“Are you stopping?” Nicky asked.
And that’s when Garrett realized he had slowed down. Not good when things seemed to be moving along nicely, at breakneck speed. Speed didn’t allow much thinking time, and again, his dick thought that was stellar.
Too bad that part of him didn’t often make wise choices.
His concerns faded considerably, though, when Nicky took her mouth to his neck. The woman was a witch and had a devil tongue. He was sure of it. Because with just a few flicks of that tongue, she rid him of doubts that he probably should have hung on to a little longer.
He didn’t, though.
Garrett hoisted her up, putting his erection right in the V of her thighs, and he did some neck kissing of his own. He licked her neck, licked her breasts, too, but he stayed away from that general area and instead used some well-placed pressure to get his point across.
The point being that his hard-on was in search of a place to go.
Of course, it couldn’t go anywhere right now, and that realization made it through the lust-haze in his brain. He reconsidered that trip to get a condom. Dismissed it when Nicky’s gaze met his. He didn’t see any doubts in her expression.
Not a one.
Which meant she was trusting him to do the right thing here. Knocking her up wouldn’t be the right thing, Garrett repeated that to himself. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something to ease this pressure-cooker heat.
He slid her back down and placed his hand on the front of her jeans. This was definitely old school, reminiscent of times when he’d gotten to third and a half base, as Roman used to call it. Not quite a satisfactory ending, but it would take the edge off. For Nicky anyway. Next time he would plan better.
If there was a next time.
She might come to her senses and run again.
But she wasn’t running now. She was moaning, making that sound of pleasure that was music to his erection. He used his erection, his hand, too, and his body to create some pressure right there in her spot that he was pretty sure wanted some pressure.
It did.
Because after Garrett added some kisses to her neck, he heard the hitch in Nicky’s breath. Felt her tense. Then relax, all the while making those sounds. The ones that were driving him crazy.
He wanted to join in on this. Man, did he. But there was still pleasure in watching her come. Pleasure in her looking at him with that glazed, satisfied look in her eyes.
Which lasted only a surprisingly short time. Maybe a couple of seconds at most.
“We really just screwed up, didn’t we?” she whispered.
Garrett could honestly say—no. Judging from his perspective and the ache in his groin, they hadn’t screwed up nearly enough.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IT WAS TOO bad that Nicky couldn’t bottle an orgasm so she could hang on to that slack feeling for a while. Of course, most adults with even a minimal sex drive probably felt that way. But after two days, the only thing that remained of the orgasm was the memory of it.
A really, really good memory.
Those moments with Garrett had given her a breather from life. A sort of stress reliever, though Garrett probably wouldn’t be totally pleased since he’d gotten no such slack feeling.
She’d blown it with him. Not literally, though that would have been one possible way to finish off what’d happened in his office. But the problem was—it shouldn’t have happened at all. She hadn’t gone there to have hand sex with him. Nicky had gone there to tell him about the wedding ring and instead had ended up kissing him and offering herself to him.
Nicky blamed that on his jeans. Simply put, he looked hot in them. Always had. And she’d had no more success holding back two days ago than she had when they were in high school.
She heard the sound of laughter and looked out the window. It was Kaylee and Liam, Lizzie’s son, playing on a Slip’N Slide underneath the sprinkler while Lizzie watched them. No Lady sunbathing today. The woman and her tow truck were actually away on a towing job. There were also no sounds of a bulldozer. The crew had finally finished the work on the pond and pasture, and the only sounds out there now, other than the laughter, was the occasional cow mooing.
The occasional sound of a vehicle, too.
Not Garrett, even though he was due back from his business trip today, and Nicky had thought he might visit. However, it was Gina. She’d been gone, as well, for two days to clear out a storage unit with her late husband’s things and to do the last of the paperwork from his estate. That probably meant Gina wouldn’t be in the best of moods since she and her husband had had a lot of debt, but Nicky needed to clear up some things with her.
Nicky put aside the Widows’ House bills she’d been paying and went downstairs to meet her, but when Gina didn’t come in, she went in search of her. Too bad she found the sisters along the way, and Diana stopped her.
“You have to do something about those cowboys,” Diana exclaimed. Her sisters nodded. “You can see their Ps.”
Only because of the group therapy session did Nicky realize they were talking about penises. Otherwise, she might have thought they meant peeing. Which, of course, would have still caused the sisters to see a penis or two.
“Uh, how and where are you seeing them? Because if it’s when they’re relieving themselves, then that’s because they probably don’t want to come in the house to use the bathrooms.”
Hera made a “you, idiot” kind of huff. Diana patted her arms as if to calm her down. “We’ve never seen them relieving themselves, but we can see their Ps when their jeans are too tight. It’s especially bad when they wear chaps.”
Well, the chaps did frame their junk. No denying that. A woman would have to be blind not to notice it. And would need to be suffering from some penis-phobia not to appreciate it.
Diana took Nicky’s hand and put a note in it. “That’s a list of the cowboys with the biggest Ps. Please tell them to wear looser jeans. Or maybe wear aprons to cover their zippers.”
