The wrath of an angry pregnant woman scared him almost as much as Keely’s dad. “I promise.”Jack went to find his cowgirl.Two vehicles were in the parking lot at Quarter Past Midnight Stables. A Dodge Ram with Colorado plates and Keely’s dirty, beat up black Ford. Jack almost kissed the bug-covered grille.The office door was unlocked. A buzzer sounded and within a couple minutes a bleary-eyed woman appeared in the enclosed office space. She slid open the glass partition. “Help ya with something?”“Ah. Yeah. I’m looking for Keely McKay.”The bleariness vanished and her focus turned razor sharp. She flipped her long, gray braid over her shoulder and folded her arms across her abundant cleavage. “And who would you be?”“Jack Donohue.”“Never heard of ya.” She slammed the partition and turned her back on him.Jack rapped on the glass. “Darla? AJ McKay said I could find Keely here. I saw her truck in the parking lot. I know she’s here somewhere. Please. I need to see her.”Darla whirled
“So you saying appearances don’t matter at all?”“Yes, appearances do matter, but it shouldn’t define you.”“Does it define you?” he countered.“No. What if I’d tracked you down in the banquet wearing my stable-cleaning clothes? If you’d pretended not to know me, that’s shallow. If you’d kissed my cheek and said, ‘Darlin’, next time leave the shitkickers at home,’ that’s caring less about appearances because you were happy to be with me.”Jack seized the chance to turn the tables. “Would you be happy to be with me, Keely? If the reverse was true?”“Meaning what?”“Say I accept your dirty boots and western quirks. Say you accept I’m a suit-and-tie-wearing guy. Say I’m madly in love with you. You’re madly in love with me. Would you give up your way of life to be with me?”“Way of life?” she repeated.“Would you move away from your home in Wyoming to live with me in this condo in Colorado? Or are you so set in your ways that you wouldn’t consider it?”“What does that have to do with bein
“I-I wondered if you’d like a glass of wine?”“Actually, I’m more of a beer girl.”Male chuckles.“Did the hotel provide a full service cash bar tonight?”“Umm…no. Sorry. Just wine.”“Snooty bastards. Nothin’ wrong with beer and we are in Coors country after all.”More chuckles.Keely placed her hand on Fabio-aka-Ichabod’s arm. “Thanks for asking. I’d love a glass of ice water.”He beamed. “Be right back.”“I disappear for a few minutes and you’ve got someone else playing fetch and carry for you?”Jack’s sexy husky voice caused a ripple of desire. She turned; Jack’s handsome, perfect face was right there. Green eyes rapt, full mouth curved into a smile. Without preamble, he pressed his soft, warm lips to hers, kissing her soundly.Keely melted into him.“You’re stunning as always, cowgirl. Except I’m disappointed you’re not wearing your lasso.”“I left it upstairs on the bed.” She winked and hip-checked him. “For later.”More laughter. Man. She was on a roll.“I see you’ve met some of
“I can come up with an inventive way for you to pay me back.”“I’ll bet.” Keely swigged and let the bottle dangle by the outside of the tub. “How was the rest of your meeting?”“Long and boring. Pointless. Did I mention long and boring?”“Yes.”“How was your shopping excursion with Gina?”“Expensive. Lord. Why do I have so many nephews and nieces? I limited myself to spending ten bucks on each kid and I still walked out two hundred dollars poorer.”“You love them and you’re not really complaining.”Keely smiled. “How true.”“Would you rather I face you or sit behind you?”That question made her eyes fly open. Oh wow. Jack was totally, gloriously, buck-assed nekkid.Totally, gloriously, buck-assed nekkid and fully aroused. And holding two beers. He really was the perfect man. She scooted forward, splashing water everywhere. “You can sit behind me.”“Somehow I thought you might say that.”Jack handed Keely the beer. When he stretched out in the tub, she was enveloped in his substantial
“Same goes.” She fingered the wet tips of his hair. “I love that you wear it a little long. It’s very bad boy sexy for such a suit and tie wearing professional.”“Then long it stays.” His hungry lips slipped down her wet neck as he sipped the water from her skin.“Keely. I need you. I needed you last night, but I…”“I’d never say no to you, Jack.”“I know that. You don’t say no to me even when you should.” More sweet kisses. More scorching kisses. More sweeping touches. More urgency. Jack said, “Lift up.”Keely gripped the edges of the tub and raised her body. She lowered onto his shaft bit by bit, dragging out the mutual pleasure until his male hardness filled her. When they were locked together, body to body, soul to soul, breathing the same humid air, everything seemed right.It was rare for her to gaze into Jack’s face from a higher vantage point. She couldn’t stop the awed,“Damn, GQ. You are one beautiful man.”His hand shook as he pushed damp tendrils from her cheek. “Not like
