“I do. Be right back.” He slid out of the van and plucked something from the door handle. “Hey, they’re dry. They were really wet before.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
“Because you hit me with the hose.” She shimmied into them and was aware that he watched her do it.
“I don’t think it was the hose.” He handed her the jeans he’d draped over the door. “I think somebody was turned on.”
“Maybe.” She struggled into her jeans, which hadn’t dried as thoroughly as her panties. She found her bra and T-shirt on the floor where she’d tossed them. Both were still damp.
“So you’re dressed.”
She glanced down at her wrinkled shirt. “But not very presentable. We’re supposed to have lunch with Rosie and Herb.”
“Okay, I have an idea. There’s a compact washer and dryer in Cade’s cabin.”
“Wow, it really is fitted out well.”
“It is. So let’s quickly get the outside of this van looking good and then head on up there. I can at least dry your clothes and you can fix your hair.”
She hadn’t even thought about her hair, but when she ran her hand over it she discovered the braid was coming loose. Not surprising. Everything had come loose a few minutes ago.
She hopped down from the van. “Great idea. Matilda doesn’t need more than another quick rinse and a toweling off. That’s good enough.”
“Got it. Stand back.”
Moving to the edge of the slab, she watched him hose down the van. He was poetry in motion, his back muscles shifting invitingly as he worked. Normally cowboys wore shirts, long-sleeved ones at that. The fabric protected their arms from thorny bushes and rough fence posts.
She understood the need for shirts most of the time, but it seemed a shame that Brant stayed dressed. Washing vehicles might be one of the few times he could go bare-chested. Well, that and jumping into bed with a willing woman.
She looked forward to spending an entire night with him. He’d seen every naked inch of her today, but she still had uncharted territory to explore when it came to Brant Ellison. She couldn’t wait.
After he turned off the hose he threw her a towel. “You take the lower half and I’ll take the upper.”
“Makes sense. I’ll follow you.”
“No, I should follow you so I can see where you left off and dry from there on up.”
“Brant, that’s crazy. I can just as easily see where you left off and dry from there on down.”
He started laughing. “I know. I just wondered if you’d buy it. I want to ogle your ass.”
“And I want to ogle yours! I thought of it first, so move it, cowboy.”
“That’s why you said you’d follow me?”
“You think you’re the only one with sex on the brain?”
His eyes gleamed. “Obviously not.” Turning toward the van, he slapped the towel on the roof. “Enjoy the show.” He started humming and gyrating his hips as he worked.
She lost it. The harder she laughed, the more he exaggerated his movements.
“This van won’t dry itself, you know,” he called out. “Better hop to it, Danes.”
“I can’t!” She gasped and held her aching sides. “Not with you dancing around like a stripper!”
He paused long enough to grin at her. “Then maybe I should follow you.”
“That won’t work anymore. You’re way ahead of me.”
“Oh.” He walked over, turned on the hose and sprayed the side of the van again. “Problem solved. Over to you.”
“All right.” She wondered if they’d make it back to the cabin before lunch. But her clothes were nearly dry and she could redo her hair easily enough, so maybe it didn’t matter how long the job took. Besides, payback would be sweet.
Positioning herself beside the van, she began toweling it dry at shoulder height. Normally she would have crouched to get the lower section. Instead she moved her feet apart and bent slowly at the waist.
His sharp intake of breath told her she’d achieved her goal. She pretended not to notice as she moved to the next section and repeated the maneuver. Halfway down she glanced over her shoulder and discovered him staring fixedly at her ass. The fly of his jeans was stretched as tight as it had been earlier that day. “This van won’t dry itself, you know. Better hop to it, Ellison.”
“You win.” His voice was husky. “But let the record show that you fight dirty.”
“So do you.” Walking over to him, she looped the towel around the back of his neck and tugged. “Now come down here and kiss me.”
“I’d like to do a hell of a lot more than that.”
