TroubleinChaps (2 page)

There was
an intensity
to him that the good-old-boy façade couldn’t cover. And that was lethal.
At least for her.
Which spelled trouble with a capital T. Bottom line? She had to keep her hands off Cliff Beckett. Regardless of how much she’d like to dive into the tantalizing pool of temptation, she had to steer clear.

With her resolve firm, she headed out the door for her first night of work.

“Want another hit?”

Cliff turned his attention away from the schedule on the bar in front of him to look up at the waitress, Diane, behind the bar. She held a carafe of coffee. “Yeah, thanks.”

“So the new girl starts tonight?”

“Yep.”
Cliff hid a smile. Mesa Blanco was a small town and it didn’t take high-speed cable, smart phones or the internet for news spread faster than wild fire. By now, half the people in town knew Roxie and her friends had broken down. Probably knew that Emily was on Wyatt’s ranch, that Lola had been hired at the Blue Belle and that Chaps was getting a new waitress.

He’d lay odds that tonight’s crowd would be bigger than normal just out of curiosity. It was the way of small towns. Not much happened out of the ordinary and when something did, everyone was curious.

“Shit, there go my tips.” Diane muttered
,
her eyes turned toward the door.

Cliff turned his eye to follow the direction of her eyes and a spear of heat spiked through him.
Roxie.

Christ on a crutch. What she did for a tank top and cut-off jeans was a sin.
A tempting, dead-sexy sin.
The tank top was tight enough to have been painted on, accenting her full breasts and exposing her from mid-torso to the top of the low-riding jeans that had been cut off short enough to make a man hope he’d see her bend over.

Over-the-knee black leather boots showcased thighs that brought images best left for wet dreams to mind.

“Mr. Beckett,” she said as she stopped beside him.

“Roxie.”

“Where do you want me?”

The sudden swell of erection at her words had several suggestions spring to mind. In his bed, on the bar, the floor, bent across a table. There was a multitude of places he’d like to have her.

“Why don’t you start behind the bar?”

“Will do.”
She turned her attention to Diane. “Hi, I’m Roxie.”

“Diane.”

“Nice to meet you.
You mind showing me the ropes?”

Diane cut her eyes at Cliff then back to Roxie. “Sure. Come on back.”

Cliff couldn’t help but watch as Roxie turned. Oh, damn. The way the denim hugged her ass was criminal. He better keep her behind the bar. Sure as shit, there’d be more than one
fella
who tried to get his hands on that.

A surge of jealously shocked him. What the hell? Was he experiencing some kind of alpha male thing? He didn’t even know the woman and already he was dealing with an uncomfortable hard-on and jealousy over the idea of another man’s hands on her.

He gave it some thought as he watched Diane go over things with her. Roxie got to him and he knew himself well enough to know that he’d never be satisfied until he had her. And being a gambler, the challenge of winning her had appeal.

A smile came to his face. Winning Roxie was now the goal. But the key was making her come to him. And she would. He just had to figure out the right buttons to push.

Yes, he was definitely going to have Roxie.
Looked as if it was going to be an interesting time in Mesa Blanco after all.

Roxie could feel Cliff’s eyes on her. It wasn’t an altogether unpleasant sensation.
In fact, quite the opposite.
But she was determined to ignore it. She had ignored it for almost a week and it was starting to wear her down.

She was keeping herself awake at night imagining the damn man’s hands on her and hers on him. She either needed to get laid or find a damn sex toy store because she was close to a meltdown.

By eight o’clock the place was packed and she’d popped so many beer tops she resolved to scout out the local stores tomorrow and find a nice, thick, silver ring for her thumb. That was a trick she’d learned long ago. Wearing a thumb ring helped you pop a beer top without an opener and saved you from ending up with blisters.

“Hon, why don’t you take a break,” Diane said as Roxie rang up another sale. “Slip on back to the office and put your feet up for a few.”

“Thanks.” Roxie gave her a smile. She grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and headed through the kitchen behind the bar to the office. Thankfully, it was empty.

