RodeHard (2 page)

Denise jumped up and grabbed Kat’s arm. “Come on, let’s go
down and talk to Justin.” When Kat stood she glanced over at Duncan and Kasey,
both men were staring at her and she shivered beneath their heated scrutiny. As
if he was fully aware of the effect they both had on her, Kasey winked.

Chapter Two

Kat followed Denise and the guys through the crowd as they
pushed their way past the mass of women and cowboys waiting to talk to the
competitors. A cowboy strutted by and tipped his hat at them. Kat took in the
tight jeans and the worn Skoal mark on his back pocket. It would have made a
great shot for the magazine but somehow snapping a picture of a stranger’s butt
just didn’t seem like the best idea.

Laughing to herself, Kat continued to follow the group. An
excited squeal off to her right drew her attention to a group of women. Kat
glanced over at them then followed the line to see what had snagged their
attention. A long, lean cowboy was walking toward them. The man had barely taken
four steps when the young miniskirt-clad girls ran past them and swarmed around
the man.

Continuing to walk, Kat watched the scene unfold as the
women vied for his attention. The blonde appeared to be in the lead as she
pressed her breasts against the cowboy’s arm, drawing his gaze downward.

Denise rolled her eyes. “That’s Brody Kyle. He’s in the lead
for all-round this year, so he kind of draws the fans.” Denise air quoted the
word “fans” and Kat smirked. If the little blonde with the inflatable breasts actually
knew how the points were scored Kat would eat her shirt.

Duncan and Kasey sauntered up and pushed past the women.
“Hey, Brod, good run today. That calf gave you a run for your money.”

Brody shifted his shoulder as if he were loosening a knot.
“No kidding, nice purse though.”

Duncan eyed the three women surrounding Brody and nodded.
“Looks like it.”

Brody laughed. “You guys heading to the dance tonight?”

“Probably,” Kasey replied.

“What about you, Denise? You coming too?” Brody asked.

Before she could answer an arm wrapped around Denise’s
shoulder. “Ah come on, Brod, you know my sister doesn’t go to those things.”

Kat spun to look at the new arrival. Sweet baby Jesus, the
cowboys here were incredible. This guy made Duncan and Kasey look plain. Since he
hadn’t glanced at her yet, she allowed herself to look her fill.

A worn cowboy hat covered his head, dark-brown hair poked
out beneath the brim. She scanned the body attached to the sexier-than-sin
face. Long, lean legs encased in dusty jeans and even dustier boots. Her eyes
lingered on the way he filled out the fly of his jeans and she gulped. Holy
cow. Continuing her survey, she focused on his rolled-up sleeves and the corded
forearms, arms that had flexed and moved as he’d ridden the bull. His broad chest
filled out the button-down shirt and she continued to look him over. Finally
she raised her eyes to his face and the air whooshed out of her lungs as she
was held captive by the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever seen. The pictures
she’d seen of him had not even come close to preparing her for the real thing.
She’d thought Denise’s eyes had been striking, but on a man they were
so
much better.

A slow smile spread across his face as he did some looking
of his own. His eyes lingered on her breasts and her nipples beaded tightly
beneath the scrutiny.
Damn things have a mind of their own.
She fought
the urge to cover her chest.

“Justin, this is Kat. She’s the reporter who’s going to be
staying with us,” Denise said, drawing his attention from Kat’s body.

His smile grew as a look of pure male confidence spread
across his face. “Is that right?”

Kat nodded.

“Well then, this might not be nearly as painful as I was
thinking.” He stepped toward Kat and stuck out his hand. His warm, calloused
palm rubbed against hers and she couldn’t help wondering what those rough hands
would feel like against her most sensitive flesh.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kat. I’m Justin.”

His voice slid across her body like a caress as he held her
hand just a little longer than convention dictated.

Denise snorted. “All right, Romeo, back off. Kat didn’t come
here to get hit on by a bunch of horny cowboys.”

Justin glanced at Kat and raised an eyebrow at her in
question, daring her to disagree with his sister’s claim.

