Read Cowboys Like Us Online

Authors: Vicki Lewis Thompson

Tags: #Romance, #Adult, #Western, #Contemporary

Cowboys Like Us (3 page)

BOOK: Cowboys Like Us
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That info flashed in neon lights in his hormone-soaked brain. So her bedroom was right over their heads. “That’s convenient.” He picked up the bin full of glasses and headed into the kitchen.

As he loaded the commercial dishwasher, he fought with his conscience. He’d pictured some time alone, maybe a few kisses, some fondling.
But her bedroom was right upstairs.

He probably shouldn’t go there, even if he could work it so nobody ever had to know but the two of them. Then again, she might have mentioned it on purpose, hoping he’d take the hint. She might not have time for a relationship, but was there anything wrong with some good old-fashioned sex?

He sighed. Josie had specifically requested that he put on the brakes, and he was considering flooring it. She was
obviously protective of Caro, and Logan admired that. But should Josie be the one to decide what happened between Caro and him? Or should she be allowed to choose for herself?

So much hinged on Caro’s attitude. After spending several hours working with her, he saw her as upbeat and levelheaded, not the sort of woman who would expect one fun night together meant wedding bells.

He started the dishwasher and walked back out into the bar, where Caro wielded a push broom with gusto. The rapid motion made her breasts quiver under her red checked Western shirt. From her complete concentration, someone might conclude that the fate of the world rested on getting every last bit of debris off the floor.

Logan had always admired hustle, but he knew she must be tired. “I’d be glad to finish that up if there’s something else you need to do to close the place down.”

“Not really.” She kept sweeping, her gaze focused intently on the job, her fingers clenched around the broom handle. “As you noticed, it was an open bar tonight, which was Josie and Jack’s gift to the happy couple, so I don’t have to tally any receipts.”

“Want me to take out the trash?”

She shook her head and kept working. “It’s better to put it out in the morning. Once in a while we have bears come through at night.” She looked up. “We’re basically done, Logan. Thanks so much. You can head on over to Judy’s place if you want.” She put her head down and continued to sweep as if her life depended on it.

“Trying to get rid of me?”

She stopped in midsweep and gazed at him. “No, but I’ll bet you’re exhausted.”

“Funniest thing, but I’m not particularly sleepy.”

“Oh.” She started sweeping again, but her motions were
slower. “Then if you don’t mind getting the small broom and that long-handled dustpan, I’d appreciate it.”

“I can do that.” He found them over in a corner and began gathering up the piles she’d made and dumping everything into a plastic-lined trash can.

“Logan, do you have a girlfriend?”

He almost choked on his answer. “No.” He could think of only one reason for that question. He cleared his throat so he could elaborate as he continued to scoop up trash. “I was dating someone, but it turned out she wasn’t crazy about going out with an ex-baseball player.”

“Ouch.”

He glanced over at Caro. “Actually, it was one of the good things about leaving the game. She had a chance to show her true colors.” He paused. “Do you have a boyfriend?” From Josie’s comments, he was fairly sure she didn’t, but he might as well make certain.

She leaned on the broom. “I used to. Curtis got tired of me not being available because of my grandma. We broke up about six months ago.” She took a deep breath. “Quite obviously, I’m not girlfriend material at the moment. There’s no room in my life for a man.”

Logan nodded, as if they were discussing the weather. “I understand completely.”

“But…”

“Yes?” Dear God, he hoped this conversation was leading where he thought it was.

She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. When she finally spoke, the words came out in a rush. “Would you be interested in coming up for a nightcap?” Her cheeks were pink but her gaze was steady.

His heart thudded in anticipation, but he wanted to be sure this was what she really wanted. “You must be tired.”

Her hazel eyes grew dark and her breathing quickened. “Not that tired.”

Dear God, she wanted him in her bed. Only a fool would pass up a chance like this, and Logan was no fool. “Then yes. Yes, I would love a nightcap.”

