RANCHER BEAR’S BABY(5)

CHAPTER 6: Elizabeth


We were both quiet the rest of the way to his trailer. I was focused on how intense the storm was growing, while Alex hummed along to the country song on the radio. It was oddly comforting, considering my situation.

When we arrived, he ran around to help me down from the truck. In the few seconds it took us to get from his truck to the front door, we were both soaked. He opened the door and pushed me inside right as a massive boom of thunder hit.

I screamed and jumped, the sound shocking my already fried nerves. “Jeez! Does it always storm like that here?”

He dropped his cowboy hat on the floor and then kicked off his boots. “We get some big ones. Let me grab you a towel.”

While he disappeared down a hallway, I looked around. His trailer was clean, for the most part. The coffee table was littered with a pizza box or two and a few beer cans, but for a guy who seemed to live alone, it was clean.

I stood on the small tile entryway and shivered. His air conditioning must’ve been on high and the water dripping from my soaked hair and body felt like it was going to freeze in place.

“Do you want to take a hot shower and get out of that dress?”

I snapped my head around to Alex and froze. He’d taken his shirt off and his pants were unbuttoned. The weight of the rain water was tugging them low, letting me see a lot more skin than I’d prepared for. His chest was something that I knew I’d never forget, his abs a dream.

I grew warmer just looking at him, but a shower would give me a chance to get away from his abs for a few minutes. “Do you have anything I could change into?”

He pointed down the hallway. “Last door is my bedroom. The closet is open and you can grab anything. The bathroom’s through there. Take your time.”

I slipped out of my even more ruined shoes and hurried to his room. I closed the door behind me and locked it. I took a fast shower, using his soap and shampoo, and then dried off. His closet was a smorgasbord of T-shirts, flannels, worn jeans, and flannel bottoms.

I knew the bottoms would never fit, so I didn’t even bother. I pulled on one of the flannel shirts and buttoned it. It fell almost to my knees and smelled like soap and something woodsy. Feeling warmer, I finger combed my hair and then headed out to the living room.

Alex was in the kitchen, staring into the fridge. I must’ve made a sound because he turned to face me as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. His eyes traveled the length of my body and back up again. I pulled the shirt back onto my shoulder and forced a smile.

“I hope this is okay. I was freezing.”

His eyes seemed to get brighter as he nodded and licked his lips. “It suits you.”

I looked down at my toes and wiggled them as I thought about what I should say. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here. No one else in this town has been nice to me at all. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Landing can be a pretty private place.”

I gestured around us. “But you let me in your private space.”

“The other option was to leave you crying in the dark by yourself. What kind of man would I be if I did that?”

I looked up and was surprised to find that he’d mostly closed the gap between us. He was close enough that I could, and did, watch a drop of water roll down his chest. “Aren’t you cold?”

He shook his head, causing more water to sprinkle me. “I run hot.”

He could say that again. I sucked in a breath and tried to remember that I’d just broken up with Sam. I was supposed to be sad and distraught. I was… I was in lust with Alex and something about the man was calling to me.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” I spit the words out while I still had the ability to speak. It seemed that being around him was burning up my fine motor skills.

He grinned. “No. Why do you ask?”

I gasped as the front of his jeans touched my thighs. I backed into his kitchen counter and realized that I was out of space to move away from him. Not that I wanted to. My body was just reeling. My hands shook as I grabbed the counter and my knees were trying to knock out a rhythm against each other. I’d never felt so much need or want for someone that my body vibrated with it.

“Elizabeth?”

I bit my lip and raised my eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Why do you ask?”

I stuttered as I answered. “Just wondering.”

Alex leaned down until he was eye level with me and then lifted me onto the counter like I weighed nothing. “Something’s happening here.”

I nodded because there was no use denying it. When he moved forward, I opened my legs wider so he could stand between them.

“You can tell me to go fuck off and still stay here tonight. Just so you know.”