by Myla Jackson
Her cheeks heating, Fancy was glad the lighting was dim in the saloon. She lifted one shoulder. “People will talk. I loved Brody, but not the marryin’ kind of love. More like a brother.”
“And Colin?”
Mandy at the diner had also mentioned Colin’s reputation. Fancy hadn’t believed it. But Dusty wouldn’t exaggerate. Fancy’s chest hurt with the thought of Colin dating all those women. Apparently their one night together hadn’t meant anything to him. She’d just been a notch on his bedpost. Swallowing a lump forming in her throat, she said, “After what you just told me about him, any girl would be a fool to fall for a guy like that. I’d just as soon keep my heart intact.”
“What is he doing now, dancing with his mother?” Dusty asked.
Fancy turned. Colin broke in on his mother’s and Landers’s dance, leaving Fancy’s uncle dancing with Alexis. What was Colin up to? He and his mother appeared to be arguing as they danced.
Fancy’s uncle danced Alexis across the floor toward Fancy and stopped. “Excuse me for cutting in, but as lovely as Miss Alexis is, I don’t want to be accused of being a dirty old man.” He twirled Alexis toward Dusty. “Would you be so kind as to dance with this beautiful young lady?” Without waiting for a response, her uncle grabbed Fancy’s hand and pulled her into a promenade hold.
Fancy glanced over her shoulder at Dusty and gave him a wan smile.
He shrugged and held out his hand to Alexis, who laughed and took it.
“What’s going on?” Fancy asked her uncle.
“I think the McFarlan boys have heard of my reputation and don’t approve of me as a suitor for the charming and beautiful Maggie McFarlan.” His brows dipped.
“They don’t think you’re good enough for her?” Fancy snorted. “Maybe she’s not good enough for you.”
“Now sweetheart, I don’t want to get sideways with the boys. They’re only trying to protect their mother.” He danced her, with purpose, toward Colin and his mother. “But I would like my dance partner back.” He tapped on Colin’s shoulder. “Pardon me, but I’m cutting in.”
“Sorry,” Colin said without turning around.
“Colin!” his mother said sharply. She stepped back and held out her arms to Fancy’s uncle. “I would prefer to dance with Carl. Why don’t you dance with Fancy? She’s your age. Leave us old folks to dance with each other.”
Carl smiled down at her and swept her into his arms. “You’re hardly old, Maggie. Why I don’t believe you’ve changed one bit since high school.”
Maggie’s cheeks flushed with color. “Oh, Carl. You’re such a charmer.”
The two danced away, leaving Colin and Fancy blocking the dancers on the wooden floor.
Colin held out his arms. “This can’t be happening.”
“What?” Fancy stepped into his arms, her heart thundering at his nearness. And she thought she’d gotten over him long ago. So much for time healing all wounds or broken hearts.
“My mother going out with the Heartbreaker.”
“He’s not the same person he was when he was younger,” Fancy argued. After all, he was her uncle and she’d never known a nicer, more considerate man. He’d stepped up to the plate when her parents had been killed in a car wreck. The man was her surrogate father.
“What do you know about him? I thought he was just a client.” Colin’s brows dipped low. “You aren’t dating him too, are you?”
She laughed. “Not hardly. I don’t get into incest.”
If possible, Colin’s brows dropped even lower and he came to a stop in the middle of the dance floor. “What do you mean, incest?”
Damn. Her uncle had wanted to spare her his reputation, and she’d gone and spilled the beans. “Carl Landers is my uncle.”
“Your what?”
“Well, technically, he’s my half-uncle. His dad and my mom’s dad are the same person. They had different mothers. It’s one of those family secrets that was amazingly well-kept.”
“You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“The situation is unacceptable. We need to talk.” He grabbed her hand and led her toward the bar. “Come on.”
“I’m not thirsty.”
“I’m not getting you a drink.” He hauled her past the bar, glanced around for Greta Sue, the bouncer who was standing at the entrance of the saloon carding everyone walking in.
“Then where are you taking me?” She tugged her arm to free it of his grip. “What if I don’t want to go there?”
“We can’t stand by and do nothing.” Colin strode down the hallway behind the bar and threw open the first door he came to. “In here.”
Fancy was practically flung into a storeroom filled with cases of booze.
Colin entered and shut the door behind him.
Alone with the man she was supposed to be getting off her mind or out of her heart, Fancy’s pulse hammered against her eardrums and her palms grew moist. What was he going to do? Kiss her? Declare his undying love for her? Sweep her off her feet and tell her he couldn’t live another day without her?
All those thoughts flitted through her mind as her breathing became rapid and ragged. She waited for him to turn, to show her the love still evident in his eyes.
When Colin faced her, it wasn’t with love shining out of his eyes, but an angry glare. “We have to break those two up.”
Chapter Two
“Break them up?” Fancy’s gaze went from confused to flashing anger in one heartbeat.
Colin loved the animation in her expressions. He’d been watching her all night, his frustration building with each passing minute she spent in another man’s arms. Unable to do anything about Fancy and Dusty Cramer’s connection, when he had no claim on Fancy, he channeled all his anger into confronting his mother and Carl.
