She chuckled as she reached behind her to fasten her bra. “You’ve got yourself a silver tongue.”
“Maybe. You’ll find out how my tongue feels another time.”
Marlene pulled her shirt down and cupped his cheek. “Are you sure I’m not on Candid Camera or something?”
He kissed her palm. “I don’t think so, unless they’re tricking both of us.”
“That would surely suck, so let’s assume this is real and have fun.”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
Chapter Three
Saturday morning dawned sunny and clear. Marlene woke up with a grin. She and Buck had hit it off like two peas in a pod. A hot, sexy pod. He was incredible. Too bad he hadn’t wanted to do more than jack each other off in the truck. She wanted to get him in a bed so badly, she was still horny.
With a sigh, she got up and headed for the shower. She was practicing with Buck that afternoon. After a nice, long hot shower in which she fantasized about what she could do in the shower with her big cowboy, Marlene finally shut the water off. It was getting cold anyway. Her condo shared a water heater with the unit next door, and if she got up too late, there wasn’t any hot water left. At least on Saturday, her neighbor got up later than she did.
By nine a.m., Marlene was on her way to Starbucks for a morning java. Nothing she enjoyed more than a big coffee and biscotti on a Saturday morning. After sitting down to eat, Veronica blew in like a tornado and Marlene spent the entire morning calming her friend down. She’d had an unusual sexual experience with a woman, then topped it off by fucking some guy in a bar. The world was certainly tilting in Espejo
The two women went to the Starlite that afternoon to meet Buck and Veronica’s partner, Patrice. She was a cute little auburn-haired thing with sky-blue eyes. There was definitely something between Patrice and Veronica, and Marlene was glad to be there to help her friend.
Oh, and to ogle Buck, too. Watch him as he bowled, revel in the sheer joy of seeing that incredible specimen of manhood whip a ball down the alley. God, he was beautiful. Marlene kept waiting for someone to pop out from behind a chair and say “Gotcha!” Like it was all a big joke, a setup to make her look stupid. She knew she was being paranoid, but she couldn’t help it.
Marlene hadn’t had a gift like Buck before. Ever. She didn’t want to think it wasn’t real, but she sure as hell wouldn’t allow her heart to get involved. No siree. Ain’t gonna happen. She had no desire to be heartbroken over a cowboy that was only in town for a week. However, she was certainly not averse to using his body for a week.
What a body it was. Like a big ice cream sundae waiting for her to dig in.
“Marlene, are you listening to me?” Veronica’s voice burst through the sensual fog around Marlene’s ears.
“I’m sorry. I was ... um, thinking.”
One brown eyebrow went up and Veronica snorted. “Right. You weren’t staring at that man’s butt then, right?”
“Well, it’s a really nice butt.”
Veronica chuckled. “I agree with you there. I was asking about what happened last night between you two. I can almost see the electricity in the air.”
Marlene cursed her fair complexion when she blushed. “We, ah, went to the karaoke joint.”
“You sang?”
“Yes.”
With an enthusiastic hug, Veronica congratulated her on finally singing in front of people. She had long commented on Marlene’s voice and encouraged her to pursue singing.
“I am so proud of you!”
“I was embarrassed as hell.” Marlene took a big gulp of iced tea. “But they clapped for me.”
“That’s so wonderful. Did it feel wonderful?”
Marlene thought back to the night before and a warm buzz floated through her. “What felt wonderful was that big cowboy singing to me.”
Veronica’s brown eyes widened. “He sang to you? What did he sing?”
“He sure as hell did, made my panties wet singing a Dierks Bentley song. It was hot, Ronnie, really hot.” Just the memory made her squirm in her chair.
“Nice, very nice. So did you end up sleeping together?”
Buck caught Marlene’s eye and he winked. She winked back and blew a kiss. He laughed and put his hand over his heart, then bowed.
“Ah, no, but we got to know each other better.”
Veronica laughed and nodded. “Say no more. So you like him?”
