Bad In Boots: Colt's Choice (6 page)

* * * * *

Colt looked up as he heard Mace walk down the hall. Earlier, he had seen Elise pass by his door to go outside, but she had come back in and was now in the bathroom. Colt stood up and stretched. It was the end of the day. Time to go home. He was glad it was the end of the week. He walked over and leaned in the doorway as he watched Mace standing patiently near the front door of the office.

Colt turned at the sound of Elise exiting the bathroom, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She had changed from her everyday jeans, boots and cotton T-shirt to a thigh high spaghetti-strapped dress that showed off her gorgeous shoulders and flared around her firm thighs. The dress was fire engine red and the contrast with her dark hair fueled his desire like none other. He looked down to see matching strappy high-heeled sandals on her feet and hardened instantly.

“Hi, Colt.” She smiled and walked over to stand next to Mace. “Ready to go?”

Mace let out a low, appreciative whistle, took her hand and twirled her around in circle. “Gee wiz, Elise. I don’t know about taking you to Rockin’ Joe’s tonight. Maybe I’ll just keep you all to myself.”

Elise elbowed him in the stomach. “Hey, you’ve been promising me all week you would show me how to do the two-step. No backing out.”

Elise glanced at him. “Wanna come, Colt?”

Hell yeah!
Colt pushed himself off of the doorjamb of his office. “Sure. Why not? I haven’t been out in a while. Let me get my hat.” He may not plan on touching Elise, but there was no way he’d to let Mace take her out alone. No fuckin’ way!

When he came back out of his office, they were gone. Colt walked outside to see Elise getting into Mace’s red convertible Mustang.

Mace pulled up beside him. “We’ll meet you there, bro.”

Before he could insist on riding with them, Mace took off in his car.

Colt grumbled to himself about sibling rivalry as he made his way to his truck.

* * * * *

Rockin’ Joe’s was just as he remembered it, a good-time bar with lots of drinking and dancing. As he walked through the dim, smoke-filled room, country music playing in the background, he spotted Mace and Elise sitting in a secluded corner booth. He’d bet his last dollar Mace had brought many dates to that very booth. Colt set his teeth and headed for the table, his boot heels making a dull thud on the wood floor as he walked.

When he slid into the bench seat beside Elise, she was now sandwiched between both Tanner brothers. Just as he’d settled in his seat, Mace grabbed Elise’s hand as “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” started up in the background.

“Come on, Elise, they’re playin’ our song,” he drawled as he pulled her out of the other side of the booth.

“See you in a few, Colt.” Elise turned and smiled back at him as Mace led her to the dance floor.

Colt watched his brother swing Elise in his arms. His chest tightened as she laughed up into Mace’s face when she missed a step and tripped. Mace caught her and pulled her closer. Colt fisted his hands beneath the table and set his jaw. He wanted to punch Mace square into the middle of next week.

Thankfully the song ended and Mace escorted a breathless, rosy-cheeked Elise back to the table.

She fanned herself and smiled. “Can you get me something to drink, Mace? It’s hot in here.”

Mace slid back out of the booth. “Anything in particular?”

“How about Sex on the Beach?” She grinned at him and gave Colt a sideways look. “I haven’t had that in a while.”

Colt groaned inwardly. The woman was way too sassy for her own good.

Mace gave him a suggestive smirk before he swaggered away. Colt turned his gaze to Elise and chose a neutral subject. “Looks like you had a good time out there.”

Her sparkling green eyes met his. “Yes, I did. I’ve never danced the two-step before. It was fun to learn.”

“How’s the website going?”

“Great.” Her face became more animated as she talked. “It’s been a while for me, so I had to pull out my textbooks. The code was a little trickier than I had initially thought.” She noticed his raised eyebrow and rushed to assure him, “But I think I have it all figured out.”

Colt looked at her sincere face. “Something about you tells me you wouldn’t let it go until you got it right, Elise.”

As she gave him an appreciative smile, Mace returned with a whisky for himself, Sex on the Beach, complete with a cherry on top, for Elise, and a beer for Colt.

“Thought you could use one, bro,” Mace said as he handed Colt a longneck.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As soon as Mace sat down, a redhead slid into the booth beside him, her arm going around his shoulders.

Her arrival made Mace scoot over and Elise in turn was forced to move closer, pressing her thigh against Colt’s. A jolt of electricity shot through him as the heat of her leg touched his. With blood rushing straight to his erection, he had to focus to concentrate on what the redhead was saying to Mace.

“Where have you been, darlin’?” she drawled as she cut her eyes over to Elise, sizing her up.

