by Kate Pearce
Yvonne waved and disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Rio feeling somewhat deprived. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her hello. They hadn’t discussed how public they were going to go with their casual relationship. He’d have to make sure to sort that out when he came to pick her up the next day.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you ready to go?” Rio gave a quick knock on the open door as he walked into the pristine industrial kitchen. It was weird seeing it so empty of people and so quiet.
“Not quite.” Yvonne wore fleece pants with cupcakes on them and a pink camisole top. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. “Just got to set these trays in the cooling room.”
“Let me help you.” Rio set his hat to one side, washed his hands, and picked up one of the large trays.
“Thanks.” Yvonne held the door open so that he could squeeze past her. The cold blast of air helped him realize she had no bra on under her top. “These are the last ones. I have some profiteroles in the refrigerator to take with me for dessert.”
“Nice.” Rio snatched a quick kiss as he went past her, and tasted chocolate. “How about you stay there, and I’ll get the rest of these.”
She didn’t argue with him, which was a first, and stood patiently holding up the door while he transferred the trays into the stack of metal racks in the cooling room.
“You okay?” He glanced down at her as they headed for the stairs.
“Just tired.”
“Maybe you should stay and sleep in rather than coming out to the ranch.”
“No, I’m good. A quick shower, and a change of clothes, and I’ll be raring to go.” She gave him a bright smile as she let him into her sun-filled apartment and disappeared toward her bedroom.
“Do you need a hand?” he asked.
“No thanks, or we’ll never get anywhere.”
He sat on the couch. “Not a problem for me,” he grumbled.
“Josie wouldn’t be very happy if you didn’t come back.”
“Josie has practically been adopted by the Morgan family, and wouldn’t notice if I disappeared for good.”
“I doubt that.”
Yvonne came out of her bedroom with a pile of clothes, a lacy pink bra and matching panties looped in her fingers.
Rio sat up and pointed at the lingerie. “Not fair.”
Yvonne fluttered her eyelashes at him. “When you can think about me wearing it all through lunch?”
“I’d rather be taking it off you with my teeth.”
“Maybe one day you will get your wish, but probably not at the Morgan family dinner table.” She headed into the bathroom. “Sit tight. I’ll only be a few minutes, I promise.”
* * *
She was as good as her word, and within a quarter of an hour, they were on their way back to the ranch. His truck smelled like flowers and vanilla, which made a welcome change from leather and horse. It was a scent he was beginning to get used to and associate with all the best things in life. The profiterole rings were safely stowed on the back seat mats, where they couldn’t shift around too much.
“Have much are we telling people about our relationship?” Rio asked.
She glanced at him over the top of her sunglasses. “What do you mean?”
“Do we say we’re together? Do we pretend we’re just good friends?”
“We are good friends.”
“Yeah, I know, but does that mean I can kiss you, or put my arm around you in public?” Rio persisted.
“Would you like to do that?” She sounded slightly doubtful.
“Of course I would. I might even do it spontaneously, and I’m just making sure you’re okay with that.”
She didn’t speak for quite a while, and simply stared out over the fields of cows and horses passing by as they wound their way up toward the ranch house.
Before he made the turn into the ranch proper, he drew the truck over to the side of the road, and put it in park.
“Why did you stop?” Yvonne turned to look at him.
“Because we’re just about to arrive, and I still don’t know what you want me to do.”
“You don’t know what I want you to do?” She slowly took her sunglasses off and studied him, her green eyes alight with laughter. “That’s a first.”
He grinned back at her. “Yeah, that’s what you do to me. Turn me inside out and upside down.”
She bit her lip. “The thing is—I don’t want the Morgans to think we have anything really serious going on because they’ll all be pleased, and will become invested in our relationship.”
“So?”
“So when we go our separate ways, they might think badly of you.”
“You’re worried that they might think badly of me?” Rio asked.
