The Counterfeit Cowgirl (20 page)

She slipped off the rest of her clothes then turned to look at Aaron. He came to her immediately and took her in his arms, molding her body against his.

“You’re like quicksilver,” he said in his gravelly voice. “Sleek and changeable and sexy as hell.” He stared at her mouth. “Like I said, you don’t need jewelry. Those braces look like jewelry on you.”

She felt sexy when he looked at her like that, his eyes dark with passion. She looped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, glorying in the feel of his lean, hard body against her smooth curves.

His rough hands smoothed over her arms and back while he kissed her and traced his tongue over her braces before dipping deeper. Then he cupped her bottom and moved against her to let her know, without question, how much he wanted her.

Felicity trembled and melted further. In another moment, she would be a molten pool of desire at his feet. Before she could warn him of that fact, he lifted her and carried her to the bed. He bent and swept the covers down in one smooth motion and laid her gently in the center.

He straightened, still staring at her with that hungry navy-blue stare, and stripped off his own clothing in a graceless, hasty way that nevertheless enchanted her. He wanted her, and he wanted her to know it.

When he returned to her, he was totally naked, and she found him beautiful. Dimly she wondered when she should feel nervous then decided it didn’t matter. How could a woman feel nervous when she had a man like this to look forward to?

The thought passed briefly through her mind that perhaps she ought to warn him that she was inexperienced, but she banished it as quickly as it surfaced. The last thing she wanted was to slow down his possession of her, and something told her that this piece of information would definitely call a halt to the proceedings.

He kissed her breasts and drew them into his mouth, one at a time. His slow, deliberate attentions to each nipple almost sent her over the edge of sanity.

She poured herself over him like liquid mercury, savoring the feel of his chest and powerful arms. In her pliable state, she likened him to pure, hardened steel and welcomed him into her body.

To her joy, he wasted no more time. Locking her mouth against his, he smothered her swift exclamation of shock when he penetrated her and gave her a few seconds to adjust to his size and weight. Felicity professed herself amazed at just how fast she adapted to fit him. They might have been made for each other. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more certain she grew that Aaron had been created especially for her.

She had never experienced anything like this, she admitted to herself, and it had been well worth the wait. Something told her that no other man of her acquaintance, and certainly not poor old Gary Carlisle, could have made her feel the way she felt in Aaron’s arms.

The intimate storm of feeling he created inside her kept on building and building, until she wondered how she could possibly contain it without exploding. Then she did explode, into a kaleidoscope of stars and colors that left her panting and trembling all over as the euphoria flooded every cell of her body, from her head to the tips of her toes.

Aaron appeared to find the experience as earthshaking as she did, much to her delight. He groaned, a harsh sound of complete pleasure, and stilled, breathing hard. He remained where he was for a moment, staring down at her with his intense, navy gaze, then slowly moved to lie beside her.

He said nothing until his breathing had steadied, which was fine with Felicity. She pillowed her head on his shoulder and gazed at what she could see of his chest. She might never move again.

“You should have told me,” he said, when he could speak.

“Told you what?” she purred and moved her hand gently across the broad expanse of chest before her eyes.

“That you’ve never been with a man before.” He reached over to touch her chin and make her look at him. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Felicity shrugged as well as she could, considering her position. “What does it matter? There’s a first time for everyone, you know. It’s not something you broadcast around these days.”

Aaron regarded her with a solemn expression that enchanted her with its intensity. “Did I hurt you?”

“Do I look hurt?”

“No, but — ”

“I’m not a brilliant actress, so believe me, if I felt hurt, you’d know all about it in no short order.” She smiled at him suggestively. “I’m happy to report that I feel great. Better than great, in fact. And you, Aaron Whitaker, are in a position to make me feel even better.”

“I am?” He regarded her with a hopeful smile.

“That’s right.” She stretched out one hand in a languid way that emphasized her current state of total relaxation. “You can start again at the very beginning and repeat every move you just made, because it was absolutely perfect.”

“That kind of talk will get you anything you want,” Aaron said.

“Anything?”