Mace laughed and said, “It’s good to see you, too, Lana,” before he turned and introduced her to Elise and Colt.

Lana turned pouty lips to Mace as a slow song started to play. “Come dance with me, Mace honey.”

Mace glanced at Elise as if asking for permission.

She laughed and shooed him on. “How could you possibly turn her down?”

As Mace slid back out of the booth, this time to be led away by the lady, Colt and Elise watched the well-endowed redhead wrap her arms around Mace and pull him flush against her body.

After a few minutes, Elise must have realized she was still pressed against him because she breathed out an embarrassed, “Oh,” and moved over a few inches in the booth.

Colt wanted to tell her to stay but knew better. He didn’t say anything even though he missed her soft heat already.

They drank their drinks in silence. He felt her inquisitive gaze on him as if she were probing him and wondering about his thoughts.

He refused to look at her. He didn’t want to look down into those gorgeous emerald eyes, the kind of eyes a man could lose himself in if he wasn’t careful.

Mace and Lana came back to the table laughing, arms wrapped around each other. They sat back down, on the other side of Elise, forcing her to move back over against him once more.

Colt swallowed hard. He didn’t know how much more he could take. He and Elise listened as Mace and Lana exchanged all kinds of sex innuendos. His own libido had kicked into overdrive with the first brush against Elise, he didn’t need any more stimulation. He felt like yelling, “Will you two get a room, already?”

He chanced a glance at Elise. Big mistake. She had finished her drink and proceeded to suck the last of the drink out of the cherry. She met his gaze and popped the whole cherry, stem and all, past her luscious lips into her mouth.

He went rock-hard instantly but resisted the urge to growl out his sexual frustration.

Lana slid out of the booth and said to Mace, “Come on, sexy.”

“Sorry, Lana, but I brought Elise tonight.”

Lana frowned and Elise cut in, “It’s okay, Mace, Colt can take me home.”

And straight to bed
, Colt thought without really thinking. He was thinking with one part of his body, that’s for damn sure. He wanted her so bad his balls throbbed. Why was wanting her such a bad idea again? he argued with himself as the seductive pull Elise seemed to have over him reached out, grabbed hold of his gut and squeezed. Tight.

When Lana licked her ruby red lips in a suggestive manner, Mace turned to Elise and Colt, saying as Lana pulled him away, “I love it when a woman knows how to use her tongue for more than just talkin’.” He saluted them both as he walked in the direction of the exit with Lana.

Colt looked back at Elise, his body literally aching. Aw hell, he could keep his emotions out of the mix. The truth was, physically he’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted this one. One way or the other, he’d convince her to make their unplanned date tonight a real one.

“Don’t worry, Colt. I’ll get a cab. I just didn’t want Mace to worry about having to take me home.”

When she finished speaking, she smiled at him. With a secret look in her eyes, she touched her lips, then put something in front of him on the table. “Night, Cowboy,” she said in a sexy Virginian accent as she started to slide out of the booth.

Colt looked down at the table in front of him. Sitting on the table was the cherry stem tied in a nice, tight knot. And damn, she had done it all with that delectable tongue of hers.

“Not so fast, Princess.” He put a staying hand on her thigh.

Elise turned questioning eyes his way.

He continued in his best Texan drawl, “You’re going to have to learn you can’t tease a cowboy like that and leave him hangin’, darlin’.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I don’t know… I think turnabout is fair play.”

Colt stared intensely into her eyes and let his tone turn serious. “I’ve thought about nothing else for days. How much I regretted walking away from you instead of doing what I really wanted to do,” he paused, and swept his heated gaze down her gorgeous body then met her gaze once more. “I want to make it up to you,” he finished as he trailed his hand higher up her leg, then firmly gripped her inner thigh.

When her pupils dilated, he smiled, letting his touch grow bolder as he continued his hand’s ascent until his fingers teased the edge of her panties.

Elise’s eyes widened in surprise and she inhaled deeply before she slowly exhaled and said, “Where? Here?”

Colt raised a challenging eyebrow. “Where better?”

“But we’re in a public place.” She looked around, her gaze wary.

“Then you’ll have to keep your screaming down,” he said as his grin turned lascivious.

Elise laughed outright at his arrogance. “You’re pretty damn sure you’ll succeed, aren’t you?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” he countered as he removed his hand and placed his arm on the back of the booth’s seat behind her. Aligning his body with hers, he reached for her thigh once again with his other hand.

Elise looked up into his eyes. The rapid pulse beating at her throat told him how much the idea aroused her. It made him hot knowing the thought excited her. He wanted to damn well make sure the reality was equally as fulfilling.

