by Becky McGraw
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
He kissed her hair, and she leaned her head on his chest, to mumble, “It was worth it to see you smile.” Dean’s heart wiggled in his chest. “You’re always so damned grumpy, this is a definite improvement.”
“I have a lot on my plate,” Dean replied defensively. He knew he was not the nicest person in the world. Considering what he’d been through, this was as nice as it got. And good as it was likely ever to get again. Nice hadn’t gotten him a damned place except broke in more ways than one. “Besides I don’t do nice.”
“You should do nice with your son. He loves you, and sometimes you’re outright mean to him. I know your ex-wife is a bitch, but don’t take it out on him.”
Dean loosened his hold on her as anger replaced the laughter in his soul. “That’s the second time you’ve challenged me about my son. You’ve been here a total of three days, and you make assumptions you have no business making,” Dean replied shortly. He pushed her off of his lap, then stood, leaving her sitting on the ground staring up at him. “When you’ve walked in my shoes, make all the assumptions you want to make. Until then, keep your damned opinions to yourself. I don’t want ‘em.”
“I am walking in your shoes,” Tina said as she scrambled up to her feet. “I have a six-year-old niece whose mother decided she doesn’t want to be a mother, so she leaves her with me to raise so she can chase cowboys. I don’t treat Laney like she’s an inconvenience. The kid deserves better. It’s not her fault,” she said. Taking a step back from him, she put her hands on her hips and looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes. “I love her like a daughter, because she doesn’t understand why her mother doesn’t.”
“My shoes are a little bigger than that,” Dean replied, and it was his turn to look off at the trees. This wasn’t a discussion he was going to have with this woman who he barely knew.
“How big then? There’s really no reason I can think of for you not to be more open and loving with your son.”
Dean’s gaze swung back to her. His fists clenched, along with his teeth. “I have my reasons, and they are none of your business.”
“Knowing you’re loved is important to a kid,” Tina persisted.
“Saying you love someone isn’t nearly as important as showing them,” Dean countered. “Words are cheap. Working your ass off to provide for someone shows them you love them. Making sure they know right from wrong.”
“Words are cheap. Why does it have to be one way or the other?” Tina volleyed back. “Why can’t you show him and tell him?”
This woman was smart and quick. And this conversation was over. “We need to get to the pond, so we can get back to the house before dark,” he said gruffly.
“Avoiding the issue isn’t going to solve it,” Tina replied.
“Neither will beating a dead horse. I need to get back to the ranch soon. If you want to see the location, just drop it and let’s get this done.”
That’s what this subject was to him. A dead horse. Dean put his hands at her small waist and hefted her up into the saddle, then picked up Blaze’s reins and mounted behind her. The picnic lunch in the saddlebags wasn’t going to be eaten out by the lake today. His mood was now as black as the clouds he saw gathering in the distance. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking anyway when he asked his mother to pack it for them.
The best thing he could do would be show her this location and take the damned pictures. The longer Tina Montgomery stayed at the ranch, the more unsettled he would become.
She was nosy, intrusive and she asked too many damned questions.
Dean had worked damned hard to find some shred of peace in his soul these last three years, and he thought he was getting close. He was not going to let this little bundle of questions upset that apple cart. She could take her damned pictures, then get the hell away from him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dean led Blaze onto the narrow, muddy path that someone might miss if they weren’t paying attention. He was definitely paying attention, because he was determined to get this trip over with as soon as possible. Riding double with this woman had not been a good idea at all. As if her unwanted questions weren’t bad enough, the entire ride her firm round ass had been pressed against his fly, sliding up and down as the horse moved.
The friction had caused his problem to crop up again. He felt like a damned teenager, and was afraid he would come in his jeans like one if he didn’t keep Blaze at a walk. Not only had that made the trip to the back of the property twice as long as usual, it had been slow, agonizing torture. Tina Montgomery was right, he did need to get laid. He couldn’t wait to get out of the saddle for a few minutes to walk off the stiffness in his muscles and behind his fly.
