The Cowboy and His Baby

by Jessica Clare

  Prep Spidey for adoption.

  Locate another dog for her upcoming movie and start training him.

  Contact her agent and let her know how much of a disaster the film was so she could spin it. Or heck, contact her agent and tell her Annie needed a break. Just the thought of another movie made her tired right now. Plus, the thought of giving up Spidey made her heart hurt. She wasn’t ready to do that, not yet. She had a hard time letting go of any of her charges, but every now and then, one snagged her heart and didn’t let go. Spidey with his big, sad eyes and his little grunts of happiness had definitely captured hers.

  And then, of course, there was Dustin.

  And Moose, naturally.

  But mostly Dustin.

  She fumbled for her phone in the pocket of her oversize sweater. She’d turned the thing to silent when the incoming texts were distracting her and she was too busy arguing with the director. Then, she’d forgotten all about it and now the entire day had practically gone past without talking to Dustin. He’d be wondering what happened.

  At least, she hoped he would be.

  Before she could send him a text, though, her phone rang. Dustin. She picked it up, surprised and pleased. “Hello?”

  “So you’re not avoiding me after all.” His voice came through, rich and smooth and slightly teasing.

  She found herself smiling. “No, just had a hell of a day and couldn’t scrape together five minutes to look at my phone. I’m glad you called me, though.”

  “Wanted to see if you were interested in getting together tonight. Dinner?”

  “I’m not much for going out on the town tonight,” Annie admitted, thinking of all the blaming eyes that would be focused in her direction. “Maybe your place?”

  “How about I come to you?” he suggested, instead. “I’ll bring food.”

  She smiled. “Sounds good.”

  “Be there in an hour.” He ended the call, and she smiled idly to herself.

  Of course, then she started thinking about Katherine’s words. How Dustin was just using her. How they always ended up in Annie’s hotel room instead of going to the ranch. Of course, he’d said before that they had no room over at the ranch. That it was even less private than her hotel. But still.

  She hated that the seed of doubt had been planted.

  Annie slicked lip gloss over her lips and fluffed her awful looking hair, just because she needed a night of kissing and making out to remind her of the good that had come out of this particular movie set. She had Spidey, after all, and he was the sweetest dog. He’d make someone a great companion . . . and that made her heart ache. She didn’t want to give him up, but at the same time, she had another movie coming up in about two months, and she didn’t have the time to devote to both him and a newcomer. Plus, her mother would have a heart attack at the thought of keeping a dog while Annie was on location. It wouldn’t work, and that made her sad.

  At least Moose had a happy home.

  Thinking of Moose made her think of Dustin, and her body flushed with heat in response. She studied her clothing. Tonight was the last night she’d be here, more or less. She could schedule a flight a few more days out, but her hotel room was paid for by the movie production through tomorrow and that was it. Anything after that would be on her dime. Still, she could spend a few days with Dustin, she figured. Enjoy a little personal time before she had to go back to LA.

  Squeeze in another makeout session. Maybe more.

  Of course, she wasn’t exactly wearing her sexiest gear. Not that she had sexy gear. She wrinkled her nose at her bulky tan turtleneck sweater—because the spring in the mountains was cold—and decided to change. The slinkiest thing she had was another sweater, this one black and soft as a baby rabbit’s fur. It clung to her body and made her curves look fantastic while still being modest enough to wear out in public. Her jeans were all right, but her bra and panties were boring, boring beige.

  Why did her bra and panties matter, though? They were just playing around . . . weren’t they?

  But if she only had a day or two left with Dustin, she wanted to go further. They’d been hot and heavy for a week now, and every touch made her think of more. Made her think of the way his mouth would feel on her breasts, on her skin, the way his hands would feel as he caressed her thighs . . . yeah, she was having a lot of dirty dreams about Dustin. She wanted to see him naked. She wanted him to see her naked.

