Naked Hunger: Naked Cowboys, Book 8 (4 page)

“Just like that?” he asked.

“Sort of.” She took another tiny swallow of her wine.

Pacing herself
, he thought.
She’s smart.

“I used to go out to his place and ride her a couple of times a week when he stopped using her for ranch work so much,” Sable continued.

She took another sip of the drink. This time, she ran the tip of her pink tongue over her lower lip, catching a stray drop of liquid, and his cock banged against his fly.

“You’re bringing her here and need to find a stable for her?”

She nodded. “A friend is trailering her here for me next week. I need to have this settled before then.”

“Like I said, that other barn you didn’t see when you visited? I have a few spare stalls there that I keep for friends.”

She tilted her head and her rich brown hair—sable, like her name—moved and danced with the motion. The pressure against his fly increased. Damn. He felt like he was sixteen again. At nearly forty, he had long ago learned to control his hormones. Apparently, now they were having a good laugh at his expense.

“If you have a spare stall, I’d like to take a look at it and talk to you about boarding arrangements.”

Yes. He’d like to get her in that barn, lock her in a stall with him and—

Holy fuck, Ryan. Get your shit together.

“No problem.”

“Good. That’s good.” She lifted her glass, licking a little drop of moisture from the outside.

The sight of her delicate pink tongue nearly made him come in his pants. Jesus. He was in very bad shape. How in hell was he going to control himself when she came to take care of his stock? And did she know what she was doing to him?

“Is tomorrow good for you?”

“I’m pretty sure it is,” she agreed.

“What time?”
Yeah, push a little harder, Ryan.

“Hold on a sec.” She stood up and pulled her cell phone from her jeans pocket, then punched up what he assumed was her calendar. “Okay. We’ve got some stuff going on with Doc at work tomorrow, but I can slide out late in the afternoon. Does that work for you?”

Standing, she was only scant inches from him. Her breasts were so close to him he wanted to reach out and grab them. He grabbed the beer bottle with both fists to control himself.

“Sure. Just give me a heads-up when you get ready to leave the clinic.”

She nodded. “Give me the address so I can program it into my GPS. Your phone number is in the records at the clinic, right?”

He nodded and gave her the information about the ranch.

“So tell me—” he leaned back in the chair, legs stretched out in front of him, trying not to undress her with his eyes, “—what kind of house are you looking for? Maybe I can help. I’ve got a pretty good handle on what goes on in the county.”

She laughed, a musical sound that made his already wild hormones do a little dance. “I’m pretty sure Nida has shown me everything in the county, but she’s digging up more.” She sighed. “I thought my request would be pretty simple. A two- or three-bedroom house with a good kitchen and not much exterior upkeep. Out of town, but not too far out.”

“Sounds like it should be pretty easy.”

She sighed again, her breasts rising and falling beneath the soft pink material of her sweater. “You’d think. But either the price is out of my range, the rental is too high or the place needs too much work. I guess my budget needs to do a lot of growing for the real estate market around here.”

A tiny thread of excitement wriggled its way through Ryan’s body. “I might be able to help out by turning you on to something affordable.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “You in the real estate business too?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But I happen to know about a piece of property that hasn’t hit Nida’s listings yet.”

“Okay.” She grinned. “Now I’m curious. That woman knows about every single piece of property there is.”

“Not this one. One of my hands has a place that sounds like what you want. He and his wife are moving back to Montana to be near her folks. I guess her dad’s having some problems. He hasn’t listed it because he just made the decision yesterday. But I know they’d be willing to do a rent with option to purchase just so they could get out of here.”

Sable’s eyes lit up with interest, the gold around her irises sparking even in the dim light. “And just where is this treasure?”

“Right on the edge of town, about twenty minutes from my place and the same travel time from the clinic.”

“You’re not just teasing me, right? This is a real place?” When he nodded, she jumped up, tossed down the little bit left of her drink and took Ryan’s hand. “Come on. I’m sure Nida’s here. Let’s go find her.”

