The Cowboy's Texas Rose (The Dixons of Legacy Ranch 1)

His eyes held hers, and for a moment, she wondered what he was really thinking. He finally turned away, severing their gaze, and looked around.

“Nice crib,” he said, checking out her cheap linoleum flooring and laminate counters.

“You know it. The finest nineteen eighty-two had to offer. There’s even a sweet decal of a howling wolf in the bathroom.”

He huffed a laugh. But it was really nice. Her father had picked this up secondhand and repaired it as a gift to take on field projects. He’d been so proud of her degrees. Even secondhand, it had to have cost a bit of money, and she treasured it. Toby moved to her small couch that converted into a table and two chairs, reaching for something. He held it up on his finger, turning slowly toward her.

“Nice decorations, too.” He winked. “I love the art.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed as her bra dangled from his hand.

Slamming down her mug, she dashed for it, but he lifted it out of her reach as she bumped against his chest.

Oh my God, oh my God…Rose jumped back, but his arm dropped around her waist and pulled her back to him like a reflex, still holding his hot mug in the other hand. She looked up at him. He looked down at her. They froze. Damn, he was tall.

“Nice panties, too.” And that smirk that rested on his lips…

Setting aside the tea, he nodded in the direction of the couch.

“Wh-what?”

She peered around him and saw her clothes from last night, her black bikini briefs, green T-shirt, jeans, and socks discarded in a wad.

“Dammit,” she whispered as his smirk quirked up into a smile and pushed away from him, but there was no mistaking his abs. Fine, fine abs that had felt like steel ripples beneath his shirt stretched over his chest like another layer of skin. She snatched her clothes up and ripped the bra off his finger, stuffing everything into the tiny closet beside the bathroom door.

She shut the door and braced her hands upon it, taking a deep breath. Her whole face raged with blush. Dammit! Well, the best way to play this off was with attitude.

Turning back around, she walked to her tea, took a sip, and finally looked up into his amused face. “So, you decorate with Remington, I decorate with Victoria’s Secret. Surely this isn’t the first bra you’ve touched. Though you did say you were as virginal as the snow, so maybe it is. I can see why you’d be curious. You see, those cups hold up a woman’s breasts, and—”

“Doctor Smart-Ass in the house again.” He snorted.

Her smile lifted higher. “A good thing it’s not hot pink, though, or else you’d be interested, right?”

“Oh, I’m interested, baby. Black lingerie is my favorite.”

She froze. Her teasing had backfired.

He sauntered up to her, catching his bottom lip with his teeth as if demonstrating how he could nibble hers. She stepped back against her cupboard as those panty-dropping abs grazed against her stomach and chest again, as he braced his forearm beside her head, while her breasts brushed against his chest, her nipples pebbling into hard little nubs. This man was sin personified, and her breathing grew shallow. And she knew a player when she met one. God above, he was playing her right now, and instead of pushing him away, she was practically sacrificing herself to his touch. She knew better.

He brushed his thumb down her cheek, leaving a trail of burning flesh, and onto her lips. “I’m totally interested…in taking a hike down Ghost Canyon.” His smile lifted into that shit-eating grin he was so good at making.

Heat lashed through her. I’m in over my head with him.

He smelled so good, like clean Dial soap and a hint of piney fragrance she wanted to breathe all day. No cologne. No, he was smart enough not to wear that crap. Every nuisance bug would be buzzing around him in no time if he wore cologne. She’d told all her students to pack unscented toiletries, but she knew Kelsey had probably brought her body spray and perfumed shampoos anyway. Cute for a night out on Sixth Street in A-town, not so much in the land of horseflies that zoomed through the air like torpedoes and wasps that had no shame in landing on an arm or head. The girl would learn the hard way today not to wear that junk.

Jeez, her thoughts were fraying. Toby’s body heat was palpable. She wanted to slide her hands around his waist and feel how tight his muscles were, though she kept her palms flattened to the cupboard—

“Hey, Rose…” Her trailer door pulled back on a creak.

Howie’s voice fizzled away, and she shoved Toby back.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he welcomed himself into the doorway, an angry scowl on his face.

She cleared her throat. Get it together, woman. “We were discussing an early hike down to the site.”

“Yeah, discussing something, but I don’t think hiking had anything to do with it,” Howie muttered.

“Hey, man, you can shove that bullshit up your tailpipe,” Toby said, turning to square himself in front of Howard, standing a good couple inches taller than him. The testosterone in the air pulsed with the music droning on softly in the silence, as Toby set aside his hat on the counter and folded his arms so that his biceps bulged. “There’s no need for you to give Doctor R a hard time.”