Loving You: A Cowboy Romance (Texas Hill Country Romance Book 1) (6 page)

“I told her to stay away from me.”

Annie knew he was talking about Lisa.

“Why’d you do that?”

“Because, she bothers you-”

“Whoa, she bothers me? Look, I’m not going to lie, I find you incredibly hot and sexy-”

Oh yeah, she totally wants me,
he smiled to himself.

“-But you know me all of two minutes and you two clearly have something going on, and-”

“Darlin’, I find you incredibly hot and sexy, too. Stop fighting it and let’s explore this.”

“-I’m only here for three and a half months, and-”
Oh God, he finds me hot and sexy, incredibly hot and sexy,
she thought to herself, “-Then I’m moving to Paris. She and you run in the same circle of friends with Calista, and since I’m Calista’s friend, I will probably be seeing quite a bit of the two of you. It would be awkward and-”

“Annie, stop finding excuses. Lisa and I had nothing, and it was only one time. She’s loved me forever. I gave in one time. I feel nothing for her. Whether you are here for three days, three months, three years, I will never feel anything for Lisa.”             

He reached across the table with his right hand and clasped her hand that was holding her glass.

“So soft,” he murmured as he stroked her fingers up and down. “So, what’s in Paris that you’re moving there in three months?”

“My family. My sister moved there after her first husband died in the World Trade Towers on 9/11. She needed to be ‘far away from the reminder’, she told us.” She paused, was that a painful look in Cord’s eyes. She may have imagined it as the bar was not well lit. She continued, “She met someone there, married, and has two kids now. My mom followed her there after my father died, to be with her after my nephew, Julian, was born. She wanted to be with her grandchild. I think she was feeling lonely.”                            

Annie started to feel self conscious. She never really talked to anyone, aside from Calista, about her personal business, especially family.

Cord saw she was uncomfortable and squeezed her hand gently to bring her back to his attention.

Annie looked into his eyes and saw a warmth there that made her feel at ease.

“Anyway, short version. Mom remarried, too, and she and her new husband are in the process of opening a bakery and want me to run it. Mom’s a baker, too. I think it was her way of luring me there.”                           

“You don’t want to go?”             

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “I love America. I can’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.”

“Me neither.”

Alice came back with the nachos and burger.

Cord reluctantly released Annie’s hand so Alice could put the food down. While they ate, well, she picked on a few nachos, while he scoffed down his burger and fries, she told him about her nephew, Julian, and new niece, Madelyn. All the while, she noticed Cord being attentive and laughing with her when she would mention funny things Julian and Madelyn would do or say.

He raised his empty beer glass when he saw Alice looking their way, and she was there with a fresh glass in no time. He had just finished his burger and was wiping his mouth with a napkin when he heard Dan’s voice.             

“See, I told you that was Cord’s car,” he said to Rory as they came up to their table.

“I didn’t think it was, it being a week night and all,” Rory said.

Annie looked at Cord and chuckled.

He smirked and shrugged.

“What gives, Cord? How come you got the beast out?” Dan asked, “Hey, sugar,” he added as he addressed Annie.

“I drive it during the week sometimes.”

“Nah-uh. Not on a weeknight, and not when it rains,” Rory said.

“It’s raining?” Cord asked as he was ready to get up.

“No, no. Sit your ass back down, it’s not raining,” Rory said, and they all had a good laugh.

“How’d you make out today with the T-bar? That was today, right?” Dan asked as he scooted in next to Annie, and Rory sat down, boxing Cord in on his side.

“Yeah, things went well, Scotty picked up the bay and the chestnut. He had orders from Mr. Crowley to buy another three. He wanted me to sell him Warlock and Ghost.”

“You kidding? You didn’t agree did you?”             

“Hell no, not a chance. I sold him that gray I picked up from my uncle and another bay, and he’s sending over a black mare for me to train.”

“You train horses?” Annie asked.

“Yeah.”

“Annie, you have to see him. We call him the horse whisperer. Ain’t never seen anything like it. He’s got this ability to calm a wild bronc. It’s a gift man, it’s a gift,” Dan said.

Cord didn’t like to boast, but he didn’t mind Dan talking him up to Annie.

“Do you ride?” Cord asked.

Annie’s eyes went wide as she sucked in a breath. “I’m kind of afraid of them,” she replied.

Cord’s whole life was about horses. He needed to rectify that matter in a hurry.

“Really? Why?” he asked.

“I went horseback riding three times in my life. The last time was up at Hunter Mountain in New York State. When I was asked if I rode, I said yes, I mean, I rode twice before, so I figured I was a pro by now, right?”

“Aw, my sweet little beauty, so naïve,” Dan said as he, Rory, and Cord shook their heads.

Annie laughed and continued. “They give me this horse. It was really big, and when I got on it, I got a bad vibe from him like he was stubborn or something. I didn’t say anything, though. So, we’re following the guide and going slow, but I wanted to go faster, so I clicked my heels, like I’ve seen on TV-”

The guys all laughed as did she, and then she continued. “-Well, the horse probably thought, ‘I’ll teach this bitch’ and stepped around all the other horses and took off. Holy! I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. The guide at first thought I meant to do that. When he realized I didn’t know what I was doing, he started yelling, ‘pull back on the reins, pull back on the reins.’ I did and the horse stopped, but I inadvertently let the reins loose again, and he started going fast, again. This time I pulled back on the reins so hard, and the horse stayed where it was until the guide caught up. He took control of the reins and walked us back to the corral. That was the last time I ever got on a horse.”

“Wow, so many things wrong with that story,” Rory said. “You’re such a city slicker.”

