving.
He lifted his head and said over his shoulder. “Sorry. I don’t mean to sound like I’m talking out of my ass.”
“No. Not at all.” She cleared her throat. “It’s just weird.”
“If you’ve never done it, I guess it would sound weird.”
“No. I mean, what you just described? That’s exactly how I feel behind my camera. Time is different and I see the world differently. Like how it’s supposed to be. I don’t think, I just see and do and capture the moments that we forget because we’re too busy worrying about other stuff.”
He lifted his head and attempted to turn around. “So, you know what I’m talking about?”
“I guess I do.”
Her hands started moving again, and he flopped back down as her thumbs began working the base of his spine.
“Is it sore here?”
“Yep.”
“You’re really tight.”
She dribbled a bit more oil onto his skin and worked that area for a while before moving lower, digging her strong fingers into his hips and using the base of her palms to work the knots in his ass.
“Damn, girl. You could do this professionally. You’re that good.”
“Don’t get too used to it, cowboy.” She unexpectedly slapped his ass. “This is a one-time deal.”
“You sure you don’t need a boyfriend for a little longer? I’m around for a few more weeks. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Oh? And how, pray tell, would you make it worth my while?” There was a playful tone in her voice that was unfamiliar.
It was that playfulness that prompted Colt to roll over onto his back. He was gentlemanly enough to make sure the little towel covered things—sort of. “All manner of ways.”
His hands brushed her bare thighs where she knelt above him. Tentative. Questioning.
For a split second, there was passion in her face. He was certain of it because her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were bright and the right side of her mouth turned up with sexy promise. Plus, her gaze raked his body in a way that told him she liked what she saw.
Then her eyes met his, and in a flash, it was all gone.
She blinked. Her brows drew together. Then she was scrambling to get off him, as if she might catch some nasty plague if she stayed there any longer.
Without a word, she scurried to the little bathroom, and he heard the water running before she returned a few minutes later, drying her hands on the front of her shorts because he’d taken the only towel available.
She shifted in the doorway, as skittish as a new foal. “Look, Colton. I know we’re just messing around. And, I know you were just kidding right then.” She pointed to him—more specifically at his barely covered erection. “But, I think we need to keep this on the up-and-up.”
He snorted.
“What?”
“In what world is pretending to have a boyfriend in any way ‘on the up-and-up’?”
Her face clouded over, and she was once again the snippety girl from the bar. “I’m just saying, given the circumstances, we should create some clear boundaries about all of this. We don’t need anyone to get hurt.”
Colton sat up, making sure the towel stayed put. “Who, exactly, is going to get hurt? You?”
Her mouth hung open in shock as she pointed at herself and gasped with great exaggeration. “Me? Oh, no. I’m not going to get hurt. Uh-uh.”
Colt pushed himself to his feet, securing the towel low on his hips. Then he took two strides, which brought him right up in front of her. “So, you think I’m the one who is going to get hurt if we take this fake relationship a little further than sloppy kisses?”
“I don’t know,” she sputtered. “Maybe.”
“Really.” He put a hand on the wall above her head and leaned close, just like he’d done the night before. “You think if we have sex, I’ll find you so irresistible I won’t be able to let you go, is that it?”
She squinted up at him. “Stranger things have happened.”
He reached for her jaw, tracing the line with the back of his index finger. “You know what I think?”
Ashley didn’t say a word. She simply swallowed hard as she shook her head.
“I think you’re worried about what will happen if you get a taste of me. In fact—” he cupped her chin and ran his thumb across her lower lip “—I think you’re already worried.”
Her breath came fast, whether it was from anger or arousal or a combination of both, it was hard to tell.
“You’ve got some ego,” she panted.
“Nope. It’s not ego.”
“Then what is it?”
He shifted his gaze from her lips to her eyes. “It’s the truth.” Then he leaned down and kissed her. Nice and hard.
Best part was, she kissed him right back.
* * *
WHY, WHY, WHY, why, why?
Why had she let Colton kiss her in the trailer? Why?
And worse...why had she kissed him back?
Oh, she knew why. It was a moment of weakness. Colton had lulled her with his incredibly hot body and then seduced her with his thoughtful explanation about why he rode bulls.
But it wasn’t real. It was a trick, a trap, a sham.