Ryan would have been happy if they had to look all night as long as he got to keep holding Sable’s hand. He wondered how she kept them so soft while being a vet. He resisted the urge to stroke her palm with his fingers as they walked.

“I love it when business comes to me,” Nida said with a laugh after they found her. “Tell me all about it.”

She typed rapidly into her phone while Ryan gave her the information, nodding her head and grinning the whole time. Then she stuck her phone back in her little cross-body purse and smiled.

“Ryan, if this is all serious, have your guy meet you and me there at nine thirty tomorrow morning. I want to do a walkthrough and discuss money with him before I get Sable over there. And I’ll bring a contract with me so we can get it down on paper.” She looked at Sable. “That work for you?”

“Just fine,” Sable told her.

They made sure they exchanged phone numbers, and Ryan gave them the address of the place.

“I’ll call you the minute I’m satisfied this fits both your needs and your pocket book,” she told Sable. “You’ll be at the clinic. Can you get away for a little bit?”

Sable nodded. “We’ve got something going on for Doc around noon. Today was really his last day. This party is great, but the staff wants to have their own little goodbye for him.”

“What time will that be?”

“They’re planning to have lunch sent in, so around twelve thirty.”

“Okay.” Nida turned back to Ryan. “Then send your guy over there about eight thirty. That way, if everything works out, we can get Sable back to the clinic in time for the party.”

Ryan nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’ll set it all up with Danny when he gets to work.” He looked at Sable. “You can come to the ranch at the end of the day, if that works better for you. I mean, after the clinic closes.”

“That’s not too late?”

“No. Not at all. Come anytime.” Just come. And didn’t the word alone make his cock twitch. If he didn’t get himself under control, he’d embarrass himself in a big way. Sable Hunter affected him the way no other woman had for twenty years.

“The staff can handle things as long as we don’t get any big emergencies. I might be able to cut out a little early.”

“Great. Make it easy on yourself.”

Damn. When everything came up about the house, he’d hoped to be able to take Sable out to lunch afterwards. Okay, now maybe dinner if she was coming to the ranch late. He knew he should dial this all back a notch, but something hot and needy inside him was pushing him forward.

“I think we finished our discussion just in time.” Nida inclined her head toward the stage that had been set up. “Looks like the band is getting ready to start its first set.”

Sure enough, as Nida walked away, the bandleader tapped the mic.

“Okay, ladies and gents. Time to get yourselves out on the dance floor. Reenie and Matt, you get out here and bring the crowd with you.”

The musicians swung into a rendition of “Hey, Good Lookin’”. As soon as Reenie and Matt began to dance, others quickly followed. Ryan looked at Sable, feeling like a gawky kid at a high school dance.

“How about it? Can you spare a dance for the man who might have found your house for you?”

She tilted her head to look up at him, her lips curved in a warm smile.

“I don’t think I’m much of a dancer, but after what you came up with, how can I refuse?”

He took her hand and led her out to the dance floor before she could change her mind. Although his large body dwarfed hers, she moved easily into his arms as if she’d been there forever. He reveled in the feel of her soft body against his. As subtly as he could, he inhaled the delicate fragrance surrounding her, a teasing combination of something flowery and cinnamon. Sweet and spicy. He’d bet that described Sable herself to a tee. He’d love to taste every inch of her to find out.

He was not a fan of holding a conversation while dancing, especially when he had a woman like this in his arms. As the band moved into the next number, he made no move to release her. This song was a particular favorite of his, “Amazed”, by Lonestar. He tightened his hold on Sable just a fraction, pulling her against him a little harder. She had to feel the thick outline of his cock, even through the two layers of their clothing. He waited to see if she moved away from him, protested the sudden intimacy, but she just leaned into him, humming along with the music.

Holy shit. Was she feeling it too? Whatever
it
was?

Cool it, Ryan
, he warned himself.
She’s brand new in town. Hardly got her legs under her, so to speak. Let her get settled, adjust to the practice before making a move.

Smart advice. Too bad he probably wouldn’t be taking it.