They all laughed.

“You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl,” Dan chimed in.

Cord had no comment. He just smiled big, thinking how cute, albeit corny that story was.

“Let me teach you how to ride,” Cord said, holding her gaze.

“Oh, I don’t know, every time I get near a horse, it seems to know I’m afraid.”

“A horse will smell your fear. I can help you overcome that. Let me teach you.”

“Okay.” She nodded her head. “I’d really like that.”

“Good. Come to the ranch on Friday, and we’ll get started. I’ll text you the address, so put in your cell number,” he said as he handed her his phone.

While Annie was entering her number on Cord’s phone, Dan asked her, “So, have you been practicing?”

Annie paused to look up at him and smiled. “No.”

“Practicing what?” Cord asked.

“Line Dancing,” Dan answered. “We’re gonna make her a country girl yet.”

Cord looked to Annie then to Dan and then back to Annie.

“Somebody talk,” he said, clearly frustrated because no one was.

“We went to Roxy’s last night and-” Dan started.

“Who?”

“Me and Annie, and Rory and Calista.”

Cord looked to Annie who shrugged her shoulders.

“And, man, she really is a bad line dancer.”

“Hey, you said I wasn’t that bad,” Annie said as she playfully punched his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” Cord said abruptly, while looking at her. All eyes turned to him.

“Okay,” Annie said softly.

“Move,” he said to Dan, so Annie could get out of the booth, then he looked at Rory and half pushed him out.

“Hey, no need to be a dickhead,” Rory said.

But Cord just ignored him. He grabbed Annie’s hand, and walked to the bar without looking back.

Annie looked back, smiled, and waved goodbye to Rory and Dan.

Cord paid the bill, said goodnight to Alice, and had Annie out by the car in no time.             

Before opening the door for her, he lightly pushed her against it. He pressed his lower body to hers, lifted his hands to her face, and stared down into her eyes.

She watched his bright green eyes, that reminded her of a tropical forest, turn dark like a stormy sea. He desired her, and she saw it right there in his eyes. She never experienced anything like that before. It scared her but at the same time it thrilled her.

He slowly moved his lips down to hers, “I want you,” he growled quietly at her mouth, and then took her lips in a gentle kiss.

A kiss she so readily welcomed. She didn’t hesitate when his tongue pressed against her lips. She parted them and met his tongue with hers as he deepened the kiss, and it, and he, became more demanding.

She felt the heat radiating between her legs as she felt him grow hard. He slowly gyrated his cock against her and she moaned into his mouth.

He removed his hands from her face and placed one on the back of her head, noting her hair was as soft and silky as he thought it would be, and the other at her waist.

She rocked her body into him.

He pulled away from her mouth to look at her face as he breathed deep.

His lips turned up in that sexy smile that made her melt.

With his left leg, he opened her legs and stepped inside. Again, he pushed his cock into her and she sighed breathlessly. He took her lips again and ravaged them.

The hand that was on her waist slowly moved up to just below her breast then moved up to cover it.

Her nipple grew hard in an instant. Through her dress, he squeezed it between his thumb and forefinger and a warm, liquid heat shot from her nipple straight to the very core of her. She gasped, and felt him smile against her lips as he let out a low chuckle.

“Get a room,” someone said, while walking in the parking lot. That was when Cord and Annie realized they were putting on a show for anyone to see and they quickly broke apart, she feeling embarrassed, and he not so much embarrassed, but sensing she was, so he backed off.

They looked toward the sound and saw a group of guys walking from their car to the entrance of the bar watching them, laughing and making all kinds of lewd sounds.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said as he moved her aside to open the car door. She got in. He closed it and still breathing heavy, took a moment to collect himself before getting in the driver’s side and driving off.

While driving, they both tried to come up with a place where they could be alone.

His place was out, too far and too late. She needed to be up early to go to work.

Her room at the B&B? Nah, what if Joan, or Calista, or Jake heard them, or worse, pass Cord in the hallway coming out of her room. No, that wouldn’t do.

“The pool house,” Cord said.

So they drove back to the B&B to get to the pool house. Neither of them talked much on the drive there.

She was thinking too much.
Is this too soon, I really want this but we just met. What would he think? Will he think less of me? Will he go back to Lisa after I put out? Why am I thinking about Lisa? Put out? Does anyone even say put out anymore-

“Stop thinking, you’re over analyzing things,” Cord said, interrupting her thoughts.

She looked at him, and he turned his face from the road to her and they both smiled.

“How’d you know?” she asked.

“You were…um…we were too quiet. I was doing the same thing.” He paused as he turned back to the road. “We’re two healthy, consenting adults. I know you want to be with me, and God knows, I want to be with you…man, do I want to be with you.”

He removed his hand from the stick and reached for her hand. She gave it and he rested them on her thigh. They stayed that way, removing his hand only to shift, then putting it back on her thigh, entwined with hers, until they pulled into the B&B.

Holding hands, they made their way to the pool house. Cord reached for the hidden key and opened the door. The light coming from the TV was a huge disappointment. There on the couch were Jake and Jennie, and in the recliner was Calista. Lisa was walking out of the kitchen area and plopped down on the far end of the couch.

“Oohhh,” groaned Cord as he turned to Annie.

She giggled. He looked like a little kid who dropped his ice cream cone. She smiled and shrugged.

“Hey guys what’s doing?” he asked.

They all acknowledge Annie and him as he shut the door. Calista turned around and gave them a knowing smile. “We’re watching last Sunday’s ‘True Blood’ on demand. Come and join us.”