Lipstick and Leather: Three Sexy Cowboys, Three Sexy Tales (8 page)

She felt his cock, hard against her belly as she tilted her head back and looked into his blue eyes. “I’m kinda hungry, too.” She paused then added, “For more than just a night.”

“Good thing. I didn’t like the slowdown plan, boss.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Now that I have you, I don’t plan on letting you go.”

# # #

Back in the Saddle

Copyright 2011 Cheyenne McCray

The valley had never looked so beautiful. Her return had never felt so bittersweet.

Susan Fairfield stood on her aunt’s porch and stared at the mountains that rose up out of the desert like a barrier to another world. The monsoon rains had been good to this part of the valley. Mesquite trees and range grass were green and the summer breeze a little humid from the heat and the rain.

At the foot of the mountains was Turkey Springs, a place that could have been part of another world. What had happened there nine years ago seemed more like a dream than reality. As if the love she’d had for him never existed.

Gray Reardon. A part of her had hoped he would still be here. That maybe he would forgive her and they could begin where they left off. But that was just a fantasy that would never become reality. Gray was married. End of potential fairytale return.

Not that he would likely forgive her, but there had always been hope.

She stared in the direction of his place that bordered the ranch that had been in her family since before statehood, when Arizona was only a territory.

The screen door squeaked as Sally opened it and then it slammed shut behind her as she stepped onto the porch. Susan smiled at her aunt.

“I’ve missed this place.” Susan breathed in the scents of summer and earth that was damp from last night’s rains. “I always wished that Dad would move us back here.” Sally rubbed Susan’s bare shoulder. “It’s time for me to retire. You could always take the reins rather than me selling it off.”

“I have a business to run.” She pushed her hand through her hair. “One of Dad’s last wishes was to keep the business in the family.”

Sally tilted her head to the side. “One of your cousins could always run it for you and you can work from here on that computer of yours.”

“Telecommute?” Susan shook her head. “It’s the kind of job that requires hands on, onsite management. I’d need to bring someone in from the outside to buy the business and who knows if they’d lay off everyone in the family?”

“You can’t live your life for everyone else, honey.” Sally leaned up against the porch railing as she looked at Susan. “Things will work out fine for everyone.”

“Thanks, Aunt Sally.” Susan gestured toward the barns and outbuildings. “After what you’ve done with this place… It’s going to be difficult for anyone to fill your shoes.”

“At least it’s more of a homestead than the operating ranch that it was back in the days.” Sally put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “A couple of horses, a cow and a calf, three goats and half a dozen pigs along with more chickens than I know what to do with. The grazing right payments aren’t much, but they pay some of the bills.” Susan braced her palms on the porch railing as she looked out the view that went on for miles and miles. “Like I said, it’s going to be hard for someone to fill your shoes.”

“You’ll do fine, girl.” Sally patted Susan’s back. “When will you be back from town?”

“I shouldn’t be too long.” Susan glanced in the direction of the closest town to the ranch. “I just need to grab a couple of things.”

“Here are a few items to add to your shopping list.” Sally handed her a scrap of paper.

Susan took the list and glanced at it before pocketing it in her flowing broomstick skirt.

“Anything else you need me to do while I’m in town?”

“That should do it.” Her aunt shook her head. “But keep your cell phone handy just in case.”

“You’ve got it.” Susan headed down the steps and gave a little wave to Sally before climbing into her SUV.

She drove out the gates of Horseshoe Ranch and over the cattle guard, and then she was driving past Gray’s spread, the Rocking R Ranch.

It took thirty minutes to drive from her aunt’s house into town. After having lived in Dallas for the past seventeen years, small town life would be a big, but welcome, change, if it was even possible for her to take over for her aunt.

The buildings in the original part of town looked older, sad with age, and several storefronts were vacant. The drugstore, where her dad bought her chocolate milkshakes, was now nothing more than a shell.

She passed through to the part of town that boasted a Super Wal-Mart and a McDonald’s, both of which had taken business away from the once thriving downtown stores. The huge chain store had virtually everything, eliminating the need for the tool store, a dress shop, the mercantile, and even the small-town grocery store.

Still, there were some businesses hanging on, and one of them was the feed store where she needed to pick up some grain and chicken feed.

