In the Cowboy's Arms

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “Lots of John Wayne.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Plus Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin and every Western Cliff Wallace made. The man can act with his back to the camera. Brando could do that, too. Impressive.” He hustled up the steps ahead of her so he could open the door.

  “Thank you.” She took off her hat and hung it on a hook by the door. “Nice setup.”

  “It is.” Adrenaline pumping, he followed her in and closed the door because he knew from experience it was easier to vacuum that way. Yeah, right. That’s why he’d closed the door, so they could clean more efficiently.

  Now they were alone, more alone than they’d ever been. The intimacy teased him with possibilities as he stood behind her, trying to breathe normally. Wisps of hair that weren’t long enough to fit into her updo curled against the tender skin of her nape. God, how he wanted to kiss her there. Other places, too. Lots of other places. But they had a job to do and there was no telling how fast Cade and Lexi would finish up and come over here.

  So he did what most guys did when they couldn’t decide whether a move would be appropriate. He babbled about nothing. “Last year I managed a quick visit home after Damon and Phil added the built-in loft beds and desks. We just had regular bunk beds when I was here. This is better. Everybody gets a top bunk and their own private area.”

  “It’s a great idea.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and laid it on the nearest desk. “So we’re supposed to vacuum, flip mattresses and look for stray items. Does that cover it until we move into the next phase?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She still had her back to him. He thought he’d detected a faint shiver and her shoulders seemed tense, but he could be imagining things. If she was determined to go straight into work mode, so would he.

  She swallowed. “Do you want to kiss me first or—”

  He put down the vacuum and spun her around so fast she squeaked. “I want to kiss you more than I want to breathe.”

  “I see.” Her green eyes simmered with heat. “Then I won’t be needing these.” Slowing removing her glasses, she perched them on top of her head where they nestled against her glossy hair.

  His heartbeat picked up speed. Shoving back his hat, he pulled her close. Her full lips parted on a sigh. He could almost taste their velvet softness “This is risky.”

  She wound her arms around his neck. “Is it?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He slid his hands over the warm denim covering her backside. For someone so slender, she perfectly filled his cupped hands. His breathing hitched. “Once I start kissing you, I’m liable to forget about cleaning.”

  She pressed her sweet body against his. “I’ll remind you.”

  “You do that.” He took her mouth with the desperation of a starving man. He’d only had a few chances to kiss her, but it seemed that was enough to make him addicted to the supple movement of her lips and the erotic dance of her tongue.

  She caught fire immediately and he dove into the richness that was Geena’s mouth. His hat fell to the floor. He left it there. He might yearn for a peaceful meadow, but he craved this, to be engulfed in a passion that made him forget his problems, forget everything but the heat of her body and the sound of her moans.

  He’d told himself to go slow, but they were alone in this cabin and he wanted...more. Heart pounding, he untied her shirttails and worked his way up the row of buttons. He gave her time to object, but instead she deepened the kiss.

  When he’d breached the barrier of her shirt, he discovered the front catch of her bra. What a terrific invention. Anticipation made him clumsy but eventually he flipped open the clasp.

  She gasped as his hand closed over her breast.

  Breathing hard, he lifted his mouth a fraction from hers. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No.”

  That one word traveled like a flame along a fuse. Cupping her warm breast, he supported her with his arm and leaned down. His tongue grazed her nipple and she whimpered. Now he knew what that meant.

  Slowly he drew her in and listened to the wild sound of her breathing as he hollowed his cheeks and created a rhythm with his mouth and tongue. Her soft whimpers turned into nearly incoherent words.

  He lifted his head again. “What?” he murmured. “Tell me.”

  “I want you so much,” she wailed. “But we have to clean!”

  Clean. His passion-soaked brain struggled with the concept and finally delivered the bad news. He might have a bed available, although they’d have to climb a ladder to get there, which lacked class. He might have an erection as rigid as the logs used to build this cabin. He might even have a condom in his jeans pocket.

  Didn’t matter. Instead of making sweet love to Geena, he had to vacuum floors and flip mattresses. Life wasn’t even remotely fair.

  With a resigned sigh, he released her soft, inviting breast. He didn’t dare let go of her completely, though. If she was anywhere near as jacked up as he was, she might lose her balance. He wasn’t entirely confident that he wouldn’t lose his.

  She gulped in air. “I shouldn’t have started this. I should have known we couldn’t just kiss each other without...”

  “Right.” He swallowed. “But don’t take all the blame. I had a hunch things could get out of control in no time.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, ma’am. But I was willing to take the risk because kissing you is my new favorite thing.”

  “Kissing you is mine, too.” She took a shaky breath. “Okay, you can let me go. I’m reasonably steady and I should put myself back together so we can get to work.”

  He did as she asked and edged away. But he couldn’t stop looking at her, although he definitely should because his package strained against his fly. Her creamy breasts trembled with each breath and her nipples, the rich color of burgundy wine, remained taut and eager for his mouth.

