One Good Cowboy

by Catherine Mann

  He’d hoped to use this time together to find peace for his grandmother—but also to find closure with Johanna. Okay, and also to have lots of sex with Johanna until they both were too exhausted to argue about the past. Then they could move on.

  Clearly, his plan wasn’t working out because he was falling into an old pattern of charging ahead and expecting her to follow. She didn’t trust him and if she didn’t trust him, there wasn’t a chance in hell they could sleep together again.

  He couldn’t change the past, and he’d accepted they couldn’t have a future together.

  Although he could damn well do something about the present. For starters, he could share the details about their travel plans. But he would have to dig a lot deeper than that to fully regain her trust.

  He sat beside her on the fat sectional sofa, trying to start right now, by including her in the plan for the week. “We’ll be visiting the Landis-Renshaw family in Hilton Head. They’ve vacationed at the ranch before. As a matter of fact, they rented the whole place once for a family reunion.”

  “That would be quite a who’s who of family reunions.”

  And he hadn’t even told her their third stop would be to meet with a deposed European king.

  * * *

  Johanna welcomed the bustle of their travel day to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Stone had arranged for accommodations in a pet-friendly beach cottage with plenty of space for the dogs to run. They would meet with the Landis-Renshaw family in the morning.

  Other cottages dotted the shoreline, but with an exclusivity that brought privacy. One other couple and a small family played in the surf, but otherwise she and Stone were on their own. She’d sensed a change in him earlier as he’d shared his plans for the South Carolina portion of their trip. He was genuinely attempting to include her, rather than simply taking charge.

  So far, the truce they’d declared had held, due in large part to how he’d included her. That helped her relax, taking away a layer of tension she hadn’t even realized existed. She’d been worrying about the unknown.

  She sat cross-legged on the wooden deck, a dozen steps away from him. The dogs curled up around her and she checked over each of them, making sure they hadn’t picked up ticks in Vermont or sand spurs from their run along the beach earlier. She finished with Pearl, the search more extensive given the cairn terrier’s longer fur.

  Stone walked out of the surf like Poseidon emerging from the depths of the ocean. Big. Powerful. The hazy glow of the ending day cast him in shadows, his dark hair even blacker slicked with water. She’d always known Stone the cowboy entranced her more than Stone the CEO.

  But Stone nearly naked absolutely melted her.

  She forced her attention back to Pearl to keep from drooling over Stone in swim trunks. Her skin prickled with awareness as he opened the porch gate and walked past her. She heard the rattle of ice as he poured a glass of sweet tea before he dropped into one of the Adirondack loungers.

  “How was the water?” She released Pearl to play with the other two dogs on the fenced deck.

  “Good, good.” He set his glass aside. “Everything okay with the dogs?”

  They sounded like any other couple catching up at the end of the day, except there was this aching tension between them. “They all checked out fine. Just a couple of sandspurs on Pearl. I trimmed their nails, and I’ll want to bathe them all after they run on the beach again. Otherwise, they’re all set to meet their new families.”

  He swung his feet around, elbows on his knees. “You’re a nurturer. It’s in your blood.”

  Her hands clenched into fists to resist the urge to sweep sand from the hair on his legs. “Are you trying to needle me with the nurturer comment?”

  “I’m just stating a fact. You’ll make a great mother someday.”

  The humid night air grew thicker, her chest constricting. “You’re good with children. The natural way you held little T.J....I just don’t understand you.”

  “I’m good with horses, too. That doesn’t mean I’m supposed to be a jockey,” he said wryly.

  “I wasn’t insinuating you should be a father. You’ve been honest about your feelings on that subject. It just took me a while to stop thinking I could change your mind.” Hugging her knees, she studied him in the fading light.

  “I’ve always tried to be careful that women didn’t get the wrong idea about me and wedding bells...until you.”

  That should have meant something, but it only served to increase the ache. “You’re a playboy married to your work.” She exhaled hard. “I get that. Totally.”

  Stone went quiet again for so long she thought they might be returning to the silent truce again. Awkward and painful.

  Then Stone stood, walking to the rail and staring out at the ocean. “My father.”

  Rising, she moved to stand beside him, wind pulling at the whispery cover-up over her bikini. “What do you mean?”

  His father had been an off-limits topic for as long as she’d known him. Not even Mariah brought up the subject. Stone had always said that according to his mom, his paternity was a mystery. Was he opening up to her on a deeper level, including her in more than a few travel plans?

  “I found out.” His voice came out hoarse and a little harsh as he continued to look out at the foaming waves.

  She rested a hand on his arm tentatively, not sure how he would react but unable to deny him some comfort during what had to be a difficult revelation. “I wish you would have told me.”

  “I’ve never told anyone.”

  “I was supposed to be more than just ‘anyone’ to you,” she reminded him softly.

  He glanced sideways at her. “Touché.”

  “Did you hire a private investigator?”

  “Don’t you think my grandmother already tried that hoping to find someone who actually wanted me around?”

