Spurred On (The Quick and the Hot) (8 page)

Zoe Beth pulled out the chair opposite Hayden and slipped into it. Without looking up, she placed her napkin on her lap. Val smiled at her, but she didn’t glance at him either. Although Hayden could hardly blame her after the patronizing way he’d talked to her in the barn.

The girl knew how to care for the animals, that much was evident. Did her father really think her so incompetent?

“I made your favorite lunch today,” Mattie told Zoe Beth, leaning close.

Zoe Beth patted the woman’s hand on her shoulder. “I smelled it all the way in my bedroom and couldn’t stay away another minute.” She raised her gaze and locked it on Hayden.

When he looked into those sea-green depths, he felt a primal jerk at his insides. He gripped the table edge to keep from launching himself at her.

Sweet Jesus, he wasn’t going to make it through a meal with her. He’d wanted nothing but to shove away from the table, grab her hand, and tow her outside. Where he’d press her against the nearest wall and ravage those plump lips while begging for another chance.

As Mattie spoke with Val about an issue with one of the appliances, Zoe Beth leaned across the table. “I need to talk to you after lunch.”

A cold finger rested on his hyperactive pulse. Of course she was going to tell him that it was a mistake—that she was glad they hadn’t finished what they’d started.

He nodded stiffly. “Yes’m.”

The plates were passed, and Hayden took his share though he didn’t enjoy the rich lasagna and garlic bread that was Zoe Beth’s favorite. His stomach was in knots. When Val engaged him in conversation about the prime bulls, Hayden fought to keep a clear head.

Finally Val sighed at Hayden’s lack of response and talked to the ranch hand beside Hayden about the next cattle auction and whether or not they should look into a few more breeding mares.

Hayden stole another glance at Zoe Beth. Her vanilla scent distracted the hell out of him. In fact he could conjure the smell of her need just as easily. Too well he recalled her taste.

By the time all the cowboys finished their meals and started drifting away from the table, Hayden ached inside, and his arousal was out of control.

How am I going to keep her from noticing my boner when I talk about what a mistake I made?

He lingered at the table, pushing his food around his plate until Val dropped his napkin and stood. “I’ll be in my office if you need me, Meadows.”

“Yessir. I’m heading out to the clearing now to oversee the men building the fence.”

Zoe Beth gained her feet and started gathering plates into a pile. Once Val was out of the room, Hayden followed in her wake, clearing glasses.

“You don’t have to do that.” Mattie waved. “This isn’t your job.”

Zoe Beth glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you outside,” she murmured low enough to keep Mattie from overhearing.

Hayden set the glasses onto the counter near the dishwasher and left the house.

Outside, he paced back and forth nine times before Zoe Beth appeared. He came to a sharp halt. Doffed his hat.

“Zoe Beth…”

“Listen,” she said, closing the gap between them so hastily his heart tripped with hope that she was going to jump into his arms. “You need to watch yourself.”

“What?” Confusion sliced through his lust-filled haze.

She drew so close he could have simply lowered his head to claim her mouth. The hairs on his body prickled with awareness. The need to lash her to his body and beg her with his tongue to give him a second chance boiled his blood.

He clamped his hands into fists.

When Zoe Beth took a step back, she helped him reclaim some of his sanity. He needed to keep his distance from her, or he’d land himself on the other side of the Cole Ranch boundary—on his ass.

She raked her fingers through her silky hair and stole his mind all over again. “I heard the guys talking. You need to act normal.”

He shook his head. “Normal? I haven’t said anything about the other night—”

“Shhh! You ass, be quiet before someone hears you!” She curled her hand around his forearm, sending a spike of want straight to his cock. It stretched instantly.

“What are you talking about?” His tone was harsher than he wanted—gritty.

“I heard some of the guys talking. They said you were flighty. Prowling the ranch at night and not sleeping.”

“That’s because of you, dammit.”

“If you’re not careful—” Her eyes flared wide. “Because of me?”

“Yes, goddammit. I can’t think of anything but that night with you in the barn and how I should have finished it. How much I want to finish it.” The roughness in his voice changed pitch, burning low to match the cravings of his body.

“I…I’m trying to save you from losing your job.”

