by Lilian Darcy
“Sage, yeah. She’s a few years older than me. Dawson asks me about her, sometimes, so I pay attention when Aunt Kate gives me the Carrigan family news. Sage used to barrel-race, and she and Dawson knew each other on the circuit. I think she works pretty hard in that store of hers.”
“And he asks you about her. Why?”
He shrugged. “Not my business. Eat your candy.”
“I might. Bossy-pants.” She chose one and popped it in his mouth instead of her own, and he did the same back to her, and if he’d bought her the candy as a kind of pretty, copper-colored foreplay, well… it worked.
Oh boy, did it work!
In the secret darkness of the trailer, with rodeo noise all around them, he peeled off her fringed shirt and her bra and her jeans and her underwear so slowly he had time to plant slow kisses over every inch of her skin while his fingers moved. She was totally naked before he’d even taken off his boots, and she found it hugely erotic to feel his clothes against her skin as she swayed limp and utterly relaxed in his arms.
“Take another one of these,” he whispered, and pressed a sweet piece of chocolate into her mouth, then kissed it out again. They kissed until the taste of chocolate was all gone, and still he hadn’t undressed.
Tegan took matters into her own hands, and did to him exactly what he’d done to her, covering his body with the touch of her mouth as she found each new patch of silky warm skin.
“Never made love on a top bunk before,” he muttered. “But I’m sure it can be done.”
“It’ll be different. We can work it out,” she whispered back.
She climbed up first and he followed and they lay there face to face on top of the covers, grinning foolishly at each other. “Now what?” he said.
“Maybe we need to find some instructions,” she suggested.
“You kidding me? Men don’t need instructions.”
“Of course. I was forgetting…”
“We can all-l-l-ways find the way…”
He rolled his leg over her hip and nestled himself against her and his hand whispered against her breast. She didn’t know where it would go next, but somehow that didn’t matter, because they had all night to find out and nothing to get in the way.
At first there were some bumps and laughs because, seriously, a top bunk in a horse trailer didn’t provide a lot of room, but then they worked out a few things about lying sideways. He spooned against her from behind and reached around to hold her and cup her and touch her and slide his fingers into her warmest places, and when she finally rolled to face him again and he filled her, they took it so achingly slow and sweet Tegan thought the world might end and they would never even notice.
“So you know how to do it quick and you know how to do it slow,” she whispered to him afterward.
“I got all the bases covered, don’t I? Fast, slow… Is there anything else?”
“That’s it? Fast and slow?”
“Well, medium,” he conceded.
“Standing, lying, on top, underneath.”
“Wow, I never knew about any of those.”
“Nutcase, Jamie.”
“Well, I always aim to entertain.”
“You’re pretty good.”
“So are you.”
They lay together, warm and limp and very satisfied with themselves. She almost fell asleep, but Jamie was still touching her, lazy and liquid, no plan in mind, just touching her. Talking, too, very soft, words just spooling out as if he had all the time in the world and so much to say.
“You’re so sweet and beautiful. You make me laugh. You’re amazing. This is so good. Watching you eat that candy. Watching you undress. Watching you ride. You make me crazy.”
“I was wrong about you not knowing how to talk to women, Jamie,” she said, smiling at him in the dark. “Now I’m a bit afraid I’m not going to be able to shut you up.”
“I know a way…”
Turned out he did. His tongue was busy with other things for a long time, and he didn’t say a word.
CHAPTER TEN
He reached for her and she wasn’t there.
Jamie was a little shocked to discover how quickly this shot him awake. Half-asleep, he’d grown a little cold and wanted Tegan against him for the warmth… and probably another reason… but when he’d grabbed chilly air all the way to the edge of the bunk and discovered she wasn’t in it –
Yeah, he wasn’t half-asleep any more, he was firing on all cylinders.
He leaned out of the bunk to grope for his phone, kept just within reach down on the laminate counter-top of the trailer’s tiny kitchen area. It was four in the morning, said the glaring screen. Where had she gone? Didn’t she realize they hadn’t finished with each other yet? Had she gone back to her own trailer? Why would she do that?
He thought about letting it go. So what if she had gone back there? Maybe she was looking for some decent rest, for the last few hours of the night, to give herself a better chance in her event. He felt as if he’d slept like the dead, after all that sweetness together, but admittedly only for a handful of hours.
Now, he knew he wouldn’t get back to sleep if he didn’t have her beside him, or at least know where… and preferably also why… she’d gone.
Checking on her horse?
He grabbed a clean pair of jeans and some underwear, didn’t bother with socks or a shirt, just shoved his feet into a pair of gritty boots and slung on a padded jacket, then stepped out beneath the stars.
On the edge of a Montana town at this time of night in the clear air of fall, they were so thick in the sky that you’d think they were going to come falling to earth like white rain. The sky didn’t seem as if it was dense enough to hold them. Only their slow whirling through the heavens, a million billion miles away, seemed enough to keep them afloat.
Out on the ranch, where the nights were even darker, you could see that the stars were different colors, some shining gold, others blue or pinkish, others pure platinum silver or twinkling white. On a summer night as a child, Jamie had looked at them for hours.