“I know.” She wiggled against the bulge in his jeans.
“Stop.” He cupped her bottom and held it still. “I’m going to kiss you and then I’m going to finish drying your van while you sit quietly on your sexy tush.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It doesn’t begin to describe what I want.” His fingers flexed in a slow massage. “You know exactly what I want, but I can’t have that now. So I’ll settle for this.” His lips came down and he kissed her most thoroughly while his fingers continued their rhythmic kneading motion.
She clutched the ends of the towel and hung on for dear life. When he finally lifted his head, she was gasping and her panties were damp once again. She gulped for air. “I guess I should learn not to mess with you.”
He took a shaky breath. “On the contrary. I love it when you mess with me. Keep it up.”
“I’ll bet we’re running out of time, though.”
He glanced up at the sun. Typical cowboy, checking the position of the sun instead of a smartphone. “Yeah, we are.”
“We don’t have to go back to the cabin. My clothes are dry and I can tidy up my hair right here.”
His eyes brightened. “Let me undo it for you.” Reaching behind her back, he deftly unwound the elastic holding the end of her braid, then combed his fingers through the strands, gradually loosening the braid until her hair fell in waves down her back. “Here you go.” He handed the elastic to her.
“Where’d you learn how to unfasten a braid?”
“Horses. I’ve braided and unbraided plenty of manes and tails.”
Some women might have been insulted but she wasn’t. “I used to do that all the time with Lucy. Pegasus, too. I’d forgotten that.” She closed her eyes as he massaged her scalp and combed the last tangles from her hair. She marveled that his fingers could both arouse and soothe. Versatile guy. “That feels good.”
“Hope so. I’ve been wanting to take your hair down ever since you arrived.”
Keeping her eyes closed, she basked in the feeling of being cared for. “Do you treat the horses this nicely?”
“Not quite. Their hair isn’t as silky.” His breath warmed her mouth. “And I didn’t feel like doing this, either.” His lips touched hers in a feather-light kiss. Then he changed angles and increased the pressure, but not by much.
So sweet. She let go of the towel and cradled his head with the same easy touch. But soft kisses, she discovered, could get her just as hot as demanding ones. Her grip tightened and she thrust her tongue into his mouth.
With a deep groan he responded and in seconds they were plastered together again and breathing hard. He was the one to end it. Grasping her by the shoulders, he set her gently away from him. As his chest heaved and his hands trembled, he gazed into her eyes. “Damn, Aria.”
“Damn, Brant.” Looking up at him, she fought the urge to launch herself into his arms.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Last night I was thinking we needed to get comfortable with this attraction so we wouldn’t have any tension when we worked with Linus. Do you think we’re comfortable with each other yet?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe you should kiss me some more.”
“I didn’t mean to kiss you that time, let alone kiss you some more. But when you closed your eyes and sighed, I couldn’t help it.”
�
�Did I sigh?” She didn’t remember, but she might have. She’d felt so...cherished.
“Yep. It was this teeny, tiny exhale, as if you were surrendering to the moment.”
“That’s exactly how I felt.” She met his gaze. “You have that kind of effect on me.”
“I think we both know the effect you have on me. Once we’re in polite company I’ll have to lock that down.”
“Speaking of polite company, I think I hear a truck out front.”
He blew out a breath. “Me, too. Probably Herb. How about you go sit on that old stool beside the barn and rebraid your hair while I do a half-assed job on your van? Lunch will be served soon.”
“Okay.” She located the stool and brought it over closer. “Really, don’t worry about the van. At least the dust has been washed off.”
“And it’s covered in water spots. I don’t want it looking worse than when we started.” He picked up the hose and sprayed the van for the third time.
“I thought you didn’t care about your rep?”
“I don’t, but when Cade and Lexi see those water spots, they’ll have a fair idea why it looks like that. Rosie and Herb probably will, too.”
