by Elle James
“Selena Sanchez, I can’t believe you’re such a snob.” Rider shook his head, a slight smile curving his lips. “If I had said anything like what you just said, you’d have accused me of being an elitist.”
Selena stared up into his eyes. “I’m not a snob. I’m just stating the facts.”
Gently, Rider ran his hands down her arms. “Fine, prove to me you’re not a snob. Go out on this date and show the town of Hellfire you’ll go out with someone like me.”
“I don’t see how that would prove anything,” Selena said.
“If nothing else, it’ll prove to the Shanes and Rauls, and the ex-wives of the world, that a guy like me would go out with a girl like you.” He tipped back his head and stared down his nose at her. “Or are you afraid?”
Selena’s brow furrowed. “I’m not afraid.”
He turned her around and gave her a slight push toward her closet. “Then get dressed. We’re going out.”
“But I didn’t say I’d go out with you,” she muttered.
“You have to, now.” He didn’t give her a chance to change her mind. “I’ll step outside while you get dressed. And wear something sexy.”
“Why?”
“In case we run into Shane, Raul, or my ex-wife while we’re out. I think tonight we should go to the Ugly Stick Saloon.”
“Why?” She parroted.
“To kill two birds with one stone. One, that we live up to our promise from the cowboy auction and go on that date that you won. And two, that we prove to everyone that Selena Sanchez could just as easily go out with Rider Grayson as anyone else in Hellfire.” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a stern look. “Now, are you going to change clothes or are you going to go like you are?”
“I have a mind to go just as I am.” Selena tipped her chin upward.
“As you wish.” Rider held out his arm. “Let’s go.”
Selena hesitated. “Well, maybe I’ll change into something a little less informal.”
He bit back a smile. “I’ll be waiting on the landing outside. You’ve got five minutes.”
“I’ll be ready in three.” Selena turned way and dove for her closet.
Rider chuckled and stepped outside her apartment door, closing it behind him.
Exactly three minutes later, Selena stepped outside the apartment wearing a go-to-hell red dress, strappy silver stilettos, and had her hair pulled up in a loose messy bun that looked so sexy Rider almost turned her around and marched her back into her apartment to make mad, crazy love to her.
She hooked her arm in his and looked up at him. “The Ugly Stick Saloon. One dance. And then you bring me home.”
He nodded. “Agreed.”
Hope bloomed in Rider’s chest as he walked down the stairs with Selena on his arm. He’d gotten her dressed and out the door. Now, all he had to do was take it from there and make it a night she wouldn’t forget. One she didn’t want to end.
SELENA SAT with her hands primly clasped in her lap as Rider drove away from her apartment. When he’d shown up at her door, she’d convinced herself, again, that she would not go out with him. Seeing his ex-wife in his arms, kissing him like there was no tomorrow, had made her remember everything her father had ever told her as she’d grown up. She was the foreman’s daughter. The foreman’s family was not a part of the Grayson family, and therefore, she should keep that separation of stations in mind. Always.
Lydia Grayson had driven that lesson home to her. The woman had been so well put together, wearing a tailored suit that was probably handmade just for her, with her hair perfectly coiffed and shoes that probably cost more than three months of Selena’s hard-earned salary. While Lydia Grayson dropped a grand on a pair of shoes, Selena scraped and saved so she’d be able to live while she went to PA school. A thousand dollars would pay her rent and utilities, put gas in her car and groceries on her table for a month.
Despite agreeing to just one dance, she didn’t demur when Rider treated her to a meal at a local diner, where they ate steak, baked potatoes and a delicious salad. When they finished their meal, they drove to the Ugly Stick Saloon.
The parking lot was full of vehicles, and the music from inside was booming loud enough to shake the tin walls.
Rider found a parking space at the back of the building, pulled in and switched off the engine. Turning to Selena, he asked, “Are you ready?”
Selena shook her head. “I don’t know. There are a lot of people inside.”
Rider grinned. “All the more reason to make our appearance, have our dance, and then we can leave.”
Selena nodded, her jaw firming. She squared her shoulders and glanced at Rider. As small a town as Hellfire was, Selena didn’t know what kind of repercussions they’d have by showing up at the Ugly Stick Saloon together on a date. Granted, the date had been “won” at the cowboy auction. Still, when the date was over, and Rider didn’t call her again, she didn’t want to be seen as a pathetic cast-off of one of the infamous Grayson brothers.
“I’m ready,” she said. It was a lie, but she could get through it. As it was, she was leaving in January to go to PA school. Whether or not he ever called her again didn’t matter.
As they stepped inside, Audrey Anderson greeted them at the door, smiling broadly. “I’m so glad to see you two here tonight. We have a very special treat in store for you. Everybody in the Ugly Stick Saloon is getting Salsa lessons, and we’re Salsa dancing tonight.”
“I’ve never known the Ugly Stick Saloon to have Salsa dancing lessons,” Selena mentioned.
Audrey Anderson’s smile broadened. “Well, the people spoke! I ran a poll and asked our patrons what kind of dance lessons or what kind of dancing music they’d like to have. One of the top selections was Salsa.”
Selena glanced up at Rider. “We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” she said.