Sinking in the depths of her eyes, he closed the last fraction between their bodies and hooked an arm around her. She tried to wiggle away, but he planted a palm on her ass and held her.

“I’m not going to lose my job for working hard day and night, which is what I’ve been doing, sweetheart. The only thing that’s going to get me kicked off the ranch is this.” He claimed her mouth.

The first brush of her lips stole all rational thought. Suddenly he didn’t care that they were out in broad daylight right behind the house where anyone could spy them. All he wanted was Zoe Beth’s sweet mouth, her tongue moving with his.

She reacted by swaying into his kiss, opening her mouth to his invasion. But at the first sweep of his tongue, she yanked free. Stumbling away a few steps she raised trembling fingers to her lips. “No. Just no,” she whispered.

He closed the gap between them again, catching her around the waist. He nuzzled her throat. “I shouldn’t have walked away from you that night. I’ve regretted it every second since.”

A shiver coursed through her. “Every second?” Her voice rushed past his ear, a weak version of her usual throaty tone.

He closed his eyes, filling his head with her delectable scents. “Every…” He licked her earlobe. “Damn…” Ran his tongue down the column of her throat. “Second.” Flicked a path along her collarbone.

She melted in his arms. “I’ve thought about it every damn second too.”

A growl left him, and he lifted his head to capture her lips once again. The kiss spiraled out of control, a carnal meshing of tongues and lips and teeth. He rocked his erection against her pussy, raising a moan from her. He walked her backward and trapped her against the wall of the house.

Bracing his hands on either side of her chest, he continued to plunder her soft lips.

“Stop,” she murmured.

“You don’t want that.”

“No, but there are things to be said.”

True.

“And we can’t do this here. Now.”

She’s right.

He pulled back. As soon as she was free, she paced away from him until they stood about ten yards apart.

Across the sun-dappled lawn, they stared at each other. “Tonight,” he said.

She nodded. “At Five Feet’s stall.”

A grin stretched across his face. “The calf’s doing well.”

Joy flitted across her features. “She is.” Tripod wandered into the backyard and ran up to Zoe Beth. Darting a glance at the dog, she said, “I’d better go.”

He gave a nod. “Go but don’t think about standing me up. If you do, I’ll come into the house after you.”

She spun on her heel and flounced farther away. “You try it, and I’ll sic my dog on you.”

As she walked away, he watched her round ass sway, then allowed his gaze to travel down each tanned leg. “I’m not afraid of your dog, sweetheart.”

“Not now that you know you won’t need rabies shots.” She turned the corner, out of sight. But she was still within earshot.

“Zoe Beth!”

Her reply was muted. “Yeah?”

“Every damn second.”

Chapter Six

Zoe Beth dragged in a lungful of the crisp evening air and held it. The grass sparkled with dew, illuminated by the moonlight when it peeked through the clouds. Rain tomorrow. She could smell it.

Releasing her breath, she wrapped her arms around her middle and headed toward the barn. She’d waited to leave the house for her meet with Hayden, not wanting to appear overeager, especially after the way he’d treated her the other night.

She firmed her lips. Why she was giving him another chance was anyone’s guess. The stolen moments in the barn had been good, but she could take care of her body’s needs herself. It was something about the rugged cowboy that burned all her reason until it curled up in smoke. The way he looked at her gave her a high, and even if he’d made a mistake she wanted more of that fix.

As long as he didn’t make two mistakes. Then he was getting the ax.

Tripod came around the house, his back end waggling with happiness at finding her. The dog had an uncanny ability to track her down. At times he’d even follow her into the bathroom. Maybe he knew she’d saved his life.

Maybe Five Feet would know too.

When she neared the barn door, a shadow moved. The muscled outline of the man added a thrill to her nervous belly—broad shoulders tapering to a six-pack straight off the pages of a men’s fitness magazine. Hips perfectly holding up a pair of low-slung jeans.

“I didn’t think you’d come.” His deep voice sent twinges through her system, twangs of a song they hadn’t yet written. He drifted close, stepping into the pool of moonlight with her.

She tilted her head up to look at his face. He wasn’t wearing a hat, giving her a clear view of his chiseled features in the dim moon glow. Her breath caught as he encircled her wrists. His long fingers overlapped.

