Those green eyes bored into hers. He drawled, “Doesn’t sound like much of a friend.”
“You think?” Sarah snapped sarcastically, letting her nerves momentarily get the best of her. Calm down. None of this is his fault. “Sorry. I guess I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”
In the quiet that followed, Sarah tried telepathy. See, this is where you could use an incredibly sexy bedroom voice to tell me not to worry since you have more than enough room for me. Lean in again, and I’ll know having me here will be torture for you because you aren’t sure if you’ll be able to keep your hands off me while I’m sleeping right down the hall.
His expression remained unreadable.
Screw telepathy. Sarah snapped again, “You could at least tell me that I’m welcome to stay here tonight.”
“I said that earlier,” he said matter-of-factly. He opened the rear door of her SUV, pulled out her suitcases, and started walking to the house. When she didn’t follow, he stopped, half turned, and gruffly said, “Come on.”
Sarah fought the urge to stomp her foot in frustration. Oh yes, the fictitious you will be tormented with desire for me. She sighed and followed him onto the porch. When he stopped at the door and held it open with his back, allowing her to pass through, she narrowed her eyes at him and imagined how the retelling of this night would go when she met with her friends back home.
Were you worried about staying at a stranger’s house your first night in Texas?
Surprisingly, no.
Not concerned that he might try to take advantage of you?
Sarah gurgled on a laugh as she followed him up the staircase and down a narrow hallway. Are you kidding? I was betting he’d lock his bedroom door.
Tony turned and frowned as if her amusement annoyed him. He opened the door to the small guest room and placed her luggage beside the white wrought-iron twin bed topped with a surprisingly delicate flowered quilt.
“You need anything?” he asked in a tone that implied he’d prefer that she didn’t.
If you only knew.
Or maybe you do and you’re not interested.
She blushed. “All set.” He was stepping out the door when she spontaneously said, “Tony . . .”
With a hand on the doorknob, he turned and raised one eyebrow in question.
Stay.
Nothing in his expression indicated that he would be the slightest bit tempted to, so instead she said, “Thank you.”
He nodded and closed the door behind him.
Sarah tossed her notebook on the oak nightstand beside the bed and flopped onto a mattress that felt as cold and unwelcoming as the man who had led her to it.
Just because Texas wasn’t living up to her fantasy, the trip wasn’t a complete wash. I didn’t come here to meet a man. Honestly, I didn’t really come to see Lucy, either. I came to find my story.
She rolled onto her stomach and reached for her notebook. Pen met paper with an enthusiasm she’d feared she’d never experience. First she recorded what she didn’t want to forget about the trip, then she tried to capture as much as possible of the story she’d been outlining in her head all day. Two hours later, she flipped back to the first page, reread everything she’d written, and then wrote her painful realizations at the end:
- I’ll need more than my personal experience if this book is going to have sex scenes.
- Is that really how it was? No wonder we broke up. Why did it take me this long to realize how bad it was?
- Twenty-five and I’ve never orgasmed.
What is my problem?
Maybe I was born with a hyperactive imagination but subpar bits and pieces.
Looking around the room and feeling a bit guilty, Sarah stepped out of her shoes, pants, and underwear, then slid beneath the flowered quilt. She ran her hand down her stomach and over her short pubic hair.
Everyone does it.
Some even suggest it as a way to improve your sex life. If you know what pleases you, then you can guide your partner and all that crap.
She had to admit that it felt good to touch herself. She rubbed back and forth a few times, stopping occasionally when she was convinced she heard a sound at the door. She rubbed harder. She rubbed faster. She flipped onto her stomach and rubbed herself against her hand.
Ow, hand cramp. Great. She gave up with a pathetic sigh of resignation and buried her face in her pillow in disgust. Oh, God, I have problems.
Rolling onto her side, she reached for her notebook again and wrote a sarcastic note in the margin:
First attempt at masturbation—fail. Change book title to Ultimate Celibacy: When Even You Don’t Want You.
Sarah added a few more lines, then threw the notebook back onto the nightstand. I thought we had a deal, Texas. You are seriously disappointing me.
Down the hall, clad only in cotton boxers, Tony lay on top of his bedding with his hands clasped behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. I should have thrown her out the moment I met her. No one is as innocent as she pretends to be. The whole story about confusing my horse ranch with a cattle ranch sounded far-fetched from the beginning, but I wanted to believe the implausible could be true.
He should have told her to leave when he caught her with the damning evidence of her notebook. He’d spent too many years avoiding interviews and banning reporters from his property to change now just because she had a body a man wanted to bury himself in. He closed his eyes as if that would diminish how vividly he could remember her long, lean thighs and those deliciously high boots. Whoever she worked for had chosen poorly if they thought that a pair of perfectly shaped breasts and a tight ass would be enough for her to gain an exclusive interview.
So why is she still here?
The reason was standing erect and proud, straining beneath the thin cotton of his shorts. His cock didn’t care if his blonde angel was capable of deception. Was she sleeping? Was she lying there imagining, as he was, what would happen if he crossed the hall and knocked on her door?
