Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance (Lucky Flats Ranchers Book 2)

by Piper Sullivan

  He leaned against the shower wall and tried to gather his thoughts. Before Caroline had reappeared in his life, he was confident in who he was. He knew what he wanted, from whom he wanted it, and he knew exactly what to do to get it. With Caroline, all of that came to a complete halt and he was back to who he had been four years ago.

  Logically, Conner knew that going down this path again was a bad idea. To have these thoughts now was dangerous at best with him knowing how this was all going to play out by the end of the week. Just like before, Caroline was going to walk out of his life; at least this time he would see it coming.

  He shook the thoughts of her naked and in the throws of passion from his mind and got dressed. At least he had a moment to himself and any sexual tension that he may have had before was now resolved momentarily. There will be no chance of an accidental hard-on just from looking at her after his shower.

  Walking into the dining room he was surprised to see Rachel and Keith at dinner, the second night in a row. Usually it's a once-a-month thing, and only if or when Rachel wasn't in the mood to cook. They never overstayed their welcome.

  "Is there a reason that you two are here, again?" Conner asked pointing his gaze at Rachel.

  Rachel rolled her eyes; this time seated across from him at the dinner table, while Keith grinned innocently at him.

  "Has your pantry run empty?" he asked.

  Caroline elbowed him in the ribs, "They are family, don't be so mean Conner," she said reprimanding him.

  "Ow," Conner said, pride more hurt than the actual jab, "They are, but these two birds left the nest a long enough time ago to learn how to cook their own dinners."

  "That doesn't matter," Caroline said calmly.

  Rachel shot Conner a smirk as if to say, suck it up.

  His eyes pinned on Rachel, he muttered, "Well you didn't have to grow up with them."

  Caroline was quick with her tongue and the banter was amusing, "Well, they had to grow up with you, so give them a break."

  "You try living with this dragon lady!" Conner snapped irritably.

  "Hey!" Jack said in mock offense, "No need to start name calling, I would know if my wife was a dragon."

  Conner snorted,"She cast a blinding spell so you couldn't tell. Face it, love is blind for a reason."

  Jack looked at Rachel, expression full of love, “I guess you could say I’m charmed.”

  “Gross,” Conner said, “I’m eating.”

  “That’s enough children,” Mary said in exasperation, “I don’t know why I have to remind you that we have a guest.”

  "So Caroline," Keith said, changing the subject, "What was it like growing up in Paris? I bet you have a lot of experience in cooking some french cuisine."

  Caroline smiled at that, "I'm sure Conner would enlighten you that I am the only French woman who actually cannot cook," she tapped her lips with the tip of her finger, "Isn't that right Conner?" she challenged.

  Keith came to the rescue, "You don't have to cook well to know good food, I bet you know all the stops."

  Caroline smiled at that, "Well, there are a few places close to my heart, so if you ever find yourself in Paris look me up."

  Conner looked at Caroline in surprise, somehow the idea of her and Keith alone together in Paris didn't sit right with him. He quickly schooled his features and gave her a tight smile that she hesitantly returned.

  Keith grinned, "I think I might just take you up on that."

  "Well isn't this just dandy," he piped up and then looked at his mother, "Keith seems far more interested in her than I am, why don't you just get him to marry her?"

  Keith shifted and leaned forward on his elbows, "She's not an object to be passed around willy nilly Conner, lay off and treat the lady with some respect."

  Conner's grip tightened ever so slightly on his fork, as he tried his best to remain calm. Instead of responding to Keith, he dug into his food and ignored his brother and Caroline. Thankfully the direction of the conversation changed when Macy started talking about her latest love interest and then, of course, veryone had their five cents to share.

  By the time dinner was over he wasted no time. He headed straight to his room. Caroline stayed behind to help clean the kitchen and have a night cap with the rest of the family. As he finally flopped down on his bed, he couldn't help but think about her.

  And the day that everything changed...

  He had woken up to sunlight streaming in and a cold spot where his lover should have been. He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He had looked around the room and noticed that her clothes were all gone, which he had found odd, but the first thing that came to mind was that she may have taken it to the laundromat. He hadn't for a single moment, thought that she had left. That was until he saw the small note on the table that read, ‘Goodbye Conner."

  The disappointment and the hurt that flooded through him at that moment were overwhelming. He had thought that they really had something special, but clearly, she hadn't shared that sentiment. With his heart broken into a thousand shards, he left Paris to return home.

  He tried to think of the good times they shared, but those memories were blanked out, completely overshadowed by that one defining moment in time.

  He remembered clearly how often he tried to call her, shortly after she disappeared, simply to talk and find out why she left. It was just so sudden for him. Days before, they both had declared their love for each other and just like that it had all changed. In the days that followed, Conner went through the motions of heartbreak and disappointment, those emotions soon turned to anger and rage, until eventually, he came to the conclusion that she never really cared. All he had been to her at the time, was an American tourist and a fancy pastime.

  ***

  Conner woke to the sound of knocking and glanced at the clock on the nightstand through one eye. It was just past 2 AM. Thinking it was Macy he tossed the covers back and went to open the door only to find that it was Caroline at his door.