That surprised Marlene. It surprised her because she hadn’t thought about liking him. Well, she had, but not really. The scary thing was that yes, she did like him. More than she should. It was enough to almost send her into a panic. She didn’t want to like him. That meant heartbreak in a few days or even a few hours when he decided he didn’t want the fat girl from small town Podunk.
“Sure, he’s okay.” Marlene stood up and headed for the lane. “I’ve got to get some more practice in.”
After another hour, they all decided to go for ice cream. When they climbed into Buck’s truck, Marlene swore she could still smell the heat of their playing last night. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she glanced over at Buck, his gaze locked on her.
Mine.
It wasn’t something she should be thinking at all, but the word bounced around in her brain. And in her heart.
When they arrived at Dairy King, Veronica and Patrice went off to sit together, which left Marlene alone with Buck.
“What’s your favorite flavor?” He reached for his wallet when they reached the counter.
“Chocolate.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious. I like ...” His gaze dropped down to her breasts then to her pussy, which pulsed against her pants. “... strawberry.”
Oh, God, he sure didn’t play fair. Marlene loved a challenge. She leaned toward him and rubbed her breast on his arm. He licked his lips and cocked one light brown eyebrow.
“I also like banana.” She grinned shamelessly.
He laughed, then kissed her hard. “I knew that. I still need to have some strawberry.”
“Anytime, cowboy, anytime.”
They bought and paid for the ice cream, then sat on a bench next to each other, thighs touching. Marlene’s arousal was growing by the minute as she watched Buck lick and suck at his plastic spoon. She hadn’t gotten enough of him in the darkened cab the night before. She wanted more. A lot more. She wanted that damn tongue licking her.
“How about a wager?”
“A wager?” Marlene was suspicious, but never let it be said she wasn’t adventurous.
“We’ll go back and bowl another game. Winner gets ... choice of prizes.”
Pop! There went Marlene’s nipples in excitement. She didn’t want to seem too anxious. “Hmmm ... like what kind of prizes?”
Buck leaned toward her and sucked her earlobe into his cold, cold mouth. The answering heat in her body was enough to ignite a pile of kindling. As he nibbled on her ear, he whispered, “Love slave.”
Love slave?
“What does that mean?”
He nuzzled her neck, and Marlene felt like a tornado had landed on her head.
“Loser does whatever the winner tells them to do. All night long.”
How could she pass that up? Marlene turned her head and licked his lips.
“You’re on. Let’s hit the wood, cowboy. I need me a love slave.”
* * * * *
Buck was aroused. No, check that. He was more than aroused -- he was hungry and horny. Watching Marlene lick that ice cream off her spoon was sheer torture. He knew what that tongue could do, and how it felt on his dick. When they arrived back at the bowling alley, Veronica took off with her bowling partner and Buck and Marlene were alone. Well, not really, it was a bowling alley.
They looked at each other with raised brows and big grins, then scrambled inside to get a lane. That old codger Jesse looked at them with a frown.
“Y’all are acting like a couple of twelve year olds. What are you doing, Marlene?”
Marl
ene burst out laughing. “I’m having fun, Jesse.”
He shook his head and his frown grew deeper. “Just be careful, girl.” He leveled a don’t-you-hurt-her look at Buck.
Buck saluted him and walked off following the swaying ass of his bowling partner. He almost stumbled on the step because he was mesmerized by the back and forth action of that jean clad behind.
“Lane thirty-nine. Sorry, there is no lane sixty-nine.” She turned and winked at him.
Buck chuckled. Damn, he couldn’t remember the last time he laughed so much. He couldn’t think too hard about what the stakes were, or he would be hard the entire game.
“One game? Winner take all?” she asked as she slipped her bowling shoes on.
“Yep. Sound good to you?”
Marlene tied her shoe, then stood and walked over to him as he stood there helplessly with his bowling ball in one hand and his towel in the other. She positioned herself between his arms, and her gorgeous breasts touched his chest. He sucked in a quick breath, and he swore he felt her nipples harden against him.
