Her thumbs swept across his narrow hipbones and his stomach trembled beneath her touch. More scars.She ignored his crotch and her fingertips moved down, over the fresh bruises on his thighs. Even at this angle she could see Cash was bowlegged—another endearing trait.Knobby, scarred knees. Gouges marred his thin calves down to his ankles. She ended the sweeping caress at his long, narrow feet. Ugly feet. All cowboys, especially rodeo cowboys, had hideously mangled toes and callused feet. Gemma stroked all these spots hungrily, her eyes drinking him in. “You are all rugged beauty and strength, Cash. Every part is…so you. Why do you hide this from me?”“Gemma, you humble me. That’s why—”Trevor sauntered back in and rubbed his hands together. “Who’s up for a Gemma sandwich?”Right then, Gemma wanted the ménage fantasy to end. It seemed…selfish now. Like one of those “life experiences” Macie’s mother had been determined to check off. She’d much prefer to make love with Cash, the man she
“I know.”Every time she moved, those damn pretty tits swayed enticingly and he couldn’t keep his eyes off them. Just a little closer…Cash licked his lips.Her saucy smile disappeared. An all-knowing feminine look glinted in her eyes. “But guess what? I’ve decided I don’t care if you get off. You can watch me get off.” She tossed the scissors to the floor and straddled his pelvis on her knees so his dick bumped into her ass.Cash clenched his butt cheeks together.Lord she looked beautiful. With her tousled blonde hair. Her pink lips swollen from their kisses. Tan lines criss-crossing her arms from slaving outdoors. The smattering of cinnamon-colored freckles across her chest. The curve of her ribs flaring into hips a man could sink his hands into. Her long legs, especially the strong muscles in her thighs from spending her life astride a horse. The bright red nail polish on her dainty feet—about her only concession to her femininity. He loved every square inch of her. He stared hung
He squeezed back. “She’s young, and you’re gonna have to work with her a lot before you can ride her. But if you train her right from the start, she’ll always mind you, and she won’t let you down.”“My first horse. Yay! I feel like an eight-year-old girl. Dad, thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll ride her, and pet her, and feed her, and take her for walks everyday, and she’ll be my best friend…”“You are such a smarty-pants.”“How cool is that? Pretty soon I’ll be clip-clopping along on my very own horse, shootin’ varmints with my new rifle.”“You bought her a rifle too?” Gemma asked.They both turned around. Her dad’s face lit up like the bug zapper. He wrapped his arm around Gemma’s shoulders and kissed her temple. “Well, yeah. She needed her own gun out here in the wild wild West.”Macie watched her father and Gemma mooning over each other. They were so deliriously happy; she didn’t begrudge them a bit of it. It spilled onto her. And rather than his relationship with Gemma driving
“Fuck!” Carter threw his cell phone against the wall. It cracked in two pieces and plastic shards scattered everywhere. Like he cared. Like anyone had called him.Jesus. The last couple days had been a fucking nightmare. After his fight with Macie, he’d needed a day to cool off. When he’d swung by the diner around the time she usually clocked out, he saw the faded sign on the front door: Closed until further notice.Why hadn’t she told him?Who said she didn’t? Maybe you didn’t hear because you haven’t really listened to her in the past few weeks.Talk about being a self-centered asshole. Dammit. This art show had sucked the life out of him. Had it sucked the soul and the conscience right out of him too?Yes.Regardless. He needed to talk to her to set the record straight. To make her understand.Carter didn’t bother calling Macie’s cell phone; he knew she wouldn’t answer. He’d called the Bar 9, in the guise of asking Gemma about Macie, but Gemma was curt with him. And vague.Why?Bec
“Thinkin’ about killin’ you now that we know you ain’t worm food,” Colby snapped off.No mistaking it. His brothers were livid.“Ma wouldn’t let you.” In the tense air Carter’s voice sounded rusty as old nails.“Don’t bet on it. She was worried sick. No one could reach you on your cell. Your agent called their house. Then your buddy Jack called. The last straw was when Gemma called mad as hell because you were supposed to have cleared out. Instead, she found you passed out in the barn. Ma was halfway down the driveway with the shotgun before Dad stopped her.”“Shit.”Colt hunkered down. “You’re lucky Keely distracted Dad while we were leavin’ this mornin’ and he ain’t here. Jesus. What’s wrong with your face?”“Got into a fight.”“Yeah, we sort of figured that,” Cord said. “Why is Gemma throwin’ you off the Bar 9?”Carter slowly sat up. “Because Cash Big Crow looks about as bad as I do.”“You took after Cash? I thought you had more brains than that, college boy.”“He took the first sw
Gemma spun in his arms. “I saw a good man with a good heart. I still see that.” She kissed his chin. “Neither one of us is perfect. We’ve both been rode hard by life; we’ve got a lot of miles on us. But we ain’t used up yet.”“Thank God. The way I look at it, we have a good forty or fifty years left together.”He waggled his eyebrows beneath his Stetson. “So, purty boss lady, you wanna mess around a little before we start chores?”“Always. But there is one thing I want to talk to you about.”“Sounds serious.”“It is. I want to stop using condoms. I don’t like the damn things.”Cash went utterly still before he leaned down and locked his gaze to hers. “What are you sayin’, Gem?”“If I get pregnant, then I get pregnant. If I don’t, it wasn’t meant to be. I know I’m old and the risks are huge, but I kinda feel like this might be a second chance for both of us.”“You humble me, winyan.” He placed one hand on her belly and one on her heart.He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to he
“You’re a fighter. It’d be easy for you to say, ‘My father neglected me my entire childhood, so screw him.’ Instead you’re here, fightin’ to have a real relationship with him. “Because you’re accepting. You don’t try to change people. You accept your dad for who he is now. And his feelin’s for Gemma never made you seriously question his feelin’s for you. Mostly, the accepting thing gets to me because you get me, the real me and accept me for who I am. You’ve taught me to accept myself. I’ve never thought I was worthy of the kind of love you’ve given me. And I want to spend the rest of my life lovin’ you, givin’ it back, times ten.” When she still didn’t say anything he added, “And because you make the best goddamn pie I’ve ever tasted.” Macie had never been so scared or so hopeful or so paralyzed by emotion in her life. Carter began to walk toward her. “Be brave, Macie. Fight for me. Love me. Accept what I’m offerin’ you. Take a chance on me.” “Carter—” He seemed upset she hadn’t
Amy Jo Foster had loved Cord McKay her entire life.It didn’t matter he was thirteen years her senior. Or he’d once dated her older sister.Or his little sister was her best friend. She fell for him hard the day she’d fallen off her horse.That hot, dusty afternoon teased the edges of her memory. She’d been clip-clopping along on the gravel road connecting the Foster and McKay ranches when a rattler spooked her pony and bucked her off. She’d twisted her ankle on the unexpected dismount, unable to scramble away from either the angry snake or the truck barreling toward her.Her life flashed before her eyes.But the tires on a big Ford dually locked up and the truck skidded to a stop. A young man jumped out, swooped in and picked her up. His work-roughed hands tenderly brushed rocks from her knees and wiped the tears from her dirty face. He carried her to the passenger side of his truck, burned rubber over the snake and drove her home, keeping hold of her hand as she sobbed.Amy Jo had a