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She considered that a promising question, as if he might like to know how accessible she’d be while she was in the area. “Here.”
“Ah. Overflow from the Bunk and Grub, I’ll bet.”
“That’s right. Somebody ended up staying an extra week so Pam sent me down here.”
“Happens all the time. I hope you’re not too disappointed to find yourself on a ranch instead of a cozy B and B.”
“Not at all. It’s magnificent.” And so are you. It was okay for him to ogle her, but she felt uncool ogling him. Yet she couldn’t help it. His bare chest was a sight to behold—dusted with reddish-brown hair, muscled, and gleaming with sweat.
He nudged his hat back with his thumb. “Bet they put you in Roni’s room.”
“I’m not sure. Is she a NASCAR fan? There’s lots of NASCAR stuff in there.”
“She’s a mechanic for one of the teams, only comes home for holidays.”
Dominique hoped Roni wasn’t his girlfriend. She hoped nobody was his girlfriend. “I’m glad her room is available.” Are you? She peeked at his left hand, but lack of a ring meant little these days.
“First time in Wyoming?”
“Yes. I wanted to see something different.”
“You mean like mountains and moose?” His green eyes sparkled with laughter.
“I suppose you think it’s funny that I wanted to take your picture.” She was close enough to catch his musky scent. She used to love sweaty sex. Herman had been an efficient lover, a competent lover, but he preferred air-conditioned bedrooms, so there hadn’t been much sweat involved.
“Actually, I’m flattered. It’s not often some good-looking woman points a camera at me for no good reason.”
“I had a reason.” She hadn’t meant that to sound quite so husky and seductive. She cleared her throat. “What I meant was—”
“No, no, don’t backtrack on me. I liked the implication of the first answer.”
“Which was?”
“That you think I’m hot.”
“Maybe.” She found his swagger incredibly sexy.
His smile revealed even white teeth. “For the record, I think you’re hot, too.”
Now that was good to hear. With such white teeth, he must not chew tobacco. She’d thought about that as she’d fantasized a close encounter with a cowboy. A chaw of tobacco didn’t figure into her fantasy. Eeuuww.
He stepped toward her, the first move he’d made in her direction. “So what are we going to do about our mutual hotness?”
Her breath caught. She’d started this interchange, but he’d just taken charge and issued a challenge. He probably expected her to turn tail and run.
She hadn’t come all the way to Wyoming to run away at the first sign of adventure. She was bound and determined to rediscover her impulsive side. Her heart pounding, she stood her ground. “I’m not sure. Any suggestions?”
He hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans so that his hands framed his crotch. “I can think of a way to handle it.”
She could tell he still expected her to back down. Well, he was in for a surprise. Trying not to hyperventilate, she gazed into his green eyes. “So can I.”
He stared at her. “You’re not playing games, are you?”
“No.” She swallowed and tried to breathe normally. “Are you?”
“I was a minute ago, but … damn, lady. Are you suggesting what I think you are?”
Adrenaline poured through her system. “Look, the last month has been hell. My steady boyfriend dumped me when his boss’s daughter proposed. I scheduled this vacation to get away, to be in a completely different environment, and I …” The adrenaline began to fade, leaving her shaky. “The thing is, we don’t have cowboys in Indianapolis.”
He studied her in silence.
Her words seemed to hang between them in an embarrassing display of misplaced chutzpah. She began to squirm. “Forget I said any of that. I’ll be going now.” She turned.
“Don’t leave.” He reached for her hand.
She felt his touch all the way to her toes. No, cancel that. She felt his touch all the way to her womb. Hands so callused and strong could heal her. But only if he truly wanted this.
She turned back to him. “If you’re feeling sorry for me, then—”
“No, I’m feeling sorry for the stupid bastard who put career advancement ahead of being with you.”
Hearing that from a sexy cowboy was worth her plane ticket and lodging. “Thanks.”
“Come on.” He drew her toward the truck.
She resisted. “I don’t need you to drive me back to the ranch house. I’ll walk.”
His grip tightened and his gaze locked with hers. “I wasn’t planning to take you back.”
2
NICK WAS A FIXER. Pop psychology said that was his role as the middle kid in a family of three boys, and maybe there was something to the theory. He’d been drawn to veterinary school partly because he saw it as an alternative to hard physical labor, but mainly because he loved healing injured creatures.