“Oh, yeah, cowboy, sounds perfect.” Her gaze flicked down to his growing erection, and she licked her lips.
Damn it all, he twitched. Her grin grew wider and she blew him a kiss as she walked back to retrieve her ball.
Buck knew he was in trouble with this one, trouble all right with a capital T. Marlene was right -- it was perfect.
She set up the scoring machine while he practiced. He swallowed back a snort. He was practicing all right, practicing how to fuck up his bowling. He was all over the damn place and it was her fault. He was leaving splits, missing easy pick-ups, and he almost dropped the goddamn ball on his foot.
He should be angry with her tactics, but he wasn’t. He was more turned on than he ever remembered being. For the first time in his life, instead of thinking how to get a woman in bed to say goodbye, he was trying to figure out how to get Marlene in his bed and keep her there.
That thought did make him drop the ball. Fortunately, he was standing at the ball return and it just landed with a thunk.
“You okay, Buck?”
“Yep, just fine. I gotta hit the restroom before we start. Be right back.”
He was not running away. He was walking quickly.
Bullshit.
Oh, he knew it was bullshit, but it was easy to lie to yourself when twenty-four hours after meeting a woman from the middle of nowhere, you were thinking of a permanent relationship.
Buck ran cold water and splashed his face with it. He needed to get his dick back down to normal size and try to get control of his thoughts. They were wayward, not normal, and certainly not valid. He did not want a permanent relationship with Marlene McComb. No siree.
* * * * *
Marlene threw some practice balls while she waited for Buck to get back. He looked like the ice cream he just ate was going to reappear. He was pale as milk and ran for the bathroom. She hoped he was okay.
Her game was off. She missed the second spare in a row and cursed aloud, then remembered to check to see if any kids were nearby. Fortunately, there weren’t. It wasn’t like her to be so off-kilter. She knew it was because of Buck. She hadn’t had her own man before, no boyfriends, even a temporary one, so she was flying blind.
Blind as a bat and horny as a toad.
Marlene chuckled and wiped her ball down. She knew the moment he was behind her because every hair on her body stood at attention. The heat pulsed through her as quickly as a lightning strike.
“Hey, Big Mac. You still looking for that three hundred game?’
Ugh. Terry Adams again. Marlene wondered how much it would cost to pay him off to leave her alone.
“What do you want, Terry?” She wasn’t in the mood to even pretend to be polite.
He was dressed in his usual t-shirt and grubby jeans, with two days worth of whiskers on his cheeks. His smart-ass smirk was in place as well.
“Just being neighborly.”
“Bullshit.”
He tut-tutted. “That’s not very nice, Big Mac. Once upon a time, you begged me to fuck you so you wouldn’t be a virgin any more.”
Marlene took a deep breath and tried to will away the old pain conjured from his remark.
“Who the hell are you?” Buck’s voice brought a welcome wave of relief through her. She wasn’t alone.
“He’s leaving.”
Terry took a good look at a frowning Buck and hightailed his ass out of there. Marlene grinned at Buck and he raised an eyebrow. She shook her head and waved her hand in dismissal.
“Let’s forget that moron even exists.”
“Fair enough. Are you ready to lose?”
She looked at his grin and warned her knees not to turn to jelly. His blue eyes were heavy-lidded and sultry.
“Bring it on.”
He grinned and winked at her. “Love slave.”
“Just call me mistress.”
Buck stood in front of her and kissed her hard. “For luck.”
Marlene’s cheeks flooded with color. Why the hell was she cursed with such pale, freckled skin? She took a deep breath and focused on winning the game. Either way, she’d spend the night naked with Buck Miller. She’d never had a man for a night before. Every sexual experience she’d had was in the back of a car, in someone’s basement, or in the bathroom. Certainly never an entire night of pleasure. Her entire body shuddered with longing.
Marlene knew she was in trouble, but she chose to ignore it. She wanted to win.
The first three frames for both of them sucked. All open, all easy pick-ups that neither should have missed. Marlene laughed nervously when she missed the five pin and glanced at Buck to find his gaze locked on her ass. Now that was unexpected, and perhaps she could use it to win the pitiful game.
