His face burning all the way out to his ears, Angus hurried out the door and ran for the back exit. Never in his entire life had he walked in on someone else getting it on, not even his parents. He certainly didn't expect to be as aroused as he'd gotten. Embarrassed, yes. Aroused? Well, if he went by the tightness of his jeans, he was well on his way to another lonely night in a cold shower.
What killed him was that Jackson and Audrey hadn't been fazed in the least. Why was he so incredibly turned on by seeing them making love?
Two months without sex. That's why.
A box had been jammed into the door to keep it from shutting all the way. Angus kicked it aside and left the saloon, the door closing behind him.
For several seconds he stood beneath the yellow light shining over the back door, waiting for his eyesight to adjust to the darkness and his body to cool from overexposure to raw sex. Other than the muffled shouts and music from the Ugly Stick, nothing moved or made a sound in the darkness.
Until something that resembled a girlish giggle drew his attention to the silhouette of a tree with a picnic table set up beneath it.
Another giggle erupted from the table.
“Mona?” Angus stepped off the back stoop and eased toward the picnic table.
“Mona, Mona, Mona. Wherefore art thou, Mona?” Another giggle and a woman's head rose from the table. “I can't believe I bought a cowboy.” She giggled and hiccupped. “Damned tequila. Should be called to-kill-ya.”
His vision finally adjusting to the starlight, he recognized the suit and sexy legs of the pretty woman who'd been the winning bidder.
“Oh good.” Angus moved forward. “Ma'am, I wanted to talk to you about that bid.”
“Angus, Angus, Angus. Where have you been for the past seven years?” She tipped her head so far back she swayed and would have fallen over had Angus not swooped in and caught her.
His heart lurched and his stomach bunched into an instant knot. “Gwen?”
“Oops.” She giggled again, her hair slipping from the carefully constructed twist she'd had it in at the bar. Pins fell and the full, thick auburn hair he remembered so well slipped down around her shoulders and he fought back a sudden surge of joy. In the next second, a lead weight settled in his knotted gut, reminding him of why he shouldn't be happy.
Holy shit, this was the girl who'd ruined him for other women. The girl who'd made him fall in love with her one bright summer, only to leave him behind and never contact him again. He'd been nothing more than a summer fling. And here she was seven years later, having bought him in an auction. What kind of cruel trick was she playing?
“What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost.” She leaned close to his face. “Boo.” She kissed his mouth, her breath smelling of limes and tequila. Then she fell back against his arm. “Are you as wasted as I am?” Her head dropped back, her hair trailing over his arm, her body slack and her eyes closed.
“Damn it, woman, you better not pass out on me.”
She lay as still as death, not a muscle twitching.
In that moment, Angus wondered if she'd drunk so much alcohol that she had alcohol poisoning. He laid his ear to her chest and listened for her heartbeat.
When he didn't hear it right away, his pulse kicked up and he shook her gently. “Gwen baby, wake up.”
“Angus?” Her eyes blinked open and she smiled at him with the smile that had made his heart stop so many years ago. “When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago.”
“Good. You can take me to my room. I don't think I can drive.” She yawned. “I'm too sleepy and my head is spinning.”
“Just stay with me, will you?”
“Have to. Something's wrong with my muscles. I can't seem to move them.” She raised her arm and let it fall around his shoulder. “See?”
Her head swiveled, her hair spreading across Angus's shoulder. The scent of honeysuckle wafted up, wrapped around his senses and made his knees weak with the rush of memories.
“Where's Mona?” he asked.
“She went to get me a drink,” Gwen mumbled.
“You don't need another drink.”
“Then take me to my room. I'm sleepy.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I don't know. Somewhere in Temptation. A BBB.” She giggled. “Why do they call them BBBs?”
“Bed-and-breakfast.” Angus lifted her up into his arms.
Gwen dug her hands and face into his chest. “Whoa, stop the world. Let me off.” She jerked her head up. “Wait a minute, I bought you.”
Angus's arms tightened around her. “You bought four dates with me.”
She poked a finger in his chest. “Damn right I did.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he started.
“Nothin' to talk about. I bought you.” She hiccupped. “'Scuse me. Damn, where was I? Oh yeah. Now you have to deliver.” She poked him again and curled her fingers into the hairs on his chest.
“I want to buy back your bid.”
She raised her hand, her fingers splayed. “Five grand. Holy shit, five grand. What was I thinkin'?” She stared into his eyes, her own blurred and glassy, and her face flushed. “Oh yeah. I wasn't thinkin'.”
“Exactly. Let me buy back your bid,” he begged, knowing this was a really bad idea.
