Cowboy Crushin' (Dalton Boys Book 3) (11 page)

Oh God.
She let her knees fall apart, quivering from head to toe.

His touch was light as he painted something over her outer lips then dabbed her clit.

“Mm-mmm. Now that’s a dessert.” His mouth came down on hers and she tasted pure man. He hadn’t sampled the goods—yet.

“Witt, you’re driving me crazy.”

“That’s my hope. I want to do that to you every day of your life.”

His words barely sank in before he delivered a slow lick to her nipple. She couldn’t keep her eyes shut. No way. She looked down to see his long pink tongue working to clean off some buttercream frosting. A bit of apple and cinnamon clung to it.

She groaned.

“I love these apple pie things you make. You taste better underneath it though.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth, drawing on her until she thought she’d lose her mind.

She arched and twisted for more. He took his time moving to her other nipple, which was covered in the same frosting and topping. Once he’d sucked her clean, he moved up her body to kiss her.

She cried out, aching for him to fulfill her desires. He was by far the most exciting man she’d been with, and this experience would never be equaled. Too bad it couldn’t go on forever with him. They were just playing—friends with benefits.

And he loved her kid.

Tangling her fingers in his hair, she kissed him with every ounce of passion she felt.

A buzzer sounded. He lifted his head and speared her with dark blue eyes. “Where’s your phone?”

“I haven’t replaced it yet. That’s the oven timer.”

“Good.” He slipped down her body and gathered the bonbon set in her navel between his teeth. As he chewed, he held her gaze. She reached for him again, but he pinned her hands at her sides.

Good thing because at that moment he buried his tongue in her pussy. His growl of satisfaction resonated. She bucked her hips, feeding him whatever delectable treat he’d smeared on her.

He sucked and licked until she screamed for release. But he backed off before she reached the peak. Pupils blown, looking drunk on sweets, he knelt over her and slipped on a condom.

“You’re going to need an insulin shot after that.”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea.” Then he sprawled butt-ass naked on her black-and-white tile, his cock jutting straight up.

She didn’t need an invitation. She flipped atop him and sank over his erection. Every inch he slid into her slick channel sent her sailing higher. She pinned his roving hands above his head and began to move.

He’d given her the control. Though he could throw her onto her back and take her at any moment, he didn’t. Staring up at her with half-lidded eyes, breathing harsh, he let her have the reins.

“You love me.” The words burst from her without her bidding.

“More than anything.” His voice was thick.

Knowing that spiked her need a hundred-fold. She rose and fell on him, taking what she wanted, slaking her lust while letting her heart absorb what he’d said.

Acknowledging what he meant to her as they rode the waves of bliss together.

When Shelby had come apart in his arms and he’d tasted the sweetness of her treats coupled with the salt of her tears, Witt had thought he’d broken through her tough armor at last.

But now that she was dressed and wearing that apron again, she was in complete control of her emotions. She reopened her shop and he watched her serve several milkshakes. She didn’t offer to make him one though.

Something he’d said or done had thrown an ice-bath over her. She was distant, reserved—like when he’d first met her.

Once she’d finished with customers and had no choice but to pay attention to him, he grasped her upper arms and looked into her eyes. “Why are you holding me at arms’ length again?”

She dropped her gaze and released a pained noise. “Witt, we need to talk.”

“Oh hell no. You’re not going to tell me you’ve had a good time with me but nothing can come of this. Shelby.” He knuckled her chin and lifted her head to meet his eyes. “I’m not like the men you’ve had in the past.”

“How do you know?”

He pinned her with his stare. “If they’d been like me, they wouldn’t have let you walk away. They wouldn’t be texting you to get you back because they’d have you right now.”

A long heartbeat stretched between them. Finally she pulled from his hold and stepped away from him. “I gave up that kind of life, Witt. I left my home and all I knew to start over. For Alex and for me too. I can’t keep hopping from man to man.”

