The frank talk did it. “Me too. Count me in.”
As Elijah pulled up in front of the motel, he smiled. “I’ll make the phone call. Your date is named Katherine.”
* * *
“Hurry up, Walker!” Elijah hollered. “We’re gonna be late.”
Rogue zipped up his jeans and fastened his belt buckle. He patted his fly, giving his Johnson a lick and a promise. “Hold your damn horses. Is it all arranged? Katherine okay with it?”
Elijah looked at himself in the dresser mirror that sat in front of the big king-size bed. “He’s gonna kill you,” Elijah muttered to himself. Louder, he answered, “Everything’s a go. Elizabeth said Katherine is looking forward to going out with you.”
“Great.” Rogue grabbed his wallet off the dresser. “I’m ready and glad I carry extra rubbers.”
“All right, we’ve got to stop by the announcer’s booth. I lost my insurance card somewhere and someone turned it in. I just got a text.” Elijah explained as they went out the door. “Oh, and this isn’t a double date. We’re on our own, Elizabeth will be riding with me and you’ll ride with Katherine.”
“Fine with me,” Rogue agreed. “I work better without an audience.”
On the ride over, he tried to pry information out of Elijah about Katherine. It didn’t work. “Where are we meeting the girls?”
“At the arena, over by the concession stand. Just let me get my card and we’ll head over.” They bounded out of the truck and climbed the stands to reach the booth, their boots causing the black metal bleacher seats to clank and groan. Elijah opened the door. “The guy must’ve stepped out, there’s no one here.”
“Do you see your card? Maybe it’s just lying around here somewhere.” Rogue helped him look. While he peered under papers and on the floor, curiosity got the best of him. “Why are we meeting the girls here? Are they buckle bunnies from out of town?”
“Uhhh…” Elijah delayed answering. “Here it is!” He held the Blue Cross/Blue Shield card up triumphantly. Seeing Walker was waiting for an answer, he huffed and just laid it out. “No, they ride the NIRA circuit like we do.”
An uneasy feeling came over Rogue. He sidled up to Elijah, who was staring down into the arena, watching some cowboys load a stock trailer. “Katherine and Elizabeth. Nah, you wouldn’t do that to me, would you? This isn’t Beth McGee and Kit Ross, is it?”
“Yea.” Elijah actually dodged when he said it, halfway expecting Rogue to throw a punch. “Beth is fun and she says Kit’s been dying to really meet you.”
Rogue thought he would choke. “Goddammit, Eli! Kit Ross? You’ve got to be fuckin’ with me! She’s my blind date?”
Elijah held up his hands. “She cleans up nice, Walker. I’ve seen her.”
“She’d have to! You can’t even look at her and tell she’s a woman. Hair slicked back into a bun, no makeup, men’s clothes. Hell, she’s always got dirt streaked across her face. Nobody in the world would ever believe I’d willingly date a woman who looks like her. That woman is nowhere near my type and I’m surprised she agreed, I bet her type has tits and a pussy.” Rogue was so pissed he was yelling. “Horse-face Kit Ross! Shit!”
“Now, Rogue…” Elijah held up his hands. “Calm down.”
“There’s no way I’m taking her out in public. I should just cancel.”
“No, don’t do that. Elizabeth, she—”
About that time, the door was slung open and a red-faced man came barreling in. With a snarl, he walked up and flipped a switch. “The microphone was on, assholes. Your voices were carrying all over the countryside.”
Down by the stock pens, Kit Ross stepped backward, deeper into the shadows. Her face was flaming, she was fighting hard not to cry. How could she have been so stupid? For the last year and half, she’d had this huge crush on Rogue Walker. The few times they’d spoken to one another, he’d been nice. Polite. She always enjoyed competing against him, he was as talented as he was handsome.
Apparently, he was also a huge dick.
Finding out her idol had clay feet hurt. She didn’t know why she’d wound so many of her girlish daydreams around him. Probably because his name was Rogue, it was such an unusual name and what her father had said was burned deep into her mind and heart. It just seemed meant to be—she was wrong.