“Oh good Lord. What makes me think I can handle two more?”“You love it and you guys wouldn’t have it any other way.”The only thing running through Jack’s mind as the outskirts of Sundance shimmered in the distance was, Thank God.Aside from his father’s death, the past twenty-three days had been the shittiest of his entire life. The projects had gone all right, although none of them would make him rich. Hell, he’d probably lose money when he added in his travel costs.Which would fit in with the way his life was going. He’d about lost his fucking mind when forced to say goodbye to Keely in Denver. She’d turned him inside out with her teary, don’t call me request. Pissed him off too. He’d managed to let her go, but only temporarily. It wasn’t over between them. Not by a long shot.When Jack returned to the hotel room, he noticed the small box of Legos Keely had hidden in his suitcase. With a note,All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Remember to make time for fun. Love, your c
“By whom,” Jack repeated. “If my professional reputation is being examined, I have a right to know who is attempting to malign it. It is your moral obligation to tell me, is it not?”Henry sighed. “Baxter Ducheyne’s company pitched to us. In the two days Baxter and his lovely wife Martine spent in Milford, she revealed a few disturbing things, including your past relationship with her.Martine questioned whether you’d follow through with your wedding to Miss McKay, given your inability to commit to her during the year you were together in Chicago. She also mentioned you immediately dissolved the partnership with Baxter and moved across the county before she married your partner.”Jack seethed. Too angry to speak.“Baxter brought up the ethics of your company signing off with the Wyoming Historical Society on Miss McKay’s building, especially since the two of you are intimately involved.”Unreal. This was a fucking nightmare.“Imagine our surprise when Mrs. Ducheyne asked if we’d agree
“Five minutes,” Chet snapped.“I appreciate that you care about her, but don’t kid yourselves for a second that I don’t care about her too.”They snorted in stereo.Which just pissed him off. “And honestly, this is between Keely and me, no one else, so I’m gonna say this once, and feel free to pass this on to all the McKays: back the fuck off.”“Four minutes,” Remy announced.Chet leaned forward. “I’ll be honest. Part of me wants you to stick around.”Fuck this.His body heeded the message to scram. He stormed out the door, half-shocked he hadn’t felt a crowbar whacking him in the back of the head.But that wasn’t the West boys’ style. Nor the McKays’. No, that psycho bunch of cowboys would come for him with a full frontal attack, no backstabbing bullshit like Baxter.Jack welcomed it. In fact, he had half a mind to make some calls and get the whole fucking thing underway.He had nothing else to lose.******Keely didn’t hang around to ensure Jack vacated the premises. Her tires spit
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
“Of course they will. Are you by a computer? Sorry. Stupid question. Go to Faces of Rodeo dot com.”“I’m there. What is it?”“A new magazine I created,” she said with pride.“Seriously, Ava, this is your brainchild?” Computer keys clicked in the background. “The Check back for more details on the main page is vague.”“Which is perfect for my purposes. Anyone who checks it—and me—will believe this is a brand-spanking-new magazine, still working on a web presence. Ooh, now go to Behind the Chutes dot com.”“Why do you need two fake magazines? Why not just one?”“So I have options.”“You’re scaring me. You did all this?”“Yep. Thank God for cheap, quick and easy websites.”“Behind the Chutes—all the news and current standings of the stars of the PRCA. Now that is a great magazine tagline.”“Thank you.” Filled with nervous energy, Ava hopped off the bed. “So what do you say? Can you get these made up this afternoon and Fed Ex them to me by tomorrow?”“I should say no, but I haven’t heard
Wanting what you can’t have will only make this trip miserable. And this trip isn’t only about getting down and dirty with Chase McKay.Also true. Disgusted with herself for wallowing, she focused on the task at hand for today—finding a motel within their budget.Chase wandered to check out the contractor’s rough stock.Ava wasn’t content texting him; she called. “Hey, I found us a room. I actually comparison shopped. This place isn’t as nice as the first one I checked out, but it does have free Wi-Fi.”It amused the hell out of him that she sounded so damn proud of herself. “It’s less than a hundred bucks?”“Of course. Be nice if you had a little faith in me, Sundance. Anyway. I’m starved. I’ll probably try to find something healthy before I head to the rodeo grounds. Did you want me to pick you something up?”“If it’s healthy? Hell no. I noticed a couple of tempting treats as I wandered past the vendor stands.”“We are talking about food treats, right?” she said sharply.“Be nice if