by Tina Leonard
“I thought about it,” Navarro muttered, “I just don’t know which cards would win that woman.”
“And then there’s the trust factor,” Crockett called up the stairs. “I don’t think either of you really trusts the other. Impossible situation, that.”
Navarro groaned. “And then there are days when leaving the ranch behind has some serious appeal.”
BY NIGHTFALL Nina worried that her sister was putting on a brave face. Last had showed up on the porch, hat in hand, head newly shaved, and asked Valentine out to walk with him.
She did, much to Nina’s chagrin. Craning her head out of Navarro’s bedroom window, she watched the two people who barely knew each other walk up the road. They weren’t walking close to each other, but they weren’t walking far apart, either. Just enough distance for comfort between them.
“Could be a turn for the better,” Nina sighed. She snuggled up in the wing-backed chair and thought about not ever seeing this room again after she won her bed back tomorrow. She’d moved her flight and packed her bags.
A knock sounded on the front door. Nina went downstairs, surprised to see a horseless Navarro on the porch. “Hi.”
He nodded. “Can I come in?”
She stepped back so he could enter.
“Crockett says we don’t trust each other.”
“He’s probably right.” Nina nodded. “But that’s not altogether a bad thing. Is it? We don’t know each other all that well.”
“I feel like I know you better than any woman I’ve ever met.” Navarro tossed his hat onto a chair. “I like you, Nina.”
Her eyes widened. “I like you, too. It surprises me, but it’s true.”
“If all things were equal—if you lived here and I wasn’t Last’s brother—do you think we’d be more than friends?”
His serious expression stunned her. Nina turned away from him, thinking. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “We’re very different. I’m used to being on my own. I like my life the way it is. Being more than friends with you would require lots of change on my part.”
“And mine.” He turned her toward him. “I’d have to learn not to be so stubborn. You require finesse, and autocratic just doesn’t cut it.”
“You’re right.”
“Then again, there are parts of me I just can’t help, and one of them is wanting to say goodbye this way.” He kissed her hard, passionately, and Nina felt her knees buckle.
When he pulled away, she was clutching his arms. “Do that again,” she said. He did, and in that moment Nina realized she could kiss him all night. Maybe for two nights. “Oh, no,” she murmured. “I could do this forever.”
“Don’t leave,” he said, sweeping her into his arms. “Stay here and get to know me better.”
“Maybe I will,” she said, knowing she couldn’t but wishing she could. “Where are you taking me?” she asked as he carried her up the stairs.
“I’m going to conduct an experiment,” he said. “Skank versus Uptight Librarian.”
“How will you read the results? There’s no control group to test against.”
He set her on his bed. “I won’t need it. I’ll know everything I need to know in an hour or two.”
“Mmm. Fast experiment.”
He kissed every fingertip on her hand. “Not really. Now see, I figure if you were a skank your fantasy would involve some studded leather. But you’re soft,” he said, kissing her neck as he lay her back against the pillows. Her blood raced as he kissed along her collarbone. “And you’re sweet here,” he said, caressing her knees where the T-shirt and robe ended. “You don’t feel like a skank.”
She smiled. “You’re driving me insane. I can’t play word games and focus on what you’re doing to me.”
Stroking her hair away from her face, he said, “You may be the sweetest woman I ever met.”
“Well, then this must be my librarian-gone-wild fantasy,” Nina whispered. “I’m going to try to be brave here, so don’t laugh, because this is all new for me.” She took a deep breath. “Navarro, would you like to satisfy your curiosity about my panties?”
He looked as though he’d been granted a wish. Slowly, never taking his eyes off hers, he pushed her gown and robe up. Nina could feel the breeze across her thighs from the open window, and Navarro’s rough fingertips trembled against her skin.
“Dare I look?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Do you?”
His gaze slowly broke from hers to travel the length of her body. “Black,” he said with some surprise. “Black lace. I would never have guessed.”
