Stripped Down

“You’re not getting off that easy, cowboy. If you’ve got cold feet, let me know.” Curling her legs up on the seat, she leans into me. She’s wearing my dry T-shirt and I’ve turned the heater on, soaking the cab in warmth. Her hair curls wildly as it dries and I put a hand on her leg. It’s stupid, but I need to touch her now, even though I can see the house up ahead. Two more minutes, and I’ll have her home.

Home. She returned to Lonesome, probably expecting to inherit a place of her own. Instead, she’s getting half a ranch that she can’t possibly afford. I could fix it up for her, but I’m fairly certain she’d knee me in the balls. Plus, I need that water. Fixing up a house and then immediately bulldozing it makes no sense. We should talk about this. I should explain about the water. And then she’d have something to hold over my head, which wouldn’t end well for me.

I’m no angel.

“There’s nothing cold about me, darling.” I grin as I throw the pickup into park. I love winning, and that’s the truth.

“So,” she asks, leaning toward me before I can get my hand on the door. “Are you still mad at me for making you wait so long for me to get here?”

If we sit here too long, half the house will be out to see what’s up. I don’t want an audience for what I have in mind.

“You did take months,” I drawl.

“I thought about taking more,” she admits.

I close my hand over hers, tugging her close for a quick, hard kiss. Screw the potential audience. At some point, they’re all gonna find out. “Why didn’t you?”

She kisses me back even as she smiles. Fuck, but her smile lights up her face. When her tongue traces my bottom lip, I’m seriously afraid I won’t be able to walk into the house.

“I got laid off,” she tells me. “Lost my job and couldn’t keep up with my expenses, so I figured it was smarter to come back here now, where I have the house, even if I can’t afford to fix up the tattoo shop yet.”

Starting a business is hard work, and it generally requires large amounts of cash. It’s like feeling your way across quicksand, not knowing where the danger ends and the fucking happily ever after starts. It’s not that I don’t think she can do it—Rose can do whatever she sets her heart on, with the possible exception of this relationship crap she’s interested in starting with me—but this isn’t the right time or place. She needs to learn to pick her battles. I should know. I’ve spent most of my life here, working my ass off to keep the place going. Ranching sucks the life out of good men who’ve poured themselves, heart and soul, into their places. My Rose is so alive—I don’t want to see that joy drain away.

“I would have come for you,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t have let you stay away from me forever.”

“Promises,” she said lightly, but I recognize the hunger in her eyes as she shifts away from me, already reaching for the door. She’s always been impatient, never able to wait. Honestly, I’m looking forward to making her do some waiting now. “You want to spank me, Angel, for misbehaving?”

Hell, now there’s an image to make a man think twice. I can see her, her delicious little ass all cherry-pink while I heat her butt just a bit. Just before I kiss it all better.

We need to get inside now. Even I can’t fuck her in the driveway outside the house where anyone can see us.

Getting out of the truck, I come around the side. For once, she waits, her hand on the edge of the door. Not for me to open it but for me to take charge of the moment. I need my ass kicked for the satisfaction that floods me. She’s mine. I’m also damned tired of being two steps behind her. It’s the first time I’ve seen her look hesitant, though. Usually, Rose moves through life like she knows precisely where she’s going and what she wants. Shit’s changing between us, though, and clearly she knows it.

So I’ll just have to convince her that this change is a good one. Once I have her in my arms, I’ll show her precisely how things have changed for the better between us. I’ll show her just how good we can be together.

Pulling open her door and reaching in for her, I swing her up into my arms. She’s barefoot, after all. Barefoot and wearing nothing but my too-long shirts and the panties she refused to drop. I need to change her mind and fast, because I am dying here.

ROSE

Angel scoops me up in his arms and I let him. He’s still shirtless, because I’ve absconded with his clothes, but jeans, boots, and his Stetson are a good look for him. He could be posing for the cover of a book or a Cowboy McHottie calendar. I’m definitely enjoying my view as he reaches for me. Broad shoulders, a rough dusting of hair on his chest, and so many muscles and scrumptious places to explore on his midsection… I’m not sure where to start when I get him alone, but I’ve got a long, long list of potential spots. I’d swear the man has an eight-pack and right now I’m happy to borrow him.