“Anything,” he repeated, and proceeded to prove it.

• • •

Aaron awakened as dawn began to lighten the sky and remained still so he could enjoy the feel of Felicity’s soft breath against his neck. Her soft weight lay on his arm, and the curve of her hip pressed against his side. For a woman who was new to lovemaking, she seemed to know all the right moves.

But she lived in Nashville, and she intended to return there within — he checked his mental calendar — a little more than a week, right after her mother’s appearance at the Rice Festival. That meant he had about a week to show her what a man could do to make a woman happy.

He smiled wryly into the semi-darkness. Somewhere along the line he had developed a fierce desire to coax her into moving her base of operations from Nashville to Foxe, and more particularly, into his home and life. Judging from the free-ranging life she had led up until the past year or two that might not be easy. But he had a lot of dedication, and few things that were really worthwhile were easy.

He began his campaign that afternoon, when Felicity walked over to join him and his two nephews in the big barn.

“I thought we’d start your riding lessons this morning with a short trip around the pastures,” he said.

“My what?” Felicity looked startled and not particularly thrilled.

“Oh, boy,” Pete said, echoed by Joey. “Can we go too, Uncle Aaron?”

“We’re all going,” Aaron said. “Felicity is going to ride Quiche. Don’t worry, honey,” he reassured her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, and Quiche has never jumped a fence in her life. We’re going to start with the basics, so you’ll know everything that’s going to happen. By the time your mom comes to town, you’ll be riding like a pro.”

Felicity cast him a doubtful look. “If you say so. Have you got another pony about the size of Donatello?”

“You can ride Donatello, Felicity,” Pete offered eagerly. “But he won’t rear up like Rhyolite did.” It was clear Pete found this a failing on Donatello’s part.

“Once was enough,” Felicity said firmly. “I’m interested in a horse that knows only one thing, and that’s how to walk straight ahead at a nice, slow pace.”

“Michelangelo can trot, Felicity,” Joey urged. “You can ride him.”

“We’re giving her too many choices, boys,” Aaron said, grinning. “She’d better concentrate on riding Quiche for right now. She can ride the ponies in a few days, after she’s mastered the basics.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “That might take longer than you think.”

“We’ve got time,” Aaron said, holding her gaze with his own. “We’ve got all the time you need, honey. We’ll go slow and easy, until you feel comfortable.”

“My, you cowboys sure know how to make a woman feel safe.” Felicity gave him a smoldering glance from beneath her lashes that made him long to remove the flashy turquoise blouse she wore so he could make love to her again. “In fact, why don’t we just declare me an expert rider and let’s all go have some of Polly’s iced tea?” she added.

Both little boys protested this and offered the use of their ponies if only Felicity would accompany them on the ride.

Felicity sighed and put on an expression of long-suffering. “My, you cowboys sure know how to get your own ways, don’t you?”

“We excel in that.” Aaron thought the satisfaction he felt in just looking at her went all the way to his bones. “Cowboys want what’s best for everybody concerned, and something tells me that what’s best for a cowgirl is knowing how to ride a horse.”

Felicity reflected on that remark often over the next week. She had to admit, Aaron knew what he was talking about. He proved to be a patient, thorough riding instructor, and before she knew it, she found herself riding Quiche with increasing confidence around Aaron’s property.

To her further gratification, people driving on nearby roads often slowed or came to complete halts in order to thoroughly absorb her riding garb. Of course, anything she wore was not your everyday riding gear, so she took to carrying her card case in her pocket when she rode, just in case. Business was business.

She hired people to clear out her grandmother’s old furniture and trash and repaint and fix the locks, then rented furniture and moved back in, carefully stowing her most valuable items at Aaron’s. Since she spent her days with him, and he spent his nights with her, the arrangement worked well. Aaron even took her to a car wash and showed her how to clean the love bugs off her truck. It required lots of special cleaners and even more elbow grease, but she finally got them off, only to begin reacquiring a new batch on her clean truck grill.

Still, Felicity thought she had never been happier in her life. Aaron made her feel cherished and sexy — so sexy he couldn’t resist her.

