He recognized Keely’s frustration at having a vision no one else saw or understood.“I wanted something that was just mine. I wanted to do it my way, with my money, and my ideas. But this clinic would benefit everyone, not just me, so it’s not about my ego but about me wanting to help people.” Her eyes searched his, almost frantically. “Haven’t you ever wanted to prove yourself? To be different or do something different from what people expect of you?”“Of course.”“So I was feeling cocky that I’d pulled it off. Everything was going miraculously well. The real estate broker kept quiet. As did the banker. I thought I’d jumped through all the proper hoops. Imagine my surprise when I learned I can’t change a freakin’ thing on the building that I now own without the step-by-step approval of some damn committee.”Welcome to his world.“Oh, and on top of that, I have to hire a qualified expert, already certified by the committee, to oversee the remodeling process. So the specialist can reas
“Big talk. I suspect you’re all talk.”“I am not all talk,” she huffed.“Then take your best shot.” Jack grinned nastily. “But you’d better make it count, because what goes around, comes around.”Her eyes flicked over him from head to toe. “Such macho trash talk from coming from a guy who’s dressed like he just stepped off the cover of GQ. ”“Says the woman who’s a candidate for What Not To Wear,” he volleyed back.“Ooh.” Keely snapped her fingers in a Z shape. “You told me, girlfriend. Will your boyfriend be jealous we’re tossing bitchy banter back and forth?”Jack laughed. “That’s your best shot? Accusing me of being gay?”Keely snorted again. “Accusing? Dude. My gaydar goes haywire around you.”“And you’re an expert in all things gay because you live in Buttfuck, Wyoming?” he said with amusement.“Why, Jack-off… You actually have a sense of humor! You should share that playful side more often.Guys really go for it.”He laughed again. “Name one thing about me that sets off your fin
“I’ll need a minimum of one month commitment from you. During this engagement you’ll travel to Milford with me and convince the committee we’re madly in love.”“Didn’t you tell me the committee is aware you’ve been single for a while?”Jack paced again. “I didn’t share specifics on my personal life. I more or less sidestepped the question. But there has to be a way we can convince them we’ve secretly been together for the last few months…” He snapped his fingers. “Aha! I’ve got it.”“Got what?”“The reason we didn’t go public with our relationship—even with families—was because of our rocky past. I saw you as my best friend’s pesky little sister; you were dumped by my little brother. But we crossed paths again when you needed my help with this restoration project. It turned into something more than a working relationship. Each hour we spent together built on our past as a bridge to our future until bam—change of heart.”Keely began to clap.Jack gave her that devil-may-care grin and b
Her hand felt heavy. No wonder. When she peeked at the square cut diamond set in a platinum band, she realized the stone was the size of her fingernail. Keely met Jack’s gaze. “Is this for real?”“What? The stone? Yes, it’s real.”“Guess you took me seriously about the gigantic ring, huh?”“I figured ten plus carats would get your attention.”“And the attention of anyone within a mile.” Keely waggled her fingers, admiring the diamond’s flash of brilliance. “This is spectacular. I don’t know what to say.”“That’s gotta be a first,” he said dryly. “Thank you, Jack, would be a start.”Keely angled across the console and placed her hand on his smoothly shaven cheek. “Thank you, Jack.”His eyes were soft, a luminous green, nearly hypnotic. The moment was so intimate she almost believed it was real.Her dad knocked on the window and barked, “You comin’ in or what?” and brought a screaming halt to her momentary lapse in judgment.Jack kissed the inside of her forearm and mouthed, “Show time.
“No would’ve been a good place to start.”“You’re an opportunist. Think of it as the ultimate occasion to convince people we’re really getting married.”Jack swallowed his retort and turned up the radio.Keely lasted about thirty-five seconds before she flipped the music off. “You actually like that noise?”“Why would I listen to it if I didn’t?”“You probably think it makes you sound sophisticated if you tell people you listen to jazz.”“And I’d be better off listening to that goat-yodeling crap you prefer?”“Yep. At least it’s honest.”“As honest as the Nashville music executives can manipulate in a slick multimillion dollar recording studio with a marketing team in the wings.”“Testy much?”“Your fault,” he pointed out.“How is it my fault?”“You’re in my car, ripping on my music choices.” He expelled a heavy sigh. “Can you just not talk for the rest of the drive?”“Fine.”A minute later she dragged out her iPod and sang along. Loudly. By the time Jack parked behind her building, h
“What?”“Possessive much?”You don’t know the half of it. Jack permitted a feral smile. “Better learn that early on.” He pushed back and tucked the phone in her front shirt pocket. “Go upstairs and make your calls. I’ll be right up.”Keely sauntered away.Jack dug his cell phone out and brought up the engagement picture he’d forwarded to himself. It exemplified a couple who looked wildly in love. He reworded the text message and hit send all.No going back now.Three hours later, Jack punched his lace pillow for the millionth time. He could not get comfortable in this stupid, lumpy, midget-sized bed.You can’t get comfortable because you’ve got a hard-on the size of a Louisville Slugger.He stared at the rows of stuffed animals lining the bookshelves. Creepy damn things. Then he gazed at the ceiling, wide-awake.He’d spent the last two hours trying not to gawk at Keely’s legs. Or her ass. Or her tits. Or the little slice of her belly that teased where her booty shorts gapped in the fr
