Sure enough, when he turned around, Rayleen gave him an irritated wave, urging him closer.
“Hey, Rayleen,” he said when he got within earshot. And eyeshot.
“Hey, nothing. Ain’t that your dirty little piece over there?”
“What?” He looked down for a moment, then over at Charlie, but she shrugged.
“No, there,” Rayleen said, pointing toward the pool table area.
When Walker’s eyes focused on the far side of the saloon, he was hit with a rush of alarm. Several waves of panic fell on him at once, flooding his body with adrenaline.
First, that Nicole was here. Second, that she was glaring at him. And third, that someone who shouldn’t know anything about her knew more than enough.
He spun back to stare wide-eyed at Rayleen, but the old woman just shrugged. “A dog shouldn’t shit where it sleeps,” she offered. Nice imagery, but not exactly helpful.
Charlie’s head turned from Rayleen to him and he winced.
“Romantic troubles?” she asked.
No. Not romantic. “Fuck,” he cursed, inadvertently correcting Charlie’s words as he scrubbed a hand over his beard.
Charlie rolled her eyes. “Oh, is that all?”
When she laughed, he shot her a pained smile. She wasn’t offended. But she would be if she found out the details. “Pardon me,” he said, hesitating for only one second before he turned away.
For a moment, he was disoriented, looking for Nicole and not finding her. Maybe she’d gone. His gaze dropped. Or maybe she was standing right in front of him, her arms crossed over her admittedly nice chest.
He cleared his throat and slid his eyes toward the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Having a drink,” she snapped, tossing her straight blond hair with a twitch of her head.
“Right.” He stepped forward, edging her away from Charlie and the rest of his friends. “But there’s plenty to drink at the ranch.”
“But no good company these days.”
“Slow season,” he said.
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Her eyes shifted. “Who’s that?” she bit out, tipping her chin toward the bar. He didn’t have to ask who she meant. “Your new bed warmer?”
“Nicole.” He sighed. “I don’t want to argue about that. You’re married.”
“Right. That didn’t stop you from kissing or touching but now it’s your excuse for ignoring me?”
Shit. He tried to sneak a look over his shoulder toward Charlie. She caught his eye and offered a sympathetic wince. “I’m sorry. Really. I’ve been busy. I’m scrambling for work.”
“Maybe I could help get you hired on somewhere. If—”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he interrupted. “It’s already complicated enough.” He glanced around the room and saw enough eyes on them to make him squirm. “As a matter of fact, why don’t we talk outside?”
“Don’t want to be seen with me?”
“Jesus, Nicole. You have a husband!”
She shrugged. “As if he cares.”
“He cared enough to fire me, apparently.”
Mouth tight with anger, she finally said, “Fine,” and headed toward the door. Walker followed, wondering if the back of his neck was as red as it felt. Thankfully he still hadn’t gotten that haircut.
Why the hell had she come here and drawn attention to both of them? At least he didn’t have to wonder what the town knew anymore. Everybody suspected. If they hadn’t before, they certainly would now.
He almost started down the sidewalk to take her to his apartment, but the idiocy of that struck him before he hit the first step. The porch of the Crooked R wasn’t exactly private, but twilight had settled in and it was cold enough that no one else had taken a seat on any of the ancient bar stools.
She bumped into him when he changed directions and headed for one end of the porch. “Don’t you live right there?”
“I do,” he said, and left it at that.
For a moment, he thought she was going to explode. Her jaw clenched, her eyes narrowed and she drew in a deep breath. Walker braced himself for some of the cursing he’d heard her aim at her husband during fights. But in the end, she let the breath out slowly and paced to the railing to look out at the street.
“You’re treating me like shit, you know. I know I’m not your girlfriend, and I know I’m married, but how can you just walk away from me like I’m nothing?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and meant it. “I don’t want to make you feel bad. I just...”
