Loving You: A Cowboy Romance (Texas Hill Country Romance Book 1) (8 page)

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“Mmmm, oh yeah,” he drawled. “I want to feel it.” He started to put that hand down her shorts. Then he said, “Son of a bitch,” in an irritated tone.

He removed his hand, and she opened her eyes she didn’t even realize she closed, and saw they were a few feet away from his house, and there by her car was a shiny black Mercedes Benz, S Class. Upon further observation, she noticed a distinguished looking middle aged man standing near the fence. Annie turned her face to Cord.

“Who’s that?”

“Lisa’s father.”

He sped up to a gallop and came right up to Lisa’s father. He dismounted and reached up around Annie’s waist and brought her down from Warlock.

She tried to move away, but he held her by his side.

“Hank!” He yelled for his first hand to come take the horses as he looked straight at the man.

Hank came and without a word took the two horses to the barn to groom them.             

“Cord,” Jamerson said as he nodded.

“Mr. Fairchild.”

“Who do we have here?” he asked, looking at Annie.

“Annie this is Jamerson Fairchild, Jamerson, this is Antoinette Amanti.”

Annie smiled up at Cord, not sure how he knew her proper name. Jake had introduced her as Annie when they first met. Then she looked to Jamerson. She was going to reach out and shake his hand, but he wasn’t exactly extending any kind of warm southern hospitality her way, in fact, she was detecting hostility in his face.              

Jamerson Fairchild scowled at Annie and turned to Cord.

“So this is the floozy Lisa tells me you have taken up with?”

“Excuse me, who are you calling a floo-”              

“Mr. Fairchild, if you are here on business, state it or leave,” Cord said abruptly, cutting Annie off as he took her hand and squeezed it in hopes she would be quiet. He waited a beat and started to walk away with Annie in tow.

“Now see here, young man, don’t you walk away from me,” Jamerson said, and he put a hand on Cord’s arm. Cord stopped and turned around.

“Remove your hand,” Cord said in a quiet, lethal tone that even had Annie nervous, and uh-oh, she could see his jaw muscles move as he stared Jamerson down. The last time she saw that, he beat up a guy.

Jamerson removed his hand and backed up.

Now it was Annie who squeezed Cord’s hand. Cord locked eyes with Annie and slowly nodded. She felt him relax.

“How dare you treat my daughter with disrespect?” Jamerson continued, “She told me that you two were dating and-”

“We are not now, nor ever were dating,” Cord said as he turned his attention back to Jamerson.

“That’s not what she said.”

“I don’t care what she said.”

“You calling her a liar?”

“I…er, why, yes sir, I am.”

Jamerson was stunned at the way Cord answered him.

“How dare you. You defiled my little girl-”

“Please, Billy Preston defiled her, and half of Fredericksburg had her.”

“Why, you son of a bitch,” Jamerson said as he came up with a left jab to Cord’s face.

Cord let go of Annie’s hand and caught Jamerson’s fist in his hand before it made contact.

“Hank!” Cord yelled.

Hank stuck his head out and threw Cord his rifle. Cord caught it with his other hand.

“You have one minute to get off my property, Mr. Fairchild, or I start shooting.”

Annie looked to Cord with eyes wide opened, in surprise.

Jamerson Fairchild froze in place for a beat. Then he looked to Annie then back to Cord. He slowly backed up, “How dare you? I will make sure your parents know about this, Cord.” He turned around and walked to his car, then drove off.

Cord watched his every move as he breathed heavy with his jaw still ticking.

Annie placed her hand in his free hand. She could see he was visibly upset.

When he felt her soft hand in his, he turned to her and he slowly relaxed.

“Hank!” He called again, not realizing Hank never left.

“Right here,” he said.

Cord flung him back the rifle and Hank walked back inside the barn.

“You, okay?” he asked Annie.
             

“Me?” she said incredulously. “Cord, you just threatened to shoot a man.”

Cord looked at her then looked around, not really seeing anything, then back to her again.

“Aw hell, Annie, I wasn’t gonna shoot him.” He chuckled. “I was just gonna fire off a warning shot… Twenty-seven years old, and her old man thinks she’s a virgin.”