The moment she closed the door, the din of noise dampened. She took a long drink of water and leaned back against the door.

“How’s it going?”

The sound of Cliff’s voice had her springing away from the door. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were here. Diane told me it was okay to take a break in here.”

“Fine by me.
That’s what I’m doing.”

“What?”

“Taking a break.”

“From?”

He chuckled and ignored the question. “You seem to have caught on to things. Diane says you’re raking in the tips.”

“It’s not rocket science,” she replied, stemming the urge to back away as he rose from his seat at the desk and approached.

“That it’s not.”

She waited for him to say more but he simply leaned one shoulder against the wall and regarded her with that slow sexy smile. “Customers like you.”

“Or the beer.”
She wasn’t stupid. She’d been hit on and flirted with before tonight. And knew how to give just enough flirt in return to ensure a good tip but not leave the impression that she was available.

Cliff’s smile widened. “Honey, they can get that beer all they want. You, on the other hand—you’re a temptation they haven’t tasted.”

“And aren’t likely to.” She met his eyes to show him that she was not kidding.

“I wouldn’t fire you for it, sugar.”

“It wouldn’t matter—if I saw anything I was interested in.”

He moved a little closer. “So you haven’t seen anything that interests you?”

She knew what he was asking. And knew she should meet his eyes and lie through her teeth. But her brain didn’t seem to be working right at the moment. The close proximity of his lean, muscular body had her hormones spiking. She could smell the clean scent of soap and
man,
feel the heat coming off him.

“Nothing I’m going to act on.”

“Oh? And just for the sake of argument, if you were inclined to act, just what would be the subject of your interest?”

“I think we both know the answer to that.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was a mistake. First rule of gambling—never give your opponent anything to use against you.

Cliff’s smile faded, to be replaced with a look that had her wanting things she knew she had to stay away from.

He leaned a little closer. “You want to fill me in on why acting on this interest would be a bad thing?”

“I already told you. Not as long as I work for you.” Roxie edged away a few inches then mentally cursed herself for showing weakness. “I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I guess I’ll get back to work.” She turned to leave, eager to escape the feelings his nearness inspired.

“Hold on.”

She paused.

“We’ve got a bit of a problem, Roxie.”

“With what?”

“This.”

He had her pressed against the door and his lips on hers before she could protest. She could have pushed him way.
Should have.
But damn he felt good, the long, lean length of him pressed against her, the taste of him. She gave in and returned the kiss, grabbing his hips to pull him more firmly against her.

Then reason returned and with it, anger. Not at him.
At herself.
She pushed him away.

“It isn’t going to happen. I already told you.”

“Yeah, I know, not as long as you work for me.”

“Right.”

“Easy enough.
You’re fired.”

“No!” She pressed both hands against his chest as he moved in on her. “No.”

Cliff stopped, planting both hands on the door on either side of her and boxing her in. “Why? We both want it.”

“Sometimes that old saying is true, Mr. Beckett. The wanting is better than the having.”

“I’d be willing to bet that isn’t the case here, darling.”

“Maybe not, but I need a job more than an orgasm.”

He didn’t respond for several moments. “I tend to disagree.”

“Then we’ll have to agree to disagree, won’t we?”

“Maybe.
Maybe not.
How ‘bout we have ourselves a little wager?”

“What kind of wager?”

“That if you spend time with me outside of work, inside of three weeks you’ll change your mind and ask me to take you to bed.”

Roxie barked a laugh. “That’s so not going to happen.”

He smiled. “Put your money where your mouth is.”

“Got no money, as you well know.”

“Fine.
If I win, you agree to stay for six months. Working for me and sharing my bed.”

“And if I win?”

“I pay you six month’s salary, fix your car and wish you good luck as you leave Mesa Blanco in your dust.”

Roxie considered it. “Six months regular bartender’s pay or six months at the same rate you pay me now?”

His mouth twitched as if he were fighting back a smile.
“Your rate.”

