The woman smiled. “I think we were on the Founder’s Day cleanup crew together last year.”
“We were.” Rori smiled. “It’s nice to officially meet you.”
“Ditto.” Marliss gestured to a round table with four comfortable-looking chairs that sat under a huge sun umbrella by the pool. “I hope dining al fresco is agreeable with you, Ms. Hughes.”
“It’s Rori, please, and yes, I’d love to stay outside now that it’s cooled off a little.” Rori turned to look at the table. Behind her back, Marliss winked at Jackson and gave him a thumbs-up.
He shook his head and picked up the platter. “C’mon Ms. Hughes. Let’s get comfortable and enjoy the best cookin’ in the tri-state area.”
They sat and picked at the amazing, spicy, southwestern-themed appetizers until Marliss carried out two covered plates, set them in front of them, and removed the covers to reveal a meal as delicious as any he’d had in expensive Mexican restaurants. They dug in.
“Wow, Lou is really good.” Rori set down her fork, patted her belly, then sipped at her second refill of margarita.
“Last night, he made me this steak…” Jackson had been amazed at the welcome he’d received from Marliss and Lou. They’d treated him like he was family, gave him the full tour, the codes for the doors and the keys for the vehicles. After they’d shown him which bedroom his half-brother, Dylan, had used the week before, he’d chosen the one next to it, with a view of the lake. Marliss had even brought his supper to his room, where he sat at the table watching TV for a while until he gave it up and began counting the stars as they appeared over the lake.
“That good, huh?” Rori’s smile warmed him deep inside.
“Sorry, this is all a lot to take in.” He blinked down at the food on his plate. And it would be so easy to get used to. He looked toward the hillside behind the house. The orange glow told him the sun was getting close to the horizon. “C’mon.” He stood. “Let’s go watch the sunset.”
She jumped up and reached for her plate.
“No. Don’t touch that.” He glanced toward the kitchen. “I learned the hard way that we don’t bus our own dishes. That’s Marliss’s job.”
“Oh, that’s too funny.” Rori lifted her hands as if in surrender. “Wouldn’t want to get into any trouble.”
He took her hand and led her around the side of the house and down the gradual sloping walkway to the sandy lakeshore. Three docks jutted into the water, two of them holding boats and a pontoon, the other longer, with personal watercraft, both motorized and paddle-driven. A gazebo sat at the end of the dock.
“This is pretty impressive.” Rori held tight to his hand, and it felt too right to Jackson. Like she was someone he’d known for a long time.
Outside the gazebo stood a swinging seat just big enough for two, and he gestured for her to sit.
She didn’t move, just looked up at him, the orange glow of the sun shimmering in her hair, sparkling in her eyes. “Jackson.”
“Darlin’.” He stepped closer, his belt buckle brushing against her stomach. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”
After glancing at the water, she blinked her pretty eyes up at him. “Throw me in?”
“Not hardly.” He slid his hands along her arms to her shoulders, slowly, gently, giving her plenty of room to say no. When she tipped her head, he had to take. Pressing his lips to hers, he let a wash of desire flood him, hardening him in his jeans, and sending his thoughts to the two of them in his bedroom.
His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, tasting sweet and sour margarita, before he pressed it inside her mouth, tasting the deep, warm spices of their supper mixed with the addictive flavor of her.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled herself closer to him, deepening the kiss.
Against his shirt, burning through layers of fabric, her nipples rubbed, hard and hot against his chest. She let out a little moan that made him far too wild.
Sliding one hand down her back, he cupped her ass, squeezing the firm, ripe roundness as his tongue played with hers. Then it hit him. Rori was okay with this? He ended the kiss but stayed just an inch from her lips. “You know, I’m still a rodeo cowboy.”
Her eyes, unfocused and darker blue than the evening sky, shifted left, then right. “I know, but I’ve made peace with it.”
Backing away another inch, he narrowed his eyes. “How so?”
****
Rori shrugged. “First…” She thought for a few seconds.
