Cowgirl Heart (The Dalton Boys Book 12)

by Em Petrova

  She was officially a cliché—the age-old boss/assistant affair.

  A light knock sounded on her door.

  “Kizzy. We need to talk.”

  She drifted from the bathroom to stare at the closed bedroom door.

  For a moment, she considered ignoring his summons and waiting till he gave up and went away. However, she wasn’t a child.

  She opened the door. Knox stood there, looking slumped and more broken than she’d seen him yet.

  Swallowing hard, she gestured for him to enter. He went to a chair in the sitting area and dropped down to it, elbows on his knees and head in his hands.

  Standing a few paces away, she had to lock her knees to keep from going to him. She wanted more of those heated moments between them, and she couldn’t trust herself with a bed not far off.

  “I owe you an apology, KC. I got carried away.”

  He looked up from the cradle of his hands, face agonized. “No, it was my fault.”

  “I don’t know what went on between you and Corbin—”

  He began to speak, but she threw up a hand to stop him.

  “—and I don’t wanna know. But whatever happened between us was a mistake.”

  He looked at her for so long that the hazel of his eyes started to feel like a part of her own soul.

  She waited. He didn’t look away.

  “Was it, Kizzy? Was it a mistake?” The words were spoken so softly and with such torment that her jaw dropped.

  How did she even begin to process this?

  She pressed her fingers over her kiss-swollen lips and released a tremor of a breath. “I think you’d better go.”

  He gathered himself up and walked to the door. As he passed her, he paused, inches away, not looking at her, but she could see the muscle leaping in the corner of his jaw. He bowed his head and continued on, closing the door quietly behind him.

  Kizzy was trembling. She leaned against the nearest wall to keep from toppling over—or following Knox.

  “What the hell was that?” she whispered to herself.

  * * * * *

  Knox eyed his uncle from across the desk. What he was about to say would be met with arguments and animosity, but it had to be done.

  Dragging in a deep breath, he tried not to think of his father looking down upon the scene from heaven—the man would probably haunt him for the rest of his damn life once he knew his son’s plan.

  “Spit it out, boy.” Uncle John unhooked his boot from over his knee and planted it on the floor, patience coming to an end.

  Knox picked up a map and slid it across the desk he’d recently cleaned off. His uncle lifted it and stared at it.

  “What am I lookin’ at? What are all these colored circles?”

  “Those are the plots of the Amazing Grace I plan to divide off and sell.”

  His uncle shot to his feet. “Like hell! Your daddy fought to keep this place intact.” He jabbed a finger in Knox’s face as he spoke the last two syllables. “And I won’t allow you to sell it off. For what purpose? You have billions sitting there in Houston. Sell off your own fucking property!”

  “I am,” he said dryly.

  John lowered himself to the seat again, shaking with anger. The longer he sat glaring at Knox, the redder his face became.

  “I don’t want to sell off the entire Amazing Grace. But fact is, we don’t need all this land to make it a success, and the smaller it is, the less hands are needed to employ. I’ll be leaving everything up to you or the foreman, relying on others to run my investment.”

  “And the smaller it is, the less overhead and you run a smaller risk of losing it all due to our poor judgment calls.”

  Knox picked up the map. “It’s good business is all. Nothin’ personal.”

  “Well, I goddamn take it personal, Knox. Your daddy and I worked this land for how many years? I was devoted to helping him in everything he wanted, and I never asked for anything for myself.”

  Knox glanced up at him. “And now what do you want, John?”

  “I want the Amazing Grace intact.” He thumped the desk with a closed fist. “All five hundred thousand acres. Do you realize how long your daddy had to save to purchase some of this land? How much convincing he had to do with the neighboring owners to get a piece of land to this size? You’re breakin’ your daddy’s heart even thinkin’ of selling off.”

  “If I break off the western tract, I can have a buyer right away. Working capital in the bank for whatever you need this upcoming year.”

  “Fuck your buyer.”