Part of her wanted to run and keep on running, never see him again. Another part of her had the urge to get even, make him feel just a little bit of the humiliation that had taken her breath away. Could she do it? Dare she do it? Remembering what Rogue had said about how she looked, Kit glanced down at what she was wearing. He’d been right. She wasn’t much to look at. But maybe she could wear something that would take his mind off her plain face. The denim skirt and western blouse would never do—not for what she had in mind.
Frantically, she racked her brain. Then she remembered the red dress she’d thrown behind the front seat. Yes, that would do.
Get ready, Rogue Asshole Walker. The Kit Ross he was expecting was not the Kit Ross he was going to get.
About a half hour later, Rogue’s face was sore from frowning so hard. He was going to go through with this but it had cost Elijah Bowman dearly—to the tune of a brand new pair of handmade boots from Texas Traditions. By the time Eli slapped down a grand or more for the custom footwear, he’d be less inclined to pull a fool stunt like this one again.
“She wears thick glasses when she rides, for fuck’s sake, they almost look like goggles.” Rogue fumed. “A date with gawky Kit Ross, I won’t survive this.”
“Yes, you will. You must’ve been studying her pretty close to notice all that detail.” Eli chuckled. “Those are safety glasses, not goggles. We stir up a lot of dust out there if you haven’t noticed. Some people have to wear them.” When Rogue began cussing again, Eli held up his hand. “Smile. Here they come.”
Eli and Rogue had driven over to the concession area where Rogue spotted Ross’s utilitarian white truck with the maroon Texas A&M sticker on the bumper. “Sheesh, I’ll lose my Longhorn card for socializing with an Aggie.” Squinting his eyes as if the view was going to hurt, he glanced over to see where the women were waiting. He recognized Beth McGee, her long red hair gave her away immediately. But he didn’t see Kit Ross.
But then he wasn’t looking that hard, something else worth looking at had caught his eye.
All he could see was a smoking hot honey with bouncy curls hanging past her waist, a bright red dress hugging every curve from her generous breasts to a perfect ass. Why was she with Elizabeth and where was… “Oh my God,” he muttered.
“I told you she cleaned up nice.”
Rogue heard Eli, but he didn’t react. He was out of the truck and standing in front of an impossible vision of beauty. “Katherine.” Rogue held his hat in his hand. Why she looked so different wasn’t a point of concern. Besides, he couldn’t think rationally anyway. All the blood in his brain had flowed down to harden his cock.
Kit calmly met his gaze, betraying absolutely nothing of how she was really feeling. Lifting her lips in the most sweet, seductive smile she could manage, Kit spoke to her roping partner. “Elizabeth, I was wrong. He doesn’t just take off his hat for one thing.”
Elizabeth snickered and it took Rogue a second or two to realize Kit was making a sexual reference—about him. He could hear Elijah laughing, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off Kit for the amount of time necessary to shoot him the finger because he didn’t want to flip him the bird without aiming it properly. “Thank you for agreeing to spend the evening with me, Katherine.” He let his eyes rove her gorgeous body from her toes to her little turned up nose. “You look…amazing.”
Katherine bit her tongue to keep from saying what she was thinking out loud. Idiot, she thought. “Thank you, Rogue. I’m looking forward to it.” Which was certainly the truth.
Elizabeth grabbed her arm, and as Rogue and Elijah watched, they hugged and giggled, speaking the incomprehensible girl-talk that men can’t begin to grasp. Rogue’s min
d was boggled because these two ultra-feminine women, so unlike their gutsy cowgirl alter egos, were exuding pheromones, making his cock like stone and blowing all of his preconceived theories of what makes a woman desirable right out the window.
When they returned to their dates, Katherine gave him a wink. “I’m ready. Shall we?” She pointed to her truck. Inflating his ego, she held out her hand with a pair of keys dangling from the tip end of one pale pink painted fingernail. “Wanna drive?”
“Yea, sure, great.” He took the keys and escorted her to the passenger side, gently helping her into her seat. The shape of her body and the scent of the delicate perfume cloud surrounding her mesmerized him. “Where do you want to eat? Eastwood’s?” Rogue named a nice steakhouse in the area where a lot of the cowboys went to celebrate.