The music ended and he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking around, he saw the Hannigans standing next to him.

“Thanks for making sure Sable gets into the swing of things,” Georgie said. “We’re going over to the buffet table before this hungry horde devours everything. Come on and join us.”

Sable stepped easily out of his arms at the words. He wondered if she saw it as an excuse to break the contact. When he looked at her, he saw heat in her eyes and her face was flushed. It was gone so quickly he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it or not.

“That sounds like a great idea.” She gave the other couple a bright smile. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

Ryan shifted his position so he was walking slightly behind her, using her as a shield. He was hungry too, only not for food. He just hoped no one bothered to look at his crotch until he got his misbehaving dick under control. Maybe shoving some food into his stomach would distract the other parts of his body.

Tables stretched the entire length of one side of the tent. A carving chef and waitstaff were on one side, prepared to serve people as they passed down the line. There was probably enough food to feed an army, but Ryan realized that was about the size of the crowd. He was sure everyone in Saddle Wells was here tonight, as well as a good number of people from the rest of the county, a not unexpected turnout. Pete Lynch had been practicing here, tending to people’s animals, for thirty-five years.

“This is fantastic.” Sable was moving along the buffet table in front of him. She looked up at him, smiling like a kid in a candy shop. “I’ll probably make a pig of myself.”

Georgie laughed. “We encourage people to do that, you know. I think it’s a rule around here. Maybe in the whole state.”

When Cade led the way to a table, balancing two plates in his hand, it was obvious he expected Ryan and Sable to follow along. Ryan was okay with that if it meant he could sit right up next to Sable during dinner. She’d be sitting with the Hannigans for sure, since she’d come with them, and Ryan was never one to pass up an opportunity.

He held back in the conversation department as they ate. Cade had Sable talking about where she’d gone to vet school and where she’d done her internship, and more importantly, how she happened to choose this profession to begin with. He filed every nugget of information carefully away in his brain for the future. He wanted to know as much about Dr. Sable Hunter as he could, past and present. He hoped to contribute a lot to the future himself.

“I’m really looking forward to getting myself established with everyone here,” she commented as she blew at the steam on a hot cup of coffee. “I want people to know they can depend on me the way they have on Doc.”

Cade looked at Ryan. “That man right next to you can be a big help. You take good care of his million-dollar bulls and he’ll sing your praises to everyone.”

Sable looked at him, one eyebrow cocked. “Is that right?”

“My bulls are my life,” he said simply, and meant every word of it. No matter how hot he was for Dr. Sable Hunter, or how much he wanted to take her to bed or do any other thing with her, his bulls came first. If she ended up not cutting it as a vet, all the sexual chemistry in the world wasn’t going to save her. That was just the way it was. But he didn’t want to worry about that right now.

“So if I cut it with you, I’m good with everyone else?” she teased.

He nodded. “That’s about how it rolls.”

The stare she gave him was so penetrating he felt it down to his toes. He broke eye contact first, rising with his empty cup. “I can use anther cup of coffee. How about the rest of you?”

“I’ll come with you.” Cade rose from his chair. “Help you carry them back.”

“So.” Georgie scooted over next to Sable as soon as the men walked away. “You and the bull rider?”

Sable did her best to keep her face impassive. “The bull rider and I were discussing business. Boarding my horse, remember? You’re the one who suggested it.”

“Uh-huh. Looked like the two of you were talking about more than that mare of yours.” Georgie winked.

“Damn. Was everyone else watching us? Speculating like this?”

“Of course. You’re a new female in town, and he’s the hottest thing in the county. People just gossip naturally, but it’s no big deal.”

“I just don’t want them pairing us up. You know?”

Georgie laughed. “Honey, it’s the local pastime around here. Get used to it.”

Yeah, right.

Sable shook her head. “He’s a good-looking man, but my first order of business is business. This is my first solo practice, and making sure I do it right is primary. I can’t let myself get distracted.”

“Even with a distraction as sexy as Ryan Donovan?” Georgie teased.