Rider shrugged. “I’m game if you are.”
Her brow furrowed as she stared up at him. “Have you ever danced the Salsa?”
“Maybe.” Rider grinned when she raised her brows. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He hooked her arm and urged her into the building.
Selena had grown up with Latino music. At any family reunion, they could be guaranteed the music would be loud, laughter would be plentiful, and Salsa was as natural as breathing and eating tamales. She had no doubt she could do the Salsa. But Rider?
Rider claimed a small table and ordered drinks for himself and Selena.
Meanwhile, Audrey took the stage with a microphone and quieted the music. “Tonight’s a special night,” she said. “Tonight, we’re having our first Salsa dancing lesson. Is everybody ready?” A loud cheer arose from the patrons of the Ugly Stick Saloon. “Here to give you a good example of what Salsa looks like, is Raul Jemenez and Marisol Perez.” Music started, and Raul and Marisol appeared on the stage doing a Salsa to the beat of the sexy music.
Selena smiled. “I didn’t know Raul could dance.”
“How long did you two date?” Rider asked. “You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to.”
Selena shrugged. “Only a few weeks. We didn’t do much; we just went out to dinner a couple times. We didn’t find much to talk about.”
Audrey took the mic again and announced, “Anyone who wants to learn the steps, please join us on the dance floor.”
Several women grabbed the hands of their men and dragged them out on the dance floor.
Rider held out his hand to Selena. “Ready to give it a try?”
Selena frowned and put her hand in his, a little hesitant. “Does this count as our one and only dance?”
“If one is all you want,” Rider said. “But you’re welcome to claim more than one dance.”
Selena rose from her chair and followed Rider onto the wooden dance floor. He held one of her hands up and rested his other hand on her hip. Moments later, he was leading her in a snappy Salsa, his hips moving to the rhythm of the music, as if he’d been born to do it.
“A good friend I met in college, also a Mexican National, taught me how. She was quite a good dancer. She married my roommate. They already have two small children. I’m their godfather.” He spun her around and dipped her low.
Selena couldn’t remember having such a good dance partner, and she enjoyed every minute of the Salsa. One dance led into another, until finally the music slowed into a very sensuous, Latino slow dance. Rider gathered her close in his arms as they moved and swayed to the music. She leaned into the hard muscles of his chest and rested her cheek in the crook of his neck. The more they swayed together, the more she wished they were alone somewhere else. She wanted to feel his hands on her naked body as they had been the night before. Eventually, the music slowed to a stop, and a new beat started up, fast and furious. Selena didn’t feel like doing the Salsa anymore. She wanted to leave and be alone with Rider.
He tipped up her chin. “Are you ready to go?”
She nodded, more than ready to leave. She was ready to have him all to herself.
As he led her off the dance floor, she glanced around the room. There at a table, close to the exit door, sat a blonde-haired woman in a black cocktail-length dress. Her hair was pulled up, her makeup perfectly applied. It was Lydia. Rider’s ex-wife. And she was sitting with Shane Fetterlein. Selena glanced up at Rider.
His gaze moved to his ex-wife, and he frowned. “What the hell is she doing here?”
Selena didn’t respond. She ducked her head and moved toward the door. “If you want to stay here, you can. But I’m ready to leave.”
Rider shook his head. “Oh, I don’t want to stay here at all. I have other plans.” He gathered her close with an arm around her waist and led her out the door.
Once outside, Selena turned to Rider. “Seriously, if you want to stay and make sure your ex-wife is okay, I’ll understand.”
Rider shook his head. “I have no desire to stick around and see what my ex is up to. I just don’t like the idea of her and Shane putting their heads together and cooking up something.”
“It can only mean trouble,” Selena agreed.
He took her hand in his and lead her toward the truck. “But, if you’re not too tired, I have something else in mind. Are you game?”
Selena thought back to his ex-wife sitting in the Ugly Stick Saloon. Rider had chosen to stay with her rather than go back to Lydia. Her heart swelled with hope. “I’m game,” she said.
“Good. I have something special planned.”
He helped her up into the truck and took off, not toward her apartment, but in the direction of the open countryside. Before long, they came to a bluff, a place where young couples came to neck and make out.
Selena’s body heated at the thought.
Rider pulled the truck to a stop overlooking a valley below. Above them, the stars spread out like a blanket of diamonds in the sky. He got out, reached into the back seat, pulled out a sleeping bag and tossed it onto the truck’s bed. Next, he unearthed a basket and laid it in the back of the truck, as well.
Then he held his hand out to Selena. “Would you care to join me and do a bit of stargazing?”
Selena put her hand in his. “I’d love to.”
He helped her up into the back of the truck. Together, they spread out the sleeping bag and laid on top of it, looking up at the stars.
Rider leaned up on his elbow and pulled a bottle of wine from the basket, along with two wine glasses. “I got your favorite, Cabernet Sauvignon.”
Selena tilted her head. “How did you know?”
“I asked Audrey what you ordered at the auction.”
Selena smiled. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to get it right. She sat, took the glass he poured and sipped from it, her gaze on the stars above, but keeping Rider in her peripheral vision.