“That’s how you like to get your points across, Ms. Hughes. Logically, and in perfect order.”
With a smile, she closed her eyes. “You noticed that in me?”
“Yeah. First…” He laughed. “It’s because it’s different from anyone else I know.”
“Is that why you like me?” She felt her face heat. Had she really just asked him that? And sounded like a teenager with her first crush?
“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not changing the subject. You finish telling me your list.” He guided her to the swing and sat them hip-to-hip, his arm around her shoulders. “First…” he prodded.
“First, I know you’ll be leaving this town, probably never returning.” It killed her to realize she might never see him again, but facts were facts. “So the whole rodeo problem ends Sunday when you fly out of Kansas.”
He stared at her, but his lips thinned slightly.
“Second, people have seen us together, so gossip has more than likely spread to about half the population of Red Creek, and by tomorrow, we should have total saturation.”
A corner of his mouth quirked.
“You know they’re assuming we’re getting cozy, so we may as well do it.”
Jackson let out a laugh. “Those are your reasons? I’m short-term and we’re assumed guilty already?”
She turned in to him, pressing her hand on his chest. His hard, well-developed chest, where his heart beat strong and fast. Warm tugs pulled at her core, and she barely refrained from pressing her thighs together and wiggling with the pleasure. “Um…” What had she been about to say? “No. Yes. No.” She shook her head a few times to clear it. “I feel this pull toward you, like a chemical reaction, or a magnetic force.” She needed to admit it, to him and to herself. “From the moment you walked up to me at your company, and then in your office, I thought I might just kiss you. For no reason.” Recalling those moments, her heart beat faster, too.
Jackson cupped her cheek and leaned closer. “Don’t need a reason.” He slanted his mouth on hers, opening his lips and sweetly running his tongue along her teeth, then tasting her mouth and teasing her tongue with his.
She laced her fingers through the back of his hair, thick and silky, she loved how it curled just a little around her fingers. With a tug, she ended the kiss and touched the tip of her nose on his. “Your turn.” Her voice came low and breathy, sounding too far gone for her own good.
“That voice of yours. The second I heard it, I got ideas.” His fingertip traced along her collarbone to the base of her neck, then moved slowly downward as his eyes followed the movement. “But when I looked around the corner and saw you…” His hand flattened under her breast, wrapping his fingers around her ribcage. He looked into her eyes. “I knew you wanted to kiss me.”
She laughed. “I think you started it. In your office, you leaned—” Her phone chimed. She pulled it from her pocket. “It’s my contact. He’s going to need a couple more hours to try to get the info we need.”
“Perfect.” He stood, holding out his hand to her. “I know how we’re going to spend those hours.”
Laying her palm on his, that magic jolt rolled through her again. She stood. “Not on a computer?” Her knees wobbled a bit and she held tighter.
“Doesn’t sound like the most comfortable of positions, but if you’re into that kind of kinky...” He wagged his brows at her.
She giggled. Again. Something she hadn’t done for years, until she met Jackson Walker.
He
tugged her closer and guided her along the dock. Lights set into the edges of the boards guided the way back to shore. “There’s a side door with stairs up to the bedrooms.”
They moved quickly along the walkway, and between her desire and her anxiousness, she had a hard time catching her breath.
Wrapping his arm around her, he jostled her a little. “You okay? You look like you’re walking into a police lineup.”
How did she tell him it’d been a while since the last time? “I’m good.”
“Hm. Those are not exactly the words a guy wants to hear.” He stopped, set his hands on her shoulders, and turned her toward him. “If you’re not sure about this…”
She couldn’t remember ever wanting a man the way she craved this cowboy. Was it the bad boy aspect of his rodeo life? The fact that she’d never started a relationship with a man who she knew would be gone in a few days? Or just the big, sexy muscles and blue eyes that turned her tummy to jiggling jelly? “I’m sure, Jackson.” She took his hands in hers and backed toward the house. “Now stop your stalling.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
In minutes they’d gotten in the house and up the stairs, and stood in Jackson’s bedroom with the door closed behind them, the small lamp on the bedside table casting a romantic glow. The place was more rustic than she’d imagined after seeing the outside, but it fit Dusty’s personality. The log-framed king-size bed took up half the room. Across from it, a couch and two chairs faced a flat-stone fireplace. The dressers and nightstand matched the bed, and a thick red rug covered most of the hardwood floor.
