Paige groaned, which seemed to excite Cash. He gently pushed her onto her back into the hay scattered on the floor.
“Wait. What if someone can see us?”
“Only if they’re in a hot air balloon,” he said, nibbling around the edge of her chin. “But scoot back two feet if it makes you feel better.”
She laughed but scooted back a couple of feet. Then she shoved him off her. She grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulled it up and off and tossed it over a bale of hay.
“Hold on. Let me grab something that’ll make this a little more comfortable.”
Cash stood, walked to the other end of the loft and brought a blanket back with him.
“Aren’t you the smart one,” Paige said, toeing off her boots. “That hay itches like crazy. I was getting ready to put you on the bottom.”
He laughed as he spread out the blanket. “This ain’t my first rodeo.” He yanked his shirt off and tossed it on top of hers. Then he dropped to his knees beside her, catching her face in his hands. “You are still the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever known.” He kissed her, following her onto the blanket until he was on top.
He started with her mouth and worked his way down her body. He kissed and nibbled his way down her neck and chest until he reached the top of her bra. Catching the tip of her breast in his mouth, his hot breath seeped through the thin lace. She shivered and rolled to the side so he could reach the clasp in the back. A flick and the bra’s band loosened. Cash shoved it up and wrapped his lips around her nipple, sucking and drawing it deep into his mouth using his tongue to work her flesh. Paige became lost in the suck, draw, lick, suck, draw, lick of his delicious mouth.
She snaked a leg around his calf and jutted her hips up, grinding against his rigid shaft. Shoving a hand between them, she went to work on his belt, unfastening it to get to the metal button of his jeans. She pushed the metal through the buttonhole and then stopped.
“Wait. You have a condom? ’Cause I don’t.”
“Yep. Front left pocket.”
“Right. Not your first rodeo.”
He chuckled until she wiggled her hand into his tight jeans pocket. His amusement abruptly ended when she stopped digging for the condom long enough to caress his cock through the pocket material. When she withdrew her hand, she pulled the foil packet out and laid it on a bale of hay beside her.
He pushed her onto her back and began slowly dragging the tip of his tongue down her abdomen. When he dipped into her belly button, she sucked in her gut in reflex.
“You taste so good,” he said against her skin, his lips brushing her flesh like butterfly wings. “But I’m thinking you’ll taste even better lower.”
Sliding down her legs to her feet, he undid her jeans and pulled both her jeans and her panties down her legs and off.
“Spread your legs for me,” he ordered. He licked her ankle, then up the inside of her leg. “Wider. Let me look at you.” She spread her legs wider and he moved farther up her leg with his mouth and tongue. Pressing his nose to her sex, he inhaled deeply. “I can smell how much you want this, want me.”
His deep, guttural tone liquefied her insides, sent every drop of moisture flowing toward Cash and his hot breath. She lifted her hips, thrusting against his mouth.
He sucked on her flesh, drawing her engorged tissues between his lips. He flicked his tongue against her nub, stabbing it, licking, stabbing. She felt his hand as he slid it up her thigh, then his fingers when he probed her entrance. When he pushed two fingers inside her canal, she moaned and moved on them.
Her sex throbbed and ached for relief. Her hips moved against his mouth and hand without conscious thought on her part. Every cell in her mind was focused between her thighs and the blond-haired man there.
The swirl of tension inside whipped around like a tornado, pulling everything inside its vortex. She grabbed his head, holding him exactly where she wanted him. Her hips gyrated. The pressure grew almost painful and then exploded inside her. White lights flashed behind her eyelids as wave after wave of intense pleasure rippled through her.
When the orgasm finally faded, tears dampened her cheeks.
“Are you okay? Hey. Babe. You’re crying.”
She laughed and wiped at the wetness on her face. “I’m fine. It was…” She sighed. “I needed that.” Opening one eye, she glanced at him. “A little overdressed for this party, aren’t you, cowboy?”
