ROMANCE: YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE: WESTERN ROMANCE: The Smoking Cowboy (SPECIAL FREE BOOK INCLUDED PLUS FREE GIFT) (CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE)

by Debbie Gordon

  Devin strode back in, seemingly agitated. Running his fingers through his short hair, he shot marry an annoyed look. “Let me show you to your cabin” he said grabbing up her suit case, and once again heading out the door. Mary wanted to ask him about the lack of staff, but didn’t bother. She was sure he must have sorted everything out, someone would be there soon.

  Mary had to run a little to keep up with his long strides, which was damn near impossible to do in the ridiculously high heels. She was immensely relieved when he stopped at a single cabin a good distance away from the main cabin. He turned the key in his hands into the door and pushed open. He stepped aside and beckoned inside, “Ladies first.”

  Mary stepped inside, very aware of Devin’s large frame close behind, a little too close. “Oh, my” she breathed “It’s beautiful and so cosy, I love it.”

  “I’m glad you find it to your liking” Devin snapped.

  Mary turned to glare at him “I don’t know what’s got your boxers in a bunch buddy but there is no need for the stink attitude towards me, you don’t even know me” she snapped back. “It’s obvious that you don’t want to be here, and for some unknown reason you don’t like me, so let me put you out of your misery. Thank you for the room, I can help myself from here. You can go now, Mr. Cooper” she said giving a quick nod towards the door and turned away from him, pretending to study her surroundings; but not before he glimpsed a flash of hurt in her dark, expressive eyes.

  Devin stepped outside feeling like a world class jerk. He hadn’t meant to hurt Mary Lou’s feelings. He was just royally pissed at Abe and everyone else for not being here to do their jobs. First of all, this was all Abe’s idea and he should have been here to sort everything out. When he had called the old man to ask him why there was no one here to welcome their one and only guest, Abe had said, “Well, I thought you had taken care of that boy. When I told you my plan, I assumed you called a few staff members and told them to come out a few days earlier than scheduled.” He wanted to strangle the old man right now.

  What the hell was he going to do? No one was close enough, or had even planned to make the drive out here by this evening. Now he was stuck with the responsibility for the guest. He sure as hell couldn’t leave the girl out here by herself. Maybe he could take her back to his home in Paul’s Valley for the night; it was only another thirty minute drive. No, he highly doubted she would agree to that, she hated his guts right now. Aw hell, he groaned inwardly. Guess he was staying at the ranch until tomorrow. He would have to make a few calls and cancel a few meetings. He set off back to the main cabin to accomplish the task.

  Half an hour later Devin was finally able to put his phone down. He sat back in his chair at the check in desk and closed his eyes for a few minutes. Resting his head against the back of the chair, his thoughts wondered to the woman in the cabin a few feet away. He remembered the way her full lips had formed in a cute little pout, when she politely kicked him out of the cabin. He found that he wanted to taste those lips while red and run his hands up her smooth thighs, and under her sexy short dress to grab that rounded, ass of hers. Not to mention her breasts which he gauged were little more than hands full. He pictured himself taking one of her breast into his mouth and sucking, until she moaned with pleasure- whoa there cowboy.

  He snapped back to reality, he was making himself hard with thoughts of Mary Lou Carpenter; he shifted to ease the uncomfortable tightness in his jeans. What was the matter with him? She wasn’t even his type. The leggy blond that he woke up to this morning was more his type, but he found that he was incredibly attracted to Miss Carpenter. He wondered what she was doing at the moment. He hoped she wasn’t still sulking over his utter rudeness to her, from the moment they had met. Guilt pricked his conscience, he need to make it up to her.

  An idea popped into his head, instead of leaving her to her own devices for the rest of the evening, he was going to take her on a little nature ride, they could take a couple of the horse form the stable around back. It was a while since he had done anything like that of the sort, the day he had taken over the family business was the day he had to forget about horseback, riding, hunting and all things fun. As a younger man, when his father was still alive, Devin had had the time to interact with the guests and even participated in the nature hikes. He smiled at the memory of taking part in the day to day running of a few of the ranches.

