So what would he do to get her to stay?
What would it take for him to follow her?
He’d never considered that option. Could he seriously pull up stakes and leave his family and everything he’d ever known? Just to be with a woman?
Yes. If that woman was Georgia.
Whoa there. Before he started packing his shit and looking for cowhand jobs in Texas, he’d better find out if that was something Georgia wanted.
Tell fought a massive wave of anxiety as he knocked.
The door swung open and Georgia froze.
His heart began that slow, sad tumble to his feet until Georgia threw herself into his arms and squeezed him so tightly his heart stopped beating entirely. “Cowboy hottie, I am so happy to see you. If you wouldn’t have come to me today, I was gonna drive out to your place.”
“That right?”
“Yes.” Georgia tugged him into the living room and shoved him on the couch. “I didn’t call you because I had some important things to deal with first, not because I was waiting to hear from you first. We’re beyond that behavior, aren’t we?” She perched on the edge of the coffee table, facing him.
“I hope so. What’s goin’ on?”
“I know we need to talk about a lot of stuff. But before we get all this out in the open, I have to ask you one thing.” Her eyes searched his. “Did you mean it when you told Deck that you wanted me for keeps?”
With all my heart. With everything I am. “Yep.”
“You sure? This thing with us was supposed to be a fun diversion with some smokin’ hot sex thrown in and it turned into so much more than that. I don’t think either of us was prepared for how fast everything changed. Although it’s pretty obvious it never was casual. It’s always been something special between us. Something I’ve never felt.”
Georgia was babbling? He put his hands on her cheeks. “Sweetness. Calm down. And if you’re sayin’ what I think you’re sayin’, well, I need to hear every word. Loud and clear.”
She blurted out, “I love you.”
There was that falling sensation again. “Run that by me one more time.”
“I love you. I love you so much it scares me.”
“Why does it scare you?”
“After RJ died, I closed myself off from all relationships. I couldn’t lose anyone else I cared about if I didn’t bother to care about anyone—a friend or a lover.
“I’ve needed to deal with this for a long time. It’s not surprising it came full circle in Sundance. When I was forced to take this job, I swore I’d come back here, exorcise my demons and move on. Then I got involved with you. You changed everything. You challenged me. You accepted me. You freed me.”
He had to breathe slowly, steadily, because the roaring in his ears threatened to drown out the sound of her words.
“I only just realized I’m tired of blaming everything that’s wrong with my life on someone else. On my early, crappy marriage to Deck. On RJ dying. On my parents splitting up. On the way my dad grieved. On my job. Over the last day, it’s become obvious I need to take responsibility for myself and my own happiness and live my life on my terms.
“The God’s honest truth is you make me happy. Happier than I’ve ever been in my life. And isn’t that feeling worth something when making a life-changing decision? Shouldn’t that feeling of happiness determine everything? Yes. So I quit my job yesterday.”
His voice was barely above a whisper when he asked, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Yes. So my decision to give up my life in Dallas to be with you here in Sundance is not politically correct. I’m supposed to believe I don’t need a man to make me happy. But you know what? That’s crap. That’s me listening to other people’s opinions instead of listening to my heart. My heart is telling me to stay here with you, Tell McKay. My heart loves you. I love you. I love everything about you.
“I can’t imagine anything better than waking up with you every morning. I love how much you make me laugh. I love how you’ve taught me how to have fun. I love how you’ve shown me what a sense of community means. What friendships mean. I love how you understand family issues and don’t believe everything has to have a quick fix. I hate that we’ve both dealt with sadness and loss, but I love I have you to talk to about it. You accept it all. Every part of me.”
If Tell’s mouth weren’t so damn dry and his heart weren’t beating a million miles an hour, he might have thought he was actually dreaming.
“I’ve had so many choices made for me throughout my life. This time I’m taking a stand and making my own choice. This time I’m choosing you.”
As calm as he appeared on the outside, on the inside his inner teenage boy was yelling, In your face, suckas, this girl is mine!
She blushed and fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “So, ah, please don’t tell me you were coming here to break up with me or something.”
He laughed. He laughed until he cried. Or maybe he was crying because this woman had just made him the happiest man alive. He brought her close enough to stare into her eyes and feel her stuttered breath on his lips. “I’m not breaking up with you, but you should understand that I’m not good at this because I’ve never said it before.”
“Tell, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. I love you, Georgia. I’ve come to some of those same realizations too. I wanna be with you so much that I was ready to move to Dallas if that’s what it’d take for us to be together.”
“You’d do that?”
“In a fuckin’ heartbeat. I want a lifetime with you. Marriage, babies, havin’ our family and friends over for dinner, goin’ out on the town, planting a garden and sinking our roots in deep. I’ve seen my cousins so happy, and they’ve each built their own family. I’ve wanted that for myself, but I didn’t think it was possible until you. You make me feel so much. Make me feel things I’ve never felt before. And yes, it’s scary as hell for me too.”
They stared at each other.
She grinned and said, “Wow. That’s some grown-up stuff.”