Nicky had rather eat chaps and aprons before telling anyone that, but she took the note and glanced at it. Garrett’s name was there. So was Lawson’s. And four others she didn’t know.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Nicky assured them. It wasn’t a lie. She would ensure that Lady didn’t get her hands on this list because she would consider it some kind of carnal treasure map. But she might mention it to Garrett.
Might.
Since she was wearing shorts and a top without pockets, Nicky stuck the note in her bra.
“We’ll put another copy of that on your desk in case you lose that one,” Diana said.
Nicky thanked them, not very enthusiastically, though, and went in search of Gina again. She finally found her running through the sprinkler with the kids and laughing like a loon.
“Are you okay?” Nicky asked her. It was a valid question because, like her, Gina preferred to hide her emotions. Of course, Gina also liked playing with Kaylee, and her little girl had a way of improving people’s moods.
“Everything went fine. No more paperwork.”
Nicky heard it then. The sadness in Gina’s voice. Signing those final papers had meant saying a final goodbye to her husband. It made Nicky wish that she’d called Gina while she’d been away, but she had figured Gina would be too busy to chat.
“I missed you,” Nicky told her. “So did Kaylee. It’s been a while since I’ve had to watch her pretty much on my own, and I’d forgotten what a handful she can be. You should press your boss for a raise.” Nicky winked at her.
“I will. And I think I’ll press her to have some fun, too.” Gina hurried to Nicky, caught her hand and tried to pull her into the sprinkler, as well.
Nicky wanted to point out she wasn’t dressed for such antics, but Gina wasn’t, either. In fact, she was in a w
hite cotton sundress.
“Come, Mommy.” Kaylee caught her other hand, and Nicky quit resisting.
She ran into the sprinkler. No loon-giggling for her. The water was cold, and it immediately caused her clothes to stick to her. But since Kaylee, Gina and Liam were having a blast, she stayed put. Besides, this was her first chance to ask Gina what she’d been wanting to ask for two days.
Gina spoke first. “How’d your time go with Garrett?”
Of course, Gina could probably tell from the way Nicky had been acting that something sexual had gone on between them. Later, Nicky might fill her in on a few details, very few, but that could wait.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you called Roman about Meredith?” Nicky asked. She whispered it so that Lizzie wouldn’t hear, though the woman wasn’t listening. She had her face in a book.
Gina shrugged. “Didn’t think it was important.”
It was probably hard to give a “say what?” look with water dripping down her face, but Nicky thought she might have managed it.
“All right, it was important,” Gina amended. She had a drippy face, too. “I didn’t want you to know because I thought it would upset you. But I called him because I knew he’d tell me the truth.”
“I would have told you the truth,” Nicky assured her. She waited until Kaylee had moved a little farther away before she continued. “It wasn’t Meredith who sent those flowers. Think it through. If she’d found out about me, do you think she would have kept something like that to herself?”
“No, probably not. She would have gone straight to Garrett with it. But I didn’t know if she was one of those people who likes to play with her prey before she finishes it off.”
Mercy, Nicky hoped not. “Meredith would have stayed if she was doing something like that. She can’t play if she’s not around.”
When Kaylee ran past her, Nicky scooped her up, spun her around in the water spray and then placed her back on the ground. Her daughter laughed, and despite the serious conversation she was having with Gina, Nicky smiled. Being with Kaylee made everything more tolerable.
Well, almost everything.
“I did call the local florist to see if someone was ordering the roses from here in Wrangler’s Creek,” Nicky explained. “She said no.” And Nicky believed her because the florist had then proceeded to give details of every order she’d had for the past month. No yellow roses. “I called around to find which delivery services had brought them, but I struck out on that, too.”
“Why Mommy sad?” Kaylee asked.
Nicky hadn’t even realized Kaylee was paying any attention to her, but clearly she was. She smiled, scooped her up and kissed her. “Mommy’s sad because I can’t stay out here and play. I have to go back in.”
And finish this chat with Gina. Not just about the flowers, but she wanted to know why Gina was looking a lot happier than she probably was.
Lizzie glanced up from her book. “I’ll watch her,” she said to Nicky.
Nicky thanked her, and with Gina following, they scooped up a couple of the towels from the porch and went inside the house. But they didn’t go far. They stood at the door.
“Don’t worry,” Gina said. “We’ll all keep an eye on Kaylee. She’s never out in the yard alone. Plus, the ranch hands are around. They’d spot anyone trying to get onto the ranch.”
All of that was true, but it didn’t assure Nicky that all was going to be well.
“I think you should tell Garrett about this,” Gina went on.
But Nicky shook her head. “No. Not yet anyway. The roses didn’t come for over a year, and maybe they’ll stop coming again.” Besides, she’d had her fill of spilling her dirty secrets to Garrett.
“Tell Clay then,” Gina advised. “He should know what’s going on. Just in case the worst happens.”
Nicky knew she was right. But she couldn’t even consider it right now. Or imagine what the worst could mean.
“How long has it been since you’ve had an orgasm?” Gina asked out of the blue. “With another person present,” she added.
Obviously, Nicky hadn’t been expecting that because she nearly choked on her own breath. Talk about a major change in subject.
