How could he read her so well? She thought for a moment. “Let’s say you lost your driver’s license at the airport, and we want the check made out to me so we can cash it.”
He tugged her closer. “You’re clever, aren’t you.”
Clever, and this weekend, a whole bunch of devious. Telling her parents she was going to Amarillo, then driving straight through to Vegas. Laughing off her cousin Kira’s attempts to get at the truth about the marriage rumor Jayden had leaked. Planning to sleep with Jayden… If she was looking for a sign from above as to whether she should go ahead with that idea or not, the jackpot—and especially the suite she’d share with this hunky cowboy—told her she should go for it, full throttle.
Stormie’s imagination flitted to that suite. Would he take her slowly? Stripping her a little bit at a time, or would he be ravenous, and rip her clothes to get to her bare flesh? Tingling started in her spine and by the time it hit her core, it had grown into prickling lust.
“This is where Dallas and Kira went to get their jackpot.” Jayden pointed to a nearly invisible door.
As she brought herself back to the present, the manager escorted them through the door. Her cheeks had to be bright red. She needed to rein in her wicked thoughts. At least until she was alone with Jayden.
“I’m Ray Truman, by the way.” He stopped halfway through the long, bright hallway and held out his hand to Stormie.
“Stormie Thompson.” She gripped his hand for a few seconds.
“Jayden Hancock.” The two men shook hands.
Ray gave them a quizzical look and started walking again. “Where are you from?”
At the exact same time, Stormie said, “Oklahoma,” and Jayden said, “Reno.”
The man looked at their faces for a few tense seconds. People always said she barely looked twenty, and Jayden, with his baby face, could actually pass for fourteen. Her nerves kicked up and her chest tightened. Could they pull this off?
Ray led them into an office and gestured to two chairs in front of a desk. “And you say you’re married?” He didn’t look or sound like he believed them.
Stormie dug in her purse. “I have the marriage certificate right here.” She pulled out the paper and held it out to him. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on relaxing.
Ray held up his hands. “No, I believe you. I don’t need to see it unless you want one check instead of two separate checks.”
“Hm.” Jayden ran a finger over his chin. “Hadn’t thought about it, but one check might be best.” He made a disgusted face. “Especially since—”
Stormie caught on. She sucked in a breath and opened her eyes wide. “Oh gosh, your driver’s license.” She turned to Ray. “He lost it in the airport in OKC.”
Ray’s eyes narrowed on Jayden. “Thought you said you were from Reno?”
“We’re going back and forth between our places.” He was as cool as ice cream.
Stormie was as hot and stingy as a cactus in August. She did not like lying. Her mouth went dry. She set the marriage certificate on Ray’s desk, pulled her wallet out of her purse, and found her driver’s license. “Here you go. Just make the check out to me so I can deposit it.” Her voice cracked a few times, but she was proud of her performance. Proud? She hated to think she was getting good at dishonesty.
Picking up the license and certificate, Ray stared for long moments. “All right. That’s fine.” Ray put a form in front of Stormie.
She blinked to bring the typed page into focus. Damn, she hated telling untruths, and she’d been doing far too much of that since meeting Jayden in February.
She’d recognized him instantly when her cousin Kira introduced them. Her family’s ranch specialized in bucking horses, and she’d followed Jayden’s career on the rodeo circuit for over a year. Recently, she’d been disappointed in his rides, and wished she could offer him advice. But while she knew the rodeo from horses’ point of view, she knew very little about what went on in a rider’s head.
Ray stood. “I’ll be right back.” He left the office carrying her documents.
Jayden leaned close. “How come I didn’t get a copy of the marriage certificate?”
“We put my address on the form.”
“Oh yeah? So what do your parents think about this? And about you being here with me?”
She tried to stop the grimace. “Well, not my home address. My PO box at school.” She needed to confess. “And they don’t know I’m here.”
He jerked back. “What the hey? Where do they think you are?”
“It’s a long story.”