Cash chuckled and stood. He shucked his jeans and retrieved the condom and rolled it down his engorged penis.
“How’s this?” he said.
“Perfect. C’mon. Let me show you how I ride a cowboy.”
As soon as his knees touched the blanket, Paige used one finger to push him onto his back. Tossing a leg over him, she lowered herself onto his stiff staff. He thrust up with his hips, driving himself deep inside. As she glided up and down, he dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips. Every time he slammed into her, a whirl of growing energy shot through her, driving her closer to the ultimate high she sought. And just as she was seconds from her release, he raised her off his cock. She whimpered in frustration.
The muscles in his cheeks were tense and his voice gravelly as he said, “Stand up. Turn around and put your hands here.” He indicated a hay bale with a lift of his chin.
As he demanded, she stood and stretched her hands out on the scratchy bale.
“Bend over,” he said.
The roughness of his tone fired a bolt of lightning through her system. She shivered and leaned forward, her bare ass rising into the air.
“Oh, baby,” he said. “That’s looking nice.”
He stroked his hands over her rear and then ran a finger down her crack. When she moaned, he pushed her shoulders down closer to the hay, propelling her bottom even higher.
“Oh, yeah. That’s it,” he said and rammed into her.
She arched her back as she tried to get more leverage. He pulled back and slammed again and again. The sound of his balls slapping her flesh echoed around her and she thought it might be the most erotic thing she’d ever heard.
He slid a hand around her hip, found her clit and pressed. Between the friction of his cock against her vaginal walls, the slap of flesh against flesh and the continued manipulation of her sensitive nub, she didn’t stand of chance of lasting very long.
The orgasm slammed through her like a jet on take-off. She bowed her back with a long groan as her muscles shook and twitched with pleasure. A couple of quick thrusts and Cash followed her over the edge. His hot, damp chest adhered to her back as he blew long breaths.
“Damn, Paige.”
“I know,” she gasped out. “I—”
He clamped his hand over her mouth. When she looked at him over her shoulder, he put one finger over his lips for her to be quiet.
“C’mon, Caroline. Mom’s got the kids occupied. Let me show you the best view of the…damn.”
“What’s wrong, honey? Did you step on something?”
“No. I just remembered. You haven’t seen my old bedroom, have you?”
“What has gotten in to you?”
“C’mon, babe. I got a better spot.” Then it sounded like he raised his voice so anyone else in the barn would hear. “I’ve got soft sheets that won’t have hay prickling me in the back.”
The door downstairs banged shut. Paige giggled and then sneezed. The door downstairs creaked open. “Bless you.” The door slammed shut again.
Mortification at being discovered shot heat up Paige’s neck. She dropped her gaze toward the dusty floor as Cash laughed.
“I don’t think you’re the first Montgomery to sneak a gal into the loft,” Paige said.
“How do you think I learned about it? Remember? I spied on my brothers’ parties. Let’s just say, it was quite an education.”
The loud gong of a bell rang out from the yard.
“Dinner’s ready,” Cash said. “Get dressed. We want to beat my brothers to the chow.”
Paige hustled around the loft, finding the various pieces of her clothes tossed over the bales of hay. Dressed, they headed for the ladder.
“Wait. Let me go first,” Cash said.
“Why?”
“Well, there might be a couple of things leaning against the ladder down there.”
She looked over the lip of the floor and saw a pitchfork with its handle shoved through the lower rungs and a shovel with a bucket upright on its handle balanced against the pitchfork tines.
“What the…?”
He started down the ladder but looked up with a grin. “Jason’s signal to Travis that he’s got a girl up here.” She could hear him laughing as he climbed down.
Later, with plates heaped with ribs, baked-potato salad, beans, coleslaw and bread, Cash and Paige found spots at a picnic table with Jason and Lydia. She sat by Jason and Cash slipped in on the other side next to Lydia.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said, nuzzling his future sister-in-law’s neck.
“Hands off, bro,” Jason said, his mouth full of rib meat with absolutely no threat in his voice.