She laughed. “Librarians and basic black? Wouldn’t that be a no-brainer? So serviceable, so—”
“Nina, be quiet,” Navarro said, reaching to kiss her hard again. “You drive me mad every time you sass me with those plump lips. I told you, it’s foreplay for me, all this ladylike defiance, and now I’ve seen your panties, and I don’t think I’ll ever be a sane man again.”
She tugged him out of his shirt. “I’m willing to be beyond reason for a night.”
“Tell me you want this. Tell me I’m not seducing you against your will,” Navarro said, removing her robe with great speed. “Breasts like those should be reserved for kings,” he said, touching them reverently so that Nina thought she was going to scream if he didn’t stop respecting her so much.
“Navarro, this is not against my will. In fact, if you don’t get a move on with the cowboy fantasy you’ve been bragging about, I may have to exit your bed.”
“No. No, you’re not.” He threw his jeans and boots on the floor and crawled in beside her on the bed. “Thank heaven this is my bed, because I want to remember you like this for always. Also, as that is my nightstand, I have condoms in the drawer.”
Nina narrowed her eyes at him as he stroked her waist, then her hips and swirled his tongue in her belly button. She nearly cried out from the pleasure of him kissing her hipbones. “Tell me those condoms are not your everyday stash.”
He looked up at her. “Au contraire. We get them in our stockings every year at Christmas, courtesy of Last. The little creep.”
Nina gasped, “Thank God,” as his tongue somehow found a magical place. She arched when he went deeper. “Navarro,” she said, pulling him to her. “Kiss me.”
He drained her with a searing kiss that left her breathless, and then he put her hand on the part of his body she’d never touched on a man before. “It doesn’t feel like it looks in books,” she said wonderingly. “It’s so much cooler.”
“Cooler?” He grinned down at her, his black hair flopping over one eye.
“Yes,” Nina said on a moan. “Hard, but soft. Strong, yet—”
“You keep stroking me like that and we’re not going to get several hours of pleasure,” he said on a growl. His teeth nipped her earlobe, then he kissed her ear.
Nina closed her eyes, then opened them to see Navarro staring down at her. “What is it?” she whispered.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I know many men have probably told you that, but your every feature drives me mad. I have a constant erection around you.”
“I never noticed,” Nina said with wonder.
“You never looked.” He kissed her again, hard.
“Well, I’ll be looking from now on, you can be sure.”
Lightly he tweaked a nipple and Nina gasped with pleasure. “Is it always this much fun?” she asked.
“No, it’s always this much fun,” he said, sliding into her.
Nina cried out at the pain, but Navarro caught her lips with his, kissing her gently as he moved slowly inside her. She held his arms tightly, waiting for the pain to subside, and when it did Nina was amazed by the wonder of the two of them joined as if they were meant to be this way forever. “I love this,” she told him. “I love you being inside me.”
He stroked her breasts and then between her legs, making her clench tightly around him. Groaning, he said, “Tell me again.”
“I love
you being inside me.”
He stared down into her eyes, holding himself still as he looked deep into her soul. “You certainly talk dirty for a librarian, and I must say it’s refreshing.”
She giggled, then her breath caught as he began moving quickly inside her. Passion carried her to a place she couldn’t identify. “Stop,” she said. “I’ve got the strangest urge to laugh.”
“Go ahead,” he told her, plunging deeper. “Laugh all you want. Because I’m going to make sure you do things you never thought you could do.”
Comforted by his words, Nina closed her eyes and smiled, but it wasn’t laughter that was claiming her; it was spasms of bliss that made her scream with intense pleasure, over and over again. “Oh, my God!” she cried against his shoulder. “Oh, Navarro!”
But he didn’t answer this time, his body tensed against hers, every muscle clenched. “You feel wonderful,” she told him, raising her legs and circling his waist to pull him against her tighter. He cried out suddenly and Nina held him tight, loving the cowboy he was. Navarro, she repeated in her mind, it was always meant to be Navarro.
WHEN NINA AWAKENED the next morning, Navarro was gone. A rose and a note lay on the pillow next to hers.
