Her Sexy Vegas Cowboy(17)

The night before, and even that morning, had been all physical attraction, all raw need. She felt that this was somehow different. It was still physical, but the time together had turned him into a real person for her, not just a fairy-tale mystery man, and that added another dimension to their lovemaking that was wonderful and a little frightening.

If she had met him in New York and spent more than a couple of days with him, she’d definitely have to worry about falling in love with him as well as falling for the unbelievable sex, and she wasn’t ready to trust another guy with her whole heart.

It’s a good thing we both know this is just one weekend, then, Jessica told herself with a shrug. She could let herself enjoy her time with him, and maybe use it to help mend her self-confidence a little. She had to admit, she had never felt sexier or more confident than when she was with Aaron, and that was huge for her. She’d always felt a little too tall, too closed off, too proper with Russ. This feeling was so very different, and she wanted to soak up every moment of it she could get.

Aaron flopped next to her on the couch, lost in his own thoughts. His jeans were still on, but his torso was bare. For a second, she felt too naked and considered grabbing her clothes, then smiled to herself. Sexy Jessica 2.0 didn’t need clothes.

Instead she moved herself until she was stretched out on the couch, her head resting on his lap. “So, what else should we do today?” she asked, enjoying the calm of her body after all the intensity.

He looked down at her, and the edge of his mouth turned up into the small crooked grin she’d started to realize was habitual and incredibly attractive. “What do you want to do?” he asked, giving her the reins.

She stretched, feeling the looseness of her muscles. “Well, the girls are going shopping, but I wasn’t planning on joining them. We could go see some other area of Vegas, but I’m a little tired of the glitz.”

She left it open, seeing where he would take it. He raised one eyebrow and did his small smile, and she knew he was going to suggest staying in, which brought butterflies to her stomach. This was her one chance, after all. It was like a story from back in wartimes. He’d be shipping out tomorrow, or sometime soon at least, and this was it.

Before he could say anything, his phone started squawking. He rolled his eyes and adjusted himself enough to get the phone out of his back pocket without disturbing her. She appreciated the gesture and settled in, comfortable.

She could feel his eyes grazing her long body stretched out on the couch, naked, and she enjoyed knowing he would like what he saw. He flipped open the phone.

“Jeremiah. What is it?...Damn, I forgot...I know, I just got distracted. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. Listen, it’s fine, just go without me...Jeremiah, you need to listen to me. Go. With. Out. Me...All right, bye.”

“What was that all about?” she asked, curious about the side of the conversation she couldn’t hear.

Aaron sighed. “Jeremiah and I are supposed to go to a thing for the rodeo in, like, a half hour. Our ranches are in this competition, and we always have a big bet to see who wins. But it’s fine if I don’t go. He can just tell me about it later.”

She sat up with a slight groan, regretting the need to move from her relaxed position, but she knew that Jeremiah was not happy, and Aaron’s friendship with him was far more important than the dalliance they were having. At least, it absolutely should be.

“That’s fine, you go,” she said in a lighthearted voice that she hoped didn’t sound too forced. “You’re here with your friend for this reason, right?”

He looked unhappy. “Well, yeah, but—”

“Then you need to go. I’ll head out and spend some time with the girls. Cindy will probably have a conniption fit if I just disappear the entire weekend, anyway.”

She hopped up and began putting her clothes back on, turning away from him so he couldn’t see her disappointment. It’s fine, she told herself. I’ll see him again tonight. Or tomorrow. Or I won’t. That’s the way flings go.

It wasn’t very convincing.

Once dressed, she turned toward him. The downcast look on his face would have made her smile if she hadn’t felt a bit of the same. He was clearly unhappy she was wearing clothes again, and so was she.

“Go,” she reiterated. “Have fun. Meet up with me tonight, if you want.”

He looked at her, his eyes flashing, and the thrill of them on her reawakened her senses again. She couldn’t believe it to be possible that she wasn’t over that yet, but there it was. He said, “You couldn’t keep me away.”