Cash laughed. “Dad outdid himself this year.” He gnawed on the thick meat of a rib. “”But wait until you have some of Paige’s pie.” He grinned, barbeque sauce smeared on his lips.
“Thanks. I um, noticed, you might have had a slice of pie for breakfast. Especially since there was less than half of the pie left.”
“Guilty as charged. I’m a growing boy.”
“Yeah, growing faster in the gut than height,” Jason said.
“Scoot over.” The deep bass voice was sexy as hell and Paige knew it immediately. Travis, Cash’s brother. The one who’d almost discovered their little love nest this afternoon.
Cash moved closer to Lydia and Travis climbed onto the bench, plopping a plate groaning with meat on the table. Caroline slipped in next to Paige.
“Well, hell, big bro,” Jason said. “You in competition with Cash over who can eat the most?”
“Surprised you’re not hungrier,” Travis growled. “I mean, after all that afternoon loft activity.”
Paige choked on the potato salad she’d just forked into her mouth. Caroline patted Paige’s back. “You okay?”
Paige nodded and took a sip of water, her gaze meeting the amused look Cash gave her.
“What are you talking about?” Jason said.
“Nothing. Ignore my husband,” Caroline said. “Lack of sleep has him a tad cranky.”
“I’m not cranky. I’m—”
“Cranky,” his wife interjected. “Your mom used his old room as nursery for the kids and Travis missed his nap.”
Paige bit her lip to keep from laughing.
After pies and cakes had been demolished under the guise of not hurting the cooks’ feelings, the men threw age out the window and headed to a field for a game of flag football. After the second down, the flags were gone and it was every man for himself.
The women pulled up folding chairs and cheered from the sidelines.
“None of those guys are going to be able to walk tomorrow,” Caroline said with a laugh. “Stiff backs. Sore legs. Bruises.” She looked at Lydia. “Our office is going to be busy tomorrow.”
“With just these guys?” Paige asked with a frown. “There are only about thirty-six or so out there.”
“That’s true,” Lydia replied. “But count up how many of them are single. Our waiting room will suddenly become the hot place to meet a guy.”
Paige giggled. “I may need to be in the lobby doing triage tomorrow.”
Caroline snorted.
Paige settled back in her chair and watched Cash. Yes, he was limping, but he was out there fighting with the rest of them. He looked particularly happy when he tackled Marc Singer, who’d joined the game after end of his shift.
After the winning touchdown was scored, the entire population of the ranch came alive with activity as people began loading chairs, coolers and people into the back of trucks, and driving through an open gate and through a pasture.
“Where’s everybody going?” Paige asked.
“Fireworks,” Cash said. “Grab the chair you’re in. I loaded a cooler in the truck this morning.”
“I hope you scraped out the first layer of trash from inside.”
He grinned. “Maybe, but you’ll never know if you don’t hurry up. Hand me your chair.”
“I can carry it.”
“I know you can, but I want to.”
Paige’s heart sighed. “Okay. Here you go.” She stood, collapsed her chair and handed it to Cash.
“Now hurry or we won’t get a good seat.”
“A good seat for fireworks? Don’t they go up into the sky and go boom where we can all see them?”
“Heck, not the fireworks. A good place where we can make-out during the fireworks.”
Paige laughed and started running toward his truck. “Why are you so slow?” she called over her shoulder.
Chapter Eleven
June hit Whisper Springs with a slap of heat and humidity. Cash’s work on the house continued, albeit a little slower. Paige found herself conflicted every morning…wanting to stay in bed with Cash and yet excited to go to work.
She’d been on target when she’d told her brother it’d been a long time since she’d used her nursing education. It’d taken her most of the month to get comfortable with all the medical and nursing knowledge that scrolled through her brain every day. But she loved it.
Her only regret was knowing that summer was passing quickly and soon she’d be spending a year in university housing to complete her nurse-practitioner education. That meant leaving a job she loved and a man she loved even more.
