Falling For A Cowboy (12 page)

“
As I said,
I need a favor.
”
He
shifted his gaze to stare
directly at her as if willing her to grant
it
.

Looking at that smile, s
he
had to admit she
was inclined
.

“
I
scored in the go-round today so
I need a place to stay for tonight at least.
Tara
Lynn
said you had the house to yourself
.
She thought you wouldn
’
t mind.
”

Dusty
’
s
jaw dropped
.
She wouldn
’
t mind
?
Alone with Clay?
Tara
Lynn
had gone too far
this time
.
How did she know he wasn
’
t a rapist or serial killer
?
All they knew
wa
s that he could ride saddle
broncs
.

As if reading her mind, he continued
.
“
She had me checked out by Andy
fr
om the
sheriff
’
s
office
.
Took my license and called it in
.
Andy gave me a clean bill
.
She said she
’
d tell you that when she phoned
.
Seeing
as
how you didn
’
t get the call, I can understand your reluctance.
”

He shot her that sexy grin he
’
d used before
—
on her
and probably on
many
other
s
.
Her
oatmeal insides were becoming more
like
cream of wheat.

“
Look
Dusty
, I know this is sudden
.
But I didn
’
t realize it was Heritage Days or whatever you guys call it
.
Apparently it pulls in a lot of
out-of-towners
.
All the motels
are
full up. I didn
’
t think to make
a
reservation.
Didn
’
t know I
’
d score so I
’
d have to stick around for tomorrow
’
s round.
”

Dusty still couldn
’
t speak. What could she say? She didn
’
t want to turn him out with no place to go
.
She didn
’
t want him to stay here where
the
temptation would be way too much.

He draped an arm along the back of the sofa—a strong, solid mass of
bulging
muscle
s
.
The memory of that arm around her, pressing her close to his hard body, had her stomach doing somersaults like it was trying out for the circus.

“
Look, I know you don
’
t know me very well. And I came on a little strong last week
.
But if it
’
s just friends
hip you want
, that
’
s fine with me.
”

Somehow she didn
’
t think it would be fine but
,
then again, she wasn
’
t his type
.

“
I promise I
’
ll be a perfect gentleman
.
I can sleep on the sofa, right here
.
If I can just use your shower
—
”

Shower?
Naked?
Her body went into overdrive as imagined imag
es of
his
toned, tanned
,
and
nude
body danced
across
her
mind
.
She
visualized
every
line
, every muscle,
and every
hard plane.
A moist
warmth settled between her thighs.

“
—
to clean up that
’
s all I need
.
I even bought some
ribs
at the Dixie Pig and if
you have
a grill
,
I do a mean barbeque
. I know it
’
s an
inconvenience,
so
I
’
m willing to pay you what I would have paid
T
he
Ranch Inn
.
”

Dusty held up a hand
.
“
No need to go that far
.
I get that you
’
re desperate.
I
t will be Texas hospitality or nothing.
”
How could he think she
’
d charge him if she allowed him to stay
?
Her reluctance had nothing to do with inconvenience and he knew it.

“
And I promise I
’
ll be a Texas gentleman
.
Whatever rules you want to impose, I
’
ll abide by.
”
He gave her a schoolboy look
,
the kind of look
you
’
d give
the teacher when she
’
d caught
you
doing mischief
to convince her you were really an angel
.
But
there was nothing angelic about Clay Tanner
.
He was all sex and sin in one delicious package.

She stroked her hands down her sweats trying to rid them of moisture
.
Her sweats
.
She
’
d forgotten how awful she must look
.
Of course he
’
d have no desire to pursue her after seeing her with her hair a
mess a
nd clothes fit only for shoveling manure.
What the hell.
She nodded before she could think
to
o
hard about
the answer
.

Relief spread across his face like
melted
butter over b
iscuits
.
“
Thanks
.
I promise I won
’
t be any trouble.
And
how about taking me
up on that barbeque? I
’
ve got the groceries in the car along with my bag.
”

“
You were pretty confident I
’
d say yes, I guess.
”
She imagined few women
w
ould say no to him.
The thought
that
he
’
d played her
, and
correctly
,
irked.

“
Actually, I was
pray
ing it would be a good enough bribe
.
Of course, you haven
’
t had
them
yet, but whe
n I
’
m done with those
rib
s, I
’
m hoping you
’
ll be impressed.
”

He hoped to impress her. Those cream
-
of
-
wheat insides
had already gone to
mush.

* * *

Clay
lathered
more of his special barbeque sauce
on
to
the ribs sizzling on the small grill in
Dusty
’
s
fenced back yard. B
eer, maple syrup, ketchup and some secret ingredients he shared with no
one
made for mighty good eating.
He
’
d
taken
a fast shower and
done
a quick change of clothes while
Dusty
got the grill fired up
.
Then she
’
d disappeared
.
H
e hoped
it was
to change out of those
sweats
.
Though she looked cute as a button in the over-sized garments, he
’
d prefer to see her legs and sweet figure.

He imagined her in that feminized pink
-
tiled shower, water spraying over her lithe body,
her hair falling long and wet,
steam rising
as she
scrubb
ed
some sweet smelling gel over all those
tempting places. Damn, what had he set himself up for?

Already she
’
d
been
invad
ing
his dreams
, both d
ay and night
.
How many times
this week
had he walked out of the house without his keys or
been unable to
find his wallet because he
’
d been thinking of her instead of watching what he was doing? And why he
’
d become obsessed with her (because what else
could he
call it
?
) he didn
’
t know. She wasn
’
t the kind of girl he generally looked
at
twice. Apparently, that had been a mistake all these years. Because, damn if he
hadn
’
t
drive
n
like a maniac to get here, blowing off a meeting
with
a beef contractor
,
too.

He
’
d
thought he might find her at the rodeo
.
Instead he
’
d
found
Tara
Lynn
,
r
ight after
he
’
d called every motel in the area and discovered
there were no rooms
.
He hadn
’
t thought to book
one
because there had been no problem last weekend
.
He
’
d planned on staying around
,
whether he scored or not
,
just to see
Dusty
.

He
’
d asked
Tara
Lynn
about
another place to stay and she
’
d told him there were none
.
The
b
ed
-
and
-b
reakfast
in
town apparently filled first
,
so if
the motels were
full
,
so was it
.
In the next breath she
’
d been
convincing him to try
Dusty
’
s
.
She won
’
t mind
.
She
’
s home all alone in that great big house
.

Of c
ourse, before
Tara
Lynn
would give him
Dusty
’
s
address, she
’
d
had him checked out
by the cops
.
He couldn
’
t blame her
.
And he
had nothing to hide.