9781618857279MakeMineaCowboySullivanNC (12 page)

“I
wasn’t critizing, Joel. I think it’s cool you guys are regular country people.”
She slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. Mesa walked over to turn
on the lamp on the bedside table, bathing the room in soft, muted light. Dominating
the smaller room stood a double bed with a beautiful wedding ring comforter. Her
clean clothes sat in a nice neat pile by the pillows. A wooden dresser sat at
the end of the bed and to the right. The single large window overlooked the
garden behind the house. Something she would have to explore tomorrow. She
loved gardens. Right now, it looked spooky bathed in moonlight but romantic at
the same time.

“The
garden is my mother’s favorite place to hang out. She’s got lots of flowers
back there, a sitting bench, a swing, and a barbeque. We throw parties out
there during the cooler months.”

“Texas
does get warm in the summer.”

“It’s
been pretty here this week. Not too hot and not too cold.”

“Just
for me.”

He
laughed. “Maybe.”

“Except
for the rain shower today.”

“Those
are normal for this time of year too.”

“Just
my luck.”

“If
you give me the keys to your car, I’ll grab your suitcase and bring it up.”

“All
right.” She handed him the keys. “On one condition. You let me wash the cut on
your lip.”

“Yes,
nurse.”

She
startled a little, and then smiled.

“What?”

“I
always wanted to be a nurse.”

“Then
why didn’t you?” He held up his hand. “Wait to answer that until I get back.” A
moment later, he closed the door behind him, disappearing from sight.

Mute
voices drifted through the wall.
Must be
some other guests in the room next door.
The man’s voice rose in anger. She
cringed knowing where those tones usually led. She heard a slap, and then
muffled crying a moment later. The sound died away after a few seconds as if it
had never been there in the first place.

Mesa
frowned, rubbing her arms as the room dropped in temperature like the air
conditioner kicked on, but it hadn’t. She shook her head and went to the
connecting bathroom to fetch a warm washcloth to clean Joel’s lip. The bathroom
was decorated in the typical old-fashioned way with wood accents. A claw foot
tub with a shower curtain to one end, and a large showerhead reminded her of
the rain showerhead she had at home. Maybe tomorrow night she would take a long
soak in the huge tub. A soft knock on the door brought her out of her musings.

She
quickly grabbed a washcloth from those hanging on the rack, stuck it under some
hot water and went to answer the door. She opened it to find no one on the
other side. After she leaned out, she glanced down the hallway to both the left
and right without seeing anyone nearby. “All right, Joel. That’s not funny.
You’re scaring me.”

“What
are you talking about, Mesa?” he asked, coming up the stairs in front of her. “Who
are you talking to?”

“Uh.
No one, I guess.”

“I’ve
got your suitcase.”

She
stepped aside to allow him into the room. “Just set it on the bed and I’ll
unpack it in a minute.” She told him to sit on the edge of the bed as she took
a spot between his spread thighs. She exhaled forcibly through her lips so she
could focus on the task at hand and not his hard thighs now encasing her lower
half. The cut on his lip didn’t look too deep. With her finger inside the
cloth, she dabbed at the cut.

“Ouch.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s
okay. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

He
winced as she dabbed again. It had to hurt, she knew but all she could think
about was kissing those full lips. She wanted to see his eyes dark with desire.
Feel his hands on her bare flesh. Have those lips on other places of her body
like her breasts, her nipples, or her clit.

“You
okay?” he whispered, glancing up through those impossibly long eyelashes.

“Yeah.”
Her heart pounded behind her ribcage.

“Your
pulse is fluttering.”

“I
know.”

“Why?”
His voice continued in a soft, coaxing tone reminding her of how he spoke to
the horse while she gave birth to her foal.

“It’s
nothing, Joel.”

“Do
you want me to kiss you?”

She
closed her eyes and licked her lips.
God,
do I ever want you to kiss me.
More than my next breath.
More than a winning lottery ticket.
More than…

The
next thing she knew, he had twisted her around so she lay flat on the bed with
him hovering over her. He bent down and brushed his lips against hers so softly
she wasn’t sure if he’d actually kissed her.

“You
shouldn’t be doing this.”

“I
know.”

He
kissed her again, this time with his tongue softly brushing her lips as if to
ask for permission to deepen it. Her lips parted of their own accord without
her even thinking beyond how his lips felt against hers. The dip of his tongue
tore a moan from her mouth. She tangled her hands in the front of his western
shirt, wanting nothing more than to remove the barrier between his skin and
hers.

The
fire burning in her gut prompted her to return kiss for kiss, touch for touch.
The caress of his fingers against the side of her breast brought her straight
up on the bed, breaking the kiss.

“What’s
wrong?”

“I…uh.
We shouldn’t do this. Remember your mother’s rule.”

“I
know, but I can’t help but want to touch you. Kiss you.” He ran his fingers
down her cheek. “You’re a beautiful woman, Mesa. I’m not sorry.”

She
touched her fingers to her lips as he turned to go.

“Goodnight,
Mesa.”

“Goodnight,
Joel.”

Chapter Six

“Stupid,
Joel. Really, really stupid!” He threw the horse’s bridle across the tack room
before he raked his fingers through his hair, knocking his Stetson from his
head.

“Whoa.
What’s got your panties in a twist?” Jacob asked, putting one of the saddles
back on the rack. “You aren’t usually this strung up.”

“Nothin’.”

“It
doesn’t sound like nothin’ to me. Throwing tack usually means you’re pissed.”

“Fine.
I’m pissed.”

Jacob
removed his hat and tossed it on the desk in the corner. “About?”

“A
woman.”

“So?”