Under the thick canopy of trees, the temperature dropped and he felt a shiver pass through the woman riding in front of him. The same kind of shiver he’d felt move through her body earlier when she’d gotten turned on. That she’d had an orgasm on this horse was totally amazing to him and still damned funny. He’d laugh about it later though, because right now he had other issues of his own to deal with.
Then another thought smacked him in the head. He’d like to watch her beautiful face as she came. The soft dreamy look that women got when they found their pleasure always did it for him too. Knowing he had put that look there was a complete turn on. Then the realization dawned that all he seemed to think about when she was within fifteen feet of him was sex.
For a man who had been a sexual camel for three years now, a man who avoided even thinking about it because he didn’t want to torture himself, that fact was astonishing. And it had to stop. Dean had priorities and having a woman in his life was not one of them. He was doing this shoot for money, pure and simple. She would give him that money, he would buy the stock or pay off Hope, and she’d take her pretty little ass back to Dallas.
Maybe then his life would get back to normal.
“How would the crew get back here with all their equipment?” Tina asked softly, interrupting his thoughts.
“There’s an access road on the other side of the lake. It’s rough going, but you can get back there by truck.”
“Good, because I don’t think we’d be able to get Paulo on a horse,” she said with a laugh and the light tinkling sound lifted his mood a notch. The image of the prissy hairdresser on a horse lifted it another notch. “And the photographer is pregnant, so she can’t get on a horse. Cord would run me out of town if I even suggested it.”
“Yeah, my brother is a mite protective of his wife.” If Dean suggested it his brother wouldn’t just run him out of town, he would probably beat the crap out of him.
Tina snorted, and the sound was so damned cute, Dean couldn’t help but smile. Tina’s stomach rumbled under his palm, and he didn’t think it was laughter. “You hungry?” he asked.
“Starving. It was stupid, but I skipped breakfast this morning. I was excited about the shoot,” she admitted.
It looked like they’d be having that picnic after all. It had taken over an hour to ride back there, and it would be an hour back to the house. By the time they got back, she would be gnawing her arm off. Or his. And he had brought lunch for a reason. If she went back to the ranch hungry and his Mama found out they hadn’t eaten the lunch she took the time to pack, she was going to be mad. “Yeah, that was stupid. You’re lucky I had Mama pack us lunch.”
Dean wasn’t going to call it a picnic, because that made this sound too much like a date. Picnics by the lake on a beautiful sunny day like today were his idea of the perfect date. They hadn’t been Cindy’s idea of one though. She had liked to party and dragged him down to the Electric Cowboy. That is where he’d met her in the first place.
He thought he’d probably never go back there again. He hadn’t even gone there for his brother’s wedding reception because of the bad memories associated with the place. Those days were over for him.
Tina gasped, and Dean thought she might have sto
pped breathing when he walked Blaze off of the horse path into the clearing by the lake. He pulled to a stop and waited while she took it all in. Evidently this place affected her the same way it did him.
The sun sparkling on the water was almost too bright to look at. The browns of the cattails on the other side of the pond in contrast to the blanket of bluebonnets behind them looked like they’d been painted by God’s paintbrush. Even though he’d lived on this ranch his entire life, been to this spot frequently, the sight did the same thing to him every time he came here.
It was that beautiful. And peaceful.
Until the other day, he hadn’t been out here in over a year though. He hadn’t been out here with a woman since he was a teenager. This was a good necking spot. He brought girls out here a lot then. The romantic spot was guaranteed to get him what he was looking for. He hadn’t thought about more than it being a pretty spot when he suggested riding back here. But now he realized maybe that’s why he suddenly decided to bring Tina out here today.
He glanced down at the top of Tina Montgomery’s head. The bright sun on her dark hair made it appear like she was wearing a halo. He could just catch the faint hint of her shampoo. Something fruity. He inhaled, and Dean knew he was in deep trouble.