Gone to win back your bed. You’re beautiful, and you deserve a man who can give you everything you dream of.
Navarro
Chapter Nine
“Rats!” Nina jumped from her bed. Heroes could be annoying, she decided as she tore through a fast shower. “Love me, leave me, try to impress me by getting gored.”
Valentine knocked on the door. “Nina!” she called. “It’s time to go!”
“I know. I know!” She hopped into a pair of jeans, debated over which of Navarro’s boots to pick out of his closet, finally choosing the dirtiest pair and stuffing two pairs of socks on her feet plus padding in the toe to make them fit. “Come see the cowboy me!”
Valentine walked in, her eyes widening. “What happened to your hair?”
“It’s under this hat.” Nina pushed down on the handkerchief she’d wrapped around her head and then double-knotted to keep Navarro’s hat on. “He’s got a big head, you know. This is harder than I thought it would be. Fortunately, I bought a pair of Wranglers when I hatched this scheme. They are the only things that fit. I had to cut off the shirttail so I wouldn’t have ten thousand folds of material in my jeans.”
“And still you look like a rather undernourished cowboy,” Valentine said. “Although I must say I’m impressed at how you’re hiding your breasts.”
“Now that took a bit more work. The poncho was a stroke of genius. Mimi let me borrow hers. Strangely enough, she was all over the scheme and promised not to tell.”
“You need a mustache to toughen up your image,” Valentine said. “Or a scar.”
“Fresh out of the first, and not going to get the second.” She turned around. “Do I pass?”
“You certainly don’t look like my sister. I’m not even sure you look reputable.”
“I know,” Nina said impatiently, “but am I manly?”
Valentine blinked. “Was Navarro here last night?”
Nina hesitated. “Why do you ask?”
“Because there’s a rose and a note on your pillow.”
“Ah.” Nina tightened the leather belt with the big shiny buckle around her waist. “Thank goodness I’m no skinny Minnie or this job wouldn’t work. Yes, he was here. And then he was gone. Which really annoyed me, because my vision of romance included waking up with the man of my dreams. That part was a fairy tale,” she said decisively.
“Nina, are you saying you…made love with Navarro?”
Nina turned to face her sister. “Not in so many words, but if you must know, yes.”
“Why?”
Nina blinked. “What do you mean, why?”
Valentine looked uncomfortable. “Nothing good can come of it, you know.”
“So nothing was resolved between you and Last? Is that the conclusion I can draw?”
Her sister shook her head. “It has nothing to do with us. We’ve decided to proceed as separate parties, both interested parties in the well-being of the child.”
“That sounds like paperwork,” Nina said.
“There’ll be some,” Valentine admitted. “Mimi’s husband will draw up the papers.”
“And where do I fit into this?”
“You’re the beloved aunt, of course.” Valentine touched her sister’s arm. “Nina, this baby is going to be fine without you worrying about her. And so am I. Though we love you very much, you’re not responsible for us.”
Nina blinked back swift tears. “All right.”
“What Last and I decided doesn’t affect you,” Valentine said. “Did you fall in love with Navarro?”
Nina stopped worrying the bandana she was tying around her neck to further disguise any cleavage the poncho might not cover. “All these colors surely confuse the eye.”
“Nina.” Valentine turned her around. “Are you in love with him?”
“I wasn’t looking for love. We just had a mutual fantasy.” Nina turned away, not wanting to admit that her heart was far more involved than she was telling.
“It’ll be my fault if you’ve given up your most important treasure,” Valentine said sadly. “I brought you here. I could see you were falling for him. I should have insisted you go away, but selfishly I wanted you with me. Nina,” she said, her voice cracking. “It’s not the bed that is our biggest treasure, it’s our self-respect.”
“It’s all right, Valentine. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do. I wasn’t out of my head, and I wasn’t seduced. I wanted to be with him, and believe me, it was everything I thought it would be.”
“Will you marry him?”