“Define ‘spend time with’.”

“You know, sugar, dinner at my place, maybe some dancing on your nights off and necking on the couch.”

“Necking?”
Damn, why did her pulse spike at the idea?

“Well hell, Roxie, you scared you can’t resist me?”

“Not on your best day, Beckett.” God was going to get her if she didn’t quit lying, but she wasn’t about to let him know that resisting him was requiring effort.

“Then do we have a deal?”

Three weeks, she thought. All she had to do was hold out three weeks. She could do that. Couldn’t she? She might need to find that sex toy store pretty quick, but she could do it. Only twenty-one days and then she could say
adios
to Mesa Blanco and get on with her life.

“Deal.”
She stuck out her right hand.

“I think we can do better than that.” He claimed her in a kiss that had her blood humming and her toes threatening to curl. When he pulled back, his smile was cocky. “You’re going down, Roxie.”

Roxie felt the gambler within rise to the challenge. She leaned in toward him, pressing her breasts against him as her right hand moved down to cup the erection that strained against the leg of his jeans. “You wish.”

Cliff laughed and moved away. Yep, he was definitely going to win this bet. Roxie might not warm his bed tonight, but soon she would. He would see to it.

Chapter Three

Roxie’s pulse did a quick two-step when Cliff opened the front door of his house. Dressed in soft, faded jeans and a white dress shirt open at the neck, with sleeves rolled up his forearms, he looked good enough to eat.

“I see you found the place.”

“Thanks for the loan of your truck.”

“My pleasure,
darlin
’.”

She almost rolled her eyes. He was laying on the Texas accent a bit thick and she knew he’d had his truck left in town for her to drive because it suited him to do so. Roxie had been around gamblers all her life and recognized when someone was setting her up to take a fall.

Not that she intended to fall for Cliff Beckett. She was just here, on her day off, because it was part of the bet.

“Come on in.” He stepped aside for her to enter.

She smiled in amusement as his eyes raked over her. Her outfit obviously wasn’t what he’d expected, but the look in his eyes when they met hers told her quite clearly that he liked what he saw.

Good. She’d chosen her outfit with care. A gypsy skirt that rode low on her hips, a tank top that stopped just short of her navel and an old, soft denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom tied just above her waist. She wore her hair loose and opted for a pair of sandals to complete her outfit.

He smiled at her. “Nice outfit, but not too good for riding”

She returned the smile. She might be set on spurning his advances, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t play a little herself. She liked the way he looked at her.
Liked knowing that he wanted her.
And liked being able to turn him down and cross one more day off the calendar that she was closer to leaving Mesa Blanco.

“Depends on the kind of riding you had in mind.”

The look he gave her was heated enough to ignite a fire in her belly. He took her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms. Roxie fought to resist the pull, to ignore the fact that everything inside her was shouting for her to just let go and give in. To enjoy the sinful temptation his eyes promised and the delicious feel of his hard body against hers.

But that wouldn’t get her back on the road so just before his lips met
hers,
she raised her hand and covered his lips with her fingers.

He didn’t release her, but did straighten, letting one of his hands drift down her back to slide across the swell of her ass. She stepped back, forcing him to drop his hands.

“So, what kinda riding is it gonna be today, Roxie?”

“Hmmm, don’t know that I’m much interested in riding today, Cliff.”

His eyebrows rose a moment before his smile. “Cliff? Does that mean the rules have changed?”

She smiled and reached up to trace her fingers along the side of his face. “Let me think on that a minute.”

Even as she acted, she knew she was treading dangerous ground. Playing with Cliff Beckett was definitely like handling fire.
Fire that could spread in an instant.
But she couldn’t resist.

She stood up on her tiptoes and slowly brushed her lips across his. He made no move to take control of the moment, which pleased her. Her tongue snaked out and his lips parted to allow her access. It was a slow, long kiss with nothing of their bodies touching except their lips. Finally, just before she ended the kiss she leaned in, grazing his chest with her breasts.