She glanced at the clock. The red numbers flashed five a.m. No use going back to sleep now—the alarm would ring in another half hour anyway.Macie cleaned up, dressed, and braided her hair before she hopped in her SUV and navigated her way to work.Late yesterday afternoon, after she and her father finished their meal at the local diner, he’d sped off to Gemma’s ranch to set up the camper. She’d sensed he needed to be alone with his thoughts and to gauge his new responsibilities without her chattering at him. So she’d lingered in the booth, thinking of her best friend Kat, wondering how she’d managed to be a third wheel again. Then she noticed the “help wanted” sign by the cash register and asked the waitress about the opening.Velma—the sixty-something owner of the Last Chance Diner—needed a gal Friday to fill in part-time as a cook and waitress. The hours were sporadic, but the pay was decent for rural Wyoming. With Macie’s experience in restaurants, Velma seemed genuinely happy to
The double meaning in Cash’s words caused Gemma’s stomach to pitch again.“Sure.”“Did you notice if the salt licks are gone?” Carter prompted. “’Cause it was damn close to nothin’ the other day when I checked on ’em.”“Completely gone. I couldn’t find replacements tablets.”“She keeps them in the cellar.”“I’ll know where to look next time.” Cash angled his chin at Carter. “Far as I’m concerned, you done everything I thought needed doin’, so there ain’t no reason for you to stick around today. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”The two men stared at each other. “Fine. I’ll go. Just as soon as you tell me where she is.”Cash laughed, a little harshly. “If Macie wants to contact you, she will.”“And when she does? What then?”Gemma stifled a groan at Carter’s surety where he stood as far as Macie was concerned, after knowing her for one day.“If she does contact you, I’ll abide by her wishes. Until then, you’ll abide by mine.Stay away from her, McKay.”“You forgot one tiny detai
A lengthy pause hung in the air before he sighed. ”That’s how you feel?”“Sometimes.”“I didn’t mean—”“I am a big girl. I’m perfectly capable of seeing to my own needs and taking care of myself.”“This ain’t goin’ the way you wanted, is it?”She dropped her gaze to the bottle and her fingers picked at the soggy label. “Dad, nothing ever goes the way it’s supposed to when it comes to us. Something always comes up and changes our plans. No biggie. I’m used to it.”Silence hummed as loud as the air conditioning.“I’m sorry.”More silence.“I’m always sayin’ that to you, ain’t I?”Macie shrugged.After a while he laughed. “Well, this is fun. I sure know how to kill a conversation.This wasn’t what I had in mind when I came here.”She looked up at him. “Why are you here?”“Here as in, here in this camper? Or here as in, here on Gemma’s ranch?”“Both I guess.”With a drawn out sigh, Cash took off his hat. He tossed it on the seat beside him and scratched his head. “Mostly, I’m here in the
“Macie? Where are you?”She had to be hearing things. Why would he be here now?The deep voice became louder. “Macie? It’s me. Carter. Carter McKay.”“Carter?”“Yeah. Where are you?” Ooof exploded from his lungs as she tackled him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs clamped his waist like visegrips. She’d didn’t care he was sopping wet; she didn’t care that she immediately burst into tears.“Hey, now. Ssh. It’s okay. I’m here, darlin’. I’ve got you. Ssh. Take a deep breath.”He slammed the door shut with his foot, and walked sideways through the galley style kitchen. He cursed when his knee hit the edge of the mattress and they half-fell on the bed.Macie clung to him.Carter shifted her body. He settled her on his lap, not attempting to disentangle the death grip her limbs had on him. His hands stroked her back, soothing her. He rested his chin on her head.Her breath stuttered. She buried her face in his solid warmth. After she’d regained some semblance of calm, she s
She ignored it. “Because he wasn’t around much.”“Yeah? How come?”“My mom was older than my dad by ten years. When she found out she was pregnant, she thought he’d be a lousy parent, so she did the mature thing and took off. I saw him maybe once a year. Seems pointless to tell him about this now, especially when he never knew some of the other crazy things my mom did.”“Like?”“She’d keep me out of school so I could experience ‘life lessons’ not math lessons.We lived all over the country. The year I turned twelve, Dad wanted me to spend summers on the reservation. My mom believed he’d take me on the rodeo circuit; she refused to leave me with him. When I was old enough to contact him on my own, I did.Right after my eighteenth birthday, Mom was diagnosed with liver cancer. She died quickly, which was a blessing for her. Her death immediately thrust me into the adult world, but truth was, growing up I was more the adult than Mom ever was, so it wasn’t really that big of a change for
“To do what? Finish what we started before my dad interrupted?”Carter lifted his eyebrows. “Don’t pretend it was one-sided.”“I’m not.”“Good. But the main reason I want you to come over is because I need you to pose for me.”Not the answer she’d expected. “Seriously?”Carter pulled on his jeans and she couldn’t help but stare at his ripped abs. Damn.She’d been so close to letting her fingers do the walking down that yummy muscled torso and beyond.“Seriously. I never kid when it comes to art.”Her gaze flew to his. He’d gone from playful to deadly serious. “I suppose. I’m not scheduled to work today anyway.”“Work here on the Bar 9? That could be fun. You and me—”“I’m not working here on the ranch.”“Then where?”Would a polite look of distaste cross his face when he discovered she was just a cook? “I took a job as a cook and a waitress at the Last Chance Diner.”Carter’s eyebrows lifted again. “When did you do that?”“The day we met at the rodeo. Dad and I stopped for supper and
Cash punched the clutch and shifted. “I’d planned on cuttin’ hay this afternoon, but it’ll be too wet. Not that I’m complainin’ ’bout the moisture. It’ll have to wait at least a couple of days.”“So what are you going to do?”“Thought about workin’ with that two-year-old. Is he halter broke?”“Barely. Ornery thing runs whenever he sees me with a halter. And I’ve been so busy this year I haven’t had time to work with him.” She expected him to wince. Not training a horse was as bad as not taking proper care of one.“I’d sure like to take a crack at him.”“By all means.”Cash stopped the pickup and Gemma hopped out to open and close the gate. He parked in front of the house and sauntered back to where she waited by the water pump for the bucket to fill.“What are you doin’ today?” he asked.“Thought I’d clean the horse trailer. Why? Did you need me for something else?”She hoped he’d say yes, that he needed her naked. Right now.“Nah. I’m gonna round up that roan.” He unlatched the door
He knocked her hand away. Then his mouth was on hers and she heard a metallic clank as he unbuckled his belt, followed by the sound of his jeans sliding down his flanks.Blindly she reached for the hardest part of him, but his fingers circled her wrist.He ripped his mouth free. “Don’t.”“But, why—”“Because I’m about two seconds away from coming. And I don’t want to come in your hand.” He put his mouth on the pulse pounding in her throat. “Although, I want to fuck every part of you. Your hand. Your mouth. Your tits. Your ass. Say you’ll let me do whatever I want.” He hissed against her ear. “Say it and I’ll let you come.”“Yes, whatever you want.”“Right now I’ll take this warm, tight pussy since it is wet and ready for me. Turn, bend over and grab the slats.”Gemma thought she couldn’t get hotter. But his hot words and hot breath and the wicked hot things he planned to do to her blanked her mind to everything but sexual greed. She spun around and curled her fingers through the space