Chapter Five

Elise couldn’t believe she was actually considering his offer. Her heart racing, she looked around one more time. Well, their booth
was
secluded and there was a tablecloth on the table. Her stomach tightened and her nipples hardened as she looked up into Colt’s deep blue eyes, now full of blatant desire.

“More power to you, Cowboy,” she said in a nonchalant tone.

Colt gave her another sexy grin as he slid his hand up the smooth flesh of her inner thigh, slowly massaging the muscles.

She held her breath in anticipation and almost let out a whimper of pleasure when his knuckles brushed against her mound through her panties.

“You’re wet for me already,” he chuckled, sounding pleased. “Or was it all that talk about getting-it-on in a public place that got you all hot and bothered?”

Embarrassed, Elise looked away and lied, “It was the second part.”

“We’ll just see if we can’t remedy that then,” he said as he rubbed his fingers against her clitoris through the material.

Elise’s blood pressure roared in her ears and she drew in her breath at his touch. Colt applied more pressure, this time in a circular motion, making her want to rock her hips with his movements. She closed her eyes at the sensations his knowing touched elicited.

“Keep your eyes open, or people may wonder what we’re doing over here,” he said. Her eyes snapped open as he slid a finger past the edge of her underwear and rubbed her own moisture against her throbbing nub. “It might help if you look at me, else people will wonder why I’m so close to you, darlin’.”

His deep, baritone voice, coupled with that sexy, seductive, Texan drawl, sent chills up and down her spine. Elise looked up into his eyes. As she did so, he pushed his finger deep inside her, causing her to gasp and involuntarily rock her hips forward. The sensations she experienced felt so good and so naughty at the same time. She knew she wouldn’t take long.

“Like that, do you?” he teased, his blue eyes smoldering as he watched her.

Elise looked away, her cheeks flaming with heat.

“Don’t look away, Lise. I want to see the passion in your eyes.”

His voice was so sincere, so compelling. She turned her gaze back to his.

“I’m so close,” she whispered, then bit her lip, arching her back as she pressed against his hand.

“Not yet,” he said while he slowly slid another finger inside her channel, his touch intimate and thorough.

She groaned at the added thickness rubbing against her. “But I can’t wait,” she panted and grasped the table for support.

“Yes, you can, Lise,” he whispered into her ear before he trailed his lips down her neck to place a hot kiss on the bare skin along the sensitive curve of her shoulder. Goose bumps formed on her arms at the brief brush of his lips against her.

Colt removed his fingers from her body, causing her to glance up at him sharply. His look was intense as he started to pull her thin wisp of panties down her hips. “I don’t want anything in my way,” he rasped, his expression determined, aroused. She lifted her hips to help him as he slid her underwear down her legs and over her heels.

Colt shoved her underwear in his back pocket and slowly trailed his fingers back up her leg, driving her insane with his unhurried movements. Just when she decided to grab his hand and put it where she wanted it, he surprised her by grasping the inside of her thigh in a firm grip and lifting her leg up and across his muscular one. With her leg draped over his jean-clad thigh, she felt open and wanton, exposed to his every whim. Elise held her breathing in check, because it had suddenly gone very shallow as she awaited his next move.

He looked down into her eyes; his own had turned a deeper shade of sapphire blue. His sexy five o’clock shadow made her want to rub her hand against the rough surface. Tiny tremors skittered through her body as he gently brushed his fingers across her, teasing her, running the pads of his fingers up and down her most intimate places in a slow, tantalizing rhythm.

“You’re hot and wet, responsive to my touch. I want to know what it’s like to be inside you. I’m jealous of my own damn hand right now.”

Elise gave a nervous laugh at the fierceness of his tone combined with his humor. But her laugh hitched in her throat when he immediately thrust two fingers deep inside her core. She couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips as he added his thumb to the mixture, finding her hot spot and applying just the right amount of pressure.

Elise tried not to cry out as her body spiraled and finally spasmed around his fingers, but she just couldn’t do it. Colt must have sensed she couldn’t hold back for he covered her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue against hers at the same pace his fingers moved within her, slow and sure, drawing out every tremor.

When the overwhelming spasms stopped, he withdrew his hand saying in a gruff voice, “Look at me, Elise.” Elise’s body still shook from the orgasm he’d just elicited from her, but she managed to meet his gaze. He gave her a sexy smile that was all too cocky as he said, “I like the fact you couldn’t keep quiet. It’s a helluva turn-on to know I can make you lose control like that. Want to go for round two?”