“Yes.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll still be here. You’re the one who is leaving.” She paused. “So really it’s up to you. How bad do you want to look?”
“I want to be able to put my arm around you and kiss you in public,” Rio repeated firmly.
“Okay, then. Be it on your own head.” Yvonne put her sunglasses back on. “Let’s go.”
Rio parked next to Chase’s monster truck and went to get the dessert out of the back while Yvonne started up the steps to the porch of the ranch house. By the time he came along, she was holding the screen door open for him. A hum of chatter and laughter streamed out from inside the house meaning the Morgans were home en masse.
Rio went into the kitchen and smiled at the assembled crowd before taking the boxes over to Ruth. “You’re going to need a bigger table soon.”
“I know, but don’t mention it to Chase or he’ll start remodeling my house, and I’ll have to have words with him again.” Ruth placed the dessert on the countertop and went up on tiptoe to kiss Rio’s cheek. “Thanks for going and getting Yvonne for me.”
“You’re welcome.”
After hugging seemingly everyone, Yvonne came over and kissed Ruth. “You know Rio only comes over to make sure he gets dessert, Ruth.”
“And other things,” Rio murmured in Yvonne’s ear as he turned away from Ruth to greet the rowdier Morgans. “Don’t forget those.”
They managed to find a place to sit together, and for an hour or so, nothing much was discussed except the excellence of Ruth’s beef stew and dumplings and the quality of the organic vegetables now being grown on the ranch.
With Yvonne pressed up against his side, Rio was happy just to sit and listen as the conversation flowed around him. Josie sat beside Maria, and the two of them were chatting like old friends. His sister had fitted into the ranch really easily and didn’t seem to need him at all.
By the time they reached the coffee and dessert stage, conversation turned to other matters, and it wasn’t long before Yvonne’s meeting in San Francisco was mentioned by January.
“So did they offer you bazillions of dollars to star in your own show?” January asked.
“Not quite.” Yvonne smiled. “We’re not at that stage yet. They are still talking about how they intend to present the show, and exactly what its purpose, or what its ‘selling points’ to the public, will be.”
“Oh, you mean their angle.” January nodded like she knew all about the vagaries of television productions. “I’m more worried about how they are going to film anything when your shop is so small.”
“I did mention that.” Yvonne sighed. “If they put a full camera crew in my place, there won’t be any room for paying customers.”
“You need to rent the shop next door,” Chase commented. “We own that building in town. We could certainly look at helping you out.”
“And take Margery’s realty office away from her?” Yvonne shook her head. “I don’t think she’ll be very keen on giving up that space to a friend of the Morgans right now, do you?”
“Possibly not,” Chase conceded.
“She’ll be screaming conspiracy theories at my customers all day long.” Yvonne shuddered.
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“Margery Hoffa?” Ruth frowned. “Is she being a nuisance? That doesn’t sound like her at all.”
“She’s circulating a petition to stop the Morgan family from introducing cheap housing to the town,” Yvonne said. “Unfortunately, she insists on coming into the café every time she’s on a break and asks all the tourists and locals to sign the darn thing. Marley asked her to stop, but she wouldn’t.”
“Then I’ll have to go and see what’s going on with the woman.” Ruth put down her napkin. “Her husband, Harry, died last year, and Spencer, her youngest, went off to San Diego to college. I wonder if she’s feeling okay?”
“She hasn’t paid her rent for three months,” Chase said. “I was going to mention it to her when I was in town next week.”
“Problem solved,” Blue said as he put down his mug of coffee. “Kick Margery out for nonpayment of rent, and lease the extra space to Yvonne.”
Chase groaned. “Yeah, right, BB. Let’s really make her hate our guts.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Then just stop, BB. I’ll talk to Margery about that as well, Chase,” Ruth said firmly. “No need for us all to get involved when she isn’t feeling very kindly toward you boys.”
