Crazy About a Cowboy

by Dylann Crush

  They passed the turn off to Taylor Farms and drove down the blacktop a few more miles. Jasper kept his eyes on the road, humming along every once in a while to the soft sounds coming from the radio. She was content to let her head rest against the doorframe and enjoy the chance to study him under the cover of the dark cab.

  Finally, he turned on the blinker and slowed. They hadn’t passed another vehicle in at least ten minutes. If it were someone besides Jasper, she might be a little concerned about heading out to the middle of nowhere. But in the short time they’d known each other, he’d shown her he was a gentleman.

  The truck bounced onto a narrow dirt road. “Careful, it’s a little rough here.”

  “Where in the world are you taking me?” Tall grass rose up on either side of the truck, almost high enough to reach the windows.

  He shot her a glance, his lips quirked up in a grin. “You’ll see.”

  Her fingers wrapped tight around the handle over her head, and she tried to anticipate the worst of the bumps. They passed through a stand of scrubby trees, and just when she was about to ask him to turn back, he stopped.

  He cut the lights and killed the engine. “We’re here.”

  She looked through the windshield. The truck sat on top of a bluff. Off in the distance the lights of the town twinkled. “Is that Ido?”

  “Yep.” He scooted closer. “See the dark section between the lights?”

  She nodded.

  “That’s the river. The lights on the other side are coming from Swynton.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “If you think that’s great, come with me.” He got out of the truck, and Buster hopped over the seat to follow.

  Delilah checked out the window. They’d left the tall grass behind when they passed through the trees, but she was careful to watch her step. With her luck she’d set her foot down on a snake, or maybe even something way worse.

  Jasper had climbed into the bed of the truck. “You want to come up?”

  She slid her hand in his, and he pulled her up onto the tailgate. “Where’s Buster?”

  “Off checking out all the smells. He won’t go far.” Jasper spread out the blanket they’d used when they watched the movie. “Have a seat.”

  “What are you up to?” She sat down, keeping an eye on him while he opened the cooler and retrieved the bottle of wine. He poured them each a plastic cup full, then handed her one.

  “Sorry about the lack of glassware.” He clunked his cup against hers.

  “What are we doing out here?” The sound of crickets surrounded them. She couldn’t help but worry a little bit about one of them jumping into the truck bed. Just thinking about the other night gave her a shiver.

  He leaned back, propping himself up on an elbow. “Do I make you nervous?”

  She wrinkled her brow. What was he getting at? “Why do you ask?”

  “Do you always have to answer a question with a question?”

  “I don’t do that.” The wide grin he gave her made her reconsider. “Do I?”

  “You just did it again. Come here.” He motioned for her to scoot closer to him.

  “Why did you ask if you make me nervous?” She slid over a few inches.

  He groaned. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you.”

  “What about the other times?” She’d skipped ahead to full-on flirt mode. Seeing him a little flustered, a little out of his element, was a bit of a turn-on.

  “The other times I want to . . .” His gaze slid from her eyes to focus on her mouth.

  “What?” she whispered.

  He cupped her cheek with his palm, then ran the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. The contact sent a wave of warmth over her.

  She opened her mouth, giving his thumb the slightest nip with her teeth. His eyes widened and before she had a chance to tease him about his reaction, his lips were on hers.

  He pulled her down next to him as he stretched out. She registered the hardness of the truck bed against her hip, even through the blanket. Then she didn’t register anything at all, except for the heat of his tongue sliding into her mouth.

  If she could pause time and spend the rest of eternity kissing Jasper Taylor, she’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d perfected the art of kissing.

  By the time she pulled away to catch her breath, his hands had found their way under her shirt and scorched the skin over her ribs. “Is this what you brought me out here for?”

  He shook his head, his nose nudging against her neck. “Look up.”

  “What am I looking for?” She rolled onto her back, and looked up at the clear, dark sky. Thousands of pinpricks of light dotted the blackness above. “Oh, wow. The stars.”

  His fingers twined with hers and he brought her hand to his lips. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

  “I never knew there were so many.”

  “You’ve got to get far enough away from town to be able to see them. We got lucky with no clouds tonight.”

  They lay there for several minutes, looking up at the sky, the crickets playing a symphony around them. A flash of light streaked across the darkness.

  “Did you see that?” She squeezed his hand.

  “A shooting star. You know you’re supposed to make a wish now, right?”

  She took in a shaky breath. “What would you wish for?”

  “It’s not my star. I don’t get a wish.” He flipped onto his side to face her and propped his arm up to rest his cheek on his palm. “The question is, what are you going to wish for?”

  “I don’t know.” She hadn’t wished on a star in years. The last time she had, it hadn’t come true. That was before she figured out that wishing on stars didn’t have enough magic to bring her dad back into her life.

  “Go on, make a wish.” Jasper let their clasped hands rest on her stomach. “You don’t have to tell me what you wish for.”