“Okay, then. What about dinner? Where should we meet?”

“Here.”

“Is there a good restaurant in the hotel?”

“Not in a restaurant at the hotel. Here. My room. I’ll give you a key card and you can come in whenever you want. I’ll be back by eight.”

She was surprised he was willing to just give her a key to his room, but she managed to react nonchalantly. “Great. I’ll just come by sometime after that.”

She laughed internally at her coolness, knowing that she’d have to fight herself to not be at his door at eight o’clock on the dot. He gave her the card, she slipped it in her purse and with a little wave that made him jump off the couch for one last soul-melting kiss, she walked out the door. As soon as it closed behind her, she leaned back against it and breathed in and out deeply.

Jessica couldn’t even begin to believe what had happened during the previous twenty-four hours, and she didn’t know if she was ecstatic and woozy from it or disappointed that she wouldn’t be getting more.

She decided to try and just stay happy. It was temporary and that was all there was to it, she had to remind herself, so there was no point in being disappointed. That would just cause more hurt later, and she wasn’t about to let herself get burned on such a short-term arrangement.

Her heart danced as she pictured his reaction when she told him to go, however, and enjoyed the fact that she now knew he actually owned a ranch, despite her previous opinion that real-life details shouldn’t be a part of all this.

Realizing she was still leaning against the door, she moved away quickly and headed for the elevators. It would be incredibly awkward if he opened the door and found her still outside his room.

Actually it would probably be wonderful and involve having his arms around her again. Better not to risk that, because she didn’t think she could make the right decision again.





7

AARON HADN’T MOVED off the couch since she left. He was still staring at the door, willing her to open it again and come back inside. Finally, after a few minutes, he ran his fingers through his hair, leaned back against the couch and sighed. He didn’t know what was going on with him. This woman had him wrapped around her finger somehow, and his tendency to call the shots just completely disappeared when she was around.

He gave her a key. Was that weird? He’d never done that before. He’d met up with plenty of women in Vegas, but he never considered giving them a key to his room, or missing his big competition day of the NFR. Those were two firsts that he hadn’t expected.

Now that she was gone, though, there seemed no point in sitting around. Plus, he was going to be late if he didn’t get going. He texted Jeremiah and changed, but the image of her head in his lap was still swimming in front of his eyes.

He was going to be sorry to give up Jessica, but he was glad that the distance and anonymity would stop him from continuing to see her. She was mind-blowing, but he didn’t want to hurt her, and he was afraid that it would happen if they spent too much time together.

He had hurt women before, when they wanted more than he was willing to give. He didn’t believe in true love and marriage and all that, at least not for him, and it had caused a few rough moments from time to time. That was why he liked to be clear about the situation up front, and what could be more clear than a two-day expiration date?

He exited the hotel room, heading down to Jeremiah’s. There was still something about Jessica, though, that was eating at him. There was something under her confidence, her slight hesitancies, that made him think she was unavailable.

He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. She could make her own decisions, and it was one weekend. He shouldn’t press the issue or try to get involved. Still, he would never knowingly help someone cheat. He’d need to figure out what to do about that before he saw her in the evening.

Thinking of her walking into his room sent shivers down his spine, and he had to forcibly shift his attention so he could knock on Jeremiah’s door and get this whole thing out of the way without any big issues.

Jeremiah answered as soon as he knocked; he’d clearly been waiting for him. Aaron suddenly felt guilty about his treatment of his friend. “Hey, man,” he began, “I’m sorry about this whole thing—”

“It’s fine,” Jeremiah responded coldly.

Aaron felt even worse. He’d been such an ass that he’d made Jeremiah, the perennially happy friend he’d had since grade school, pissed off at him.

They began walking to the elevators. “No, seriously, I’m sorry.” He didn’t really want to explain but realized he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to fix this. “So, I met this girl, and everything just kind of spiraled out of hand. I’ve got things under control now, though.”