Lady Jane and the Cowboy (3 page)

He lifted her into his
arms and walked up the stairs, she snuggled closer still, and he was tempted,
big time. But it was way too soon for this, and while she was soft and inviting
now, he might find himself in over his head by morning. He deposited her on her
feet in front of her bedroom door.

“You’ve had a long first
day, Jane,” he said gently as her arms slipped from his neck and she stepped
back.

She looked strangely
upset, he’d never refused what was on offer before, but he was older and wiser
now. And he wasn’t at all sure he was reading the signals right, maybe she just
wanted a goodnight kiss? He hesitated just long enough to change his own mind.

“Goodnight, Red,” she
said, and turned walking into her room. He followed her. A goodnight kiss
wouldn’t hurt, would it?

He drew her back into
his arms and she melted against him instantly. He had to bend his head way
down, she was so much smaller than him, and she’d already tossed off her high
heels. He’d meant to take it slow, but the instant his lips touched hers, her
response was explosive. She might be cute, angelic and prim looking, but man
could she kiss! And the feel of those ultra soft hands cradling his neck,
moving, and caressing him was pure heaven. His body insisted he move closer.
With a giant effort he kept his hands at her waist, he wanted to slide them down
and caress her backside, pull her into contact with him, where he needed her
touch the most.
 
Then he opened his eyes
and caught sight of the open closet—with rows upon rows of soft silky garments
and pretty shoes, and bottles of perfume and lotion lined up on the dresser—and
knew he needed to get out of there now. And he wasn’t coming back. She needed
to go home.

Chapter Four

It was obvious that
Jane must have shipped some things over from England because there was no way
all the stuff he was finding around the house had come in that one suitcase.
When he arrived back at the ranch house unexpectedly in the middle of the
afternoon, he found her sitting at the kitchen counter, a pretty porcelain
teapot in front of her, sharing afternoon tea with Honey, who looked like a
Cheshire cat with that idiotic grin on her face. He was tempted to tell her so,
but got sidelined by Jane offering him a cup of tea. He took in the dainty
porcelain tea cups with their floral patterns and clasped the back of his neck in
despair. He needed a drink, was it too early for one? He did have an old bottle
of single malt in the cupboard in his room. He shook his head and took off in
that direction. He’d been saving the prized aged scotch for a special occasion,
and this was it. He needed emergency treatment before his head blew off his
shoulders. He yanked the cork out and tipped the bottle to his lips. A knock
sounded at his door and he poured it down his chin instead.

“Holy shit!” he yelled.

Red rarely swore, but
when he turned to find Jane standing there in the doorway staring at him like
he’d just grown horns, he felt like hell. She was holding a giant mug with his
name on it.
Red
emblazoned across the
front in big red letters. She held it out to him.

“I brought you a mug of
tea,” she said practically. “That might go down a bit better if you pop a bit
in here,” she suggested, nodding to the bottle he held in his hand.

“You want me to put
single malt scotch in a cup of tea?”

“Trust me,
Red,
Great Grandma Rose swore by it, she had a drop every
afternoon for most of her life. She lived to be nearly a hundred.”

She was comparing him
to her great grandmother? Now he felt insulted. But he allowed her to take the
bottle, and measure a small amount into the cup.

“Taste it,” she urged.

He did, and it was
surprisingly good. The warmth of the tea combined with the heat of the liquor,
it slid down his throat entering his bones with
an unusually
relaxing warmth.

“That better?”

Stunned he nodded.

“Why don’t you lie down
for an hour, you look like you could use the rest.”

Honey had obviously
told her that since they got up so early, they often crashed for an hour or two
in the afternoon if they had time, before going back out to tend to some more
of their evening chores.

“I think I might join you.”

Startled, his gaze
connected with hers. But she just smiled, her eyes twinkling up at him.

“I’ll be taking a nap
in my room if you need me.”

“You could stay in here
with me.” Why had he said that? It had come out of his mouth before he’d had a
chance to think. Obviously this whole situation had somehow screwed up his mind
to mouth connection.

He sat down on the end
of the bed, wondering if he should correct himself, tell her he really hadn’t
meant to say that at all. But to his amazement she was already slipping off her
high heeled shoes…did she
always
wear
those? He was reminded he going to have to take her shopping for something more
practical. Or maybe he could persuade Honey to do that since she was determined
to be so ‘helpful’.

Jane was shorter than
ever without the heels, and suddenly his fevered mind shot back to the kiss
last night, when she’d barely even come up to his shoulder.

“Where do you want me?”
she asked. It came out so innocently, he wondered for an instant if she was
toying with him in some way. But her expression said otherwise.

“You take this side.”
He pointed at the side nearest the window.

“Need any help getting
your boots off?” she asked when he simply leaned back and tucked his hands
behind his head and crossed his booted feet.

She had him so confused
he hadn’t even thought of it, just merely laid back watching her. He nodded
just to see what she would do. Images of old Saturday afternoon cowboy movies
ran through his head, with scenes of some pioneer woman tugging off a man’s boots
while he pushed at her backside with his other foot for leverage, making him
want to laugh out loud. But this was the twenty-first century and his boots
were top of the line, and easy release.

Jane merely cupped his
ankles and slid the boots off. Then burst out laughing. He had a hole in his
sock and his big toe was peeking through. She tweaked it and then joined him on
the bed. Lying down next to him, she slipped her arms around him and rested her
head on his chest.

“Night, Night, Red.”

“Night, Jane,” he said
as his arms instinctively slipped around her. Surprisingly they both slept.