They both laughed as he pulled her into him. Annie was relieved to see him relax.

“Annie, I’m so sorry. I’m not sure what to do,” he said into her hair.

“Wait, what do you mean… about us?” She pulled back to see his face, suddenly feeling very insecure.

“No, I’m sure about us, I want to explore us and I hope you do, too. I mean I don’t know how to get through to Lisa that there is nothing between us.” He paused. He pulled back a little and raised his hand to his eyes and rubbed. “I’m going to have to run to my parent’s house and fill them in before Jamerson does. You want to come along?” he asked, chuckling.

“Gee, let me think about that… uh, no,” she said, smiling.

God, he loved that smile. He placed a hand in back of her head and brought his head down to kiss her lips. He gave her one, then another, and, still another quick kiss.

“You want to come inside with me?” he asked with a most sexy look on his face.

“It’s getting late, Cord, I’m having dinner with Calista, then we’re going to meet up with Rory, Dan, and I think, Jake and Jennie at Roxy’s.”

“Roxy’s, huh. Not sure I want to do that tonight. Go have a good time. I’ll see you tomorrow night? They’re all coming over to my house tomorrow night for the HBO fight.”

“When you say they all, do you mean-”

“I mean everyone but Lisa, darlin’,” he said with a smile not reaching his eyes.

“Oh, okay, I’ll see you then. Thanks for the lesson,” she said as she got into her car.

The doorbell rang as Cord was on the second floor in his bedroom. He ran to a spare bedroom in the front of the house and saw Jake’s car. At the top of the stairs he yelled down loud enough.

“It’s open!”

Calista turned the knob and walked in first, carrying a bag full of groceries, followed by Annie, who was carrying a cake box and a tray of fruit. Jennie came in with a bag of wine, and Jake brought in a couple of cases of beer.

“Hey, Cord,” Calista said.

“Hi, C, what up?” Cord said, not looking at her, but acknowledging her. He only had eyes for Annie as he came walking down the stairs barefoot with nothing on but a pair of gray sweat shorts, drying his hair with a towel.

Oh, yummy!
Thought Annie and she couldn’t help but drool over his beautiful, tanned sculptured chest.

When their eyes met, they were grinning like a couple of teenagers in love.

Calista rolled her eyes.

Jake said to Cord, “Hey buddy, get the door.”

Cord didn’t. He was too occupied looking at Annie that Jennie said. “I got it, honey.”

“Thanks, baby,” Jake said. “Geez, Cord, Annie’s not the only one here, you know.” He added.

“Hey,” Cord said to Annie, hearing Jake, but choosing to ignore him at the moment.

“Hi,” she said back.

He kissed her lips and sucked her lower lip into his mouth for a taste of her sweetness and breathed in her scent. God, he could never get enough of her scent.

“Let me take that for you,” he said as he took the cake and tray from her. He carried them to the kitchen, bypassing Calista along the way.

“Thanks a lot for the help with the heavy bag, moron,” Calista said sarcastically.

Cord laughed as he put down the cake and fruit, then helped Calista place down the bag.

“Sorry, darlin’, you looked like you had it under control.” He teased.

“Yeah? And just how would you know what I looked like, you didn’t see anyone but Annie.” She teased back. “Annie didn’t make my famous wings for you, I did. I slaved all-”

“Aww, C., you know I love you, sweetheart,” Cord said. “Thanks for the wings. You do make them soooo good.” He embraced her and kissed her forehead.

Everyone busied themselves as they set up food and drink on the huge island in the middle of the kitchen while Cord said he’d be right back. He disappeared upstairs again.

In addition to the wings, there was penne vodka, meatballs, and Annie’s favorite dish to make, eggplant parmesan.

When he came back down, he was donning a black tank top and watched Annie as she was walking around the first floor, studying his home. He watched her hips sway in the white and baby blue skirt she wore. It was neat, it wasn’t too short, but enough so that it showed off her long, shapely legs. Legs he was dying to have wrapped around his waist in the worst way. She had on a baby blue, what do they call it, a bustier tank or something.