“No, no, no.” She shook her head side to side and shut her eyes tight. “Ooo, can't do that.”
“What? Shake your head, or let me buy back your bid?”
“Both.” She laid her cheek against his chest. “I need you, and I need for the world to quit spinning.” Her voice faded and she went limp again.
“Damn.” So much for talking her out of the dates.
“Angus?” A voice behind him made him turn around.
Mona stood with a paper cup in one hand. “I see you found Gwendolyn. Congratulations on bringing the highest bid in the cowboy auction's history.”
“I'm sure they won't hold her to that bid. She was obviously stoned out of her mind.”
“Not only is she going through with it, she's already delivered the check. The ladies from the women's shelter were ecstatic.”
His heart sank into his stomach. Angus had no idea what Gwen had in mind when she bid on him. If she thought they would pick up where they'd left off, he wanted none of it.
Why had his mother meddled in his life? He was perfectly happy working the ranch, training horses and getting on with his life. Now he felt like his entire world had been flipped on its side.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Mona asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Weren't you and Gwen a thing way back?”
His jaw tightened. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Hmm.” Mona nodded, her lips twisting. “You're gonna play it that way, huh?”
“Is she staying with you?”
“Nope. She's staying at that B and B on Main Street in Temptation, across the street from my shop.”
“Then
you
take her there,” Angus said.
Mona shook her head, a wicked grin tugging at the corners of her lips. “She won you fair and square. After she paid five thousand dollars for the pleasure of your company, I think it's only right you escort her home. Besides, she's in an upstairs room. I can't carry her.”
Angus's eyes narrowed. “I can't leave the saloon. I'm designated driver for my brother.”
“Colin?” Mona's smile turned smug. “He caught me on his way out. Molly O'Brien bought him on the auction block for a measly thousand dollars. She's giving him a ride home.” She tipped her head. “Any more objections?”
His jaw tight, Angus bit down hard on his tongue to keep from saying something he would regret later. “Fine. Where are her keys?”
Mona set the cup she was holding on the picnic table and grabbed the purse on the bench where Gwen had been sitting. “She'll want her purse and I'm sure the keys are inside.” She dug her hand in the bag and brought out an old-fashioned key with a room number engraved into it. “Here it is.”
Mona laid the purse and key across Gwen's inert body. “Have a good night, Angus. Thanks again for volunteering to be one of our cowboys tonight.”
“I didn't volunteer,” he muttered.
Mona had already turned and walked away, chuckling as she went.
Hiking Gwen's limp body in his arms, Angus marched around to the front of the building, to his truck. Once he had her settled in the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt around her, he rounded the truck and slid into the driver's seat.
When he'd rather be on his way home to have words with his mother for volunteering him to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, he was driving the opposite direction into Temptation to deliver a heavily inebriated woman to her room. A woman he'd spent the past seven years trying to forget.
She remained passed out for the drive into town and only moaned softly when he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the two-story colonial that had been converted into a bed-and-breakfast several years ago.
Once he had Gwen in the room, he carried her to the queen-sized bed and leaned over to lay her on the comforter.
“Mmm,” she whispered, her voice gravelly and sexy as hell. “You smell good.” With her hair down, her suit jacket open and several buttons on her light-pink blouse undone, she looked more like the girl he'd fallen in love with all those summers ago.
When he bent to lay her on the bed, she held on around his neck and wouldn't let go. It brought his face so near to hers it wouldn't take much to close the distance and kiss those full, rosy-pink lips.
“Stay with me,” she said.
Images of Jackson making love to Audrey flashed through his mind, too fresh to dispel, and his cock hardened. He'd never made love to a woman as drunk as Gwen, and he had no intention of doing so now, even though his body burned with need.
“I can't,” he said. “I have animals to feed in the morning.” The reminder of all the work he had on his list for the next day should have brought him down. But when she stretched, her chest rising, her breasts straining against her soft pink blouseâ¦
“For just a few minutes,” she begged, her hands slipping up to cup the back of his head. She drew him closer until her lips brushed his.
Like a moth dragged to the flame, he couldn't break her hold, and for a long, delicious moment, he didn't want to. Too many nights he'd woken from dreams including her, only to find his bed empty, the sheets and pillow beside him cold.
He claimed her mouth, his tongue sliding in to stroke the length of hers, reveling in the taste and familiarity of Gwen. Her arms twined around his neck and she crushed her breasts to his chest.
God, she felt good. So good he wanted to strip naked and crawl into the bed beside her and make mad, passionate love to her through the night.