She parked near the loading dock then climbed out of the SUV and headed toward the front entrance. Just as she was about to enter the store, a man wearing a Stetson walked out carrying a bag of grain over one shoulder. She smacked into him and he caught her arm with his free hand to keep her from stumbling.

“Pardon me, ma’am.” The low drawl was familiar enough to make her heart stop and the hand on her arm heated her skin.

“Gray.” Even as she said his name a wash of raw emotion flooded her as she looked up at the tall cowboy.

He’d grown into an exceptional man and had filled out. He had a cowboy’s build, his body muscular and his skin tanned golden brown from working out in the sun. Memories flashed through her mind of his ice blue eyes looking into hers as he slid inside of her. The way he had looked at her, had told her how much he loved her.

Those same blue eyes that had once looked at her with caring were now narrowed as recognition flashed in them. As they grew cold and angry, heat rushed to her cheeks. His features were hard, no softness at all in his expression.

He released her arm and touched the brim of his hat as if he was politely greeting someone he didn’t know. “Ma’am,” he said again and started to move past her.

“Gray.” She said it loud and firm enough that he stopped and turned to look at her. “Hi,” she added more softly.

Conflicting emotions flickered across his face. She could tell he wanted to be angry with her but was battling the same memories that were attacking her.

“Is that it?” Gray hitched the bag of grain up higher on his shoulder. “I need to be getting back to the ranch.”

“I hear you’re married.” Susan tried to keep her expression calm and to hide her disappointment that he wasn’t free.

He just studied her and said nothing.

She took a deep breath. “I had planned to stop by and see you.”

“You’re nine years too late for that.” His words were hard and she almost flinched. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Suze.”

The pain his words caused had tears pushing at the backs of her eyes. “Can I at least explain? I had a good reason for not taking your calls when I returned to Dallas. Please believe me.”

“I need to get back to the ranch.” He started to take another step.

“Wait.” She dug in her purse, searching for a scrap of paper and a pen. She found one of her business cards and wrote her number on the back. She handed the card to him. “That’s my cell number. Call me if you change your mind and want to hear what happened that summer.” He took the card from her outstretched hand and glanced at the number before pocketing it.

“Not likely,” he said before touching the brim of his hat again and turning away.

Pain she hadn’t expected to feel crawled up her throat and almost released the tears building inside her. She managed to hold them back as she watched him walk to a work truck and throw the sack of feed over the tailgate before climbing into the cab.

He headed out of town and never looked back.

Ah, hell.

The shock of seeing Susan after all of these years had caught him off guard. The pain had been sharp and swift, slicing into his heart like one of his best carving knives.

He shouldn’t have said what he did. He could tell that he’d hurt her and she’d been about ready to cry. He’d reacted like a wounded animal, growling and snapping at anything that even came close.

Gray pulled the truck over to the side of the road just inside the gates to his ranch. The truck rattled over the rough shoulder before he stopped and put it in park. He stared in the direction of Sally Fairfield’s ranch that butted up against his eastern fence line about a mile down the road.

Susan was likely staying with her aunt, which was too damn close. As far as he knew, Susan hadn’t been back to visit since the summer they met…when he was nineteen and she was eighteen. They hadn’t been more than kids, but they’d both done a lot of growing up while she was here.

She’d left abruptly with nothing more than a note:
I can’t see you anymore. Please, don’t try and reach me. Please trust that I love you and I
always will
.

After refusing to take his phone calls or responding to his emails for a month, he’d given up.

He always figured she’d found another boyfriend and had moved on.

His temples throbbed and he rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger, and thought about the way she had looked. Her blond hair had been soft around her face, her big green eyes begging him to listen. She still had curves in all the right places, generous and beautiful, but she had matured and had a more confident air about her.

He shoved his hand in his front pocket and pulled out her card and studied it. The card had her name, the business name and an office and fax number.

Susan Fairfield

Fairfield Well and Pump Service

Apparently she worked for her old man in Texas. She hadn’t changed her last name, so if she was married she hadn’t taken on her husband’s.

The thought of Susan being married to another man made the ache in his head worse. He flipped the card over and looked at the feminine handwriting.