She should never have fallen for it.
“Everything okay?” Beth asked as Ashley wiped the already clean bar top for the tenth time.
“Dandy,” Ash said through clenched teeth. “Everything is just dandy.”
Beth placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Trouble in paradise?” She smirked.
Ashley shook her head, tightening the apron strings around her waist. After leaving Colton�
�s trailer—and by leaving, she meant running out of there like the place was on fire—Ashley had come straight to the Prospectors Saloon. She’d made herself some fries and gravy, which were still sitting in the kitchen getting cold because her stomach was in knots over what had just happened.
And what didn’t happen.
Even now, there were mutinous parts of her body that not only wished something had happened while Colton lay naked beneath her, they wouldn’t stop thinking about the possibility that it might still happen, if only Ashley would let it.
Stupid bits.
Her body was so consumed by thoughts of Colton, the idea of eating was not in the cards, even though she was starving.
For sex, some random part of her shouted.
Yes, some good, old-fashioned, kinky sex, some other part called.
Hayloft sex, shouted another.
Trailer sex! all the parts cried out in unison.
“Shut up,” she muttered.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. Where’s Brandi?” She glanced around. “More importantly—” Ash indicated the nearly empty bar with a sweep of her hand “—where are all the customers?”
“There’s a talent show going on at the stage down at the fairgrounds. Plus, the beer garden is open until eight. People should start trickling in soon.”
“And Brandi?”
“She’s probably singing at the talent show.”
“Right.”
“Where’s Jasmine?”
“My guess is she’s down there, too. She’ll be by later.”
“You having a good visit?”
“Sure.” As soon as the word came out of Ash’s mouth, she could hear the false tone.
The way Beth narrowed her gaze meant she heard it, too. Damn, it would have been nice to have a brother or two.
“What’s going on?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “Nothing.”
“Ash?”
“Ugh. Okay. I love Jasmine, you know I do, but sometimes...”
“Sometimes it’s hard to compete?”
“Yeah.”
“Hence, the hot new boyfriend.”
Ashley felt her face go red. She tugged at one of the fringes of her shorts. “Maybe.”
Slinging her arm over her shoulder, Beth hugged Ash to her side. “Hey, don’t worry. I get it. Your secret’s safe with me.” She squeezed. “But a word of warning.” With an upward tilt of her chin, Beth indicated something on the far side of the room.
Ash turned to see what, or rather who, Beth was referring to.
Colton stood in the doorway, his hat pushed back and—thankfully—quite a few more articles of clothing covered his muscular physique.
Too bad, whispered her naughty bits.
“The hot ones are always hardest to get over, even if it is all for show.”
“No need to worry.”
“You sure?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
It wasn’t a lie. Not really. Ashley didn’t like Colton. No matter that he had all these freakishly developed muscles across his chest and back, or that he had the nicest ass she’d ever seen, or that he had the ability to say something that didn’t sound completely macho or sexist. Unfortunately, as he ambled across the room toward her, she realized that no matter what she thought of him logically, the rest of her was irrational and could only think of one thing.
Jumping him.
Stripping him.
Having her wicked way with him.
6
THEY WEREN’T EVEN really dating. Yet, Colton didn’t like the way Ashley had left him at the trailer.
Left? More like bolted.
Why did he care? Maybe because women never ran from him. More often than not, they threw themselves at him. It wasn’t ego, like Ashley claimed, it was the truth.
And for some reason he felt he needed to straighten things out, but he wasn’t sure why. Not exactly.
As he made his way across the floor to the bar, he met Ashley’s gaze. The result of her direct stare was an increase in pressure behind his fly.
There it was. The other reason. Something about this woman continually made him hard. He had to know why.
“Hey,” he said, once he was within hearing distance.
“Hey.” She flashed a fake smile.
He gestured toward the draft pulls. “Can I get a Beaverhead?”
“Yep.”
While she poured the pint, he leaned against the bar, watching her, trying to decide what it was about her that affected him so much. Her hair was blond and just above the shoulders, he guessed. Hard to tell when she always pulled it back in a ponytail. Baby fine. He knew this from the little wisps that tickled him whenever he kissed her. Her face had a nice shape, with high cheekbones and well-formed lips. And she had a long neck, kind of like those long limbs of hers, though she wasn’t very tall, so it must just be a proportion thing.