Right, she was here to work. She needed this paycheck to
prove to her family she could stand on her own two feet. Her dad kept expecting
her to come home with her tail between her legs and she’d be damned if that was
going to happen. But as she glanced over at Justin again and the sexy smile on
his face, she wondered if maybe a little fling while she was here might not be
such a bad thing. She was a good multitasker after all.

She let her gaze roam down his body again. Yep, hooking up
with a sexy-as-sin cowboy might be just what she needed to relieve some stress.
A ranch in Arizona was a million miles away from New York, no one would be any
wiser if she made the most of her time away.

Justin watched her. She shrugged as if to say “who knows”
and turned her attention back to Denise. Just because she planned to have sex
with him didn’t mean she had to make it easy.

* * * * *

Later that night at the dance, Justin leaned against the
wall with his beer in hand, watching with amusement as Kasey and Duncan chatted
up a trio of bunnies who had approached them.

Bunny one cut herself from the herd and moved closer to
Justin. She twirled the end of her blonde hair directly over her breast and her
hand dragged across her nipple each time she twirled, making her nipples
visible through her halter-top. She leaned in close to him. “So, cowboy, did
you get enough riding in today or do you still have some energy left?”

She licked her full lips and trailed her long nails down his
chest toward his belt buckle and ran her finger along the waistband of his jeans
seductively.

What the fuck was wrong with him? This girl was good to go,
hot as shit and for some reason he wasn’t really into her. With the adrenaline
flowing through him from his win today, he should be ready to fuck anything
that moved. Here this hot girl was offering and he’d rather head home to watch
SportsCenter
.
Fuck, he must be getting old.

“Well, Jus, I guess I don’t need to wait around to see if
you need a ride home tonight, do I?” his sister asked from beside him. Why was
Denise here? She usually avoided these things like the plague.

Pushing the blonde’s hand away from his belt, he turned
around and nearly bumped into his annoying sister. Damn woman always thought it
was so funny to rib him about the bunnies. He was just about to respond to Denise
when he spotted Kat.

Holy hell. Her long, blonde hair hung down over her
shoulders in a sexy tousled mess. The kind of style women did that immediately
made a man think of sex. Her blue-gray eyes twinkled with amusement as she
looked at him. He’d thought she looked hot in jeans and a tank top earlier
today but that was nothing compared to how she looked tonight. He’d never been
a big fan of cowboy boots and miniskirts until now. The brown leather boots
emphasized her shapely calves and the damn skirt was so short it made her legs
look as if they were a mile long. He could already imagine how good those
muscular thighs would feel wrapped around his waist. His dick twitched against
the fly of his jeans. Apparently his body just needed the right partner to kick
it into gear.

“Kat,” he said, tipping the brim of his hat with his finger.
“Glad you decided to come.”

She shrugged. “Well, your sister convinced me that I didn’t
want to miss seeing one of these dances in person.” She looked at the group
around him and his friends and she smirked. “Guess she wasn’t kidding.”

Justin flicked a look at his sister, her eyes twinkled with
amusement and he narrowed his stare at her.

Stepping away from the wall, he ignored the pouty look the
bunny gave him as he moved closer to Kat. “So this is your first barn dance?”

Kat scanned the dance floor. “Mmm hmm.”

“And? What d’ya think?”

“The band’s good.”

He moved closer, the smell of her perfume drifted into his
nose. Damn, she even smelled good—sweet, like vanilla and spices.

“You want to dance?”

She eyed the dance floor and chewed her bottom lip. “Umm…how
attached are you to your toes?”

“Fairly.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, they’re on there pretty
good, so I think they’ll hold up.”

“All right then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Consider me warned.” He placed his hand at the small of her
back and led her onto the dance floor.

Grabbing her left hand with his right, he pulled her close
to his body and rested his other hand on her shoulder.

Kat wrinkled her brow and looked up at him. “I thought you
were supposed to have your hand on my back.”

“Normally, yeah, but I kind of like dancing this way.” He
stroked his finger down the length of her neck and her eyes dropped closed. And
right there was exactly why he preferred to keep his hand here while he danced.
“You can just wrap your hand around my arm.”

She wove her palm around his forearm and held on. Moving to
the rhythm of the music, he led her around the dance floor. She stepped on his
toes for the first few minutes but then she relaxed and let him lead. A slow
song started to play and he pulled her closer. Kat melted against him.

