Cowboy Crazy (The Dalton Boys Book 1) (7 page)

“Charlotte, these are my brothers, Cash, Kade, Witt, and Beck.” He pointed them out, and she followed, growing hotter by the second.

“You all look alike.”

As if he’d done it a dozen times, Hank caught her hand and placed it on his chest. The skin beneath her fingers was scorching, even with a layer of cloth between them. “I’m Hank, remember.”

Dead silence filled the room, and Charlotte’s ears burned. She pulled her hand free and practically hid in the oven as she placed the pie inside.

“One lousy pie? That’s it for our homecoming?” The man Hank had pointed out as Cash’s drawl sounded so much like Hank’s.

“That’s
our
pie—meaning Pa, Momma, Charlotte and me. The rest of ya can go without.”

“Aw c’mon.” Beck crowded close to Charlotte, peering into the oven at the apple pie she was extremely proud of. He had a thumb hitched in his pocket, the same gesture Hank had. “You’ll give me a slice, won’t you, Charlotte?”

“Where’d you get her?”

She turned from the stove. Naturally, she drifted closer to the man she was more familiar with.

Hank almost closed the gap between them, his shoulder so close to hers that she felt his body heat. “Charlotte had car trouble. I’m working on rebuilding a transmission. In the meantime, she’s helping Momma.”

“Where’re you sleeping?” Kade waggled his brows, and Hank’s knuckles caught his brother’s jaw lightly, whipping his head around with very little force. If he wanted to lay someone out, he had the muscle.

“You leave off. Nothing’s going on here.”

Wasn’t there? Could she discount toe-curling attraction that made her ache when she lay in bed at night?

Yes, Hank was right. She was only fulfilling her side of the agreement, then she’d go on with her life. The thought of driving away from the ranch made her stomach clench. She didn’t like roaming, and she felt so comfortable here—and needed.

“I did hear my boys’ voices.” Ted stood in the doorway, hand braced on the jamb. “Get out of your Sunday best, boys. Got work to do.”

With a few grunts of annoyance, the guys filed out after their pa. All but Hank. He turned to her, eyes soft. The finger under her chin was softer. He tilted her face up. “You okay? They like to tease, but I won’t let them go too far.”

“I’m fine.”

He stared at her lips. “That’s good.”

She waited, but he didn’t raise his gaze or remove his finger. Her belly was melted chocolate, running all over and turning her to mush. The bald desire in his gaze made her heart trip faster.

“Actually,” his Adam’s apple worked up and down, “you’re more than fine.” He swooped in slowly, giving her time to duck. As his hard lips slanted across hers, she closed her eyes.

Drowning in sensation and desire, she cooed. He answered with a groan, hands bracketing her face. He brushed his lips over hers harder. Again. Faster this time. With increasing pressure, he stole her mind.

She didn’t realize she’d wound her arms around his neck until she felt the brim of his hat against her arm. He pivoted her to rest against the counter and parted her lips with his tongue.

She gasped, giving him total access. In a blink he took advance, driving his tongue inside, curling and tasting. White-hot need pooled between her thighs, wetting her silky panties.

He ravaged her, pulling her onto tiptoe and against his every hard inch. Through his jeans, those hard inches were quite apparent. Her nipples ached, and her pussy pulsated in rhythm to each pass of his tongue.

He planted a hand low on her back, molding her to fit his body. Her body screamed to get closer. He felt so good, tasted better. She loved the way he looked at her, and he knew how to treat a lady.

He inched his hand down, snaking it around her hip.

She froze.

Feeling the change in her, he straightened. Yet he didn’t let her go. Lights burned in his eyes, but something else flickered there—uncertainty.

“I...I’d best clean up this mess.” She darted under his arm and put distance between them. But damned if she could erase his touch. Her lips had been branded by his kisses and she felt as if honey flowed through her veins.

That touch on her hip, so strong and sure—it was too much. He didn’t know why and she couldn’t say the words. She had to keep this from happening again.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and forced her to look at him. “Charlotte, don’t pretend that didn’t happen.”

“It shouldn’t have.”

“It felt too good to be a ‘shouldn’t have.’”

