Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Rough Riders 7)

“No one is sucking down any more booze,” Cam barked. He glared at Domini. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

His gaze landed on a bump on Domini’s jaw. Briefly his focus jumped to her succulent mouth—bad idea—and lust squeezed his balls. “Were you in on this bar fight too?”

Those full pink lips flattened. Those aquamarine eyes became chips of ice. “Never confuse being soft-spoken with being weak-willed. I stand up for my friends. I don’t run away.”

A female chorus of ooooh rang out.

“Fine. All of you stay here while I straighten this out.” He tossed a quick look over his shoulder and dropped his voice. “And off the record? Thanks a helluva lot. You think I wanna call my brothers and tell them their wives got drunk and were in a bar fight tonight? While I was on duty?”

Silence.

Then they descended on Cam like a pack of hyenas.

AJ drilled him in the chest with her finger. “FYI Deputy McKay, I’m a big girl. And if I wanna get shitfaced, I’ll get shitfaced, so back off.”

“Don’t you dare call Carter in Canyon River, or so help me, I will ban you for life from Dewey’s,” Macie warned.

“Yeah,” Channing chimed in. “If you tattle to Colby before I have a chance to explain, I will call your mother and suggest weekly instead of monthly McKay family dinners.”

Chassie swayed in front of him. “What they said. Times two, ’cause I got two ornery guys to deal with.”

Domini just blinked those exquisite icy blue eyes at him.

Damn women sticking together. It’d been easier when Keely was the only woman in the family. Then the McKay boys could band against her.

Right. Keely always had the upper hand, she knew it, and she played it well. Now they were outnumbered.

Cam stalked off, but not before he heard another round of high fives and drunken whoops of victory.

No one pressed charges, no surprise. It didn’t take long to assess the damages. He handed his sister a piece of paper.

“What’s this?”

“They’re keeping your deposit for the party and you’ve been banned from Twin Pines indefinitely.”

Keely shrugged and folded the paper. “The food sucks here anyway. And if Margo and Amanda are regular customers? Then their clientele sucks too.”

Cam took India aside. “Bein’s you’re sober, can you get the rest of your sisters in drunken arms home? Since I’ve been barred from calling their husbands to pick them up?”

“Sure. I’ll take Chass too, since we’re neighbors.” India’s gaze flicked between Cam and Domini. “You’ll make sure if Domini’s walking home she gets there all right?”

He snorted. “Domini ain’t walking home. She’s riding with me when I drop Keely and Ginger off.”

“Why?”

“So I have witnesses I didn’t kill my baby sis and dump her body out in the boondocks for her latest stunt.”

India whistled, directing the women riding in her SUV to the side door. She scorched Cam with a look. “Don’t be stupid, Cameron McKay. You’ve been f**king with her head long enough. Either go for it, or let her go. But it’s selfish to try and have it both ways.” She didn’t wait for a response, but spun on her heel and left.

No explanation necessary. Only one woman had him tied up in knots. His gaze automatically sought her out.

Domini was already staring at him.

He crooked his finger at her.

She sauntered over without delay. “Yes?”

Cam had a hard time breathing when she looked at him like that. Like she’d do anything he asked her. Anything he demanded of her. His gaze roamed over her pretty face, she could be a princess with her regal looks: jutting cheekbones, a high forehead, a thin nose and a delicate jaw. Pale skin, pale eyes, pale hair. Domini should look washed out. She should blend into the background. But she didn’t—she was a beacon of light and beauty in the darkness.

“Cam? Can I go now?”

He refocused on her arctic blue eyes. “No. You’re riding with me.”

“I can walk home. Unless there’s a law against that?”

God. Her voice alone could bring him to the edge of ecstasy. The measured enunciation, accented with the sexy, husky hint of her native tongue. Did she cry out in English when she came? Or in Ukrainian?

“Stop staring at me, Deputy.”

“Not a chance. Come on.”

Keely and Ginger waited by the door.

“Where’s Ramona?”

“She caught a ride from a friend.”

Outside, Cam opened the rear door of the patrol car. “You two are in the back.”

Ginger climbed in without objection. Not his mouthy baby sister. Her protest, “Hey! That’s not f—” was lost in the cab as Cam slammed the door.

Smiling, he shoved his key in the door lock on the passenger’s side. His belly jumped when Domini placed her hand on his forearm.

“I can open my own door.”

“Not without a key you can’t. It’s self-locking for security reasons.”

“Oh.”

Cam glanced at the stubborn slant of her mouth. His gut twisted seeing the bump on her jaw. Without thinking, he cupped her neck, stroking his thumb across the swollen spot. “Next time, stay out of the line of fire, princess.”

“Is that a direct order, Deputy?”

“Yes.” He lightly swept over the protrusion again, just because he could. “I’m bossy. It’s a habit, I’m afraid.”

“That’s what I like about you. How easily you take charge.”

He didn’t look away even when his head screamed retreat and his dick pulsed against his zipper.

Domini didn’t look away either. “Does it mean anything? You touching me like this?”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t want to stop.”

God help me, I don’t want to stop.

“Do you want it to mean something, Domini?”

“Yes.” Her lashes fluttered. “Maybe it’s liquid courage allowing me to say this, but do you know how many times I’ve imagined the different ways you’d touch me? Softly. Firmly. Sweetly. Roughly.”

Cam’s heart beat a million times faster. He wanted to pull her closer and devour her mouth. He wanted to trace her every curve, with meticulous attention to every dip and hollow. He wanted to see her elegant fingers mapping his body with equal curiosity.

Four loud smacks on the rear window brought him back to reality. He reluctantly let his hand fall from her face and opened Domini’s door.