She was a nice-looking woman. Maybe not of the knockout variety he typically went for, but attractive in her own way. Still...
He was no closer to figuring out what, specifically, it was about her that got him all hot when she slid the cool glass toward him.
“I thought you didn’t like to drink when you’re competing,” she said.
“I don’t. But I’m not riding again until tomorrow afternoon so one or two won’t hurt.”
She nodded before glancing over her shoulder at her sister at the other end of the bar. “So, about tomorrow...”
Right down to business. That irked him, which was why Colton spoke up before she could finish. “That’s why I’m here.”
She blinked, and her cheeks bloomed with heat. “Are you backing out?”
Is that what she wanted? For him to bail? If so, he would have thought there’d have been relief in her voice. But she didn’t sound relieved; she sounded disappointed.
Interesting.
“Oh, I’m going. I wanted to talk about payment.” He reached over and traced a line down the top of her hand. He had to see if this really was all business for her or if she felt some of the physical shit that he was feeling, too.
She snatched her hand back. “Okay, but first we should exchange numbers. You know, in case we need to get in touch or something.” Her hand played with the open collar of her shirt, drawing his eyes to the place where her light blue bra peeked out from behind the fabric.
Damn.
He wanted to see the rest of that bra. He wanted to know if her breasts matched the image in his brain. He wanted to see if she was as well proportioned as the short shorts and tiny top suggested.
“So...can I get your number?” Her hand fluttered a moment longer by her neck before digging in her pocket to pull out her phone.
“Of course.” Colton found his phone, tapped in his password and handed it to Ashley. “You add yours and I’ll add mine.”
Colt added his info into her contacts, typing in the words Best Boyfriend Ever in the last name section.
He grinned as he gave the phone back to her.
She shook her head at what he’d written. “Really?”
“What?” Colton said with mock innocence.
She sighed heavily. “Okay, so, what am I going to owe you this time?”
He rested an elbow on the bar and leaned close. “Seeing as you’ve seen me in the buff...”
She sucked air so rapidly into her lungs, she made a little squeaky sound.
“I think it’s only fair that you return the favor.”
She stared at him, blinking.
“So, I’m thinking that after the whole party scene, you come back to the trailer and take your clothes off for me.” It took a ton of self-control to say it without a stupid grin on his face.
Her brows drew together, and she looked to one side like she was watching something playing out in her mind. “You’re saying you want me to do a striptease?”
“I believe that’s what it’s called.”
“Kind of like a you showed me yours, now I show you mine situation?”
“If you want to frame it that way.”
“I—”
He didn’t let her finish. “Those are my terms, Ashley. You want me to play your boyfriend? You’ve got to give a little something in return.” He was being a dick at the moment, Colton knew that, but he couldn’t help it. This woman both aroused him and brought out the bastard in him, resulting in his need to provoke her.
Hence the spur-of-the-moment striptease suggestion. He wanted to push her, wanted to see her get all hot and angry again. Or better, maybe she’d get turned on and playful, like she’d been for a split second in the trailer. And pretty much whenever he kissed her.
Goddamn, there was a sensual side to her, and Colton was determined to uncover it. Literally. Plus, she owed him. If necessary, he would remind Ashley that she needed him, not the other way around.
If that made him a dick, so be it.
He waited for her to get mad and counter his offer with something else.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
It was Colton’s turn to take a step back.
“You will?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Can’t help it. You did bolt an hour ago.”
“I know.”
He came forward and leaned on the bar. “Want to tell me why?”
“Nope.”
“Can I guess?”
“You can try.”
“You’re a virgin.”
“A virgin.” She made a derisive sound at the back of her throat. “No.”
“Well, you were acting like one.”
“I’m not a virgin, Colton.”
“Okay.” He held up his hands in skeptical acceptance of her denial.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m easy. I bolted because I’m not attracted to you.”
“You kissed me like you’re attracted to me.”
“So, I like kissing. Sue me.” Breaking his gaze, she focused on the bar, tracing her finger through a wet spot, making figure-eight patterns. “That’s why I can take my clothes off in front of you and not be tempted to do anything else.”
Wild Seduction Page 6