“Yeah. Mushy stuff too.” He kissed her fingertips. “I love everything about you. I love that you get everything about me, and apparently you still love me anyway.”
She laughed softly.
“You make me happy, Georgia. And I will spend the rest of my life makin’ sure you don’t regret choosing me.”
“I already don’t have any regrets.” She kissed him with passion, heart and fire; he sucked it down like a narcotic. Drugged on the taste of her, the feel of her, this woman who loved him.
He broke the kiss to murmur, “And don’t take this wrong, but you don’t hafta get a job right away if you don’t want to. I’ll support you.”
“See how sweet you are?” She nipped his chin. “Thank you. I appreciate it, but I’ve got a few offers.”
“Already?”
“Leah and Roxanne have offered me a job at the beauty shop. Stephanie said she’d hire me to organize her filing system. Domini mentioned they’re always shorthanded at Dewey’s, so I could probably wait tables. At the fundraiser, the cheerleading coach said there was an assistant cheer coach’s job for me at the school if I wanted it. And the Sundance Chamber of Commerce might be looking for a part-time PR person. So I’ve got options. The job doesn’t matter as long as I get to come home to you every night.”
“Well, now that you mention it, I was sorta kicking around the idea of takin’ on a roommate.”
“That right?”
“Uh-huh. But it’s gotta be someone special. A woman who doesn’t care that I’m gonna be a rancher the rest of my life. A woman who is okay with me judging the occasional rodeo. A woman who knows I can’t cook. A woman who understands that once she moves in, she ain’t ever movin’ out. A woman who knows that I’ll love her and cherish her and protect her every day of her life. That this is for keeps.”
Georgia’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m so ready to sign on the dotted line for that.”
She laughed. “God. I love you, Tell McKay. My very own cowboy hottie. I will take you up on your roommate offer, if it includes trampoline and zip-line privileges.”
“Absolutely.”
“I have to go to Dallas and load up my stuff and cancel the lease on my condo, but that should only take a couple of days.”
“I’m goin’ with you.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“I sure as hell ain’t gonna let you drive across the damn country by yourself dragging a U-Haul. You’ll need help loading your stuff. And I wanna see where you lived and worked because that’s part of who you are.”
“Who I was,” she corrected. “You also want my colleagues and former boss to know exactly who I’m leaving Dallas for.”
He grinned. “That too. You’re mine now, hot lips, and I’m gonna take great pride in letting everyone know it. Especially letting you know it.” He brushed his lips over hers softly. “Despite you actin’ so tough, I suspect you’ll shed a few tears, sayin’ goodbye to that life, and you’ll need me around for comic relief on the long drive back home.”
“I need you for a lot more than comic relief.”
“That’s good to know. I love you. You’re gonna get mighty sick of hearing me say that.”
“Never.”
“And I’m pretty sure I can find a whole bunch of fun things to do between here and Dallas. Amusement parks and the like.”
“Oh hell no. You’re never getting me on a roller coaster, McKay.”
Tell just grinned and kissed her, knowing how sweet it would be when they teetered on the edge of the first drop, seeing the loops and turns ahead, and then experienced that sudden fall. She’d be screaming her head off, hanging on for dear life, but having the time of her life because she was with him.
About the Author
To learn more about Lorelei James, read her Author Notes on this and other titles, and see a McKay family tree, please visit www.loreleijames.com. Send an email to [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Lorelei:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoreleiJamesGang
Look for these titles by Lorelei James
Now Available:
Rough Riders
Long Hard Ride
Rode Hard, Put Up Wet
Cowgirl Up and Ride
Tied Up, Tied Down
Rough, Raw, and Ready
Branded As Trouble
Shoulda Been A Cowboy
All Jacked Up
Raising Kane
Slow Ride
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
Chasin’ Eight
Cowboy Casanova
Wild West Boys
Mistress Christmas
Miss Firecracker
Anthologies
Wild Ride: Strong, Silent Type
Three’s Company: Wicked Garden
Beginnings: Babe in the Woods
Running With the Devil
Dirty Deeds
Coming Soon:
Ballroom Blitz
Gone Country
His rough touch makes her lose control…
Cowboy Casanova
© 2011 Lorelei James
Rough Riders, Book 12
In Sundance, Wyoming, you can’t throw a boot without hitting a McKay cowboy, so Ben McKay is used to fading into the background. Except on weekends, when he’s Bennett, imposing Dom at The Rawhide Club, surrounded by a bevy of female subs eager for the attention of his long…whip.
As for the curvy brunette eying him from across the room? He’ll eat his Stetson if she’s the experienced Domme she claims to be. Bennett offers her a deal—he’ll let her call the shots for one night. But the next night he gets to prove to her how freeing it’ll be when he takes the reins.
Ainsley Hamilton is amazed by how well Bennett read her every secret yearning during that one explosive weekend—and she’s stunned when they come face to face in their everyday lives as rancher and new bank president. Now Ben’s urging her to explore her submissive side outside the club, and there’s something in his commanding gaze that makes it too easy to let him take control—of her desires and her pleasure.