Marlene bent down to “fix” her shoe, giving him a full view of her butt, then wiggled a bit when she prepared for her next approach. She shot him a dazzling smile when she finally bowled a strike.
When their hands met in a high five, a tingle raced down her arm to her nipples. They budded immediately. She was pleased to notice that Buck stared at the twin points. Oh, yeah, the game was so in the bag.
The next time he turned around, she pretended to adjust her bra, which required her to touch her breasts. He swallowed so hard, she heard it. A gleeful demon inside her cackled and jumped up and down.
By the start of tenth frame, Marlene was beating him by forty points. There was no way he could recover and beat her. She knew his game was way off, but this was only for fun. In the tournament, she wouldn’t sabotage him; after all, she wanted to win the couples’ competition.
It was all about winning and she was winning -- both the game and the battle.
“The game is yours, Lee. Damn, I totally sucked.” Buck sat down and spread his arms over the seats next to him, affording her a nice view of his t-shirt clad chest.
Yum.
“Well, I wouldn’t call a one sixty-five a banner game for me either.”
“A one twenty-five? Hell, I bowled better than that when I was five years old.” He ran his hands through his hair, then his gaze locked with hers. “You deliberately distracted me.”
Marlene tried to look innocent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head slowly. “You’re dangerous.”
Now that was a hell of a compliment. Marlene wanted to puff out her chest. Her? Dangerous? Woohoo!
“I’m glad you think so, love slave. Now ... what to do with you this evening.”
Oh, the possibilities were endless. She wanted to savor every second of it.
Chapter Four
Marlene decided they should start with a nice dinner. She was embarrassed to tell Buck that she’d never been on an official date before. She never even went to her high school prom. Odd as it was, at the age of twenty-seven, Marlene was going on her first date.
She suggested they go out of Espejo to a nice Italian restaurant about twenty miles away. O
n the ride over, they talked about themselves. Marlene wasn’t surprised to find out that Buck was a carpenter. He had great hands -- big, callused, and strong. Exactly the way she liked them. The thought of them on her nipples made her forget what she was talking about.
She told him that she worked days at the county building as a secretary. She’d taken the week off for the bowling tournament so she could focus on it. She also worked part-time in the snack bar at the Starlite. Extra money helped her buy the better bowling supplies she wanted. Marlene felt like she was chasing her dream to be a perfect bowler, even if she was moving toward it as slowly as a turtle.
“So you can get me free treats, right?”
Marlene leaned toward him and whispered, “I’ve got plenty of treats in store for you.”
Buck threw his head back and laughed. He had a booming laugh as big as he was. Other diners turned to look at them, and Marlene grinned widely. She didn’t care. Her first date was turning into something to talk about. She wasn’t normally flirty, but this wasn’t an ordinary time for her.
“You are a naughty vixen, aren’t you?”
Marlene raised one eyebrow. “Me? A vixen? You’re the first to accuse me of that.”
“I find that hard to believe, but if that’s your story, I reckon it’s true.”
It was true. Marlene was a nice girl, albeit a bit outspoken at times, but she wasn’t any kind of sexual dynamo. Well, until she met Buck anyway. He seemed to turn her into a sex-crazed lunatic who flirted, teased, and taunted.
Wonders never cease. Or perhaps this one was a miracle.
“Thank you, Buck. Now eat your lasagna so we can go have some dessert.” Marlene’s heart fluttered. The anticipation of having Buck for dessert was going to make her squirm on her seat. That would be embarrassing. She’d rather squirm on him.
It seemed that her appetite deserted her. Normally, chicken parmesan was one of her favorites, but Marlene just picked at it. Buck frowned at her plate.
“It doesn’t taste good?”
“No, it tastes fine. I’m just hungry for something else.”
Buck’s eyes were like twin flames of blue fire. “Girl, you’re gonna make me shock all these people.”
The Perfect Score 3 Marlenes Man Page 3