To Tempt a Cowgirl (23 page)

Only now she wasn’t certain what her next move was. Did she go home? Ask to stay?

Gabe did. “Want to come in?”

“Yes.”

“Stay put.” Surprised, Dani took her hand off the door handle then watched in some amusement as he crossed around the front of the car, opened her door and put out his hand to help her out. He kept her fingers in his as he shut the door, then led her up the walk to the front door, where he stopped to dig out his keys.

He’d barely escorted her inside when she framed his face in her hands and kissed him. She heard the keys drop on the counter behind her, then he wrapped his arms around her, one hand threading through her hair as he kissed her back. Dani started unbuttoning his shirt between kisses, as he brought his hands up to slide over her silk dress, his thumbs brushing against the undersides of her breasts. It felt so good to touch a man. No, it felt good to touch this man. She couldn’t think of another guy she’d want to be doing this with.

And, bless him, he didn’t ask if she was sure. She wouldn’t be doing this if she wasn’t. There was a reason she’d only had the one bourbon before shifting to water. She wanted her head clear enough to deal with Chad, if necessary, and to drive home from Gabe’s place, if she so chose. She didn’t. For the first time ever she wanted to sleep with someone just for the experience. And if the hard length of him pressing against her lower abdomen was any indication, this was going to be an experience to remember.

He pushed the silk straps aside and pressed his lips to her shoulder, sending a shiver through her. Dani drew herself up straighter as her breath caught, then she tilted her head sideways, giving him access as he continued moving his lips along the side of her neck, his hands moving lightly over her breasts then skimming down her sides. Dani leaned against him, again feeling his erection pressing against her. She reached behind her to place her palms on the sides of his lean hips, pulling him even closer as her head came back to lean against his shoulder. He gently squeezed her breasts, then curled his fingertips under the edge of the slippery fabric, caressing her skin.

Dani reached up to release the side zipper and the fabric slid to her waist, allowing him full access. He turned her in his arms, leaned back to take a good look, then smiled. “Oh, yeah,” he murmured, gently weighing her breasts in his hands, his thumbs moving over the nipples before he lowered his head and gave them his full attention.

“Don’t stop,” Dani muttered, her fingers tangling in his dark hair.

He laughed against her skin, and Dani sucked in a sharp breath as his hands slid down over her ass, then lifted her onto the counter behind him. She automatically opened her knees, pulling him forward. He leaned in to claim her mouth, his hands resting on her thighs, his thumbs moving against the sensitive skin close to her core. She inched forward, increasing the delicious contact, until she had his fingers exactly where she wanted them. She knew she was hot and damp against his hand, her breathing became shallow as he moved against her. She was being totally, selfishly hedonistic, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be getting into it.

“Don’t come yet,” he murmured against her mouth. “Wait for me if you can.”

“No. Promises.” Dani let her head fall back against the counter, thinking it was no fair for him to make demands like that when his fingers were clearly on a mission to drive her over the edge.

Suddenly she sat upright and scooted a few inches back, breaking contact. She met his eyes, swallowed and then said, “Let’s go to your room.”

“Excellent plan.” He slid her forward, then swung her into his arms, carrying her across the dim living room to the short hallway that opened into the master bedroom, where a single lamp was lit near the bed. Dani had the impression of dark wood and cream-colored linen, but her focus was on Gabe and getting him out of the confines of his clothing.

He covered her hands as they began working on his remaining shirt buttons and pulled them low to cup against his erection through his pants. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again as Dani started working on his belt. He didn’t move as she undid the buckle, then the buttons and zipper beneath it. Seconds later she had the long hard length of him in her hands. She closed her eyes as she caressed, savoring the feel of him.

“I need you inside of me,” she murmured. “Now.” She stepped backward, sinking down onto the bed, bringing him with her, moving her hips to free the dress fabric that had gotten caught beneath her as he pushed her skirt aside.