3

C
ARO COULDN’T QUITE
believe she’d just invited Logan Carswell, big league baseball star, up to her apartment. Even more unbelievable, he’d accepted. Eagerly. She’d acted on pure instinct, and apparently her instincts were on target. They wanted each other.

The old nightcap routine was as transparent as ever. He had to know as well as she did why they were going up there. And unless Logan walked around with condoms in his wallet, he needed to make a trip into the Spirits and Spurs men’s room. After Curtis had dumped her, she’d taken the remaining condoms out of the medicine cabinet and cut them up with a pair of scissors as part of some silly ritual to proclaim her new celibacy.

Once Logan left town, whenever that turned out to be, she’d be celibate again, at least until her grandmother regained her former spirit. But opportunity had pounded on the door in the person of Logan Carswell, wounded athlete. Caro was more than ready to give up her mental chastity belt and embrace that opportunity to have a little fun.

Logan dumped one final dustpan’s worth in the trash. “Is that it?”

“Yes.” Her heart raced. “I’ll put the brooms away in the kitchen if you’ll…” She found herself unable to finish the
sentence. Inviting him up to her place on the flimsy pretext of a nightcap was one thing. Telling him to patronize the vending machine in the men’s room was a whole new level of chutzpah.

“If I’ll what?” He met her gaze. “Oh.” Understanding registered in his brown eyes. “Guess I’ll just duck into the bathroom for a minute.”

“Okay.” Her cheeks felt warm with embarrassment as she grabbed both brooms and the long-handled dustpan. She fumbled and dropped the push broom. The handle banged against the floor.

Before she could retrieve it, Logan reached for it in one fluid motion and held it toward her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” What a doofus she must seem to a guy with his sophistication. Here she was, dropping brooms and sending him after condoms. She wondered if the women in Chicago always had supplies on hand before they impulsively asked someone up for a nightcap. Probably.

Well, she was a small-town girl from Shoshone. Besides, she’d been pissed at Curtis, and cutting up the condoms had seemed justified at the time. She’d wanted to destroy something, and that had been the best target for her anger.

Logan hadn’t returned by the time she walked back into the bar. Her hands trembled slightly as she pulled her keys out of her pocket and locked the back door. Then she doused all the lights except for the soft ones that Josie left on for security purposes, although crime was unlikely in Shoshone.

The dim light helped calm her a little, but if Logan didn’t come out soon, she was seriously going to lose her nerve. She’d almost made up her mind to cancel the plan when she heard the door to the men’s room open. Then she heard it swing shut again.

She gulped. It was put up or shut up time.

He walked toward her. “Seen any ghosts yet?”

“Nope.” She wondered how many condoms he’d bought and if that was what had taken him so long, but she wasn’t about to ask.

“What kind of ghosts are they supposed to be?”

“Cowboy ghosts, of course.” She could barely hear herself speak over the thundering of her heart in her ears. “Have you heard of the old song ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“They call these guys ‘ghost drinkers in the bar.’”

He laughed. “I like that. I almost wish one would show up, but not enough to hang around waiting.”

So he wanted to get on with it. Gulp.
“Like I said, I’ve never seen one myself.” Her chest felt as if somebody had tightened a cinch around it. She’d never done anything like this before. Usually she got to know someone over a period of weeks or months before she progressed to this step.

But if she wanted Logan, and she did, then she had to woman up and direct him to her apartment. “We’ll have to g-go outside,” she said. “The s-stairs to my apartment are on the outside of the building.” Damn. She
never
stuttered.

“Caro.” He laid a gentle hand on her arm.

“What?” She whirled to face him, nearly stabbing him in the chest with her keys.

He rubbed her arm. “You don’t have to go through with this if it makes you nervous.”

“But I want to.” And now that he’d touched her—on purpose, and not accidentally while they’d been working together—she
really
wanted to. Nervous though she might be, she yearned for him in a way that was shocking in its intensity.