AJ stood on the landing, gripping Foster’s hand. “What’s this pile of garbage about you marrying Jack Donohue?” AJ demanded.“It’s not garbage.” Keely clapped her hands and Foster ran into her arms with a heart-melting little boy giggle. She lifted him and spun him around to more giggles. “Didja miss your Auntie, Fos?”“Uh-huh.”She looked him over, completely smitten. With his dark hair and lanky build, Foster would be the spitting image of his father, Cord, if not for the silvery hue of his eyes, which he’d inherited from AJ.He slapped his palms on her cheeks. “Play Legos?”“I swear you only love me for my toys.” She kissed his forehead before setting him down. She grabbed the box out of the toy closet and dumped the contents on the rug. “He’s either gonna grow up to be a bricklayer or a house builder.”“You are avoiding the question. I want all the details, Keely West McKay, and I want them right now.”Keely sighed. “I know you can’t have coffee in your condition, but do you want
“Where do you need to go today?”Nowhere, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. “I have a life, Jack. I have a job. I need a car.And no, I’m not asking anyone to ferry me around town when there’s a perfectly good car sitting in the parking lot. Besides, people would gossip that my fiancé doesn’t trust me to touch his precious Beemer.”Jack loomed over her. “I don’t trust you. Do you have any idea how much I paid for that car?”“Way, way too much?” she asked sweetly.He growled.“Who cares? It’s just a car.”“Just a car? It’s a feat of German engineering—”“Some feat! It doesn’t have a trunk big enough to hold more than a French press coffeepot made in China and a bag of Guatemalan coffee beans.” When he snarled, she jabbed him in the chest with her index finger. “Here’s the deal. The only way I’ll let you borrow my truck to pick up that all important big-screen TV is if you let me drive your car.”Jack paced to the living room. Muttered to himself and stalked back to her. “Fine.
“The camera showed you that?”“Ava. I don’t need to look through a viewfinder to see you’re upset.”Damn intuitive man.“The camera is off. Talk to me.”“My grandfather commissioned a necklace for my sixteenth birthday. A tiny beautiful Swarovski crystal rose with a gold stem artfully twisted into an ‘A’. The one time I didn’t take it off before I jumped into the ocean? I lost it. I don’t know if the chain broke or what, but I was devastated because it happened about a month after he died.”“Aw, sugar, I’m so sorry.”Evidently Chase had enough taping. He returned the camera to the case and faced forward, wiggling to get comfortable.“Before you nod off, tell me why we’re backtracking. You planned a route through Montana and now we’re back in Cornhusker territory.”He rolled his eyes. “South Dakota is not Cornhusker territory. The reason I’m not goin’ to the event in Billings is because Ryan told me a former PBR bull rider who switched to the PRCA circuit will be competing. I don’t wan
He’d known the second he touched her he was done for. Ava needed him in a way no other woman ever had. He was a different man when he was with her, regardless if they were naked. So maybe that’s why he couldn’t freakin’ wait to get naked with her again, day after day after day.Seemed to take forever to check-in. He ditched the bags in the corner of the room. In the mirror above the sink, he saw Ava flop on the bed and heave a huge sigh.“Before you get too comfy, maybe you oughta see if you got the door shut.”She popped to her feet and resituated her skirt as she crossed the room, those fucking sexy little pleats teasing the back of her legs.When he’d gotten a look at her outfit this morning—short plaid skirt, plain white blouse, black ballet shoes—his cock had been hard all day as his head conjured up bad-schoolgirl-needing-a-spanking scenarios.Ava tested the door by pushing on it. “I don’t know why you were worried it wasn’t shut—”“Lock it.” He put his mouth below her ear and p
He stirred, moaning as his cock hardened. Lengthened.When Ava started sliding his shaft over her tongue, his hand landed on her head.Immediately it snapped back and Chase scrambled upright. “Ava? What the devil are you doin’?” He inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth when she tongued the tip. “Hell. I thought it was a dream.”She pulled off his shaft long enough to say, “Nope. I want to make this buff body to squirm.” She licked him like a lollipop.“Oh, I’ve no doubt you can make me squirm. You probably could get me to beg.” He brushed her hair back from where it’d fallen in her face. “But—”Again, Ava eased off and met his gaze in the near darkness. “But nothing. You don’t get to direct this.”If she thought he’d lovingly pet her, agree, and murmur encouragement, she was mistaken. Chase’s big hands were on her face, gripping her jaw. “Yes, I do.”His answer turned her panties damp. As did his explicit command, “On the floor. On your knees.”As Ava moved, so did Chase. He perche
She loved his reaction to the scrape of her teeth, the sucking kisses, the feather light placement of her lips in random spots on his neck. Goose bumps spread across his arms and up his nape. He shifted on the bed, not thrashing, but wiggling enough she knew he liked what she was doing to him. She reveled in this immense power of worshipping rather than being worshipped.Ava immersed herself in him. The scent of his skin. The tangy taste of his sweat. The way his muscles strained beneath her tongue. She kissed, licked and nibbled her way down the center of his throat, from his square jaw to his breastbone. And could she get a halleluiah that he had chest hair? Talk about manly, masculine goodness. She rubbed her face over the dark patch of hair, breathing him in, listening to the pounding of his heart, warmed by the heat from his skin, and knowing his body’s response to her was echoed in her body.Bracing herself on all fours above him, she watched his face as she tongued his nipple.