She loved the way he said that, but she was out of Paradise Valley Ranch as soon as Maggie was on her feet and Hank had her car fixed. Panic splashed over her. What if he refused to fix her car if she turned him away? What if he tried to throw her body into the deal?

She met his gaze—the same gaze that had convinced her he wasn’t an ax murderer and climbing into his truck was a good idea. She still trusted him.

“I just…need some space and time to think.”

He released her but didn’t move away. His closeness felt so right, she longed to press her nose against his shirt and feel his arms around her again. “I understand that. I’ll be in the garage. You know where to find me.”

As he left her alone in the kitchen with a mess of flour and mixing bowls, she couldn’t stop replaying his words. Did he mean he wasn’t going to pursue her again? If not, could she live without it?

Chapter Four

The crisp night air cooled the perspiration on Hank’s skin. He stretched out on his bedroll on the porch floor and stared at the stars set into a black velvet sky.

While the universe intrigued, the butter yellow square of light cast on the yard was more interesting. His bedroom window, his light. Charlotte was still awake.

His gut clenched. The kiss they’d shared had only been a warm-up for what he really wanted. She was sweet and tempting, and while he didn’t know her favorite dessert or childhood nickname, he knew she was a kind person. The way she treated his parents and the animals conveyed that.

In the past few days she’d been on the ranch, he’d analyzed his attraction over and over. While pitching hay, while nailing in a loose board. Was he only interested because she was convenient?

No.
If he’d seen her on the county fair, he’d buy her a candy apple and beg her to go on the Ferris wheel. She was the kind of girl that got under a man’s skin.

He gnashed his back teeth together. Every Dalton boy was too aware of Charlotte’s charms. Since his brothers had come home, Hank felt as if he was defending his chicken from the foxes. While they completed the chores together, they’d drilled him with questions about her. His answers had been short and hard, so much that even Cash got the point.

“You layin’ claim, brother?” he’d asked.

Hank filled two horse troughs with grain before answering. “Maybe I am.”

But he’d never been more unsure in his life. He didn’t want her to believe he was taking advantage. He was a gentleman through and through—he would never compromise her or make promises he wouldn’t keep.

A few stolen kisses could be forgotten, but she would be on the ranch for several more weeks. He wasn’t a full-time mechanic, and Momma needed help. A lot could happen in a few weeks.

We could get to know each other better. Explore this attraction.

Or she could fall for one of my brothers.

With a groan, he slung his arm over his eyes. The night sounds of crickets and insects should have soothed him, but he felt hot, tense—and he had a raging hard-on for that woman.

In the distance, a coyote barked. He’d have to set Beck on the trail tomorrow morning so the predator didn’t get one of their calves.

He crossed his feet at the ankles, visions of Charlotte doing a country line dance in his head. Flying down a back road with her, making her giggle until her curls danced.

He pushed out a breath. When had he gone all-in?

The minute I laid my hands on her.

He needed to know so much more about her. Did she like to sing? Had she ever gone fishin’, and could a city girl live happily in the country? Were there pages in her history that hurt too bad to flip through?

He knew there were—after their kiss, dark pain had smoldered in her gray eyes.

“Dammit.” He flipped onto his side, but the wooden floor was unforgiving. His shoulder dug in and he ended up turning onto his back once more. At least the night was cool. In Texas, that didn’t happen often. Rain was on the way, and by week’s end, he and his brothers would be up to their asses in mud.

The yellow light had vanished. Hell, the urge to go upstairs and slide into bed with her scorched hot. The way she’d felt against him, curves fitting into his hard angles…

At the creak of the door opening, he jackknifed into a sitting position. The drum of his heart gave away his hope that it wasn’t a family member sneaking out of the house. When the bare toes curled onto the cool porch boards, Hank stopped breathing.

Charlotte drifted out in a nightgown that glowed blue in the moonlight.

His cock jerked against the fly of his jeans he’d chosen to sleep in. As she turned to quietly close the door behind her, his ability to breathe returned. He sucked in a long breath, fighting for control.

“What are you doing out here?” His voice was a stranger’s croak.