  Then she gathered all that bounty into the white lace cups of her bra and fastened the catch, depriving him of that particular view. But he still had the tantalizing sight of her unbuttoned blouse and the inviting shadow of her cleavage. He willingly suffered continued pain in his crotch.

  Her fingers trembled slightly as she buttoned her shirt and tied the tails in a loose knot. Last of all, she retrieved her glasses from the top of her head and put them on. “All done.” She took another deep breath. “Do you want to vacuum or flip mattresses?”

  “Neither. I want to strip off all your clothes. Then I want to kiss you until we’re both crazy with anticipation. Then I want to make love to you for as long as it takes for both of us to be so satisfied that we can’t imagine wanting even one more orgasm.”

  A fire burned in her green eyes. “That sounds amazing. And we’ll do that eventually, I’m sure. But right now, we have to—”

  “Clean cabins. I know.” He sighed. “I’ll flip the mattresses. I’ll be done first so I’ll haul water and put it on the front stoop for later.”

  “But I want to haul water.”

  That made him smile. Apparently she really did look upon this as an adventure. He clenched his hands into fists so he wouldn’t reach for her again, because she was just that appealing. “Okay. Want to split some kindling while you’re at it?”

  “Could I? That would be awesome!”

  “Don’t see why not.” He picked up his hat from the floor and dusted it off. “In fact, there’s a dead tree about fifty yards into the forest that Dad wants to cut down.”

  “There is?” Her eyes widened.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He stroked a hand over his face so she wouldn’t notice his grin. “He mentioned it yesterday. When I fetch the ax from the barn, I could also gas up the chain saw. That way you could—”

  “Now you’re making fun of me.”

  “Just a little.” He settled his hat on his head. “The thing is, if I don’t tease you
I’ll just have to kiss you again. A woman who’s excited about hauling water and chopping wood is tough to resist.”

  “So is a certain cowboy who took the time to shave before coming out here to clean cabins. I expected you’d still have the scruff.”

  “And I expected to steal kisses, so the scruff had to go. I don’t like giving ladies whisker burn.” He backed away. “But I’m staying out of the temptation zone until we get something accomplished. FYI, there’s an outlet under each desk.”

  “Does this happen to be your cabin?”

  “It was, in fact, although the built-ins change the look so it feels a lot different. But the outlets stayed the same. Oh, and the vacuum’s old and cranky, but everybody’s used to it so Mom keeps getting it repaired instead of buying a new one. It’s sort of an heirloom.”

  “I like that.” She leaned down and gave the canister vac a pat. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll treat you with the respect you deserve.”

  He figured she was kidding, but as he turned over the mattresses and checked for anything tucked in corners and crevices, he noticed that she used the vacuum efficiently but gently. She didn’t bang it against the furniture or drag it by the cord. Every minute he was finding more reasons to like her, more reasons to make her a part of his personal life as well as his professional one.

  The mattresses didn’t take long and he only found some gum wrappers, a couple of small purple hair clips and a crumpled picture of a popular boy band. Obviously girls had been living in this cabin. Although he’d known all along that the academy was coed, he hadn’t grasped the concept that girls might occupy the same cabin where he’d spent his pivotal teenage years. That was more of a shock than the loft beds.

  Geena shut off the vacuum. “I found a gold anklet. At least I think it’s an anklet.” She dangled it from one finger. “Could be a bracelet. I’m glad I didn’t suck it up. Her name’s engraved on the little gold heart, which means Rosie can mail it back to her.” She tucked the delicate gold chain in her jeans pocket.

  “I don’t think these are worth mailing, though, even if Mom found out who lost them.” He showed her the hair clips.

  “Nope. Those are easily replaced, but I’ll take them. Rosie might want to add them to her stash. I don’t know if she has hair doodads, but she might keep some on hand in case the girls lose theirs.”

  Matt handed them over. “I’ll bet she gets a kick out of having girls around for a change.”

  “She and Herb never considered taking in foster girls, too?”

  “Not that I know of. I think when they started with boys, it might have been simpler to stick with that.”

  “Probably.” She shoved the clips in her other pocket and gazed at him. “You know...” Then she blew out a breath. “Never mind. I should go get the water.” She gestured to the vacuum. “Your heirloom awaits. I finished the left side of the room so the right side is all yours. Be right back.”

  “Wait. You obviously had something to say.”

  “There’s no point. You won’t like it.”

  “I might. You never know.”

  “Yeah, I do, but I might as well finish my thought. Finding that engraved gold chain brought it home to me that there were teenage girls living here last semester, girls who would go wild if they knew Matt Forrest had been on cleanup duty in the very cabin where they stayed.”

  A yellow caution light went on in his brain. “Maybe.”

  “No maybe about it. I realize you hate the negative publicity being generated, but—”

  “Don’t you hate it, too?”

  “Yes, absolutely. I’d much rather see positive promo out there for all my clients. But the negative stuff’s accomplished one thing. I guarantee most everyone knows who you are, including the teenage girls who lived in this cabin. They’d be super excited to discover you were here in the same space they so recently vacated.”

  “Even if they think I’m the kind of guy who would seduce a married woman?”

