Into The Sunset: An Erotic Romance Anthology (7 page)

“
If you need to talk about
anything, Rose, I’m here. I might not know what to say, but I can
listen.”

Impulsiveness seized her, and before she could
think better, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. His aftershave
was warm and musky, like fresh sage, and his stubble was rough on
her lips. Just that quick heat sent a jolt straight to her core and
she fled the car. She dared a glance back at him.

Rex sat there, dumbfounded.

Although Rose was decidedly a big girl, she
still fit into her hidey-hole, a little cubby up in the loft,
ostensibly for tools. Crouched down low, her arms around her knees,
she started unraveling the mess in her head.

What if she did quit her job in Boston and
work part time at the Kimbell? She could live here and be with her
parents for their golden years. She could keep an eye on her
investment. Her best friends, Josh and Peggy were here. Her friends
from Boston could come and visit or she could visit
them.

She could get to know Rex.

The tingling warmth of him on her lips
wouldn’t fade. The heat low in her belly smoldered. When she closed
her eyes, she saw Rex—smiling, laughing, stretching his strong arms
wide, trailing a hand down his bare stomach. She pressed her thighs
together.

This was not good. What if he wasn’t
interested? After all, he’d been married and divorced. She couldn’t
blame him if he didn’t want to get on that ride again. That’s how
she felt after Robert’s death. Hell, that’s how she felt until
Alfred’s well executed guilt trip.

Okay, what she needed was a plan. First,
figure out if Rex might be interested. Then, worry about the
rest.

She stood up, sneezing in the dust. A couple
of hands saw her climbing down from the loft but they didn’t say
anything. Everyone knew where her hiding spot was, and they were
courteous enough not to mention she was a little old to be sulking
in the barn.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he was still sitting in the
car.

She’d kissed him, a fleeting heat and moisture
pressed to his cheek. It hadn’t be a sexy kiss, more like a peck,
but it still set his heart hammering.

Rose had run away after that, before he could
say anything, or do anything. If he was honest with himself, he
didn’t want to talk to her. Press their mouths together, hold her
in his arms, inhale her scent, yes, he wanted to do all of those
things. Maybe once their mouths were red and swollen, he would
talk. It would probably be something like, “How about we take this
to the bedroom?”

He needed to stop thinking about her. He
needed to calm down, because he refused to walk around the ranch
looking like a stallion that caught the scent of a mare in heat. He
needed to think about what had happened, not what he wanted to
happen.

He opened the door. Annie was in the kitchen,
going on with her mouth half-full of cookie. He knew he should
scold her, but she was too damn cute, talking a mile a minute about
the museum and taking Rose back in the car.

Lily furrowed her brows at him in a
question.

“
Alfred said something that upset
her, but as far as I could tell, she wasn’t angry,” he said over
Annie’s chatter.

Lily nodded and turned her attention back to
his daughter. He got himself a glass of milk and joined
them.

What had she meant by that kiss? If she had
stayed in the car, he would have assumed it was a friendly gesture,
a thank you for caring. But Rose fled, like it had meant something
more. He shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.

What would he do if Rose
was
interested in
him?

His gaze flicked around the kitchen and he
wondered if he’d risk all this for a relationship. After all, even
with Lily and Tad’s blessing, everything could still go wrong. They
might not be right for each other. Would he risk this place that
had become Annie’s home?

“
Don’t think about it too hard,”
Lily said and he jumped in his seat.

“
What?” Had she read his
mind?

She chuckled to herself. “I can practically
see the steam coming out of your ears. You’re overthinking it,
whatever it is.”

He grunted. Easy for her to say. Her daughter
was a grown woman. Annie wasn’t, and she needed this place. Lily
placed a firm hand on his shoulder and he let out a deep
sigh.

“
Things have a way of working out,
Rex. You’ll see.”

The rest of the day he was distracted by
thoughts of Rose. The list of cons was clear when he thought about
what might happen if it didn’t work out between them.

The list he couldn’t quite calculate was the
list of cons for Rose herself. He knew that no woman was perfect,
but Rose was pretty close. She liked his daughter, she was
stunning, all soft curves and sunny smiles. She was shrewd with her
money, dedicated to her parents, didn’t mind getting her hands
dirty, and, as he learned later, hated the color pink but wore it
to humor her friends. Even her emotional baggage seemed more like a
pro than a con to him. They were both broken. They could understand
that about each other.

Dinner was an awkward affair, with Rose trying
to catch Rex’s eye and Rex trying to ignore her. He got up as soon
as he could, mumbling something about getting Annie in the shower.
His daughter took mercy on him and didn’t protest until they got
back to their rooms.

“
Daddy, I had a shower before we
went to the museum. Can I watch some TV instead?”

“
Sure thing,
sweetheart,” he said ruffling her hair. It took him a minute to
realize the cartoon she’d put on was
South Park
. He flipped the channel
to the more age appropriate Nickelodeon.

“
I was watching the other
cartoon,” she said.

“
I know, but this one’s a kid’s
cartoon. The other one was for grownups,” he said.

She gave him a small frown. “But I liked
it…”

Her pitiful tone made him feel a little
guilty, but not enough to be a bad parent. “Well, you can watch it
when you’re older. It’s not going anywhere.”

She pouted until bedtime. He did all the funny
voices he knew when he read her bedtime story, and all was
forgiven. He was settled on the couch, nose buried in his book,
when he heard a soft knock on his door.

He opened it and had to stop himself from
slamming it shut. Rose.

