FOUR PLAY (2 page)

"I'm not going to qualify that question with a response." Charli pushed away from the door and scrambled through her dresser for something simple, but not too sexy. After her wanton display of all her assets, she didn't want Connor to think she was that easy.

She paused with her hand in her underwear drawer, hovering over a lace thong and a pair of granny panties. Then again, if his kiss was anything to go by...yum. Charli snatched the thong and slipped it up over her thighs, sliding the string between her butt cheeks. Her belly clenched. God, with all the sex she'd had lately, she should be tired of it by now. Instead, the more she had the more responsive she became to sensations that turned her on.

And that kiss...

She shrugged into a white lacy demi-bra that pushed her breasts up and out, revealing more than the cups covered. Over it, she dragged a thin pink tank top with a low neckline. Shimmying into a pair of worn, frayed cutoffs, she ran a brush through her hair, slapped it up into a loose ponytail and dragged her mascara wand over her lashes, brushed her teeth and called herself ready.

Not a beauty queen and certainly not the sophisticated goddess in the black dress of the previous night, but their date was for lunch, not a fancy dinner. Still, as she walked by her nightstand, she stopped, pulled open the drawer and grabbed a condom from her wishful-thinking stash, shoving it into the back pocket of her jean shorts.

A woman could never be too prepared.

Connor stood by the fireplace mantel fingering a photograph of Charli and Audrey in Cancun, Mexico. "You and Audrey good friends, I take it?"

"The best. We met in Austin and I followed her out here to help get the Ugly Stick going."

He turned to face her, his gaze slipping over her like a heated glove. "Wow, you manage to look just as sexy with clothes as without."

More heat rose in Charli's cheeks. "I really don't greet all my dates in the nude."

"I'll consider it a compliment then." He held out a hand. "Ready?"

Charli slipped her hand in his. "I guess. Where to?"

He smiled and winked. "It's a surprise." Connor opened the door and waited for Charli to step out.

When she did, she looked around for a car or truck. All she saw was her black Mustang sitting in the driveway. "Are we walking?"

Connor chuckled. "No, ma'am." He hooked her arm and steered her toward her 'stang and around the bed to the other side. A shiny black Harley stood gleaming in the sun.

Charli's heart leaped. "You know, I've actually never ridden on a motorcycle."

His brows rose. "Never?"

"Never. My mother told me she'd spank my bottom no matter how old I was if I ever got on one."

"Hmm. Obviously, your mother never rode on a Harley." He unstrapped a helmet from the back seat and pushed it down over her head, securing the strap beneath. "I'll be very careful. Promise."

"I'm not worried. My mother can't spank me anymore. She died three years ago from ovarian cancer." A pang of sorrow swept over her at the memory of her mother.

Connor's fingers paused beneath her chin and he stared down into her eyes. "I'm sorry. It must have been a terrible loss."

Her chest still tightened at the mention of her mother's death, but Charli forced a shrug. "It was a long time ago. But thanks." She smiled up at him. "How do I look?"

"Good enough to eat." He kissed the tip of her nose and slid his helmet over his head, the dark screen giving his charming good looks a more mysterious and sexy air. He straddled the seat, started the engine and moved forward, making room for her.

Charli slipped her leg over and settled in behind Connor, her naked thighs caressing his blue-jean-clad ass. Her pussy clenched. There she went again, her overly sensitized skin sending electrical bursts across her nervous system.

"Ready?"

Yeah, baby
, she was. "Ready."

Connor revved the engine once, then took off, nearly leaving Charli behind.

With a gasp, she grabbed around Connor's waist and held on, pressing her breasts against his back, inhaling the scent of denim, hay and leather—a heady combination on any man, but especially on this one.

The sun warming her back, the wind blowing across her face, Charli closed her eyes and imagined herself flying. The solid muscles beneath her fingertips flexed and stretched as he negotiated the turns in Charli's neighborhood.

When they finally reached the outskirts of town and turned onto the highway, Connor increased the speed, flying along the pavement. Trees, fences and grassland blew by in a blur.

Charli stretched out her arms beside her, and tipped her chin to the breeze, never feeling more wild and free than at that moment.

For several miles, they traveled the lone highway, passing very few vehicles until they came to bend in the road and the turn-off to a tall stone gate with Flying F Ranch written in wrought iron in the archway over the entrance. The cycle geared down.

"Isn't this Grant Fowler's place?" she asked. Charli knew Grant from his visits to the Ugly Stick. He usually hung with Ed Judson, who worked for him as a ranch hand. Grant had built a fortune in the stock market, but had settled on his ranch in Texas, doing much of his own ranch work.

"Yup. Ed introduced me to Grant last week."

"And after an entire week of getting to know each other, he invited you out to his ranch?"

"First day actually. I helped him with a mare foaling. You know the routine—up all night until the filly made her debut. Just like a woman to keep men waiting." He chuckled.

"And she showed up in her birthday suit too, I take it?" Charli smiled, imagining the two men sitting in the hay, holding vigil over the mare. The image warmed her heart in ways she hadn't considered.

Charli was for the most part a city girl, having lived most of her life in or around Austin. But a person couldn't live in Texas without some exposure to cowboys, horses and the country. She had a lot of respect for the men and women who raised livestock, putting in the hard work and long hours necessary to ensure a healthy herd.

Connor rose several notches on her estimation meter. A good man who cared about animals, and wore a sexy pair of blue jeans. Ymmm.

Her legs tightened around his bottom and she inched closer as they drove up the long road to the ranch house and barn.

Pulling up to the barn, Connor set the kickstand in place and turned off the engine. "Grant is out of town and Ed won't be here until later to feed the animals." He spread his hands out to his sides. "So, basically, we have the place to ourselves."