Dan walked over to her and handed her a glass of wine.

When did Dan get here
?

Dan felt Cord’s eyes on him and turned around,

“Hey, Cord,” he said as he stuck out his hand.

Cord came over to them and shook Dan’s outstretched hand.

“Hey, I didn’t hear you pull up.”

“Me an’ Rory just got here. Dude, what the hell happened between you and Lisa’s dad?”

At that question, everyone piled into the living room, where they were, to hear the explanation.

“Fuck, I hate fuckin’ small towns. What’d you hear?”

“Just that you basically called Lisa a whore,” said Rory with his hand stretched out. Cord shook it.

“Hey, man,” Cord said in greeting, “Yep, I pretty much did, didn’t I?” He turned to Annie.

She nodded her head.

“You were there?” Jennie asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did he say anything to you?” Dan asked Annie.

“Oh no, not really, he just called me a… what was that, Cord?”

“A floozy,” he replied.

“A floozy?” Jennie repeated.

“Before, or after you called Lisa a whore?” Rory asked, addressing his question to Cord.

“Before, which is why I didn’t hold back.”

Cord and Annie filled them all in on the incident. Jennie was stunned that Cord pulled a rifle on Lisa’s father, but knowing Cord as the rest of them did, it didn’t faze them.

Everyone started walking into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Cord grabbed Annie’s hand and held her back.

“So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“My house?”

“Cord, it’s beautiful. From the outside to the inside, it’s just simply beautiful. I’m finding myself a little bit intimidated to tell you the truth. I had no idea. At the risk of sounding naïve…, are you rich?”

Cord chuckled, “No, I mean I live comfortably. I’m not lacking for anything... um, well… maybe there is something I am lacking,” he said as he swept his gaze over her.

She mockingly rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re such a charmer.”

“What could I say, I see beautiful things and I must have them,” he said as he lifted his right eyebrow, grinning.

She burst out laughing, “Hahaha, okay, George.”

He cracked up “Seinfeld fan, too?”

“Yep, one of my favorite shows of all time.”

“Me too…. Seriously, I have a share in my parent’s ranch and I used whatever equity it allowed to buy and train horses. I love working with them and I actually found out, I’m good at it.”

Annie nodded and he continued. “I make a lot of money and it has allowed me the affordability to build my home and furnish it. I’m not saying it’s easy, I work hard. I’m sure Calista told you I’m always working.”

“Yes, she did... Soooo, should I be intimidated?” she asked him.

“No, not at all. Please don’t be. It’s so not what I’m going for here.”

“Oh, what are you going for?”

“This,” he said as he pulled her to him and kissed her softly.

When they broke their kiss, their gaze’s lingered before she turned around and continued her assessment of his home.

She looked around the huge living room. “It’s so big and airy, and the dark wood, the hardwood floors it’s all so perfect. The stone fireplace is exquisite-”

“There is one identical to it in the master suite,” he interrupted her.

She paused and smiled at him. “I’d love to see it sometime.”

Then she walked around, and he realized he was following her like he was on a leash or something, and oddly enough, he didn’t seem to mind it. He’d follow her anywhere, he thought to himself.

She led him to the dining room where there was a long shiny table of cherry wood that sat ten, and a large crystal chandelier hanging over the middle of it. With a breakfront and buffet table to round it out, there was still so much room in there. A big picture window with custom drapery gave the room a formal look to it.

When she paused to take in the room, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him. He turned her around and stared into her eyes. They were a dark coffee color.

Cord enjoyed learning to read her ever changing eyes. He knew her excited color, her angry color and now her burning color, which was the darkest so far. What he really wanted to see was the color they would be when he was making her come.

He kept a hand on her waist, and raised his other hand and placed his index finger at the top of her blouse where material and breasts met. He watched it as it lazily traced the top of one curvaceous mound.

She watched him watching his finger dip below her blouse in between her breasts and just as lazily come up and trace the top of her other breast.

He paid close attention to the rise and fall of her breasts, and he raised his eyes to her face and smiled as he took his index finger and placed it in his mouth and sucked on it.

Annie’s breath caught and Cord loved the effect he had on her. He brought his lips down on hers and crushed her to him.