  A quick movement in the open doorway brought Knox’s attention away from his uncle, to see Kizzy trying to dart away without being seen.

  “Kizzy.”

  She stopped and backed up a step, framed in the doorway, computer tablet in hand. She probably had come looking for him to ask him a question and walked into an argument.

  John whipped around. “Ask her what she’d do with a ranch of this size if she inherited it.” A sneer came to his lip. “I bet she’d want to keep it so it could make her more money.”

  “Just a damn minute, John. You don’t know anything about her.” Knox got to his feet, and Kizzy looked undecided whether she should come into the study or go. Eventually, she threw back her shoulders and stepped inside.

  Judging by the look on her face, she had her own things to say to his uncle.

  “The Amazing Grace is beautiful as is, and it’s profitable—I’ve seen the books. But KC is right that if he isn’t here to run it firsthand, then it’s easier to create a smaller operation to ensure it’s profitable.”

  John bobbed his head in a mocking way. “Is that so? And you’ve got how much experience with ranchin’?”

  She drew up straighter, not looking away from him. “Over twenty years. I grew up on the Dalton Ranch in Paradise Valley. That’s my family operation, and they’ve expanded over the years. But as soon as you lose a man, the work gets harder. If that happened, they’d need to reconfigure. That’s what Knox is trying to do here.”

  God, she was actually defending him, even after her clear irritation with him and those stolen kisses. It had been two whole days since that happened, and she hadn’t spoken to him at all. When she required an answer from him, she emailed or texted.

  And he’d been a damn coward, avoiding her. In doing so, he’d hoped to give her space to forgive him for his loss of judgment. Now she was standing by him, loyal as ever.

  “The Dalton Ranch isn’t even half of this place. You don’t even know what you’re saying, girl. So stay out of this.”

  Knox’s temper blew. He rounded the desk in two strides and got into his uncle’s face. “Don’t speak to her like that. This isn’t the fifties and her place isn’t in the kitchen. Kizzy understands more about business than you ever will. Besides, she’s with me.”

  A step away, Kizzy sucked in a breath, eyes wide.

  “She doesn’t know the Amazing Grace.” John stood his ground.

  Knox had to respect the old guy. When he got a conviction in his head, he fought till the end for it. That was the Cohen way.

  Pointing to the map on the desk, with red and blue rings around the portions he planned to lop off and sell, Knox said, “And if we don’t do this, what is the alternative? We start bleeding out money until the place is dry?”

  “Or you could stay and oversee your legacy.” John’s voice came out thickly, and Knox saw the emotion behind his words. He really wasn’t a bad guy—he just wanted his own way, and Cohens were stubborn. Look at what he’d managed to do by leaving and staying away so long.

  Kizzy caught Knox’s eye and then let her gaze skitter away.

  But not before he saw the shock in the blue depths. She didn’t agree with his decision to downsize the Amazing Grace and leave it to others to run either. Because her family wouldn’t do that, and he was learning that Kizzy was always going to stand behind family.

  She stood behind me, though.

  His shirt was feeling too tight,
his chest too swollen with some unknown emotion.

  “Think about it, Knox. There’s nothing that says you have to break it apart and sell it all off this week, like you do with those small mortgage companies you buy up. The ranch runs like an oiled machine, rarely a glitch in sight. All I’m asking is to give yourself time to think on this decision.” John’s words cut through him with a ring of truth.

  Seconds passed. Finally, he nodded. “All right.”

  John tapped the desk and walked out. Kizzy moved away as he passed, and the action left him feeling angry with his uncle all over again. John couldn’t speak to her that way and if that meant putting the older relation in his place, well, Knox was prepared to do that time and time again.

  * * * * *

  Was she with him? Knox’s words to his uncle had firmly grabbed her by the heartstrings and tugged her closer to him. As if she needed more of that—she’d been going crazy for two days wondering how to deal with the fallout of her emotions.