  "What do you want?" he asked groggily.

  "I just wanted to apologize about dinner," she said softly.

  "What about it?"

  "I didn't mean to side with your siblings," she started.

  "Look, I don't really care who you side with, that's your choice."

  She flinched at the tone of his voice and wrung her hands in front of her, "I also didn't make a pass at Keith by inviting him to Paris, I was merely being polite."

  Conner fought not to roll his eyes. Even if she did make a pass at his brother, he couldn't give a hoot. The day she walked out of his life, she walked out of his heart.

  "And you wanted to tell me this in the middle of the night because?"

  Caroline's frowned, "I just wanted to let you know…in case you got the wrong idea."

  Conner did roll his eyes this time, "Thank you for the unnecessary message, I'll keep that in mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be up early tomorrow. Some of us don't have the luxury of sleeping in."

  Even in the scant light, the moon provided, Conner could see that his cold words had hurt and angered her. He half expected her to start shouting at him. But she didn't, instead, she took a deep controlling breath and a half smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

  "Good night, Conner," She said, before practically stomping her way across the hall, to the guest room.

  Conner closed his door and lay back on the bed, hoping that he would be able to fall back asleep. But an hour later, he was still awake and silently cursing himself for letting his anger get the best of him.

  He didn’t know if Caroline would still be upset with him in the morning; all he knew was that he had to put an end to whatever was developing between them.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, Caroline refused to even look at Conner; she was hurt by Conner’s coldness and harsh words. She knew she wasn’t imagining things when she felt the sudden tension between him and his brother.

  Two days had passed with them barely acknowledgin
g each other and Mary looking worriedly between them. On the fourth morning of her stay on the ranch, Keith had offered to teach Caroline how to cook during breakfast, which she eagerly agreed to.

  Hours later, the kitchen was a mess and Keith was scratching his head.

  "You really weren't kidding when you said you didn't know how to cook," he chuckled.

  Caroline looked down at her hands and sighed, "I've never been very good at it, that's more my sister's area."

  "I bet you ate out a lot during college, which begs the question of how you've managed to keep your figure?"

  Caroline pretended to be offended and nudged him with one of her dirty hands. Keith retaliated, by lightly flicking her nose; soon there was an all-out food fight between the two. They were giggling so hard at the mess they created that they didn't hear anyone walk in until someone cleared their throat.

  Caroline turned to see a very livid looking Conner in the doorway.

  "Don't let me stop your fun," he bit out and marched through the kitchen and up the stairs. Caroline worried her lip and closed her eyes. This week couldn't come to an end sooner.

  "I'll clean this mess," Keith said softly and took the half-baked scone from her hand, "Why don't you go and get cleaned up."

  Keith had only been compassionate and gentle just after Conner stormed out of the kitchen. He did not deserve Conner's anger. Caroline was furious with Conner; so instead of going to get cleaned up, she marched straight into his room, unannounced.

  "How dare you?" she seethed.

  Conner had taken his shirt off and was holding a fresh one in his hand.

  "Excuse me?" He shot back, "How dare I? How dare you, Caroline? How dare you do that in front of me and with my brother no less?"

  "Do what? We were cooking, Conner! That's it and you couldn't see past your own jealousy to know that nothing is going on!" she spat out.

  "Don't give me that bullshit, I know what I saw," he sneered.

  "What you saw were two friends cooking, what you chose to see was something completely ungrounded!"

  "Oh, really now?" he clipped.

  "Yes really," she ground out and threw her hands defeatedly up in the air, "You know what? So what if Keith and I shared a special moment? It's not as if he's taking anything that is yours!"

  That hit a nerve, and by the way, Conners brows drew together, she knew he was angry, but she didn't care. But even then he didn't respond. The longer the heavy silence suffocated the room, the angrier Caroline became.

  "You are an asshole, Conner James," she muttered, "I should never have come. It was a monumental mistake. I really thought…well, it doesn't matter now. I'll be out of your life before the sun rises tomorrow morning."

  She spun around to leave, but Conner snatched her wrist and spun her back around to face him.

  "What doesn't matter?" Conner said, his blue eyes boring into hers.

  Caroline tried to twist her wrist out of Conner's grasp, wincing at the slight sting but Conner kept his firm grip, "Tell me, Caroline!"

  She refused to entertain his little temper tantrum, she simply sneered at him.

  “God, you piss me off so much sometimes,” Conner said.

  Caroline was going to respond but that was when Conner pulled her forward and his mouth covered hers. She was shocked at first and briefly entertained the idea of pulling back, but quickly squashed it when his tongue dove into her mouth. Caroline moaned as he released her wrist, twisting her arms around his neck, her hands in his hair.

  Conner nipped and sucked her bottom lip, apparently relishing in the small whimpers that escaped Caroline's mouth. His hands moved down to cup her buttocks and with barely and effort, lifted her in his arms.

  She could see where this was heading, and while she wasn’t opposed to the idea, she knew that she could be very loud.

  "Wait," she panted.

  “No,” Conner growled.

  “Your family-”

  “They are all out.”

  "Your brother isn't," she protested

  "Don't talk about my brother right now," he warned.