Seconds later he pushed into her, hard and deep. Dani gasped, then slowly exhaled as he pulled out, then pushed in again, his movements slow, controlled. She arched her back and pressed against him, needing more. Gabe obliged. Her legs wrapped around him, clutching him against her, and he began to move more rapidly. He was losing control and Dani found herself reveling in it, moving with him, meeting his thrusts. Rising. Falling. She tried to hold off, truly she did, but on one particularly deep thrust, she lost it as she arched hard against him, a silent cry caught in her throat as waves of pleasure crashed over her. Gabe made a sound low in his throat as he felt her response, then thrust one last time, hard and deep, before emptying himself into her.

His damp forehead came down to rest on hers as he fought to catch his breath. Then he rolled off from her, pulling her against his side so that she was half-sprawled over him. Her skirt tangled around her legs.

He let out one last breath, then said, “I never even got my pants off.”

Dani laughed, her voice low and husky as she said, “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning.”

He brought a hand up to smooth her hair. “Oh, no. Etiquette demands that I pay.”

“And why is that?”

He gave her a wicked look. “Because I wanted you to keep that dress on. All night I watched you and a good part of that time I was thinking about hauling you off into the backseat of a car and making out—high-school style.”

“You should have told me. I would have taken you to the parking spot.”

“I think this might have been a touch more comfortable, even with the belt involved.”

Dani smoothed her hand over his chest, loving the feel of the flat, hard muscles beneath the curling dark hair. “Maybe next time.”

He rolled his head to look down at her. “Next time.”

She smiled lazily up at him. “Any idea when that might be?”

“As in how long from right now?” His hand moved over her hip, cupping the curve of her ass.

She laughed. “What are your capabilities?”

Lightly tracing the curve of her breast, he said, “Give me a moment and perhaps we’ll find out.”

“Perhaps?”

He tipped her chin up to kiss her. The heat was already starting to flare again. “Strike the
perhaps
.”

* * *

D
ANI PUSHED HERSELF
up on one elbow, smiling at Gabe as he lay sleeping in the tangle of sheets. She ached in places she hadn’t ached in a while and she realized that while she wouldn’t mind aching there some more, she needed to get back to her place to feed hungry mouths and get ready to meet with the client stopping by to pick up her mare in exactly four hours. She slipped out of bed and found her underwear and dress. She picked up her shoes by their sling-back straps, then walked to Gabe’s side of the bed to sit on the edge. Instantly a strong arm came around her, pulling her down.

Dani laughed and pushed herself upright. “I’d love to stay but I have a client coming soon.”

He smiled sleepily, but it still managed to look awesomely wicked. “I won’t keep you...unless, of course, you want breakfast.”

Dani leaned down to touch her forehead against his. “I’d love breakfast, but I do have to go.”

He kissed her and it was all Dani could do to pull herself away and not crawl back into the bed and have her way with him.

“See you later?” he called as she approached the door.

“I’m working Molly at three o’clock like usual.”

“I’ll be there.”

She certainly hoped so. One thing she wasn’t going to do was to let herself think too much. For once in her life she was going to be more like Jolie, living moment-to-moment, day-to-day, certain that everything will work out. She didn’t even know how she wanted this to work out. More data was necessary, so for now she’d follow her gut.

And right now her gut was saying to clear some time in her schedule for Gabe.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

G
ABE GOT UP
shortly after Dani left, wandering out to living room to stare across the field at her house. He’d known going in that he was complicating his life, compromising his mission, but he’d do it all over again. He reached down to shift himself. Dani knew what made her feel good and she wasn’t shy about asking and he loved that. He’d done everything she asked—and more—and he was more than ready to do it again. If and when he had the chance.

But as he turned away from the window and headed to the bathroom, where he cranked on the shower, he knew he’d be spending more time with Dani. She didn’t seem to be a hit-and-run kind of girl and all of a sudden he didn’t see himself as a hit-and-run guy.

The phone rang as he was gathering up his clothes from where they were scattered across the bedroom floor. Serena.

“What’s up?” he asked as he shook out his slacks, then loosely folded them.

“Neal said that you were close to brokering the deal.”

“I have some cautious interest,” he agreed.

“That’s what Neal says.”

“And what does he think?”