  The kisses wouldn’t leave her mind, and even now if she glanced at his mouth, she could feel his lips moving over hers.

  Of course, this was all due to her living in close proximity to him for over a week now. Even though they weren’t sleeping together and didn’t cross paths very often, it sure felt like playing house with another cowboy.

  Unbeknownst to her nosy family, she had lived with a cowboy back home for three months during her senior year of college. That might be the reason she’d never wanted one. The passionate affair had quickly fizzled out, as soon as she realized they didn’t share the same moral values and no way in hell could she bring that guy home to Momma let alone hold a deep conversation with him.

  But Knox was different.

  He was seated behind the desk, head bowed over his steepled fingers. His stillness jerked at those heartstrings a second time.

  This is probably a bad idea, but…

  Kizzy rounded the desk and leaned against the edge near him. She didn’t speak, and he didn’t look up.

  After a long moment, she said, “This is a lot of pressure on you in your present state of mind.”

  He looked up, lines carved across his forehead. “What state of mind is that?”

  “Your grief. Maybe your uncle’s right—you need to give this decision time. Let it marinate.”

  “Like a steak?”

  She gave a low chuckle. “I guess so.”

  He stared at her, gaze roving over her hair and face, down her breasts and then back up to meet her eyes. When he reached for her, she was ready for it. She’d prepared to skirt away from him if this ever happened again, and here she was faced with the decision of whether or not to allow her boss to touch her.

  But all that flew out the window at the first sear of his touch on her waist.

  She slipped off the desk and he tugged her closer, using almost no pressure, till he sat mere inches from her.

  When he tipped his forehead against her middle, an indescribable tenderness took hold of her, and she sank her fingers into his thick hair.

  “I’m making a mess of things,” he grated out. She didn’t know if he meant with the ranch or her.

  Applying pressure to her waist, he brought her a step closer.

  “Kizzy.” He tilted his head to look at her.

  She swallowed hard at the yearning expression in his hazel eyes.

  “Those kisses weren’t a mistake.”

  A low noise of wanting left her, and then he yanked her into his lap, and she wound her arms around his neck. The warm steel of his thighs under her ignited a fire, and she didn’t know if she could control it this time.

  She moved in as he swept her up against his hard chest, and their mouths crashed together with a dark desire that would never be enough.

  She moaned, and he echoed it with a growl. Gliding his hand beneath her hair, he kneaded her neck lightly as he deepened the kiss. Her pulse pounded, and she couldn’t get close enough.

  As she realized this was going to be the end of her career at Cohen Mortgages, she wondered if she gave a damn. Tupping the boss was something women did to climb the corporate ladder, but she didn’t care if she was fired the very next minute, because she had feelings for Knox Channing Cohen.

  He skated his hand down her spine and around her torso. When he walked his fingers slowly upward to cradle her breast, she gave a shudder of pleasure. How long had she wanted him to touch her this way?

  “Kizzy. Jesus, you’re so sweet and soft. I’ve never known anyone like you.” His murmurs blended with kisses he dropped to her throat. She angled her head to give him better access, and he sucked on her earlobe before another growl left him and he captured her lips.

  This time there were no tender nibbles but pure white-hot flames drove them. He delved his tongue between her lips, and she sucked it before thrusting her own against it. He twisted her in his arms to straddle him, and through the barrier of her dress pants and his jeans, she felt his hard length.

  She rocked against him, and he groaned into her mouth. The desire spiraled on and on, and he skimmed a hand under her top to tease her breast through the silky bra cup. When he closed his fingers around her hard nipple, she shook in his hold.

  He clamped his mouth on her neck and lifted her, navigating the space to the big leather sofa against one wall. As he passed the door, he reached out and yanked it closed.

  He laid her down on the leather, holding her stare as he did. “You don’t have to do this. You still have a job.”

  “I want to.” Her words came out as a rasp. The ache inside her was reaching a pinnacle, and she could only think about getting their clothes off and him inside her.