Angus froze. What was he thinking? The woman was drunk. He didn't take advantage of women who'd had too much to drink. It wasn't right.
When he straightened, her hands were locked behind his neck and she sat up, blinking. “The room is spinning.” She giggled. “And it's hot in here.” Gwen let go of him to shrug out of her jacket, getting tangled in the process.
Angus helped pull her arms free of the jacket and slipped her shoes from her feet, his hands skimming across one shapely calf, electricity slicing through him, straight to his groin.
Damn.
“Still hot.” She slipped the side zipper down on her skirt and shimmied out of it and the shirt. Finally flopping back against the mattress, patting the space beside her. “Stay.”
Angus clenched his fists, fighting the urge to lie beside her, gather her close and feel her sweet skin against his.
Her pretty lips pouted and she stared up at him with a pleading look. “Stay until the room stops whirling.” She smiled and closed her eyes, her breasts rising and falling with each breath.
When he turned to leave, she captured his hand and looked up at him again. “Please.”
He glanced down into those hazel eyes that had exhibited every color of summer, and he knew he couldn't go. “Okay, but only for a minute.” Calling himself every kind of fool imaginable, he lay on the bed beside her. For several minutes he allowed himself to stroke the hair out of her face and drag his thumb across her mouth. Her hair, her cheek, her lips were as soft as he remembered.
Angus snorted softly as he cupped her chin and pressed his lips to hers. Just one more taste. Gwen wouldn't remember it in the morning.
Oh, but he would.
What new kind of hell had his mother gotten him into?
Chapter Four
Incessant banging crashed through Gwen's head. It jerked her awake and made her head throb. “I'm coming,” she muttered, her voice gravelly, her mouth dry like someone had stuffed a wad of cotton in it.
When she sat up and opened her eyes, the sun stabbed her, slicing through her head, all the way to the base of her skull. It took a moment for her vision to adjust to the glare streaming through the window and to remember where she was. Ah yes, the bed-and-breakfast in Temptation. She couldn't remember how she got there. The last clear memory she could recall was sitting at the bar in the Ugly Stick Saloon and raising her paddle.
Her stomach roiled and she pressed a hand to it to keep from losing whatever was left in it.
More banging was followed by Mona shouting, “Gwen, wake up! I have Dalton with me.”
Dalton.
Oh dear Lord. Her son.
“Coming,” she called out. Her words were barely above a whisper. Clearing her throat, she tried again, “Coming.” This time the sound rang through her head and she winced.
One foot on the floor at a time. She stood and swayed, finally gaining her balance. That's when she noticed she wasn't wearing anything but her bra and panties. “Just a minute. I'm not decent.”
Mona's chuckle echoed through the door. “I want all the details.”
So did Gwen. She had no memory of undressing and her skirt and jacket were neatly folded over the chair beside her bed.
Grabbing the skirt and shirt she'd worn the night before, she pulled them on and buttoned the blouse. Wrinkled and smelling of alcohol, she hurried for the door, twisted the knob, yanked it open and was hit in the belly by the full force of an energetic little boy.
Despite the stabbing headache and her queasy stomach, she knelt to wrap her arms around the love of her life. “Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun spending the night with Uncle Grant?”
“Yes!” He hugged her tight and then stepped back. “We stayed up late, and made s'mores, and popped corn, and watched movies. It was the best! Can we do it again tonight?”
“I don't think so, baby. We don't want to wear out our welcome.”
“Grant had as much fun as Dalton. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts bugging me to have kids.” Mona winked. “I'd love to see a couple of little Grants running around the beauty shop.”
“Or little Monas.” Gwen straightened and winced. “Ouch.” She pressed a hand to her temple. “Did I do what I think I did last night?”
“If you mean by getting totally shitfaced and blowing five thousand dollars on a cowboy, then yes.” Mona grinned. “What I want to know is what happened when he brought you back here.”
Heat rose up Gwen's neck into her cheeks and all the way out to her ears. She smoothed her hands over her son's ears and whispered, “You and me both.”
Mona laughed out loud.
Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. “It's not funny.”
“I can't believe you drank as much as you did.”
“I can't believe you let me bid on Angus.”
“Honey, until you raised that paddle, I had no idea that was the way the wind was going to blow you.” Mona crossed her arms “So, when's your first date?”
Dalton scurried off to find his favorite matchbox cars, leaving Gwen alone to stand up to Mona's scrutiny.
“There's not going to be a first date, or any date.” Gwen glanced around the room. “I must have been really toasted. How did I get to my room last night? I don't remember walking up those stairs.”
“You probably didn't. Angus must have carried you up them.”
