Bad In Boots 02 - Ty's Temptation

Ty’s Temptation

ISBN # 1-4199-0490-6

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Ty’s Temptation Copyright© 2006 Patrice Michelle

Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower.

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book Publication: January 2006

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.®
1056 Home Avenue
,
Akron
OH
44310-3502
.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Warning:

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This book has been rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

B
AD IN
B
OOTS
:

T
Y
’
S
T
EMPTATION

Patrice Michelle

Acknowledgements

I wanted to give a huge thank you to my critique partner
Cheyenne
McCray

and my editor Sue-Ellen Gower for their help on Ty’s Temptation!

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Coke: The Coca-Cola Company

Mustang: Ford Motor Company

Chapter One

“Is that your red ‘Stang out in the parking lot?”

Ty finished paying for his soda and turned to the blond teenage boy who’d tapped him on the shoulder. “What?”

The kid jerked his head toward the gas station parking lot. “The Mustang? Is that your car?”

Ty nodded and gave the kid an indulgent smile while he unscrewed the cap on his Coke. He took a long swig and enjoyed the brief relief the cool beverage provided from the fall
Texas
heat.

“Aaaaah,” he let out a sigh of satisfaction as he twisted the lid back on. “It’s a rental, but it’s my car while I’m visiting.”

The boy smirked at the sound of squealing tires. “Looks like it’s someone else’s car now.”

Ty jerked his gaze to the parking lot in time to see the taillights of his rented sports car shoot into traffic. His heart raced and anger quickly slammed to the surface. He faced the boy once more.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

The kid put his candy bar on the counter so the clerk could ring it up and shrugged. “Hey, I just saw him get into your convertible. I didn’t know if the guy was with you or not.”

Ty took a calming breath and jangled his keys in front of the kid. “Seeing him hotwire my car didn’t clue you in?”

The teenager handed his money to the young female cashier who seemed to be listening to their conversation with interest. He peeled away the wrapper and then took a bite out of his candy bar. The strong smell of peanuts and chocolate drifted Ty’s way as the boy tilted his head and spoke with his mouth full.

“Maybe you shouldna’ left your top down.”

* * * * *

Ty drove along the tree-lined dirt road that led to his great-aunt Sally’s Double D ranch. Gravel crunched under his tires as he rolled to a halt in the driveway in front of the small one-story house. He opened the door, climbed out of the cramped, two-seater sports car and grimaced as he pressed the palm of his hand against his stiff spine.
That’ll teach me to ask for the first available convertible.
Ty pulled his cell phone from his pocket and leaned on the car’s hood as he dialed
Jena
’s cell.

“Hello.”

“Heya, Sis, I’m at the Double D. Thanks for sending me the key.”

“Ty! Where have you been? I tried your cell but you must’ve had it turned off. I expected you to come by
Steele Way
and have lunch with us hours ago. You’ve made me hold off the wedding for a couple of months now while you finished your project. I want you to see Harm’s ranch, and spend some time getting to know my fiancé.”

“That ‘project’ was a four-million-dollar, state-of-the-art building,
Jena
. It did wonders for Hudson & Shannon’s reputation in the architectural community.” He rubbed the back of his neck and felt the weight of the four-hour police interview and annoying paperwork with the car rental agency finally start to take its toll.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early. Let’s just say I’ve had a heck of a day. I want to hit the hay early tonight.”

“Is everything all right?” she asked, concern in her voice.

He ran a hand through his hair and down the five o’clock shadow on his jaw, chuckling. “Yeah, but I don’t think the
Hudsons
have the best of luck with rental cars.”

“Oh no! Did your car die on you, too?”

“Worse. It was stolen.”

“You’re kidding me!”

Ty gave a tired sigh. “I wish I were.”

“I’m so sorry that happened.”

He shrugged. “It’s not a problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ty closed the phone and opened the car door to pull out his suitcase. The empty backseat reminded him his stuff was still in the stolen car. Thinking of his expensive clothes packed in that suitcase, he grumbled as he headed for the front door, “I hope he’s too short for my clothes.”

