Tempted by the Texan

Jaron took a deep breath. Oh, he’d noticed several years ago that Mariah wasn’t the teenager he had met when his foster brother Sam Rafferty had married Bria Stanton. Back then Mariah had had a crush on him, and although he had found her attractive, he knew that a nine-year age difference made him too old for her. But over the years, he would have had to be as blind as a bat not to notice that she had grown into a beautiful, sexy woman. And that was the problem.

Interested didn’t even begin to cover what he felt for Mariah. He wouldn’t call it love. Hell, he’d have to believe in the emotion before he could say that was what it was. But he did find himself thinking about her a lot, and whenever the family got together for birthdays dinners or holidays, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

“I don’t care how old you are. There’s no sense in putting yourself into a dangerous situation,” he insisted.

“Dangerous?” She laughed and the sound sent a shock wave of heat straight through him. She pointed toward the entrance to the bar. “Sam brings Bria here for dinner all the time. For that matter, the rest of your brothers bring their wives here, as well. We both know they wouldn’t dream of doing that if they thought they were placing the women in jeopardy.”

It was Jaron’s turn to laugh. “Do you honestly think that some dust-covered cowboy would have the guts to try putting the moves on one of my sisters-in-law with my brothers right there to knock them flat?”

Continuing to glare at him, she shook her head. “I’m not going to get into a debate with you about your antiquated idea that women need a man’s protection whenever they go out.” She started to brush past him to go back into the bar. “I’ve had a trying day, I’m tired and I need to make that phone call.”

“Not in there you’re not,” Jaron said, placing his hands on her slender shoulders to stop her.

“Jaron Lambert, I swear if you don’t—”

Before he could stop himself, he pulled her close and brought his mouth down on hers to silence her. But the moment he tasted her perfect coral lips, he lost every ounce of sense he’d ever possessed and gave in to years of temptation and denial.

Wrapping his arms around her, Jaron settled Mariah against him, and the feel of her breasts crushed to his chest, her body touching his from their shoulders to their knees, set a fire in his belly that he thought just might burn him to a crisp. Without a thought to the consequences, he traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue to coax her to open for him. When she did, he slipped inside to explore her inner recesses.

As he stroked and teased her, she grabbed the front of his jeans jacket with both hands for support as she sagged against him. That fueled the fire in his belly to a fever pitch, and his erection was not only inevitable—it caused him to feel light-headed from its intensity. Tightening his arms around her, he held her to him and he knew the second she felt the evidence of his need when she shivered and pressed herself even closer.

His heart stalled as another wave of heat flowed through his veins. He had wanted her for so damned long, if he didn’t put some distance between them, and real quick, he wasn’t sure he would be able to. But when he tried to ease away from the kiss, Mariah’s lips clung to his and he knew it was going to take every ounce of strength he could muster to move away from her.

Forcing himself to take a step back before she made him forget he was a gentleman, he took a deep breath. “What seems to be wrong with your car?”

“I...uh, I’m not sure,” she said, sounding as winded as he felt. “I heard a noise and a few minutes later I noticed the lights were dimming. By the time I parked it here, they went out completely and the engine died. When I turned the key to restart it, all it did was make a clicking sound.”

“It sounds as if you might have a bad battery or the alternator went out,” he said, thankful to focus on something besides the enticing woman standing next to him. It appeared that neither wanted to mention the kiss, and that was just fine with him. The less said about his lapse of judgment, the better.

“Is that expensive?” she asked, nibbling on her lower lip. She wasn’t trying to be provocative, but it was all he could do to keep from kissing her again.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll have my men come and get your car in the morning and see what they can do. I’ve got a hired hand who can fix just about anything with four tires and a motor.”