A Buckhorn Summer

by Lori Foster

  Yeah, he liked the way her mind worked. Suppressing a smile, he said, “Jobwise.”

  “Oh.”

  Now she just looked flustered, and that was so different from the confident woman she’d been with him before that he had to feel his way carefully. “You are staying, right? That’s what your cousin said.”

  She snatched up a granola bar, stared at it and put it back.

  Indecisive? That, too, was different, but he didn’t mind. He took a step closer, near enough to inhale the scent of her sun-warmed skin and hair. God, he remembered that scent, how it had mingled with his own when he’d moved over her, both of them naked.

  “I’m not... I don’t know yet.” She licked her bottom lip, glanced past him to her relatives, saw they were chatting up some other customers and stared up at him with those big, soulful eyes.

  “Shh,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

  She swallowed.

  “Far as anyone knows, or will ever know, this is the first time we’ve met.” By sheer force of will he kept his hands to himself when what he really wanted, what he needed, was to touch her, to pull her small, soft body in against his—again. “You have my word.”

  She released a tense breath. “Thank you.” As her cousin and brother drew near again, she added, “I haven’t left my job. I mean, I tried to. I gave my four weeks’ notice, but they countered with another promotion. I declined and they requested that I take the summer to think about it. So I guess I’m on a hiatus.”

  That night in the dim hotel bar in Chicago, she’d been teeming with restless energy. But here, now, he could see the remnants of exhaustion. Bone deep. The type of tiredness a person learned to live with.

  He understood that, since he’d felt it himself many times. “They must appreciate you.”

  She nodded.

  “What is it you do?”

  Before she could answer, Shohn bragged on her. “She’s a top-notch troubleshooter.”

  “Meaning she goes to businesses that are in trouble,” Adam explained, “and analyzes their problems, then tells them the best way to be more efficient and profitable.”

  “She’s been all over the country,” Shohn added. “And sometimes out of the country.”

  “Guys...” Lisa protested.

  “I think she should loaf for the summer.” Adam nudged her. “Regroup and just play.”

  “She’s earned it.” Shohn added, “Problem is, Lisa doesn’t do well with idle time. Never has.”

  “She’d go screaming nuts in under a week.”

  Giving them both a quelling frown, Lisa said to Gray, “I’m still considering my job prospects.”

  Prospects that could take her right back out of Buckhorn? Not if he could help it. “Could I make a suggestion?”

  The guys were interested, but Lisa just looked appalled. Mind made up, he forged on. “I haven’t been here that long and I’m still learning the ropes. If you’re related to those two, then I assume you know everyone in town, and most of what there is to know about catering to vacationers.”

  She opened her mouth, but it was Shohn who said, “She does.”

  Adam added, “She’s driven her fair share of boats, launched them, too, and even worked on them a few times with our uncle Gabe.”

  “Gabe, the handyman.” Gray had met his daughters, all three of them. They were very pretty girls who flirted playfully. And they were all too young for him—not that he’d been interested anyway.

  “When my uncle Jordan married Lisa’s mom, she was still a kid,” Shohn explained. “So she grew up around here. She knows everyone.”

  “Jordan, the vet?”

  “Yup,” Shohn said. “He has a real nice way with animals.”

  So one of the icons was her dad? “Got it.”

  “And,” Adam continued, “being the overachiever she’s always been, she’s organized plenty of community activities with our uncle Morgan, back when he was sheriff and since he’s been mayor.”

  Morgan, the big, badass protector. Who the hell wasn’t her relative? Gray said only, “Met him, liked him.”

  Shohn said, “She’s also—”

  “Stop selling me!”

  Her brother and cousin gaped at her. Grinning, Gray shook his head. “Amazing to me that either of you have hooked up. Not smooth, guys. Not smooth at all.”