  Taking over the behind the scenes, business aspect of running Cooper’s Ranch and Tours, he had said goodbye to everything he enjoyed. A sad smile formed on his lips; well somebody has to do it. He would use today as an opportunity to get back in touch with nature, with Miss Carpenter at his side.

  Devin got up from the desk and made his way to the kitchen. He rummaged through the cupboards and refrigerator, gathering what little food he could find. Since the ranch was opened yet, the kitchen staff had not stocked up the kitchen with groceries. What little food he found was left over from when construction work was being done on the ranch. He found enough ingredients to make a few sandwiches for he and his quest, tinned goods, crackers with cheese and a few bottles of water. Loaded everything in to a basket he found conveniently sitting the counter. He assessed the basket and estimated that there was enough food for two to last for the rest of the evening.

  Walking out with basket in hand, he headed up stairs to the ranch manager’s accommodations and rummaged around for a blanket, that could he used for a small picnic. Locating one, he headed back down the stairs and made his way to Mary Lou’s cabin.

  Mary Lou sighed with pleasure as she sank deeper into the tub of hot water, feeling every muscle in her body relax, as the underwater jets massaged he body. After she had gotten rid of her inhospitable host, she had unpacked. She then gave herself a tour of the luxurious cabin, going in to the bathroom; she had stumbled upon a Jacuzzi. Who knew guest ranches had Jacuzzis? Apparently this company made enough to provide such luxurious amenities. She had quickly undressed, scrubbed her face free of make-up, piled her hair on top of her head and hoped into the tub. Oh yea, this isn’t half bad after all, she thought with a lazy smile. A girl could use to this.

  Devin arrived at Mary Lou’s cabin with picnic gear in hand. he knocked lightly on the door. No answer. Knocking a little hard this time, he waited. When she didn’t answer be became a little worried. Was she alright? He twisted the door knob and to his luck the door opened. He thought a city girl like herself would be in the habit of locking her door. He pushed his head in to the room. “Mary Lou” he called. There was still no answer. With a frown he slowly entered the cabin. He put the picnic basket down on a side table and made his way to the bedroom. She was not in there, so he walked over to the bathroom, he heard o sound coming from in there. Alarmed now, he burst through the door. “Miss Carpenter!” To his relief, he spotted her in the bath tub.

  At the shout of her name, Mary Lou jumped up and let a shriek of surprise when she saw Devin standing in the door way, with a look of relief on his face, which transformed to surprise, then pure male appreciation. Water sloshed over the tub as she tried to cover her breasts simultaneously trying to emerge her body deeper in the water.

  She let out another shriek, “Don’t people knock in the country?” She bellowed.

  “I knocked a couple times and you didn’t respond, I was concerned”, Devin defended.

  “Well thanks for your concern, but as you can see I’m perfectly fine”, she glowered at him.

  He let out a breath, “You are fine, indeed” he replied remembering the sight of her breasts floating above the water before she covered them.

  Mary Lou let out groaned, wondering if anybody ever died from humiliation.”Don’t just stand there, hand me towel” she snapped.

  Devin snapped out of trance at the sharpness in her tone “Huh? Right, here you are” he grabbed a towel and bought it over to her. It was only when Mary Lou threw him a disgusted look that he realized he was still standing there staring at her like a horny teenager seeing the female body f
or the first time. “Sorry” he muttered, turning to exit the bathroom, wondering why the sight of a naked Mary Lou affected so much, beyond belief. It’s not like he hadn’t seen plenty of naked women. Now he had a massive erection to get rid of before she came out of the bathroom.

  Mary Lou exited the bathroom slowly, wrapped in a white fluffy towel that was too large for her body. The corners of his lips lifted slightly at the sight of her, she looked damn adorable he mused. She kept her eyes downcast, refusing to look at him. Aw hell she’s still embarrassed. He quickly began to tell her the reason for his visit, hoping to ease her humiliation.

  “A nature walk?” she asked with a frown, looking like she was about to refuse.

  “Well more like a nature ride” he added quickly. “We can take out a couple of the horses; you know just a little adventure for the rest of the afternoon. I even packed a picnic basket.”

  She finally raised her eyes to look at him and smiled, to his delight. “Well, I’ve always wanted to learn how to ride a horse and a picnic sounds lovely”.

