She gaped at him, opening and closing her mouth then doing it all again like the singing fish his uncle had hanging on his living room wall.
“That’s not the same. You should’ve told me you knew who I was.”
He flung the cover off him and rounded the bed toward her. He stopped when she took a step back. “You’re right. I lied by omission, but yours was a flat-out lie.”
He could see the wheels spinning in her head as she hunted for a comeback, but she came up empty. “Take me home.”
He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist playing with her a little more. Why not? He was already in the doghouse. “Back to Boston?”
“How much do you know about me?” She waved her hands in the air. “No. Don’t answer that. I wouldn’t know whether to trust what you say or not. I’ll just assume you’re lying whenever your mouth is moving.”
“That would be a big mistake.”
She shrieked at him, gathered up the torn remains of her clothes, and hurried toward the front door. He took his time tugging on his jeans, a shirt from the dresser, and his boots. Where could she go without a car and clad only in his shirt? Walking as though he had all the time in the world, he sauntered through the house and out the opened front door.
What he found wasn’t what he’d expected to find. Rupert stood in the middle of the yard between the house and the barn, gazing toward the road and scratching the stubble on his chin. Charlie’s clothes lay at his feet.
“Where the hell did she go?”
Rupert flinched at the tone in his voice. “I was taking Ripcord out for a ride when she came barreling out of the house, grabbed the reins, and told me to help her into the saddle. She told me to tell you she’d return your horse once you fixed her pickup and brought it to her.”
“You let her take Ripcord?”
Rupert started to smile but wiped the smile away at Reese’s glare. “Mr. Rawlins, I’m sorry. I didn’t think. When she came running out the door with nothing on but your shirt, my mind went kind of blank.”
He couldn’t blame the guy. Charlie doing what almost amounted to a Lady Godiva impression would’ve sent any red-blooded male’s head into a tailspin. “Which way did she go?”
Reese followed the direction Rupert pointed, down the road leading toward the rental home. She’d been mad as hell, but he’d never expected her to hop on a horse and hightail it home.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Pivoting on his heel, he started back to the house.
“Mr. Rawlins, what are you going to do?”
Reese didn’t bother turning around to answer. “Call Dutch and tell him I need a rush job on a broken-down rental truck out on Bascom Road. Tell him to work his magic. I need that damn truck fixed before she winds up either killing my horse or breaking her neck.”
Chapter Four
Charlie didn’t calm down until she reached the rental house. Her anger served a purpose, keeping her from thinking about how little she knew about riding a horse. If she’d given it more thought, she probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to hop on the back of the huge animal. Hell, if she’d given it more thought, she would’ve pulled on her jeans and her shoes before hightailing it away from Reese’s house.
“Now what do I do?” It wasn’t as though the house had a garage or even a carport. Could she tie him to a tree overnight? But didn’t horses need hay and water? And what about wild animals? Or worse, werewolves?
She shifted in the saddle, her pussy rubbing against the leather, and held on to the saddle horn. Riding with a saddle was easier than riding bareback but not as nice as riding behind Reese. And nowhere near as nice as riding Reese.
She could still feel his hands on her, his fingers pinching her nipples to send pleasant bursts of pain into her breasts. His mouth on hers had stunned her at first, but then the rough texture of his lips had melted into hers and she’d welcomed his tongue into her mouth.
She shuddered at the image of Reese sliding down her torso to lie between her legs. His blue eyes, mixed with amber highlights, had flamed with a heat that he sent scorching into her with the flick of his tongue across her clit. She moaned and squirmed against the saddle, her juices wetting the leather.
Oh, God. His cock. Strong, long, and thick, she’d never seen anyone with a cock like his. Granted her experience was limited, but she knew he was unusually blessed in that area.
Should she have submitted to his masculinity so fast? What did he think of her for having sex with him in the first few hours of meeting? And then to find out he knew her real name! She’d gotten so flustered she hadn’t thought to ask him how he knew.