Lone Heart: Red Hot Weekend (3 page)

Drew cleared his throat. “Miz Kudrow’s a widow.”

Lonny felt like a heel at the sudden wash of relief loosening the knots in his shoulders. “Sorry for your loss, ma’am,” he mumbled.

“Charli,” she said softly. “No one calls me anything else.”

Lonny turned to Drew, whose gaze was narrowed, contemplating him. Did he sense the tension between them? “It’s just you two?”

“It’s a small spread.” Drew’s words were terse.

Foreman
was a stretch with no hands to manage. “What needs doing?”

Drew cleared his throat. “We’ve cattle that have to be moved from pasture to pasture. Water’s dryin’ up, even in the biggest stock ponds. We have to move the livestock to keep them from killin’ what grass is left. Soon it’ll all be burned, so we’re truckin’ in hay. We’ve already sold off as many head as we could spare to cut expenses.”

Lonny nodded. “You mentioned horses on the phone.”

“Just what we need, or what cowboys need when we bring them on for brandin’. We used to train cuttin’ horses when Mr. Kudrow was alive.”

Again, Lonny nodded. Many small operations had folded under the drought. Those left held on, hoping for the climate to take a turn and for better times to come back.

Lonny settled back in his chair, trying to read the woman’s expression, but she sat still, barely breathing. He remembered how shocked she’d been when he’d first tried to pull her close as they danced—then how pliable she’d become the longer he’d held her.

A widow
. With a foreman whose expression was becoming more doubtful the longer he stared between them. She wasn’t looking at Drew at all. But what the heck did that mean?

“Well, I’m interested,” Lonny said, glancing again at Charli, whose cheeks brightened with agitated color.

Drew’s jaw firmed, but he deferred to Charli.

Her brows drew together as she returned his steady stare.

“You’ll be stayin’ in the house,” Drew said. “The bunkhouse was closed up after the seasonal help left.”

Charli sat forward. “Although I’m sure if you want privacy, we could air it out, get some fresh linens on a bed.”

Was she nervous at the thought of sharing the same roof? Didn’t she trust herself?

Lonny smiled for the first time since he’d entered the house. He stood, cupping his hat in one hand, and reached across to shake Charli’s hand.

She lifted hers slowly and swallowed hard when he pressed her fingers. “Don’t bother yourselves. Here in the house is fine. I’m housebroken. You won’t even know I’m underfoot.”

After the cowboy left her office, Charli sat back in the big leather chair that had been her husband’s, trying to resist the urge to curl the fingers Lonny had held. They still shook. It was a good thing Drew had decided Lonny would start in the morning. She’d have time to get her head around the fact the cowboy she’d flirted with the night before would be sharing her roof.

“Housebroken?” Drew snorted. “Don’t know if I like him. He’s a cocky sonofabitch. Charli, if you’re uncomfortable around him, I’ll chase him down and tell him we don’t need his services.”

Charli couldn’t meet his gaze, couldn’t explain why she’d acted the way she had. Seeing Lonny after the sleepless night she’d spent thinking about the way he’d pleasured her made her feel naked—like her longings had been exposed for the world to see. Even this morning, she’d had a hard enough time pretending to Drew over breakfast that nothing was wrong.

“No, we need the help,” she said quietly.

He arched one dark brow. “You looked as though you’d seen a ghost. You two know each other? He said he was from Colorado.”

Charli shook her head. “He was at the saloon when I posted the ad on the board. I didn’t expect him to apply. That’s all.”

When Drew looked doubtful, she was tempted to blurt part of the truth, that they’d danced. But everything that had followed hadn’t meant anything, not to the younger cowboy, and she didn’t want Drew to think less of her if he guessed how much she’d been affected. The last thing she would ever admit was how far things had gone.

These past few months, Drew had made it clear he was willing to marry her. To take care of her. She hadn’t been quite so firm about letting him know where she stood. He had to be confused.

