For the Love of a Cowboy (Cowboy Dreamin')

by Sullivan, Sandy

  “I brought coffee.”

  “You are my knight in shining armor, sir.” She reached for the cup, but he held it away from her.

  “Not before I get a kiss.”

  “Oh, well then.” She let the sheet drop as she stood on her knees and pressed her lips to his. She took her time tracing his lips with her tongue before nipping at his bottom lip in order to tangle with his tongue.

  He quickly leaned over to set the coffee cup down on the nightstand before he cupped her face with his hands and deepened the kiss to overwhelming. With a giggle, she broke away from him. “Coffee.”

  “Fine.” He handed her the cup. “I guessed cream and sugar, since I didn’t know how you took it.”

  “Good guess.” She sipped the hot liquid. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He stepped back and dropped his pants.

  “Now?”

  He chuckled. “Insatiable are you?”

  Tilting her head, she said, “If you insist.”

  “Actually, no, babe. I have to get some work done. It’s already getting late and everyone will wonder where I am. Breakfast is served in the main lodge in about an hour. You can take a shower and meet me in there if you want.”

  She frowned at the thought of facing his family after spending the night at his place.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want your family to think I’m a slut, Jacob. Spending the night with you makes me sound loose.”

  He smacked her butt. “Stop that, right now. You aren’t a slut. We love each other. My family will love having you as a part of it so stop with the self-doubt.”

  “I’m just not used to being around a big family.”

  “They loved you at the barbeque.”

  She pulled her shoulders back and kissed him on the lips. “It’ll be fine. You go on and get what you need to get done finished. I’ll take a shower and meet you in the main lodge when the bell goes off.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  He slipped on a pair of jeans and shirt before he kissed her quickly and disappeared out the bedroom door. Paige leaned back against the headboard as she sipped the coffee he’d so thoughtfully brought her. She could do this. Facing his family wouldn’t be that difficult, surely. After all, she’d met them all at the barbeque and they seemed like nice people.

  But how are they going to feel after you come strolling out of his place wearing the same clothes you did last night?

  She glanced at her tattered shorts lying on the floor. Such wonderful attire to be having breakfast with your boyfriend’s family in. Maybe she should make an excuse and get him to take her home. She could always return for lunch or dinner and she really did need to check on her father today. But first a shower.

  Her coffee now gone, she rose from the bed to head for the bathroom. The shower turned on with a flick of her wrist, spraying warm water throughout the shower stall. She stepped inside as memories of the last time they’d been in the shower, swamped her. He’d fucked her hard in here, but they couldn’t finish when his feet slipped on the slick floor. She shook her head as a laugh bubbled out.

  Shampoo and condition sat in the corner of the stall. She picked up the bottle, sniffed the contents and smiled. So that’s why his hair smells so good. After she rubbed some of the shampoo in her hair, she scrubbed her scalp and then rinsed. Conditioner came next before the body wash. She giggled. She’d smell like Axe today.

  Eyes closed, she enjoyed the warm water splashing her skin until she felt two hands squeeze her breasts. Screaming, she quickly thrust her elbow backward, jabbing the intruder and eliciting a grunt.

  “Damn, Paige.”

  She spun around, slinging water everywhere. “Jacob. God, I’m sorry, but you scared the hell out of me. Are you okay?”

  “Other than a few broken ribs.” His breath came out in a wheeze.

  “Shit, really? I’m so sorry.”

  He laughed. “I’m fine. I was kidding. I forgot how touchy you are and quick with your reflexes. I won’t startle you again.” He grabbed a towel and held it out. “Are you done?”

  “Yeah.” As she stepped out, he wrapped her in the soft terry cloth. “What are you doin’ back here? I thought you had work to do?”

  “I do, but I couldn’t resist knowing my gorgeous girlfriend was in my trailer in all her naked glory possibly taking a shower without me.”

  “You need to go back to work.”

  “I will. Kiss me first.”

  She leaned up as he pulled her in tighter with the towel. The kiss turned steamy when his tongue dipped into her mouth, tangling with her own.

  When she cut him off with a nip to his tongue, he scolded, “Ouch.”

  “You need to go back to work, but first one thing.” She dropped to her knees on the floor, undid the buckle on his pants and shoved them to the ground. “I’m gonna suck you off.”

  “We don’t have time for that. Breakfast will be soon.” He moaned as she encircled the head of his cock with her mouth. “Okay, maybe we have time.” Another groaned surfaced when she swallowed him deep. “Oh, hell yeah.” She sucked and swallowed, massaging his balls until she felt his legs shake. “You’re gonna kill me, darlin’.”

  She sat back on her haunches for a second as she glanced up through her lashes at him and ran her hand along the length of his cock. “You can handle it, big boy.” She leaned in to suck his balls into her mouth, loving the feel of the rock hard orbs between her lips.

  “I’m gonna blow, babe.”

  “Let me have it, cowboy.” She swallowed his cock head as he squirted cum down her throat in a primitive growl from deep in his chest. She loved to hear that sound from him. It made him seem human when he lost control with her.