  “Great”, Devin responded. I’ll wait outside while you get dressed.

  Mary Lou watched Devin leave her bedroom and let out a long breath. Holy shit he saw me naked. She dropped her head in her hands; he wished the ground would open up and take her in. She recalled how he had stood there, staring at her. Her below zero self-esteem kicked in and she was convinced that he stared because he was disgusted by what he saw. Why would a good looking man like him be attracted to her? She frowned staring at her naked body in the mirror. He was probably used to tall, slender, model-like women falling all over him. She was the complete opposite of his type, she was sure. Her shoulders drooped as she went to pick out something to wear.

  Damn it! I have nothing appropriate to wear! She threw articles of clothing over her shoulders, looking for something “nature ride” worthy. She finally had to decide on a pair of too short for her comfort black shorts, a low cut, skin tight yellow tank top. Damn you Yvonne, Mary thought as she studied herself in the mirror. She would never be caught dead in a get-up like this back in Detroit. At least she had a on a pair of comfortable sneakers she had manage to sneak into her suitcase when Yvonne wasn’t looking. She topped the outfit off with a brown Stetson over her loose curls, she had picked it up during her and Yvonne’s shopping spree, thinking it would be appropriate for the environment and make her look “cowgirl” like. Mary located her fanny pack, threw in her insect replant spray and chap stick and went through the door.

  Devin nearly fell off the wall he was resting on, when he spotted Mary Lou. God damn she was one sexy woman. He was hypnotized by the sway of her hips and the bouncing of her breast as she made her way to him. He jumped down off his perch as she stopped in front of him. He smiled at the Stetson perched on her head “My, my you look like a real cowgirl, Miss Carpenter”, he said with his western drawl.

  Mary Lou gave girly giggle, surprising herself, she never giggled. What has gotten into her? She cleared her throat, “That’s just the look I was going for.”

  Devin led Mary Lou around to the back of the main Cabin where the horse stable was. “If no one is here, who takes care of the horse?” Mary asked, curious.

  “These horses were just bought in over the weekend, but someone has been coming in to feed them every day. He must have come this morning and left before we arrived.”

  Mary Lou had never been this close to a horse before, they were magnificent creature. She cautious made her way to light coated stallion with a dark brown mane. She bravely, but slowly reached her hand out to touch it, she saw them do it in the movies all the time, so she figured it was ok besides he was locked in a stall. Before she could make contact with the, it neighed loudly and kicked up on hind legs. Mary let out screamed as loud as the horse’s neigh and jumped back right in to Devin’s arms, her entire body trembling, her racing, and her knees buckling beneath her. Devil supported her with strong arms “Easy now, easy” he soothed. Mary had no idea if he was talking to her or the horse. Devin turned her around in his arms; her heart rate just began to stabilize. He cupped her chin and lifted her face, he stared into her wide, terrified eyes “You ok?” he asked.

  Mary nodded “I-I think so, I thought it was ok to touch one, but it just totally freaked out and I freaked out and-and” she tried to finish but her breaths were coming out in short puffs.

  “Calm down darlin’ just breathe; you’re ok, no harm done.”

  “No harm done? There’s no way I’m get on one of those things now.” Mary Lou look at him as if he had just gone insane, folding her arms under her breast.

  Devin chuckled and shook his head “Come on, you’ll be fine, we’ll find you a nice mild tempered mare.” He took her hand, feeling a weird jolt of electricity; he glanced at her wondering if she felt it too. She was looking up at him in wonder but she said nothing. They stopped in front of a medium sized mare with a rich chestnut coat. “Go ahead rub and rub her coat, bond with her a bit”, Devin encouraged.

  “You’ve obviously lost all sense, no way am I touching that animal.” Mary Lou folded her arms.

  Devin rolled his eyes and reached out and grabbed one of her hand “Hey, what are you- before she could finish had his hand on top of hers and guided toward horse. Her palm made contact with the horse’s thick coat. Devin’s hand stilled covered hers, guiding her movements. Mary Lou’s lips broke into a smile, “Wow, her coat is so soft. This is amazing.”

  “Her name is Lucy” Devin informed her.