But not going wasn’t an option either. When she graduated, she’d be able to come back to Whispering Springs Medical Clinic and assume a more active role. She looked forward to that.
A year wasn’t that long to be away. She be back seeing the patients and treating their problems before she knew it.
And she and Cash had that stupid agreement. No long-term commitments. No-harm, no-foul bullshit. What had she been thinking?
Oh yeah. She’d been thinking she wanted a stubborn, shaggy-headed cowboy. Now, she hated the damn agreement, even if she’d been the one to propose it. Somewhere deep inside, she’d thought he’d change his mind, but so far he’d appeared perfectly content with their arrangement.
Was it the old adage,
why buy the cow when you can get your milk for free
?
The second week she’d worked at Whispering Springs Medical Clinic, she’d gone with Lydia to see patients at the Greenwood Assisted Living Center, which was more a skilled-care facility than an assisted-living facility. However, the patients were well cared for by a first-rate staff. She’d come to love those visits. By the end of June, she’d been making some of the medical visits solo, calling Lydia or Caroline only if a patient had a problem she couldn’t handle.
Very quickly, one of the oldest patients there, ninety-four-year-old Mrs. Hagan became her favorite. Irene Hagan always had a funny story or joke to tell. Her family didn’t live close and didn’t get to visit except a couple of times a month. That didn’t seem to faze her. She’d gotten an iPad and learned how to talk with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren via the internet. Having met most of her family through Mrs. Hagan’s computer screen, Paige never pictured any of them with arms and legs, just big talking heads. Mrs. Hagan thought that was the funniest thing Paige had ever said.
The last Monday in June, Paige arrived at Greenwood with a bouquet of flowers for the nurses’ station. A collection of people stood in the hall outside Mrs. Hagan’s room. As she made her way down the hall and the huddle turned toward her, she recognized most of the faces. Mrs. Hagan’s family. But on a Monday?
“Hello. I’m Paige Ryan.”
Diane Hagan Lee held out her hand. “I’d know your face anywhere.”
Paige smiled and shook her hand. “Yours too. Funny but I’ve only seen you as faces on your mother’s screen.”
Diane smiled. “I know. Mom told me. Big talking heads.”
The group around Diane chuckled at the comment. Seems Mrs. Hagan had shared Paige’s comment with the entire family.
“I’m a little surprised to find all of you here,” Paige said. “Is your mom okay? We didn’t get a call at the office that there was a problem.”
“Oh, there isn’t. Today is Mom’s ninety-fifth birthday. We came to surprise her. We’re taking her out to a dinner celebration.”
“How thoughtful. I know she’ll love it.” Paige addressed the group. “It’s so nice to see all of you. Have a wonderful night out.”
After her rounds at Greenwood, Paige was sitting in her car when the Hagan gang filed out. They were loud and noisy and it hit her how much she missed her own parents. She checked the date and was suddenly overwhelmed with grief.
The month had slid away without her noticing. The job. Cash. The planned move. Somehow she’d missed that today was the day her parents had died.
She choked on a sob. Resting her head on her steering wheel, she would have sworn she could hear her mother’s voice. “Don’t cry, baby. You have a wonderful life ahead of you. What’s done is in the past. You can only affect the future. Your dad and I are proud of you. Now dry those tears and get home to that man you’re so crazy about.”
Even though she knew the voice was only in her head, she couldn’t help but smile.
Thanks, Mom.
That night, Cash was warm and considerate as he held her. They shared their favorite memories of her parents and the crazy and funny stories from the days riding the circuit. She laughed a lot. Cried a couple of tears, but mostly she laughed.
When she awoke the next morning, still wrapped in Cash’s arms, she gave a silent thanks for having him in her life right now. Without him, yesterday would have been torture. Instead, it had turned into a lovely evening of shared memories and a shared past.
She adored her only living family members, Leo and her Uncle James, but neither of them had been on the rodeo circuit with her and her parents. Visits along the way, sure, but visits were like a vacation, not everyday life.