She felt good in his arms. All soft and curvy like a woman
should be. Her full breasts pressed against his chest and he ran his hand down
her back, enjoying the way she shifted against him.

Her palm ran across his arm, tracing the line from his
forearm to his biceps with her fingers.

He leaned in close and let his breath blow out slowly
against her ear. When she shivered, he grinned and whispered, “You want to get
out of here?”

She rested her head against his shoulder and took a deep
breath then pulled back and looked him in the eye. Her eyes darkened with
arousal. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Kat licked her bottom lip and he followed the path of her
tongue. God, he could just imagine her running that tongue up his shaft. His
jeans pulled tight against his cock as arousal shot through his body.

“Because I’m not some little groupie who is going to be all
cool with a night of fun and nothing else. I’m going to be living in your
family’s back pocket for the next six weeks. The last thing I need to do is
screw that all up by making things uncomfortable.”

“Who says things would get uncomfortable?” He trailed his
finger along the shell of her ear and her eyes drifted shut again. She was
incredibly sensual the way her body curled into his touch as if she couldn’t
get close enough. Would she be that responsive about everything? He sure as
hell wanted to find out.

“Come on, Justin, look at you.” She rolled her eyes. “You
are totally a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy. Everything about you screams
temporary when it comes to women.”

“And?”

Kat snorted. “And…what do you mean
and
? Doesn’t that
pretty much explain things?”

“I don’t know.” He let his stare roam across her face, and
down, lingering on her breasts. The damn things made his mouth water. There was
no way he wasn’t taking her home with him tonight. He looked back at her face.
“Seems to me you’re only here temporarily and I don’t really think I’m gonna
get my fill of you in one night so—”

“So?” She raised her eyebrow at him as if she needed it all
spelled out. He groaned. Typical woman, she wanted to talk things to death
first.

“So as temporary as it might be, what do you say we just
enjoy ourselves while you’re here?” He pulled her closer against him, allowing
her to feel his erection through his jeans.

She rubbed her hips against him and smiled.

“All right, let’s get out of here,” he said.

She looked around, her gaze lingering on a group of scantily
clad women on the edge of the dance floor. Her nose wrinkled and she shook her
head. “I don’t know. Let’s just not rush things, okay?”

He took a deep breath and widened his stance to ease his
discomfort. “No problem. But umm…if we aren’t heading out then—” He shifted
again. “I need to take a little break from dancing.”
Before I split my jeans
open.

Kat giggled then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
She clamped her lips together tightly, her eyes twinkling as she tried to
contain her amusement. “Let’s go get a drink,” she told him, still smiling.

Placing his hand at the small of her back, he led Kat off
the dance floor and over toward the bar in the back corner. “What can I get
you?”

“Just a beer would be good.”

“Really? I’m sure they have coolers or something if you’d
prefer.”

Kat snorted. “No, beer’s good.”

“Sorry, I just totally offended you, didn’t I?”

“Little bit.” She laughed. “I work for a sports magazine,
Justin. You can’t work in that environment and not be a beer drinker.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be right back.”

Pushing his way through the crowd, he leaned his arms on the
bar to wait his turn. A hip bumped him, and he glanced over at the little
brunette beside him.

“Hi, Justin.”

Crap, what was her name again? “Hey.”

“It’s Lisa,” she said, pointing to her chest.

“Lisa, right. How’s it going?” He looked back at the
bartender, praying the man would come over soon.

“Much better now that I know you’re here.” She sidled up
closer to him and brushed her breasts against his arm.

Where the hell was the bartender?

“You had a great ride today.” Lisa leaned her body weight
into him and stumbled, forcing him to grab her hip to hold her upright.

“You want to buy me a drink?” she asked.

He glanced over his shoulder toward Kat. She stood watching
him with a mocking smile.
Damn.

He looked down at Lisa. She was hot enough. The kind of
woman he normally took home from one of these things. Hell, he already had
taken her home once. He shifted uncomfortably, even if he wasn’t hoping for
things to happen with Kat he’d shoot Lisa down. He never did repeats with
groupies. It always gave them the wrong impression and the last thing he wanted
was someone dogging him everywhere he went.