  His legs almost gave out as he stepped back against the sink. “God, you’re fabulous.”

  “Glad you liked it.” She wiped her face discreetly on the towel, hoping he wouldn’t notice how she spit out cum on the cloth. She didn’t mind the taste so much, but sometimes it gagged her. This was one of those times.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I just need to wash my mouth out.”

  “Sorry, babe. If you would have told me you didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have come in your mouth.” He yanked his pants back up and buckled his belt.

  “It’s fine, Jacob.”

  He rubbed her back as she rinsed her mouth in the sink. The breakfast bell clanged in the distance. “Breakfast is ready.”

  “You know. I’m not really hungry.”

  He frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine. I’m just not hungry,” she said, heading back into his room to retrieve her shorts.

  “Your shirt is out in the livin’ room.”

  “I know.” She walked down the hall to get her bra and shirt. “Can you take me home? I really should go see how my dad is fairing at the hospital.”

  “Sure, if you want me to.”

  “Yeah.” She slipped on her bra and shirt, only to find him standing behind her with a perpetual frown. “Your face is gonna freeze like that.”

  “I’m just tryin’ to figure you out.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “I’m sure.” He stepped in front of her and rubbed both of her arms. “If you don’t want to eat with my family, that’s fine. Just say so. You don’t have to make excuses.”

  “It’s not that. I’m feeling kind of frumpy in these clothes. I didn’t come here anticipating staying all night with you. I wanted to drop off your brother’s and just get you to take me home.”

  “If you didn’t want to stay last night, you should have said so. I would have taken you home then.”

  This conversation wasn’t going well at all. “I wanted to stay. I just didn’t plan on it, but I really need to be getting home so I can check on my father.”

  “All right. Let me grab my keys so I can run you back into San Antonio.”

  “Thank you.” She slipped on her shoes as
a knock sounded at the door.

  “Jacob?”

  “It’s my mom,” he whispered. “Yeah, Mom?”

  “Are you all right? I saw you come back to your trailer and you haven’t come to breakfast.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Okay. Will we see you and Paige inside?”

  “Well shit,” Paige grumbled.

  Jacob pushed open the door to find his mother standing on the stoop. “No, Mom. I’m taking her back to town.”

  “How about for dinner tonight?”

  “Sure, Mrs. Young.”

  “It’s Nina, honey. You’re part of the family now.” She waved goodbye as she stepped back and disappeared down the small walkway to the main lodge.

  “That went well.” Jacob laughed, but she didn’t think it was the least bit funny. “I didn’t want them to know I was here.”

  “Well, I’m sure my brothers told her all about it this morning already.”

  “Great.”

  “It’ll be fine, babe.”

  He ushered her out the door to where his truck sat parked near the back of his trailer. At least she didn’t have to walk past the main house in her sweat shorts.

  Within minutes, they were traveling down the road to San Antonio. She felt like shit. She didn’t want to make him miss breakfast with his family, but she just didn’t feel comfortable being the center of attention as Jacob’s fuck buddy. That wasn’t true. She wasn’t a fuck buddy. They were boyfriend and girlfriend, right? He’d said he loved her and she loved him, so why was she feeling like this?

  He put his hand on her knee. “Are you okay? You’re awfully quiet.”

  “I’m fine. Thank you for taking me back to town.”

  “Of course, babe. I love you. I’m there for you no matter what.”

  “Thank you.” She leaned her head on his shoulder as she stared out the front windshield of his truck. She still had to deal with her father today, which she wasn’t looking forward to. Telling him about her and Jacob wouldn’t be a pleasant experience, she knew, but it had to be done. They were a couple, right?

  “I love you, Paige.”

  “I know, Jacob. I love you too. Everything will work out.”

  “Your father isn’t going to be happy about us, but we’ll get through this.”

  “I’m sure we will.”

  Silence enveloped them for the rest of the ride to her house. When they pulled up to the front, the big yellow dog bounded out to meet them. He jumped up on Jacob, taking to him like they were old friends. “Where’d he come from?”

  “He’s adopted me I guess. He scared the crap out of me last night, but he was ready to protect me from your brothers.”

  “No collar?”

  “Nope.”

  “Will your dad let you have a dog?”

  “I guess we’ll find out. For now, he’ll just have to hang around the house until things are settled with my father at the hospital.”

  “I’ll leave you so I can get back to work.” He kissed her sweetly on the lips. “I’ll pick you up later this afternoon, if that’s okay?”

  “What about around four? That’ll give me enough time to see how my father is doing before you get back?”

  “That’s fine. Dinner is usually served around five-thirty.”

  “Perfect.” Her cell phone jingled in her purse. “I better check this.” When she pulled it out, she frowned. “It’s a hospital number.”

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  “No, it’s fine. I’m sure it’s just Daddy wanting to know where I am. I’ll call him back in a minute.”

  She kissed him again before she backed up to unlock the door. She watched as he walked back to his truck and slipped inside. Her phone rang again with the same hospital number. Damn. Her father could be so persistent. “Hello?”