“I thought you might enjoy this, since the meteor shower is supposed to be at its peak tonight. We don’t have to do anything but watch the stars, with nobody to bother us.”
They touched their glasses together.
Rider toasted, “To starry skies and good friends.”
Selena added, “And to learning more about each other.”
They sipped their wine, the stress of the day melting from Selena’s shoulders. Soon, the wine, the stars above and the handsome man beside her lulled her into a sense of serenity, and more than that. She set her empty glass aside and reclined. She stared up at the stars as, one by one, the meteors streaked across the sky.
Rider reached for her hand and held it inside his.
Selena wanted more than him holding her hand. She turned on her side and stared across at him. “What is it you want from life, Rider?”
Rider cupped her cheek. “Right at this minute, all I want is to kiss you.”
Selena made that wish come true. She lowered her face and touched her lips to his. Her kiss was gentle, exploring his mouth, taking her time.
But a few moments later, he flipped her on her back and crushed her lips with his, his tongue diving inside her mouth to give hers a possessive caress. When he raised his head for air, he glanced down into her eyes. “I need you to know that the kiss you witnessed earlier, between my ex and myself, was all initiated by her. I never kissed her back. I would never kiss her knowing how much I enjoy kissing you.” Again, he lowered his mouth to hers and took her in a gentle kiss that slowly became much more. His hands roamed over her body and slipped beneath the hem of her dress.
Selena tugged the shirt from his waistband and ran her hands up his torso to the hard planes of his chest.
Soon, the need to feel flesh against flesh had them tearing at each other’s clothes, removing them and tossing them to the side. Before long, they were naked in the back of his truck, making love.
They could have been there minutes or hours. Selena didn’t know. She didn’t care. She just knew she was happy to be in his arms. When at last they lay side by side, satiated, and once again staring up at the stars, she sighed. “I’m not changing my mind.”
“I don’t expect you to,” he responded. “I know you’re going to school in January. But I’ll be here when you get back. In fact, if you want me to, I’ll come visit while you’re gone. I own my own business. I can come and go as I please.”
“I don’t want you making any promises you won’t keep,” Selena said, even as her heart soared at his suggestion.
“Trust me, I won’t make any promises I don’t intend to keep.”
Selena sighed and pressed her naked body close to his. “I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but tonight couldn’t be more perfect.” She wished it could go on forever.
CHAPTER 10
RIDER FLUNG the eighty-pound hay bale up on the back of the trailer and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Thanks for coming out to haul hay with us today,” his brother Beckett said.
“Yeah, I wanted to say thanks, too,” Big John Grayson said as he stepped down from the pickup truck. “Takes all of us men to haul in enough hay to feed the cattle through the dry spells and the winter.”
“Hey, don’t forget about me,” Lily said from the top of the stack. She was sweating just as much as the men, and her hair had strands of straw poking out of it.
Chance chuckled. “That’s right. Don’t forget our little sis.”
“She’s as much help as any one of you men,” Nash said and tossed another bale up to the top of the stack.
Lily positioned it neatly and waited for the next one.
“I’m surprised you’re out this early,” Chance said to Rider. “After spending the evening dancing at the Ugly Stick Saloon, I’m surprised you have enough energy left to even lift a bale of hay.”
“Was that your cowboy auction date?” Lily asked from the top of the pile.
Rider hefted another bale and tossed it up to where Lily was at the top before answering. “Officially, yes. That was my date with Selena for bidding on me at the auction.”
“Where did she get seven thousand dollars to purchase a date with a cowboy?” Nash asked.
“It wasn’t her money,” Chance said. “Rider made that donation and had Selena do the bidding to save him from any potential disaster dates.”
“So, you really didn’t have to take Selena out on a date, did you?” Lily asked.
Rider shrugged. “I felt it was the least I could do, after she put forth the effort to bid on me.”
Lily stood at the top of the hay stack hands perched on her hips. “Really? It was nothing more than just an obligation?”
Heat rose up Rider’s neck and into his cheeks. “Well, it might have been a little more than that.”
Lily grinned. “I’m glad to see you finally noticed that our Selena is a full-grown woman now.”
“Who said she wasn’t?” Chance said. “We all had to grow up sometime.”
“Well, it took some of us a little longer to notice.” Lily cocked her eyebrows and stared at her brother Rider. “Am I right? You finally noticed that Selena is a grown woman? What I want to know now is what are your intentions toward her?”
“I’d like to know the answer to that as well,” Pedro Sanchez said as he joined them. He’d been manning the tractor, baling the hay as they had been picking up the hay bales and loading them onto the trailer. Pedro had finished his line of hay baling and had come to join them to stack the bales on the trailer. “What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
Everyone paused in what they were doing and waited for Rider’s answer. He felt as if they had all ganged up on him. But the one person whose desire to learn the truth mattered most was the one person he did not want to offend.
“I do not want my daughter hurt,” Mr. Sanchez said.
“Mr. Sanchez,” Rider started. “I have no intention of hurting your daughter. I want only the best for her.”
“My daughter is scheduled to start school in January. I hope you don’t intend to get in the way of her accomplishing her educational goals.”