“You don’t need to. You have the perfect one in front of you.” He risked sounding like an arrogant ass, but he needed her to wake up and accept that she didn’t look at him that way because they were only friends.

“Witt…”

“You don’t trust yourself to make the right decisions. I get that. And because I respect that, I’ll give you some distance. No one else did that for you, but I am.” He stepped back and her eyes widened.

Was she feeling panic? He burned to soothe himself by finding out, but no. He needed to give her space to think.

He rounded the counter and pivoted to give her a wink and a smile. “This ain’t over.”

It was bad enough Shelby had left some chocolate cupcakes in the oven while she and Witt rolled around naked behind the counter, but now she’d taken to burning almost everything.

Her chocolate creams had hardened after she’d totally forgotten to set the timer. She’d need a jackhammer to get it out of the bottom of the pan. Then she’d ruined a batch of maple hard candy she’d planned to package in small bags for the after-school crowd.

With a sigh she pressed a lock of hair behind her ear and retrieved a clean bowl from the shelf. Alex was feet away playing with action figures under the break table, his low chatter keeping her mind off the one thing she wanted to avoid.

Witt Dalton.

He’d stormed into her life with his white hat and tanned muscles and damn crooked smile. He’d befriended her son and given Alex peace again. She shot her boy a look, her heart full. Last night he’d crawled onto her lap and let her read a bedtime story. Before Witt, he wouldn’t have allowed such closeness.

What had changed him? Being around animals had been a sort of therapy. Pulled from his father and his home, moving to a whole new place and starting a new life had traumatized him, and she couldn’t help but believe Alex had blamed her for all the uproar.

Now he seemed to have forgiven her.

She gathered the ingredients she needed and without thinking, threw them into the bowl. It wasn’t until she turned on the mixer that she realized what she’d just made.

Witt’s favorite cupcakes.

She leaned against the counter and stared into space while the batter mixed. Her body still tingled from yesterday’s orgasms. He was an amazing lover—thorough and attentive. Sure, she’d had powerful releases with men in her past, but none compared.

Part of her understood why—her heart was pretty much roped to Witt.

When had it happened?

On the heels of that thought was another, scarier one—was it real?

She couldn’t trust herself. Too many relationships littered her past, every one of them jumbled in her mind.

The shop phone rang and she went out front to answer it. The minute she heard the voice, she regretted it.

“Vonny, how did you get this number?”

“You didn’t know I was a detective did you, sugar? I did some sleuthing and found out you were in Vixen. Not much on the map for Vixen, so I knew exactly where you’d be—in the candy shop.”

Damn. He hadn’t been that smart when she’d dated him. Maybe determination had unearthed some skills.

“I guess you found me,” she said lamely.

“Yeah, and I’m calling to tell you I’m taking a long weekend. I’m driving up Thursday.”

“No!” Her voice was too high, too loud, too frantic. The last thing she needed was Vonny back in her life.

She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to compose herself, then peeked into the kitchen area. The mixer was going on low speed and Alex was still playing under the table. She ducked back out.

“Look, Vonny, I’m flattered that you’re still interested in me.”

“’Course I am, sugar! I’ve been texting you for days.”

“My phone’s uh…broken.” Melted, more like it. She tried again. “I’m flattered but I need you to understand when I say we’re finished.”

A beat of silence. “Finished?”

Exasperation slammed her, and she bit off a growl. “Yes, I told you this before I left town. Many times. You need to move on, and it’s not with me.”

The bell jingled and she looked up, expecting to see Witt. Relief made her fingers tingle, but her agitation grew as she realized it was Nell carrying bags of ingredients.

She wasn’t going to take no for an answer about her recipes. Apparently she’d brought everything to make them with too.

“Listen, Vonny, I have to go. Please don’t call here again.”

“But, sugar—”

She hung up before she released the scream she was holding in.

