9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan (4 page)

“No. I made them myself.”

“Wow. These are beautiful, Jason.”

“Thanks.” He pointed to the empty area where the stove
stood, the dishwasher would go, and explained how he planned to put in granite
countertops on
them as soon as he had everything
installed.

“Sounds like a beautiful kitchen anyone would be proud to
cook in. Do you do a lot of cooking?”

“Actually, yeah.
I do a lot of my own.
We can eat with the family at the main house, but I spend as much time out here
as I can. I like my space. After growing up with nine brothers, I like being
alone. With three of them paired up now, there are even more at the table th
ese days.”

“I can totally see you standing at the stove making grilled
cheese sandwiches for your kids.”

“Kids?”

“You want kids someday, don’t you? You know.” She spun
around. “Carry on the Young name.”

“Maybe, but I sure ain’t ready for kids right now. I
still have some oats to sow.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. I’ve seen the women you come in with
or pick up at the bar. I’m not blind.”

“You’ve been
watchin
’?”

“I watch everything. I see a lot behind that bit of
mahogany.”

“I bet you do.”

She scraped a fingernail
down his
chest, igniting his libido again even though his cock still ached from his
brush with the zipper. “You really should be more careful about who you pick up
at the bar.”

“Why?”

“You know Tammy Ritz?” she asked, circling his nipple with
a fingernail.

“Yeah.
I went out with her a
few weeks ago.”

She shrugged before she walked toward the couch to take a
seat. With her feet tucked under her, she said, “She’s only after your name.”

“How do you know this?”

“I heard her talking to her friends at one of the
tables the other night. She thinks she’s got you on the tow
line, honey, and she plans to rein you in.”

“Ain’t
happenin
’.”
He took a seat on the
opposite end of the couch, turning to face her.

“You’d better inform her of that little fact when you see
her n
ext.”

“Oh I plan to. Thanks for the information.”

“You’re welcome. We can’t have your magnificent body off
the market so soon, now can we?”

“You’re trying my self-control, lady.”

“I hope so.”

“Why are you hellfire bent on having
me
fuck you tonight?”

She
turned to face him on the
couch as she inched up the hem of the shirt she wore. She had nothing on under
it. “I’m horny as hell and I’m sitting with a gorgeous male specimen. Why
wouldn’t I?”

His body went on high alert. She definitely kept putting
that be
autiful body out
there,
he might have to give
in. He could only handle so much.

The washer beep as the load finished. Using it as an
escape, he jumped to his feet to throw everything in the dryer. Maybe he could
convince her to do something else like play
pool.
While he tossed the clothes in, he said, “How about a game of pool?”

“Sure.” The closeness of her voice made him jump. He hadn’t
heard her come up behind him.

He swallowed hard as her warm breath caressed the back of
his neck. She wasn’t a small woma
n by any means if
her mouth reached his neck. At over six feet, he liked his women tall. He liked
her, everything about her on a physical level anyway. He didn’t know much about
her on a personal level, but he wasn’t too interested in taking things beyond
a physical relationship, so what did it matter.

“Great. Let me get these going and we’ll go upstairs to
what will be my game room. The walls aren’t in, but the pool table is available
for use.”
Oh shit. That didn’t
come out right.
“I mean for us to play on
.”
I should just keep my mouth shut before I make this worse.

“Anything you want, Jason, remember that.”

She turned and walked out of the laundry room, giving him a
little breathing space. It didn’t help as the scent of her skin and his shampoo
mixed in an
intoxicating mingling of smells meant to
drive him insane.

Good God, I
need a cold shower now.

He stopped for a minute, bracing his hands on the tumbling
dryer, but all it brought to mind was fucking her on the spinning washer.

“Jason? I thought we were
going
to play?”

“Fuck.” He blew out a long breath, hoping it would calm his
raging hard-on. It did nothing. “I’ll be right there. You go on up.” Oh, he
wanted to play all right. Play with her gorgeous pussy all night long. He’d
gotten a glimpse of the pink
flesh when she’d hiked
up the shirt, tempting him to throw everything to the wind and fuck her until
they both couldn’t breathe. Why did he torture himself this way? Why didn’t he
just give her what she so obviously wanted? He wasn’t sure anymore. What di
fference would it make if he took care of her now or
waited?

“Anticipation would make things so much sweeter.”

Oh yeah, but…

“Leave it be.”

Shit.