The look of uncertainty on his face gave her a pang of guilt.
“I know.” She shrugged. “You think I’m the fourteen-year-old, but it’s really complicated.” She looked out the door into the hallway. “I wish we could get out of here. I’m getting nervous.”
Jayden took her hand. “You’re doing great, Storm.” He spoke quietly. “Just a couple more minutes.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. “I’m getting to be a good little liar.” The statement went against all her beliefs. Heaviness settled over her chest.
Jayden touched her chin and tilted her head, meeting her gaze straight on with his intense blue eyes. “If you’re doing something you don’t want to do, let’s not do it.” He set his hand on her shoulder.
A laugh burst from her chest. He was joking. Wasn’t he? “Just give up the jackpot and walk away?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You keep the money. All of it. You won it, even if it was my cash in the machine.” He glanced toward the door then back at her and leaned closer. “If you feel it’s wrong to give me half ‘cause I’m not twenty-one, then I don’t want to compromise your integrity.”
She stared and her mind blanked. She’d known Jayden was a good man when they’d snuck away from the bachelor and bachelorette parties early Valentine’s Day morning. But to give up his half of three hundred sixty thousand dollars? Just to appease her moral code? That was too hard to believe.
“You’re not going to go home with empty pockets just because I’m feeling uncomfortable.” Her mind worked until she found a solution that would ease her conscience. She shifted closer. “Let’s think of it this way. The money is mine because I won it, right?”
He nodded and his thumb traced patterns on her shoulder, distracting her from thoughts of money to thoughts of soft sheets and warm flesh. When she stayed silent for a minute, he lifted his brows. “Is there more?”
“Um…” It took all her willpower to snap her mind out of the bedroom. “So, I’ll take the money because I can receive it legally. Then I’ll give you half ’cause we’re married.”
“I’m starting to like this being married stuff.” His gaze searched her face as his eyes darkened. “Lots of benefits.”
A blast of desire flared in her core and she pressed her thighs together to relieve the lovely ache. “Yeah.” It was the only word she could come up with through the sensual haze overrunning her brain.
Ray’s voice came from outside the office.
Jayden glanced toward the sound then leaned close to her. “You’re sure about the money, now?”
“I’m sure. I’ll see this through and hope I don’t have to tell any more fibs.”
“Fibs?” He laughed. “Okay. No more fibbin’.” He held up his little finger. “Pinkie swear.”
She rolled her eyes but linked her little finger with his. “You are fourteen, aren’t you.”
Jayden slid his hand to the nape of her neck. “Cutie, you tell me if any fourteen year old ever kissed you like this.” He moved in and pressed his firm, full lips against hers.
She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the kiss reverberate through her body, exactly the way she remembered his lips affecting her a month ago. Lust shimmied through her bones and heat spread along her bloodstream.
His tongue flicked against her closed lips and she parted them for him, sneaking her tongue past her teeth to meet his.
With a
groan, he tangled his tongue with hers, traced her lips, and tasted her, running his tongue along the roof of her mouth.
Her nipples perked and sent an ache down through her stomach to her core. Her opening contracted, wanting more of him, wanting to know what it was like for a woman to submit to her man, for a man to take his woman.
Jayden slowed the kiss and nibbled at her with his lips. “God, I want you.”
This is how he’d been in February, sweet and sexy and seductive. They’d gone dancing, drinking, rubbing their bodies together for hours, but as the sun rose above the mountains, things had gotten way out of hand.
“You want me? Or you want my money?” She was teasing, but her words must have hurt him.
He pulled away, his gaze locking with hers. “Honestly? I’d love to have that cash. Boone and Dallas are starting the rodeo school, they want me as a partner, but I have nothing to offer.”
What did he mean, nothing? “You have so much to—”
“No. I can’t stay eight seconds on anything these days.” He shook his head and held up his hand. “That’s my problem, and I don’t want to bother you with it. But Stormie…” He took her arms in his rough hands. “If I had to choose between this weekend with you and all that money…” He huffed out a laugh, as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “Cutie, I’d choose you.”
