Luck Be A Lady (Destiny Bay Romances-The Ranchers Book 5) (15 page)

He didn’t even hesitate. Instead of giving her a smile, he grimaced. “No. It’s not you.”

Her eyes widened with shock as she jerked away from his touch. “Oh, really?” All trembling was gone.
“Who is it then?” she asked stiffly.

He tried to smile seductively, but the damage was
done. “It’s somebody who wishes she were you,” he
said, but she wasn’t buying.

She stepped back another foot or so, just to put
more distance between them. “That doesn’t make any sense.” She was hurt, yet she would have denied it.
Anger covered up the jab.

Cody still had no idea of how angry she was—or
why. “It makes perfect sense to me,” he said casually.

“Keep your conversation to yourself, then.”

He laughed softly, as though he found her annoy
ance adorable. “What’s the name of this stuff?”

“Naked Lust,” she said promptly, enjoying each
word as she said it.

He looked startled. “You’re kidding.”

“Would I kid about a thing like that?”

His sense of humor returned. “But isn’t that a book
by William Burroughs?”

“No. You’re thinking of Naked Lunch. That’s something else entirely.”

“True.” His eyes were brimming with amusement
and she wanted to hit him with a brick. “Though one
could indeed lead to another, don’t you think?” She didn’t answer. “Naked Lust. Quite a provocative name.”

Her chin rose. For some reason she felt the need to
defend this awful perfume to the death. “It was quite
expensive,” she said, glaring at him. “It’s supposed to drive men wild,” she informed him through clenched
teeth.

He grunted. “Or straight for the nearest cliff.”

“That shows how much you know about it.” She tossed her head, hair spilling about her shoulders.
“After practice is over, I’m going out to drive men wild all over town.”

He started to laugh at that, but stifled it. Not, how
ever, before she’d noticed. “That ought to be inter
esting. And what are you going to do with them once
you’ve reduced them to their primitive state?”

Kelly was shooting sparks by now. How could he not notice how furious she was? Did he really think they were just joking?
 

“I don’t know,” she retorted.
“Maybe I’ll bring them all down to the Marquis so
you can fleece them while they’re weak.”

His head went back, just a little. “What a good
idea,” he said carefully. Perhaps he was finally get
ting the feel of the way the wind was blowing. “We
could become a team.”

“Sure. Why not?” She tossed a hand out care
lessly. “I could send them reeling, and then you could
take them to the cleaners. Sounds great to me.”

Something in his gaze told her he didn’t much like
the way she characterized how he made his living.
Well, he was the gambler; what did he expect? He was the one who
was covering up for criminal activities. If he couldn’t take the heat, he ought to get out of the kitchen. She
was just about to tell him so in no uncertain terms,
when he stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her back toward the bench.

“What are you doing?” she cried, trying to free herself. “Stay away from me! I thought my perfume
disgusted you.”

“Oh, no.” He stopped near the bench, behind an awning, just out of sight of the field, holding her
a prisoner in his arms.
 

“Nothing about you could ever
disgust me.” Holding her tightly with one arm, Cody
very carefully dipped his handkerchief in the water again. Before she realized what he was planning, he’d pushed back her heavy hair and begun to rub behind
her ears and at her temples, scrubbing away the per
fume she’d so liberally applied there.

“What are you doing?” she squealed, trying un
successfully to wriggle away. As she struggled, her
hands came in contact with his hard, tightened body and her palms flattened against him involuntarily,
lessening her chances of escape.

“Testing a theory,” he told her calmly, dropping the
rag and pulling her close once more. “I just have a
feeling....” He pushed back her hair again and slowly
lowered his face to her neck.

Kelly stood very still and held her breath as he came
closer, and when she felt his lips touch the sensitive
skin behind her ear, she gasped and closed her eyes.
Chills cascaded through her and she shuddered, her
fingers moving against the solid wall of his chest. He
pressed his face to her neck.

“I thought so,” he whispered at last. “This is the
scent that will drive men wild, Kelly. Throw out that
other stuff.”

Kelly’s knees went weak and she sagged, but he had
hold of her. Her anger had evaporated. Everything
around her had disappeared. His voice, his touch were
all she knew.

He thrust his fingers into her hair and looked down into her face. She gazed up at him and lost herself in
the cloudy depths of his eyes. Her hands traveled up his chest, fingers spread wide, until her arms were
around his neck, and then he bent to kiss her softly on
the lips.

But the kiss only lasted an instant. The girls were
shouting out on the field. At last their calls pene
trated the cloud of sensuous pleasure Kelly had been
floating in. As they did, she became aware of some
thing else.

“It’s hailing!” she gasped as she pulled away from
Cody.

All around them the little chunks of ice were hitting the ground with sharp thuds. The girls were al
ready running for the parking lot. Overhead the clouds
were black and angry, and for the first time, Kelly
heard thunder roll.

“Come on.” Cody took her hand and began to run. She followed him blindly, trying to protect her face
from the flying ice.

“Here we go.” They crouched and made their way into a barricaded area. It wasn’t until she’d caught her
breath that Kelly realized they’d found shelter in a
corner under the bleachers. The ground was pressed dirt, still warm and protected from the storm outside. She sat down with a sigh, crossing her bare legs and peering out at what was going on outside.

“Omygosh, they’re as big as golf balls!” she cried
as a few bounced inside their niche.