“I don’t know what it is about you, cowboy. You make me lose all sense.”

The corners of his eyes creased with amusement. “The same goes for you, cowgirl. You make me feel as if I’m in the arena again—running on pure instinct and adrenaline highs.”

She swallowed at the parallel he’d drawn. That she’d give him a rush like the one he’d once gotten by competing left her with a seed of warmth in her belly.

He tugged on her wrists. “Let’s check on the calf; then I have a surprise for you.”

With romantic notions swirling through her head, she allowed Hayden to lead her into the barn. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a flashlight. When they shone it on the calf, it came forward on much stronger legs to nuzzle Zoe Beth’s hand.

“Brought you somethin’,” Hayden crooned, extending a palm and revealing a lump of sugar.

Zoe Beth grinned as Five Feet scooped up the sugar with her tongue. “Greedy thing.”

“She is. She’s cleaned out my pockets in the last two days—taken all the sugar I usually treat the horses with.”

That he walked around treating the animals made the warmth in her belly grow. He definitely wasn’t what she’d expected him to be. The foremen of the past had been harder, crustier. They were all about the business—ruthless in their drive to make the Cole Ranch what it was today. While that was a good thing on many levels, she was glad to see a hint of humanity on the ranch.

She’d always admired the trait in her father.

After she and Hayden had rubbed the calf’s silky nose and ears, he grabbed Zoe Beth’s hand and led her into the night. His strides were difficult for her to match, but she hurried alongside him, loving the feel of his fingers around hers.

They walked some distance from the ranch. Night sounds enveloped them in a private cocoon. When they crested a hill, moonlight reflected on a truck parked there. Hayden’s truck, white with a racing stripe she knew was electric blue even if she couldn’t clearly make it out in the darkness.

He tugged on her hand and tossed her a smile over his shoulder. “C’mon.”

Once they reached the truck, he opened the driver’s door and turned the key. The soft croon of a country ballad trickled out. He rolled down the windows and closed the door again.

Zoe Beth’s nipples bunched as he brushed past her and circled to the rear of the truck. He released the tailgate and patted the bed. “It’s not a five-star restaurant, but it’s what I could manage in the middle of nowhere. Besides, I wanted privacy.”

She came closer to the tailgate. On the bed Hayden had laid a picnic. A thick quilt graced the bottom of the truck and a picnic basket sat in the middle. A bottle of wine glinted.

He waved a hand overhead. “We’ve got our own private candlelight.”

Her throat closed off at his efforts to make this date special. Shame burned. She’d expected a hot romp in the hay with him—she would have been content with it. But this was so much better.

“After you.” He gestured to the bed. She climbed in and settled cross-legged beside the picnic basket. He followed, crowding close. When he moved, wafts of his personal musk dizzied her.

He reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a silver packet. Once he started to unwrap it, the scent of Mattie’s decadent death-by-chocolate brownies struck Zoe Beth.

“Mmm. I thought the brownies were gone. I went to get one after dinner and the pan was empty.”

“Well, Mattie didn’t mind me snitching them. Or this.” He pulled out a can of whipped cream.

Sparks of heat lit between Zoe Beth’s thighs. What did he intend to do with that whipped cream? She’d never played with food sexually before. But maybe he was only going to use it on top off the brownies.

His eyes glittered as he passed her a thick brownie. “Hold it out.”

She did, and he pressed a thick forefinger on the whipped cream nozzle, squirting a perfect peak of fluff on top. “Yum.” She licked the tip, and he tracked her movements, a look of pure hunger on his face.

“Damn, baby. Do that again.”

Feeling self-conscious now, she flicked her tongue over the sugary fluff. Apparently Hayden enjoyed giving sweet treats to women too. The whipped cream lay on her tongue, and before she could swallow, he grabbed her around the nape and hauled her mouth to his.

He plunged his tongue between her lips and gathered the whipped cream. They shared a groan, much louder than ever before. Out here no one would hear if she cried out with ecstasy. Thank God he’d thought ahead.

She cradled her brownie and clamped her other hand on his shoulder as he cleaned off her tongue. When he withdrew, his expression of want had intensified.