  “Lord help me, I can’t stop myself. You drive me so crazy.” His words landed with his kisses, on her mouth, neck, the tops of her breasts. He stripped her shirt away, and her chest heaved at the dark promise in his eyes.

  She reached for his hem and removed his shirt as well. The warm skin she exposed looked as if he worked in the sun. How easy it was to picture him here on the ranch, hefting bales and working horses. She hadn’t set out to fall for a cowboy—or her boss—and she’d gotten both.

  He pressed her thighs apart and did a push-up over her, letting her feel the kiss of warm skin against her bare torso and his rock-hard erection at the same time.

  “You’re fucking glorious,” he whispered and then swooped in to kiss her again. As he flipped his tongue over hers, he found the clasp of her bra and soon he cupped her bare breast in one hand.

  Her nipples peaked, and juices flooded her. She wanted this—wanted him. If it was a mistake, well, she was young. She’d get through it. It would hurt, though, because she was falling in love with him.

  * * * * *

  Knox closed his mouth around her straining nipple and sucked. His eyes closed on an involuntary groan, and she echoed it with a soft cry. As she arched upward for more, the passion flowed through him. He couldn’t keep his hands off her and managed to get her pants off in record time.

  The sweet scents of her desire fogged his head. He drew on her nipple and then released it to move to the other. Taking the hardened bud into his mouth, he shot a glance up at her. She was watching him love her with total absorption, and damn if he had ever felt so powerful in his life.

  This woman wanting him was like the most precious gift, because he knew Kizzy wasn’t the type to allow just anyone to touch her this way. His hands shook with the urge to shred her panties and dive between her round thighs, but he reined himself in.

  “Please.” Her strangled plea doubled his need, and he slid a hand between her legs to cup her pussy. Through her panties, he found her damp and swollen with desire. He pressed a fingertip over the bump of her clit, and she threw her head back in abandon.

  After that, he lost his mind, tore off those baby blue panties and slid two fingers right into her tight heat. Watching her unravel for him was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen, and he’d traveled the world and seen most of the Seven Wonders.
Nothing compared to this woman coming apart for him.

  He slid his slick fingers in and out of her, pumping lightly and then curling upward to stroke her G-spot. She flooded him with juices and grasped him by the hair. “Taste me,” she demanded.

  Hell, one lick and he’d be her slave forever. Did the woman even know the power she had over him?

  He slid down her body and poised between her parted thighs. She rocked her hips, bringing her wet pussy upward in invitation. He couldn’t restrain himself and parted his lips.

  The moment his tongue hit her folds, he was a goner.

  And she was bucking in his arms.

  He planted his hand on her hip to hold her still while he lapped and laved at her swollen bud. He inserted one finger and then two, thrusting them high inside her. The first squeeze of her inner muscles had him leaking pre-cum. With a growl, he drove in and out of her faster, harder, till she was shaking.

  She hooked her calf over his shoulder to give him better access. He raised his head, lips wet with her juices.

  “If I take you, I can’t stop.”

  “Nobody’s asking you to.” She gave him the sweetest smile, and it tore his damn heart out.

  * * * * *

  Men had told her she was a demanding lover before, and in the back of her mind, she wondered if it bothered Knox, but she didn’t care at this moment. She wanted what she wanted, and that was it, dammit.

  She flattened her hand on his head and pressed him close again. He sucked her clit into his mouth, and she lost herself for long minutes in the ecstasy. Warm waves rushed her, pounding her over and over. When he flicked her with his tongue at the same time he curled his fingers against that… perfect… mind-blowing… spot, she clamped down hard and let go.

  The orgasm hit with a strength that made her think ten lovers couldn’t do this for her, because this… this was about more than sex.

  Knox rumbled a moan against her folds as she bucked through her release. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything but bliss, and what felt like an eternity later, she met his gaze.

  Eyes dark, he drew away and pulled his fingers free. She shuddered, still on a high of endorphins and not nearly done.