“I don’t see that happening.” Nina flipped the top of her jeans inside her boots. “We’re far too different.”
Valentine nodded. “I know.”
Nina sighed. “Will you stop worrying? Truly, it was the most wonderful experience of my life, besides Mom bringing you home from the hospital. Calm down. It’s not like Navarro tore a hole in my soul. Now, let’s go before I miss my greatest moment.”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Valentine stared at her. “You can’t compete against Navarro. If he finds out you did this, especially after last night, I don’t think he’s going to be too happy.”
“I can’t think about that. I have to think about getting back what’s ours. And if this is how I have to do it, then so be it.”
“Was it…everything you hoped your first time would be?”
Nina looked at her sister. “It was that and more. He made me feel like a woman, as corny as that song is.”
“But you’re dressed like a man! Nina, this is crazy! What will you do if he finds out you’re next to him on that bed?”
“He won’t,” Nina said defiantly. “I’m totally disguised.”
“You’re wearing his boots and hat.”
“Yes, but if you notice, they’re just the same as every other ones you see on the street. Plus these are very dusty, so you know he’s probably forgotten he has them. And since when do guys notice details, anyway? Especially with a heavy-tonnage animal dashing at them?”
“Nina, if you get hurt, I’ll flip out,” Valentine warned. “This is my fault from start to finish. It’s all going so very wrong. If the two of you had met under different circumstances, without me in the middle causing problems, you might have had a smooth courtship that transitioned into love. As it is, it’s too crazy. And I can’t bear you getting hurt—either by the bull or Navarro.”
“Look.” Nina took a deep breath. “Remember when you told me to butt out of your life?”
Valentine nodded.
“Well, now I’m asking you to do the same. I don’t need him to fight my battles for me, and I don’t want you worrying so much.” She lightly touched her sister’s cheek. “It’s not good for the baby. She’ll grow up to be a worrywart. Very ugly, that.”
>
“Someone’s got to do the worrying. You’ve certainly turned reckless since you’ve been here. I’ll get the keys to Navarro’s truck,” she said with a sigh. “Jefferson must be to blame for all the brave antics going on around here.”
Nina hurried out front, halting when she saw Navarro.
“Hello, Miss Nina,” he said.
“Oh, Crockett.” Nina put a hand over her chest. “You scared me. I thought you were Navarro—wait a minute. What do you mean, Miss Nina? How’d you guess?”
Crockett grinned. “Navarro asked me to keep an eye on his lil’ peach. Said you had a penchant for getting into trouble and that he’d found a neat pile of his old clothes stacked in his closet, looking like they were about to go somewhere. Also, when he called Marvella to kiss and make up so he could enter the contest, he asked who he’d be competing against. Marvella said she had an entry form from a cowboy name by the name of H. A. Rey of whom she’d never heard. Marvella makes it her business to know about cowboys.
“Now, Miss Nina, you don’t think Navarro wouldn’t guess what you were up to with that name?” Crockett winked at her. “Well, it was almost a sexual bread crumb, Navarro said, dropped to further entice him. You know how he loves a challenge. He said he was touched you used the name of the author of the Curious George books, almost as if you were daring him to guess your secret.” Crockett grinned. “I’ve never heard of a sexual bread crumb before, but my twin’s a bit odd that way.”
Nina let out an exasperated breath. “Crockett, you’ve got to let me compete. It’s my bed!”
“Now, no can do. My brother would beat my head in,” Crockett said easily, tipping his hat at Valentine. “And it’s such a pretty head, I just can’t allow that to happen.”
“So he set a guard on me,” Nina said between clenched teeth.
“Not a guard, Miss Nina. First, he said he removed the truck keys to stymie you. But then he said such a smart card-catalogette with a wily feminine side such as you couldn’t be underestimated. There will be no pulling info off the Internet about hot-wiring a truck.” Crockett grinned approvingly. “That one I wouldn’t have thought of. So he considered pulling out the computer card, but in the interest of fair play and laziness, he just invited me over to visit with you ladies today.”