“Hey, you guys gonna walk around the house all night or what!” Calista shouted from the kitchen. “The wings are almost gone, Cord.”

Cord and Annie reluctantly pulled apart. He held her hand, and with his free hand, he gently brought it up to her face and swept it across her cheek. “Come on, babe, let’s go eat.”

After they ate, the guys went to the living room, with fresh beers, to turn on the fight. The main event wasn’t starting till around 9:00 pm, but they watched the other, lesser known fights, while the girls were in the kitchen tidying up.

The last thing Cord wanted to do was watch a fight with his buddies. All he could think about was Annie. How soft she felt, how beautiful she looked, how hot her little body was, how warm it would feel underneath his…

“Cord, man, did you hear me?” Dan asked.

“Ahh, yeah, yeah…. I don’t know…. What?”

“Geez, I asked if you were going to ask Annie to the fundraiser at your parent’s house next month.”

Every year since 2008, Cord’s parents held a fund raiser for our military heroes. It was a big catered affair with professional chefs manning large barbeques and smokers. There was a large tent with buffet tables and seating, and another large tent for dancing and entertainment. Along with representatives from each branch of the military, wounded warriors and politicians, you could always count on live music from a renowned recording artist or two to show up, and there was a rodeo that he and his brother participated in.

Shit, the fund raiser,
thought Cord. “Why do you want to know that?” he asked.

“Because, if you don’t I will.”

“I don’t think so,” Cord said, irately.

Rory spoke up, “That’s a dick move, Dan,” he said, shaking his head.

“Why, it don’t seem like Cord has exclusive rights to her. She was out with me last night.”

Cord’s eyes shot from Rory to Dan, and he glared at him.

Jake said, “She was out with all of us last night, and she showed no signs of being interested in you other than in friendship. Besides, open your eyes, can’t you see she’s interested in Cord, anyway?”

“So, you gonna ask her?” Dan asked Cord, again.

Jake and Rory just looked at each other, incredulously.

“Yeah, I’m gonna ask her, and Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“Back off,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Nothing more was said on the matter. The guys started talking about the fight happening on TV.

The girls enjoyed their talk in the kitchen. While they cleaned up they drank and discussed everything from manicures, to clothes, to favorite sex positions. Jennie, being the youngest of the three, was hysterical laughing at some of them.

“I want to try that with Jake,” she said, referring to the riding cowgirl style, backwards.

“Ewww. I don’t want to hear. I’m not listening. Lalalalalalala!” Calista said and the three of them laughed so hard their eyes were tearing.

“The fight’s gonna start soon, you girls coming in!” Rory yelled, from the living room.

“Yes, be right there, honey!” Calista yelled back, “Cause that’s what we can’t wait to see, not,” she sarcastically added more quietly so only the girls heard. They giggled some more, refilling their drinks. They also opened beers for the boys and carried them in.

Cord had a big, black, sectional, leather couch with a chaise lounge on one end. It was facing a large screen TV that was mounted over the fireplace mantle. He was lying on the chaise. Rory was in the middle of the couch, and Jake was at the other end. Dan was on a large recliner angled in and opposite Cord. Jennie handed Jake a new beer and sat down between him and Rory. Calista handed Rory a new beer and sat between Rory and Cord.

Cord watched closely as Annie brought Dan a beer. She was balancing two of them in one hand, and her other hand held a goblet of wine.

“Thanks, sugar,” Dan said, and Cord noticed that Dan moved a little. He was going to beat the shit out of Dan if Annie sat down next to him.

“You are most welcome,” she replied, sounding a little tipsy. Then she turned and walked over to Cord.

Relief flooded his face. He smiled at her and she smile back.
Yeah, fuck you, Dan,
Cord thought to himself.

He grabbed the beer she offered him, and he moved over to the end to make room for her.

“Uh-uh, I want to sit there.” She pointed to the end.

He didn’t hesitate to scoot the other way, and watched as she slowly climbed over him to get to her seat.

She was snug against the arm rest, her legs stretched out.

Cord had one leg on the lounge, the other hanging over the side.