His voice dropped to a soft murmur. “You’re sure?”

Her answer came from some deeply buried part of herself, one that she’d never allowed to surface. “Kiss me and you’ll find out how sure I am.”

“Good idea.” His grip tightened on her arm and he guided her forward while he cupped the back of her head with his other hand, fingers spread.

She stopped breathing, stopped thinking, stopped noticing anything but his mouth as he drew her closer. He had a beautiful mouth, sculpted enough to be masculine, full enough to be sensual. She closed her eyes and trembled in anticipation.

“I’ve wanted to do this all night.” His breath was warm on her lips. He brushed her mouth with his. “You’re shaking.”

“I know.”

His lips stroked over hers again. “It’ll be okay.”

“I know.”

Then he settled in, and it was more than okay.

His kiss was velvet and sleek, rich and luxurious, slow and sweet. He savored her mouth as if tasting expensive brandy served in a crystal goblet. She had never felt so cherished.

Her keys clattered to the floor as she took his head in her hands. She wanted more. She wanted everything. Angling her mouth over his, she invited him deeper. He accepted the invitation with a firm thrust of his tongue.

Yes.
She whimpered and he pulled her in close, sliding his arm around her waist and pressing her against his very hard, very aroused body as he continued to kiss the living daylights out of her.

Dear heaven, he really was a professional athlete, with all the toned muscles that job required. She’d known that intellectually, but experiencing it physically was more exciting than she’d imagined. She stroked his supple back, his broad shoulders, his tight buns.

With a groan he lifted his head and gazed down at her in the dusky light. His voice was hoarse. “You’ve convinced me. Let’s go.”

She struggled to breathe.

Releasing her, he scooped up her keys as if fielding a
baseball, and put them in her hand. “If we don’t get out of here right now, we’ll never make it up there.”

“Then let’s go.” She moved toward the front door on unsteady legs. As she opened it, she thought she heard soft laughter coming from somewhere behind her. She turned. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t you laugh just now?”

“No. I thought it was the door hinge.”

She paused, playing the sound over again in her head. “Guess so.” It hadn’t been a door hinge, but she wasn’t going to go ghost-hunting tonight. She had more important things on her mind.

 

S
MALL
-
TOWN GIRLS PACKED
a sensual punch, Logan concluded as he fought to stay cool while climbing the narrow set of stairs behind Caro. Her hot little body sang a siren’s song with every creak of the steps. He swore steam was coming off her denim-clad fanny.

Although he hadn’t indulged himself with a woman recently, in the past he’d been involved with sophisticates who dressed in expensive lingerie, women who were into sex toys and flavored body paint. Not a single one had turned him on the way Caro had with her blushing request for vending-machine condoms.

When she’d invited him to kiss her, he’d gone up in flames. Where had she learned to talk like that? When she paired her down-home cuteness with sex-kitten suggestions, she became an irresistible combo of sweetness and sin that made him wild for her.

He’d bought three condoms, and those had been hard-won. Despite a few whacks with his fist, the machine hadn’t wanted to cooperate. He’d finally decided three would do. He still
wanted to end the night in Grandma Judy’s guest room, for appearance’s sake.

Now he wondered if three would be enough, after all. He might not be able to force himself to leave before dawn, and he was a real fan of sex in the morning.

Caro reached the landing and seemed to have lost her jitters, because she opened the door without fumbling. He took the last two steps in one leap and followed her inside, his heart hammering and his johnson aching.

She hit a switch beside the door and a floor lamp in one corner illuminated a small living room on the right and a tiny kitchen on the left. Both were spotless, with cozy touches like gingham curtains at the kitchen window and colorful throw pillows on the leather sofa.

As he clicked the lock on the front door, she turned to him. “I could offer—”

“Just you.” He tossed his hat like a Frisbee toward the sofa. He didn’t look to see if it had landed as he pulled her into his arms. “Offer yourself, and I’ll be a happy man.”