He turned to head up to the game room anticipating the
torturous evening ahead of him until he could get her b
ack into her clothes and on her way home. Why the hell he ever suggested
washing her clothes for her, he wasn’t sure. All he managed to do was afflict
himself with the worse night in the history of Jason Young’s life.

* * * *

Driving Jason insane with
lust
sounded like a great plan to Peyton. She’d wanted his body for some time and
being this close was driving her insane. Her pussy throbbed with need, her clit
swelling beyond the size comfortable to walk. She wanted him badly.

“Jason?”

“I’m coming.” He
cussed a blue
streak quietly even though she could still hear him. “I mean I’ll be right
there.”

She smiled to herself. She had him right where she wanted
him. In so much pain, he’d give into her sooner or later. A little more teasing
wouldn’t hurt. She ta
pped her fingers against her
lips. Maybe loosening a few buttons down the front of her shirt would push a
few more of his buttons.
A wicked giggle escaped
from her mouth.
Oh this is fun.

His steps on the stairs echoed in the empty room where she
stood next
to the nice sized pool table.
Leave it to a man to not have the walls up, but the pool
table in place.

“Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied, as she glanced down
at the crotch of his jeans, noting the tented front. She had him right where
she want
ed him.

As he grabbed two pool cues from the corner, she unbuttoned
two of the small pearl buttons on the front of the shirt she wore.

His eyes narrowed when he turned around and his gaze went
to her chest. “Warm?”

“Yeah a little.”
She didn’t think she’d
f
ooled him one bit.

“I’ll let you break.”

Oh hell yeah.
She took the cue as he
moved to the table to rack. “I’m not very good at this.”

“At what?” he asked, shoving the balls into the plastic
triangle on the table.

“Playing pool.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“Aren’t
you sweet?” The sugar
sweetness in her voice didn’t have him fooled as his eyes narrowed again while
his hands grew still.

“Behave yourself, woman.”

“I am. I’m not doing anything.”

“I’ve got your number, darlin’. We already agreed not to
have sex tonight.”

“We did?”

“Okay, I said we weren’t
havin
’ sex tonight. I meant it.”

“Of course, Jason.”
She lowered her gaze
before she glanced up at him through her lashes. With a little luck, the coy
look would work.

“Stop it, Peyton.”

“Stop what?”

“The come-on.
I don’
t want to have sex with you.”

She glanced at the front of his jeans. “Are you sure?”

“All right.
My cock wants to have
sex with you, but my head says no. I’m listening to this,” he tapped at his
forehead, “head and not the one between my legs.”

As she roll
ed her eyes, she said,
“Fine. I’m doing everything in my power to seduce you, but apparently you
aren’t interested or have this manly sense of right and wrong that seems to be
getting in the way. So be it.”

“Do you know how to break?”

“Yes.” She leaned ove
r the table,
giving him ample view of her naked ass.
Take that, stud.

He groaned.

She smiled as she shoved the stick against the cue ball,
shattering the perfect formation he placed at the other end of the table.

“Why do I get the feeling I’ve been shafted
?”

“It was your idea to play.” She moved around the table,
shooting at intervals as she quickly cleared the table of all the solid colored
balls.

The dryer beeped and she heard a long sigh with a
thank God
behind it.

She almost laughed out loud when he
ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time down in his rush to get her
clothes. Within seconds, he stood in front of her again, holding them out like
they were on fire. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She proceeded to unbutton the shirt ever so
slowly, just on the of
f chance she could tease him a
little more before they parted ways for the night. If she had to be ready to
explode, she was going to make damned sure he suffered just as much. After all,
the man hadn’t even kissed her.

“Peyton,” he growled.

“Yes?”

“Take t
he damned clothes.” He
shoved the clothes at her before he spun on his heels, racing for the stairs
again as she laughed behind him.

After several minutes, she shrugged and proceeded to get
dressed. There would be another time to torture and fuck the gorge
ous Jason Young before the summer concluded. Fuck him she
would. Sooner or later, she’d have him in her bed spread eagle so she could
ride his hips into tomorrow just to see if he was as good as the rumor mill
proclaimed.

Chapter Three

Peyton no sooner got downstairs to find him completely
dressed tapping his booted foot in a rapid tempo against the file floor near
the front door.
“Problem?”

“No. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, slipping on her muddy
boots.

“To the bonfire.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t be
alone with you anymore tonight without giving into this thing between us.”

“Thing?”

“Aren’t you just full of questions?” He took her elbow,
ushering her out to the truck with a firm hand.