  “Hi, Lucy, you’re so gorgeous”, Mary Lou whispered. She looked up to find Devin staring down at her. “What?” she asked, feeling a bit awkward. She always felt uncomfortable when people stared at her.

  “I’m just wondering how you taste” he breathed.

  Before she could respond his lips captured hers stealing her breath. She only reached the middle of his chest so he had to bend; she rose up on the tip of her toes and bent her head back to provide him better access to her lips. She opened her mouth tentatively because she wanted to know how he tasted as well. And the man tasted damn good! The intensity of the kiss deepened as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth; she allowed him entry and their tongues mingled gently. He pulled her more tightly to him crushing her breasts against his chiselled chest. Mary couldn’t believe she was being so passionately kissed by the sexy cowboy. Holy shit! She must be dreaming. She was attracted to him from the moment she had laid eyes on him, but she had no idea he was even thinking about her in that way.

  Devin broke the kiss when Mary Lou’s soft moan penetrated his lust hazed mind. He broke away from her, shocked at his loss of self control. She was gazing up at him wide-eyed and dazed. “I’m so sorry, that shouldn’t have happened” he said turning abruptly away. What the hell was he doing? She was a guest at the ranch for God’s sake. Now she probably thought he was some kind of sex-crazed pervert.

  Disappointment washed over Mary Lou. Oh hell he regretted their kiss. He was probably disgusted by it, by her. Memories of her ex began to surface. “He had once told her that she was frigid and didn’t have a sexy bone in her body.” She put the memory aside before she began to weep like a fool. I guess he isn’t really attracted to me after all she thought sadly. God, can I be any bigger of an idiot? She mentally kicked herself, straightened her tank to top, put on a brave face and said “It’s all good, let’s just pretend it never happened”.

  Devin stared down at her wanting to respond, to say anything that would remove the hurt he detected in her tone; the hurt that she had tried to hide, with her suddenly developed nonchalant attitude. She couldn’t fool him that easy, he knew she was as affected by the kiss as he had been, or she wouldn’t have responded so passionately. What was her problem any? She had gone from hot to cold so swiftly, leaving him in a whirl of confusion? He only pulled away because things were getting out of control too rapidly, and she wasn’t one of his usual hit and leave it flings. He sighed inwardly and decided to let the issue rest, for now.


  “Have you ever ridden a horse before?” He quickly changed the subject.

  “Never” she relied.

  “Ok then let me show you how.” He reached out to assist her onto her mare.

  She stumbled back, “I can manage on my own, just tell me what to do.”

  Great, now she doesn’t even want me to touch her he thought, annoyed with himself for initiating that kiss. “Ok just hook your left foot in the stirrup there, jump and swing your right leg over the horse’s back.” He held the on to the reigns to keep the horse steady as she followed his instruction and mounted the animal. “Good girl. Always remember to stay calm, horses are sensitive creatures, they can detect anxiety or fear.” He swiftly mounted his horse, placing the picnic basket in front of him. As they slowly took off, he continued to give her instructions until she caught on and was managing just fine.

  Chapter Four

  Mary Lou lost track of time as they rode. They rode for in silence, except for Devin giving brief instructions every now and again. She had gotten the hang of horse riding and was manoeuvring Lucy like a pro. Mary Lou gazed out at the miles and mile of grass terrain surrounding them. It looked like a something out of a painting, paintings that she always spent time admiring and wishing she was a part of the work of art. But she didn’t have to wish right now, she was here and she was grateful to Yvonne for practically forcing her to accept the raffle ticket prize.

  She never experienced this kind of calm in Detroit. It was all big city hustle and bustle, people rushing from one destination to the next, not even slowing down for a minute to appreciate their surroundings, to appreciate life. For her it was an everyday routine of waking up, going to a job that she really didn’t enjoy, going home to a lonely apartment, and doing it all over the next day. But in this moment, on top of this horse, taking in the beauty and quiet around her, she let go of the city and her boring, lonely life. As a sense of peace washed over her, a broad smile broke on her face. Daringly, Mary let go of the horse’s reigns, opened her arms wide, tilted her head skyward and soaked in the late afternoon sun, as a light breeze caressed her face. She sighed in momentary contentment.