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  “You aimin’ to find out?”

  Blonde #2 scowled. “Have at him. I’ll meetcha by the truck in an hour,” she said and disappeared.

  “My name’s Jen,” Blonde #1 cooed and squeezed her curvy body between his widespread knees.

  “Carter.”

  “So, Carter. You up for a wild, no-holds-barred rodeo?” Her hands slid up the inside of his legs. She found the bulge beneath his zipper and stroked until his dick sprang to life.

  Whoa. It’d been a while since he’d played this game and apparently speed rules had been enacted in the interim.

  Jen nestled her breasts against his chest, leaning on the tips of her high-heeled boots to whisper in his ear. “Mmm. You are a big one.”

  Carter sucked in a harsh breath as she continued to work his cock through his jeans.

  In public. He scooted back. “Uh. Thanks.”

  “Bet I can figure out what you want. ’Course, it’ll take me more than eight seconds to make my guess.” She giggled, “But that’s okay. You’ll appreciate that I am very thorough.”

  “Um, yeah, maybe we should—”

  “This is fun, talkin’ about what makes you hot and bothered. What makes you horny.” She dragged her tongue up the side of his neck. “Ooh. You’re awful quiet. A shy one. Big and shy. My favorite kind.” She tsk tsked. “Now you know I’m just gonna have to talk dirty to loosen you up, Bashful. So…are you thinking about me blowing you?

  Sliding this big cock in and out of my mouth?”

  His tongue stuck to the back of his teeth. He got extremely hot under the collar. But the greedy part of his brain reminded him that he hadn’t been laid in months and conjured up the image of her on her knees unfastening his jeans. Watching her eager lips open and swallow his dick to the root. Seeing his cock smeared with bubblegum pink lipstick as it tunneled in and out of her swollen mouth until he exploded inside that hot, wet cavern, and pulling out to watch his come dripping down her chin.

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  “Ah, yeah. That’d be good.”

  “You’d better believe it’d be very good.” Her tongue swirled around the shell of his ear like she was licking the head of his cock. “Me getting your cock good and wet. Your hands holding my hair as tightly as a bullrope. Your hips thrusting against my face like you was ridin’ a bronc. Arching your back, keeping the strokes steady. Can’t you see it?

  Can’t you almost feel it?”

  Carter couldn’t make himself leave. And he sure as shit couldn’t stop his sex from pulsing with eagerness. “Why don’t you—”

  She nipped his earlobe hard enough to draw blood. “Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn’t let you come that fast, Bashful. I’d back off. Use my teeth as you pulled your cock out. Then I’d play with your balls. Suck them. Roll them over my tongue like hard candy. Mmm. I love candy. I’d use my hand to build you back up. Slowly.”

  His cock throbbed as her fingernails repeatedly scraped the full length of it. He bit back a groan, not sure if it was one of dismay or encouragement.

  “Then I’d bring your cock back into my mouth and finish you off. I’d swallow every hot drop until you had nothing left.”

  “Sweet Jesus.” This chick—was beginning to scare him.

  “Does that sound good?”

  “Ah—”

  “I do believe I’ve left you tongue-tied, cowboy.” Jen stepped back and licked her lips suggestively. “So what do you say we put that idle tongue of yours to better use?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Annoyance crossed her face at his less than enthusiastic response. “I laid it all out for you. What do you want?”

  To escape, he thought even when his dick had other ideas.

  A flash of sunlight drew his awareness to a figure in front of the arena. A woman with long, shiny hair the color of burnished mahogany.

  For a second the woman faltered. She seemed to sense him staring at her. She turned.

  Their eyes met.

  Everything inside him went tight and still.

  It was her, the image that’d been haunting him. Right here. Flesh and bone. He could study her. Sketch her. God, he could touch her sun-warmed tawny skin. Mold her www.samhainpublishing.com 23

  Lorelei James

  curvaceous body with his hands so he could immortalize her perfection in clay. In wood.

  In steel.

  Then she vanished into the crowd like an apparition.

  Carter leapt off the fence and readjusted the softening bulge behind his zipper.

  “Hey! Where you goin’? I thought you were up for a rodeo?”

  “Sorry. Gotta see a man about a horse.” He raced after the woman and didn’t look back.

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  Chapter Four

  Macie made it halfway across the rodeo grounds when the fine hair on the back of her neck stood up. She glanced over at the paddock and saw her brooding bad boy with one of the bimbos standing between his wide-spread thighs. But he wasn’t paying attention to sure-thing-blondie; he stared directly at her. Intensely. Intimately. Hungrily.

  Something hot and elemental passed between them. When he started for her, she hustled through the throng of people. About thirty seconds later she was spun around and found herself gazing into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

  Sexy, brooding man said, “It is you.” His rough hands framed her face. “My God.

  You’re exactly—”

  Flustered, she knocked his mitts away. “You can’t just grab any woman—”

  “You’re not any woman. I grabbed you because you’ve been in my head for the last damn month and it’s drivin’ me crazy. Who are you?”

  Macie snorted. “That is the worst pick up line I’ve ever heard.”