He’d been the boy who brought home the strays, the birds with broken wings, even a porcupine once, which had not been appreciated by his family. But that was what the Last Chance Ranch was all about, giving people and animals a second chance at life. His grandpa Archie would want it that way.
He wasn’t sure what his grandpa would have said about this woman, but Nick saw her as injured, at least psychologically. Some jerk had done a number on her and left her to bleed. Nick wanted to help.
He was honest enough to admit that wasn’t his only motivation. Helping her would be a lot more fun than bandaging a horse’s leg or delivering a breech-birth calf. Thank God he had an emergency condom tucked in the glove compartment.
Jack wouldn’t be happy that Nick hadn’t dug all the required postholes, but in days gone by Jack would have quickly abandoned the postholes for a chance like this. Just because Nick’s big brother wasn’t interested in the opposite sex these days didn’t mean Nick couldn’t indulge. Besides, this was an act of mercy.
And sweet mercy, she had incredible legs. He had to remind himself of his noble intentions as he helped her into the truck and she was forced to undo the bottom buttons of her skirt in order to make the climb. Thinking about those spectacular legs made his own journey to the driver’s side more difficult. The zipper of his fly pressed uncomfortably against his ever-expanding interest in the hot woman sitting in the passenger seat.
“If we’re not going back, where are we going?”
“I know a place.” He’d grown up on the Last Chance, after all, and that meant he’d been a teenager here. Teenagers always knew a place.
“Pam said there’s a sacred Native American site on the ranch. She talked about a huge rock that glitters in the sun. Are you going there?”
“No.” Hanging his hat on the gun rack behind his head, he put the truck in gear and continued down the road until he found the dirt track that veered off to the left into the trees. “That site is all about finding solutions to problems.” He glanced over at her. “Not to brag, but I have a solution for yours.”
Her cheeks turned a becoming shade of pink. “I’ve interrupted your work. Will you get in trouble?”
“Maybe.” He had to concentrate on his steering because the rutted road wasn’t maintained, but the image of her flushed cheeks made him want to kiss her there … and everywhere else that turned pink when she was aroused. “I have a feeling you’ll be worth it.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?” The prospect of holding a naked woman in his arms was wrecking his driving skills. He’d hit a couple of deep ruts he ordinarily would have missed.
“I want to believe you. I’d feel horrible getting involved with someone else’s sweetheart.”
He bet she would after what that a-hole boyfriend had put her through. “Trust me, there’s no one in my life right now. I don’t cheat.”
“I’m not asking because I expect anything to come of this.”
He laughed, which helped release some of his tension. “You should expect something to come of this. Or someone to come of this. That’s why I’m driving back into the trees, so we can have a little privacy. You could get loud.”
“You think so, do you?”
“I’ve known it to happen.” This was the most exciting damn thing that he’d ever done. He was shaking with anticipation. He didn’t even know her name, and he liked it that way. He’d never had stranger sex.
Realistically, he’d probably find out who she was later on today. She was staying in the main house, so they’d be introduced at some point, maybe even at lunch. That could be fun, too, when she learned he was one of the owners. She wouldn’t expect a Chance to be out digging postholes. Jack’s insane work ethic was turning out okay for once.
Nick didn’t kid himself that today would be the start of something big. She’d already told him she was a tourist who’d come to Wyoming to get over her crappy boyfriend back home. Once he’d helped her with that, she’d return to Indianapolis and continue with her life. In the meantime, his long dry spell was about to be over. Hot damn.
He reached the small clearing where he used to bring his dates back in high school, before he’d become sophisticated enough to rent a room. It was a great spot, drenched with hot memories. The sound of the creek was louder here, although it still wasn’t visible.
Birdsong echoed through the trees, and wild roses bloomed, their dark pink petals startling against the lush ferns sprouting beneath the branches. Pine needles crunched under the truck’s tires, enveloping them in a woodsy fragrance. The ground would still be damp after the rain, but all the ranch trucks carried a folded tarp in the back for emergencies. This qualified.
Cutting the engine, he turned to her. “Here we are.”
“It’s beautiful.”
He looked into brown eyes that reminded him of a doe poised for flight. After six years of veterinary work and a lifetime of caring for frightened animals, he guessed that she was rethinking her decision to allow herself this moment.
“You’re beautiful.” He reached for her, cupping the back of her head. Her glossy hair slid between his fingers as he leaned closer.
Her spicy scent was temptingly unfamiliar. He noticed a tiny mole near the corner of her mouth and the tangerine color of her lipstick.