  Adam scowled. “Now wait a minute. I wasn’t—”

  “It’s okay,” Gray assured him. Hell, he was already sold. It didn’t require a pitch. Then to Lisa, he asked, “Why don’t you come by tomorrow morning, say around six before I open, and we can discuss it?”

  Her eyes widened. Both men stayed mute.

  “The pay won’t be what you’re used to, but the work won’t be, either. You want to enjoy the summer but also stay busy, right? I figure we can probably work out something fair. I’ll be flexible on what hours you need to be here.”

  Amazingly, her eyes widened even more.

  Cute as well as sexy. He could get lost in those dark eyes. In her slim throat, a pulse thrummed wildly. Her gaze remained fixed on his, and hell if he’d look away first. Didn’t matter to him if they stood there all day.

  Shohn nudged her, maybe a little harder than he meant to given that she stumbled.

  Startled, she turned and smacked him. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Me?” Shohn pointed at her. “You were the one gawking.”

  She flared. “I was not!”

  Rolling his eyes, Adam said, “Yeah, you were.”

  Gray grinned. “You’re all close, huh?”

  “Very,” Adam said with what sounded like a belated warning.

  Having been a cop in a shit area rife with violent crime, Gray didn’t pay a lot of attention to bluster. “What do you say, Lisa?” As an incentive, he added, “I promise to keep you busy without overworking you, and if you enjoy the lake, well, then, it could feel as much like an extended vacation as not.”

  Put on the spot, she finally nodded. “All right. Fine. I’ll be here at six and we can discuss it.”

  “Not too early for you?”

  Adam snorted. “She’ll just be finishing up her jog.”

  Huh. So she liked to run? They had that in common. Gray wanted to know every little thing about her, but he could be patient. Maybe.

  “If you’re ready, I can ring you up.”

  Everyone followed him to the counter, and a minute after that he watched her go—his gaze glued to her small rounded butt in the short shorts. Damn. He remembered that sweet behind all too well, how it had fit in his hands, the tantalizing contrast of soft and firm.

  With any luck at all, he’d be getting familiar again real soon.

  CHAPTER TWO

  LUCKILY NO ONE was around when she untied the small fishing boat and pushed away from the dock. It took three pulls on the cord before she got the motor going, then she settled onto the hard wooden seat and started down the lake.

  She could have used any of the boats; the family collectively had three inboard boats, two pontoons and a variety of rowboats and fishing boats. But this particular one was the quietest and she’d as soon not draw attention. She’d done enough of that already.

  The sun had just started to rise from behind the hills, sending fingers of crimson and gold to cut through the lavender dawn and play across the calm surface of the lake. Taking it slow, Lisa watched a fish jump, saw a few birds diving, turned her face up to the warm, humid breeze.

  She’d always loved the fast pace of her high-pressure job.

  But she also loved the peace of the lake, and maybe it was past time to find a better balance between the two.

  After showering off the sweat from her jog, she’d put on sunscreen and a touch of makeup. It hadn’t been easy, dodging all the cur
ious questions and over-the-top speculation from Adam and Shohn yesterday. They’d teased, harangued and outrageously guessed without ever once coming close to the truth.

  That she’d had a sizzling-hot one-night stand with a total stranger who had now, by the fickle hand of fate, relocated to her hometown.

  Shohn and Adam were both utter hedonists, open in their own sexual pursuits. But when it came to her—or any of the women in the family, really—they played deaf, dumb and blind, at least with matters of sexuality. If she told them the truth, they’d be stunned, but she knew with complete confidence that they wouldn’t judge her harshly, would in fact back her up in anything she decided.

  She loved them, but that hadn’t made it easy fending off their nonsense, all while lost in the reality of the situation.

  It felt good to be home.

  It felt...something altogether different knowing she’d shortly see her fantasy man again.

  He was here, in Buckhorn, where she considered starting over.

  He hadn’t forgotten her.

  He wanted her to work with him day in and day out.

  Did that mean he hoped to pick up where they’d left off, as if she’d be that easy?

