Page 23 of The Cowboy's Downfall
Nix had already gone missing. She had no idea how he’d pulled it off without her noticing, because even though she’d made a point of not looking his way, she’d been hyper-aware of his presence. Light-headedness, brought on by a combination of excitement and nerves, fogged up her hand-eye coordination, and it took two fumbling attempts for her to get the heavy door open. She’d been the good girl her whole life, but if this was the rush Taryn got from breaking the law, then she could see the appeal.
Pulse pounding her eardrums, she entered the second hangar. The building felt empty. Her footsteps broadcast her presence, and any second now, she expected someone to lean over the catwalk railing above her and ask what she was doing.
She found the offices to her right, down a short corridor, right where Nix said they’d be. The third door, near the end of the corridor, was open. When she peered inside it, he was leaning against the edge of a long conference table, waiting for her. The room had no windows and only one entrance—and exit.
Nix straightened when she entered, and her breath lost its sense of direction, swirling aimlessly around her pounding heart. She’d thought he was pretty the first time she saw him, and her opinion on that had not changed. If anything, the possibility of sleeping with him made him that much more attractive. The secrecy involved gave it even more of an edge.
She didn’t need to let him know it, however. One of them had to make the first move and she’d prefer it to be him, for pride’s sake if for no other reason.
“Aren’t there supposed to be firefighters on duty?” she asked, buying a few extra seconds to pull herself back together.
“Jazz has her radio on her. She’ll call them in if she needs them.”
He moved toward her, and she leaned in a little, already anticipating the flush of his body against hers, but he reached past her to shut the door. The click of the lock chased away a hot flair of disappointment before it had a chance to take hold.
She changed her mind then and there about the need for a hotel room. She’d never had sex on a conference room table—or outside of a bedroom, for that matter, because wasn’t she boring—but there was a first time for everything, and with the way he was looking at her, she could come up with no serious objection. So much for her standards. And her pride took a hike.
“We might as well confront this head-on,” she said, diving in. Subtlety had abandoned ship too. “There’s a definite attraction between us and I’d like to explore it.”
“You would, would you?” A light Texas drawl lengthened his words. His gaze grew thoughtful. “What about what I’d like?”
Embarrassment scorched her from head to toe, and she worried for one frantic second that her hair had caught fire. She’d read him wrong. She hadn’t anticipated rejection. Since she couldn’t pull back her words, and he hadn’t rejected her outright, she had no other choice but to brazen this out.
“Why don’t you tell me what that might be?”
“Hard to say. I’ve never had a woman this desperate for me before.”
This wasn’t rejection. He was toying with her. Relief took the edge off her embarrassment. It didn’t seem fair that men took propositioning a woman in stride while for a woman propositioning a man was a lot of hard work. He wanted to play? Okay.
She could play.
“I’m not desperate,” she said, using the snottiest lawyer tone she could muster, and his lips quirked up at that. “And I’m not talking about anything permanent. You’re just convenient.”
“I see.” He nodded. “I’ll do until something better comes along.”
He wasn’t going out of his way to make this easy for her. “That’s not what I said.”
“But that’s what you meant.”
Things had begun to derail. “You’re deliberately misunderstanding.”
Shauna sent up a silent thanks that Taryn had brought her own car. She groped for the door and yanked on the knob, but it was locked. Before she could figure out how to unlock it, a firm hand covered hers.
“Take it easy, Too Good. I haven’t misunderstood anything. I’m just clarifying the terms.”
She swiveled to face him and pressed her back against the door. “Whatdid you just call me?”
“Too Good.” He planted his hand next to her head and leaned closer. He smelled of sandalwood and cinnamon, and his breath warmed her cheek. Lust shivered through her. “That’s what you are, isn’t it? Too good for a cowboy?”
She wondered if it was possible for a head to explode. How could she want him this badly, but want to kill him at the same time? She poked a finger into his chest, and wow but he was solid.
“I don’t give adamnif you’re a cowboy,” she said. “I don’t know what dumb ideas your wife put into your head, but don’t go blaming your insecurities on me.”
“Ex-wife,” he corrected her mildly. “My insecurities, huh? So, you’d be okay with a cowboy picking you up and taking you to Lou’s Pub for dinner tonight?”
“I didn’t say that.” One of his knees had worked its way between hers, making it difficult to think. She plastered her palms to the smooth veneer of the door, struggling to stay upright and not sink against him. “You’re forgetting about Taryn. George—my boss—told me I should set a good example for her.”
He brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “And yet, here you are. What example, exactly, are you trying to set? You’re sending mixed messages, Too Good.”