As soon as he unlocked the door and walked inside, Ty noticed two things—
Jena
kept her promise to have the place ready for him, and he couldn’t get enough of the smell permeating the room. Cinnamon and apples.

He glanced to the left of the entryway to the kitchen and grinned when he saw a pie sitting on the stove.
Jena
knew how much he loved apple pie. His gaze continued around the small house. The kitchen flowed right into the living room where a couch and rug sat in front of the fireplace hearth. A big picture window took up the wall straight ahead of him and two doors lined the wall to his right. The door farthest away led to the only bedroom. The door next to it led to a two-way bathroom that also opened into the bedroom.

His gaze circled back around to the small, efficient kitchen with its wooden table and four chairs. The place looked exactly as he remembered it. Small and cozy. He smiled in memory of
Jena
’s and his past summer visits with his great-aunt Sally, even if he did spend his summer nights sleeping on a foldout cot so
Jena
could have the sofa bed.

“I miss your spunky self, Aunt Sal.” He regretted he didn’t get a chance to see her one last time before she passed away.

You’d better wash those hands and freshen up before you dare to sit at my table.
Her voice entered his head as if it were yesterday and not eighteen years since he’d last seen his aunt.

He headed toward the bathroom, and as he walked past the end table next to the couch he noticed the paring knife and plate his sister had obviously forgotten to take back to the kitchen. Shaking his head, he chuckled at the fact some things never changed. Growing up,
Jena
had always forgotten to put her dishes away.

Ty started to put his hand on the bathroom’s doorknob when the door jerked open. A tall woman wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel around her body started to walk out of the bathroom.

“Aaaaahh!” she screamed, taking a step back.

Ty raised his hands in innocence at the shocked look on her face. “Hey, I—”

Before he had a chance to finish, she’d removed her oversized towel and threw the cloth over his head, blocking his view.

His heart raced at the strange scenario, but hey, he was a man. Ty reached up to grab the towel from his face in hopes of catching a glimpse of her naked body. A jolting blow to the back of his knees caused his legs to buckle. Another hit behind his ankles sent his feet flying out from underneath him. He landed flat on his back and air whooshed out of his lungs from the sudden impact.
What the hell?
Still reeling and trying to catch his breath, Ty heard a loud crash on the wooden floor next to him. His heart raced and he tried once more to remove the towel. But instead of finding freedom, his wrists were quickly bound, followed by his ankles.

When the towel flew off his face, he tried to sit up. Ty noted the broken dark blue ceramic shards on the floor as he struggled against the electrical cord wrapped around him.

The woman leaned over him. One hand clutched the towel to her breasts and the other held a paring knife pointed at him. “Move even one inch and you’ll find out the hard way I’m not afraid to stick you like the trussed-up pig you are.” She straightened and backed away, her movements slow and cautious.

Water dripped from her hair onto the delicate slope of her shoulders, disappearing in the valley between her breasts. Now that she’d stopped moving, he realized her hair was a light color. Blonde maybe?

Obviously he’d scared the shit out of this woman. Despite the misunderstanding, Ty couldn’t help but be impressed by her quick reflexes.

He met her angry gaze and noticed she had the most unusual, mesmerizing eyes he’d ever seen. Her eyes were robin’s-egg blue, flecked by shades of gold and brown.

“I believe you’re trespassing,” he said in a calm voice.

“
I’m
trespassing.” She frowned. “You’re the one who’s trespassing. I was invited.”

Ty raised his eyebrow. “So was I.”

Her delicate golden brows drew together in doubt. “By whom?”

“By my sister. She owns this place.”

“
Jena
’s your sister?”

Ty couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face at the squeak in her voice. The tinge of embarrassed pink that colored her cheeks was so…sincere.

“Yes. I’m Ty Hudson.”

The young woman set the knife back on the plate on the end table before she turned her back to wrap the towel around herself.

Ty grinned at the brief glimpse of her perfect ass. Damn fine one at that.