  But maybe, maybe not in this bra and panties. Annie picked through her lingerie drawer and couldn’t find anything that matched or looked sexy together. Eventually, she decided on a pair of basic black bikini panties and to skip the bra entirely. So she stripped down and got dressed again from the skin out, and by this time, her sweater was full of static and clung to her body rather inappropriately . . . but it did look fantastic. She admired herself in the mirror once more, and jumped when there was a knock at the door.

  Spidey gave a low bark then looked at her for approval.

  “Good boy,” she told him, patting his head before moving to the door to answer it.

  Dustin stood in the doorway with a bottle of wine and what looked like a long, wrapped baguette of some kind. His hat today was black, his shirt a checkered blue and black that stretched taut over his shoulders, and he looked good enough to eat. The gaze he gave her was equally admiring. “You look nice.”

  Annie’s nipples pricked at his intense gaze. “Thank you,” she murmured, pulling him inside. Then, because she couldn’t wait any longer, she took the wine and bread out of his arms, set them on the nearest counter, and then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and plastered her mouth to his.

  He groaned, his arms immediately going around her. His mouth was sweet and tasted faintly of peppermint, and his tongue slicked against hers in a practiced, expert way that made her toes curl against the carpet. She gave a happy little sigh as the kiss grew deeper, their mouths meeting over and over again with hungry need. Kissing Dustin made her forget the world around her. It made her forget her bad day, or the fact that she was leaving—it made her forget everything but the way his mouth felt on hers, the way his lips were soft but firm, the way his tongue managed to tease hers in a way that was completely sexy and made her tingle all through her body.

  Dustin nipped at her lower lip before breaking the kiss, and then pressed a small one to the tip of her nose. “That was a nice greeting.”

  “Mmm.” She slid her arms around his waist and tucked her head against his shoulder. “I had a bad day.”

  “I see that.” One hand rubbed her back idly. “You want to talk about it?”

  “Not really. I’ll just get mad all over again.”

  “You want to eat, then? I have enough sandwiches for you, me, and that little butterball you call a dog.”

  She chuckled. “You made sandwiches?”

  “Nah, Cass did. She shoved one in my arms the moment she heard I was going out. She’s good like that.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Eli’s a lucky man.”

  For some reason, she felt a little stab of jealousy to hear that. Cass lived with them, didn’t she? “I hope I get to meet her before I leave.”

  He just rubbed her shoulder. “I hope so, too. You’d like her. Not a mean bone in her body.”

  And that was a good answer. Mollified, she pulled out of his arms and moved toward the tiny table in the corner of the room. “Shall we eat, then?”

  They split up the sandwich, with Dustin getting the majority of it and Annie pulling out bits of meat from hers and giving it to Spidey. He was well trained enough that he wouldn’t touch it without looking at her first. She knew giving him scraps was destroying the training she’d carefully built up, but the movie was done and it didn’t really matter anymore, did it?

  The wine was delicious, and she took healthy sips of it while gazing at Dustin. He told her about his day, how he hoped the weather would hold b
ecause the last thing they needed was more rain and mud, and normally she’d be interested in it, because she liked to hear him talk about life on the ranch. Tonight, though, Annie kept thinking about his lips.

  She thought about kissing, and more. So much more. It occurred to her that she was more attracted to Dustin than she had been to anyone else in a long, long time. Cowboys hadn’t really been her thing before meeting him, and now that she had? Well, he was giving cowboys a good name, that was for sure. He breathed sexiness and charm, and she only had a day or two left here.

  It’d be a shame to go home and not hook up with him.

  Even as the thought crossed her mind, Annie was both shocked and excited by it. She wasn’t a virgin. She’d dated a few guys off and on, and one boyfriend back and forth for a few years before they’d finally called it off. She knew how sex worked, and while it wasn’t always great, it could be downright enjoyable even if she didn’t climax. She bet Dustin would make sure that she climaxed, though.

  The thought made her toes curl against the carpet again, and she drank more wine.

  He tilted his head at her. “You all right?”

  “More or less,” she admitted. “I’m just distracted tonight.”