She gave him a timid smile and it made him
feel like his lower limbs had turned into jelly. “Um… Can we talk
for a minute?”

“
Sure,” he said and sat down on
the couch.

She sat beside him, not on the opposite end at
a respectable distance, but right next to him. She took his hand
and didn’t say anything.

He froze, enthralled by the warmth of her
skin. She said she wanted to talk, but she wasn’t talking. What did
she want to talk about? Why was she holding his hand? And since
when had he devolved to a preteen boy?

He turned to ask a question and she leaned in.
His heart jumped up to his throat. His mouth was open in surprise
when she pressed her lips to his. The heat sank deep in his chest
and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

Oh, to hell with playing it safe.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her
soft body close, and tasted her delicious lips. A soft pant came
from her and then she was touching him, threading her fingers
though his hair, slipping them underneath his collar.

She pulled back and took a breath. “I wanted
to—”

He didn’t care. He brought his mouth back to
hers, tasting her sweet warmth. She opened to him, her tongue quick
and hot on his lips, and he was falling into her. Her hands claimed
him; her mouth marked him as her own.

Could he fall in love with a kiss?

He gasped and pulled away. Rose gave a low
chuckle.

“
I wanted to ask you if you ever
thought that…” She gestured between them. “I guess it’s a yes
then.”

He kissed her brow. Her chocolate eyes
fluttered closed. “How are we going to date if you live in Boston?”
he asked. Part of him wanted this to be real, but the other part
was terrified that it would be.

“
I’m going to give my job two
weeks’ notice and come and work at the Kimbell part time.” She
smiled and he wanted to kiss her again. “I can help you out around
the ranch.”

“
That’s good.” He bent his head to
kiss her neck and she responded with a soft moan.

That low feminine sound of desire went
straight to his cock.

“
We should probably stop,” he
said, pulling him arms from around her.

* * *

Stop? They should
stop
? She’d brought
condoms just in case…. But now, now that he’d crushed her against
his strong chest, now that he’d tasted her, she wanted
more.

“
I don’t want to,” she said.
Before he could speak, she cut him off. “Just one more kiss,
please? It’s been…” She didn’t want to say how long.

His expression softened and he took her hand.
Seeing her small fingers cradled in his strong hand made her feel
safe.

“
Me too,” he said, and then he
kissed her.

His mouth was a fire, burning all the dust and
apathy from her heart. She held onto him, afraid she would get
swept away in the blaze too. His tongue was in her mouth, telling
her how much he desired her.

She sank back, relishing the feel of his
strong body covering hers. She touched his shoulders and his
muscles shifted as he moved over her. He pressed his length against
her core and she moaned.

“
Sh…” he said. “We should continue
this in the bedroom.”

They held hands and stood in front of the
door. Rex squeezed her fingers.

“
Let’s just see where we end up?”
he said with a sweet smile.

If he keeps looking like that, naked and on
top of each other is where they’re going to end up. She thought it,
but didn’t say it. Instead she pulled him over to the
bed.

She was on her back again, and Rex filled her
whole world. She tugged at the bottom of his T-shirt and he took it
off. She savored his body, tracing the contours of his muscles with
her tongue.

He groaned and brought his mouth crashing down
on hers. He slid his hand under her shirt and she arched into his
touch. Her shirt and bra fell to the floor. It felt like
magic.

“
Rose,” he said, burying his face
in her breasts. His mouth was hot and wet, moving over her skin.
“You taste so good.” He licked the hard peaks of her breasts and
she squirmed against him.

Heat pooled between her legs, and she could
feel the wetness of her desire. “I want you.” She pulled his head
back to hers, and with her mouth she told him just how much she
wanted him, how she wanted to feel him inside her.

“
I don’t—”

“
I do,” she said.

He blinked at her in surprise.

“
Have condoms. I brought some,
just in case.”

A grin split his face. “Well aren’t you
frisky?” he said and she wanted him to bend her over and take
her.

“
Giddy up, cowboy,” she whispered.
The low sultry tone surprised her.

Even in the dark, she could see the heat in
Rex’s eyes. He gently nipped at her neck, sending shivers of
sensation down her skin.

Rose was alive in his arms. She felt
everything—his heat, his weight, and the heavy desire between them.
She trailed her fingers down the hard planes of his chest, the
ridges of his abs, and stopped at his belt buckle. He bucked into
her hand as she tugged at his belt.

He was hot and thick in her hand, a bead of
moisture at the tip. He wiggled out of his jeans while she stroked
him. One hundred percent male, and all hers. She gripped his ass
and he pressed into her.

He touched the waistband of her
jeans and she tensed. Her shirt had melted away, but this was
different, this was
more
, and it had been so
long….

He looked at her and kissed her. He skimmed
his fingers over her waist, up her sides, and teased her breasts.
She melted into the bed, into the warmth of his mouth on hers, his
hot skin under her hands. When he moved his leg between her thighs,
she moaned. She rubbed her pussy shamelessly against
him.

Rex thrust his tongue in her mouth, his cock
hard on her belly. His whole body shuddered when she gripped him.
She would have thought he was in pain, if he hadn’t been placing
little kisses and licks on her throat. She circled his girth with
her fingers and worked down his shaft and to his balls. He rocked
into her as she held them, caressed them. He bit her ear, his cock
leaving a trail of moisture on her skin.

When he reached for the button of her jeans,
she was ready this time. She lifted her hips to let him slide off
her jeans. He kissed the seam of her underwear, teasing her until
she was begging him for more.