He was tempted to say to hell with it and call her, but he wasn’t ready. He had a lot to consider before calling the woman he’d fallen in love with all those years ago.

Morning sun was already warming the air. Susan rubbed her hands on her jeans, brushing off dust from the alfalfa hay that she’d just fed the horses as well as the cow and her calf in the pen behind the barn.

Three days had passed since she ran into Gray at the feed store. She knew she shouldn’t hold her breath over anything, but she’d hoped he would find it in himself to call, to listen to her story. She’d been right to begin with. He didn’t care. And he hadn’t forgiven her.

His loss. They could have been friends.

The cell phone rang and she drew it out of her pocket, still hoping it was Gray despite her previous thoughts. As soon as she saw the number on the screen she sighed. Julie. Susan loved talking to her cousin but ever since Susan had left Texas for vacation for two weeks, there had been one catastrophe after another that they needed help with in the family business. Third call this morning.

“Hi, Julie.” Susan reached the porch stairs and started climbing.

“Thank goodness you’re there.” Julie sounded flustered. “I forgot to put in an order for more pipe. What do I do?”

“Let me get to my laptop and I’ll take a look at inventory to see what we’re low on.” Susan’s boots make a loud clunk when she stepped onto the porch. “Then I’ll go through it with you over the phone. Breathe, Julie.”

“You are the best,” Julie said. “I don’t know that we’ll ever make it without you if you don’t hurry back.”

“You’re doing fine.” Susan switched the phone to her other ear as she let herself into the cool house. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes, after I’ve had a chance to look it over.” She’d barely had the opportunity to make it to the den and boot up her laptop when the phone rang again. She answered it, trying not to sound exasperated. “Give me a chance to get this done before we have to avert any other catastrophes.”

“I take it now isn’t a good time to call.”

She almost dropped her phone and the laptop when she heard Gray’s low drawl.

“Sorry.” She managed to catch the breath she’d lost for a moment. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Should I call later?” he asked and she couldn’t tell by the tone of his voice how he might be feeling at that moment.

“Now’s fine.” She sat on the edge of the desk chair, her cell phone clenched tightly in one hand.

“I’ve had a rash of catastrophes of my own over the past few days,” he said. “Or I would have called sooner.” He paused. “You’re right, I should listen to what you have to say.”

“Thank you.” Her hands shook a little. “Would you like to meet somewhere?”

“Turkey Springs.” He named the place and something lodged in her throat. “I have to work on a fence line just up the way from there. I’ll be there at one.”

“Sure.” She glanced at the clock. Almost eleven now. “I’ll be there.”

“See you there,” he said before disconnecting the call.

“See you,” she said out loud to no one.

Princess picked her way through the rocks, the horse’s shoes making slow clopping sounds. Susan rocked in the saddle, easily handling the horse. Her aunt had been right—it had been like getting back on a bicycle.

It was greener in the foothills, as well as a little cooler, than the rangelands. She and Princess passed below huge oaks and cottonwood trees, the shade giving respite from the driving sun. She caught the sound of moving water coming from the springs and her heart rate picked up at the thought of being alone with Gray again.

Of course this would be different. Now he was a married man. But at least she would have the opportunity to tell him her story.

She had to duck low-hanging branches as Princess passed under them. Brush scraped her jean-clad legs and then they were in the tiny clearing of Turkey Springs. It was before one o’clock and she was glad Gray hadn’t arrived. She’d wanted to get there a little earlier so that she could set up everything.

After she looped the horse’s reins over a low, thick branch, she pulled a picnic blanket from one of the saddlebags and spread it out, close to the springs. She took out a bag of sandwiches from the other saddlebag along with a large thermos of fresh-squeezed lemonade, plastic cups, and baggies with chocolate brownies.

She felt breathless and excited and had to keep telling herself he wasn’t available. She might want him, but she couldn’t have him. She forced away those thoughts in favor of allowing herself some feelings of excitement at seeing him again.

When she was finished, she kicked off her boots and peeled off her socks before rolling up her jeans and walking toward the springs.

Water bubbled out of a rocky wall and tumbled down to a pool of water. The water drained somewhere at the bottom of the pool and she and Gray had made up silly stories about where the water came from and where it disappeared to.