  Or did it mean he wasn’t interested and spending that much time with her in close proximity wouldn’t make him as lust-crazed as it would her?

  No, she couldn’t believe that. Even Shohn and Adam had noticed his interest. And commented on it. Repeatedly.

  “Lisa has an admirer,” Shohn had said in a childish singsong voice.

  “All the single ladies will be so sad to know he’s already hooked,” Adam had added while patting a hand over his heart. “Guess I’ll just have to console them.”

  “I think it was love at first sight.”

  “Wait until he finds out she’s smarter than him.”

  “And more motivated.”

  “And better paid.”

  Finally Lisa had willingly gone over the side of the boat, opposite from where they’d cast their fishing lines. Ignoring their calls, she’d swum to shore and pretended to consider walking back until they both begged her not to. If it hadn’t been for the cow patties everywhere she tried to step, and the occasional spider web stretched between colorful weeds, she would have walked. But she wasn’t an idiot.

  Just embarrassed. And overcome with lust. And now even more fixated on her fantasy man.

  Gray Neely.

  On top of being the sexiest, most gorgeous man she’d ever met, he was also kind and considerate.

  He’d willingly let her off the hook, promising not to speak of their previous acquaintance.

  He was also macho, a man’s man, easily meshing with her brother and cousin. How he’d looked...

  She drew in a shuddering breath, filling her lungs with country air, and again pictured him in her mind. Rugged beard stubble. Alert gray eyes, focused on her. Hair longer and more disheveled. Loose board shorts and laceless sneakers, his shirt open, his muscled, hairy chest bare.

  Damn, but her mouth watered, and she was so distracted she didn’t dock as smoothly as usual. A frog leaped away as she drew a line through the cleat on the dock and secured the boat. A few more deep breaths and, hiking her canvas tote bag over her shoulder, she climbed out of the boat.

  From the shadows of the gas pumps three docks down, a deep voice said, “I figured you’d come by water.” Shirtless, barefoot, wearing only trunks, he pushed to his feet and strode toward her. His dark hair was wet, slicked back, his sinner’s eyelashes spiked, his beard even more noticeable.

  He stopped only a few feet from her, his gaze taking a lazy stroll from her braided hair down her body to the flip-flops on her feet. “Whenever I thought of you—and I did, often—I saw you in a business suit, your hair contained, your look professional. I liked that look a lot, especially since it was so different from the woman you became in my room.”

  A wild woman, that’s what he meant, because that’s what she’d been. Her breath stalled. “Voices carry,” she whispered. “We can’t talk here on the lake.”

  He held out a hand and, feeling as risqué as she had that night a month ago, she took it. God, she remembered his hands, so big and strong, a little rough from work, but warm and gentle as they’d touched her. Everywhere.

  Silently he led her up to the store, and with each step she took, her heart jumped harder, faster. Low in her stomach, butterflies battled.

  She was thirty years old, but she’d never, not once, experienced desire like this. Only with him.

  One of the double doors stood open and as they stepped inside, Gray closed and locked it. Her breath caught and anticipation sharpened.

  No lights were on and without the sun coming through the windows, it remained dark...and intimate.

  He slowly backed her up to the wall and cupped one hand to the side of her face. “As I was saying.”

  Lisa felt his breath, the warmth of his big body, and had no idea what he was talking about.

  “I like seeing you in these short shorts, and I like your hair like this. You were sexy before, but now you’re earthy, too, and I want another taste.”

  After saying all that, he waited, giving her time.

  Lisa nervously, anxiously licked her bottom lip—and saw his gaze sharpen.

  “I remember you with short hair,” she whispered. “Clean-shaven, polished.” She reached up, smoothing back a lock of wet hair that had fallen over his brow. “Now your hair is shaggy, you’re already tanned, and this beard scruff...” She coasted her thumb over his bristly jaw, feeling the tease of that rasp deep inside herself. “Not only are you not in a dress shirt, you’re shirtless, and honestly, it’s making me a little nuts.”