  “Like I said before, bad boys are popular, too.”

  His gut tightened. “I don’t want that kind of reputation.”

  “I know you don’t. But I doubt you’d agree to a cute little story about the hot movie star who volunteered his time to clean cabins used by the students of Thunder Mountain Academy.”

  “You’re right. I wouldn’t agree to that.”

  “I can promise you the girls would be over the moon and even the guys might relish the idea that they had a connection to a celebrity, especially one who can ride and rope.”

  “They might, but I don’t want reporters on this ranch invading Mom and Dad’s privacy. Or Cade and Lexi’s, for that matter.”

  “I understand.” Her gaze was filled with compassion. “But you might end up having to make a choice. If you’re determined to protect everyone’s privacy, you may be stuck with the bad boy reputation.”

  The tightness in his gut turned into a slow burn. “I thought you said this was winnable.”

  “It is, but you may not be willing to do what’s necessary to turn this thing around.”

  Bile rose in his throat. “I won’t sacrifice my family for personal gain and that’s final.”

  “I know. I’ll be back soon with the water.” She put on her straw hat, picked up the bucket sitting beside the door and left.

  He turned on the vacuum because then he could swear as loud as he wanted. He’d arrived at the ranch at the age of twelve with a fair number of colorful words in his vocabulary. After hanging out with his foster brothers, he’d added quite a few more. None of the guys used that kind of language around Rosie and Herb, but down in the meadow late at night they used to turn the air blue and laugh like fiends.

  This problem was no laughing matter, but swearing still felt like a cleansing activity. He worked his way through his entire repertoire before he started vacuuming. He didn’t want to lose his temper with the machine after Geena had treated it with such loving care.

  Maybe her assessment of his situation was wrong. But she was smart and she was capable. Except for her initial reaction to the crisis, he’d been impressed with her grasp of the situation. Unfortunately that might mean she was right about his two choices. Too bad they were sucky and suckier.

  Chapter Ten

  Cade was on his way over to pick up the vacuum as Geena trudged back carrying the five-gallon bucket that she’d filled about two-thirds full. He didn’t notice her and she was happy about that. The bucket was heavier than she’d expected, but she didn’t want Cade to figure out that she was struggling and take it off her hands. Matt had given her credit for being strong enough, and she didn’t want to admit she wasn’t.

  Now that she thought about it, chopping wood might not be as easy as she imagined, either. Much as she longed to be a country girl, she was still a city girl playing at country living. That didn’t mean she’d have to stay that way, though.

  Lugging the water had demonstrated that she was soft. She’d slacked off on her workouts at the gym, but that would change now that she had motivation to develop more upper body strength. She loved this place and wanted to spend more time on this ranch or one like it.

  On the way down to the bathhouse, when she hadn’t been burdened with a bucket of water, she’d had time to wonder about her visceral reaction to the meadow and the cabins. She couldn’t be positive, but she had a vague memory of being in such a place with her father. She would have been less than three, because by that age her mother had taken over her schedule and packed it with activities to mold her into a superstar.

  Sometime around then her dad had died while piloting his small plane. Prior to that he might have flown them to some remote spot for a vacation that she barely remembered. Apparently it had made a soul-deep impression on her, though, because she’d felt a connection to these log cabins from her first glimpse of the
m.

  She was grateful for that epiphany and the trip to Wyoming that had made it possible. But her awakening to the beauties of ranching country didn’t do anything for Matt’s dilemma and she’d come here to help him. She’d had more thoughts about that but wasn’t sure how to approach him with her ideas—or whether to approach him at all.

  At breakfast, Rosie had talked about all the support she and Herb had received for the academy project. Matt’s star power could contribute to the success of the school, perhaps really put it on the map, but reporters would have to be involved. He’d said he didn’t want them invading his foster parents’ privacy.

  But she had no idea how Rosie and Herb felt about it. What if they’d gladly trade a little privacy for the publicity they’d get by aligning themselves with Matt’s celebrity status? And what if they were reluctant to ask that of him because they didn’t want to risk jeopardizing the privacy he found by coming here?

  If it turned out that Matt was protecting Rosie and Herb while they were protecting him, it was enough to give her a migraine. Or it should have been. But in this setting she couldn’t imagine ever having a headache again. The air was blissfully smog-free and she didn’t have to endure the cacophony of honking horns and the rhythmic thump of audio systems set to stun.

  Los Angeles seemed a million miles away. She’d make those phone calls after this cleaning gig but she wasn’t looking forward to talking with the client who’d thrown a tantrum because he hadn’t been mentioned in People this week. Dealing with Matt wasn’t easy, but she’d rather coax someone into the limelight than have to drag a client offstage with a shepherd’s crook before they made a complete ass of themselves.

  Cade was leaving the cabin with the canister vac in hand as she approached. He put it down and walked to meet her. “Here, I’ll take that back for you.”

  “Thanks, I’ve got it.” She pulled the bucket out of reach so fast she sloshed water on her jeans. Felt kind of good, actually.