I should let her believe she’s conned me and test exactly how far she’s willing to go to get her story. Hell, if she’s good enough, I might even give her a quote to take with her when I throw her cute little ass off my property tomorrow.
No use hoping it doesn’t come to that.
Tony rolled onto his side and punched the pillow before settling his head on it. Even after seeing the notebook, there was a part of him that didn’t want to believe he’d been wrong about her. Those brown eyes were so deceptively open and trusting. The memory of them warmed his heart in a way that confused him.
There’s a slim chance she’s not a reporter.
Why the hell else would she have been taking notes by her car?
What was it about Sarah that made him want to prove her innocence?
He didn’t like puzzles when it came to people. In fact, it had been a long time since he’d cared enough to question anyone’s motivation for anything. Over the past five years, he’d lost interest in most everything. There’d been a time when he’d found a thrill in unlocking the potential of a horse, but even that had waned.
Slowly dying.
Until today.
He slid a hand beneath the elastic of his shorts, took his pulsing cock into his hand, and closed his eyes. His callused palm was a poor substitute for the hot, wet mouth he wanted around him. Not just any mouth—the one that had pouted at him when he’d told Sarah she couldn’t leave. He imagined her opening the door to his bedroom and finding him jacking off.
A smile would spread across her face. She would slowly strip and saunter to the side of his bed, naked and aroused. Tony kept an even pump going while he pictured how she would look. He’d seen enough of her in the shower to be able to picture her all too clearly in his mind. He knew how round and firm her breasts were and how delightfully dark her nipples looked ag
ainst her otherwise fair skin.
She’d boldly prowl to the bed, placing a foot on either side of his torso, giving him the perfect view of her wet and eager pussy. One of her hands would cup a breast and circle her nipple until it was standing straight with arousal. Her other hand would caress her clit with slow, rhythmic precision until she could no longer contain her moans. Then she’d slip her middle finger inside herself while continuing to rub the heel of her hand against her pink folds.
He jerked in his own hand and tore his boxers off, then relaxed onto his back as he pictured her throwing her head back, her long blonde mane loose and wild down her back, begging for him to bury his hands in it. She’d nibble that lush bottom lip of hers and shudder above him as she brought herself to orgasm. Her juices would run down her hand and she’d turn her hungry mouth to him. She’d swivel, sinking to her knees so her still-swollen folds were easily within his tongue’s reach, and she’d take him deeply into her mouth.
The taste of her and the sensation of her lips around him would almost be his undoing, but he’d hold out as long as he could. He’d savor her and tease her swollen nub with licks and gentle sucks until he felt her ready to come again. Only then would he climax in her mouth while she did in his.
Tony shuddered as he came in his own hand.
Probably wouldn’t hurt to find out what’s in that notebook before I throw her out.
Just to be fair ’n’ all.
Chapter Four
Early in the morning, Tony’s subconscious turned on him as it had countless times before. He tensed, even in his sleep, preparing to meet an old adversary he’d never conquered.
Don’t do this to yourself. Wake up.
But he was already lost to it.
He was cantering a white mare bareback down a long dirt road. They covered the miles with no sound of hoofbeats to break up the oppressive silence. No breeze. Sweat beaded on Tony’s forehead. Torn between loving and hating the memory, all he could do was hold on. The violet-blue sky pressed down, as familiar to him as the decrepit ranch he was riding to.
As she always did, the mare headed for the crumbling farmhouse at the top of the hill. No amount of reining her in would turn the mare from her course. Try as he did, each time he took this ride he was incapable of leaping off. No, the horse always took him back to the one place he hated.
In the blink of an eye, he was standing in an old round pen with the mare. His father, as weathered and worn as his surroundings, leaned against the pen’s rusty metal railings. “You still wastin’ yer time with that nag? The meat man ain’t gonna care none if she’s muscled up.”
“You can’t sell her. She’s mine, Dad. You said I could have her.” His voice was a mixture of the child he’d been and the man he’d become.
“Don’t go gettin’ yourself attached, Tony. We need the money and that horse is goin’ at the next auction.” There was no cruel intention in his voice, just the cold sting of truth.
“You told me if I got her to stop bucking, I could keep her. She’s as gentle as they come now.”
Emotion had never had much effect on the older man, who had been taught several tough life lessons early. “If she is, maybe someone’ll outbid the meat man.”
The hand Tony buried in the horse’s mane belonged to the twelve-year-old he’d once been. “I won’t let you do it, Dad. Not this horse. Not to the auction. She’s mine. I love her.” A memory that should have faded with time was as sharp and painful in his dream as the day it had happened, and the desperation in his young voice as he pleaded with his father was equally real.
With a disgusted shake of his head, his father said, “There ain’t no room for love in reality, Son. You’d best learn that now. Love just makes a man miserable. That horse goes to auction in two weeks. Train her real good, and maybe she’ll find herself a home.”