She’d been weak, just once, allowing him into her bed. The experience had been pleasant, but she thought they’d both been a little let down. Not for the first time, she wondered how convenient it would have been if they’d found enough of a spark to build their attraction into something more. They made sense. Everyone thought so.

Drew reached across the desk and cupped her hand inside his. “I’ll keep the boy so busy you won’t have to worry about him sniffin’ after you.”

“I don’t need you to watch out for me, Drew.”

His gaze grew shuttered. “No, you don’t.” He stood and walked toward the door, but hesitated before glancing over his shoulder. “Be sure what you want, Charli. But know this—I’ll always be there for you. I’m headin’ to town for while.”

She closed her eyes, knowing with a sinking dread that this moment had been a long time coming. He’d never declared his feelings for her outright, but he was an honorable man, and had told her in the only way he could when he’d climbed into her bed that he’d do right by her.

When she hadn’t responded with the same surety, he’d been disappointed. She knew he thought she’d come around, given time. That perhaps she still mourned Daniel and felt guilty for sleeping with his best friend, but that wasn’t really it.

She’d never felt the spark she’d been missing ever since Daniel had been killed. Sex with Drew had been a huge mistake, and not one she’d been willing to repeat. She hadn’t felt like a woman again until Lonny had pressed her close to his body and enticed her into riding his hard thigh.

Lord, she was in trouble. Someone was going to get hurt.

Charli sat back in her chair. Life was complicated enough. She hadn’t been born into life on a ranch, but she’d adapted when she’d married Daniel. When he’d died, she’d turned to Drew, and he’d pretty much shouldered the burden of the day-to-day. How unfair was it for her to use him that way? She’d mitigated her guilt by offering him an increasing share in the ranch. Soon, he’d be a full partner.

Now this. The handsome young cowboy was a temptation. But her attraction to him was purely physical. And she was old enough to know better. Still, when he’d stridden into the office, his expression intent, his gaze boring into hers, she’d felt as though fate was having a laugh at her expense.

The one thing she shouldn’t want, didn’t need, was going to be living under her roof, sleeping just down the hallway from her. Never mind that Drew’s bedroom faced his; she would feel Lonny’s presence and be tempted.

And what would she do if Drew pressed his attentions again? They’d drifted into a on-again, off-again thing—a couple of dates, and that one night when they’d both succumbed to loneliness.

He wanted more, but was respectful of the fact she didn’t. There was no way she could betray his years of friendship by doing something so sordid as starting an affair with another man when they’d shared so much already.

Maybe she was reading more into the younger cowboy’s expression than was really there. Maybe the heat that had darkened his green eyes wasn’t desire for her.

Yeah, and maybe he hadn’t gotten hard when he’d rubbed all over her during their one dance—or when he’d pressed against her as he’d pleasured her. He likely got that way whenever he held any woman close. A man like that had choices. Lots of them.

Nothing special had happened. The ache in her chest was a residual pain from the loss of her first lover. She was missing something she could never recapture. Best to remember that. She had other troubles more immediate to face.

She opened the ledger again and added the line of figures that only served to prove she didn’t need the distraction Lone Wyatt represented.

She kept her head down, adjusting planned expenditures until she was satisfied they’d make the next payment on their bank loan. When the brass gong in the grandfather clock chimed six times, she blinked. “Where’d the day go?”

Charli put the ledger in the desk drawer and wandered down the hallway to the kitchen. She wasn’t really hungry, and knowing Drew would likely be out for the evening, she didn’t feel like cooking a meal.

The house was quiet. Too quiet. She decided to take a long bath.

However, soaking in a bubble bath didn’t soothe her restless edges. She dressed, throwing on jeans and a tight tee, then pulled on her scuffed boots, telling herself all the while that she’d hit the bar, eat a bowl of Jake’s greasy chili and head straight home.