Her cell phone rang on the day of Becky’s arrival. She reached across Aaron to grab it and flip it open.

“Hello, Mama,” she yawned. “What are you doing up so early?”

“I’m on the way to see my baby,” Becky said. “Ain’t that reason enough for a mother?”

“What time will you arrive?” Felicity squinted across the room at her little alarm clock. “I’ll come meet your bus.”

“High noon, baby,” Becky said. “That’s if we don’t run into no traffic jams or accidents. My show ain’t until five o’clock, so we’ll have plenty of time to visit.” She added hopefully, “How’s things with Aaron coming along?”

Becky retained high hopes, despite Felicity’s determination not to allow a hint of her affair with Aaron to reach her mother. Becky believed Felicity spent her nights at Aaron’s home after the break-in, and Felicity encouraged that belief without actually saying anything.

“Fine, Mama. He’s looking forward to your show. Everyone is.” Felicity yawned again. “We went to the festival last night and rode some of the rides, and your show was all everyone was talking about.”

“He took you to the festival?” Becky repeated. “Are we talking ‘date’ here, or are you going to try and say it was a family outing again?”

“It was a date,” Aaron said, nuzzling Felicity’s neck. “All our dates are family outings.”

Becky shrieked. “What’s he doin’ in your bedroom at this hour, Felicity Clayton? And don’t try and tell me you ain’t sleeping with him, because I’m calling you a liar right here and now.”

“Now, Mama — ” She poked her elbow into Aaron’s side as he snuggled against her.

“We’re sleeping together,” Aaron said.

Becky let out a loud huff of air. “Well, shut my mouth, and thank you, Jesus.” She added, “I was getting worried about you, baby. It ain’t natural for a girl your age to avoid men the way you always did. Not that I can say I blame you, considerin’, but there are nice men like Aaron out there, and it’s high time you found yourself one.”

On that note, Becky hung up, adjuring her daughter to appear at the festival site the minute her bus arrived.

“She told me she was worried that her career had given you such bad experiences with men, you might never give someone genuine the time of day,” Aaron explained. “So she’s doing whatever she can to further my cause. You know me. I’d never turn down help from your mother.”

Felicity subsided when he pulled her beneath him and proceeded to further his own cause. She had to admit Becky sounded thoroughly pleased with the news. But it remained to be seen what would ultimately come of her affair with Aaron. After all, they had known each other for barely two weeks. It was way too soon to speak of a future together, even if she was secretly looking around at empty shop spaces in Foxe.

By the time she had accompanied Aaron to his home, Felicity found herself still undecided about going home to Nashville. Her shop needed her presence, and ordinarily she would have wasted no time hurrying back to it, but Aaron had derailed her thoroughly from her career path … it was all his fault.

She loved him. It was that simple.

That meant she was up the proverbial creek without a paddle, and at any moment, her canoe might begin taking on water, if all he wanted was an affair.

• • •

“Now, folks, I’ve got a special surprise for you,” Becky Lozano yelled into the microphone.

She wore a denim Cosmic Cowgirl outfit that showed off her slim figure on the outdoor stage in the Festival Park. The small bleachers and the wide grassy area around the stage were filled to overflowing. People had turned out by the hundreds for the performance. Becky’s powerful voice hardly needed a microphone, but the crowd’s enthusiasm threatened to drown out her words.

Felicity shifted and searched the crowd for Aaron. He had already left for the evening when Felicity drove up to his front door to pick up his sister and nephews. Some problem at work was keeping him, she decided. All the local businesspeople had booths and displays at the Rice Festival, and much of Aaron’s time the past week had been devoted to planning his display.

“I’ve got a special song comin’ up, especially in honor of my baby and her daddy,” Becky said. “Folks, these are really, really special songs to me because they’ve been lost for over twenty years. So you’re the first audience to hear them since I sang them to my husband way back before my baby was born.”

Felicity decided the time had come to discretely vanish. In another few minutes, word might spread that Felicity was the “baby” of the songs. She gave Joey’s little hand into Deborah’s keeping and said something about going to find Aaron.