Booted (Trails of Sin 3)

“Let me check my inventory.” Cora takes the clothes from him and turns toward a wall lined with packaged underwear.

“Not those.” He gestures at the mannequins in the back dressed in stringy lingerie. “The lacy ones.”

“Those are pretty.” She glances over her shoulder at me.

Gone is her smile, replaced with a frown of accusations.

I only lied about the illness. The rest surprises me as much as it does her.

When she shuffles away, I curl my finger at him in a come-hither motion.

He prowls toward me and braces his hands on the doorframe above his head.

“Who are you?” I flick up the brim of his hat to see his eyes.

“The guy you’ve been mentally undressing for three days,” he drawls.

“You are so—!” I press a hand against my forehead and breathe until my heart calms. Then I hold up a finger. “One. You didn’t try on those clothes.”

“I tried on a pair of jeans. They’re all the same size.”

“Different brands fit differently.”

He gives me a blank look.

“Never mind.” I hold up a second finger. “Two. Why are you picking out my clothes? I can’t afford any of that. And the granny panties”—I wave a hand at the wall—“will do just fine.”

“Which finger are you on? I’m losing count.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“I hear you.” His bottomless, vibrant green eyes swirl with startling depth. “Every unspoken thought. Every emotion you cover up.” His expression softens. “I hear you.”

My breath slips away. The room fades, and I’m left with a horrible pang in my chest. “Don’t do this.”

“What?” His gaze dips to my mouth.

“Don’t pull me in and push me away. You’re jerking me back and forth, and it’s cruel, Lorne. I don’t deserve this.”

“Are you ready to try stuff on?” Cora breezes around the corner, carrying enough clothes to outfit a drag show.

Lorne pushes off the door frame and gives me a look so deep-reaching it lingers long after he stalks to the other side of the store.

Thirty minutes later, I stand near the front door as he and Cora bicker over money. Or rather, Cora bickers while Lorne holds out the cash without saying a word.

Finally, she accepts his payment and leans in for a hug. “Let me at least take you to dinner. Or drinks?”

“Another time.” He pats her arm and steps back, his focus shifting to me. “Ready?”

He already loaded all the bags into the truck and walked the perimeter to check for signs of unwanted company. After we say goodbye, he leads me outside with a hand on my lower back.

On the drive home, Just A Kiss by Lady Antebellum plays on the radio. The tires hum along the pavement, and the man behind the wheel vibrates with things left unsaid.

I squirm in the silence. “Lorne…”

He lowers the volume, his gaze fixed on the road. “I didn’t want her to touch me.”

“Didn’t look that way.”

He rubs a palm along his thigh and returns it to the wheel. “In my head, it was your hands.”

I turn toward the window and rest my fingers against my mouth to hide my expression. A scowl? A smile of pleasure? My lips teeter up and down, as volatile as the cowboy at my side.

“Are we being truthful?” I pick at the frayed hem of my cut-offs.

“Always.”

“Okay.” I breathe in slowly and release. “I told Cora you have an STD.”

He catches his bottom lip between his teeth. Biting down on a smile?

I lean back, stunned. “Are you laughing?”

“It didn’t deter her.”

“No, it didn’t. After the half-naked show you gave her, I’m pretty sure she’s planning a night in with the girls.” I wriggle my fingers. “Couch hockey for one.”

He shakes his head, and that time, his smile breaks free. It makes him prettier, sexier, and harder to be mad at.

Wait. Is that a dimple?

I bend closer, and he drags a hand over his mouth, erasing the grin.

“Please tell me you don’t have dimples.” I sit back.

“Not intentionally.”

That V-cut, those arms, that ass, those eyes, that dimple… Damn him.

“The security guard…” He adjusts his hat. “You didn’t tell him you were with me.”

“I didn’t give him any names. I described what John looks like and what he drives. Said he was a dangerous ex-boyfriend.” I swallow. “Ford wasn’t willing to help me until I made him that offer.”

“Guys like that aren’t content with a taste, Raina. Considering the kind of men you’ve been with, I know you know this. He would’ve thought about it for a day or two and called with more demands. More of you.”

“Maybe.”

“No maybe about it. You’re the hottest woman he’ll ever encounter in his miserable life. He’s probably beating off right now.”

“Was that a compliment? Because you said I wouldn’t be getting any more of those.”

“It’s a fact, Raina.”

My skin heats. “You like me.”

“I tolerate you.” He steers the truck under the archway of the ranch and parks.