Gwen pressed a hand to her breast, her pulse still galloping. “Angus?”
“Yes. He brought you home because I told him there was no way I could get you up to your room when you passed out.”
Gwen moaned and squeezed her eyes closed. “Will this nightmare never end?”
“I don't know. Angus is kind of dreamy. If I weren't completely crazy about Grant⦔
Gwen opened her eyes and glared at Mona.
Mona held up her hands. “Don't worry. I have no plans to poach. Grant keeps me plenty happy.” Mona glanced around the room, her brows rising at the twisted sheets. “You sure you don't remember anything from last night?”
Her shoulders sagging, Gwen scrubbed a hand over her face. Even her skin hurt. “Nothing.”
Mona walked to the dresser and lifted a sheet of stationery. “Uh, sweetie, your cowboy left a message.” She handed the paper to her, her lips twisting in an apparent effort not to grin. “Seems he's ready for that first date.”
Gwen focused on the words written in a masculine scrawl across the page.
First date. Today at noon. Rafter M Ranch. Let me know if I need to come get you.
Signed with a bold
A
, the message was clear, concise and completely insane. Gwen glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was already eleven o'clock. That gave her exactly one hour to shower, take something for her splitting headache and get out to the ranch. “I can't do this.”
“Oh, you can, and you will.” Mona turned her around and aimed her for the bathroom. “You have just enough time to get ready. I'll stay and keep an eye on Dalton while you pull yourself together.”
“It will take a lot more than an hour to pull myself together.” She shoved the paper at Mona. “Call him and tell him I won't make him go through with this.”
“No way. You said it yourself. Dalton needs a male role model. Angus is a good man, no matter that he dropped you like last week's garbage. He'd never hurt a kid.” Mona put her hands behind her back, refusing to take the sheet. “Put your own insecurities aside and do it for Dalton.”
Gwen pouted. “I'm not insecure. I'm the owner of a financially stable and growing business. You don't get that far if you're insecure.”
“Yeah yeah blah blah. You've wasted three minutes arguing.” Mona waved her hand. “Go.” She gripped Gwen's arm, ushered her to the bathroom door and gave her a firm push to get her across the threshold. “I'll pick out your clothes.” Her friend closed the door between them.
“I'm not going,” Gwen said to door.
“Uh-huh. Shut up and get wet,” Mona called out.
Grumbling, Gwen switched on the shower and stripped out of last night's clothes, wondering if Angus had taken advantage of her while she'd been out of it. She didn't feel any different. Her thighs weren't aching from making love and her pussy wasn't throbbing from a good fuck.
She shook her head, immediately regretting the movement. No, Angus wouldn't take advantage of a woman. His parents raised him to respect a woman's body. And boy, had he shown some real respect for her desires when he'd made love to her all those years ago. She should be glad he was such a gentleman, but part of her was disappointed. Maybe he wasn't even attracted to her anymore. Then again, Gwen wanted to be fully conscious and aware when they made love.
If
they made love
.
No no no.
Turning the temperature to cool, Gwen stepped beneath the shower's spray and let the water wash down over her heated skin.
Any idiotic idea of getting back together with Angus should be washed right out of her mind. She had a great life, just she and Dalton. It was full and complete the way it was.
Well, almost. Dalton did need a male role model so that he'd learn what it was to be a good man.
Ah hell. She had to go through with this, if only for the benefit of her son.
Angus might have dumped her all those years ago, but he was still a nice man and would be the right influence on her son. She could put up with four lousy dates. It would tide them over until her application for the mentoring program went through. Then she'd have another male figure for Dalton to bond with.
Hopefully, he would be interested in sports and the outdoors.
Ten minutes later, wearing a large towel, Gwen stepped out of the bathroom, her hair pulled back into a smooth ponytail. She'd applied just enough of her own makeup to conceal the dark shadows below her eyes. There was no disguising her bloodshot eyes, but a pair of sunglasses would serve the purpose.
“Here.” Mona shoved a hanger at her. “You'll have to wear these. I can't believe you came to Temptation without a single pair of blue jeans.”
When Mona had invited her to come down for a girls' night out, she hadn't thought much about what she was packing. She'd thrown in the first outfits she laid her hands on from her closet. Her nerves had been a little jumpy at the thought of going to Temptation. Mona always came up to Dallas to visit, knowing how Gwen felt about returning to the scene of her heartbreak.
Mona had been adamant that it was time for her to get out there and date again. Gwen would never have suspected she'd be going to the Ugly Stick Saloon for the Annual Cowboy Auction or that she would end up spending a sizeable chunk on her old flame. If she'd had any inkling, she might have brought a pair of jeans. Oh hell no, she wouldn't have. Gwen would have found some excuse to give her friend, on why she couldn't go to Temptation at all.