  Caroline was about to respond again but her lips were covered once more and her mind short-circuited a little bit. Conner was able to maneuver the two of them to his bed where he laid her down. It only took a moment for him to strip the rest of his clothes off before working on hers.

  Conner slowly pulled her blouse over her head, then he roughly shoved one of the cups in her bra out of the way to furiously suck on a rosy nipple. Caroline gasped at the sensation as he bit and gently nibbled around the sensitive nub. Unhooking her bra, he gave the other nipple the same amount of attention before kissing lower. Conner unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down until she was only clad in her panties.

  She was about to speak when Conner moved his face to between her legs, lightly kissing her cotton covered pussy.

  "Fuck you smell so good," he groaned.

  Caroline moaned as he slowly slid the last bit of fabric off to expose her. Gently, he parted her folds to rub the swollen little bundle that was already past its hood. Caroline thrashed and moaned at the sensation. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, Conner's mouth was on her, sucking and licking all around her sex. He varied the pressure of his sucks on her clit and introduced his fingers, stroking her until with a cry; she came with waves of pure ecstasy overcoming her.

  When she stopped shivering from the pleasure, Conner positioned himself over her while reaching into his nightstand for a condom. He rolled it on as quickly as he could and positioned the tip at her entrance.

  With a moan, he entered her until he was all the way inside. Caroline was so full and she couldn’t stop herself from clenching around his length. He felt like she remembered, hard lines in all the right places; his scent surrounded her in an intoxicating musk.

  Slowly he began to thrust in and out of her willing body. Caroline clung to his shoulders and tried to keep her moans down by biting her lip. Conner grabbed her wrists and pulled them over her head.

  “I want to hear you as you come for me.”

  Caroline nodded and he picked up his pace, fucking into her tight heat and moving his fingers down to play with her very sensitive clit.

  Finally, Caroline crested and her orgasm washed over her; she barely realized that she was screaming until she shut her mouth and began to come down from the high. Conner pumped into her sensitive body a few more times until he came with a grunt.

  In the aftermath, the two lay there and contemplated what had just happened. Caroline waited for Conner’s reaction to it all, fearing the worst. He surprised her when he let out a little chuckle, looking up at her with a wide smile.

  "You always find a way to drive me crazy," Conner said.

  Caroline smiled back at him and leaned up to kiss him.

  “Likewise,” She responded.

  Chapter 7

  The two decided to skip dinner, Conner didn't really want to face his mother after all that went down. But he had to admit to himself that she had been right, he still loved Caroline. That night, after another round of sex, he held her sleeping form in his arms and tried to come up with a way to keep her there beside him before finally falling asleep together.

  When Conner woke up, the next morning, to a ringing. He moaned and reached for his phone, but it wasn't his phone ringing. With a huff, he stood up and searched around the room until he found it in the pocket of Caroline's discarded jeans. Her phone was going off with an incoming call from Adalene, her sister if Conner remembered correctly.

  He felt it was wrong to go through Caroline’s phone, but figured he would just tell Adalene that Caroline would call her back.

  He answered the phone, “Hello?”

  "Mama?" A little girl's voice echoed from the other end, and Conner's blood ran cold.

  “Um no I think she’s in the shower, is there an adult near you that I could speak to?”

  He heard the phone being passed to someone else, “Hello?”

 
"Adalene? What the hell is going on?" he demanded under his breath.

  "Oh…hello. Is my sister around?" she asked.

  "She's occupied right now, but tell me the truth, was that Caroline's child?"

  Adalene didn't answer but he knew she was still on the line.

  "How old is she?" he persisted.

  He heard Adalene sigh, "Yes, it is her child and she's three."

  "Is she mine?" he asked straight out.

  Nothing but silence answered him and that told him all he needed to know. Without saying goodbye, he hung up and waited for Caroline to exit the bathroom.

  A few minutes later she exited the bathroom with damp hair and wearing a blue blue sundress.

  “Good morning,” She said cheerfully.

  Conner didn’t answer and it was then that Caroline noticed her phone in his hands.

  "Why do you have my phone?" She asked nervously.

  "Your daughter called," he said coldly.

  Caroline looked down at her hands, "I was going to tell you."

  "When? After we fucked?" he uttered.

  Caroline winced at the harsh words but didn't reply.

  "She's about three years old now, right?" he said.

  She could hear the dismay and anger in the tone of his voice, and she deserved it every bit, she nodded once and averted her eyes. Too ashamed to look at him. She should have told him before... before he seduced her back into his bed.

  "Cat got your tongue? So I have a daughter that you chose not to tell me about?"

  Caroline looked up at him. Attempting to stop herself from crying was a failure as tears ran freely down over her cheeks.

  "What was I supposed to do? By the time I found out, you were already back here."

  "What you were supposed to do was pick up a phone and call, Oh hey Conner, by the way, I'm having your baby!" he mimicked.

  Caroline glared at him, "I was scared to tell you, I thought that you wouldn't want to see me after I left."

  "So you kept my daughter away from me?"

  "It wasn't like that."

  "Then what was it like? Because I would really like to know."