“I can’t believe he’s your uncle.” Colin spun away, unable to look at her without succumbing to the urge of dragging her against him, and kissing her to make up for the last eight years.
“Sorry. We don’t get to choose our parents and family, or make their decisions for them.” She planted a fist on one hip and raised her brows. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was here with Dusty.”
Colin closed the distance between them and gripped her arms. “About that… Why Cramer?”
“What?” She shook off his hands, stepped back and stared at him as if he’d lost his marbles. “First you want to break up my uncle and your mother, now you’re going to dictate who I can see?” She shook her head. “For someone I haven’t even heard from in the past eight years, you have some nerve.”
“Okay, you have a point. I have no right to tell you who you can date.” Colin shoved a hand through his thick dark hair. “But Cramer is all wrong for you.”
“Why?” Her fists found her hips again and she pushed her shoulders back, as if preparing for battle.
Colin’s cock hardened. Why did she have to be so damned sexy? “Does he make you hot just being around him?” He moved closer.
The sassy, determined look faded and her eyes rounded. “That’s none of your business.”
“Does he make you want to strip your clothes off and get naked in the back of a pickup truck, or anywhere else you happen to be?” He cupped the back of her head, his fingers lacing into her hair. He tugged, tilting her head up, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
She didn’t answer.
Her tongue darting out to moisten her lips was almost Colin’s undoing. “Does he?”
“Maybe.”
Colin leaned close, his mouth hovering over hers. “Have you even kissed yet?”
“We’re taking it slow,” she said, her voice barely a whisper, the puff of air tingling against his lips.
He waited. The distance between his mouth and hers was separated by a mere breath. Colin wanted to kiss her. Based on her wide-
eyed reaction, and the way she swayed toward him, Fancy wanted to kiss him too. She’d have to come to him.
Fancy lifted her chin, her lips brushing against his. “This means nothing.”
“Like hell it doesn’t,” Colin growled, crushing her to his chest. He claimed her lips like he’d wanted to since he saw her the first day he’d run into her in town. That day he’d seen her at the diner with Carl Landers, pretending to be his real estate agent, while Colin’s mother gave Carl the goo-goo eyes and practically salivated over Fancy’s uncle.
None of that mattered now. He had Fancy in his arms, holding her so close they might as well be naked. His cock nudged her belly through the thick denim of his jeans, getting harder by the second.
At first, she was stiff in his arms. After a moment, Fancy slowly melted against him. Curling her hands around his shoulders, she slid them down his back and into his pockets, pressing him closer. When she opened her mouth to him, her tongue darted out to meet his.
Colin swept past her teeth, his tongue caressing hers in a long, slow glide, tasting the minty freshness of her mouth, thrusting in and out, mimicking what he wanted to do with his dick.
Sweet Jesus, he wanted to strip her naked and take her there, with the cases of beer and Jack Daniels whiskey, her legs spread wide, her pussy glistening in the dim light of the yellow bulb hanging from the ceiling.
He’d fuck her hard, until all the pain of the past eight years faded. Colin slid his hand beneath her shirt, flicked the hooks on her bra and captured one of her breasts in his palm. God, she had beautiful breasts—full and luscious, like juicy fruit, ripe for tasting.
The nipple hardened beneath his palm and her fingers in his back pockets curled against his ass. Fancy closed her eyes, her head tilting back, her breathing ragged. “This is insane.”
“Damn right it is.” He lifted her shirt and bra and sucked the nipple into his mouth, toying with the hardened bud, flicking and licking.
Fancy raised her hands to his ears and held on, pulling him closer. “A huge mistake.”
“No doubt.” He slipped his hands down her waist to cup her bottom, and lifted her onto a stack of boxes.
She rested her hands on his chest. “This can’t be happening.”
“But it is.” Colin bent to nibble at her earlobe.
Fancy spread her legs wide, allowing him to step between. She grabbed for the button on his jeans, yanking it open with a quick jerk. Then she carefully slid the zipper down.
With nothing holding it back, Colin’s cock jutted out, hard, thick and ready for action.
Fancy’s fingers circled him, sliding along his length, smooth, soft and firm.
Colin ran his hands up her thighs and beneath the flirty denim skirt, pushing it up to her hips, exposing the tiny triangle of material over her sex. He slid the material to the side and pressed a finger into her damp channel.
“Do you have protection?” she asked, her voice hitching as he swirled inside her. “Please tell me you do.”
“Yes.” With one finger inside her, he reached with his other hand for the wallet in his back pocket and handed it to her.
Fancy flipped it open and removed the foil packet and then slid his wallet back in his rear pocket. With efficient movements she removed the condom from its wrapping and rolled it over Colin’s cock, smoothing her hand over the rubber from the tip to the hilt, capturing his balls between her fingers. She gave a gentle but urgent squeeze. “Fuck me, cowboy.”
Colin chuckled. “When did you acquire a dirty mouth?”
“When I waited eight years for a repeat performance.” She wiggled her bottom on the box moving toward the edge, stripped off the thong underwear and tossed them over a case of Bud Light. “Don’t make me wait another minute.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gripped her hips and drove into her, thrusting all the way in until he was fully sheathed.