Cash had been on the road with them sharing everyday events, like the day the radiator had blown on her truck and left her stranded for two hours in Wyoming. Or on her fourteenth birthday when the rodeo bullfighters had loaned her their pancake make-up, red lipstick and baggy clothes so she could go into the arena with them. Needless to say, she was kept far away from any activity. Still, being in the arena had been thrilling, and Cash had been there to see it, just as her parents had.
She could tell people her life history, but having someone who’d been there, who’d seen what she’d seen and experienced what she’d experienced brought a totally different dynamic to a conversation. Cash gave her something no one else could right now—a connection to her past. She’d needed that connection, and there weren’t many people who could provide it.
When Paige arrived home the next evening, she sat in her car for a couple of minutes soaking in the changes in the house. When she and Ruby had first arrived, the two-story house had looked dead. Peeling external paint. Dirty windows. Crooked brown shutters. Window baskets growing whatever wild grass seeds blew in.
Now the house gleamed with white paint. The shutters were red and straight. A matching red front door greeted visitors. The dirty, cobweb-infested porch with its nasty railings were clean and white. Two rocking chairs graced what had been an empty porch. Today, two fluffy green fern baskets had been hung, completing the picture of a house alive with energy and personality. The grass in the yard needed mowing, but it still looked and felt like home to her.
Cash had the touch. He’d brought this dead old house back to life, and she’d bet he could do that for other houses. Was he was aware of his talent? Aware of how physically far his mind and body come in only ten weeks?
Back in April when she’d run into him at Leo’s, his skin had been a wrinkled-filled and an unattractive pasty gray. His eyes, what little she’d seen, had been bloodshot and unfocused. And while he’d still retained his muscular undertone, he’d appeared weak and unsteady, the effect magnified by his limp.
Now, at the end of June, he didn’t resemble that man at all. He was the man she’d known on the rodeo circuit. Strong. Decisive. Confident. His sense of humor was back. His color was back. If she didn’t know about his injuries, she’d have never noticed the very slight limp.
He’d rebuilt much of himself just as he had the house, and she was so proud and thrilled for him.
She let herself into a quiet house. The aroma of baking potatoes filled the downstairs.
“Cash. You here?”
“Upstairs. Come on up.”
A smile crawled across her lips when she hit the landing. Curled up together on the leather sofa, Ruby and Buster both wagged tails at her arrival, but neither deemed her arrival important enough to move.
Dressing in a pair of shorts, a PBR T-shirt and barefoot, Cash was stretched out in his recliner while Judge Judy played on the television. His blond hair, at least a month past needing a cut, fell over his brow. Her heart skipped at the sight of the man she adored smiling at her.
“Judge Judy?”
Cash shrugged with a guilty grin. “Not my fault. It’s what Ruby and Buster want to watch every afternoon.”
She glanced at the animals. Ruby was washing her hind leg while Buster’s eyes were shut.
“Hmm. Yes, I can see their fascination.”
He laughed and patted the arm of the chair. As soon as her butt hit the arm, he pulled her into his lap. There was a tug in her gut as her bottom settle into his lap.
“Have a nice day?”
“I did. I’ve really gotten attached to some of our regular patients.”
“So you’re still liking the work?”
She nodded. “Loving it.”
“Still heading off to the big D for school in the fall?”
“Yep. Why all the questions?”
“I got you a present.”
She wasn’t sure if that was a change of subject or if the questions were somehow related.
“A present?” She slid her hips side-to-side over his growing erection. “I think I can feel your present.”
He chuckled. “That present’s for later. Reach beside the chair. You should feel a box.”
When she leaned over, her rear rose in the air. Cash ran his hand over her ass cheeks before lightly biting the left one.
“Hey!” she said indignantly, but her voice held no threat.
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Go on. Lean over. I promise not to bite.”