She held up a hand. Two longnecks glistened. “Thought you might have a beer with me.”

As his mouth was suddenly as dry as the cracked Texas sod in July, a beer was a damned good idea. He tucked his knees up and gathered himself into a crouch before standing.

Charlotte padded barefoot to the porch swing and sat down. When he crowded beside her, she passed him a beer.

“It’s a cool night.” Her voice was sweet music.

He twisted off the cap and drank to keep from yanking her across his knees and plunging his tongue into her mouth. When he lowered the beer, he said, “There’s a front coming in.”

“Really?” She looked beyond him into the dark fields. “I suppose you didn’t hear that from the six o’clock weather report.”

“Nope.” He smiled, unable to resist meeting her gaze. Light and shadows played over her features, highlighting her delicate bones and turning him into a raving lunatic, hungry for a taste of her.

She pushed off with a toe, and they began to rock. The slow rhythm coupled with her feminine scents was anything but lulling. He swallowed more beer.

“Why did you come out here, Charlotte?”

Instead of answering his question, she said, “When I left Phoenix I could only think of getting away. I’d spent too much time there after…well, I just needed to get out. Far away. I thought I might end up in California, but I didn’t really have a destination in mind when I started driving.”

He waited, listening to what she didn’t say as much as when she did.

She stared at the beer in her hands. “I figured I’d just drive into a town where I’d instantly feel at home.”

“That didn’t happen.”

She looked at him for a long heartbeat. What was going on in that pretty little head of hers? Her lips had looked so damn gorgeous swollen from his kisses earlier. He needed to see them that way again.

Gently he removed the beer from her hand and set it with a soft
clink
on the floor, along with his. Then he took her hand, her arm, shoulder, soft waist, and he pulled her into his arms. She came easily, leaning across his lap and making him burn with desire.

Up close her eyes glittered. “I don’t know why I came out here, Hank.”

“I do. You like my kisses.” Before she could deny it, he claimed her mouth. The initial crush of lips beneath his lit a fire he’d let go long untended. With a growl, he sank his tongue between her lips and drew a moan from her. Sweet torment, sweeter woman.

Whatever she was working through, he’d wait for. If it meant he drove two hundred miles every weekend to visit her in some stinking, polluted city, he’d do it. He just didn’t want to let this chance fade. He didn’t have a lot of experience with women, but he knew this was something special.

Pressure built in his chest as he slicked his tongue over hers again and again. Her arms wound around him, and she leaned close, breasts rising and falling. He nibbled her lower lip, then the point of her chin. She squeaked, and the sound pierced him deep.

Need unlike any he’d ever known was a flare of warning he didn’t heed. He continued to kiss a path down her delicious throat to the crest of her breasts. Small, perky, only a handful each. So perfect for him.

She arched against him, and he spattered kisses over the flesh then cupped her breasts. She issued a ragged sigh, which he took as consent.

She dug the blunt points of her nails into his shoulders, pulling a primal groan from him. He released her breasts and yanked her closer to straddle him. Her cotton nightgown rode up, revealing smooth thighs and a shadow between.

Pure heaven.

“Charlotte, gorgeous woman. I can’t get enough of you.” He returned to kissing her as if it were his sole duty in the world. She grew weighted and pliant in his hold, exploring his back with her hands, down to his waist, then up again in slow, maddening increments.

When he slipped a hand over her knee, she didn’t resist. Silken heat met his hand, and he followed it, up between her thighs to her center. The crotch of her panties was damp and distended by her swollen folds.

“Hell, sugar. You’re so hot.” He edged a finger beneath the elastic of her panties and rumbled as he met slippery wetness.

She threw her head back, parting her legs to give him access. As he explored her puffy outer lips then the wet inner folds, he watched her face ripple with pleasure. Spurred on, he ran a finger down her seam. She gave a mewl of delight, and he almost lost it then and there. Biting off his rising need to sink into her, he slowly glided his finger upward to the swollen bundle of nerves that would send her flying.

She cried out, grinding down on his touch. God, he needed to see her stretched out in the moonlight, but he was terrified that if they moved to the floor, her haze of passion would vanish and she’d go inside, leaving him miserable and aching.