Page 33 of Ride Me Cowboy

Wow. I really just got that right out there. He looks as surprised as I feel, but he covers it quickly.

“Don’t do this.”

“What’s the matter, Cowboy? Are you afraid to talk to me?”

He puts a hand in his pocket and looks beyond me, to the mountains in the distance, brow furrowed. “You work for me, Beth.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“So, I don’t make a habit of going around kissing my staff.”

“I’m sure Caleb appreciates that,” I quip.

His lip quirks for the briefest second, but his body remains tense. “You need to drop it.”

“Then don’t say things like how good I look running,” I mutter.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Damn straight.”

“Look, haven’t you ever wanted something you knew you couldn’t have?”

I stare at him, letting the words sink in. “So…you’re saying you do want me?”

His eyes slip back to mine, but they’re glaring at me, like he’s frustrated as hell. “What do you think?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Come on. You’re as pretty as all get out. Any man with blood in his body would want you. But I reckon it’s been about a decade at least since I’ve just done whatever I feel like. This,” he points to me, then toward his own broad chest, “can’t happen.”

He’s right. This is a bad idea. A really stupid idea.

I’d put it down to the Chardonnay the other night, but it turns out, the way I felt was all wrapped up in me, and Cole, because even as we’re standing here, acknowledging the stupidity of this, my body is still tingling and aching with a need for him to wrap his arms around me and kiss me, good and proper.

“I’ll tell you what,” I say, tapping a finger to the side of my lips. “Kiss me, once, and I’ll let it drop.”

His eyes narrow at the challenge.

“Just once,” I promise. “Unless you’re scared that if you start you won’t be able to stop.”

He swears softly, dropping his head, staring at the ground.

“Cole?” I say, after several moments have passed.

He lifts his head, his eyes burning. “Don’t you get it?” he demands, as he steps forward, closing the distance, nostrils flaring, brow beaded with sweat. “That’sexactlywhat I’m afraid of.”

The last few words are lost in the meshing of our mouths, as he kisses me, finally, just like I’d begged him to.

Chapter Eleven

Beth

IKNEW I WAS playing with fire, taunting him like that, but I had no idea just how explosive it would be when he did actually kiss me. I have very limited experience on the whole kissing front. Even before Christopher, it’s not like I was hooking up with a heap of guys or anything. I dated a few men, in college, but no one really set me going. Then, there was Christopher, and you can imagine how it felt to be kissed by him.

This is unlike anything I’ve ever known, unlike anything I could have expected. From the minute his lips crash into mine, it’s a kiss of dominance and control, and yet it’s not like that. It’s the kind of control I am content to yield, because it feels so damned good. It’s not like with Christopher. Nothing about Cole is.

His strength is comforting. His kiss and power are addicting and drugging, a heady combination. I whimper into his mouth as his tongue duels with mine and his big, burly hands come around to my ass and hold me there, right up against his body, so through his shorts I feel his hardness and it sends a rocket through me.My insides twist and moist heat slicks my sex, so I whimper again, something like his name, I think, or maybe it’s a plea. I don’t know.

---