“I’m lonely, Walker. My husband and I aren’t talking, and you’re the only one who ever treated me as more than the owner’s wife. It’s a hundred times worse now. People don’t know if they should even be nice to me.”
“We shouldn’t have done what we did. What we were thinking about doing. If he thinks we—”
“Oh, please. Like he doesn’t cheat? Everyone knows that black-haired bimbo who stays in the Settler’s Cabin every July isn’t there to get in touch with nature. Jesus Christ, last summer she didn’t even bother with one trail ride. Do you all think I’m an idiot?”
“Ah.” Walker swallowed hard, glad she was facing away from him. Yeah, they’d all known. It was part of the justification he’d given himself for messing with her in the first place. “So why don’t you just get divorced?”
Her back stiffened. “Why don’t I get divorced? Really? I like how you say that as if it never would’ve occurred to me.”
He shrugged. “Well?”
“You want the truth? My husband wants me around to raise his kids and I stay because of the prenup. Lovely, isn’t it?”
He didn’t understand rich folks. Wouldn’t she rather be free and a little poorer? “You can leave, Nicole. Just move on. I’m sure you love your stepkids, but they have a mom. You could start over.”
She turned to face him. “I don’t want to start over. I just want what I had. A nice house. A pretty life. And you, Walker. You were always around when I needed you.” She smiled. That sweet little smile she used when she wanted something. “It would be good between us. You know it would.”
Well, hell. Yes, it’d be good, but he couldn’t say he’d ever had bad sex, per se. You got what you put in, as far as he could tell, like most things in life. “Yes, it’d be good, but... It’s not right. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to treat you badly. I thought it was just about convenience for you. You were bored. I was there. But if your husband suspects...” If everyone suspects... “It’s silly, I guess, but a man has to have some standards.”
“Some standards, huh? Real nice, Walker.”
“I’m not talking about you! I’m not one of those guys. We were both there, together, doing the same thing. I’m just talking about myself. For whatever reason, it seemed harmless for a while, a few kisses, some fantasies...but I don’t want to take it further.”
“You damn sure did that night in the tack room.”
Walker took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, trying to scrub away the panic that raced through his head at the memory. Yeah. He’d already shoved up her skirt and unzipped his pants when someone had walked past the tack room door. He’d thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest in that moment, waiting for whoever it was to open that unlocked door and expose them. It had only taken him a few seconds to zip back up and straighten her clothes and then feel damn grateful they’d been interrupted. Nicole hadn’t been so thankful.
She crossed her arms, her hands gripping her own elbows as if she was trying to find a little security. “I miss you,” she whispered.
Oh, God. What was he supposed to say to that? He couldn’t be cruel. “You’re lonely, Nicole. You should leave the ranch. Find something else.”
“No.” Her hands squeezed harder.
“Well, I can’t be your big distraction from your life.”
Her hands still squeezed her elbows, but she tried that sweet smile again. “Why not? You’re so good at it, Walker
. You’re fun.”
Yeah, he was fun, all right. A lot of fun. “I know. But that fun got me fired and it’s making it hard to find new work.”
She finally let herself go and moved closer to touch his arm. “I’m sorry. Really. Let me help. Maybe...maybe I can get you hired on back at the ranch.”
“No way. I can’t work there now, knowing what everyone’s thinking.”
“No one knows anything! It will be fine, and I’ll get to see you every day. I’ll talk to—”
Walker cut her off. “I can’t.”
She nodded, but her face went tight and there was no missing the way her eyes glistened. “So you just never want to see me again?”
“Come on. I didn’t say that. And you can call anytime you want to talk.”
“Talking isn’t really what this is about. I don’t want to talk.”
Right. That wasn’t what she wanted from him. It wasn’t what anyone wanted. “Thanks for being honest.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why do you have to be this way? When we’re alone, everything is fine. As soon as I leave, you start regretting what we both want. Just take me to your place and fuck me, Walker. You told me you didn’t want to do it because you worked for my husband. Because it was his house and his ranch. But none of that applies anymore and I want you.”