He drew in a deep, steadying breath and then moved in and out, his pace increasing with his surge of desire.
Fancy wrapped her hands around his waist. Slipping them down into his jeans, she grabbed his ass and sank her fingernails into his flesh.
The sharp jabs only intensified the sensations building inside Colin.
She leaned her cheek against his neck and whispered, “Faster.”
He complied, his dick rock hard, the friction sending him to the top.
Her nails dug deeper into his buttocks. “Harder,” she demanded.
Slamming into her again and again, Colin was moving so hard and fast the boxes beneath her rocked with each thrust.
When Fancy’s body grew rigid and her fingers dug into his ass, Colin jettisoned into the stratosphere, thrusting, thrusting, thrusting until the sensations were so intense he had to stop. Had to hold himself still, completely encased in her pussy.
Holy hell!
She was even hotter and more enticing than she’d been so long ago. For eight years he couldn’t forget her and the incredible way she made him feel. Not just making love, but being around her—swimming in the creek, horseback riding or sitting across the table, sharing a meal. She’d been as much a part of his life as she’d been Brody’s, hanging around the McFarlan ranch, laughing and playing with his heart until he couldn’t bear the thought of her marrying his brother.
As he drifted back to earth and the Ugly Stick storeroom, he bent to kiss her.
She met his lips with a hard, brief kiss. “As satisfying as that was, this changes nothing.” Planting her hands on his chest, she shoved him gently, easing him out of her and back a few steps.
“What do you mean?” Colin peeled the condom off his cock and dropped it into a wastebasket, then folded his still-hard dick into his jeans and zipped. “From where I’m standing, it changes everything.”
Fancy hopped down from the boxes and adjusted her shirt and skirt and then glanced around.
Colin held up the thong panties. “Looking for these?”
She snatched them from his hand and shoved them into her pocket. “This didn’t happen. Understand?”
Her words hit him in the gut. “Why?”
“Because.” She pushed her hair back and lifted her chin. “One-night stands never work out.”
“You can’t say this was a one-night stand. We’ve been together before.”
“Eight years ago,” Fancy said, flinging her arm out. “I think the statute of limitations would set the clock back to zero.” She tried to step around him. “Besides, that time didn’t quite work out. It’s not a good example.”
Colin blocked her path. “What if I want to see you again?”
She shook her head, refusing to look him in the eye. “It’s not happening. What happened just now, shouldn’t have.”
“You felt it, just as much as I did.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She sighed. “I’m older than I was eight years ago. I should have been wiser then. But now that I’m thinking straight again, I have to put a stop to this. I’m not into hit-and-run guys.”
“Hit-and-run?” Colin gripped her arms. “I’m not the one who left after we made love the first time. You ran as fast as you could, started a new life, and hell, even dyed your hair red.” His chest was so tight he could swear he was having a heart attack. “You came waltzing back to Temptation, back into my life and this storeroom, and now you’re telling me I’m the hit-and-run person in this relationship?” He snorted. “You’ve got that all backward.”
“My reason for returning has nothing to do with you. You may not have moved, but you got on with your life just fine without me in it. For the record, I’m not the one who labeled you the hit-and-run guy. Any number of females you’ve been with in the tri-county area would call you that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a support group for women who’ve been dated and dumped by the infamous heartbreaker Colin McFarlan.”
Anger surged at Fanc
y’s rejection. “Is that why you’re with Cramer tonight?” As he’d made love to her, he’d never considered it the last time they’d ever come together. Hell, his heart had foolishly swelled with hope for a future together. And now she was telling him to shove off. “Are you with him to piss me off? Because I can tell you, it’s working.”
“Maybe I am. You’re missing the point. It’s none of your business why I’m with Dusty.”
“That man will take any affection you throw his way,” Colin said. “I don’t think he’s had a girlfriend. Ever.”
“Don’t you badmouth Dusty Cramer.” Fancy shook her finger in Colin’s face. “He’s a nice guy.”
“Fine.” Colin crossed his arms. “Go out with Dusty. Have sex with the man. Marry him, for all I care.”
She looked down her nose at him, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “Maybe I will.”
“But remember, if my mother and your uncle go so far as to tie the knot, you won’t be rid of the McFarlans. We’ll be at every family event. So if you want to be well and truly through with us, you have to help me break up their little romance before it goes too far.”
Colin’s words brought Fancy up short. She’d been so bent on getting the hell away from him she hadn’t thought past the door to the storeroom.
Making love with Colin was a colossal mistake. Yeah, they had chemistry, and the sex was so incredibly hot she was surprised the room full of alcohol hadn’t spontaneously combusted. But anything long-term with the man was out of the question.
When she’d left to go to Dallas, she’d hoped and prayed Colin would come after her. For the first few weeks, she’d cried every night. Wishing they had held off making love until his brother Brody had time to get over their break up. But what had happened between her and Colin had just…happened. The fires ignited between them and nothing could have put them out until they’d slaked their desires.
Just like now, in the storeroom. Put them in the same room together…alone…and Fancy couldn’t fight her own reaction. Based on Colin’s actions, neither could he.
