Page 35 of All Night with the Cowboy
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Tanner stayed propped up on his elbow watching her go before collapsing back down onto the lounger. His body was sore still, but he was getting used to that—it was the fatigue he was finding hard to deal with. The recovery post-accident wasn’t something he’d expected to be so hard, but then his recovery was turning out like nothing he could ever have expected.
When Mia had suggested he work with Lauren, it had been like he was the bull and someone was wildly waving a red flag in his line of sight. He’d snapped at his sister and been like a bear with a thorn in his paw in the days and weeks leading up to their departure for Fiji. And now? Now he was salivating over the one woman who’d stopped him trusting any female he’d ever been intimate with.
He knew he’d never trust her like that again, but sex was sex. The fact he hated what she’d done to him way back when didn’t mean he’d ever stopped being attracted to her. Hell, he’d woken up slick with sweat, the sheets tangled around him, plenty of times, with naked Lauren images filling his head. The dreams he’d had about her, the fantasies of having his wicked way with her one more time, had never left him. Which is why he’d probably never forgiven her, because a part of her had always stayed with him.
Now he had the chance to get her out of his systemonce and for all, and it was him calling the shots. He was the one who’d decide when they caught their private jet back to Texas, meaning he was the one deciding when their summer fling would end. There would be no broken hearts, just two satisfied adults who made the most of the dark hours on an island in the middle of the Pacific.
Tanner was all about the no-strings-attached affair; hell, it had been his motto his entire adult life. He closed his eyes and decided to rest awhile, needing the downtime to recover from the deep tissue massage, but behind his lids all he saw was Lauren.
His fingers clenched around her hair, tipping her head back so he could see the soft, creamy skin of her throat. He grazed his teeth across her, his other hand finding its way to her butt, indenting into her skin as he felt her rock against him. That had always been the fantasy, opening his eyes to find her mounted on him, riding him, her beautiful, shapely body filling his hands and his senses. Until she’d open her eyes and look down at him, as if she was seeing him for the first time, realizing who she was with.
Stop.He opened his eyes, no longer wanting to rest. That wasn’t how it was going to end tonight. Tonight, he wouldn’t wake up at that same moment. Tonight, he would look into Lauren’s eyes and she’d know exactly who she was climbing into bed with. And the only thing he’d see was the same desire reflected in his own gaze. Lauren wanted him and he wanted her.
He was in for one hell of a ride, that was for damn sure.
His phone started to vibrate and he groaned, reaching for it. So much for ignoring it for the next week. He stared at the screen, annoyed the number was showing as private.
“Hello,” he growled down the line.
“Tanner, what the hell do you think you’re doing just leaving without—”
“Shut up,” he said. “Just shut the hell up and leave me alone. I left a message for you stating that I was to be contacted only in an emergency.”
His agent was relentless, which Tanner had always liked—until recently. Now it was driving him nuts. “Thisisan emergency! I have media wanting big interviews, and we need to convince Wrangler that you’re going to be making a comeback or they won’t exactly be receptive next week when I’m trying to renew your sponsorship contract.”
“Marty, that’snotan emergency,” Tanner said, surprised by how calm he was being. “Call me again in the next fortnight, and I’ll be endingourcontract and looking for a new agent. Are we clear?”
He ended the call and checked his text messages before holding down the side button, turning off the phone. He stared at the blank screen and grinned. Nowthatwas more like it. He’d turn it on again later, but for now he was going to enjoy the silence.
Chapter 11
LAUREN could barely sit still. She was seated across from Tanner at what was possibly the most beautiful place she’d ever eaten dinner. They had a private table on the beach, away from the other guests, with tropical flowers set in the middle of the wooden tabletop and lines of torches burning to either side of them. It was perfect.
And so was the man seated across from her. Not “perfect” in a forever kind of way, but “perfect” for now. This was her chance to get him out of her system, to relax and play like she’d never done in college, to just be herself and to hell with the consequences. Because when they got home, they’d walk away from each other and step straight back into their old lives.
The look he was giving her was smoldering, his eyes never leaving hers, the hint of a smile playing constantly over his lips. Tanner reached for the champagne, within arm’s reach in a bucket of ice, and poured both of them a second glass.
“Have you noticed that the sun has gone down?” he asked.
The dark pink sky had slowly turned to inky black, and Lauren swallowed as she stared back at him, holding her champagne flute so tightly she feared the stem might snap.
“I have.”
His wink was slow and purposeful and she felt her stomach quiver, flip-flopping and full of nerves. This was torturous, knowing what was going to happen between them, knowing how badly they each wanted a rematch. But she had a feeling he was enjoying every second of drawing their evening out.
“Lobster linguine,” the waiter said, placing their second course on the table in front of them.
Lauren inhaled the smell of butter and garlic, her mouth salivating. “This looks incredible,” she said. “It’s just lucky we’re eating the same food. Our garlic breath is going to be terrible!”
Tanner laughed and picked up his fork, and she watched as he twirled his first mouthful of linguine. What surprised her was that with his left hand he reached for her, fingers stroking gently across the inside of her wrist before settling over her own fingers.
Her pulse ignited and she stayed still, listening to her own breath as he looked at her. “It’s been twelve years since I held your hand.”
She knew exactly how long it had been. “And twelve years since we lay in the back of your pickup and stared up at the stars.”
That had been the side of him that she’d wished her parents had known—the young man who wasn’t trying to show off, who shared his dreams and his thoughtswith her. She’d loved both sides of him, because the show-off Tanner had been so much fun, but what she’d missed was the moments they’d spent alone. Two kids in love, just being real. At school he’d tried to act out and cover up his learning issues, never telling anyone else and swearing her to secrecy when he found out he was dyslexic, so when they were alone it was the real him. Or at least that’s how it had always felt.