  “Is this Paige Tyler?”

  “Yes. Who is this?”

  “I’m your father’s nurse here at the hospital. We need you to come in. There’s been a change in his condition.”

  Her heart jumped into her throat. “What happened?”

  “I can’t talk about it on the phone. You need to get here quickly.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Paige rushed into the hospital and straight for the elevator without stopping. She had to get upstairs to see what the problem was. They’d said it wasn’t his heart. What could it be now?

  The moment the elevators doors opened, she sped down the hall at almost a dead run toward her father’s room.

  The doctor stood at her father’s bedside when she walked in. “What’s going on? I got a frantic phone call from the nurse.”

  Her father opened his eyes and she could see the facial droop on the right side of his face. His mouth pulled down on that side as well.

  “He’s had a stroke, Paige. I’m sorry.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well there are varying degrees of a stroke. So far his seems to have affected his right side as you can tell by the drop of his eye and lip. He does seem to have some weakness in his hand and foot on that side as well. We won’t know the damage for a few days. He’ll have to go into rehab.”

  “What?” She sat on the side of the bed. “How could this happen? He was fine yesterday.”

  “A stroke is caused by a blood clot traveling to the brain.”

  “Daddy?”

  “I’ll be okay, Paige.” She understood what he said even though his speech was slightly slurred.

  “He won’t be able to take care of himself more than likely, but it depends on the damage.”

  “Thank you, doctor. I’ll take care of him, just like he’s taken care of me.”

  The doctor disappeared out the door with a soft click.

  “I love you, Paige.”

  “I love you too, Daddy. We’ll get through this.” She stroked his hand with her fingers.

  “This is going to make me dependent on you, daughter. I won’t be able to get around and take care of things for you anymore.”

  “It’s fine, Daddy. I’ll be there for you no matter what.”

  “But this stroke could make things very difficult for you to have a life away from me. I want you to get married and have a family of your own. I want you to give me grandchildren.”

  “I will, but don’t be trying to get rid of me so easily.”

  “I can hire someone to come in and help me around the house. I think you need to find an apartment or something on your own.”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me now?”

  “No.” He weakly lifted his right hand to her cheek. “I need to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “Do you love that young man?”

  “Who?”

  “Jacob?”

  “Yeah, Daddy, I do.”

  “Then I won’t stand in your way. You need to be with who you love like your mother and I were. I don’t like how he has taken you into things that are bad for you, but I’ll be there no matter what.”

  “Daddy, it wasn’t Jacob. I went into the bars on my own long before I met him.” Tears streaked down her cheeks knowing she was about to break her daddy’s heart a little more. “There are a lot of things about me you don’t know.”

  “Like?” he asked, wiping the tear from her face.

  “I’ve been visiting bars for several months. It was my way of rebelling against everything you’ve been forcing me to do. I don’t want to be the preacher’s wife and do the duties my mother should have been doing. That’s not who I am. I’m me, not Momma.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, Paige. I’m sorry I’ve forced you to take over those duties. I knew you didn’t like them, but you kept doing them anyway so I let you.”

  “I met Jacob at The Dusty Boot in Bandera. He was drunk off his ass and three men were going to beat the shit out of him. I stopped them.”

  He laughed, which was a sound she wasn’t sure s
he would hear from her father after everything they’d been through in the last few days. “Leave it to my little girl to save some redneck hell-bent on getting his butt kicked.” He coughed several times. “I’m not happy he’s a drinker with everything we went through with your mother.”

  She patted his hand and kissed his fingers. “I know, Daddy, but you’ve been drinking a lot yourself lately.”

  “I’m quitting as of two days ago. I won’t have another drop.”

  She smiled as she pressed his hand to her cheek. “Good. Neither is Jacob. He hasn’t been drunk for several months now.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “He said after I saved him, it embarrassed him so much that he quit drinking. He used to be such a hell raiser at the bar, he almost couldn’t show his face back in there anymore after that.” She scooted closer. “You know his family. They are nice people, Daddy.”

  “I remember them. Big family.”

  “Yes. There are eight brothers and a couple of wives in there.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “Yeah. He told me he did. Not that he’s asked me to marry him or anything, but I think this is the real thing.”

  “Maybe I’ve misjudged him.”

  “I think you did, but it’s my fault. I let you believe he was corrupting me when it wasn’t the truth. I should have told you from the beginning. I’m sorry.”

  “Call him.”

  “What?”

  “Bring him to me so we can talk.”

  “But, Daddy. That’s not a good idea. You should be resting. There’ll be time for a confrontation between you and Jacob when you’re feeling better.”

  “I want to make sure he’s going to take care of my little girl. Call him and bring him here.”

  “All right. If you insist.”

  “I do.”

  She stood and removed her cell phone from the pocket of her purse. Once she scrolled through the numbers, she found Jacob’s and hit talk.

  “Paige?”

  “Hi.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Are you home?”

  “Almost. I’m in Bandera right now.”

  “Can you turn around and come back. I need you.”

  “What’s happened?”