Stormie couldn’t get a breath in. “What? That’s…” She shook her head. “Too much to believe.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I’m shoveling it on too thick, ain’t I.” He released her and sat back in his chair. “Something happened last month.” He stared off into the distance. “Something that evidently made me want to hitch us together.” His gaze met hers. “I want to get that feeling back, Stormie. Whatever made us run out and get married…”
Her mouth went desert dry. “Jayden.” She wanted to use their wedding vows to lose her virginity, and he was talking about a future? “I don’t know what—”
“Don’t say anything. We have the weekend to talk, get reacquainted, and make some decisions.” He gestured toward the door. “I’m sorry I brought it up here.”
He was right, this wasn’t the place to discuss any of this, and footsteps sounded, coming closer to the door.
Panic bubbled at just thinking of committing herself to more than a weekend. Her parents had her so tightly monitored, she often found it difficult to even take a deep breath. She needed time to herself, time to find her own way, not the path they’d paved for her. She looked at Jayden. Definitely not the path Jayden was talking about.
“Okay, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Hancock.” Ray walked into the office and sat in his chair. “Everything looks good.” He handed her the marriage certificate and her ID. “Finish filling out those forms and Aaron will walk you up to your suite.”
Stormie picked up the pen with an unsteady hand. If Jayden did that to her with just a kiss, what would she be like after he made love to her? “When do we get the money?”
“The Gaming Commission has to verify the win, which should only take about twenty-four hours.” Ray smiled. “I’ll call you when we have your check ready to be picked up.”
She got busy writing.
“So, Mr. Hancock,” Ray said. “Any relation to the Hancock who won a jackpot here in December?”
Jayden grinned. “My brother.”
Stormie clicked the pen closed and shoved the completed papers back to Ray. “And his friend, Dallas Burns, just won a bundle on roulette last month.”
The manager looked off into space for a moment. “Uh huh, I remember Mr. Burns…and his lady friend…and her attorney.”
“That’s them.” Jayden laid his arm across the back of Stormie’s chair and rubbed his knuckles along the back of her shoulder.
Her insides heated and her chest tightened. Just a few minutes more and she’d be alone with this cowboy.
The manager stood. “We should come up with a cowboy jackpot photo wall, for all the luck you fellas have been having here.”
Jayden stood and helped Stormie to her feet. “As long as you keep holdin’ rodeos here, you’re gonna have a lot of cowboys gettin’ lucky.” He squeezed her arm and winked at her.
With her knees turning to mush at his suggestive glance, she let Jayden guide her out the door.
Aaron jumped up from a desk in an office across the hall. “Ready to head upstairs?”
“Ready.” Jayden’s thumb traced a tiny but effectively sensual path over her bicep as they thanked Ray and headed out, following the chatty casino host.
Stormie glanced at Jayden and caught the intent look in his eyes. Gosh, he made her hot all over. Another blip of panic hit. This was it. She’d finally experience what she’d only read about in romance novels. She pushed aside her misgivings. She wanted this. “Ready.” But her voice broke as she committed to her plan.
Chapter Three
As they left the casino business office, Jayden watched the emotions on Stormie’s face change faster than the reel on a slot machine. Finally, she set her jaw and nodded. What the heck was going on with her? As they walked out the door leading into the casino, he took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
The face she made back at him ranged somewhere between a grin and a grimace. Cute. She was nervous about what was going to happen once they reached the hotel suite. Oh man, did he have plans. A slow strip of her clothes until she was naked and quivering under the touch of his hands. He’d explore her with his mouth, tasting every curve and plane, each texture and temperature.
Jayden breathed deep of her sweet, pure scent. Pure? Why was he thinking the word “pure”? His headache came back with a punch as he tried again to recall what had gone on between them last month.