A tiny part of his brain was telling him it didn’t matter. He might as well. Everyone suspected they’d been fooling around already. Hell, even Charlie knew now. She was probably getting an earful at this very second. So what did it matter?
A bigger part of his brain told him to sit down and shut up. “I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“You’ll regret this. You’ll miss me. Give it another week.” She turned away, her hair flying out in a bright arc when she spun to stalk off the porch. Walker let her go, relieved that the conversation was done. He should have been up front in the first place, instead of trying to avoid her. But hell, he’d assumed their friendship would just die its natural death. Done. Over. He hadn’t expected her to demand her due.
He’d liked Nicole at first. He’d been flattered by her attention. He’d gotten caught up in the thrill of flirting with the boss’s hot wife.
Damn it.
He collapsed onto one of the outdoor bar stools and set his hat on another. For a moment, he stayed like that, head in hands, lost in indecision.
He shouldn’t have come to the saloon and he damn sure didn’t want to be there now, but he had to go back in. Otherwise, the story would end with him leaving the bar with Nicole and not returning.
Suddenly he was a hundred times more tired than he’d been an hour earlier. A thousand times.
But he stood, put on his hat, pasted a smile on his face and walked back into the saloon.
“You came back!” Charlie said as soon as he was in earshot.
“I never left.”
Rayleen watched him with sharp eyes, but for once she didn’t say a word.
He grabbed a beer but only drank half of it before he shook his head. “Listen, I’m exhausted. I’m gonna go fall into bed.”
Charlie cocked her head and studied him for a moment. “All right. Walk me home? I’m tired, too.”
Was she trying to catch him in a lie? Did she think Nicole was waiting at his apartment? “A few minutes ago, you were leading the whole crowd in a song. You said you could go for hours.”
“I guess I was wrong. That level of awesomeness apparently wears a girl out.”
He could hardly say no to walking a woman home after dark, even if it was only across the parking lot. She had him roped with that one. “I’d be happy to walk you home, Charlie.”
“Let’s go.”
Before they took two steps, Rayleen called, “Where are you going, Ms. Thang?”
“Beauty sleep!” Charlie shouted back. “And I have to rest up for the weekend. I’ve got men to hunt.”
Rayleen howled with laughter. “Keep me in the loop. I’ll help you tag ’em.”
Walker couldn’t believe it. “That woman doesn’t like anyone, not even her own flesh and blood.”
“Aw. Everyone likes me, Walker. After all, what’s not to like?”
His eyes fell to the dip of her collar and the faint rise of her cleavage. “Not a lot.”
“Are you calling me flat-chested?”
His gaze flew up to meet hers as he pushed open the saloon door. “No! What?”
She didn’t bother answering, she just swept by him with a gorgeous laugh, the scent of something crisp and flowery trailing behind her.
“Who was that woman?” she asked as she stepped off the porch stairs and headed toward the street.
“A friend.”
“Oh, playing coy. Is she a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Is there someone else?”
“Nope.”
“Walker Pearce with no woman? That’s rare. I should make a move quick.”
She was teasing again. Pressing him. He should call her on it to scare her off. But in his current mood, he didn’t want to scare her off.
He’d been caught up in the idea that she wasn’t the same girl she’d been in high school. It had so confused him that he hadn’t put time into figuring out who she was now.
She wasn’t that sweet, studious girl, obviously. Now she was a successful businesswoman, bold and beautiful and wild. Exactly the kind of woman he was attracted to. And exactly the kind who saw him for what he was: a big, dumb ride to adventure.
He felt a little calmer now. A little less worried or maybe only worn-out from his conversation with Nicole. But he was also kind of pissed, and there was just enough adrenaline left in his veins to make him horny. And just enough regret to make him want to forget his mistakes.