  Those blue, blue eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t a pick up line.”

  “Good thing, because it sure as hell isn’t working.”

  “Look. Let’s start over. I’m an artist. And I’d like—”

  “—to show me your etchings?” She snickered.

  “Har har. I really am an artist.”

  “Yeah? So was the last guy I was involved with. Been there, done that, have the tie-dyed T-shirt and the roach clip to prove it. Move along, Picasso.”

  “You always such a smartass?”

  “Better than being a dumbass. Which is what you are if you think I’m gonna fall for your line of bullshit. Move.”

  He cocked his head. “Interestin’.”

  “What?”

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  “That you have the face of an Indian princess and the mouth of a truck driver.”

  Against her better judgment, Macie smiled. “I’ll admit that line was better.”

  “I ain’t usin’ a line on you.” Serious once again, he stared at her steadily. “What’s your name?”

  “What’s yours?” she countered.

  “Carter.”

  She mimicked his posture and cocked her head. “Interestin’.”

  “What?”

  “That you have the face of a Viking warrior and the name of a Georgia peanut farmer.”

  His enormous grin, with a side of deep-set dimples, nearly knocked her off her game.

  Damn. This Carter guy was trouble with a capital ‘T’.

  “You always such a smart-mouth?”

  She shrugged. “It’s a gift.”

  “Or a curse.” Still smiling, he leaned closer. “So, what is your name?”

  “Macie.”

  “Pretty. A little odd, a little flowery, but it fits you.”

  Macie frowned. “Was that an insult?”

  “Not at all. Anyway, Amazin’ Macie. You from around here?”

  “No.”

  “Just passin’ through?”

  “Yep.”

  “With who? By yourself? Or with your family?”

&nbs
p; “A little of both.”

  One dark blond brow winged up. “Meaning?”

  “I came here by myself, but I’m meeting my dad. Going where the road takes us.

  Looking for work and adventure.” Her brain urged her to walk away; her legs didn’t listen. “What about you? You from around here?”

  “Nope. I’m on a day trip. I live in Wyoming.”

  “Where you’re an artist.”

  “Yep.”

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  “What’s your area of study?” She held up her palm. “And if you say female nudes, I’m totally out of here.”

  A cagey grin curled his mouth, making him look oh-so-naughty. “I’ll tell you exactly what magic I can create with these hands if you let me buy you beer.”

  Hell yes. Then maybe you could give me a hands-on demonstration of your magical hands.

  No. Bad, bad idea, Macie.

  “I’ll pass.”

  “Whoa.” His strong grip around her forearm kept her from bolting. “Just one beer.

  It’ll give me a chance to explain why I chased…” A sound, half sigh/half groan rumbled from his chest. Then the blunt tip of his finger traced the outline of her face from her temple to her chin and down the curve of her throat. “Goddamn. You are stunning. I want to paint you like this. Fire and interest warring in your eyes.”

  “Carter—”

  “Say it again,” he growled. “I wanna hear my name on your sweet lips as I’m touchin’ them.” The rough pad of his thumb slowly swept her bottom lip. He stared into her eyes. “So soft. And warm. A perfect fit for mine.”

  The way he was looking at her made her feel like she’d suddenly developed a case of sunstroke. No man ever acted like he wanted to crawl inside her head, mark her soul his and claim her body as his own.

  You just met him. No one feels that. It’s a trick.

  “Carter—”

  “Say yes, Macie.”

  “Say yes to what?”

  “To everything I ask you.”

  Her stomach cartwheeled.

  “It sounds crazy, we just met, but I know you. I want…”

  “Want what, Picasso?” she murmured.

  “You’re playin’ with fire, askin’ me that question, darlin’.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “’Cause my very explicit answer would make you blush like a virgin and run screamin’ for the Black Hills.”

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  Everything surrounding them—sunlight, tinny music from the carnival, whoops from the grandstand, the sugary, greasy scent of fried Twinkies—faded into the background.

  Boldly, she said, “Try me.”

  Carter’s shaking fingers smoothed a flyaway hair from her cheek. “Oh, I’d try you.

  I’d test you. I see what your eyes are offerin’ me, and I’d take it all, without apology.”

  Totally out of your league with this man, Macie. Cut and run.

  “And then?”

  “Then I’d give that need, that passion, that obsession, that control, that lust—right back to you. Times ten.”

  Pure sexual heat overloaded her circuits. “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh. Not what you expected?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that kind of fascination isn’t usually aimed my direction.”

  “Straightforward. I like that. I expected you to play coy.” The back of his fingers continued to lightly caress her damp skin. “I want to paint you, sculpt you. Do you in every medium.”

  “You sure that wasn’t a line?”

  He shook his head. “There’s a reason we both ended up here today, Macie. Don’t know why, but I ain’t about to argue with fate. Or question my good fortune.”

  A hot tongue of desire licked along her veins.

  “So what’s your answer?”

  “Take your damn hand off my daughter.”

  Carter froze.

  “Move it or lose it, son,” Cash ordered. “Now.”

  Macie snapped out of her sexual stupor. “Back off, Dad.”