He found Tegan looking up at them, also, sitting on the steps of her trailer. She heard his footsteps thudding in a muffled way across the tracked-up grass and switched her focus. “Kara at home?” he asked, wanting to know how alone they were.
“Dean’s trailer, I expect.” She didn’t show any surprise at seeing him, which he found restful, and she scooted over on the step so he could sit beside her, which he found… right. He could never get serious about a woman who wouldn’t sit on a trailer step, or the top rail of a yard, or an upturned feed bucket.
“Whatcha doing, star-gazing?”
“Trying to work out the time difference for calling Australia.”
“Homesick?”
“Stupid dress.”
“What stupid dress?”
“The stupid wedding dress.”
“Oh, right, that stupid dress,” he said wisely, although he had no idea why the wedding gown in the store window was suddenly stupid, when he’d actually forced her to admit, only eight or nine hours ago, that she really liked it and it was beautiful.
“Reminded me of the flower-girl dress I wore when Mum and Dad were married,” she said.
“You never mentioned that.”
“I’m mentioning it now.”
“And why would that be?”
“Because you came looking for me and sat on my step - ”
“You made room.”
“ - and forced me to mention it.”
“Yeah, at gunpoint, baby.”
It wasn’t a very wide step. Her whole side was pressed up against him, while they had their legs bent and planted wide on the ground, which meant their thighs were pressed together, too. This was working for him very well, he decided. He leaned a little closer in, pressed a little harder, so she’d know it was okay for her to talk, if she wanted.
Horses pushed into pressure. Tegan had quite a lot of horse in her, and pushed against pressure, too. “I’m
cold,” she said.
Jamie took this as a hint, and put his arm around her. She was wearing one of her satin shirts. One that she’d earlier discarded in his trailer, in fact. Pretty, but no warmth. Silky. He rubbed her arm because friction made heat.
Well, no, not for that reason, but it was a side benefit. He reached over and slid his other hand between her thighs – for the side benefits of that, too, obviously.
“So if I’m forcing you,” he said, “You’d better keep talking.”
She shrugged. “I think I said it already.”
“I would have to disagree. You started. You didn’t get anywhere near the end.”
“Boy, Jamie, you are one heck of a fast convert to the whole idea of talking about stuff.”
“Only when it’s you,” he said truthfully.
“I’m flattered.”
“You should be.”
“And your ego is in fine shape.”
“You’re trying to change the subject,” he told her. “You’re hoping I’ll bite, and forget the dress thing.”
“Please bite,” Tegan begged him.
He did. Very gently. Like a very wimpy vampire on a diet, who just wanted a tiny, smoochy taste of the sweet skin on her neck, right below her ear. She shuddered and closed her eyes and said, “I didn’t mean that kind of a bite.”
He took his mouth away. “Sorry.”
“Do it again.”
He did, then took his mouth away for a second time and said, “I’m getting confused about who is distracting who, here.”
She sighed, then said, “It’s around nine o’clock in the evening in Australia, I worked out.”
“Shouldn’t you know that off by heart, by now?”
“No, because we’re in different time zones when we travel on the circuit, and at this time of year they’re going onto Daylight Savings time at home, and we’re coming off it, here, and so it’s more complicated than you’d think.”
“Nine o’clock in the evening sounds like a good time to call.”
“But do I want to?”
“You tell me.”
“It was the dress, you see.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“When they sold the farm they had so much stuff to clear out, you wouldn’t believe.”
“Well, I would,” he answered, thinking of the ranch, and how there were still boxes of his and Rose’s and Jess’s and Jodie’s things stored in the attic and various sheds.
“Mum asked me what I wanted done with my flower-girl dress, and I told her to store it with my other stuff that they were keeping for me, and I was feeling pretty sore about the farm being sold, so I was snippy with her, probably, and I’m trying to think back on how she was, and I think I might have missed something.”
“What sort of something?”
“Something in her tone. That maybe she was afraid I wouldn’t want to keep the dress, and then she was pleased when I said I did. Even though I was snippy. But I’m not sure.”
“So you’re going to call and ask?”
“No, I’m just going to call and chat, and try to be… less sore and less snippy, and see if it helps.”
“After you call, are you coming back to my trailer?”
“If you want me.”
“Oh, I want you. Want me to leave? Warm up the bed while you make the call? Want some privacy?”
“No, stay,” she said. So he stayed, arms still cradling her while she touched the screen on her phone and listened, her muscles tense against him. It rang out, unanswered. She looked at him. “Not home.”
“Cell phone?”
“They’re hopeless with them. Dad only turns his on when he wants to make a call, never thinks about someone trying to call him. Mum still hasn’t learned to text. The screen on hers is so small she can barely see it.”
“I’m hearing excuses,” he said.
“Whose excuses?”
“Yours.”
“Mum’s and Dad’s, I sometimes think.”
“You think too much,” he said. “Call the other numbers.”
She made a face at him and went back to her phone twice more, getting the same result each time. “Told you.”
“Leave a message.”
“Then they’ll call back.”
“That’s not good?”