“He’s impatient because Stewart’s impatient, but they’re more than aware that this is a delicate situation.”

More delicate than any of them knew, because now Gabe had to broker this deal without Dani discovering that the deal had been his intention all along. Lying to her didn’t sit well with him, but who would have guessed that she would come to mean so much to him in such a short period of time? Not him, that was for sure. Sometimes he felt as if he’d been smacked by a freight train.

Serena was talking again and Gabe had to ask her to repeat herself.

“I said I bought a classic car in Seattle and I’m driving it back to Chicago.”

“What kind of classic car?”

She cleared her throat self-consciously. “A...uh...’56 Ford Crown Vic. Impeccably restored.”

“Nice find,” Gabe said mildly, deciding he didn’t need to mention that Neal had long coveted exactly that car.

“Yes.”

“Is it for you?”

“For now,” Serena said.

“I won’t ask your future plans,” he said. But part of him hoped that perhaps she and Neal would take another stab at life together. Whatever had driven them apart didn’t seem to be affecting their relationship now.

Since when had he become a happily-ever-after guy?

Maybe he’d always been one, but afraid to think it was possible.

“When do you plan to be back in the office?” Serena asked. “I have some projects to go over with you and need a few honest-to-goodness notarized signatures.”

“Probably in a couple weeks.”

“Probably?”

“I’m kind of taking things day-to-day.” His statement was followed by such a long silence that he had to say, “Serena?”

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m just working on the idea of you taking things day-to-day. I’ve seen your planner.”

That planner had gotten him through college, grad school, his internships, every day on his job. It had kept a guy who’d never in his life set goals on track, but lately he was following his gut more than his planner. A good thing or bad? He couldn’t say for sure, but he felt good.

Dani was responsible for a lot of his recent positive state of mind, but Serena didn’t need to know that. Nor did Neal or Stewart. Once this deal was in place he’d figure out a way to straighten out all the loose ends without ruffling feathers.

Or maybe he wouldn’t have to. He and Dani could simply continue as they were now. His “friend” Stewart would turn her land into a golf course. Stewart had no reason to know or care just when exactly Gabe had become involved with Dani.

Walked through like that, in a logical step-by-step manner, he saw nothing to feel guilty about, but he was still aware of a vague nagging guilt that refused to stay tamped down.

“I’ll send you a schedule as soon as I work one out.”

“You do that,” Serena said faintly. He could visualize the perplexed who-the-hell-are-you? frown on her face, and laughed softly.

“A working vacation has been good to me,” he said.

“Obviously. You’re going to have to tell me the secret to embracing vacation sometime,” she said.

“I’ll do that,” he said, “just as soon as I figure it out.” Although honestly he knew the answer. She lived next door.

* * *

G
ABE SHOWED UP
at 3:00 p.m., as he’d promised, pulling in just as Dani was saddling Molly for an hour-long outing. He got out of the car and sauntered over to the hitching post, moving with an unconscious athletic grace, making Dani want nothing more than to haul him into her house and have her way with him. Again.

Instead she waved at him and started to slip the bit into Molly’s mouth.

“Do you have another horse you could ride?” he asked.

“Yes,” Dani said on a note of surprise. “I have four horses that haven’t been worked.”

He gave her a crooked grin. “I thought I might get some hours in on Molly.”

And me? How about an hour or two there?

“Good idea. I’ll catch the black gelding.”

Gabe moved to Molly’s head and took the reins from her, capturing her hand in the process and meeting her eye with a look that made her shiver inside. Oh, yeah. She’d get her hour, if not more...

And so began the routine for the next several days. Gabe showed up at three, they rode out together, returned home, groomed the horses, then adjourned to the house, where they made good use of Dani’s twin bed.

Usually he then plugged in his laptop until Dani had finished working her other two horses and then she cooked, as in she threw two frozen dinners into the oven if she didn’t have something simmering in the slow cooker. But he didn’t spend the night and she never asked him, because, really, how much sleep would they get crammed into her narrow bed? And regardless of how much fun it was not sleeping, she did need
some
sleep and so did he.