  “Like hell. Who is this joker?”

  Gemma said, “Cash, wait—”

  “I told you to stay away from—”

  “—you.” Macie stomped over and came nose to nose with her father. “Which I did.

  You can’t blame me for not waiting around for you to ditch me.” Again.

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  Cash’s eyes and his voice softened. “Oh, honey-girl, I ain’t gonna ditch you.” He shot Carter a dark look. “But it appears you decided to ditch me with the first loser wannabe cowboy that comes along, eh?”

  Gemma cleared her throat.

  Macie and Cash both swiveled to look at her.

  “Cash Big Crow, meet Carter McKay. Carter, Cash is the new foreman I hired for the Bar 9 Ranch. You two will be working together.”

  “You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Carter muttered.

  Macie frowned. Her dad had taken a job? What’d happened to them hitting the road this summer?

  “McKay?” Cash repeated. “You’re related to them slimeball McKays from up around Crook County?”

  Carter’s gaze hardened.

  “Cash! What a thing to say,” Gemma chided. “You’ve been friends with Colby McKay for years.”

  “I am friends with him, just as long as he and his wild brothers are far away from my only daughter.”

  “Macie is an adult,” Carter pointed out.

  “True,” Gemma said.

  “Jesus, Gem.” He threw his hands in the air. “You know the bad reputation them McKay boys have!”

  “With all due respect, sir, I’m nothin’ like my brothers.”

  Cash whirled on Carter. “Yeah? I ain’t some dumb Indian. I traveled the rodeo circuit with Colby. I know what he’s like—like breeds like, so I ain’t lettin’ a McKay within two miles of Macie.”

  “Well, that’s gonna be difficult, since we’ll all be living together on the Bar 9 for the next few months,” Gemma said dryly.

  “All? Me too?” Macie asked suspiciously. Her gaze darted from Gemma to her dad and back to Gemma.

  Gemma nodded. “You are welcome to stay as long as you want. Cash said he’d set up his camper for you. I’ll warn you there might be some chores involved if you’re living with me.”

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  Macie’s head spun. This was all happening way too fast; hooking up with her dad, him taking a new job on the spur of the moment, meeting the woman she suspected would be more than Dad’s new boss, and trying to figure out what weird connection she and Carter shared, mostly whether it was real or wishful thinking on her part.

  Her dad lowered his voice. “Truth is, I need this job. But I want to spend time with you, that’s why I’m here. Can we try it for awhile and see how it goes? If it don’t work, we can go on as planned?”

  What other choice did she have? Besides, wouldn’t this provide them with neutral ground? If trying to establish a father/daughter relationship wasn’t working, would it be easier to place blame on outside forces? Such as the stress of a new job, or romantic relationships or an unfamiliar setting? She could leave and he wouldn’t be forced to give up a good job opportunity. She briefly closed her eyes. “I guess.”

  “Then I guess it’s unanimous,” Carter said. “We’ll be one big, happy family all summer.”

  Cash took a menacing step toward Carter. “You ain’t part of the family. If I see you around I’ll kick your sorry—” Gemma grabbed Cash’s shirtsleeve and tugged him out of range.

  While Gemma and Cash argued, Macie glanced at a grinning Carter. “Why’re you smiling like that? He’d like to scalp you.”

  “I noticed. Your dad’s a bit protective, huh?”

  It was a surprise to her. />
  Carter moved until he loomed over her. “I am curious as to where he’s keepin’ your chastity belt.”

  “Funny.”

  “He won’t think so when he realizes nothin’ will keep me away from you this summer, Macie.” The sexual heat in his eyes changed the color from sky blue to indigo.

  “Nothin’.”

  “A little sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  “Yep. And I’ve got a few belts and ropes to keep you right where I want you, in case you need a little convincin’.”

  Sweet, hot pleasure rippled through her.

  Carter’s warm, firm lips grazed her ear. “I’ll come to you tonight, okay?”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

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  “It’s the best idea I’ve had in a long time. Be ready.”

  “For what?”

  “For me to be the man to give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

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  Chapter Five

  Gemma and Carter were lost in their own thoughts on the way back to the Bar 9.

  Once they hit the sagebrush and wide-open spaces of Wyoming, Gemma sighed. “Sorry to spring this on you, Carter. I was afraid if you knew I was lookin’ for another fulltime foreman—”

  “—that I’d bail on you? Come on, Gemma, you know me better than that. I promised I’d be here all summer. Despite the shitty opinion Cash has of the McKays, you know we always keep our word.”

  “That you do.”

  “What’s really goin’ on?”

  She didn’t take her eyes off the gray ribbon of bumpy road. “I wasn’t sure he’d say yes.”

  “So? It ain’t like he’s the only man for the job. Shoot, there’s lots of guys around here more than qualified.”

  Gemma angled her chin from Carter’s shrewd eyes so he couldn’t see her blush.

  “Hellfire and damnation. He is the only one you wanted, ain’t he?”

  She paused. “Yup.”

  Carter sighed. “I ain’t gonna ask why.”

  She probably couldn’t give him a good answer on that one even if he did ask.