  “Anything I can help with?” He set his wineglass down, and she noticed his gaze flicked to her loose breasts, prominent under the sweater. Desire shot through her again, and she wanted to forget all about work, or travel, or anything else. Tonight she just wanted Dustin.

  “Actually, yes,” she murmured, and got to her feet. He watched her with interest as she moved to his side and gently tugged the hat off his head, then tossed it onto the bed. His eyes gleamed and a smile curved his mouth as she stood over him. He was the perfect height to touch her breasts like this, with him seated in the chair and her standing, but all he did was put his hands on her waist and look up at her, waiting. Waiting to see what she wanted from him.

  Because even though Dustin was a flirt, he was also a gentleman. And she liked that, so so much.

  “I was wondering if you had condoms,” Annie told him, and she hated how shy she sounded. She wanted to be sexy and bold. She wanted him to think she was delicious and daring and exciting, not a shy miss afraid of her own body.

  He looked surprised.

  CHAPTER NINE

  When Dustin didn’t answer right away, she started to get nervous. “We don’t have to do anything—”

  “Now, I didn’t say that,” Dustin murmured, his hands sliding over her hips. He dropped his gaze this time, looking thoughtfully at her body. “I do have condoms. I just want to make sure we both want this. It’s a big step.”

  “I want this,” she told him. “I want you.”

  Dustin looked up at her face, studying her. “I want this, but only if when you leave, it isn’t goodbye.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I like you, Annie. I like you more than I’ve liked any woman, maybe ever. And I don’t want this to be casual between us. I know you have to leave, but I’m hoping we can keep making this work.” His thumb rubbed against her sweater, and she wanted to strip it off so he could touch her skin. “You deserve more than a casual fling.”

  “Then we won’t keep it casual,” Annie promised him, her heart beating faster. “We’ll figure this out, you and I.”

  He grinned at her, that lazy, pleased grin that made her entire body flutter with desire. Goodness, she had it bad for him. When his hands flexed on her waist, she wanted to shuck her pants like a wild woman and get naked just so he could touch her everywhere.

  Really, how on earth had they lasted a week with just kissing? Now that the boundaries had been removed, she was going crazy with the need to touch him. She moved in and cupped his neck and the back of his head, her fingers moving over the short stubble of his close-cropped dark hair. She bent down and kissed him, and despite the urgency burning inside her, the kiss was light and sweet and playful, and it made her ache with the potential of it. His tongue skated over the seam of her lips, encouraging her to open up to him, and she did, loving the possessive stroke of him as he claimed her mouth. She moaned.

  From the bed, a half grunt, half groan rose, and they broke apart. Annie looked over, and there was Spidey, his little white head cocked, as if he were trying to figure out what they were doing. He grunted again, the sound turning into a whine, and then offered his paw.

  “He doesn’t get a turn,” Dustin teased, his arm locked around her waist.

  She giggled at the ridiculousness of it. “He doesn’t understand what we’re doing. Let me go shut him in the bathroom with his blanket.” With one more quick kiss to her cowboy, she detangled herself from his grasp and picked up Spidey’s favorite chew toys and his blanket. “You ready to take a nap, boy?”

  Excited because he knew the goodies meant he got alone time, Spidey hopped off the bed and danced his way to the small bathroom, and Annie was glad she’d trained him to enjoy having his own “space.” Dogs liked to have a den of their own, and because it was a pain to drag his cage back and forth out of the bathroom, she’d learned early on that training the dog to sit quietly in the bathroom worked much the same. She gave him his chews, stroked his head and told him what a good boy he was, and then shut the door quietly behind her.

  Dustin was standing next to the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and looking so breathtaking it took the air out of her lungs. My goodness. Even the way he stood—the slight cock of his hips, the casual, wide-legged stance—was masculine and made her ovaries twitch. “He’s good now,” she murmured, unable to take her eyes off of him as she grabbed some sanitizer and cleaned her hands. And because she could feel the nervousness growing in her belly, she kept the topic safe. “How’s Moose doing?”

