Satin & Saddles (2 page)

He grinned. “I’m counting on it.”

His big silver truck was parked a good distance away, and the moment she was in the truck she pulled off her heels and wiggled her toes.

“Feels so much better with those off.” She sighed and leaned back. “Not to mention these seats are wonderful. Especially after being on my feet most of the day.”

It was almost an hour and fifteen minutes from Tucson to Patagonia, which gave them time to talk and get to know each other a little better. He was easy to talk to and she didn’t have to fill any awkward moments with chatter on her own. That wouldn’t have been a problem, but she preferred when the guy she was with could actually communicate well.

Mike, on the other hand, had taken some coaxing to get him to talk. But once they’d hit it off as friends, it had been much easier.

“How well do you know my brother’s new wife?” Dillon asked as he drove.

Carly studied his features that were shadowed in the glow of the dashboard lights. “I’ve known Sabrina since we studied at the University of Arizona. We had a couple of classes together and really clicked.”

“What did you major in?”

“Journalism.” Carly put her elbow on the console between them.

He glanced at her. “You are a journalist?”

“Not anymore.” She brushed dark hair behind her ear. “I’m an author.”

“What do you write?” he asked.

“Mostly paranormal romance.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like Stephen King but with romance?”

“Not exactly.” She laughed. “Romances with vampires, werewolves, and shifters.” It was hard to explain paranormal romance to anyone who’d never heard about it.

“Sounds…different.” Dillon’s mouth curved into a smile. “I enjoy reading, so I’ll just have to get one of yours.”

“What kinds of books do you prefer?” she asked.

He thought about it a moment. “Stephen King and Dean Koontz… Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Zane Grey…among others,” he said. “Along with the occasional biography and books on various wars throughout history.”

“Men and wars.” Carly shook her head but smiled. “I like most of the authors you mentioned, although I’ve never read any of the westerns. I’m not as crazy about non-fiction. I tend to prefer to get lost in worlds an author creates.”

“Is it hard to write paranormal romances?” He seemed genuinely interested in what she did.

“It’s not what I’d call easy,” she said. “You have to establish a whole new world, so to speak, and then work within the rules of that world. And if you break those rules you’d better have a good reason. Probably the best way to understand it is to read it and then you’ll know what I mean.”

“Sounds interesting,” he said. “Not just in reading material, but interesting in the career you’ve picked out.”

“I love it.” She leaned back in her seat. “I’m fortunate to get to do what I love full time. Not everyone gets that opportunity.”

“I guess you could say I’m lucky, too,” he said. “Ranching’s in my blood and I wouldn’t do anything else.”

“I like that.” She glanced out the window at the road illuminated by the headlights, then looked back at him. “I like a man who loves what he does and knows what he wants.”

“Then you’re gonna love me,” he said with a smile as he looked at her. “I know exactly what I want.”

And she knew exactly what he’d meant.

She didn’t want to go there right now so she changed the subject. “There was a huge turnout for Wyatt and Sabrina’s wedding. An awful lot of people on both sides of the aisle. Her side was mostly family—she has a crazy number of relatives and as many sisters as you have brothers.”

Dillon nodded. “On the Cameron side was mostly friends. I have three brothers and a sister but the rest of our family is relatively small.” He glanced at her. “What about your family?”

“I guess you could say we’re a medium-sized bunch.” Carly smiled. “Most of those in my immediate family and my extended are outgoing with the exception of my mother and my youngest brother who are a little more reserved.”

“We can count you out as reserved,” Dillon said.

Carly raised an eyebrow. “You can tell that just by one night?”

He gave her an are-you-kidding-look. “From the moment I saw you, I noticed you’re anything but an introvert.”

“You got me,” she said with a laugh.

He gave her a hot and sexy look. “I sure do.”

She studied his profile. He had such hard, masculine features and it was obvious he was most definitely a man’s man.

But beneath that was a layer she’d like to get to know better. A whole lot better.