She wasn’t even thinking about whether she’d see Lonny there. Not much, anyway. She certainly didn’t want to see him there chatting up another woman. It wasn’t until she turned in to the parking lot that she realized her heart was thudding inside her chest at just the thought of his tall, muscled frame.

Slowing, she circled the saloon, trying to talk herself out of doing something reckless, because in the mood she was in, she knew she was looking for trouble.

On the pass around the back side of the saloon, which faced the only motel in town, she braked hard.

Drew’s truck was parked in front of one of the rooms. She set her parking brake and turned off the ignition, curiosity too piqued to ignore. She hadn’t wanted him enough to invite him back into her bed, but she’d never even considered he might have needs he’d have to take care of with someone else.

Thankful for the falling darkness, she walked quietly to the door and leaned toward it. She heard muffled laughter. Light gleamed in the crack between the curtains, and even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn’t resist trying to see inside.

She edged toward the gap and stared.

Drew was naked, his body completely revealed in profile. She knew all too well he was good-looking man, and breathed deeply at the sight of his burly frame, coated with dark hair on his chest and legs. His heavy cock was erect, tipped toward a pretty brunette Charli didn’t recognize, who was gazing up at Drew, her lower lip held between her teeth.

Drew’s hand reached and grasped the woman’s head, fingers digging into the thick strands, and he pulled her down, spreading his legs while she knelt in front of him. His face was hard, cheeks stark, his gaze hungry slits as he bracketed the woman’s cheeks and forced her closer.

Not that the woman seemed to mind. A moan filled the air. Her mouth opened and sank down Drew’s cock, and Charli couldn’t help staring as the woman bobbed forward and back, sucking hard.

Her body was sweetly curved, lush where Charli’s was lean. Charli could understand why Drew would want the pretty brunette. She looked soft—everywhere. Her breasts were ample and swayed with her movements.

When Drew pushed the woman away, Charli leaned closer to the window, her attention riveted. Her own breaths were jagged pants; her panties were dampening between her thighs.

Drew urged the woman onto her knees at the edge of the bed, then cupped her buttocks, parted them, and guided his cock into her pussy while he thumbed her little asshole.

Shocked, Charli drew a quick, harsh breath. She stepped back, ready to flee in case anyone found her there, panting like a pervert. Her whole body quivered with heat, with emotions she didn’t understand.

She wasn’t upset with Drew, not really. Intellectually, she couldn’t blame him. But there had been a part of her that had thought, given time, they’d find a way to come together.

She’d been fooling herself. So had he. He needed someone in his life who excited him into a primal hunger. It wasn’t her. It never would be. Drew was wrong to think they could settle for anything less.

Tamping down the tears filling her eyes, she turned, only to find her way blocked by a wall of muscle.

Embarrassment had her ducking her head and pushing past the figure, but strong hands gripped her shoulders. “Slow down, Charli. Come with me.”

Lonny’s voice broke through her panic.

“Crap.” She let him walk her down the row of rooms to another door. Holding her against his side, he unlocked it, then shoved her gently inside.

Charli turned away, unable to meet his gaze. “That was embarrassing.” And a
huge
understatement.

Footsteps came up behind her. “Which part? Watching Drew screw another girl or gettin’ caught?” Hands turned her toward him.

Unwilling to be seen as a coward, she lifted her chin and glared defiantly back. “I don’t like you.”

He grunted, his expression neutral. “Doesn’t mean you aren’t hot for me—or at least for what I can give you.”

The gravel in his voice made her toes curl. “And what would that be?” she scoffed, even though her body was way ahead of her mind and beginning to melt.

His eyelids fell, darkening his green eyes to black. “Sweetheart, I’ve never seen a woman more in need of sexin’ up.”

Chapter Three

For the second time that day, Charli’s jaw dropped. “Bastard! The things you say to me…” She bristled but wasn’t convinced of her own outrage.

Apparently, neither was he. He smiled. “Doesn’t mean I’m not right.”