Rori pointed to a door. “Bathroom?”
“Yeah.” He dimmed the light. “Help yourself.”
She didn’t have any birth control, didn’t take anything. “Do you have…protection?” She gripped her hands in front of her.
His head shot up, his gaze locking with hers. “I do. But don’t think that just because we’re up here, I’ve gone past the point of no return.”
Damn, how had he gotten to be such a gentleman? She’d love to meet his mother someday. Giving herself a mental head slap, she reminded herself that this was temporary. Temporary! Rori walked to where Jackson stood by the window. “It’s gone past that point for me already.” Attempting a seductive smile, she felt her lips quiver. She really liked this guy. Liked everything about him so far.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. “Good, ‘cause I’ve just about worn out my restraint.”
“Good.” Rori went up on tiptoes and kissed him.
Chapter Five
Rori let go of all her restraint too, her lips taking what she wanted from Jackson, her tongue doing its own exploration of his mouth. How was it that he tasted like spices and sex all at the same time?
She pulled back and slid her fingers to the button at his chest. “I’m ready to see what I’m gettin’ myself into.” Unbuttoning each one slowly, she trailed her fingertips along his chest, loving the few hairs that curled around her fingers on her path downward.
Tugging his shirt from his jeans, she slid it back, down his big arms, and let him toss it aside. Defined pecs, nice six-pack abs, and a narrow, tight waist. “Yummy.” She leaned forward and kissed the spot next to one of his tight, flat nipples.
He growled. “My turn to unwrap my dessert.” Jackson pulled the bottom of her shirt up, she lifted her arms, and he dragged the thing off and threw it. His breath left him in a rush as he stared at the red lace demi-bra that showed more of her breasts than it covered. “Beautiful.” He cupped the sides of her breasts and ran his thumbs across the tight points of her nipples.
Rori’s eyes rolled back for a few seconds and sweet chills shimmied across her skin. Licking her lips, she looked into his eyes as she reached for his belt buckle. It took a few seconds to unhook it, then she flipped open the button on his jeans and slowly dragged his zipper down.
His eyes turned a darker blue and his breath came faster, moving his chest up and down in a primal rhythm that matched her breathing.
Pressing her fingers to the bulge at his open zipper, Rori felt a power fill her, the ability to make this strong, irresistible man desire her this much could become very addictive. “You’re hard.”
His lips curved upward as his hands slid down her sides to her waistband. “And I bet you’re soft.” Jackson poked the tip of his tongue between his front teeth. “And I bet you’re sweet and wet.”
Between her legs, she became just that, wet and hot and aching with the need to be touched by him, tasted until she came for him. “Guess you’ll just have to find out.” Wherever this uncharacteristic boldness came from, she’d make it work for her. And him.
He unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, then with the speed of a cobra, he picked her up in his arms and deposited her on the bed, catching one of her feet as she bounced up. “What’s with these shoes, darlin’?”
Her red, high-top, canvas tennies always gave guys pause. “The rubber soles.” She watched as he unlaced her. “They don’t conduct any static electricity.”
Lifting one brow, he glanced at her face, then back to her foot. “Practical, yet quirky.” He pulled off her shoe, revealing her striped socks. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.” He peeled off her socks and gazed at the coat of pink polish she’d slapped on her toenails this afternoon before heading over to his office.
She’d been called weird before, so his assessment of her wasn’t any kind of a shock. Rori was also tall, so even cowgirl boots sometimes made her inches taller than men she wanted to flirt with. But with Jackson, she could wear stilettos and still be eye-to-eye with him.
