Not only that, she hadn’t let him know she’d be leaving in two weeks. Every time she thought about broaching the subject, fear would overtake her. Imagining the accusations and hurt in his eyes sent a shiver of dread zipping up her spine.
She had no choice but to go back to Dallas. Her position wasn’t freelance; she couldn’t do it from here. She doubted there were any jobs for her in her field in Sundance, Moorcroft or Hulett.
If you could find work here, would you stay?
In a heartbeat.
Georgia couldn’t think along those lines. Barbara was pleased enough with her job performance that she’d scheduled a review for two weeks after her return to the office to discuss her promotion.
What would a promotion mean? More money? Couldn’t be much; she was still a lower-tier employee, which was why Barbara’s insistence that Georgia relocate to Wyoming for the summer had come as such a surprise. A couple coworkers had been jealous, even when they had families and couldn’t take the job anyway. Maybe it stung a little that the people she’d considered her friends hadn’t bothered to call her in the last eleven weeks.
But Roxanne and Leah called her. So did Stephanie. She’d had lunch with Chassie. Domini made time for her when she dropped in to Dewey’s. India called to see how she’d fared after getting a tattoo. Even AJ called and nagged her to come in for a massage.
What a change from when she’d first arrived in town.
She no longer dreaded going to the grocery store, worrying who she’d run into, even after she’d run into Tara-Lee. She could talk to people about RJ without breaking down. She liked exploring her domestic side, cooking dinner for Tell and working in her tiny garden. She looked forward to hanging out with the friends who’d become more than just drinking buddies. She’d discovered that volunteering gave her a sense of purpose as well as satisfaction.
The sobering part was when she realized that she wouldn’t have any of that when she returned to Dallas.
But mostly, she wouldn’t have Tell.
So she would have him now. She’d take him as many times as she could get him, in as many ways as possible.
Georgia felt the other men’s eyes on her as she approached Tell. “Gentlemen, can you excuse us? I need to talk to Mr. McKay.”
“Lead the way, Miss Hotchkiss.”
Their formal use of titles wasn’t fooling anyone, not that they’d tried keeping their relationship under wraps.
Wanting privacy, Georgia wandered to the far side of the corral, away from contestants and other rodeo officials.
The scenery was spectacular. Breathing in a lungful of clean air, she knew she’d miss the scent of sage and how scorching hot days were tempered into cool mountain nights.
When she turned around from admiring the view, another amazing view greeted her.
Tell’s back rested against a corner section of the metal corral. His head was cocked at a jaunty angle, shadowing his face beneath the brim of his hat. “Did you need something official, Miss Hotchkiss?”
She shook her head. “You still pissy with me?”
His blue eyes trapped hers. “Maybe.”
She’d broken down the night before last, guilt-ridden by her inability to give him the truth on any level. His immediate need to comfort her had increased her feelings of guilt and she’d taken off without explanation. She’d called later and apologized, making up a story about work stress, but she sensed he hadn’t believed her.
She sauntered forward, wearing a you-want-it-bad-boy smile on her lips. “Will you let me make it up to you?”
His big hands curled around her hips and he yanked her against his body. “What do you have in mind?”
Her lips met his in a slow slide. She wanted a gradual shift from sweet kisses to fiery. But as usual Tell wrested control. Kissing her passionately. Trying to push her to the point where her need for him overtook her common sense.
Not this time. In a moment of spontaneity, she decided to see just how far she could push him. Georgia broke the kiss with a murmured, “Bad boy, McKay.”
He smiled against her cheek, but didn’t apologize.
She shifted her stance. Her right hand trailed down his vest, stopping at his belt. A quick tug and the buckle was out of her way, allowing access to his button and zipper.
“While I appreciate your intent to make this right between us, we should hold off—”
“Oh, I don’t intend to hold off. I intend to get you off. Right now.”
“Georgia. We’re in public. Anyone could wander back here and see what you’re doin’.”
“Then you’d better keep an eye out, hadn’t you?” She lowered the zipper and slipped her hand between his boxers and his warm skin until she found her prize. Tell’s c**k wasn’t completely hard—she’d soon fix that. “Besides, it looks like we’re having a private, intense conversation. No one will bother us. Westerners are polite that way.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“A sense of adventure. My own personal brand of fun.”
He groaned. “I deserved that.”
“And more.” She loved how his shaft swelled in her hand and she kept squeezing until he was fully erect. Then she began to stroke. Not slow and easy. Quick and hard, exactly how he liked it. She let her lips whisper across his ear. “I wish my hand was slippery with lube.”
“Sweet baby Jesus,” he hissed.
“Maybe you should kiss my neck a little, so it looks like we’re making up from a lover’s spat.”
“You are gonna pay for this bossiness,” he murmured, nuzzling the side of her face.
“Will you force me to my knees? So you can feel this—” she jacked his shaft twice, “—gliding across my tongue as you fill my mouth with every inch?”
“You’re yanking on the devil’s tail here.”
“Really? I though I was yanking on something else.” The tip of his c**k leaked steadily and she moved her hand faster. She lost herself in the moment—she’d actually taken Tell by surprise.
“Goddamn that feels good.”
“Don’t throw your head back and look like you’re about to come.”
“Don’t squeeze so hard unless you’re tryin’ to keep me from coming,” he shot back.
“I want you to come. I want to feel those pulses that make you groan and your body shake.”
“Won’t be long. You rev me up in record time, hot lips.”
The husky voice wound around her body like a velvet caress. “Give it to me, Tell.”