Turning back to face him, she walked over and kneeled next to him. She untied the electrical cord from around his ankles and said, “Harm invited me to stay here.”

Anger sliced through him. “Harm?” It’d only been two months since Harm proposed to
Jena
. The man better not have a woman on the side or he’d have to kill the bastard.

The woman must’ve sensed his line of thought, because she quickly filled in the blanks. “Harm had problems with one of Sally’s horses. With the wedding days away and Harm’s attention otherwise occupied, I volunteered to stay here to keep an eye on the mare and make sure she’s healing fine.”

As she leaned over him to undo the knot at his wrists, water dripped onto his starched blue dress shirt. Not that he cared. He was too busy enjoying the scent teasing his nostrils—cinnamon and vanilla. Damn, she smelled good. And here he thought cinnamon and apples smelled heavenly.
Her
scent had just blown that theory to smithereens. Ty couldn’t help himself. He inhaled once, twice, three times, drinking in her intoxicating aroma.

She looked up at him, concern in her hazel-blue gaze. “Are you okay? Did I tie you too tight?”

When the last of the cord slid off his wrists, she started to pull away. Ty grabbed her left wrist and held her still. He grinned and purposefully lowered his voice to a husky tone. “You’re welcome to tie me up anytime you want, gorgeous.”

Color bloomed on her cheeks once more, making him realize he hadn’t seen such a genuine reaction in a woman in a very long time. His suspicions kicked in. Full force. The woman had to be around twenty-five or so. She couldn’t be
that
innocent.

She ignored his comment and stood, using his hold on her wrist to help pull him to his feet.

Once he was back on his feet, Ty’s grip loosened on her wrist, yet he still didn’t want to release her completely. “You never told me your name.” Despite the warning bells going off in his head, he felt a sudden urge to learn everything about this woman.

Evan’s heart raced and electricity hummed within her when he slid his fingers slowly down her wrist until his thumb traced the inside of her palm.

Concentrating on answering him instead of the intense physical awareness coursing through her, she was able to focus her mind on responding to his question.

“I’m Evan Masters.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Masters.” Ty lifted her left hand and turned it over, planting a kiss on her open palm.

Her stomach flip-flopped at his intimate kiss. Evan’s gaze landed on his short, silky dark hair, skimmed his starched cotton shirt that was stretched across his broad shoulders then moved on to his gray dress slacks and Italian leather shoes. The man’s impeccable, expensive clothes reminded her of her own near-naked state and the casual jeans and tank top that awaited her on the bed in the bedroom.

“Er…I hope we can start over. That wasn’t the best introduction I’ve ever given.”

His vivid green gaze held a dark, intense look before his eyebrows rose in amusement. “At least I’m now versed in how well you can take care of yourself.”

“Sorry about that. My dad made sure I knew how to defend myself.”

Ty glanced at the gutted table lamp, the bits of ceramic scattered across the floor and the ripped-out electrical cord that now lay in an innocent tangle on the floor. He met her gaze with an amused one. “I might’ve gotten knocked off my feet and all tied up by a beautiful woman, but I don’t think the lamp fared as well.”

For the first time in her life, a man made her body ache all over. Correction…tingle and ache. And this reaction was triggered by nothing more than a complimentary comment and a blatant sexy gaze he cast her way.
My God, what would he be like when he really turned on the charm?

When he gave her a knowing smile, Evan ground her teeth. Why did she have to be such an easy read?

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Ty.” Evan started to back away. “I’ll clean the lamp up after I get dressed.”

Ty watched Evan bolt from the room and shut the bedroom door behind her. Without her as a distraction, the delicious smell of the apple pie drew his attention once more. He picked up the knife and plate from the end table and carried them into the kitchen. Setting the dirty plate and utensil on the counter, he then crouched next to the sink and opened the two doors underneath it. Yep, the hand broom and dustpan were still in the same spot they were eighteen years ago. During his summer stays, his aunt made sure he knew how to use them, too. Chuckling, Ty grabbed them and walked over to the lamp’s mess on the floor.