  “Followed me like a shadow for the first few days,” Dustin told her, pulling his shirt free from his jeans. She noticed he had a big shiny belt buckle with some weird logo on it, and she forgot to ask what the logo was because then he was half naked and she got a good look at his chest. It was like he was sculpted from stone, this gorgeous, delicious man. His shoulders were wide, brawny perfection, and he was tanned as far as the eye could see. There was a scattering of dark hair between perfect pectorals, and then a happy trail that disappeared into his jeans. She wanted to touch him and find out where that trail went.

  My goodness, she was distractible. Dustin was saying something, but she wasn’t paying much attention. Something about Moose. It was all white noise in her ears, though, because she was moving forward and touching him, her fingers skimming down that hard chest, from collarbone to pectorals to six-pack to rock-hard obliques that made her breathless.

  “You’re beautiful,” she told him, fascinated.

  “I guess we’re done talking about dogs.” Dustin sounded amused. His hand went to her waist and he hooked a finger in her belt loop and pulled her against him. “You’re rather easy to distract, sweetheart.”

  “It’s not my fault. You’re so . . . you.” Annie gestured at his chest. “I mean, just . . . wow.”

  He grinned. “You’re doing wonders for my already inflated ego.” He slid his other arm around her back, pulling her against him until her breasts brushed against his chest. “Now come here and kiss me.”

  With pleasure. Annie opened her mouth under his, loving the sweep of his tongue into her mouth. Kissing him was so good, so perfect. It was as distracting as his chest. Of course, now that he was shirtless, she got to feel all that hot skin under her hands, and the tips of her breasts were rubbing up against him as their mouths locked together, and she was getting all aroused just from the graze of them against his chest.

  A little moan escaped her and when Dustin pulled back, breaking the kiss, the playfulness was gone from his eyes. “I like you, Annie Grissom,” he murmured. “I think I like you far too much.”

  “No such thing,” she told him, and her
fingers went to that happy trail, stroking it until she got to the waist of his jeans. “No such thing at all.”

  “I’m taking this sweater off you now,” he rasped, the look in his eyes intense.

  Annie shivered, loving the way he gazed at her. Instead of answering, she just lifted her arms over her head and waited.

  He pulled it over her head in a flash, so quickly that her hair floated around her face in a staticky cloud. But then she was nothing but bare skin to her waist, too, and when he pulled her against him for another deep, soul-shattering kiss, she could feel his skin against hers and it changed everything. Dustin was warm and hard everywhere, and she wanted to rub all over him. Another little moan rose in her throat, and his hands moved over her back, stroking her.

  “Damn, but you’re pretty. Freckled everywhere, too.” He pressed hot kisses to her mouth, then moved to her jaw as she twined her arms around his neck. Her breasts teased against his chest again, the tips so hard and aching that she felt as if she’d shatter when he finally touched them.

  But then his mouth was on her neck, hot and urgent, and she’d forgotten all about how good necking could be. Annie gasped when his tongue slid along her throat, because she could feel it deep between her thighs, leaving her hot and aching there. “Dustin,” she whispered. “Please.”

  “I’m going to,” he murmured, his mouth moving to her collarbone. “I’m gonna please you everywhere, sweetheart. That I promise.”

  She clung to him, and when he pulled her toward the bed, she eagerly let him tug her along. She wanted more of this. She wanted more touching, more caresses, more exploring. She wanted to take her jeans off—and she wanted to see him without his. Good lord, she was practically panting at the thought of seeing him naked.

  With one last, sweeping kiss, Dustin laid her down on the bed on her back, and then rose up over her, just gazing down. He watched her for so long and without saying a thing that she had to fight not to squirm, worried he was going to find her lacking. She had enough up top, she’d always thought, though maybe a few more freckles than she wanted. But she wasn’t Hollywood pretty, and she knew Dustin had dated a lot of women. Maybe she didn’t measure up. Hesitant, she lifted a hand to cover her breasts.