Ride (22 page)

“Darlin’, I don’t think this conversation is on the path you want it to be. If I were you, I’d stop now before you get your tender feelings hurt.” He retreated just a step. He should have known better than to follow her. He should have stayed away. It would have been better for them both.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? My
tender
feelings?” With each step Brent took backwards, Peyton closed the distance. If she wanted a fight, he wasn’t in the mood to give her one.

“You know what I’m talking about. I hurt your feelings that night, that last night, and instead of waiting around until things cooled off, you ran as fast and as hard as you could in a different direction. That way just happened to be Carter’s.”

Brent could see her temper flaring. Her chest heaved, causing her breasts to do the same. Her nostrils flared as her breath became choppy and erratic. He wondered how long it would take her to retaliate. He didn’t have to wait long.

“I’m sorry I didn’t dig a hole and bury myself away from the world long enough for you decide that you wanted to
play
with me again. I waited for things to cool off and for you to realize what an ass you were being. Did you want me to wait forever? Was that what your pride needed, a little pick-me-up?” She advanced on him.

“You pushed me away,” she said as she planted her hands on his chest and pushed his body. It wasn’t a hard nudge, but he took a step back. “You pushed me out.” She shoved at his shoulders this time. “You shut me out.” She prodded again. “You shut me out of your life.” She pushed him again. “You shut me out of your mind.” She pushed and prodded him again and again. “And you shut me out of your heart.”

Brent had had enough. He jerked the door of the tack room open and backed her into the small dark room. It smelt of leather, hay and Peyton—sugary and sweet.

It was his turn to push. He pressed her against a wall and anchored her body there with his and gripped her wrists with one of his hands just in case she decided to sink her nails into any part of his body.

His lips were a breath away from hers when he said in a low, husky voice, “I might have shut you out that night, but I never shut you out for good. You did that the minute you traded me in for my best friend.” He felt her breath hitch beneath her chest.

The movement caused her breasts to rub against the material of his shirt and jacket. Even through the thick double layer of material, he felt her nipples harden and pucker. He felt the weight of her breasts resting heavily on his chest. He felt everything. The swell of them, their firmness, their heat and their state of arousal.

“Is that what bothers you so bad? That it was Carter who took your place? Or does it bother you that I didn’t shut my heart and my life down just because you didn’t want me anymore? I’m sorry I didn’t swear off all men and life in general until you decided you were ready to want me again.” She moved to break their connection, but he wouldn’t let her.

She struggled a little more, but her struggles were lacking in determination. Brent wondered if she really wanted him to let her go or if she only thought she did.

“I never stopped wanting you.”

Her struggles stopped. Her breath halted as she brought her eyes to his, and Brent was sure she felt the reaction his body had to hers being pressed so close.

“Yes, you did. You ignored me. You wouldn’t speak two words to me. You hated me. You still hate me.” Her breath hitched as the last few words crossed her lips, and Brent hated that he had ever made her feel that way. In an instant, he realized there was no time like the present to show her how differently he actually felt.

Ride

Cat Johnson

What happens in Vegas…sometimes follows you home.

Studs in Spurs, Book 3

Pro bull rider Chase Reese knew things move faster than an eight-second ride in Las Vegas. He just never expected to be driving home with a national championship under his belt and a wedding band on his left hand with no clue how it got there.

Yet he can’t complain about the stripper bride beside him. From the moment his buddies bought him a lap dance from her, her trembles told him there was more to her than stiletto heels.

Leesa Santiago has met the perfect guy. Her timing couldn’t be worse though. If it was just their explosive sex, she could walk away. But from the moment her lap dance brought her
this
close to his baby blues, she was hooked. She can’t lie that she couldn’t be happier to bear his name—or guiltier that she’s using it and his Oklahoma farm to hide out from mob hit men.

That’s before Chase’s family gets involved. And his determination to do the right thing pushes her to do the one thing that will keep him safe. Break his heart.

Do cowboy boots mix with stripper heels? And can a love that started out on the wrong foot end up on the right one? That’s the risk you take waking up in Vegas.

Warning: Contains one happy-ending lap dance that will make you squirm, some pretty hot sex between two strangers who also happen to be married to each other, and a huge surprise conclusion.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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Ride

Copyright © 2010 by Cat Johnson

ISBN: 978-1-60928-262-2

Edited by Heidi Moore

Cover by Angela Waters

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: December 2010

www.samhainpublishing.com