  “I guess I don’t believe in wishing on shooting stars.”

  “That’s a shame. Everyone knows wishing on a shooting star works.”

  She shook her head.

  “What if I can prove it?”

  “How exactly are you going to do that?”

  “Hold on, and I’ll show you.” He rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky. A few minutes passed before he lifted his arm and pointed. “See that? I’m calling that one.”

  “You’re crazy.” She shook her head, wondering how he planned to make his point.

  “I’m making my wish right now.” He closed his eyes, his lips moving without making a sound.

  “So . . . what did you wish for?” She nestled into his side, her curiosity piqued. What would a man like Jasper Taylor want bad enough to wish for on a shooting star?

  “I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “Then how are you going to prove it to me?”

  “Come here.” His hand tangled in her hair as he drew her face close to his.

  Her stomach clenched in anticipation. She knew what was coming. But no amount of bracing herself could prepare her for the way she felt when their lips touched. Saying it rocked her world seemed so cliché, but was the most accurate description she could come up with. Kissing Jasper literally scrambled her brain, crisscrossed all her internal wiring, and made her yearn for things so incredibly beyond her reach.

  Jasper took the kiss deeper, his hands exploring as eagerly as his tongue. His fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt again, racing up and down her ribs.

  A deep ache pulsed between her thighs. She wanted him. Wanted him like she’d never ached for anyone before. But she wasn’t the kind of woman who would toss reason out the door for the fleeting passion of a magical moment.

  Or at least she hadn’t been in the past.

  With Jasper, she wasn’t sure who she was. He
made her want to do things she’d never dared to imagine.

  His hand paused when he reached the underwire of her bra. “We can stop whenever you want.”

  Stop. Why would she want to stop? She never wanted to stop feeling the kind of feelings he stirred up. She shook her head.

  “Delilah. I don’t want us to do anything you’d regret. I get the sense you’re not the kind of woman who’s into one-night stands. But I also know you’re leaving in a few weeks. And dammit, there’s something going on between us. Something I can’t explain, but it’s something I’ve never felt before.”

  She nodded. That was how she felt, too. And in that moment, nothing else seemed to matter. She reached between them and put her hand on his, gliding it under the cup of her bra.

  His fingers smoothed over her skin, tentative at first. Then his lips were back on hers and he reached behind her to work on the clasp.

  She’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted to feel his hands on her skin. He pushed her shirt up and released her bra, then cupped a breast in each hand, his thumbs working over her nipples. She couldn’t help but let out a little sigh. “So good.”

  He gently rolled her onto her back, then lowered his head toward her chest. His tongue swirled over one breast before he switched to the other.

  Her body burned for his touch. But even the heat from his mouth wasn’t enough. She wanted . . . no, she needed . . . more.

  * * *

  * * *

  Her skin felt like satin under his rough palms. Her body tasted like a mix of sweetness and salt. Not even the brush of cooler evening air could tamp down the heat between them. Looking at her, her chest bare in the dim light of the moon, his heart beat so fast and strong it seemed like it might thump right out of his chest. Jasper wanted to savor each kiss, each flick of his tongue against her skin. But something deep within him urged him on.

  She must have felt it, too. Her hands roamed over his shoulders, down his chest, working their way under his shirt. When her palms met his skin, he hissed in a breath. Even the way she touched him turned him on. Her fingers danced over his abs, pressed against his pecs, and gripped his shoulders. He didn’t know if he should put a stop to things or see how far it would go.

  Then her fingers came to rest on his belt buckle. If she breached the waistband of his jeans, he might not be able to hold back. Reluctantly, he shifted next to her, and took her hands in his.

  “What’s wrong?” The concern in her eyes nearly undid him.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He licked his lips, the taste of her still on his tongue. “We don’t have to do this.”

  “Do you not want to?” A wrinkle bisected her brow.

  “Hell, yes, I want to.” He’d been attracted to her since the first day he met her. The day he almost hosed her off the steps of city hall. And even though they hadn’t known each other very long, he felt like he’d known her all of his life. Or maybe even in another life. Being around her was like experiencing a deep sense of déjà vu. Over and over again.

  He’d heard people say they fell in love at first sight. But he’d always dismissed it as complete bullshit. How could he fall for someone he didn’t even know? But there was no other way to describe the way he felt about Delilah. Like he knew her on some deep, otherworldly level, even though they didn’t know the trivial things about each other yet.

  All of those thoughts created a traffic jam in his brain. How could he get involved with her when she’d be leaving in such a short time? How could he not? Would he spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been if he didn’t have the balls to take a chance?

  She leaned over him, her hair creating a curtain around their faces. “What are you thinking about right now?”

  “You sure you want to know?”

  Her hair moved as she nodded, tickling his chest.

  Now or never. “I’m thinking how amazing it would feel to make love to you.”

  She didn’t react, not even the slightest quirk of her lips or scrunch of her nose.

