To Tame a Cowboy

As she looked at the black dress, she started to wonder if she just looked like a witch. Yeah, this wouldn’t do. Yanking it off, she tossed it onto her unmade bed and went back to the closet. She found a dress in a Kelly green that matched her eyes and prayed she wouldn’t look ridiculous in it. The thing still had the tags on it because she just knew another of her friends would get married soon.

At this rate she’d have to start housing her dresses in the guest-room closet because she was accumulating so many. She wasn’t much of a dress girl, but a small sliver of her enjoyed dressing up for her friends’ weddings and bridal showers.

The sleeveless wrap dress looked much better, she admitted as she tied the satiny ribbons at her waist. But she refused to be one of those women who tried on every stitch of clothing in her closet and claimed she had nothing. This was Ryan; he wouldn’t care what she wore.

Now for the shoes. Work boots were probably a no. Other than those and a few tennis shoes she worked out in, she had one pair of dressy sandals that had a low, very low, heel.

She slid into the silver sandals and threw on earrings before she tried to tackle her hair. That was always a losing battle. But with the elegant restaurant, she opted to pull her hair back as opposed to going in looking like she just finished her shift as a circus clown.

The good thing about the curls was they made for a cute messy bun at the nape of her neck, which she secured with a heavy silver clasp that had been her mother’s. That was one piece of jewelry she would never part with and often wore even with flannel and denim. She always felt a connection with her mother.

By the time she’d applied a bare minimum of makeup and a little more gloss than usual, her front door opened and shut. Ryan’s boots clicked down the hardwood in the hall.

“You still in the shower, Red?”

“Don’t you wish,” she called back.

When he whistled she turned from checking her purse on the bed to see him leaning against the doorway. His eyes raked down her body and took a slow, leisurely stroll back up.

“If you keep looking at me like that we won’t get out of this bedroom,” she joked, hoping he didn’t pick up on how nervous she was all of a sudden.

“That would be fine with me,” he told her. “You look hot. Care to torture me further and tell me what you’re wearing beneath that dress?”

“Black lace.”

Ryan’s eyes closed and he sighed. “I asked for it.”

Laughing, Piper slid her purse strap over her shoulder and headed to the door. “Come on, big guy. We need to get out of here before we miss our reservations.”

“I’d rather move toward the bed,” he grumbled.

That made two of them, but someone had to keep their wits about them and for now it looked to be her. Though the heat in his heavy-lidded eyes made her tingle in places she’d never tingled before... So what would happen once they got into bed?

She smiled as she moved down the hall. Yes, there would be a when, not an if. She’d resigned herself to the fact she wanted to sleep with her best friend. She wanted to know him on a deeper, more intimate level, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready yet.

As she reached for the knob of her front door, strong hands came up to grip her shoulders, spinning her around and pinning her against the door. Being trapped between a hard panel of wood and a hard panel of...well...

“You’re not fighting fair,” he murmured as his lips hovered over hers and his hands held her in place.

“I wasn’t fighting at all,” she chided.

His eyes darted to her mouth. “That’s what makes this so bad. You’re not even trying and you’re driving me out of my ever-lovin’ mind.”

To know she had that much power over Ryan warmed her, made her feel like the vixen she never knew she could be.

“You’re looking pretty sexy yourself, cowboy,” she told him.

A crisp black dress shirt pulled across taut, broad shoulders. And he’d forgone the Stetson and just settled for that sexy, messy bed-head he wore so well.

“Did you get to talk to the guys about the new barn?” she asked.

Ryan’s lips tipped into a grin. “Trying to distract me?”

“Just trying to stay focused so we can get to the restaurant.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “We’re ahead of schedule and I’m ready to start bringing in more livestock.”

A lock of dark hair fell over one bright blue eye. Piper slid her fingertip across his forehead to move the strand aside.