Cowboy Crazy(19)

“I did hear my boys’ voices.” Ted stood in the doorway, hand braced on the jamb. “Get out of your Sunday best, boys. Got work to do.”

With a few grunts of annoyance, the guys filed out after their pa. All but Hank. He turned to her, eyes soft. The finger under her chin was softer. He tilted her face up. “You okay? They like to tease, but I won’t let them go too far.”

“I’m fine.”

He stared at her lips. “That’s good.”

She waited, but he didn’t raise his gaze or remove his finger. Her belly was melted chocolate, running all over and turning her to mush. The bald desire in his gaze made her heart trip faster.

“Actually,” his Adam’s apple worked up and down, “you’re more than fine.” He swooped in slowly, giving her time to duck. As his hard lips slanted across hers, she closed her eyes.

Drowning in sensation and desire, she cooed. He answered with a groan, hands bracketing her face. He brushed his lips over hers harder. Again. Faster this time. With increasing pressure, he stole her mind.

She didn’t realize she’d wound her arms around his neck until she felt the brim of his hat against her arm. He pivoted her to rest against the counter and parted her lips with his tongue.

She gasped, giving him total access. In a blink he took advance, driving his tongue inside, curling and tasting. White-hot need pooled between her thighs, wetting her silky panties.

He ravaged her, pulling her onto tiptoe and against his every hard inch. Through his jeans, those hard inches were quite apparent. Her nipples ached, and her pussy pulsated in rhythm to each pass of his tongue.

He planted a hand low on her back, molding her to fit his body. Her body screamed to get closer. He felt so good, tasted better. She loved the way he looked at her, and he knew how to treat a lady.

He inched his hand down, snaking it around her hip.

She froze.

Feeling the change in her, he straightened. Yet he didn’t let her go. Lights burned in his eyes, but something else flickered there—uncertainty.

“I...I’d best clean up this mess.” She darted under his arm and put distance between them. But damned if she could erase his touch. Her lips had been branded by his kisses and she felt as if honey flowed through her veins.

That touch on her hip, so strong and sure—it was too much. He didn’t know why and she couldn’t say the words. She had to keep this from happening again.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and forced her to look at him. “Charlotte, don’t pretend that didn’t happen.”

“It shouldn’t have.”

“It felt too good to be a ‘shouldn’t have.’”

She loved the way he said that, but she was out of Paradise Valley Ranch as soon as Maggie was on her feet and Hank had her car fixed. Panic splashed over her. What if he refused to fix her car if she turned him away? What if he tried to throw her body into the deal?

She met his gaze—the same gaze that had convinced her he wasn’t an ax murderer and climbing into his truck was a good idea. She still trusted him.

“I just…need some space and time to think.”

He released her but didn’t move away. His closeness felt so right, she longed to press her nose against his shirt and feel his arms around her again. “I understand that. I’ll be in the garage. You know where to find me.”

As he left her alone in the kitchen with a mess of flour and mixing bowls, she couldn’t stop replaying his words. Did he mean he wasn’t going to pursue her again? If not, could she live without it?





Chapter Four





The crisp night air cooled the perspiration on Hank’s skin. He stretched out on his bedroll on the porch floor and stared at the stars set into a black velvet sky.

While the universe intrigued, the butter yellow square of light cast on the yard was more interesting. His bedroom window, his light. Charlotte was still awake.

His gut clenched. The kiss they’d shared had only been a warm-up for what he really wanted. She was sweet and tempting, and while he didn’t know her favorite dessert or childhood nickname, he knew she was a kind person. The way she treated his parents and the animals conveyed that.

In the past few days she’d been on the ranch, he’d analyzed his attraction over and over. While pitching hay, while nailing in a loose board. Was he only interested because she was convenient?

No. If he’d seen her on the county fair, he’d buy her a candy apple and beg her to go on the Ferris wheel. She was the kind of girl that got under a man’s skin.

He gnashed his back teeth together. Every Dalton boy was too aware of Charlotte’s charms. Since his brothers had come home, Hank felt as if he was defending his chicken from the foxes. While they completed the chores together, they’d drilled him with questions about her. His answers had been short and hard, so much that even Cash got the point.