He returned and set down the drink in front of her, then settled in next to her. Much closer this time. She slid away from him and gulped down the drink in one long swallow. She felt lightheaded. Was it him, or the alcohol on a near-empty stomach and the lack of sleep? Perhaps a bit of both.
“You could sit a little closer,” Ryker said to her, sliding towards her. Now she was up against the arm of the couch and he was only inches away. “After all, I bite.” There was a roguish gleam in his eye as he said it.
“In my defense, I wasn’t being insulting before, I was telling the truth. You are actually dirty. You’ve got manure on your shoes and hay in your hair. Nothing wrong with horses, I’m just saying, I was not inaccurate.” She reached out and plucked several strands of hay from his hair, which felt soft and silky. When her fingers brushed up against him, an electric thrill shot through her, and she stifled a whimper.
“Next time I’ll make sure that I’m squeaky clean. I’ll take a nice, long, hot shower.” He was leaning in even closer, and her head was swimming. Damn, I am a cheap date, she thought.
“Next time?”
“We’re mated for the next few weeks,” he said. “We’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” Her hair had fallen into her face, and he reached up and brushed it gently behind her ear, sending blood rushing to her cheeks.
She felt faintly dizzy, and her pulse accelerated. Thump thump, thump thump…she could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Pretend mated,” she protested faintly. She looked around the big, sterile showplace of a room and tried to be repulsed by him…and failed. He’s rude and cocky and stuck-up and…
She turned to look at him, and struggled to stifle a guttural growl of arousal. The way he was staring at her, as if she was a rich dessert that he wanted to lap up…The thought of his tongue between her legs made her want to weep with frustration and need.
“It doesn’t have to be pretend. We’re going to be spending time together, and we’re attracted to each other. I can scent it on you.”
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It was true, but did he have to say it out loud?
He stroked a stray curl away from her cheek with the gentlest of touches. “We could get to know each other better, and see…”
The next thing she knew, he leaned in to kiss her…and another piece of hay fell out of his hair, onto her cleavage. She couldn’t help herself; she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a hysterical giggle.
He let out a groan.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right, I am dirty, and that is no way to court a lady. I’m going to take a nice hot shower and then we can take up where we left off.” He grinned at her. “Unless you want to join me,” he said with a wink.
“Join you?” Her head was swimming, but she forced herself to focus. She was sitting there in a room with Ryker Harrison and she’d been about to take her clothes off for him, mere hours after meeting him. She’d fallen for his charm the same way every other woman did. How stupid was she?
“I will not be joining you,” she said indignantly. “You think I’ll just fall into your arms because you’re Ryker Harrison? You…you…womanizer.”
He let out a snort. “Okay, be that way, Miss Fancy Pants.” And he left the room to go shower.
She flopped back on the couch and closed her eyes and willed the room to stop whirling.
Chapter Five
Daisy woke up with a start, to the sound of banging and the doorbell ringing.
The sun was pouring through the windows, throwing giant rectangles of blinding sunlight across the floor. Daisy leaped up off the couch, and then stumbled. She was still wearing her dress and her shoes. Fully clothed… Okay… She’d passed out, but Ryker hadn’t taken advantage of her…
“Ryker?” she yelled. There was no answer, and the house was dead silent inside. Right, he had to leave early this morning, he’d told her.
Then she saw that there was a folded-up note on lined notepaper on the couch next to her. She didn’t pick it up; he’d probably written something like “Sayonara” or “Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.” The previous night had been one disaster after another – and all this on their first date! They’d been sparring from the minute they first met. Wynona had tried to brain him with her pocketbook. And then Daisy had passed out on Ryker’s couch.
Her jacket was lying across the back of the chair where she’d tossed it yesterday evening. She grabbed it and put it on quickly, then snatched up her purse from the coffee table, mentally berating herself as she did so.