The weathered, neglected pen disappeared. Miles and miles of white fencing surrounded Tony. Tall green grass waved in the light breeze under a bright, cloudless sky. He heard the distant sound of a thundering gray stallion bearing down on him. The horse grew in size as it approached, morphing into a snorting beast intent on stomping the life out of him. The more he fought it, the more it knocked him down until he retreated from it. But it followed, as it always did, cornering him until he hated himself more than he feared any pain the horse could inflict.
An image of Sarah appeared and stood beside him, replacing the beast. Sweet, trusting Sarah. He reached for her, but she stepped back in horror, staring at his hands. They were covered and dripping with blood. He desperately tried to clean them on his shirt, but the blood remained. He wanted to reassure her, but even while screaming, he had no voice.
Sarah faded away and Tony sank to his knees in the tall grass. Despite the blood, he covered his face in his hands and did in his dream what he had never done when he was awake. He cried.
Long after he’d awoken, the dream lingered far too vividly. Tony cursed each bale of hay he threw down from the barn loft. Sweat plastered his shirt to his back, but the punishing heat of the day was a welcome discomfort.
He groaned when David changed direction upon spotting him. Only a year or two older than Tony, David successfully organized sales and handled the business side of things. He had quickly built up a reputation of integrity that trumped any amount of advertising another breeder might buy. He was also the best damn ranch manager in the area, possibly in all Texas, but he had a flaw: he was too fucking happy.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt, Tony headed down the ladder in resignation. David was as unavoidable as weeds in a pasture. He was the one person on the ranch Tony couldn’t avoid talking to. But I don’t have to like it.
“I’m surprised you’re here so early this morning,” David said too cheerfully. “I thought you’d be . . .”
“I’d be what?” Tony bit out, stacking the leftover hay against the wall.
David paused a moment, pushed his Stetson back thoughtfully, and chose his next words carefully. “I heard you have company. I figured you might take today off.”
“Do I pay you to think about who I do or don’t have in my house?” Tony’s body filled with fury. More, he knew, than the conversation called for.
“No,” David said slowly.
“Then why the hell are we having this conversation?” Tony snarled, his fists curling at his sides.
Another man would have turned tail and run at the charged tone, but David simply shook his head in a patient way that only irritated Tony more. “Snow Prince won another reining futurity,” he said as Tony piled the last bale on top. “I heard there was a huge purse. Word has it, he’s worth almost a million now and climbing. His owner would like to come meet you. He can’t say enough good about you. The papers are begging for interviews, too.”
“I don’t care about Prince’s new owner and you know I don’t give interviews,” Tony said with disgust.
David opened the door to his small barn office nearby and stood just outside it. “If you don’t want to be in the magazines, stop training horses. You’ve made enough money.”
I would, but it’s all I have left. That and one confusing houseguest. “What do you know about that idiot reporter you found snooping around here last week? Was he working with anyone?” He’d almost forgotten about that man, but Sarah had somehow brought him back, just as she had his nightmares.
“As far as I know, no one.” It wasn’t often that David looked embarrassed, but his face reddened at the mention of the hired hand who had turned out to be an undercover reporter.
“What about the rest of the hands? You might want to let them go and start fresh. One or another of them is always trying to talk to me.”
“You know we can’t run this place alone.” David crossed his arms. “I’m not firing everyone midseason just because they admire you.”
“Fine, I’ll do it myse
lf.”
David scratched his jaw thoughtfully. “What put a burr under your saddle this morning?”
“You know my rule.”
With a sad shake of his head, David said, “Some of these young men have worked here for years. They’re loyal to you. It’s your ranch, Tony. Fire the whole lot of them if you want, but I’m not cleaning the stalls. You let ’em go, and you find the next ones. That’ll mean going to town, screening them, sorting through the ones with real skills versus the ones who think they can acquire some simply by watching you. By all means, go ahead.” David shrugged. “I’ll take the vacation I’m due to give you some time to figure out what a colossal mistake it was. Then if you ask me real nice, I’ll try to find some qualified help before we lose a whole season.”
Tony narrowed his eyes. “I can let you go just as easily.”
David nodded. “Do it. I’ve made good money. It may be time for me to invest in something of my own.” Lifting and adjusting his hat, David said dryly, “I’d miss your sorry, self-destructive ass, though.” Tony caught a shadow of a smile on David’s face and hated the twinkle of amusement in his eyes as David said, “Go on back to the house. I bet your mood will get a whole lot better if you stop hiding down here and go see your little blonde.”
Tony opened his mouth, then shut it with a snap and a glare. Without a word, he turned on his heel and strode out of the barn.
I hate it when he’s right.
The early morning light that filtered through the curtainless windows woke Sarah up. She squinted into the brightness, then grabbed a pillow to cover her head. It took her a moment to remember where she was, but when she did she sat straight up in the twin bed, dropping the pillow to the floor.
Yesterday was not a dream. I really did get lost, made a complete idiot of myself over the first cowboy I met, got ditched by a woman I thought was my friend, and slept in the home of a complete stranger. Sarah sat immobile on the bed, letting it all soak in.
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