  His words snapped her upright in shock. “Your grandmother loves you.”

  “I know that. I do,” he said with certainty. “But she’d already brought up her kids. She was supposed to be my grandmother. Not my parent.”

  “Did she tell you that?” She knew full well Mariah never would have said anything of the sort to Stone. Johanna just wanted to remind him of how very much his grandmother loved him.

  “She didn’t have to say it.” He went silent for the length of two rolling waves crashing to the shore. “When I was eleven, I found the private detective’s report of her search for my biological father.”

  “Of course she would want to know everything about you. Perhaps she was worried that he might try to take you away. Did you ever consider that?” When he didn’t answer, she continued, “You said she didn’t find him. So how did you locate him?”

  “The report uncovered a wealth of data about my mother’s activities then.” His face went darker. “Suffice it to say, my mother led quite an active party life.”

  “That reflects on her.” She squeezed his arm. “Not on you.”

  “I understand that.” He braced his shoulders, his eyes cold with an anger Johanna knew wasn’t directed at her. “I’m not a drug addict like my mother. And while I’m not a monk, I’m monogamous during a relationship. I am my own man. I control myself and my destiny.”

  She rubbed soothing circles along his arm. Even if this conversation wouldn’t change things between them, she knew he needed to get these words out and for some reason she was the person he trusted most to tell.

  She drew in a bracing breath of salty air before continuing, “How did you find out about your father?”

  “My mother told me.”

  “That simple?”

  “Apparently so. She was high at the time and to this day doesn’t remember telling me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was twenty-five when she let it slip about the man who fathered me�
��Dale Banks.”

  Johanna gasped in recognition. “The Dale Banks? The country music star?”

  “My mom was a groupie back in the day.” He shrugged. “She hooked up with him and here I am.”

  She studied his features with a new perspective. Wind whipped her hair over her face, and she scraped the locks aside. “You do look a little like him. I never noticed until now....”

  “I needed more reassurance than a look-alike contest. So I confronted him.”

  “How did you get past his security guards?”

  “I have influence of my own.” He smiled darkly. “Remember the benefit concert we sponsored a few years back?”

  She did the quick math and realized Stone would have been in his mid-twenties then. She couldn’t imagine how difficult that meeting must have been. “You arranged that to speak with him?”

  “I’m not above using philanthropy for my own good, as well.”

  “You don’t need to be sarcastic to cover your emotions.” She slid her hand to his back and tucked her body to his side as if it was the most natural thing in the world to share his burdens. And it was. She drew in the heat and salty scent of him, her senses starved after months without him. “That had to have been difficult for you, confronting him.”

  “I didn’t. I got a DNA sample during dinner.”

  “What?” She looked up sharply, unable to believe she’d heard him correctly. “You tricked him?”

  “Easier than forcing the matter with a conversation where he denied it and I had to prove him a liar.”

  He didn’t fool her for a second with this blasé act.

  “What did he say when you finally told him?”

  “He doesn’t know. Why should he? He slept with a woman he didn’t know and didn’t care enough to follow up.”

  “Stone!” She cupped his face and made him look at her. “Maybe he’s changed. Perhaps he has regrets and would like to know you now.”

  “I don’t need him in my life,” he said in a cold tone that left no room for negotiation.

  “Maybe he needs you,” she suggested. “People are so much more important than money or fame.”

  “That’s right. You grew up poor but loved,” he said sarcastically.

  Again, he didn’t fool her. She patted his cheek just a touch harder than a love tap. “Don’t be a jerk.”

  “Maybe I’m letting my real side show.” He turned his face to kiss her palm, then nipped it gently.

  She wouldn’t let him divert her with sex. She slipped her hand back down to his shoulder. “How did we spend so much time together and never talk about these things?”

  “You were right in saying I was holding back.”

  She couldn’t believe he’d admitted it. “Why are you telling me now? And please be truthful.”

  “I’m not really sure.” He snagged a strand of her hair and stroked the length with gentle pressure. “Maybe because there’s nothing left to lose between us. You’ve already ditched me. Why bother working my ass off to impress you?”

  “You were working to impress me?” She couldn’t resist smiling.

  “Clearly, I failed.” He looped the lock around his finger until he cupped the back of her head.

  “Not totally.” She stepped closer, unable to resist the sizzle, especially not combined with the vulnerability he’d shown in sharing what he’d found out about his father. “I did agree to marry you.”

  She arched up on her toes and kissed him. How could she not? Her body ached to be with him. They were two consenting adults, alone together, attached to no one else and both so very aware of the price of being together.

  His arms banded around her, thick, muscled arms that held her with such gentle power she leaned closer until her breasts pressed to the hard bare wall of his chest. His mouth tasted of the salty ocean and sweet tea, a heady combination for a woman already teetering on the edge of losing control.

  She sketched along the hard planes of his back, still damp from his swim and perspiration. So many nights she’d lain awake yearning to be with him again and now those restless fantasies were coming to life. Being away from home gave her the freedom to act on those impulses.