Katherine crossed her long smooth tanned legs, sliding one over the other as if she enjoyed how velvety soft they were. Rogue felt his cock rise and he licked his mouth, wishing he could kiss those soft red lips. He hit a bump in the road and had to drag his eyes away to make sure he kept her ride between the ditches. When he had control again, he glanced back only to find her staring at him. Mimicking his earlier action, she slowly licked her top lip with her tongue.
“If you don’t mind, Rogue. I’d rather skip dinner and go right for dessert.” There was no way in hell she would go out in public with him knowing what he’d said. “I’d rather go somewhere we could be alone.”
Rogue swallowed hard. Hot Damn! “Sounds good to me.” He lifted his hand. “You tell me where to go and I’m your man.”
Katherine rolled her eyes in the half-shadows. “Why don’t we pick up a six-pack of beer and go parking?” She paused. “Or is that too juvenile for a sophisticated lady’s man like you?” Yea, she was putting on a show. But Kit Ross had no illusions. She was a tomboy country girl from Red Creek, Kansas, who loved horses, the outdoors and only owned this sexy red dress because she’d been asked to be her cousin’s bridesmaid at a Valentine’s Day wedding earlier in the year. She’d run out of the church and driven right to a rodeo competition, and that was the only reason the dress was with her.
“Nothing I’d rather do, beautiful.” Rogue whipped into a drive-through Beverage Barn and bought a six pack of locally brewed Shiner beer. “Now, where can we have some alone time?”
He hoped wherever they were going had a bright security light because he wanted a better look at the wet dream sitting next to him. Man, he’d have to eat crow over this situation and he didn’t mind at all. He’d pour on the Jardine’s hot sauce and chow down. He had been wrong, dead wrong about Katherine Ross, and Rogue would have no trouble admitting it to anybody.
“Go another mile and turn down the dirt road to your left. It leads to a little park on a small lake. We’ll have all the privacy we need. A few people live on the road but there’s not much traffic and both sides are banked by underbrush thick with poison ivy. No one will bother us there.” Parents of a college friend lived down this way and let Kit and Beth practice on their property occasionally.
Rogue’s heart was pounding. Her suggestion wasn’t the most romantic sounding locale, but this outing wasn’t about romance. As Katherine moved her hand to his leg and kneaded his leg above the knee, Rogue admitted it—tonight was all about S-E-X. His breath was coming hard as he found the dirt road and exited, the worn truck bouncing on the uneven gravel surface. “How far do I go?”
“All the way, baby,” she whispered sexily.
Fuck, fuck fuck…Rogue muttered to himself. “I meant how far do I drive?”
She laughed. “Oh, I know what you meant, I was just teasing.” She squeezed his muscular thigh. “All the way to the end, we’ll be there before you know it.”
“I can’t wait, baby.” He covered her hand with his, rubbing his thumb over the silky skin.
All of a sudden Kit wasn’t in that much of a hurry. She was nervous. Could she pull this off? Could she be a temptress long enough to give Rogue Walker exactly what he deserved? “There’s some tables and benches on the shore, a pretty place.”
Rogue flashed her a grin. “The only thing I’m going to be looking at is you.”
Sadness flowed over Kit. She’d been so desperately hung up on this guy. True hero-worship. She’d adored him with her eyes, dreaming of what it would be like to actually be noticed by him. If she’d been sitting here unaware of the ugly things he’d said over the loudspeaker about her, Kit would’ve thought she was the luckiest woman on the face of the earth.
But she did hear.
Oh well, he wasn’t her Rogue Angel—he was just a conceited horn-dog. Looking out the window and down the narrow lane canopied by trees, she pointed. “We’re here.” Her voice was husky with unshed tears.
Rogue slowed down and pulled the truck up to a picnic table. The moon glinted on the still dark waters of the small lake. “Let me come help you.” He grabbed the beer, jerked open the door and hurried around, anxious to get his arms around her.
Kit steeled herself. She had zero experience, but she had won best actress in high school. She’d seen enough rom-com movies to pull this off. When Rogue opened the door, she gave him her hand and the heat of his body made her tremble. This whole thing confused her. How could he have been so disgusted with her one moment and so infatuated the next? All she’d done was let her hair down, put on a little lipstick and wear something provocative. Except for the thin veil of physical enhancement, she was exactly the same nondescript woman. Rogue’s male gullibility made her doubt the evolutionary standing of the whole species.