“It’s absolutely perfect,” she said on a breathless whisper.
Dean kneed Blaze to lead him around toward the end of the lake. The bluebonnet field would be as good a place as any for a picnic. For lunch, he corrected in his mind. No picnics, and no kissing. Kissing her again would make promises his bankrupt soul couldn’t fulfill. Dean had nothing left to give a woman. Cindy had sucked him dry emotionally.
Tina Montgomery was one of those soft, flowery women who would expect hearts and flowers. Dean’s hearts and flowers days were long behind him.
“I thought it would be a good place for pictures,” he said gruffly, as he rounded the row of cattails and walked Blaze into the field. It would probably be too damp closer to the lake, so he moved a little further into the field before he stopped. He swung out of the saddle, then reached up to lift Tina down. He stepped away from her quickly. As soon as her feet touched the ground. She looked up at him curiously. Dean turned his back on her to remove the saddle bags from behind the saddle.
“Thanks for bringing me out here. It will be perfect for the photos.”
It was perfect for a helluva lot more than that and that seemed to be all he could think about. He felt her eyes on his back, but he didn’t look at her.
“No problem,” he said as he brushed past her to kneel down and unload the bags.
He unpacked the blanket first, spread it over the ground then laid the sandwiches and fruit out. He yanked two bottles of water out then tossed the bags to the side.
“Eat,” he said brusquely as he sat on the corner of the blanket. She sat on the opposite corner and Dean realized that the blanket that fit in his saddle bag was entirely too small. He could still smell that damned shampoo, because she wasn’t two feet from him.
Maybe if he pissed her off she wouldn’t have that soft look in her eyes that wonder in her voice and he could think straight. He knew it was more a reminder to himself than a warning to her when he said, “Um, don’t get any ideas from me doing this.”
“Ideas?” Tina repeated dumbly as she unwrapped her sandwich.
“You know. I’m not interested in a relationship with you. This is not a date. I’m just trying to help you with the photo shoot, so we can get this over with.”
“God forbid you should consider dating a woman, right? That wouldn’t fit in with your tortured, wronged cowboy persona, now would it? What excuse would you have for being mad at the world then?” she asked in a sing-song voice.
His eyes flew to hers. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I don’t think you want to be happy again. You’re hiding behind your anger. Being so nasty keeps people from getting too close. That way you don’t get hurt again.”
“Thanks for the analysis, Dr. Phil,” he said sarcastically. “Where did you get your psychology degree? Latest prize in your box of Cracker Jacks? Or was it a two-for-one special with your driver’s ed course?” Dean shook his head, hoping that would shut her up. He gnawed a bite off of his sandwich, chewed then took a long drink of his water, before he said, “Again, mind your own fucking business.”
“You’re hurting your son,” she said softly and his sandwich stuck in his throat. He glanced over at her and noticed she wasn’t eating. She was too busy judging him evidently. Analyzing him. And getting entirely too close to the mark.
“Well, you are hurting me with all your bullshit,” he growled. This woman had some gall that was for sure. “You don’t know me or my situation from Adam, and you have no right to judge me. If you want to do this photo shoot you won’t bring up this shit again.” Dean shoved his sandwich back in the bag and tossed it onto the blanket. He wasn’t hungry now, he had a knot in his gut. Because of her. “Now eat your sandwich, I’m ready to get the hell out of here.”
“You’re scared…a coward,” Tina Montgomery challenged. She leaned forward to pick up the baggie with her sandwich. “And you’re a bully.”
“Any other virtues you want to list?” Dean asked with anger building inside him like lava inside a volcano. If she didn’t stop he was definitely going to erupt soon. “I don’t give a damn what you think about me.”
“Well you should at least care what your son thinks,” she said evenly, removing the plastic from the sandwich. “You want him to grow up being like that? Because that is what’s going to happen.”