“It’s
Mesa.” He paced from one side of the tack room to the other with agitated
steps. The thing with Mesa had him wound up tighter than a string of barbwire.

“Ah.”

“I
kissed her.”

“Yeah,
we all saw it out by the bonfire.”

“No,
after that. More than once.”

“I
still don’t understand what the big deal is.”

“I
can’t get involved with someone who is only going to be here for a few days.
It’s crazy.”

“So
you have a quick fling. What’s the problem?”

He
stopped and turned to face his brother. “The big deal is she’s not the kind of
girl you have a quick fling with, Jacob. She’s a nice girl. The kind of girl
you settle down with.”

“Seriously,
Joel. Settle down?”

“I’m
not thinkin’ of settlin’ down, idiot, but she’s not the barfly type.”

“Maybe
she is. You never know.” He picked up the bridle and hung it on the rack.
“Maybe you should ask her?”

“Ask
her? Really? What do I say? How about a quick fuck, Mesa?”

“Sure.
Why not?”

Joel
picked up his Stetson and put it back on his head. “Maybe. I mean she’s
attracted to me from what I can tell. She definitely got into the kiss we
shared.”

“Just
fuck her already, would ya,” Jason added, coming in from the corral. “I’ll take
her off your hands if you want. Not like she could tell the difference between
us anyway.”

“I
bet she could.”

“I
bet she couldn’t.”

Joel
stuck out his hand. “How much?”

“A
hundred bucks,” Jason answered.

“You’re
on.”

“Fine.
After dinner, I’ll take her up to her room and turn on the charm. I bet she
kisses me and lets me feel her up.”

Joel
squinted and snapped, “I bet she calls a halt to everything after the first
kiss if not before.”

“You
know very few people outside of the family can tell the difference between us,
Joel. I bet she can’t.”

“I
think she’s more into me and will be able to tell right away.” Joel kicked a
rock near the toe of his boot back out into the corral. He sounded confident to
his brother, but he wasn’t so sure. What if Mesa couldn’t tell the difference?
What if she liked Jason better than him?
No,
this is nuts. I know what our kiss was like. We could set the sheets on fire if
I could get her between them.
“I know what I felt when we kissed.”

“She’s
just a woman, Joel. Nothin’ special.”

“You’re
wrong there, Jason. She is special.”

* * * *

The
dinner bell clanged and Mesa frowned. She hadn’t seen Joel all day. Was he
avoiding her? Probably. Men didn’t take well to being put off when they had sex
on the brain. Stopping their kiss the night before wasn’t a bad idea, but maybe
he felt like there wasn’t anything to gain now by hanging out with her.

As
Mesa made her way down the stairs to the dining room, the sound of voices got
louder. A bus full of tourist had arrived earlier in the day, making the whole
place buzz like a swarm of bees. Many of them went riding earlier, leaving her
the run of the ranch house to herself. She’d taken her laptop into the main
hall, set it up on one of the tables and managed to type out the beginning of a
new novel called Mission: Cowboy. She cringed. She wasn’t sure she liked it,
but she figured a new title would come to her when the characters started adding
their voices to the storyline. She wasn’t a plotter when it came to her stories
so everything depended on what they said.

Stopping
on the stairs, she looked over the group. All the tourists were back and the
place was packed to the gills. The family waited at their table for the group
to be served while they chatted about their day. Joel sat at the end of the
table next to an empty chair she hoped might be for her. Or was it Joshua?
Maybe Jason?
Damn
. From this distance
she wasn’t sure which one was which?
Damn
it
.

“Mesa,
come sit by me, darlin’.” One of the three waved from the end of the table.

She
chewed on her lips a moment and then started down the stairs.
Okay. Joel? Shit. I’m not sure.
She took
the seat he held out for her, dropping into it with little grace.
Nice, Mesa.

“How
was your day?”

“Great.
I got a lot of writing done in the main lodge.”

“Awesome.”

The
rest of the group had been served, so the family got up to get their own plates,
which included her. Joel or whichever one of them this was standing next to
her,
grinned and motioned for her to take the spot in front
of him. His cologne drifted to her nose. It seemed different somehow. She
looked closer. No, she couldn’t really tell if it was Joel, Jason, or Joshua.
Well, yes she could because Joshua had a small cut near his chin and Joel had a
small abrasion near his bottom lip from their fight at the bar last night. This
must be Jason. But what was he up to? Was he deliberately playing like she
didn’t know the difference? Surely they didn’t think she was that stupid.

“I
enjoyed our kiss last night,” he whispered near her ear.

Okay,
she didn’t like this game. What the hell was going on? “Really? I’m glad.”

“Me
too. I want to take you out in the moonlight tonight after dinner. You game?”

“Okay.”
She frowned.
Really?
She grabbed a
plate in order to get her dinner as the conversation lagged. Discussing this in
front of his family wasn’t a great idea. She glanced around looking for Joel.
He stood at the back of the line frowning. What kind of game were they playing?

She
returned to her place at the table, setting her plate down first before she
retrieved a glass of lemonade and a dessert. Jason slid his hand along her
shoulder as he took the seat next to her. Now she knew why the cologne was
different, he wasn’t Joel. Why was Joel giving her the cold shoulder? What did
they plan?

The
conversation around the table focused on the day’s labors. They’d moved cattle
from the south pasture to the north pasture. Several of the cattle had dropped
their calves already making everyone worry it might be too late in the season
and they would suffer without extra feed. She could hear many of the tourists
talking about their ride on the horses that day and she mentally planned to do
some riding of her own tomorrow. Horseback riding was one of her favorite past
times. She wanted to explore the ranch more with Joel, though. Not on a strict
trail ride.