  Stone caressed down her back to her hips, molding her closer to him, his arousal pressing against her stomach.

  “Johanna,” he groaned against her mouth. “You’re killing me here. If you want to stop, we need to put the brakes on this now. It’s up to you what happens next. How are we going to handle this attraction that’s tearing us both apart?”

  She dipped her hands into his swim trunks. “We’re going to sleep together again. Tonight.”

  Seven

  Finally, he had Johanna back in his arms again, even if just for a night. Only a fool would pass up this chance, and he was not a fool.

  Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her, fully, tongues meeting and inhibitions gone. A perfect fit, just like before. Familiar and new all at once—their time apart added an edge to the need.

  He backed her into the cottage, their bare legs tangling as they walked, notching his desire higher and higher with each provocative brush of skin against skin. Her fingers linked behind his neck as she writhed against him in a lithe dance of desire denied for far too long.

  Impatiently, he pushed open the door with such urgency it slammed against the wall. His hands slid low, cupping her bottom and lifting her over the threshold. Once inside the cottage, he set her down, the bamboo floor cool under his feet in contrast to the heat searing through him.

  Their bathing suits offered thin barriers between them, but too much right now. He bunched her whispery cover up in his hands and swept it over her head. He’d seen her in her bikini earlier—had seen her in far less—but she still took his breath away. Her simple black two-piece called to his hands, triangles begging to be peeled away.

  She smiled with a siren’s gleam in her eyes. “This is usually the point where you drop your Stetson on my head.”

  “I left it on my suitcase. Not too many cowboy hats on the beach while a guy’s riding a wave.”

  “That’s a damn shame.” She traced the rope tattoo around his biceps, which ended in a lasso loop.

  He and his cousins had gotten tattoos together when the twins had turned eighteen. He’d been twenty-one. Johanna had wanted to go with them. He’d forgotten that until just now. She’d wanted to get paw print tattoos on her ankle, but he’d known her parents wouldn’t approve.

  Tracing the length of her collarbone, he lifted the diamond horseshoe necklace she wore all the time now. “I would drape you in gems, design entire lines of jewelry dedicated to your beauty.”

  “Who knew you were poetic?”

  “You inspire me.”

  She stroked up his arms. “I’m just as happy with wildflowers and bluebonnets. That day we made love in the open and you covered me in petals is one of my all-time favorite memories.”

  “Another reason you’re special. I never have to wonder with you. I know you’re here—or not here—based on me. It has nothing to do with my family or our money.” He plucked the strings behind her neck. The top fell away, revealing her breasts, pert and a perfect fit in his palms.

  “You’re a savvy man,” she gasped, her nipples beading against his hands, either from his touch or the cool swoosh of the air conditioner. “I imagine you see through the sycophants right away.”

  “That discernment came from practice.” He thumbed along her taut peaks, teasing them tighter until she swayed ever so slightly.

  She covered his hands with hers. “You shouldn’t have to wonder about people that way. Thinking of you wondering, learning from practice—that makes me so sad.”

  “I definitely don’t want you sad right now—or ever.” He hooked his thumbs in the strings along her hips and snapped them bef
ore the thought formed in his mind.

  Her swimsuit bottom fell away.

  She kicked aside the scrap of fabric. “If I were the sort of woman who wanted to be draped only in jewels, what would you design for me?”

  “Ah, now you’re talking.” He let his imagination take flight. “I’ve always liked yellow diamonds for you. I can see long earrings that trail in a sleek, thin cascade to your shoulders.” He skimmed each spot with a kiss. “Each piece would echo the golden lines of your beautiful body. And a long, gold rope chain with a pendant that trails right...here...between...”

  His mouth landed along the inside of one curve, then the other. Her breath hitched, her fingers twisting in the band of his swim trunks. Tugging at the elastic, she peeled the damp suit down and off into a pile around his feet.

  He stepped out and then swept her up against his chest. “And since the jewelry would be for our eyes only, I dream of you in more erotic designs, as well.”

  “Oh, really?” She looped her arms around his neck. “I can’t decide whether to be nervous or intrigued.”

  One step at a time, he carried her closer to the white iron bed with a view of the water. “A thicker rope chain would circle low on your waist, resting on your hips.”

  “Ah, like a lasso.” She thumbed his tattoo. “That works both ways, you know. I could pull you to me, especially perfect if you wore chaps and nothing more.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Not very businesslike.”

  “We’re not in the boardroom.”

  “True.” He tossed her onto the mattress.

  She landed with an enticing bounce that made all the right parts jiggle just a hint. She stretched out along the puffy quilt, her creamy shoulders propped up by a pile of seashell-patterned pillows.

  Part of him wanted to take in the sight of her for hours on end, and another more urgent part of him couldn’t delay any longer. He kneeled on the edge of the bed and crawled up over her, tasting his way up her bared flesh, along her stomach, teasing the diamond belly button ring with his teeth. Higher still, he took her breast in his mouth, rolling the nipple with his tongue until her needy sighs begged him for more, faster, sooner.