Walker didn’t know what to do with a sweet, innocent girl, but this new Charlie? Yeah, he could deal with that.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her arm nudging his as they turned and headed up the walk to the Stud Farm. “You still look tense. Did she give you trouble?”
“Not too much.”
“I guess you’re used to it.”
He tightened his jaw. “Mm.”
“Even in school, some girl was always mad at you. You sure do cause trouble, Walker.”
“Yeah.” He shot her a dark look as he opened the door of the building. “You looking for trouble, Charlie?”
Her small smile bloomed into a wicked grin. “You sound like you don’t quite believe I am.”
“I guess you’ve changed.”
“I have changed,” she said as he followed her up the stairs. “I hope you’re not disappointed. You might have liked that innocent, careful girl, but I can tell you from experience that being innocent gets a little lonely. And being careful doesn’t actually... Well. Never mind. You, on the other hand...”
He couldn’t tell if she was deliberately putting more swing into her hips or if that exaggerated sway was the result of her ass rising to eye level as she took the stairs. All he knew was that in that moment, her heels and tight jeans and sleek curves conspired to melt his brain into a pile of horny mush. Goddamn, he wanted to see that ass naked.
She stopped on the landing and turned to face him. “You were never, ever lonely, were you?”
Walker took the last step and looked down at Charlie. “I’m lonely tonight.”
Her eyes went wide in a brief moment of shock. He waited for her to laugh then. Waited for her to change her mind and say Oh, Walker, I could never do that with you. Not like this. We’re friends.
But she didn’t say that. Instead her gray eyes sparkled. Her lips parted so she could draw a shallow breath. “Are you?” she whispered.
“Don’t I look lonely?” He stepped forward. Charlie stepped back. They played it out a few more times until she was against the wall and he was standing over her.
Now all of her breaths were shallow. She looked up at him with the faintest little smile on her parted lips. Her hands rose to rest on his chest, and the t
ouch spread hot zings of awareness through his shirt.
“You don’t have to be lonely, Walker,” she whispered, tipping her mouth up so her words chased over his jaw. “I’m right...” She rose on her toes, and her hips brushed against his. “Here.”
He dipped his head and caught her mouth and he forgot to be mad about being a big, dumb ride. He’d be that for Charlie all damn night if she wanted.
* * *
THIS WAS A moment she’d considered many, many times in her youth. Walker Pearce leaning slowly down, his hands drifting to her hips to hold her steady, his mouth brushing faintly over hers. In her imagination, her heart had pounded just like this. Her nipples had tightened the same way they did now. But other than that, everything was different.
It wasn’t the sweet, tentative kiss her teenage mind had painted, some gentle version of romance that had never existed for the boys. Walker’s mouth was hot against hers and his beard brushed soft against her skin. His lips pressed hers until they opened, and then his tongue stroked her. He tasted...right.
His hands were on her hips, yes, but they were so much bigger than she’d imagined, the strength of them holding her in a steady grip that pressed her to the wall.
The brim of his hat drew sunset around them. They might have been in the stairway of the building, but it felt like complete privacy as she licked at his tongue and sighed at the feeling of him pressing his body to hers.
It didn’t matter that they were in public. Her eyes were closed, the lights had dimmed and Walker Pearce’s cock was hard and pressed to her. Just like that, she wasn’t his buddy anymore. She was a body he wanted to be inside. Strange to find herself fighting for that. To be objectified. Seen as someone worth using. But it was honest, at least. She could trust what Walker wanted from her.
She tilted her hips toward him and took his tongue deeper, twining her fingers behind his neck to pull him down. He was so big, tall and solid and curved above her. For the first time in her life, Charlie felt small. It made her want to whimper and go to her knees for him. Or maybe that was just her reaction to his taste.
“Mmm,” she hummed against his mouth. He answered by sliding his hands up her sides, then back down again. His fingers pressed briefly into the curve of her hips, as if he liked the shape of her.
So Tough to Tame Page 6
