Stud in Texas (Rugged and Risque 4)

“Doesn’t get any easier,” he told her.

“I understand that. I saw the white Arabian, of course. But Caleb had already begun treating the cuts from the barbed wire and he’s not nearly as mentally disturbed as Bells or Midnight. Or some of the others.”

“We’re lucky to have a few that just need time to heal physically, not mentally.”

“I really admire you,” she said. “Everyone at the ranch, to tell you the truth. Even the volunteers and security guards are concerned about the horses’ wellbeing.”

“Well, that’s one of the finer points about Texas, darlin’. Plenty of horse lovers who just want to keep them safe.”

“You make a damn good cowboy.” She kissed him.

Against her lips, he said, “You keep kissing me and we’ll be saddlin’ up again. In about two seconds.”

“Okay.” And her mouth covered his once more.

In the morning, he made her a loaded omelet and hash browns.

She slid onto a stool at the breakfast bar. “And he cooks,” she mused.

“Pretty handy at the grill too,” he said with a wink.

“No surprise there. I’m starting to think you’re some sort of Superman.”

“Hardly.” He set a plate before her, then settled on a stool across from her. “I’ve made love to you twice and I haven’t even taken you out on a real date.”

“At least you’re feeding me.”

He chuckled at her playful banter. They had an easy, natural rapport. Not something Sam had encountered before. He and Caleb had spent most of their lives trying to discern the intentions of the female persuasion.

When one had as much money as the Bennetts did, ulterior motives were the order of the day. Ferreting them out had become a necessity early on for both Sam and Caleb—and it’d created a lot of internal and external conflict when dating. One of the reasons Sam hadn’t bothered with it since coming to Wilder. That and the fact no one had caught his eye or captured his interest. Until Sky had come to town.

The woman enjoying breakfast in his kitchen was not one whose motives he questioned. He had enough experience to be able to tell the difference between fake and genuine. What she wanted from him didn’t come with a price tag. They already shared an emotional connection. Now an intimate one. If she was after anything, it was his heart and his body.

He laughed again.

“What’s so funny?” She eyed him over a forkful of omelet.

“Just thinking about how much I want to make love to you again.”

She put the fork down. “So take me back to bed.”

* * * * *

After their early morning romp, Sky drove to Luckenbach, showered and dressed. If there really was a Cloud Nine, she was on it.

Her night with Sam had her believing a person’s bad luck could change on a dime. And to top it all off—as if landing a studly cowboy with a hearty sexual appetite wasn’t enough to make a cowgirl ridiculously giddy—she hadn’t received a voicemail message from Mac in twenty-four hours.

She wouldn’t completely get her hopes up, since today was a new day. But it was the first time in months that he’d left her alone.

She’d surmised from the beginning that he must have enough of his own money to cover whatever payments he arranged to make while trying to con her out of additional funds. So maybe now that he’d gone silent, he’d either paid the debt in full or he’d found some other way to come up with the sixty grand. Probably by swindling another sucker.

Yes, she felt like ten kinds of fool, but Sky had to admit that Mac had been the one to get her the audition with Casey James. So he’d been on the up and up at some point.

Too bad she’d gotten him on the tail end of his winning streak.

But she refused to let her poor judgment spoil her day. She stopped off at the general store to say hey to Luckenbach friends, most of them milling about the area, going about their business before the evening’s concert and dance started. Then she headed back to the ranch.

Sky’s day got even better when she found a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers in a glass vase sitting on her counter. She unfolded the accompanying note and smiled.