A thrill of anticipation skittered through Charli's insides, her body warming to all sorts of naughty things they could do in the barn, in the hay, against the wood fence, out in the open where no one but the birds, bees and horses would see them. Her core tightened, juices stirring as she slid off the leather seat and stood. She dug her hands into her back pockets, throwing back her shoulders, emphasizing the swell of the pink rib-knit tank top, the patterns of the lace demi-bra pressing through, the thin fabric.

Oh, yeah. Ever since her encounters with Original Sin, Charli couldn't look at any situation without seeing endless possibilities for sex. Wow, what did that make her? A nymphomaniac, whore or a bitch in heat? With a deep breath to steady her galloping libido, she smiled. "Well, we're here, so what's next?"

Connor unstrapped her helmet and set it on the back of the bike. "Another ride."

She tilted her head. "If we're going for another ride, should I leave the helmet on?"

"Not on the bike, we're going to take it a little slower." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and grinned. "Don't look so disappointed. I promise, we'll have fun."

Connor disappeared into the barn and emerged seconds later leading two horses, saddled, bridled and dancing around in the dirt, anxious to get going.

Her body tensed and Charli stepped back. "We're riding those?"

Connor laughed out loud. "Yes. Don't look so skeptical. I got the most calm mare of all of Grant's stock. Sassy'll be no problem."

"But there's plenty to do here. Why go farther?"

"Are you afraid of horses?"

"No, of course not," Charli lied. "Only the last time I was on one, I was ten. And that horse was supposed to be the most tame of all of them. I was thrown, ended up with a mild concussion. Had a touch of temporary amnesia along with it."

"Oh." His face fell and his shoulders drooped. "I guess we could drive across country on my motorcycle, to where I had in mind."

Feeling like a downer, when Connor had gone to all the trouble to set up this little production, Charli sucked up her fear and brushed aside his suggestion. "No. I really need to get back up on a horse to get over this fear. Let's do it."

Connor's face beamed. "Good. All you have to do is put your foot in the stirrup and swing your leg over the top." He handed her the reins and climbed up on his horse.

Too proud to admit she didn't know what she was doing, Charli reached her foot high and placed it into the stirrup.

Sassy picked that time to dance to the side.

With her foot in the stirrup and nothing to hold onto, Charli hopped several times then fell back on her butt in the dirt, her pride and her ass suffering greatly. She cringed, waiting for the laughter on Connor's part. What self-respecting woman in Temptation, Texas couldn't ride a horse?

This one. So much for impressing the war veteran.

"Hmm. Maybe we need to rethink." Connor swung out of the saddle, handed the reins to his horse to Charli. "Hold on to Sundance, while I settle Sassy back in her stall."

On one hand, Charli was glad they wouldn't be riding, so she couldn't be too unhappy about babysitting the beast while Connor tended the mare.

On the other hand, Sundance, a large black horse, stood a couple heads taller than Charli staring down his long, sleek nose at her. He sniffed, his nostrils twitching.

"What? You don't like perfume?" She looked away, hoping the horse didn't try to run off. He had to weigh ten times as much as she did.

Sundance dipped his head and nudged her, sending her stumbling forward.

"Hey. Watch it. You get to go inside next. Just hold your horses." Her choice of words made her grin.

Connor stepped out into the open about that time, took the reins and climbed into the saddle.

Charli waited for him to ride the horse into the barn. Instead he held out his hand.

For a long moment, she stared at it.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"Up there with you?" she squeaked as realization dawned that he expected her to ride double. She shoved her hands behind her back."I think I'll stay here. You two can go without me."

"I promise to take good care of you." His eyes shone down at her, a glint of humor twitching at the edges of his sexy lips.

If Charli wanted to find out more about Connor Mason, she had to climb on the darned horse. She held out her hand and placed her foot on top of his in the stirrup. Before she could say a shaky
ready,
she was swinging up and onto the horse behind Connor and the saddle, her butt landing softly on the horse's warm backside.

Sundance sidestepped and whickered.

With a yelp, Charli wrapped her arms around Connor's waist and held on for dear life.

"Hang on, Sundance likes to fly with the wind."

"But—"

Connor barely nudged the giant of a horse and Sundance was off, galloping across the prairie grasses.

Scared out of her mind, Charli clutched Connor so tightly, her face bumped into his back with each of the horse's bounces until she settled into the smooth rhythm of the gallop. Before long, Charli loosened up and dared to look around. Long stretches of pastures flowed by, the wind bending the tall grasses in a gentle sway, lifting her hair from her shoulders, fluttering the strands out behind her.

Like the motorcycle, there was a sense of freedom in the graceful strength of the horse beneath her.

As they approached a dip in the landscape, Connor brought the horse to a trot. Without stirrups to push against, Charli clenched her teeth against the bone-jarring jouncing, until the horse slowed to a walk and finally a halt.

"You first." Connor held out his arm for her to hold onto while she clambered down from Sundance.

Then he swung his leg over the horse and dropped to the ground with a hell of a lot more grace than she had.

Charli's teeth ground together and she almost gave him a piece of her mind, when she caught sight of a bright red and white checkered blanket spread beneath a gnarled oak tree beside a crystal clear stream. The blanket was anchored by a small cooler and a woven picnic basket.

The setting and the trouble he'd taken to pre-plan their lunch date charmed her and she bit back her nasty comment about the wild ride across the ranch on the back of a beast.

"Very nice." Charli waved toward the blanket. "You went all out."

"Only the best for my date." Connor led the horse to nearby shade and tied his reins to the low hanging branches of a willow tree. "I wanted to show you that a cowboy could be a gentleman too."