She pushed her hips back, meeting his every hard thrust with a soft grunt. The fringe on his chaps swung forward, the leather connecting with her skin.Even as his cock plunged into her fully, even as his balls drew up, aching for release, even as his legs shook and sweat coated his skin, he planned for the next time he fucked her. The next hundred times.Chase closed his eyes; his hands yanking her body back to meet his escalating thrusts. Faster, harder, deeper, the only words echoed in his head as primal need roared. Impossible to hold off his orgasm, no matter how much he wanted to prolong the sensation of sinking into her soft, wet, flesh.He threw back his head, groaning as his cock emptied in hot pulses. Groaning louder when he felt Ava’s pussy contracting around his dick as she came again.Heart thumping, mouth dry, lungs lacking air, Chase fell forward onto Ava’s back, bracing himself on his hands. Although this rendezvous was supposed to’ve been a dare, a fun, wild slap and
“Who are you?” Douchebag demanded.“The guy tellin’ you to get the hell outta my room.”The douchebag looked at Ava. “I thought you said this was your room.”“Hey, fuckface, eyes on me, not her.” When douchebag turned, Chase stabbed his finger at the clothes by the bed. “You’re done. Grab your shit and get gone.”“Nuh-uh.” Douchebag gestured to Ava. “I get gone when she tells me to, not you, little man.”Ava said not one word.Chase’s anger hit the boiling point. Instead of yelling, his voice dropped lethally low. “Get. The. Fuck. Out.”“Or what? You gonna throw me out?” Douchebag sneered. “You’ll have to eat your spinach and grow some first.”Faking calmness he didn’t feel, Chase scooped up the man’s belongings, opened the door and dumped the pile onto the walkway.“What is wrong with you?” Douchebag loomed over Chase.“You have fifteen seconds to get out of my room and out of my face or I will beat you bloody. You’re not the first asshole who’s tried to take me on, believing a short
That vague comment got his back up. Was she trying to get rid of him? Just to be ornery, he said, “I hadn’t planned on goin’ anywhere today. Thought I’d stick around the room and rest up. Hang out with you, my friend.”Panic darted through her eyes. “Oh. Obviously since you’re paying for half the room that’s your prerogative. But I was hoping…”“Hoping for what?”“To have a few hours of quiet time so I can get your rides separated from the other footage.”Quiet time his ass. She wanted nookie time. And he’d be goddamned if he’d just fucking walk away and make it easy on her to bang a total stranger in his hotel room. “I’m not exactly loud, Ava.”“I know, Chase, but I need quiet. Complete silence. No TV. No talking. No cell phone conversations. No fighting.”The sneaky-ass woman knew that lying on his bed, counting the flaws in the ceiling tile for hours would drive him bonkers. But the idea of any man, in here—the private space Chase shared with Ava—touching her, kissing her, fucking
Ava nodded. “I’m new to the world of rodeo. He agreed to show me the inside scoop. That’s all.”“Dollface, that surely ain’t all. Not even close. The man has it bad for you.”Not bad enough to act on it.“I seen how he’s been lookin’ at you.”“And how’s that?”“Like you’re a hot, sweet fried Twinkie and he’d like to lick you up one side and down the other before devouring you completely.”“Except the man seems to be on a sugar-free diet,” she said wryly.Taz chuckled. “Maybe. But I reckon he’s just trying to keep from gorging himself.”“Such an overactive imagination, Taz.”“I try. Better to be one of them colorful characters folks talk about than an average Joe.”The conversation drifted to Ryan. Upcoming rodeos they’d all be attending. Other events. Then Taz took off, leaving Ava alone. It was enough to give a girl a complex about men.Right. She already had enough complexes, although she doubted anyone would look at her and believe that.A guy paused behind the barstool on Ava’s ri
“I’ve gotten up early to work out. I met this rookie kid last week. After I rode, he cornered me, calling me out as Chase McKay.” He smiled sheepishly. “The little shit promised to keep my secret if I gave him bull ridin’ pointers.”“Which you did.”“Not that he listened to me. Kid is such a greenhorn. And stubborn? He won’t turn his foot out, refuses to wear a helmet, won’t consider a trying a different wrap. So I gave up talking to him about bull ridin’ and we watched the slack competition. What did you do—” his knuckles grazed her breasts as he reached for the lanyard around her neck “—besides craft fake press passes?”“I had my assistant whip them up. Realistic, don’t you think? I needed access behind the chutes so I can video you from a closer angle. It’s made a huge difference. You won’t believe the footage I got today.”His rough-skinned hand enclosed hers. “Ava. We need to talk.”The lanky, shaggy-haired young rider inserted himself between Chase and Ava. “Man, that ride was e