She slipped her feet into the cool water as she sat on the edge beneath cottonwoods. It smelled clean and earthy and she took a deep breath. She braced her hands to either side of her, tipped her face to the trees, closed her eyes and smiled.

A sound next to her startled her eyes open and she looked to see Gray crouched beside her, an amused smile on his features. “Looks like you planned a picnic there.”

“That, I did.” The excited feeling took over again as he took her hand and helped her to her feet. For a moment they just looked at each other and all she could think about was kissing him.

He was so tall and rugged. His arms were thickly muscled, his shirt stretching across broad shoulders, and his Wrangler jeans fit him just right. He was altogether one mouthwatering cowboy. And he had once been hers, if only for a little while.

She cleared her throat and gestured to the sandwiches. “I figured you might be hungry. If not they will keep.”

He released her hand and they walked side by side to the picnic blanket pieced together with scraps of worn out jeans. Her legs cooled as they dried, her jeans a little wet where they were rolled up. She sat cross-legged and he eased down beside her with one leg stretched out, his other knee bent and his forearm resting on his knee.

She poured them each a cup of lemonade then handed him a ham sandwich and took one for herself. She wasn’t sure what to say as they sat and ate. Should she ask him about his wife, were they planning on having kids, how was the ranch doing…

But words stuck in her throat and she couldn’t get anything out.

“The ham sandwich hits the spot.” He took another large bite and seemed perfectly fine with just eating, not talking.

She handed him a second sandwich when he finished the first and refilled his lemonade.

She managed to get down one of each before she was full.

When they had finished off the brownies, Gray seemed ready to talk. He leaned back and studied her like he often had while they’d been together. He let his gaze drift from her hair to her large breasts, on down. He had told her so many times how much he loved her fuller figure and he’d always made her feel special.

“So talk,” he said. “Tell me your good reason for blowing me off like you did.” Despite the anger he’d held tight to all of these years, he had never stopped loving Susan.

Hell, he couldn’t even think straight with her so close like she was right now. He wanted to say screw the reasons and take her down to the blanket and kiss her until neither of them could think straight.

Susan looked away for a moment before returning her gaze to his. “Before coming to my aunt’s house that summer, I had some tests done. I don’t know if you remember how sick I would get sometimes.”

Yeah, he’d forgotten how sometimes she would end up in the bushes throwing her guts up.

Didn’t happen all of the time, but it had happened.

He nodded, a feeling of dread starting to overcome him.

“When I went back, my parents took me see the doctor.” Her throat visibly worked as she swallowed. “I was told I had ovarian cancer that had spread and that I had months to live, one year at the most.”

Gray dragged his hand down his face. All of these years. All of the anger that had filled him up and now to find out she’d had cancer.

“And now?” he said, his dread even greater.

“I battled it for three years, but I made it.” She offered him a smile. “It’s been six years since then.”

“Damn.” He pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked at her again. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to love someone who was going to die in less than a year.” Her eyes started to sparkle with tears she was holding back. “I didn’t want you to have to go through what my family did.”

“You should never have made that choice for me.” Pain he was feeling from losing her all those years ago turned into a new kind of pain. “I could have been there for you.”

“You had a life to live.” She looked at him with a pleading expression. “I was dying.”

“But you made it.” Thank God she had.

“I didn’t give up like the doctors who wrote me off.” She straightened a little. “My parents didn’t give up. It took three long years but I beat it. They called it a miracle.” Gray had her in his arms before she could say another word. Even he didn’t know how he’d moved so fast.

He held her tight to his chest and held on. “You should have told me.” He squeezed her tighter. “Damn it. You should have told me.”

She tilted her head back and looked up at him. Tears had started rolling down the sides of her face. “Maybe I should have. But I did what I thought was right. What was best for you.”

“You had no right making that decision for me.” Too many emotions balled up inside of him.

The anger he’d felt at her dismissal of him had passed on to the gut-wrenching thought of what she’d been through to regret for the time lost between them. So many regrets.

As she looked up at him, he could only think of how much he needed to feel her in everyway. To make sure that she was real. Alive.

His again.

He cupped her head and brought his mouth to hers.