Nell handed Shelby two shopping bags with the instruction to follow her into the kitchen. More frazzled than she’d been in a long time, Shelby trailed behind and dumped the bags on the floor. The older woman was a supportive friend and Shelby couldn’t do it without her. She didn’t want to piss her off.

But she didn’t want to make these items for her shop either.

She shut off the mixer and grabbed a scoop. As she proportioned batter into cupcake papers, Nell unloaded the supplies.

“Oh this is going to be great. I have my mother’s recipe in the car. I’ll just go get it.”

Alex came out from under the table to lean on Shelby’s leg. She rubbed his soft hair and shook her head at the strange ingredients she was about to use. If she didn’t stop Nell from plowing her over, she’d end up making goat cheese candy with chives or something equally as horrible.

Then she heard Nell come back in and begin talking to customers in her easygoing fashion. Everyone loved her and Shelby couldn’t afford to hire someone like her.

“I wonder if Nell knows how to make gingersnaps, Mom.”

Startled from her thoughts, she looked at Alex. He smiled up at her.

“Would you like some gingersnaps?”

“Yes. You’d better get the recipe off Mrs. Dalton.”

“Yaw!” Witt dug his heels into the fastest horse on the Paradise Valley Ranch. When he’d chosen the beast, it’d taken him two tries to even seat it. Usually Beck went for the most untamed but Witt was feeling reckless today.

For the past week, he’d been grinding his teeth against the need to bellow his frustration. Shelby hadn’t even tried to contact him.

The woman who responded to texts of men she claimed she no longer wanted in her life wouldn’t even pick up the phone and call him. Or drive out to see him for that matter.

He’d promised to give her space, thinking she wouldn’t take long to come to the same conclusions he had—that they belonged together, all three of them.

Apparently he was further down the emotional road than she was. He hated to admit he’d been fooling himself into seeing things that weren’t there, but it was beginning to look that way.

He drove the horse down the valley at a breakneck pace. Every bunch of the animal’s muscles infused him with energy of his own. This ride wasn’t doing what he’d hoped—his mind was still in Vixen.

“Dammit. Whoa.” He slowed the horse and gave it control. The landscape didn’t fill his soul with peace. He just wanted to punch something.

Before he understood what he was doing, he was reining up in front of Hank’s house. Charlotte answered the door with the baby in her arms.

“Hi, Witt. What brings you up here?”

“Wanted to talk to Hank. He around?”

“Fixing a chair for me. You’ll find him in the garage.”

Witt tipped his hat out of habit then ruffled the baby’s curly locks. “Thank ya.”

The garage was about ten degrees cooler, and Witt welcomed it. Country music blared from an old radio Hank had gotten as a kid one Christmas. Witt smiled to see it and realized this was why he’d come to Hank’s place.

He needed someone with a family tie to help him figure out the mess inside his heart.

Hank looked up from the chair seat he was gluing. “Hey, bro.”

Witt tipped his chin toward the chair. “What happened?”

“It got knocked over during…” He grinned. “Well, let’s just say it’s broken.”

Witt laughed though it hurt him to think of people like Hank and Charlotte, happy, in love while Witt couldn’t get more than a sexy buffet on the floor of The Sweet Tooth—commitment not included.

Hank straightened and looked at him hard. “What’s going on?”

“Need advice.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Witt stuck his hands in his pockets and tried to make sense of his thoughts. In the end, he opted for straight talk. “I want Shelby but I don’t think she returns the feelings.”

Hank sighed. “Did she tell you this?”

“She doesn’t have to. Her silence is enough. I told her I love her.”

“And she didn’t say anything.”

“No. But that isn’t what really bothers me. I left Vixen thinking some space would make her come to some conclusion about what we’re doing.”

“And you haven’t heard from her.”

“Nope.” He smacked the toe of his boot off a box of tools. One of these days he’d get around to helping Hank build a tool bench for his garage. Lord knew he wouldn’t be building one of his own anytime soon. At this rate he’d be living with his parents forever.