“So it’s my rep you’re protecting.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” Feeling like a princess, she sat and finger-combed her hair while she watched him dry the van quickly. Man, he was beautiful to look at. She forced herself to concentrate on her braid when she’d much rather focus on that gorgeous cowboy.
By the time she finished with her hair, he was almost done with the van. Then she heard another vehicle out front. “Somebody else is here.”
“Yeah, I heard them pull in. Rosie tells people to drop by for lunch whenever they feel like it, so they do. She always has plenty of food.” He gave the fender one last wipe. “That’ll have to do.”
“It looks fabulous.”
“No, it doesn’t. I failed to wash your vehicle properly, sweet lady.” He grinned at her. “Can’t say I’m sorry.”
She laughed. “Neither am I.”
“Go ahead and drive it back around.” He coiled the hose. “I’ll gather up this stuff and join you there.”
“How about I meet you in front of Lucy and Linus’s stall? I’d like to touch base with them before lunch.”
He smiled and walked over to bracket her face with both hands. “I like that you’re still focused on them, even after all this.”
“Everything sort of goes together, don’t you think?” She captured his hands and pressed them to her cheeks.
“I do.” He looked into her eyes.
She could see the soft glow building there and knew where it would lead. “Don’t kiss me.”
With a heavy sigh he released her and stepped back. “See you in the barn.”
“You can’t kiss me in there, either.”
“That’s what you think.” He walked away and began gathering up towels.
“Seriously, you can’t. We need to chill.”
He glanced at her with a wicked grin.
“I’m leaving.” Adrenaline pumping through her, she hopped in the van and managed to get it started even though she was quivering with excitement. Brant was becoming a little too hot to handle. But that wouldn’t stop her from meeting him in the barn in five minutes.
9
BRANT PUT ON his shirt and tucked it into his jeans before walking through the back door of the barn. Good thing he did, because he stepped right into a crowd of folks standing in front of Lucy and Linus’s stall. They’d been keeping their voices down in deference to the mother and foal or he would have heard them earlier.
Or maybe not. He was still dazed by what had happened. They were moving way too fast but he couldn’t seem to slow down and obviously neither could she.
Herb was standing by the stall with Aria, along with his foster brother and best bud, Ty Slater, who worked for a law firm in Cheyenne. “Hey.” He clasped Ty’s outstretched hand and pulled him into a bear hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were driving up?”
“Rosie called and said you’d come earlier than you’d planned. I told her I wanted to surprise you.” Ty was all smiles as he stepped back and slipped his arm around the waist of a tall blonde. “This is Whitney.”
“Ah.” Brant took both of her hands in his and looked into her steady blue gaze. As he’d suspected from listening to Ty back in December, she was perfect for him. On Christmas Eve, Ty had been a disaster zone, but since then he’d worked everything out with the love of his life. They’d bought a house in Cheyenne and wedding bells should be ringing soon.
Brant gave her hands a friendly squeeze and released them. “I’ve heard a lot about you, ma’am.”
“I could say the same. It’s good to finally meet you.”
“Well, just so you know, Tyrone has a vivid imagination. You can believe about fifty percent of what he puts out there.”
She smiled. “Funny, but that’s exactly what he says about you. And I’ve been talking with Aria, who seems to agree with his assessment.”
“Floating foals,” Aria said. “Ty and Whitney got a charge out of that one.”
“Don’t go picking on my boy.” Herb came over to clap a hand on Brant’s shoulder. “He kids around when he wants to ease a tense situation. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s exactly right.” He chose not to look at Aria. They’d managed to ease a tense situation in a completely different manner, but what happened behind the barn stayed behind the barn.
“You never know for sure how things will go during a birth,” Herb said. “Fortunately this one was easy, but then again, having Brant there to soothe Lucy might have had something to do with it.”
“I’m sure it did,” Aria said, all teasing gone from her voice. “Plus, I give him credit for how confident Linus is already.”