  “Nuts is good.” He moved closer still but didn’t quite touch her. “I was waiting on you, remembering how it had been, thinking of how it could be again, and got myself so worked up that I had to jump in the lake to cool down.”

  Lisa smiled. Little by little, the same chemistry she’d felt that night in the bar came sneaking over her. “I was stunned to see you here.”

  He nodded. “Stunned, but pleased.” Both hands now cupped her face and he murmured huskily, “I’ve missed you.”

  It saddened her to say it, but they both needed a reminder of the truth. “You don’t even know me.”

  “Not true.” Gray slowly lowered his head until his nose touched her temple. “I know your scent, the feel of your skin, and how you taste.”

  His lips lightly grazed her cheek, making her shiver.

  Near her ear, he whispered, “I know the sounds you make when you come.”

  She released a shuddering, broken breath.

  “Yeah,” he said with satisfaction. “That’s how it starts.” He trailed his fingertips down her shoulder to her elbow, then under her breast and over her frantically pounding heartbeat. “It ends with sweet, rough, broken moans and you holding me tight until the pleasure is over.”

  The way he said it, she felt it. “Yes.”

  “I want it all. Again.”

  As his hand covered her breast, his palm teasing her nipple, she nodded and admitted the truth. “Me, too.”

  * * *

  “WE HAVE AN HOUR.” It wasn’t long enough, but it was better than nothing. He needed her. Bad.

  Right now.

  But she didn’t move. In fact, she seemed to be holding her breath.

  When he looked down at her, Gray saw her eyes closed, her bottom lip caught in her teeth, her expression sweetly agonized.

  He continued to cuddle her breast while raining small, damp kisses down her jaw and her throat to her shoulder. Jesus, she smelled good, like the fresh outdoors and musk and every fucking fantasy he’d ever had, all rolled into one.

  But damn it, she still didn’t say anything, and as bad a
s he wanted her, he wanted her to feel the same.

  Time to rein it in. Wasn’t easy, but he asked, “You need some time?”

  She nodded, then shook her head, then groaned. “I don’t know.”

  Well, that was answer enough. “It’s okay. I can wait.” It’d kill him. A dozen times over. But if that’s what she needed—

  “That night...” Her eyes opened, full of pleading confusion. “That wasn’t me.”

  “It wasn’t me, either.” He dropped both hands to her waist—safer territory—and put his forehead to hers. “It was just...right. The right time, the right person.” He had to kiss her, just once, so he did. Not too deep, but far from a peck. And far from satisfying. “The right thing to do—for both of us.”

  “I’ve never done anything like it before.”

  For a novice, she’d been damn good. Great. Mind-blowing, in fact. “I don’t exactly make a habit of it, either.” He smiled, realizing something. “I like your name.”

  Her laugh was muffled against his throat. “I like yours, too.”

  “I meant what I said.” With two fingers under her chin, he brought her face up. “It’s nobody’s business but ours.”

  She nodded. “This is my home, Gray. My entire family is here.”

  “I know. Everywhere I go, I trip over one of them.” He kissed her again, all the while telling himself he had to stop that. Except that she kissed him back and damn, that nearly killed his resolve not to push her. He eased back, a little more breathless. Harder. “I like them.”

  Dazed, her gaze on his mouth, she asked, “Who?”

  So cute. So fucking hot. Eventually she’d be his again. He had to believe that. “Your family.”

  “Oh. Right. Yeah, they’re all terrific.” Rubbing at her forehead, she admitted, “None of them would ever expect this of me. I’ve been so singularly focused on my career, I never made much time for relationships.”

  He paused—and she shot her gaze to his.

  “Not that this is a relationship. God, no. I mean...”

  He loved how she blushed.

  A little desperately, she said, “It was just sex.”

  “That felt like more?”