Thing was, he didn’t give a damn about the land anymore. He only wanted the wife. And Alex.

“Should I go after her?” Witt asked.

Hank seemed to contemplate the question for a long minute. “I can’t say I know her well enough to say yes. Some women might like a man coming in and showing her how important she is.”

“She’s had plenty of those in her life. I don’t think she’d like adding me to the list.”

“I think you found your answer.”

Witt’s heart constricted with pain. “I guess I did.”

Shelby stared at the milkshake clock, watching the small hand with the cherry on the tip count down the minutes.

More minutes gone from her life. She had good things to show for her efforts—a thriving business and a happy son. Then why did she feel so restless?

She hadn’t bothered to replace her cell and didn’t miss it a bit. Witt had been right—she’d been obsessed with checking messages, dreading the moment another would pop up. Now she’d cut ties with all those men and felt freer.

Except she missed one man. In the past three weeks since she’d seen him, she’d spent a lot of time looking out the big window, hoping to catch a glimpse of that familiar white hat.

Her heart rolled and she spun from the clock. She needed to stay busy.

Alex crawled out from under a cooling rack of candies and she nearly tripped over him.

“Alex! You shouldn’t be under there.”

He flipped onto his back on the floor and stared up at her. “You’re grumpy. I like you better when you’re on the ranch.”

Her jaw dropped. “What ranch?” She knew damn well what ranch.

“Witt’s ranch. You’re nicer there—you smile a lot and you don’t get grumpy.”

She huffed a breath and skirted past her son, who wiggled on his back. She went into the kitchen and stopped dead.

“I thought you were putting the frosting on those chocolate truffle cupcakes,” Shelby said.

Nell looked up with a smile. “I am.”

“That’s not the frosting we use.”

“I thought I’d give this a try.”

Anger throbbed in Shelby’s temples. She drew two deep breaths and counted to ten before approaching her friend. “Look, Nell, I’m so glad you’re helping me. I love that you take initiative to do things to help me. And I owe you for every moment you spend in this shop and with my son. But I’m in charge here. I pay the rent and my name is on the business license.”

Nell blinked.

Shelby placed a hand on her arm. “I’d like to strike a deal with you. You have a new recipe for the shop every few days, but I can’t afford to keep making everything you suggest. How about once a month we feature one of your recipes? But the rest of the time—” she eyed the woman with as much authority as she could, “we stick to my recipes.”

Nell tipped her head and after a long minute, she nodded. “That’s fair. And I can spend time planning my monthly treat.”

Shelby nodded enthusiastically. “Yes.” She pulled Nell into a hug, glad her diplomacy had won the woman to her way of thinking.

When she released Nell, the woman waved at the cupcakes with the wrong topping. “Would you like me to scrape the frosting off?”

“No, it’s okay. Finish this batch and we’ll start our new deal right after.”

Nell extended a hand and they shook on it.

Shelby set about making a shopping list for ingredients. She had most necessities shipped in through the general store, but some things—like the best chocolate—she had to go into a big city for.

She wrote five items on the list then set down the pen as she drifted off in thought again. What had Alex meant she was less grumpy and smiled more on the Daltons’ ranch?

Agitation stole over her again. She paced to the pantry and spent ten minutes rummaging around in it then returned to scribble a few more items on her list. Then she spent half an hour cleaning out a cooling case where some chocolate had spilled over.

“Everything okay, Shelby?” Nell asked.

“No, Mom’s grumpy,” Alex said, wearing a chocolate mustache.

Shelby swallowed a scream. Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to get her rioting emotions under control.

Nell placed a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you hang up your apron for a day and go on home? Have some time alone. I’ll take Alex with me and feed him dinner.”

Normally Shelby would wave off her offer, but the idea of a few hours alone was too tempting.

She reached for the knot of her apron ties and slipped it over her head. She gave Alex and Nell kisses on the cheeks and grabbed her purse.