“I didn’t realize it was a problem, Jason
. I mean, usually you are all over a willing woman, right?”

“Usually, yes, but not
tonight.”

“What is it? You won’t take advantage of me?” She yanked
her arm out of his grasp. “I mean really. I am free, white, and over
twenty-one. I’m willing. I’m eager to
sample what you
have to offer. What’s the deal?”

“That’s right. I’m not taking advantage of you.”

“If you don’t want to fuck me, then just say it. I can find
someone else to ease the ache, cowboy.”

He dragged her into his embrace with a hand on both of he
r upper arms until her breasts were squashed against the
hard plains of his chest. “Let’s get one thing straight, babe. I’m gonna fuck
you sooner or later, but not tonight. It’s not the right time for us and that’s
all I’m
sayin
’.”

As she drew in a breath
to tell
him where to take his right time, he slammed his mouth down on hers in a lip
crushing kiss meant to melt any resistance she might have. Not that she would
resist at all. This is what she wanted from the moment she locked gazes with
this gorgeous hu
nk of
manflesh
.

She softened her lips until they molded to the hard line of
his. He growled low in his throat as he wrapped his arms around her back and
pulled her in tighter. When she brushed her tongue against the seam of his
lips, he lost control, bruis
ing her lips to deepen
the kiss even further.

He finally pulled back far enough she could see the
glittering of his blue eyes in the moonlight overhead. “Don’t push me, babe.”

“Why not, stud? I can handle you.”

“Right now, you wouldn’t be able to. I’m hor
ny enough to break you in half.”

“I can take it.” The tip of her fingernail skipped over the
buttons as she raked it down his chest. “Let’s stay here and fuck like
bunnies.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I want you.”

“I know.”

“Then why not?”

“Peyton, please
don’t push this.”

She sighed and stepped out of his embrace.
“Fine.
Let’s go the bonfire.”

The physical relaxing of his shoulders told her he was
relieved she’d backed off. Oh, she understood all right, probably more than he
knew. He didn’t want her. That’
s fine, she guessed,
even though disappointment raced through her. She’d never had a man turn her
down before. Didn’t they all want sex whenever or wherever they could get it? A
man like Jason Young didn’t turn down anyone she’d ever seen when she’d had th
e chance to observe him at the bar. He
always
went home with someone. What was it about her that turned
him off?
The piercings?
The tats?
Well to hell with him
then. She couldn’t do anything about those things if they were a problem for
him. If he didn’t l
ike them, then so be it. They were
a part of her, part of her personality. Maybe he didn’t like them on his woman
even though he had tats himself? She shrugged as she grabbed the door to his
truck to open it and haul herself inside. She’d ride this pony as
far as it would go, then move on with her life. There were
other fish in the sea and plenty of men to choose from.

Without another word between them, they drove back to the
main ranch house where she could see the roaring fire licking at the sky with
the
bright orange flames.
Such a cowboy thing, a bonfire.
Well maybe not, she
did like camping out and sitting by a fire cuddling with some guy. Not that
she’d done it in a long time, but it was still nice to sit under the blanket of
an inky sky with stars twi
nkling above. Someday,
she’d get the chance to spread out a soft quilt in the back of a pickup, lay
her head on a guy’s chest and stare at the sky for hours. Why had her daydreams
always seemed to revolve around Jason lately, she wasn’t sure, but she neede
d to put it behind her. He apparently wasn’t attracted to
her that way.

Maybe he liked men?

Nah, that was stupid. His prowess with the women of Bandera
bordered on legendary.

So why wasn’t he interested in her?

She shrugged. Oh well.
Time to move on.

As so
on as he parked the truck,
she jumped out and slammed the door behind her. No more waiting on or dreaming
of Jason Young. He was part of the past now.

“Hey Peyton!”
Jonathan shouted,
coming to his feet from his spot at the fire. “You got cleaned up easy en
ough.”

“Yeah.”

Jonathan glanced at her, then back to Jason. “Oh. I see.”

The dejected look on his face gave her an idea. Jonathan
seemed like a nice enough guy, maybe a little shy and nerdy, but what the hell.
Jason didn’t want her. That stung her pride a
little.
Maybe one of the other Young brothers might quell the itch she had before the
night concluded. She moved right to his side and sat down. “Sit with me.”

“Uh, okay.” He swiped his palms down the leg of his jeans
before he took a seat next to her, gla
ncing quickly
at his brother.