His phone vibrated with an incoming text. He pulled it from his pocket and read Rance’s message. Heading to Roundup Bar with Dallas, yr brothr, & the ladies. Get here.
The rodeo must be over. He’d like to hear how the short go went. All three of the cowboys had made it to the final round, and they probably had done well. Too bad some of their luck hadn’t rubbed off on him.
Or had it? He’d won a jackpot—or half of one—with a woman who made his body hard, his brain fuzzy, and his heart all kinds of crazy.
Aaron talked nonstop as they walked through the casino and during the elevator ride to the top floor of the hotel. He’d put seven hundred dollars of casino credit on their room which they could use for anything but gambling.
As the elevator doors opened, both men stood back to let Stormie step out first, but she didn’t move.
“Cutie?” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and eased her forward.
Aaron followed then darted around them. “This way.” He smiled. “Ray mentioned that you’re newlyweds, so I put you in the Hitchin’ Post suite.” He winked. “It’s our honeymoon suite.”
Stormie’s step faltered. “Oh.”
Jayden barely heard Stormie’s breathy reply. Just how nervous was she? He pulled her tighter against him. “That’s great, thank you, Aaron.”
The casino host keyed open the door, handed Jayden two keycards, and gestured for them to enter. “If you need anything, I’m here all night. Just call me.” He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Jayden.
“Will do.” Jayden shut and locked the door then turned to face Stormie. His wife. Why did that idea give him a warm feeling in his chest?
She set down her purse and clenched her hands in front of her. “Here we are.” Her big green eyes looked luminous in the brightness of the entry hall. Someone had turned on all the lights, but all he cared about seeing was Stormie, preferably naked and writhing with pleasure.
“Yep. Here we are.” He set down the keycards and advanced on her. “In the honeymoon suite. A month late.”
She stepped back a bit but unclenched her hands. “Should we take a look around?”
“Nope.” The silence of the room, her strawberry scent, and the fact that they were alone, while none of their family or friends
knew where to find them, had his temperature spiking as sinful ideas flowed through him. He blinked. No, they weren’t sinful. They had a marriage certificate giving them the go-ahead. In his peripheral vision, he spotted the door leading to the bedroom. He stepped to his right, herding her toward the room.
Stormie breathed a little faster. “Okay.” She licked her lips as she stepped backward toward the bedroom.
“Cutie, I’ve waited a month for this. You won’t believe the things I want to do to your beautiful body.”
“Mm.” The tiny sound accompanied a quick shiver as her heel crossed the threshold to the bedroom.
He glanced behind her and let out a laugh. The bed was heart-shaped, covered in a red satin bedspread with pink and white pillows tossed around on it. “Oh man. This is gonna be fun.”
She turned and stared. “I didn’t even know they made beds like that.” She walked to it and touched her fingers to the edge. Glancing back at him, she smiled. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.” Her face tightened and her eyes narrowed.
“What’s wrong, Stormie?” He strolled to her side and pulled her into his arms. “We can talk if you want…” What the hell was he saying? He kissed her jaw and left hot, wet kisses down her neck to her collarbone. “Or you can let me taste every inch of you first, make you go wild when my tongue on your clit sends you into orbit.” He slid his hands under her shirt and up along her ribs. “Make you cry out my name.” His thumbs found her peaked nipples and flicked them fast and hard.
“Uhhh.” Her head dropped back and her knees buckled.
Easing her onto the bed, he tugged her shirt off over her head. “Guess you decided on ‘no talking,’ huh?” Her pure white bra curved softly over her breasts. The tiny red bow between the cups was the only hint of her wild side. It gave his lust a recharge, banging wicked ideas around in his head at a million miles an hour.
Her gaze locked with his. “Okay. You can.” She licked her lips as her breath panted from her lungs. “I’d like you to do that first.”
He grinned. Making her babble was his pleasure, and she’d only talk goofier if things went the way he planned.
Cowboy Jackpot: St. Patrick's Day Page 2