“Hey, it’s not all me. I’m convinced he was born with a sunny disposition. Confidence may be his normal setting, which means we lucked out.”
“Whatever the reason, he’s adorable.” Whitney gazed at the colt. “I’ve never seen a day-old colt before, but I’m already a fan.”
“He should be a good one.” During the conversation, Brant had watched Linus’s reaction to having unfamiliar visitors. Although the foal had kept tabs on his mother, he’d also pranced around a good bit as if the company didn’t bother him. But it was probably time to get everyone out of the barn and let mother and baby rest. “Herb, how soon is lunch?”
“I’ll bet it’s ready, so we should get a move on.” Herb caught his signal. “Lexi and Cade are up there helping, and I can guarantee Rosie’s excited to see Ty and Whitney.”
Brant knew that was true. When Rosie’s boys came home it was always cause for celebration. Ten minutes later, as all eight people crowded around the kitchen table, Rosie had never looked happier. She and Herb had intended to have a big family but that hadn’t worked out. Instead they’d taken in a whole passel of foster boys over the years and had created a different kind of family.
Inevitably talk at the table focused on those days. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought up the day Ty had challenged him to a fight. Chances were good that Aria hadn’t heard about the incident and everyone else at the table would feel she needed to.
Ty ended up being the one to broach the subject. He glanced across the table at Aria. “Has anyone told you about the time I tried to pick a fight with this guy?” He motioned toward Brant with his fork.
She sat forward. “Nope, but it sounds like a good story.”
The energy in the room spiked and Brant sighed. He was sick to death of this tale, but everyone else at Thunder Mountain Ranch seemed to think it was an epic event that had to be relived on a regular basis. Aria represented another opportunity to dust it off.
Cade leaned back in his chair. “Rock on. This is a classic Thunder Mountain legend.”
“Absolutely.” Lexi nodded. “One of my favorites.”
“It’s grow
ing moss,” Brant said. “Aria really doesn’t need to be put through it.”
“Oh, but I want to be put through it.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “I’ve heard vague references, but never the nitty-gritty.”
“Then here goes.” Ty looked over at Brant. “You can all see the size of this cowboy. He was almost that large at fifteen.”
“I was not.” Brant rolled his eyes. “You make me sound like Paul Bunyan.”
“Great comparison!” Lexi gave him a thumbs-up. “That’s how the other guys thought of him, right, Cade?”
“Sure did.” Cade folded his arms and smiled, obviously enjoying having Brant on the hot seat. “I’m pretty sure we had you chop down the Christmas tree every year with your mighty ax.”
“I did it once my senior year. That’s it.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Ty waved the issue away. “The point is, Brant was the biggest guy at the ranch when I arrived. I was mad at the world and spoiling for a fight.”
“In other words, a PITA,” Cade said.
“I admit I was a pain in the ass, but damn it, there was Brant, smiling at everyone, making jokes, acting as if the world was just a bowl of cherries, and it pissed me off.”
Brant groaned. “You make me sound like Little Orphan Annie. I wasn’t like that.”
“Yeah, you were,” Cade said. “A cross between Paul Bunyan and Little Orphan Annie.”
Lexi made a face. “That’s a disturbing image.”
“My point is that if Brant hadn’t been so big, guys would’ve picked on him for being so damned cheerful all the time. But we weren’t about to needle somebody who could smash us flat.” Cade looked over at Aria. “Ty, however, had no more sense than a horsefly and decided to take him on.”
“Aw, he wasn’t serious.” Brant appealed to Ty. “You were just fooling around, right? Let’s set the record straight once and for all.”
“Sorry, but they’re right. I wanted to be David to your Goliath. I wanted to wipe that irritating grin off your face.”
“So he went for the big guy,” Cade said, “throwing punch after punch, and Brant just stood there taking it until Ty ran out of steam.”
Cowboy All Night (Thunder Mountain Brotherhood, Book 5) Page 9