Red awoke to a
lingering soft floral scent in his nostrils, he reached out, but her warmth was
gone and she’d covered him with a blanket. The sun had gone down. He tossed the
blanket aside and sat up looking for his boots. Something pink caught his eye.
Then he burst into raucous laughter. She’d put a bright pink band-aid on his
big toe where his boots had chaffed a blister!

Chapter Five

“Oh,
for heaven’s sake, Red!”
Gerry, the owner of Gerry’s Boot
Depot exclaimed, glaring at him. “There is no reason a girl can’t wear a good
pair of boots with heels!”

You’d think he’d asked
for the world here! He snorted in disgust at her attitude. He’d just wanted
Jane to have a practical pair of boots. Instead Gerry had talked her into
something that he imagined only a dominatrix would wear—knee high shiny black
leather—with heels. Did this girl ever go anywhere without high heels?

“These are new, and all
the rage around here,” Gerry informed him.

“So how come I haven’t
seen anyone else wearing them?” he asked suspiciously.

“
Because they’re new
!”
Gerry reiterated with exaggerated patience.

“And how often do you
get out, Red?” Honey asked, surreptitiously casting a glance at Gerry.

“Fine,” Red said,
giving in to the three and addressing Jane. “But don’t blame me if you break
your ankle.”

“Spoken like a true old
fart!”
Honey declared, arms crossed.

“She needs a pair of
boots for getting around on the ranch…” he reasoned.

“These are leather,
Red, and she’s not going to be mucking out the stables with you! Besides, for
someone who’s always worn heels, wearing flats can be quite uncomfortable,”
Honey stated practically.

“Look here.” Gerry took
Jane’s now bare foot and pointed out the delicate high arch and instep. And
again he wondered—what the hell was this woman doing on his ranch? But
something about the delicate curve of her foot, reminded him how it had felt to
hold that softness in his arms yesterday afternoon. He’d told her he wanted to
buy her a pair of boots this morning and she’d cheerfully accepted. To refuse
now would only make him seem like a Scrooge.

“You’d like to see her
in a pair of those, would you?” Gerry pointed at the ugly work boots he had
intended to buy her. Sheepishly he ignored them and slapped down his credit
card. Gerry ran it through with lightning speed and packaged up the boots for
Jane before he could change his mind.

Taking Jane’s hand in
his he marched her out to the truck with him, he didn’t know what came over
him, but as soon as he got in the truck with Jane, he purposefully pulled her
against him and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Then without a word, he
stepped on the gas and drove them home.

Gerry and Honey watched
them go, high fived each other, and burst into laughter.

“Well, that was easier
than I thought!” Honey grinned. Gerry didn’t stock the
boots,
her supplier had sent them to her store by accident. But it was obvious that
they were just right for the delicate English
girl,
and a big turn on for any man who still happened to be breathing. “I just wish
we could have sold him the entire dominatrix outfit along with them.”

“All in good time,
Honey,” Gerry said. “I have a feeling there’s more to Lady Jane than meets the
eye.”

***

Late that night, Red
paced. He’d been out to check on the horses, come back in, had dinner with
Honey, Jane, and Tony, then escaped one more time. Everything around him felt
different.
More vivid.
He noticed things he normally
didn’t give a second thought to, he was more aware of every sight, sound and
smell. He was seeing the ranch through Jane’s eyes now. She appeared to love it
here, and she was incredibly easygoing despite her fragile looking appearance.

He strode back up to
the house after his second head-clearing walk of the evening. Honey and Tony
were driving away. They honked and waved as they went. It was getting late, he
realized. They’d all sat after dinner for a while, chatting over coffee and
dessert. Jane had made some fantastic chocolate fudge brownies, he didn’t have
much of a sweet tooth but he could be persuaded now and then. He wondered if
she’d be waiting for him, sleeping on the couch once again. He didn’t think he
could take it. Not after the whole boot thing today. He ran a hand through his
hair again and slowed his footsteps, but looking up, he realized Jane’s light
was on in her
room,
she must have given up and gone up
to bed as soon as Tony and Honey had driven off. He was kind of disappointed
but…still, it was probably for the best.

He strode into the
empty kitchen and flung open the refrigerator, wondering if there was any of
that decadent dessert left. He jumped when a soft voice spoke behind him.

“Still
hungry, Red?”

He turned to find Jane
standing there in a silky pale pink robe, delicate heeled matching pink
slippers on her feet, her painted toes peeking out the ends. He groaned. How on
earth could he be turned on by a woman who was all pink fluff? They were way
too opposite. He nodded and grunted. Great, now he felt like a Neanderthal! But
Jane just smiled; reaching around him she retrieved the rest of the dessert and
slipped it onto a plate, holding it out to him. He took it like he was
accepting a loaded weapon and stared at her hard. The thin silk was almost
transparent. He wondered what she had on under there, if anything.

“I was going to make
some hot chocolate, would you like some?”

Not trusting
himself
to speak, Red nodded, watching as Jane busied
herself heating milk and making up two large mugs of chocolate that she topped
with whipped cream. They sat at the kitchen table
together,
they hadn’t been alone much yet. She dipped her spoon into the cream and lifted
it to her lips, he watched as it disappeared between her soft pink lips and she
murmured innocently. “Mm, I love chocolate. Hot chocolate and cold cream, it’s
a perfect combination.”

He watched her
eat,
it was almost a sensual experience. She was driving him
nuts. And when her tongue slipped out to lick her upper lip where she had a
tiny bit of cream, he squirmed. She was just so naturally erotic. He needed to
get out of there quickly.

“I need a shower,” he
said, and marched off leaving his half finished brownie and untouched hot
chocolate on the table.