She took a breath. “Don’t you want to know my name?”
He caught a whiff of peppermint. “Does it matter?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” He was about to kiss a nameless woman he’d met twenty minutes ago. What a rush.
DOMINIQUE FIGURED SHE HAD about two seconds to call a halt. Once he kissed her, there would be no stopping. The air in the truck’s cab was thick with lust.
Then her two seconds were up. His mouth found hers, and the storm hit. She’d never kissed a man she didn’t know. If it was always this exciting, she’d have to do it more often.
Although technically he started the action, Dominique quickly became an equal partner, giving as good as she got. His kisses were supple, talented and sexy as hell. With a grateful sigh, she surrendered to his probing tongue and the heady feeling of passion fueled by mystery.
Gasping, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I love your mouth.”
“I love your tongue.”
With a moan, he resumed the assault with ravenous kisses, but they were no more ravenous than hers. He kept his mouth on hers as he began unbuttoning her blouse. She didn’t know how they would manage to have sex in the cab of his truck, but she’d let him worry about that. She reached for the waistband of his jeans.
He drew back, breathing hard. “This is nuts. We need to get out. We also need …” He popped open the glove box in the console and grabbed a small foil packet. “Wait right there. I’ll come around and get you.”
Before she could reply, he’d bolted from the truck. Dear God, she hadn’t even thought about condoms. Not once. Maybe everyone was right, and left to her own devices, she’d head into a ditch.
But she’d lucked out again and found a guy who was more practical than she was. That was a very good thing, because she’d never been this aroused in her life. She was so hot she was panting. Her panties were drenched and her nipples ached. She wanted her clothes gone.
She heard him rummaging around in the back of the truck and then something soft hit the pine needles on her side of the vehicle.
Instead of sitting here stewing in her own juices, she could do something to move things along. In moments she’d pulled off both boots and tossed them on the floor of the cab. She’d finished unbuttoning her blouse when he opened the door.
“I’m ready,” he said.
Judging from the fit of his jeans, he most certainly was. His boots, she noticed, were on the ground next to a tarp. She swallowed. “Me, too.”
His hot gaze moved over her. “Your boyfriend is an idiot.” Tossing the condom packet to the canvas tarp, he circled her waist with his hands and lifted her down.
Her bare feet touched canvas, and then she was lost in the sensation of his palms sliding up her bare back, followed by him unfastening her bra. He undressed her with the practiced ease of a man who knew what he was about, and in seconds she stood before him wearing only her ivory lace panties. A breeze caressed her skin, but his smoldering gaze reheated every inch the breeze touched.
Cupping her breasts, he stroked his thumbs over her taut nipples. “To think I’d considered this a wasted day.”
She clutched the solid warmth of his shoulders and closed her eyes, the better to savor the sensation of those calloused thumbs ramping up the tension.
His breath feathered her lips. “You are so delicious. Thank you for this unexpected gift.” Then he settled in for another toe-curling kiss. She’d always thought “toecurling” was only a quaint expression, but this cowboy literally made her toes lift off the canvas.
Impatient, she reached for his zipper.
“Mmm.” His groan of approval vibrated against her mouth.
She shoved the jeans down over his hips, and as they dropped, he stepped out of them without breaking their kiss. She shivered in anticipation. And gratitude. Fate had sent her a cowboy with all the right moves.
When he hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of her panties and sent them sliding to the ground, she borrowed his strategy and stepped out of them. She’d wondered if she’d have the nerve to carry through, but here she was, naked in the forest with a ruggedly handsome man. And that man was kissing her in some very interesting places. Dominique Jeffries was back, baby!
Ah, she’d forgotten how much she loved foreplay. This cowboy seemed to love it, too. He moved slowly from her mouth to the sensitive spot behind her ear before making his way along the curve of her neck and across her shoulder. After kissing his way down the inside of her arm all the way to her wrist, he repeated the process on the other side.
Her collarbone got its share of attention, and the indentation at the base of her throat. By the time his moist caress reached the swell of her breast, she was a ball of fiery need, flushed and craving … everything.
And he gave it. After paying homage to her breasts, he moved slowly to her navel. When he circled it with his tongue, she felt an orgasmic tug that made her tremble.
On his knees now, he caressed her thighs. With his warm breath on her curls, he wrapped a supporting arm around her hips as he slid his other hand up, seeking. Finding.