“Maybe I take after Dad. I like to be in control of the timing.”
“Thought you might tell me you’d rather be in bed with me than out here in the cold, waiting for them to call.”
She looked at him. “That, too.”
Yes!
So they dropped the idea of her trying to connect with her family tonight, and he thought she was more relieved about this than she should have been.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hot damn, Tegan was going to win.
Jamie looked at the scores flashing out on the electronic board. Only two girls left to ride and so far no one had beaten her time. It was a little slower than yesterday, at 16.04, but Lisa Mackie had knocked down a barrel, adding a five second penalty, which blew her chances out of the water.
Meanwhile, Jamie had wrenched his arm in the steer wrestling and failed to make a score, which would probably push him out of the running for All Around Cowboy, because Dawson O’Dell was killing the competition in his events today, after his disappointment in saddle bronc yesterday, and was the popular favorite to win.
Jamie didn’t care about his own poor performance nearly as much as he normally would, because it was such a buzz to be cheering for someone else - for the woman he’d had in his bed all night, to be exact about it, and that was a big part of the thrill.
She’s mine, he wanted to say. See that pretty hair? See that cute butt? See the way she’s glued in the saddle, what a pro she is? Mine!
For now, anyhow.
For another week or two, if they both wanted.
Because she was going home, half way around the world, putting a legal, official, unarguable end-date to what they’d started. How did he feel about that?
“Jamie,” said a male voice a few yards away in the crush of spectators.
It was Dad, with Mom holding tight onto his arm and looking a little overwhelmed and bewildered and not quite coping, as she always did in crowds.
“Hey, you came.” He clapped his father on the arms and gave his mom a big hug. She laughed like a girl as she hugged him back.
“Well, we were here yesterday, too,” Dad said. “But your mom needed to get home before we managed to speak to you. You did great.”
“Not doing so good today, so far,” he had to confess. “Steer got away from me, and left me with a twisted arm and a nice bruise brewing up.”
“Oh, we missed your ride, today?” Mom said.
“Not the saddle bronc. That’s still to come.”
“Well, we’re proud of you anyhow,” she said, and looked at Dad, as if afraid he might argue.
Which he well might.
Despite the money Jamie sent, Dad still thought he was wasting his time on the rodeo circuit, and had wondered out loud a couple of times if Jamie would still have a workable body to bring back to the ranch when he finally tossed his chaps and spurs and came home. “If you’ve gotten yourself too banged up to help with the heavy work, how useful is that going to be?” he’d said, and RJ thought the same.
Jamie had tried to talk to them about banged-up souls being worse than banged-up bodies, but they didn’t get it. Or wouldn’t admit it, if they did.
Dad didn’t argue today. “Looking forward to the broncs,” he said. “That was a real nice ride you had yesterday, and I’m not the only one who thought so.”
“Who says?”
“Your aunt. Quite a few people were talking about you. Saying good things.”
So Aunt Kate had put a few words in for him? She’d sacrificed a lot for Mom and Dad during their early years as parents, and Dad was grateful so he took notice of her opinion.
“How about the girl yesterday?” Mom said. “I forget her nam
e. The Austrian girl.”
“Australian.”
“Australian.” Mom slapped the side of her head. “When will I learn?” She frowned and looked unhappy with herself for a moment.
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. Tegan, remember.”
“Tegan. Unusual.”
“More common in Australia, she says. You might just have caught her. She rode about ten minutes ago. She was the one in the purple plaid shirt.”
“Lilac,” Mom said. “It was lilac, not purple. It was a pretty shirt.”
“So you did see her?”
“She had a good ride? It was the one we saw?” Dad said, making sure he had it straight. Lilac and purple were all the same to him.
“Yes, she’s in the lead.” Jamie focused on the arena. “And that was the last girl now. Oh, and she’s only posted 16.87. Tegan’s won.”
Mom clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful!”
“I’d better go see her.”
“Bring her out to the ranch again,” Dad invited him gruffly. “She’s a good rider. And not bad at fixing fence, either.”
“Oh, no, bring her out? I don’t think so. She’s…” We’re just friends. It’s just a fling. It’s come from left field, for both of us. “I don’t think she’ll make it out there again,” he finally managed. “She’s flying back to Australia, after this.”
The thought of that suddenly kicked him in the guts. He wouldn’t have believed, a week ago, that he could be feeling so bad about it.
“Well, she wears pretty shirts,” Mom said, as if this was important. She was just like this, that was all. Artistic and creative. Or she would be, if she could ever stick to a project. She got lost in beauty and music, sometimes. “I’d like to tell her that the lilac was a beautiful color.”
“So come with me, then,” Jamie invited, “and you can.”
“She won’t think it’s an intrusion?” Mom asked. “I am so embarrassed about getting Australia and Austria mixed up.”
“It’s fine, Mom.”
“Well, all right, then.”
“Good girl,” Dad muttered to her, and gave her his arm once more. They followed Jamie, greeting a few people along the way.
Tegan hadn’t stayed to see the last few girls ride, but she must have known she’d done pretty well, and she was beaming as she unsaddled her mare. “Did you see?”