With his gaze locked with hers, he kissed each one of her toes.
And she giggled.
He laughed, made quick work of her other shoe and sock, then got down to business, pulling off her jeans and throwing them across the room.
The matching red lace panties felt soaked and warm between her legs. They grew even wetter as his gaze traveled along her legs to fasten on the spot where she needed his lips. “You’re beautiful, Rori. Desirable, sexy, smart, funny, interesting.” His gaze shot to her eyes. “After I taste you and make you scream my name…”
Her hips jerked up and her vision flickered between darkness and light as sparks ignited in her belly.
“Then I’m going to try to figure out if you’re as perfect as you seem to be.” He slid his hands up her thighs and grasped her panties, pulling them down slowly. “Oh god, yes.” His voice quavered.
She’d spent a good hour in the shower this afternoon, buffing and shaving.
“So pretty. Bare naked and dripping honey to lure me in.” He tossed her panties in a different direction than her jeans, toed off his boots, then knelt between her legs, staring at her pussy.
Unable to stop it, her hips circled slowly, little movements that pumped up her desire, her uncontrollable need for him. Only him. Nothing, no one else, ever mattered the way he did right this second.
Jackson eased her legs open and lay between them, on his side, his soft hair brushing her thigh, his firm lips kissing his way up, slowly, staring at her, teasing as he moved closer.
“Your scent, patchouli, right?”
“Uh…” She didn’t remember which body scrub she’d used today, didn’t give a damn if she ever did, as long as he kept drawing closer, closer. Then he was there, his lips on her, touching and kissing every inch of her, down lower, lower, then up to the top of her mound where his tongue flicked inside to find her tight little bud.
She jerked and cried out.
“Easy, darlin’.” He kissed lower again, then spread her legs even further and stared at the quivering lips between her thighs. “If I thought you were beautiful before, holy hell, you’re like breath for a drowning man.”
So poetic, so sensual. She almost hated for him to stop talking, but she needed more from him. Letting out a little whine, she tipped her hips up toward him.
“Ah, let me guess. Telling me with
out words to get busy?” He pressed his tongue deep inside her canal, swirling it around and around as he sucked at her juices.
So close to climax already, buzzing started in her head, swirling and swelling until she felt nothing but his mouth on her.
Moving his tongue from her core to her clit, he used his thumbs to part her, looked closely at her, then dove in, taking her bud between his lips and sucking, rubbing his lips on her, touching her every… “Oh Jackson, yes!” The words blasted out of her as she stiffened and blew apart, her mind shattering in a million different directions as her body flooded with heat, her core contracted tighter with each heartbeat. “Jackson.” The second wave hit her, making her shake and squeeze her eyes tight, flashing colors popping and shooting off in her head.
Slowly her body relaxed, her thoughts came back from their journey around the universe, and her eyes opened to see him smiling, kissing her pussy lips, and lapping up her cream. “Jackson. Wow. Like, double happiness.”
He laughed. “Even your bedroom talk is uniquely Rori.”
Feeling her cheeks heat, she gave him a slow smile. “I don’t want you to…” She almost said forget me, but that would throw a cold, wet blanket over the night. “…get bored.”
“Bored.” His expression shifted, darkening, his brows dropped and his mouth turned down into a frown.
Had she made him angry?”
****
Jackson froze with the mixture of regret and loss that hit him like a freight train. How could she think he’d be bored with her? She was like no one he’d ever met. Not even like a new chapter in his life, but more like a whole new book he’d never seen before. Unique and quirky, absolutely, but also fresh and honest and smart as anyone he’d ever known.
He crawled up next to Rori and rearranged her so she lay tucked into him, her warm body reminding him how cold his nights were when he slept alone. Which was most always. He’d accept the favors offered from buckle bunnies on the rodeo circuit, but after their hours were up, he’d drive them home, or leave their place, always returning alone to his empty bed.
It was his way of protecting them. He didn’t want to become like his father.
Jackson: The Sons of Dusty Walker Page 5
