Smoke. Fire. Cowboy (Cowboys of Nirvana Book 3) (4 page)

Surprisingly, his stained hands didn’t revolt her. Nor did the fact that his nails weren’t the cleanest. That he hadn’t shaven in days. The way his hair tumbled naturally across his forehead and he could use a cut. His good looks came without struggle. A man like Jared probably jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn, dragged on his worn jeans, boots and T-shirt, and out the door without missing a beat. There was something refreshing, almost sexy, about the freedom of just being—effortlessly. She wondered if he made love in the same spirit. Confident, determined, and sensual. Her mind had no business down that road.

“Honesty can be inspirational as long as it doesn’t hurt the target,” she said.

“Forgive my ignorance.”

“Is that an apology?” She lifted a brow.

“A roundabout apology,” he admitted.

“Oh. Well, your apologies are severely lacking in sincerity.” She looked at him over the rim of her glass, squeezing the stem as if she imagined it was his neck. “The only thing you’re sorry about is that I overheard the remark.”

He laughed. Didn’t help ease her anger.

“Then who are you Sofie Drake? Explain your ins and outs to me.” One thick brow lifted.

“I’m certainly not looking for a husband as you rudely insinuated.

He leaned forward, her breath caught as she stared into his sensual eyes. The color was intense, more of a steely green than before. “Will you forgive me if I tell you a secret?”

“A secret?” She forced the words from her quivering vocal chords, not liking that he made her this nervous. What secret could he possibly tell her that she wanted to hear? There were a few…

“Yes.” He was even closer.

She thrummed her fingers on the table in restless energy. “Okay.”

“I might have had an itty, bitty crush on you when you first came here.” He held up his hand, an inch space between his thumb and forefinger.

Air left her lungs. “A crush? On me?”

His eyes dazzled. “I saw you rolling your suitcases up the sidewalk to your cabin, struggling with the weight of the three bags and how cute frustration looked on you. And the skintight skirt and heels certainly did leave quite a first impression.”

For a second, he had her. “You’re making fun of me.” She sighed in irritation.

“I’m not making fun of you, sweetheart.”

She skimmed his face. There was no sign of humor, but she wasn’t quite ready to trust him. “The least you could have done was help me pack my luggage into the cabin. That would have been the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“I’m not much of a gentleman.”

“Not even close.”

“Ah, come on. Let’s clean the slate. You’ve been here long enough that we can be friends. After all, I did tell you my secret.”

Emptying her glass, she poured herself another. She couldn’t understand what was going on inside of her. Her temperature rose by ten degrees and her core trembled. It was no secret Jared liked the ladies, maybe a little too much, but the message hadn’t quite made it to her throbbing secret parts. She was too smart and burned from her past relationship to allow his charm to break through the protection she’d built, but there were a few cracks in the armor.

“Don’t look so sad. You’re too pretty to wear a frown.” His soft, but husky voice, pounded at the very wall that kept her safe.

“I’m not sad.”
Nervous as hell, but not sad.

“Want to talk about what’s troubling you?”

She gave her head a quick shake, sending tendrils smacking her cheeks. “Not with you.” Her breath became trapped in her chest and she had to force air in and out, her heart beating rapidly, her nipples pressing against her bra. Her gaze was drawn to him as he watched her, wearing a look that she couldn’t decipher. Jared wasn’t a man who could be read easily. He held his expressions like a poker player, always smiling like he owned the deck of cards. He was probably a killer poker player because his piercing gaze seemed to travel through the air like a heated laser, and she certainly wasn’t immune. What made him tick? What brought him here to Nirvana? There was something lethal about him, a magnet luring her into his realm.

He brought his hand to his chest and tapped two fingers against it, over his heart, mimicking a steady beat. “Ouch. That hurt.”

“How could it possibly hurt? You just said yourself that we don’t like each other much.”

One corner of his mouth popped up. Did he ever fully smile—an unguarded smile? “I never said I didn’t like you. I said I had a crush on you, remember?” He sighed.

A throbbing started slow in her groin and quickly took on a primal beat. She was lonely…and this was dangerous. Jared was dangerous. “I should go.” Her words came out in a throaty whisper, but she didn’t make any move to leave. Did she want him to ask her stay? Possibly. She recognized the heat building at the apex of her thighs, and she wasn’t sure how to handle the sensation, but she wasn’t about to let physical need outweigh logic. She’d come way too far. Had overcome so much.

“You haven’t finished your wine.”

She looked into the glass and the answers seemed written in the Merlot. Going back to her cabin, alone, and possibly using her vibrator to ease her need didn’t entice her. She wanted to share conversation with someone, to laugh and enjoy herself, not remembering the last time she felt this alive. Her pain was exposed and her body eagerly wanted a soothing hand to ease away the bitterness that had crawled into her soul.

But not from arrogant, puzzling Jared. She’d have to tell him straight…

Yet, when she looked at him, another answer came out. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stay a little longer.” She slumped back into the chair, keeping her gaze on him, sizing him up.

****

Jared watched Sofie reach into the clear jar sitting in the middle of the table and finger through the variety of wrapped candy until she came to the strawberry blow pop. His cock jerked when she peeled the paper slowly and popped the sucker into her mouth. Sheesh! Already labeled a bad-boy who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, the last thing he needed, or wanted, was to prove that the rumors were true. Since when did he start caring what people thought of him? What ‘people’ thought didn’t matter. What Sofie believed was a completely different story. The crush he had on her was true and, unfortunately, nothing had changed. Whenever she walked into a room, fireworks went off in his head and every nerve ending in his body jolted awake.