She let him lead her to a table and gasped when he picked her up and sat her gently on the hard wooden surface. Taking a can, he popped the top and handed it to her. Doing the same, he relished the way her mouth fit over the rim. Thanks to the moonlight and the park lighting, he could see her quite clearly—and God, she was incredible. He was so jealous of that Shiner beer can he could die. “Were you thirsty? It’s been so hot.”
When he spoke, she tilted the beer back a bit too far and the fizz got up her nose. She coughed and giggled, so nervous she needed to pee. Raising her beer, she toasted him. “Here’s to team roping in Texas in the month of August.”
Wow. Rogue felt like he’d stepped through the looking glass. He felt completely disconnected from what had happened earlier. Kit Ross was so different than what he’d expected. He was having a hard reconciling that this totally desirable vixen was the same rough-riding, steer-roping, boot wearing horsewoman who trounced him in the rodeo arena at every opportunity.
She was gazing up at him, eyes liquid with desire. Her mouth was parted and the low-cut neckline of her blouse showcased the creamy mounds of her breasts. Her cleavage begged for his tongue, her lips called like a siren for his kiss and when she leaned forward, her eyes darting to his mouth, he could no longer resist. “I’m going to kiss you now. If you don’t want me, speak up because I’m dying to know what you taste like.”
Katherine knew the feeling. “Come get me, Rogue Angel.” For a moment, she laid aside her vendetta and surrendered, lifting her head and holding her breath until…until he layered his mouth across hers. Softly. Gently. The touch of his firm lips sent an amazing arc of heat blazing through her. Kit shivered. It wasn’t fair, an asshole shouldn’t be able to kiss like a dream.
Rogue didn’t get the Angel part, but he didn’t care. He’d be her angel if that meant he’d get lucky. Katherine felt perfect in his arms. He feathered kisses over her pillowy lips, lingered, then rubbed harder, tempting her to respond. She was accepting his kiss, her fingers digging into his shoulders, but what he wanted was for her to kiss him back. Desire overwhelmed him. With a groan, he pressed harder, licking a path across her lower lip. When she whimpered, letting him know she wanted more, arousal sizzled through his blood like lava.
Katherine was losing the battle. She didn’t want to enjoy this, she didn’t want to crave his kiss. She parted her lips to protest and when she did…his tongue darted in to tease hers
and she was lost. Rogue took her in his arms and pulled her close, his kiss becoming voracious, his mouth taking hers, tongue licking, teasing, making her press against him. Her stiff nipples were tingling and her sex was throbbing.
This had to stop.
Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed and he gave, dragging his mouth from hers with a growl. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she muttered. “I just need to do this.” She had to continue on with her plan before she lost the will to do so. With shaking hands, she began to undo the buttons of his western shirt, pushing that sexy as hell vest aside.
“God, yes.” He began to help her.
As she got down to the middle of his chest, Kit gave in to her fantasies and planted a kiss on his warm skin. Unable to resist, she palmed his pecs, then scraped her fingernails over his nipples, loving that he growled at her touch. God, he smelled so good. She inhaled, her own breath hitching with a combination of nerves and desire. “Can I?” She tugged the hem of his shirt from his jeans.
“Just tell me how you want me,” Rogue panted.
“Naked.”
She only had to say the word and he was pushing his boots off, toe to heel. Kit worked on his belt buckle, a heavy silver one with a longhorn’s head emblazoned across it. She’d stared at that particular spot—and lower—a hundred times. “Help me,” she whispered.
“Here, let me.” Before she knew it, he had stepped out of his pants, shucked his briefs and even peeled off his socks. He’d taken her naked literally—perfect. He had to be in the buff for her plan to work.
“Mmmm.” She ran a hand down his chest. “You look as good as I knew you would.” With a hard swallow, she let her gaze drop lower. “Damn,” she whispered, and the sentiment was genuine. He was hung! All of her secret fantasies came flooding back, she longed to reach out and touch him. If this was a real date, she’d take him in her hand, rub her thumb along the very thick, long shaft—she’d make him beg. Kit pressed her legs together, clenching her pussy. She could feel her own juices starting to flow.
Rogue: The Sons of Dusty Walker Page 3
