“You layin’ claim, brother?” he’d asked.
Hank filled two horse troughs with grain before answering. “Maybe I am.”
But he’d never been more unsure in his life. He didn’t want her to believe he was taking advantage. He was a gentleman through and through—he would never compromise her or make promises he wouldn’t keep.
A few stolen kisses could be forgotten, but she would be on the ranch for several more weeks. He wasn’t a full-time mechanic, and Momma needed help. A lot could happen in a few weeks.
We could get to know each other better. Explore this attraction.
Or she could fall for one of my brothers.
With a groan, he slung his arm over his eyes. The night sounds of crickets and insects should have soothed him, but he felt hot, tense—and he had a raging hard-on for that woman.
In the distance, a coyote barked. He’d have to set Beck on the trail tomorrow morning so the predator didn’t get one of their calves.
He crossed his feet at the ankles, visions of Charlotte doing a country line dance in his head. Flying down a back road with her, making her giggle until her curls danced.
He pushed out a breath. When had he gone all-in?
The minute I laid my hands on her.
He needed to know so much more about her. Did she like to sing? Had she ever gone fishin’, and could a city girl live happily in the country? Were there pages in her history that hurt too bad to flip through?
He knew there were—after their kiss, dark pain had smoldered in her gray eyes.
“Dammit.” He flipped onto his side, but the wooden floor was unforgiving. His shoulder dug in and he ended up turning onto his back once more. At least the night was cool. In Texas, that didn’t happen often. Rain was on the way, and by week’s end, he and his brothers would be up to their asses in mud.
The yellow light had vanished. Hell, the urge to go upstairs and slide into bed with her scorched hot. The way she’d felt against him, curves fitting into his hard angles…
At the creak of the door opening, he jackknifed into a sitting position. The drum of his heart gave away his hope that it wasn’t a family member sneaking out of the house. When the bare toes curled onto the cool porch boards, Hank stopped breathing.
Charlotte drifted out in a nightgown that glowed blue in the moonlight.
His cock jerked against the fly of his jeans he’d chosen to sleep in. As she turned to quietly close the door behind her, his ability to breathe returned. He sucked in a long breath, fighting for control.
“What are you doing out here?” His voice was a stranger’s croak.
She held up a hand. Two longnecks glistened. “Thought you might have a beer with me.”
As his mouth was suddenly as dry as the cracked Texas sod in July, a beer was a damned good idea. He tucked his knees up and gathered himself into a crouch before standing.
Charlotte padded barefoot to the porch swing and sat down. When he crowded beside her, she passed him a beer.
“It’s a cool night.” Her voice was sweet music.
He twisted off the cap and drank to keep from yanking her across his knees and plunging his tongue into her mouth. When he lowered the beer, he said, “There’s a front coming in.”
“Really?” She looked beyond him into the dark fields. “I suppose you didn’t hear that from the six o’clock weather report.”
“Nope.” He smiled, unable to resist meeting her gaze. Light and shadows played over her features, highlighting her delicate bones and turning him into a raving lunatic, hungry for a taste of her.
She pushed off with a toe, and they began to rock. The slow rhythm coupled with her feminine scents was anything but lulling. He swallowed more beer.
“Why did you come out here, Charlotte?”
Instead of answering his question, she said, “When I left Phoenix I could only think of getting away. I’d spent too much time there after…well, I just needed to get out. Far away. I thought I might end up in California, but I didn’t really have a destination in mind when I started driving.”
He waited, listening to what she didn’t say as much as when she did.
She stared at the beer in her hands. “I figured I’d just drive into a town where I’d instantly feel at home.”
“That didn’t happen.”
She looked at him for a long heartbeat. What was going on in that pretty little head of hers? Her lips had looked so damn gorgeous swollen from his kisses earlier. He needed to see them that way again.
Gently he removed the beer from her hand and set it with a soft clink on the floor, along with his. Then he took her hand, her arm, shoulder, soft waist, and he pulled her into his arms. She came easily, leaning across his lap and making him burn with desire.