Jason frowned, but didn’t say a word as he took a seat
opposite them across the fire.

“So what do you do around the ranch, Jonathan? I don’t see
you in The Dusty Boot like your brothers very often.”

“I’m not much of a drinker.
”

“You don’t have to drink to come to the bar. There are pool
tables, dancing, darts,
all
kinds of things to do
not involving alcohol.”

“True, but I’m not real comfortable in bars. I like
spending time with the website and marketing for the ranch. It keeps
me busy most days.”

“Do you do the cowboy stuff much?”

“Not really. I leave that to my brothers.” He shifted so
his hips weren’t quite touching hers anymore. “I ride. You can’t grow up on a
ranch and not ride, but I’m not as comfortable on a horse or herd
ing cattle as my brothers are. I mean look at Jason? He’s
all about the cowboy stuff. He wants to breed bulls for the PBR.”

“PBR?”

“Professional Bull
Riders Association.”
He smiled down at her. “You don’t do cowboy much, do you?”

“No.” She laughed. “Is it
so
apparent I’m lacking in the Texas pastime?”

“Yeah, a little.
Do you know anything
about a cattle ranch?”

“Not really. Why don’t you teach me,” she said, looping her
hand through the crook of his arm. “I’m eager to learn.” She glanced across the
fire and
noticing Jason’s eyes narrowed, their gazes
locked in a battle of wills.

“Well, we run longhorns on our property. They are one of
the original cattle to be raised here in the Texas Hill Country. They are a
hearty breed of cattle
who
do well here where the
land isn’t so grassy and plentiful. Our ranch is pretty
big for one out here where several of the local ranches are selling off to
developers. Jeff has been very adamant about us not selling off any of our
property to them. Keep everything in the family,
you
know.”

“Is Jeff like the foreman?”

“Yeah, pretty much. He’s tight reined on what goes on
around here although he’s mellowed out a lot since Terri came along.”

“Didn’t she just have a baby?”

“Yeah, not too long
ago.”
He shifted on his seat. “We also hav
e guests we rent out rooms and cabin space to, especially
in the summer months. They come from all over to learn about cattle ranching, I
guess. I'm not quite sure what the fascination with it is, but they pay to
come. It’s a great income for the ranch whe
n selling
cattle isn’t paying so much.”

“How fascinating.”

Jonathan’s voice faded as he went on to talk about the
website building for the ranch. Not like she wasn’t interested, but the glare
she was receiving from Jason had shivers rolling down her back.
Why does he have to affect me this way? Damn cowboy.

“So that’s what I do all day,” Jonathan finished.

“Wow. Sounds like you really stay busy.”

“I try. There’s a lot to do when you are marketing a guest
ranch plus managing the website for both the cattle r
anch
and the guest ranch. We have two websites.
One for buyers of the cattle and one for guests of the
ranch.”

“Care to take a walk with me?”

“Uh, sure.
I can show you the
front of the main lodge. It’s pretty cool all lit up with the lights.”

“Awesome.” Sh
e rose to her feet,
not relinquishing her hold on his arm as they headed for the front part of the
ranch. The tingling along her back let her know Jason’s gaze followed their
every move, making her wonder whether he would come after her.

As they rounded th
e house toward
the front, she caught a glimpse of someone sitting in one of the rocking
chairs, but the moment she turned her head to ask Jonathan about the man, the
figure on the porch had disappeared.
Weird.

“We have the rocking chairs out here for peopl
e to sit so they can enjoy the sunrise or evening air. It’s
really cool out here in the early mornings.”

“Are you an early riser?”

“Yeah, most of the time I’m out here by myself with a cup
of coffee before anyone else is even up. Joey and Jeff are up with
the sun most mornings too, dealing with the ranch stuff.”

“I bet the cowboy life tends to do that to you. Does Jason
get up early too?”
Damn, Peyton! Just shut
up about him.
“Never mind.
None of my business.”

“Are you two having a fight or
somethin
’.
”

“No,
why?”

“Well, you left with him earlier and came to the bonfire
with him.” He pulled her hand out from around his arm. “I don’t mess with my
brother’s girl.”

“I’m not his girl.”

“Then why did you leave with him?”

“He offered to wash my clothes after I got
in the mud.”

“You were naked at his house?”

Well, fuck a
duck.
She stepped from his side to take a seat on one of the
rockers. “Yeah, I guess you could say that, although I wore one of his shirts
the whole time my clothes were in his washer.”