“Why? What have you heard?” Nicky answered, caution in her voice.
Gina smiled. “Well, I hadn’t heard that. But good for you. I always thought Garrett looked capable of inducing an orgasm or two.”
He was capable. Even with her clothes on.
“He still looks as if he’s been dropped in a dark pit of despair whenever he’s around Kaylee,” Nicky reminded her.
“You can get more orgasms from Garrett while he’s still trying to work through his feeling for Kaylee. While he’s still trying to work through his feelings for you, too.”
Nicky looked at her. “Is there a reason you brought up this whole orgasm topic?”
“There is. Someone recently reminded me that they’d met their mindless sex quota. I haven’t. Neither have you. It’s something to consider.” She gave Nicky’s arm a pat.
And whether Nicky wanted to do it or not, she considered it.
* * *
“SHE’S LATE,” CLAY SNARLED, glancing at his watch again.
Garrett checked the time, too. Yes, Candy Halverson was indeed late. Not by much, though. Only fifteen minutes. Maybe the woman would show up soon so they could get some answers about the John Doe.
Not that Garrett was thinking much about John Doe at the moment.
He was seated in the diner booth across the table from Nicky and was mentally playing the “what’s wrong?” guessing game. Mentally was the only way he could play it because Clay was there, seated right beside him. As he had been on the entire drive from Wrangler’s Creek to Houston.
Garrett should have come up with a way that he and Nicky could make the drive alone. But he just hadn’t been able to figure out a good explanation to offer Clay about why he wanted to be alone with Nicky. Not without Clay realizing what was going on between them. Garrett wanted to figure that out first before having to explain it to someone else. Of course, since he hadn’t had a chance to speak with her, he was trying to guess what could possibly be causing her to look as if she’d wallowed in a pity pit.
The near sex they’d had?
Her past?
His past?
Widowhood?
The attraction between them?
All of those could have put that sad look on her face so there really wasn’t any reason for him to come up with more things to put on that list. But that’s exactly what he was doing. This sadness seemed on a whole new level. Which meant it was probably the near sex.
She could be regretting it. He was, but probably not in the same way. He was regretting that he hadn’t been able to finish it.
Clay checked his watch again, huffed and stood. “I’ll step outside and give Candy Halverson a call.”
Since Clay didn’t have to step outside to do that, it meant he was giving Nicky and him some time alone. But that seemed a little strange, too. Since Clay was a cop, he didn’t wear a lot of emotions on his face, but Garrett got the feeling that Clay knew something about Nicky’s mood.
“I told him about some things from my past,” Nicky said, following Garrett’s gaze, which was still on Clay. “I’d rather not get into it with you, though. I hope that’s okay.”
Since she wasn’t exactly asking permission, Garrett just nodded. It had to be okay. Because he didn’t have any right to make demands on Nicky, especially since she’d gotten upset when he’d seen that scar.
She looked down at her coffee cup, running her finger around the rim. “Would you consider what we did to be mindless sex?”
Well, the woman certainly knew how to keep him on his toes. “No. Mindless would have been more enjoyable for both of
us. It would have involved clothing removal, a condom, more moaning. Oh, and actual sex.”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Yes. You’re right.” She paused. “Tell me about one of your ranch hands, Jake Walter. Is he a good guy?”
Garrett frowned. Cursed. “Are you thinking about having sex with Jake?”
“No, but Gina is. He asked her out.”
He hadn’t intended to make a sound of relief, but he did. “Yeah, Jake’s a good guy. I didn’t realize Gina was looking for a lover.”
“Not really looking for one, but sometimes the hormones want what the hormones want.”
No disputing that. He’d been battling his since Nicky showed up in Wrangler’s Creek.
“Jake’s also on this list,” Nicky said, taking a note from her purse. “Don’t be flattered that your name’s on there,” she added.
“I can’t be flattered if I don’t know what it is.” But he did look at the names. Lawson, Jake, Cash, Lucky McCord, him and the new guy that everyone called Tater.
“Consider me just the messenger, but I was afraid if I didn’t mention it to you that one of the Ellery sisters would. They think everyone on that list has big Ds. And no, I don’t mean dimples, deltoids or diaphragms. They want you to wear clothing that doesn’t emphasize your assets.”
She said it with a straight face, too.
Garrett laughed, though he knew this wasn’t a joke. The sisters had been complaining to his mother about all sorts of things.
“They don’t want the animals having sex, either,” Garrett told her. “There isn’t a lot of that going on at the ranch because we inseminate most of the herd, but every now and then we let a bull cover a cow or two to keep him happy.” He stopped, grinned. “Big dicks, huh? The guys might want to frame the list if I tell them.”
“And that’s why you won’t. That’s why you won’t smile, either.” Though she appeared to be fighting her own smile. It was nice after the gloomy start to the day. “Trust me, it’s not flattery when it comes from the sisters.”
True. He wouldn’t tell her that they’d objected to the hands riding stallions because the sisters could see horse dicks and had suggested they put diapers on them. They also wanted diapers on the cows, to cut down on the smell of shit. Apparently, they were not aware they were living on a working ranch.
No Getting Over a Cowboy Page 17