Dean shoved up to his feet. “Goddamn, you have a lot of nerve, lady!” he shouted, staring down at her with his hands on his hips. “Since I’m your only ride back to the house. I suggest you just drop it.”
“And I suggest you sit back down and finish your sandwich. I’m just saying what someone should have said to you a long time ago. It’s time for you to man up and stop feeling sorry for yourself.” She calmly ate another bite off the corner of her sandwich and chewed.
Well one good thing came of her continuing to run her mouth. Dean was not thinking about sex now. He was too busy thinking about strangling her. His eyes fell on his half-eaten sandwich, and his stomach growled. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was still hungry, or because of the acid swirling there. It sure didn’t look like she was in any hurry to finish her sandwich. He thought about leaving her ass there to walk home, but he sat down on the blanket instead.
His mother would probably kill him if he did that, if there was anything left after Hope finished with him. “What it’s time for is for you to shut the hell up,” Dean said shortly, as he jerked his sandwich up from the blanket.
Her face swung toward him, and her eyebrow lifted. His eyes fell to the dot of peanut butter at the corner of her full lips. A chill skated along his spine when her pink tongue darted out to swipe it away. “Make me,” she invited with a small cocky smile. Dean watched her lips move, but didn’t hear the words over the pounding of his heart in his ears.
Make her? Is that what she said? There she went with her childish taunts again. Well, Dean was about to teach her a lesson about being cute with him. He was going to shut up the aggravating woman the only way that seemed effective. She had pushed him far enough today. Right past the limit on his control. Dean tossed his sandwich over his shoulder onto the grass and wiped the crumbs off of his hands.
In a flash of movement he pounced, shoving her shoulders back onto the blanket, as he slammed his mouth over hers stifling her surprised shriek. Tina struggled under him for a moment, but then stilled. Her hand slid around his neck and a thrill shot straight down his spine to his dick. Dean held her down while he devoured her smart mouth in a punishing kiss. She moaned and shoved her other hand into his hair, knocking his hat off.
The birds sang in the trees, a slight breeze rustled through the leaves, and the sun beat down on his back, but Dean just kept kissing her like none of that existed. In
his mind it didn’t. All he could focus on was how good her body felt under him, how incredible her mouth tasted. Dean loved peanut butter and jelly, and with her lips in the flavor mix, he loved it even more. With another strangled moan, she wrapped her calf around the back of his thigh, and Dean knew it was time for him to slow down. If he didn’t, he wasn’t going to stop at kissing.
The kiss meant as punishment for her quickly became an erotic lesson to him. Don’t kiss Tina Montgomery again, because it would just make him want more. She wiggled her hips against him suggestively and Dean groaned then shifted off of her onto the blanket. And he had to quit kissing her, but he couldn’t make himself do it just yet. The kiss went on forever, took on a new dimension, and Dean was about at his snapping point when her small hand stroked over his erection. His whole body felt electrified as he groaned and jerked his mouth from hers.
“I can help you improve your attitude,” she offered with a tight squeeze.
Dean squeezed his eyes shut, took heaving breaths then put his hand over hers to brush it aside. “No thank you. My attitude is just fine,” he said, rolling to his back to cover his eyes with his forearm. When he finally caught his breath and felt under control again he looked at her. “The best thing you can do is mind your own damned business and take your photos. Or you’ll be finding yourself another model. Don’t mention my son to me again.”
She held his gaze a moment, then must’ve figured out he was serious. Her lips pinched, and she nodded. Tina sat up and gathered up the lunch trash, then rose and found the saddle bag to stuff it inside. “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go back.”
Dean could practically feel her anger like a force field around her. That she was angry wasn’t a bad thing though. Perhaps if he was lucky she would stay mad until she left and he had a chance of keeping his sanity. Dean licked his lips and he could still taste her salty sweet flavor there. The nerves on his tongue sizzled, and he had a moment of regret that he’d never find out if she tasted like that all over her curvy body.