It was two a.m. by the time they reached her house, which was down a short road that was a little isolated from any neighbors, something she loved. He parked beside her red Jeep and killed the engine.

She slipped on her shoes and Dillon was at her door before she even had a chance to open it. His hand was warm as he helped her out of the big truck. Delicious flutters went through her belly as they walked up her porch steps and reached the front door, the porch illuminated by the light she’d left on. She opened the door then faced him.

“Thank you for the ride home.” She felt a thrill roll through her at the way he was looking at her. “You still have a long drive to get to your ranch.”

He braced one hand against the doorframe as he studied her. “It’s not bad. A little less than an hour.” He brought up his free hand and stroked hair from her face. “I want to kiss you in the worst way.”

“How about in the best way?” She tilted her face up.

He gave a slow and sexy smile, shifted his stance, and slipped one hand into her hair at the nape of her neck. With his other hand he brushed his thumb over her lips, causing her to shiver. He lowered his head slowly, as if waiting for her to say no. But she moved her mouth closer to his, wanting to feel his lips against hers.

His lips were firm as they met hers, and she sighed into his mouth as his lips parted. Her tongue met his and she tasted his masculine flavor. His kiss was slow and easy as he explored her mouth.

When he drew away, she was breathing a little faster and she was unable to look away from his eyes, the blueness of them captivating her. She reached up and trailed her fingertips along his stubbled jaw.

He caught her hand in his and brought her palm to his lips and kissed it, causing crazy sensations to zing throughout her. “Since you’re mine for the weekend, I’ll pick you up around ten in the morning and we’ll go back to my ranch where I get to keep you for the day. That should give you enough time to get some rest.”

“You don’t need to go to the trouble of driving all the way here to get me,” she said. “I can drive to your place.”

“Isn’t any trouble at all.” He shook his head. “Gives me an opportunity to spend a little more time with you.” He gave a little grin. “You’re my captive audience.”

She smiled. “What are we doing?”

“I’ll think of something.” He caressed the back of her neck, trailing his fingers up to her nape and down to her shoulder blade. “Then tomorrow night is the barn dance and potluck at the fairgrounds.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She moved her fingers from his jaw and placed her hand against his muscled chest and felt his heartbeat beneath her palm.

He brought his mouth to hers again for another amazing kiss. He didn’t even try to push her for something deeper and stronger. The kiss was powerful the way it was and it sent thrills from her head to her toes.

When he stepped back, he smiled. “Goodnight, Carly.”

“Goodnight.” She stepped into her house and stood with the door open as he walked down the steps to his truck.

She watched him as he climbed into it and started the engine. Then she closed the door and locked it behind her.

Dillon Cameron was enough to make a woman forget her vow of remaining single. After her ex-husband, Tim, had left her, Carly had decided she’d rather just have fun than date anyone seriously.

That’s what made Mike Sharpe so great. Like her he wasn’t serious, and they could go places and do things together as friends. They hadn’t taken it as far as friends with benefits, something she was definitely not into doing.

But Dillon… She drew back her living room curtain and peered out into the night as if he would still be there. Of course he wasn’t and she stared at the place where he’d been parked.

Her thoughts lingered on the kiss. It had been almost electrifying, the way it had sent sparks glittering throughout her body. He had turned her on in more ways than just physically. He stirred her thoughts, making her wonder what a permanent relationship with him would be like.

She shook her head and sighed. Carly Abbott enjoyed men and that was it. There was no way she was going to put her heart in danger of being ripped apart by another man.

It was early morning as Geoff watched Carly from a distance, down the road from her house standing in the shadow of trees. The binoculars made it seem like she was almost close enough to touch.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her… She was gorgeous.

After she settled herself in a chair on her porch, she put her long tanned legs up on a footstool as she settled in with her laptop.

She was as beautiful as he remembered and soon she would be his—forever. There was no hesitancy, no doubt whatsoever in his mind. From the moment he learned where she was, he had decided to track her down. He had meticulously planned out everything right to the first moment he would talk to her.