She gave him a skeptical look but leaned over. He didn’t bite, but his hands roamed. Her finger touched the corner of a box, which she pulled back into his lap. Wrapped in a big red satin bow, the white box was about two feet long and a foot wide.
“What’s this for?”
He lifted a shoulder as a cute blush pinked his cheeks. “No reason. Just saw it. Thought you might like it.”
After opening the lid and pulling away the freshly folded tissue paper, she touched soft, silky material. She whipped it from the box. A long, royal-blue silk robe hung from her fingers. On the back was an orange and yellow sunset.
“Oh, Cash. It’s beautiful. The sunset looks like the one we get every evening. Thank you. I’ll think of you every time I wear it.” She kissed him and then hopped from his lap. “I want to try this on right now.”
Cash lowered his feet to the floor. “I’ve got to check dinner anyway.”
“What are we having?”
“Baked potatoes, rolls, salad and steaks. I haven’t fired up the grill yet, so I’d better get to it. Needs to heat a while before I put the steaks on.”
Paige started down the stairs but turned back. “When did you learn to cook? When you first got here, it was always me doing the cooking.”
His smile was mixed parts amusement and guilt. “I always could cook a little. Besides, tonight is steak and potatoes. Any guy who can’t throw potatoes in the oven, open a bag of salad and toss a couple of steaks on the grill should be required to turn in his manhood badge.”
“Still, I appreciate the dinner. See you in a few.”
She stripped off her clothes and jumped in the tub for a quick shower. Afterwards, she pulled on the satiny robe and tightened the silk belt about her waist, deciding to forgo any panties. The robe was cool against her heated flesh. The hem brushed the floor. When she walked, the material sinuously stroked her skin as her toes peeked out with each step. She loved it not only because Cash had given it to her but also because it fit her style and clothing tastes perfectly. Cash either knew her better than she’d realized or he’d been quite lucky in his selection.
The banging of the oven door alerted her to Cash’s location. She headed to the kitchen and when there, struck a pose against the door frame, jutting one leg out the slit in the robe’s front.
“What do you think?” she said.
Cash glanced over his shoulder and then back to the potatoes he’d just pulled from the oven before looking again back to her.
“What I think is that dinner is going to be late.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her along up the stairs to his bedroom, with her laughing the entire way.
Dinner was late that night. Those were either the best steaks Paige had ever eaten, or the two hours in Cash’s bedroom had worked up an appetite. She didn’t know the answer to that question, but one question nagging her the rest of the night was when would her appetite for Cash diminish?
Through June, her appetite for Cash’s touch never diminished. She was ravenous for him when she got home every evening. Fortunately, he seemed as starved as she, racing her to his bedroom, or hers, or to the shower, or the couch. Anywhere they could sate their hunger for each other.
In July, the small town of Whispering Springs began filling with tourists early in the week for the annual Fourth of July Arts and Crafts Festival. With the Fourth of July falling on a Friday, most visitors planned to stay through the weekend.
But like many Texas summers, July brought high temperatures and thick humidity. For Whispering Springs Medical Clinic, this meant an increase in emergency-room visits and new patients. By the Wednesday preceding the big county-sponsored fireworks display, the clinic had added fifteen new patients. This made the workdays fast-paced but long. When the clinic finally shut its doors for the day, Paige was ready to head home for a hot bath, a hot meal and an even hotter man.
On the Thursday before her three-day weekend, Paige’s commute to work took ten minutes longer than usual due to the volume of traffic. She saw Marc Singer directing traffic near the clinic and got a smile and wave in return to her horn toot. Once she got parked, she raced into the office ready to apologize for her tardiness, but with this being Dr. Caroline Graham’s first day back to work, the staff hadn’t begun to work. They were all in the break room flipping through Caroline’s album of pictures of her twins. However, once patients began filling the exam rooms, the day took off in its usual busy pace.
As the last patient was being seen, Paige remembered that in her haste that morning, she’d forgotten to crack open the windows on her car. With the day’s heat, the interior would be unbearable.