“Well...not quite.” Cody held one between his thumb and forefinger. “More like marbles.”

“Hmm,” she grumbled, narrowing her eyes to look at it before it melted. “They look like golf balls from here. And they certainly sound like golf balls.” She
squinted out through the torrent. The noise of the ice
hitting the metal bleachers above them was so loud she
winced and had to shout her next question. “Do you
think the girls are all right?”

“I think they made it to the cars. Some of the parents are here and I heard some of them yelling instructions. They’re meeting at the
pizza parlor. I only hope they took all the gloves with them.” He leaned out, surveying what he could see of the field. “I don’t see anyone left,” he noted, pulling back in. He moved closer and they both leaned back against the solid wall behind them. From where they
sat, they could see the hail outside, falling like a
constant sheet of ice.

“It sounds like it’s going to go on forever.” She
glanced up at Cody. He was sitting close enough to
touch. “What will we do?”

The moment the words were out of her mouth, she
had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. It was obvious from the look on Cody’s face that he had plans.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he drawled, and slowly put an
arm around her shoulders. “I think we’ll find some way to spend the time.”

Kelly looked up at him. The memory of the way
he’d been nuzzling her neck only moments before sent a thrill through her. Maybe he hadn’t been teasing her,
after all. “Really?” she said brightly.

He shrugged. “We could play twenty questions or discuss the efficacy of space travel in the new century.” He touched her chin with his finger and his voice lowered
to a rough growl. “Or we could make out.”

“Make out!” The words amused her.

His arm tightened around her. “Too teenage for you? Somehow the other words for it seem too graphic—even threatening.”

Threatening? Was that it? Did he think she was too
Goody-Two-Shoes for him? She turned on him earnestly. “Listen, mister, I’ve been married and had a child. I’m not some innocent little schoolgirl, you
know.”

Cody grinned at her vehemence. “Yes, but there’s
something about you, something fresh and untouched.” He shrugged again. “I don’t know. As
though you’d been rumpled by life, but not damaged.
Do you know what I mean?”

The laughter had left his eyes by the end of his
statement.
 
She read
 
puzzlement there, wariness.

Frowning, she shook her head. “Not exactly,” she said softly.

He stared at her. “Do you feel safe, Kelly?” he asked at last.

She wanted his touch, his kiss, but she wouldn’t lie to him. “I never feel completely safe around you,” she
whispered.

He drew in his breath, head back, then decided to try to make a joke out of it. “Thank you very much.”

“No, I don’t mean that.” She turned to him, her
eyes entreating him to understand. “There are things
about your life that I don’t like. Things you believe in
that I don’t like. But I trust
you
, Cody. Absolutely.”
Reaching up, she touched his cheek. “I don’t feel safe
with you because...”
 

She took a trembling breath.
This was more difficult than she’d thought it would
be. When she spoke again, her voice was choked.
 

“Because you send my emotions into a tailspin when
ever I’m near you.”

He made what sounded like a soft groan and cov
ered her hand with his, turning his face to press his lips
to the center of her palm. “Kelly,” he murmured hus
kily. “You tear me apart.”

She didn’t know what that meant, but she knew she
wanted him to understand that she was a mature
woman with a woman’s feelings and not something
pure, to be protected. She stretched toward him and then she was in his arms. His face touched hers, and then he kissed her forehead, her eyelids and her lips
with short moves that set up an ache within her. His
large, supple hands were stroking her body and then
his mouth was on hers, caressing, probing, tantaliz
ing her with the promise of much, much more.

She arched against him, wanting to press herself
into him, to mold herself to him. Her hands found muscle and hard, smooth flesh and she clung to him, letting her hands, her mouth tell him everything she
couldn’t put into words.

He was hot and sweet, soothing and exciting. She
felt herself falling and didn’t care. Her arms felt heavy.
Her eyelids drooped; it was too hard to keep them
open. Where he touched, it sizzled and she pulled him
closer for more.

“Kelly, Kelly,” he sighed against her swollen lips.
“Take it easy. We’re going semipublic here.”

She laughed softly and kissed him again. “How
long are we going to do this?” she whispered, breath
ing in the wild, musky scent of his skin.

“As long as it keeps storming.” He nipped at her
earlobe.

“Pray for rain,” she murmured. “Or hail. Or whatever.”

He kissed her again and she sighed. He was still
being much too careful. She wanted to feel his hand on
her breast. She wanted the stroking to find every se
cret place her desire was hiding. The designs his fin
gers were creating on her back and neck were heavenly,
but they only made her want more.

He shifted position and his hand brushed against
her breast. She gasped and her fingers moved convulsively, digging into his arms. Looking down at her, his expression was bemused. “Did I hurt you?” he whis
pered.

She shook her head, her green eyes wide with long
ing. He stared into them for a long moment, then his
gaze dropped to the breast he’d inadvertently touched.

As though he could read her mind, he reached out slowly and his fingers curled around the lapel of her
blouse, pulling it back. The snowy white bra seemed to blaze in the gloom of their hiding place and Kelly
silently cursed the modesty that had forced her to wear
it. But it didn’t hamper Cody. His fingers slid beneath the strap, pulling it out and slipping the bra down until her entire breast was revealed, small and high, the
tight nipple trembling for his touch.

He didn’t move. She held her breath, her eyes
squeezed shut. The cool breezes from the hailstorm
tickled the skin, unused as it was to being exposed this
way. And still he didn’t move.