He knew it was a dream to think that a woman like Sofie would fall for a man like him. No money. No land of his own. No future set in stone. He didn’t know a lot about her past, but he did remember hearing that she’d been married to some rich, corporate son-of-a-bitch who’d broken her heart. The thought made Jared’s fingers itch to hunt down the bastard and wring his neck. A man who could have Sofie in his life and drop the ball deserved to have his ass kicked by a country-boy.

She pulled the pop from her mouth and rolled her cherry-colored tongue along her moist bottom lip. “What do you suggest we should do?”

His stomach tightened. A good twenty things came to mind, but nothing that involved wearing clothes. He’d admit that he had a healthy sexual appetite, loved the soft curves of a woman and enjoyed a romp in the sack like every other red-blooded man. But since Sofie arrived at Nirvana, his cock had been behaving awkwardly. The last time he’d tried to relieve his manly needs with Tiffany, his ‘friend-with-benefits’, he’d been very disappointed when he couldn’t get a rise to the occasion. She had worked hard with her skilled mouth, but nothing happened. When she stood up from her knees and told him, “lose my number,” he knew she wasn’t kidding. A gorgeous woman like her didn’t waste their time on a flaccid dick. Hell, it wasn’t like he’d call her again, not after the humiliation. The real problem was that every time he caught a glimpse of Sofie, whether it was in her office, out on the land, or here now, his dick shot up like a hound dog’s ears at the scent of a fox. How in the hell was he supposed to prove to her that he wasn’t out to fuck her when his brain was filled with nothing but images and thoughts of her naked?

“Since we’ve decided to start fresh, tell me something about yourself,” he finally said.

“I don’t remember agreeing that we’d start new. I just said I’d stay a little longer.” She squared her eyes on him and he bit back laughter. He wondered if she knew how cute she was when she was irritated.

“True, but then let me help you get to know me a little better.” Damn! He should go back to his cabin before this little playful game between them got carried away. Sofie had always stayed clear of him, barely saying more than two words since she started working at Nirvana six months ago. He’d never had a woman disengage herself so quickly before getting to know him. He had the knack of rubbing people the wrong way, but he’d tried to make up for his bad behavior. Hell, most of the female guests loved getting flowers, not from him but from the other hands, but when he’d tried that gesture with Sofie she’d practically ripped his head off.

“More than I already know?” Her eyes twinkled.

Every staff member had a reason for being at Nirvana. No one came here just out of pure luck. Fate led them this direction and he wondered about her story. Maybe tonight she’d open up a little—it never hurt to have a friendly conversation. After all, the only thing he had to do was go back to his cabin and stare at the four walls. “Where did you come from before you came here?” he asked.

Her tongue came out and rolled over her bottom lip. He swallowed the thickness building in his throat. “Born and raised in Wyoming,” she finally answered. “Cheyenne.”

He whistled through his teeth. “So you’re not too far from home.” He darted his gaze over her, not caring that she might slap him. Not one part of her that he could see was anything but silky smooth and as creamy as freshly churned butter. Every time she moved, he got a whiff of something real nice.

A man could tell a lot about a woman by her scent and he knew without a doubt, she was out of his league. He recognized a rich woman when he saw one and, although Sofie lacked the large bank account, she was rich in every sense of the word. They had plenty of them show up on the guest list at Nirvana, and Sofie couldn’t hide the fact that she’d grown up in a much different world than he had. He dropped out of school and things only went downhill from there. That is until he came here. The ranch had shaped him, grounded him and hopefully taught him how a family treats one another. He had grown to care for the ranch hands like they were his blood brothers.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“Here and there, everywhere.”

“Is that a ‘none of your business’ answer?” Her thin brows lifted.

“I’ve been all over the place until I landed here.” He saw a ghost of a smile appear, but she shifted and the expression was gone. “More about you, Sofie. How did you end up here? So close and yet so far from home.”

“I needed a change. And a job. Isn’t that why we’re all here?”

“Give or take a few.”

“Did you travel as a child with your parents?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I grew up in Texas until I was fifteen and then I hit the road.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” He clicked his tongue. “Every life choice brings lessons. I’m a scholar.”

“You’ve been here for a while, huh?”

“Five years.” He scraped at the label on his bottle.

Her mouth opened, but she closed it. Finally, she said, “That’s a long time.”

“This is home,” he said. His bottle was empty and he wanted another, but for some reason he didn’t want to move and break the sudden connection he found with Sofie, even if he didn’t like having the attention on him.

“A temporary home though, right?” She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, holding them close.

The blow pop was discarded on the paper. He caught a glimpse of the thin bracelet on her left wrist. A silver charm dangled from the chain, but he couldn’t make out what it was. She shifted and he brought his gaze upward. Her hair was as dark as the night sky and her eyes were almost too big for her oval face Her scared, cautious expression told him that she didn’t trust easily. He understood all too well.

“A few have left, and more will, but I’m not sure what the future holds for me.” He started to bring the bottle to his lips, but remembered it was empty. She mimicked the movement, bringing the glass to her lovely mouth and sipping, still watching him, maybe sizing him up. His cock hitched, but he was putting way too much thought into those pretty, expressive eyes. “But I can see that a woman like you would have other plans, want more. A man who can give you the things you need.”

“There you go again. Thinking you know me.  I thought we were past that, Jared?” One corner of her mouth lowered. “There’s more to me than what you see.”

Damn! How did she say his name with a magical quality that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand erect? He was learning a lot about her here in the middle of the staff kitchen. He couldn’t deny he was a bit fascinated at peeling back her layers, exploring her pleasures and particulars. This was much better than the unapproachable Sofie he’d witnessed over the months. “I’m only saying that you’re marriage material, sweetheart. You won’t hide out here too long before the loneliness gets the best of you.”