The only reason she'd agreed to go to the cowboy auction was that Mona had reassured her that it was ladies only, with no men but those on the auction block.
Having known how much Angus didn't like crowds and that wild horses couldn't have dragged him onstage to be auctioned off like one of his prized studs, Gwen felt relatively certain she wouldn't run into him.
Boy, had she been wrong.
Dressed in soft charcoal-gray slacks and a silk cotton blouse, Gwen stepped out of the bathroom, feeling more like the cool, calm, collected business owner, not the young college co-ed she'd been the last time she'd gone on a date with Angus. And this wouldn't be a real date. She'd have Dalton with her. With her son in the picture, she wouldn't be tempted to touch or kiss Angus.
Not that she would be tempted without Dalton in the picture. Angus was a chapter long closed in her life.
Dalton appeared in front of her, his eyes wide, eager. “Aunt Mona says we're going to a ranch with horses. Do I get to pet a horse? Can I ride one? Are they very big?”
Her head still throbbing, Gwen touched the top of her son's head. “Yes, we're going to a ranch, I don't know about petting or riding a horse. You'll have to ask the ranch owner about that. And yes, horses can be very big.”
“I hope he lets us ride. Tyler has his own horse. Can I have a horse?”
“We don't have a place to keep a horse, Dalton.”
“Then can I have a puppy?” Her son stared up at her, his big hazel eyes filling her heart. “You promised I could have a puppy.”
“Yes, I did. When we move into a real house with a big fenced yard. Puppies need room to run and play.”
“So do little boys,” Mona reminded her.
Gwen frowned. “I know. I haven't had much time to house hunt lately, and what I've seen hasn't been right. I want it to be perfect.”
“Sweetheart, no house is ever going to be perfect. You just have to find the one that's close enough.”
“Yeah, I guess I am being too picky. Most of the homes in Dallas seem to look alike. I guess I want something like the little house I grew up in here in Temptation.” She smiled, remembering the three-bedroom, white clapboard cottage with the wide front veranda and sage-green shutters hanging beside the windows. Her mother had planted flowers in the front garden and in pots on the porch, adding bright splashes of red geraniums, pink petunias and yellow lantana. Nothing said home like that little house with a big heart. She missed it and she missed her parents. Her eyes misted.
Mona patted her face. “Hey, you're going to a ranch, not a funeral.”
“Did someone die, Mama?” Dalton asked.
“Oh my, look at the time.” Gwen grabbed her purse and Dalton's hand. “We have to get going or we'll be late to the ranch.”
Distracted from his question, Dalton raced for the door. “I want to ride a horse and pet a cow. Do you think they'll have puppies?”
Mona walked Gwen out to her car and held the door for Dalton as he crawled into the backseat and buckled his seat belt. “Be good for your mama and do everything she tells you.” Mona leaned in and kissed Dalton's mop of dark-auburn hair. “Love ya, kid.” She shut the door and looked over the top of the car at Gwen.
Gwen swallowed the lump in her throat. Mona had been there for her when her parents were killed in a car wreck. She'd been there in the hospital room when Dalton was born. Dragging her back to Temptation had all been an attempt to bring Gwen out of her shell and back into the world of mixing and mingling with people her own age. “Thanks for caring.”
“Ah, honey. I love you and Dalton, and only want the best for you. Go have a good time on your date with Angus.”
“For Dalton,” Gwen said out loud, steeling her heart against more damage. At a good place in her life, she refused to put herself up for heartache all over again.
“Mom, you should have seen Angus's face when they called out his name as the next cowboy for auction.” Colin laughed for the hundredth time that morning, riding on Angus's last nerve.
His humor had long since worn a hole in Angus's reserve of patience. Having been up since dawn, mucking stalls, feeding and exercising horses and taking care of the chores that had to be done before noon, he didn't have time or the desire to talk to the brother who'd deserted him at the Ugly Stick Saloon the night before.
“I'm sorry,” his mother said. “When you boys put up such a fuss over my ultimatum, I guess I was a little angry. I didn't think Audrey would jump on the chance to add another two cowboys to the lineup on such short notice. But it'll all work out in the end.” She smiled brightly.
“So you're not going to sell the ranch?” Angus asked.
Her smile slipped into a straight line. “I didn't say that. I meant every word I said yesterday. If you three don't get your lives together and make a go of finding someone to love, I'll sell this place and move to Florida. You two had better get crackin' because you have less than two months to make it happen.”