He would gain her confidence. And then it would be time.

Her figure was full and curvaceous. She had large breasts that he wanted to touch, to squeeze as well as prominent nipples that he wanted to bite, nipples that often poked against her T-shirts. He wanted to tear away her clothes and see the body that she’d hidden from him in the past, before he could get her into bed.

It wouldn’t be long now until he seduced her…

He wanted to feel her struggle beneath him as he took her… He’d take her again and again. He imagined his hands around her throat as he choked her and what her face would look like as she started to fade away. How it would turn purple as she fought him, clawed at him, struggled to break free.

And then he would let her breathe long enough to regain consciousness, and then he would choke her again.

He had no doubt she would love it, and soon crave it. It was a high like she could never have felt before.

His dick hardened as he thought about Carly beneath him and he shifted against the tree to alleviate the ache in his groin.

As he watched her type on the computer, his thoughts turned to the past.

It still burned him under his skin, how she had rejected him… He hadn’t understood why she would turn her back on him and he still didn’t. They had only dated a short time but had been the perfect couple until she had inexplicably told him that she wanted to date other men.

He’d followed her, kept track of her. When he had found out about the man she’d started to date, he had wanted to make the bastard who’d taken her pay in ways that were almost unspeakable.

But then Geoff had taken that damned trip to Los Angeles where some whore had told the cops that he’d tried to strangle her. The bitch had told him she loved rough play. But thanks to her, he’d ended up in jail, long enough for the one he loved, Carly, to marry another man.

Once he returned, something held him back from hurting her husband. Something had stayed his hand. And now he knew what it was.

Fate.

Fate had led him to this point and time. The bastard had left and she was now isolated and alone, with a broken heart, in this godforsaken country. Virtually stranded. If the asshole hadn’t abandoned her, then she wouldn’t be as vulnerable as she was now.

Perfect. Ripe for the picking, like a sweet peach that he intended to devour.

Now that she was alone, now that he had found her again, she would turn to him. She would know that she needed him, and he would be there to comfort her as her world fell apart.

And he would make sure that it did. Her life would lie around her, shattered, and she would go running to him. She would cry on his shoulder, take him into her confidences, and she would love him.

Whatever it took, he would do it. This time she was his…forever.

He wasn’t going to let her get away from him this time.

Not now. Not ever.

Carly plopped down with her laptop on one of her favorite chairs on the front porch to get in a couple of hours of writing before Dillon arrived. She’d been smiling all morning. Something about him made her feel like a giddy, excited schoolgirl, something she hadn’t felt since her teenage years.

But it was more than that. Dillon wasn’t some schoolboy. He was a man.

All man.

The house smelled of chocolate chip cookies. She’d made her favorite recipe to take a double-batch to the potluck tonight. It was one of her only specialties and always popular. Plus it was something that would keep while she went out to the ranch.

She forced herself to focus on the document on her computer, which was not an easy thing to do when her thoughts kept returning to the cowboy she’d come home with last night and the kiss that had set her on fire.

About an hour into her allotted writing time, she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle and she squinted to see that a metallic cream SUV with dark tinted windows was coming up the drive. She glanced at her watch to double-check the time. It was too early for Dillon to arrive and he drove a truck.

A man in the SUV pulled up next to her Jeep, parked, and turned off the vehicle. The heated engine ticked as the man stepped out of the driver’s side.

“Geoff.” Her eyes widened in surprise. She stood and set her laptop aside on a table next to her chair. “What are you doing here?”

A handsome man with fair hair and light brown eyes, Geoff Burnside smiled and walked to the porch steps. He wore jeans, a blue T-shirt, and athletic shoes.

“Ran into your mother at the grocery store in Tucson.” He climbed up the stairs and faced her. “She told me that you’d moved out here to the Promised Land and that you’re divorced now.”

Still stunned, she said. “And you decided to swing by?”