Yvonne yawned discreetly behind her hand, and Ruth looked over at her. “You look worn out, my dear. Why don’t you go on home and enjoy the rest of your day off in peace?”
“I’m sorry, Ruth. I don’t mean to be rude,” Yvonne apologized. “I haven’t quite got back on schedule since my trip to the city.”
“Then why don’t you take her home?” Ruth looked expectantly at Rio. “I’m going to teach Josie how to make a traditional patchwork quilt this afternoon, so there is no need for you to hurry back.”
Rio sat up straight. Now all the Morgan brothers were staring at him. . . .
He turned to Yvonne. “Would you like me to take you home?”
“That would be great.” She yawned again. “I am terribly tired.”
“Then, if you don’t mind, Ruth, we’ll go right now.” Rio wiped his mouth with his napkin, finished his coffee, and stood up.
Behind Ruth’s back, HW winked at Rio and murmured, “Nice work, mano.”
Rio gave him his best shut up right now smile, and headed toward the door. He’d known HW for a long time, but he had no intention of giving his friend fresh ammunition to tease him with.
“I’ll be back for dinner,” Rio said to Ruth.
“On which day?” HW asked, and received an elbow in his side from his feisty girlfriend, Sam.
“Drop it, HW,” Sam said.
“Drop what?” HW tried, and failed to look innocent. “I’m just making sure my friend is going to be okay.”
Yvonne looked down at HW. “What do you think I’m going to do? Put him in a pie and cook him for dinner?”
“Maybe.” HW grinned. “Definitely something hot.”
Yvonne rolled her eyes at HW, and went around the table to kiss Ruth good-bye. “Thanks for having me over. I love coming here.”
“Thanks for the profiteroles.” Ruth patted her hand. “And don’t worry about sending Rio back too soon.”
Yvonne was just glad that neither she nor Rio were blushers because the intense but friendly scrutiny from the Morgans was getting hard to ignore. So much for not getting them involved in her and Rio’s non-relationship. Everyone seemed to know what they were up to, and they were positively egging them on.
She collected her purse, promised January and Avery that they would have a girls’ night out very soon, and got into Rio’s truck. The moment he started the engine, she sat back in her seat, and stared up at the ceiling.
“They all know, don’t they?”
“Know what?”
“That we’re doing it. How do they know? Did you tell anyone?”
“Nope, you?”
“I didn’t have to,” Yvonne admitted. “Nancy was onto me the moment she saw me.” She groaned. “That’s how they know. Nancy probably shared with Avery, and then January and Sam got to hear about it, and so on and so forth.”
“Which is why the Morgan brothers know,” Rio added. “Basically, we’re screwed.”
“Because they all want us to work out and are helping us get time alone together,” Yvonne concluded.
“Which is fine by me.” Rio glanced over at her, his brown gaze hidden behind his sunglasses. “I’m going to be the bad guy here, remember?”
Another yawn shuddered through her, and she thought her jaw might break. “The thing is, I wasn’t pretending that I was tired. . . .”
He sighed. “You’re going to fall asleep the second your head hits that pillow, aren’t you?”
“You know me so well.”
“Then I’d better get creative.” He pulled over onto the side of the road into the shade of some trees. “Come here.”
“What—”
The rest of her sentence was devoured by his kiss as he leaned over, one hand wrapped around her neck, holding her close. His edge of desperation acted on her like a stimulant, making her kiss him back, and shove her hand up the back of his shirt just to rake her nails over his skin.
“Jeez . . .” Rio tore his mouth away from hers. “Right now. Let’s do it right now, and then I promise I’ll take you home, and you can sleep for a thousand years.”
“Okay,” she gasped, as he unceremoniously dragged her out of her seat and set her on his lap facing him. She moaned as her breasts were crushed against his chest, and his palm spanned her ass, pressing her against the rising tide of his need.