Elise placed her hand on his jeans where his hard flesh pushed against the fly of his pants. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a saucy grin. “I don’t know how much more you can take, Colt.”

Colt’s laugh sounded forced even to himself. “Maybe you’re right. Care to go for a ride?”

She gave him an innocent look, blinking her eyelashes for effect. “Does that mean I get to be on top?”

He meant his truck and she damn well knew it. Colt chuckled and helped her slide out of the booth.

When he pulled the door open for her to exit the bar, a draft of warm Texan heat blew in, causing her dress to lift up in the air. Elise let out a startled gasp and pushed the front of her dress back down. Colt immediately moved flush against her back as they walked through the door to keep the back of her dress from flying up and exposing her naked backside.

Once they were outside, Elise laughed. “I was feeling a little too footloose and fancy free in there.” She turned and put out her hand. “Can I have my underwear back now?”

They were alone in the dark parking lot, standing beside his truck, the muffled country music floating back to them from the bar. Colt pulled her underwear out of his pocket and gave her a devilish look. “These?”

Elise reached for her black lacy underwear, but he held them aloft with one long finger. “Nah, honey, I don’t think so. Why bother when I’m just going to take them right off you again anyway?” He crushed the soft material in his hand and put the underwear to his nose, closing his eyes and inhaled. When he opened his eyes he felt a rush of satisfaction to see Elise’s lips part in surprise at his thoroughly intimate gesture.

Colt shoved the underwear back in his pocket and pulled her soft body against his harder one. “Faint smells may prime me, but I’m a very visual and sensory man. I want to experience
you
firsthand.”

Elise ran her hands up his arms and across his shoulders. Pulling his head to hers, she whispered in his ear, “Well then, you’d better get a move on, darlin’ because I’m one ahead of you.”

She pushed away from him, her seductive laughter floating behind her as she moved to the passenger side of the truck. Colt immediately followed her and opened the truck door for her to climb in.

Her voice reflected surprise as he grasped her hand, “Oh, a cowboy and a gentleman. What a treat!”

“I didn’t realize they were mutually exclusive,” he replied in an amused tone as he smoothed her skirt across her backside while she slid into the seat.

She gasped as his hand cupped her rear end and turned laughing eyes his way. “Okay, a cowboy who plays at being a gentleman so he can cop a feel.”

Colt gave her his sexiest grin. “I take my opportunities as they arise, Elise. Doesn’t mean I’m not a gentleman.” He pulled the seatbelt and snapped it closed around her before he shut the door and moved around to his side of the truck.

As he turned his truck onto the highway, he glanced her way. Elise had turned very quiet. He hoped he hadn’t somehow offended her.

When his gaze met hers, she gave him the best come-hither-look he’d seen in a long time. Holy hell, he wanted her. She moved restlessly against the leather seat, her green eyes beckoning him. Her movements reminded him of a sexy cat, calling to her lover with her sensuous, lithe movements.

“I’m way too far away over here, Colt,” she complained as she moved to unbuckle her seatbelt.

“Uh-uh, Elise. Keep the seatbelt on. We’re almost to the ranch.”

She licked her lips, then pouted. “I was hoping to even the score.”

Colt groaned at her suggestion. “We’ll have plenty of time—”

His cell phone started ringing on the floor of his truck. Colt leaned over and picked it up. “Tanner, here.”

“Colt, it’s Rick. One of your prize bulls is actin’ funny. Thought you might like to check him out.”

“Call Evan. Tell her to meet me there. I’ll be there in a few.” Colt swore as he hung up the phone. His gut clenched in disappointment at the shitty news.

“I take it our date is off,” Elise quipped. “Is everything okay at the ranch?”

Colt shifted his gaze to her. He wanted to throttle someone. Of all the rotten luck.

“Sorry, Elise, but Rick needs my help. Duty calls.”

Once he’d driven up the long drive leading up to the ranch, he stopped the truck and cut off the engine. Propping his arm on the steering wheel, he faced Elise, regret in his voice. “You don’t know how sorry I am.”

“Oh, I think I do,” she laughed softly in the dim light of the truck. Suddenly, her eyes brightened and she squared her sexy shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong. I could help you.”

Colt shook his head and smiled as he ran a finger down her cheek. “Elise, if you come along, I’d spend all my time looking at you instead of helping out like I should.” In his mind, there was no need to drag Elise into this. It could be a bad run of luck, but it smelled more like Riley’s doing.

Leaning over to brush his lips against hers, he said in a low, dark tone, “I know you’ll be worth the wait.”