  Great. He’d decided to be honest and she’d turned to stone. Time to dial it down. Way down. He was about to sit up, chalk up the whole stargazing thing to an epically bad idea. But then her palm on his chest pushed him back.

  “I don’t do one-night stands.”

  “I get it. That’s not what I want from this.”

  “I don’t do no-string flings.”

  “I get that, too.”

  “But I can’t say no to you.” She nipped at her bottom lip with her teeth—a move that made him desperate for her.

  He laid her back on the blanket and slid her jeans down her legs. The blanket was big enough that he was able to pull half of it over them, trapping them inside. She finished what she’d started with his belt buckle and before he could voice any rational thought as to why this was a bad idea, her hands found his cock.

  He pulled the one condom he’d carried around for forever out of his wallet and she helped slide it into place. Then, with the eyes of a million stars looking down on them, he hovered over her. He tried to commit each detail of her face to memory: the curve of her lips, the arch of her brows, the emotion in her eyes. Then he lowered himself into her, losing himself in the slick heat between her legs.

  Her hands gripped his shoulders as her hips met his. They moved to some internal rhythm that both of them knew by heart. He slipped a finger between them, circling that bundle of nerves that would drive her over the edge. With a moan, she clenched around him. Every part of him wanted to take her faster and harder but he didn’t want her to lose her momentum. So he kept it steady, increasing the pressure of his finger a fraction more each time he pulled back.

  “You feel so good, Delilah. Like you were made for me.” For half a heartbeat he wondered if she had been. They didn’t make sense on paper. The polished beauty queen and the farmer’s son. But he’d never been one to take things at surface value. And she was so much more than what met the eye.

  Her fingers gripped his shoulders even tighter. She was close, he could tell by the way her hips moved, grinding against him, like she was at the edge and about to fall over, throw herself into it, give herself over to him completely. Her head tipped back, her brow furrowed in concentration. She was so fucking beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.

  He focused on her eyes, willing her to open them up and meet his gaze. Like she could sense his silent request, she gazed up at him as her body stilled, clenched around him. He continued to move, so far gone he couldn’t stop if he wanted to. And as she gazed up at him, the reflection of a million stars in her eyes, he joined her.

  After they floated back down to earth, he held her tight against his chest, running his fingers lightly up and down her side. “I feel like I could lie here forever with you.”

  She reached up and pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek. “Wouldn’t your family wonder where you are?”

  “They’d probably miss you before they’d miss me. You’ve made quite an impression on everyone.”

  “Don’t be silly. I can tell how much they love you.” She lifted the blanket and tossed it to the side. “Are you as hot as I am? I feel like I just ran a marathon.”

  He leaned over and blew cool air on the bare skin of her back. “You’re definitely much, much hotter than I am.”

  “Stop.” She let out a giggle that shifted to a snort. “Oh no, now you know my deepest, darkest secret.”

  “That you snort when you laugh?” It had to be the cutest thing he’d ever heard. He reached out to tickle her, trying to get her to do it again.

  “Don’t. It’s so embarrassing. I don’t know where I get that laugh. My mom would never make such an unladylike noise, and I don’t remember my dad ever sounding like a hog in heat.”

  He laughed, making her cheek bounce up and down against his chest. “Trust me, you don’t sound like a hog in heat. If yo
u don’t believe me, there are some wild boars out by Aunt Suzy’s property I can introduce you to.”

  “Now that sounds super romantic. I didn’t get that experience in Hartwood or East.”

  He could have used that opening to ask her what kind of experience she did have. Her defenses were down. She might say something that would give Ido an edge. Damn that stupid contest. He was grateful that it led her to him, but he didn’t want it to come between them. But how could it not when he’d just violated the one rule he’d promised himself he wouldn’t break?

  “I should probably get you back.” He brushed her hair away from her cheek.

  “Do we have to?” She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his palm.

  “Unless we want them sending out a search party. I don’t know that anyone would care too much if I went missing, but I’m sure they’d come out looking for you.”

  “I’d miss you if you went missing.”

  “You might change your mind after you see what kinds of plans we’ve got in store over the next couple of weeks.”

  “Really? Do I get to partake in another stargazing night with the local hospitality host?”

  “About the contest . . . I feel like we should keep it under wraps if we’re going to be seeing each other on a personal level.” He waited to see how she’d respond.

  “Are we going to be seeing each other on a personal level?”

  “I’d like to.”

  “I’m not sure that there’s anything in my contract that specifically states I can’t date my local contact.” She gazed up at him, a hint of hope in her eyes.

  “I’m not sure I feel right about it.”

  “You don’t think I can be impartial?”

  “If you can be impartial after that”—he gestured between them—“then it obviously wasn’t as good for you as it was for me.”

  Even in the dim light of the moon he could see a flush race over her cheeks. “I suppose we could agree not to see each other again. In a nonprofessional capacity, that is.”

  “I’d rather keep doing this,” Jasper admitted. “If that’s what you want.”