“I can do that.” Sliding out of his arms, she backed toward the hallway. “Follow me.”

“You’ve got it.”

“First, the shirts.” She took hold of her lapels and pulled. Snaps popped like cap guns, and the cotton bra covering her pert breasts didn’t fool him in the least. She might not be wearing something obviously sexy, but he saw the fire in her hazel eyes. She was a volcano ready to erupt.

He was so busy looking at what her open shirt revealed that he didn’t follow orders.

“Your shirt, Logan.”

He sure as hell didn’t want to hold up the program. He wrenched open his shirt, shrugged out of it and tossed it to the floor as he continued down the hall.

At the doorway to her bedroom, she reached for another
switch, and lamps on twin nightstands winked on. “You said you liked light.”

“I do.” He gestured toward her bra. “Are you going to take that off, or shall I?”

She backed into the room with a soft smile. “I will.” She reached behind her back to unhook it. “You’ve had a long night.”

“Wouldn’t trade it for the world.” He started to unbuckle his belt, but his hands stilled as she slipped off her bra. She might prefer cotton, but breasts as full and perfect as hers deserved designer silk. Her wine-colored nipples puckered under his gaze.

His fingers flexed and he took a step closer. “I want—”

“And you’ll have.” She backed to the other side of the small room, putting the bed between them. “But I can take off my clothes faster than you can.” She waved at him. “Continue with what you were doing.”

He had to laugh. She was the most logical little sexy thing he’d ever come across. He had to admit she was right, especially when it came to dealing with belts and boots.

He tried to be quick about it, he really did. He managed to pull off his boots, but after that, she became a major distraction. When she leaned down to take hers off, her breasts quivered enticingly.

Then she began to wiggle out of her jeans, causing more breast shimmy. The soft denim caught on the elastic of her panties and they came off along with the jeans. She stood naked before him, and that required his undivided attention.

As she pulled the scrunchie from her ponytail and shook her hair free, she glanced over and caught him staring. “You’re still mostly dressed.”

He swallowed. “And you’re not.” He’d suspected she’d be fine to look at, but hadn’t realized she’d look
this
fine. Maybe country living made a woman’s skin glow like that.
Or maybe—and this was an ego-boosting thought—she was flushed with desire for him.

In any case, she was radiant, as if someone had buffed her body until it gleamed with rosy good health. He stood mesmerized, his glance traveling over the wonders he longed to touch, to taste, to lose himself in. No body piercings for this woman. No Brazilian wax, either. A neat triangle of light brown curls awaited him.

She cleared her throat, which snapped him out of his daze long enough to get rid of his jeans and his knit boxers. He had to work both of them over an erection that felt bigger than the Hancock Building. He was gratified when she sucked in a breath. Nice to be noticed.

She’d stood still while he looked, so he afforded her the same privilege. This was the first time—and maybe the last time—they would see each other without clothes. They should make it count.

He wished he was in better physical shape, but his knee had kept him from the full workouts he was used to. Her breathing picked up as she studied him, though, and he kind of thought she liked what she saw. Her gaze lingered on the purple scar where he’d had knee surgery.

Surgery hadn’t put him back in the game, but at least he could walk without hobbling. In fact, he could dance for short stretches, a fact he’d proven tonight. He’d told himself to be grateful for that much.

“Looks painful,” she said.

“It is, and I’m not talking about my knee.”

Her mouth tilted in a smile. “Cute.”

“I prefer the term
impressive.

She laughed and flung back the covers, which included a colorful patchwork quilt. “Are you fishing for compliments, Carswell?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me just say that UPS would likely slap a surcharge on that package of yours.” She climbed into bed and stretched out, facing him. “Gonna deliver it?”

“Yeah.” He was really starting to like her, and that could be a problem. He might want to remind himself, beginning now, that this was only temporary. “Special delivery, overnight male.”

BOOK: Cowboys Like Us
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