She fought him to undo buttons and expose the essential parts necessary to have him right where she wanted him. He found protection from somewhere, and then she was sliding down over him, taking everything as his strong fingers played with her most sensitive flesh. It only took a second for her to climax and freeze over him with her eyes tightly shut, her mouth locked on his as she lived in the moment of pure, uncomplicated pleasure.
It had only been a couple of days since she’d been with him, but it felt like a million years. She slowly opened her eyes, and framed his face with her hands.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He was smiling back at her as his fingers started a slow dance that immediately had her rocking her hips into the rhythm he demanded and created from her needy flesh.
“I can’t. . . .” she gasped.
“Yeah, you can, bonita. Do it for me, let me watch you,” he murmured against her mouth. “I want it all.”
Eventually, he couldn’t stay still either, and joined her thrusting upward to increase her pleasure, his booted feet planted wide, his hips rolling as he spent himself deep inside her.
She fell against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, and just stayed there for as long as she dared. The smell of him, the scent of them, infused the air, and she never wanted to move again.
“Yvonne . . .”
“What?” She opened her eyes as he gently set her away from him, back on her own side of the car.
“I’m so glad you wore a dress today.”
“Me too.” She smiled at him. “Now take me home, cowboy.”
By the time they pulled up in the lot behind the café, Yvonne had managed to clean herself up a little, but knew that if Nancy spotted her, she’d have a lot of explaining to do....
Of course, Rio had rebuttoned his shirt and jeans, and looked totally respectable....
Rio got out of the truck and came around to help her descend, his keen gaze assessing her as he opened the door.
She held out her hand. “Haven’t you forgotten something?”
He tried to look innocent. “Like what?”
She leaned in and whispered, “My panties?”
“Ah. What about them?”
“Do you have them?”
“Yeah.”
“Then . . .” She made a hurry-up gesture. “Give them to me.”
“Don’t worry. I have them safe.” He patted his
pocket.
“What if I see someone I know?” she asked.
“How will they know whether you have a pair of pink lace panties on or not?” Rio asked in a deliberately innocent tone. “Unless they have x-ray vision or something.”
She held his heated gaze. “You are incorrigible.”
“Guilty.” His dimple peeped out.
“One day, I’ll steal your jeans and underwear, and leave you to walk home bare assed-naked.”
“Okay by me.”
He reached in, grabbed her around the waist, and swung her down to the ground. Yvonne was distinctly aware of a cool breeze blowing under her skirts.
“Behave yourself.” She swatted him gently on the shoulder. “Put me down.”
He obliged with a grin. “No point putting them on again when you’re just going to take them off to shower is there?”
“Your logic is remarkable.”
He kissed her nose. “And so are you.”
Behind them, someone cleared his throat, and Yvonne spun around.
“Yvonne? Is that you?”
She backed up so fast she hit the solid wall of Rio’s chest. His hand came to rest on her shoulder.
“Who is this guy?” Rio asked.
Yvonne swallowed hard. “Rio, I’d like you to meet my ex, Paul Giresse. I have no idea what he’s doing here, but hey, that’s him in a nutshell.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I hope you’ve booked yourself a room at the Hayes Hotel, because you’re not staying with me.”
Rio kept his hand on her shoulder. “Would you like me to show your ex where the hotel is?”
There was an edge to his voice that was unmistakable.
Paul’s gaze flew to Yvonne and he switched to French. “Ecoute, j’ai besoin de te parler seule, sans avoir le cowboy a cote. Tu peux envoyer balader ce plouc et me retrouve a l’hotel plus tard pour un verre?”
He wanted her to get rid of the cowboy and have drinks with him at the hotel later?
“Are you being deliberately obtuse?” Yvonne answered him in English. “I said go and book yourself into the hotel, and I will speak to you tomorrow in the café. That’s all I have to say to you right now.”
Paul sighed. “D’accord, j’y vais, mais tu n’es vraiment pas raisonnable.”
She wasn’t being fair and reasonable? “Says the man who just turned up on my doorstep unannounced.”