Page 59 of A Cowboy's Trust
“Pretty perfect family, remember?” She met his eyes. “Except for the invasive as hell and being butt-inskies part.”
“He said he needed help fixing the porch swing.” Jake snorted. “I think he undid a single loop of chain. We sure fixed it easily.”
Tansy linked her fingers behind Jake’s neck. “So? What did my papa really want?”
“Not to share your secrets, but to give some fatherly advice.” Jake took a deep breath. “I told you that day that I didn’t need to know your past, and I meant it, but I think part of me still expected that I’d eventually find out. So, here’s your dad, and out of the blue he’s telling me this story about a wild night in college where he ended up knee deep in a mud bog. After we got done laughing, he said no matter how embarrassing, sharing a tale like that makes him remember how grateful he is for friends who haul him out of trouble, and how after, he was determined to be smarter.”
Too funny. “I’ll have you know that tales of the Wild Mud Bog Night has never been shared with me, so I will be poking him.”
“It was classic,” Jake agreed. “But also a great example of his final point. Memories that make a person smaller or less instead of empowered, those are not worth sharing.”
Her father and her family knew her to the core because it was true. The past caused her nightmares. She worked to this day to believe she was worth being loved.
“Simply put, some stories help us move forward, but others drag us back.” Jake shook his head. “I would never want you to share anything that makes you smaller or hurts you. Your past is done. It might have influenced who you are today, but you’re the one who bravely stepped into the future. You made changes and made a life.Thislife.”
Her throat had gone tight. “I promise I’m not breaking into buildings all over Heart Falls.”
“I know that. Neither am I—” She startled for a moment, and he winked. “I got trained with lockpicks in my work as well. Having the skills isn’t what gives us our job description.”
“I never saw that one coming,” Tansy admitted with amusement,
He stared at her mouth. “I like who you are, Tansy Fields. I like all sorts of things about you.”
They’d stop moving. She had no idea what song was playing in the background because all she could focus on was his mouth. “This would be a good moment for you to kiss me. Plus whatever else you have on your perfect date agenda.”
His lips quirked up at the corners. “No checklists, remember?”
But he did kiss her. Lips pressed to hers, a gentle pressure that built rapidly as he curled his arms around her and squeezed their bodies closer. When he nipped at her lower lip, Tansy gasped. He took advantage, sweeping his tongue in and teasing until they were both gasping for air.
Tansy slipped her fingers between them, working on the buttons of his shirt. Jake bunched up the fabric of her dress, bringing it higher until he could slide a hand under the fabric and skim upward to meet the bare skin of her back.
Hands roaming, mouths lingering. A slow steady seduction where Tansy definitely did not know what would happen next. He kissed along her jawline, lingering in the spot under her ear that made goosebumps rise.
He caught her fingers to his lips, nipping at the tips before sucking one into his mouth briefly.
Tansy moaned, and suddenly her dress was being lifted over her head. He licked the line along the edge of her bra, darting to the side and biting her nipple through the sheer fabric.
Then his fingers were in the waistband of her leggings, and moments later, Tansy stood in nothing but her bra and panties in the middle of their impromptu dance floor.
She approved, but there was one small problem. She caught his hands before he could remove anymore of her clothes. “Your turn.”
She would have made it a slow, teasing event. Undoing one button at a time, pushing off his shirt and letting her mouth wander over all the naked skin she revealed.
Instead, Jake pulled his shirt up and over his head, flinging it to the side before undoing his jeans and dropping them on the spot. The hard length of his erection pressed the front of his boxer briefs.
Neon red boxer briefs.
A snort escaped. “Those are…”
“You like them?” Amusement tinged his words. “In case Kelli was right and you’re gaga over bright colours.”
“Very sexy.” Tansy drew a slow line down his shaft with her finger, .
His entire body shook with the shiver that rolled over him. “You’re fucking killing me,” he groaned.
Anticipation was a wonderful thing, but they’d already had weeks of it. Tansy caught Jake by the hand and stormed toward the bedroom.
14