Can Ben help Ainsley overcome her fear that a relationship built on dark sexual appetites won’t survive the light of day?
Warning: This book contains a lot of kinky sex. No, seriously, there’s A LOT of kinky cowboy sex in this Rough Riders installment. You’ve been warned.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Cowboy Casanova:
After pacing for five of the ten minutes, freshening her make-up for a couple more, Ainsley stilled. Breathed. Adjusted her scratchy wig. She looked outlandish, but that was the point. No one would ever believe uptight Ainsley Hamilton had the balls to wear this flashy garb.
She raised her chin a notch and practiced a cool-eyed stare. Time to earn a ball-buster reputation.
Revved up and ready, she exited the bathroom—just as Layla led Mr. Brooding Hot Cowboy to their table.
Her stomach cartwheeled.
When he aimed his deeply dimpled smile at her, she stumbled in her three-inch heels, straight into his strong arms.
“Whoa there. You all right?”
Ainsley glared at the floor as if it were responsible for her misstep. Then she looked up into the bluest eyes this side of heaven.
Holy Mother of God. He was striking. She could not wait to tell this man exactly what to do to her. Her gaze slid to his lips. She had an idea or fifty on how he could use his too-pretty mouth.
Layla interrupted Ainsley’s contemplation of his oral skills. “I’ll leave you two to make your own introductions.”
She hoisted herself onto the barstool and thrust out her hand. “An—Angel.”
The dark-haired devil clasped her fingers, lowered his head and kissed her knuckles. “A pleasure, Angel. I’m Bennett. Would you care for another drink?”
“No. Thank you.”
She looked at him.
He looked back at her.
Awkward.
“Before we get down to business, can I just say that you have the prettiest skin?” He wasn’t content with that verbal caress. He dragged a rough-edged fingertip from the inside of her wrist beneath the bracelet to the bend in her elbow and back down.
Goose bumps danced up that limb, fanning out across her shoulder. Bennett scored points for his seductive touch but lost them when she noticed his smirk.
“So let’s set the parameters for tonight’s play.”
“Is this a negotiation?”
His teasing eyes turned shrewd. “Talkin’ about expectations is a club rule, in every club I’ve ever been in.” His gaze lingered on her gold bracelet. “Haven’t you found that to be true?”
“Of course I know to discuss the play rules.” The lie warmed her cheeks.
His expression didn’t change.
He kept watching her. “Stop staring at me,” she said crossly.
He lowered his eyes with a murmured, “Sorry.”
When another bout of silence stretched, she knew if she didn’t get a handle on this situation now, she never would. “Can I ask you something, Bennett?”
“Anything you wish.”
“Why the dual role of submissive and dominant?”
“For variety, I suppose. How about you? Why the dominant role?”
“It’s a power thing.”
“Hmm.”
She didn’t like his half-cocky hmm. “What?”
“If that’s the case, I find it odd you’re a Domme.” Bennett raised those compelling blue eyes to hers. The heat and intensity packed a punch so potent she nearly toppled off the barstool.
Way out of your element, Ainsley.
“See, the true power in a dominant and submissive relationship lies with the submissive. Because the sub cedes all control, it’s up to the Dom to make sure all the sub’s needs are being met. To give the sub w
hat she—or he—wants.”
“What do you want?”
Bennett let his gaze slowly slide down to her cleavage, then back up to her mouth. “I want to please you.”
Had any man ever said that to her?
“In that I’ll gain my own pleasure. But since you brought up my dual sides, I’ll admit I’m not a switch very often. In fact, I’m the lone switch here right now. So if you want to play tonight, I’m your only choice.”
And what a fine, fine choice. She tempered her eagerness with an offhand, “I suppose that’ll work.”
“Good. But there is a catch. You’re planning to be here two nights so I’ll make you a deal.”
“I’m listening.” God was she ever listening. His deep, rich voice was as mesmerizing as his deep, rich eyes.
“If I agree to let you be my dominant tonight, then I want you to agree to be my submissive tomorrow night.”
Oh no. Oh hell no, automatically popped into her brain.
Stop lying to yourself. Isn’t this what you were secretly hoping for? To find a man who could see beyond your façade?
Here was her chance to experience both sides. To see if one really fit her better than the other—or not at all. One weekend out of her life. What would it matter? They’d probably never see each other again anyway. “I accept your terms.”
Bennett brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the inside of her wrist. “Thank you. Let’s get hard limits out of the way.”
Ainsley had no idea what that meant. “You first.”
“No other guys in the play. No kissing guys, no blowjobs from guys and definitely no sex with guys. Not that you’d probably get any offers of men in this club wantin’ to do me anyway.”
“Anything else?”
He scratched his jaw. “I wouldn’t be crazy about you donning a strap-on and shoving it up my ass.”
Geez. That possibility hadn’t crossed her mind. At all. She tossed off a breezy, “I’ll take that into consideration.”
Kissin' Tell: Rough Riders, Book 13 Page 34