The Cowbear's Mail Order Bride (Curvy Bear Ranch 6) (6 page)

Chapter 6

Drew’s cock ached worse than his first case of blue balls. Bouncing around on the snowmobile only exacerbated the problem. His lips still tingled and his heart pounded as he tried to concentrate on the turns. As the road to Mammoth Hot Springs wound alongside the Gibbon River, he tried to calm his bear.

Mine. Mine. Mine.
His bear chanted incessantly.

No, Bear. She’s not yours, or ours.

He couldn’t afford to start thinking about her as anything other than a guest at the ranch. If he fell for her, it would prove his sister-in-law was right. Damn her for putting him through this. If only Sharon wasn’t so irresistible.

As he took a sharp corner, the snowmobile skidded across a patch of ice. She gripped his waist. The pressure shot straight to his groin and a shock of desire raced up his spine. He pushed against her and groaned into his helmet. At least she couldn’t see his pain. But if she could, would she do something about it?

She hadn’t resisted his kisses either last night or today. Of course she’d been primed by Madison to fall for him, so it couldn’t be real. She was just reacting to him based on Madison’s portrayal of him. It didn’t mean anything.

The trip to Norris didn’t take long, so he continued without stopping. He passed a sign that read
21 Miles to Mammoth
.

As they passed over a bridge, the meandering river shifted to the left side of the road. A small valley opened up on either side of the river. When he spotted a pack of elk, he crossed the road and pulled into a turnout. After turning off the snowmobile, he flipped up his visor. She followed suit.

“I spotted some elk,” he said.

“I saw them too and was hoping you’d stop.”

“We can’t stay more than a minute or two, but let’s take a look,” he said.

He took her hand and walked to the edge of the hill overlooking the valley. One of the elk raised its head and looked straight at them.

“Wow, he’s beautiful,” she said. “His antlers are huge.”

“You know what they say about a man with big antlers…”

“No.” She chuckled. “Please, educate me.”

“Well… I don’t know either.”

“It’s not the size that counts,” she quipped.

“That’s what small men like to say to make themselves feel better.” He grinned.

“And I suppose you know nothing about that?” She arched a brow.

“What, Madison didn’t send you a dick pic?” he asked sarcastically.

“Nope.”

“I thought that was the whole point of online hookups,” he said.

“Maybe for some people, but not me. I was actually looking for a nice man, not a big dick,” she said.

He blanched and then burst out laughing.

“What?” she asked.

“I… you just…” He couldn’t stop snickering long enough to finish his sentence.

“I’m not all white doilies and innocence,” she said.

“I’m starting to see that.”

“Too bad you’re not interested in a relationship,” she teased.

“Hmm,” he said noncommittally. Before they went too far, he needed to put an end to this conversation. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.”

She cocked her head as if trying to read him. The crinkles around the edges of her eyes slowly dissipated. He had no doubt she’d been smiling under the helmet, but his sudden change in attitude had quashed her joy. Too bad. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. Although he liked talking to her, he wouldn’t trade a lifetime of solitary contentment for someone he’d just met.

After climbing back on the snowmobile, he waited for her to get settled before pushing the throttle. His stomach rumbled, but not for food. His damn bear clawed at his guts in frustration. He understood the beast’s need to escape and promised him that he’d shift later tonight. If nothing else, he needed to expel the desire she’d awakened.

They reached Mammoth a few minutes after noon. On the left side of the road, stepped platforms of steaming white rock rose up to create the Minerva Terraces. Cascading milky water glistened as it trickled across the surface.

He drove past the geothermal feature and parked in the ranger station’s parking lot. After they’d had a chance to stretch their legs, he opened the compartment at the back of the snowmobile. He pulled out bags of cut meat, cheese, crackers, and grapes. A large bag of chocolate chip cookies followed. He handed everything to her before reaching in for the Thermos of hot cocoa.

“Are you warm enough?” he asked. “We could go sit inside while we eat.”

“I’m fine. I’m actually pretty hot in these snow pants.”

“Yes, you are,” he blurted.
Crap.
He hadn’t meant to hit on her again. He needed to keep his damn mouth shut.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I never thought I’d be the snow bunny type.”

“You could put most of them to shame.”

“You’re such a smooth talker when you want to be,” she said.

“I suppose,” he said. “But I just tell it like I see it.”

He grabbed a space blanket out and shook it open. As a small group of tourists passed, an elderly man arched a brow as if to say,
Are you crazy? It’s too cold for a picnic
.

Drew smiled in response. The snow-covered grass didn’t seem like the best place to set up, so he led her to a picnic bench near the terraces. He helped her spread out the feast.

“Did you happen to pack plates?” she asked.

“Shit, I knew I was forgetting something,” he said.

“Don’t worry. It’s all finger food anyway.”

She tore open a package of butter crackers and slapped a slice of cheddar cheese onto it. After adding some salami, she stuffed it in her mouth. So much for dainty. But he liked it. Some women ate like birds and were constantly whining about every calorie. Nothing could be more annoying than having someone stare you down with hungry, judgey eyes while you tried to eat. She ate with gusto—a woman after his own heart.

“I’ve always thought this was one of the most interesting places on earth,” she said between bites. “I wonder how it all works.”

“There’s a giant vault of magma under Yellowstone. The heat pushes up and comes out through various natural features, like the terraces.”

“I know that much, but how did they form? Why are they so white?” she asked.

“Calcium carbonate melts into the water. As it cools, it creates the terraces,” he said.

“Isn’t that the stuff in antacids?”

“It’s similar.”

“So if I eat too much cheese, I can just lick the hot spring?”

“Uh, no. Not unless you want your tongue to burn off,” he said.

“You and your obsession with my tongue.” She grinned.

He flushed.

“What makes the other colors?” she asked.

“The browns, reds, oranges, and greens come from algae growing in the water,” he said.

“How do you know so much about this?” she asked.

“We took a lot of science trips to Yellowstone when I was in school.”

“And you remembered everything?”

“It wasn’t
that
long ago.” He smirked. “Besides, I have a really good memory.”

“One time, we went on a science trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. It was so smelly, but really interesting.”

“Wait, isn’t that in the LA area? I thought you’d never been to the west coast,” he said.

Her head snapped up and she stopped mid-chew. When her eyes widened, he realized she’d been caught in another lie.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” A tinge of fear entered her tone.

“You’ve contradicted yourself a few times now. I still don’t believe your story about driving from Florida through Virginia to get here. It doesn’t make any sense. Did you really move from Florida?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And you grew up there?”

“Yes,” she said.

“So if you grew up there, how did you end up on a school fieldtrip to LA? That had to be one hell of a bus ride.”

“Fine.” She huffed. “I didn’t want to bring it up, but I went to stay with my grandmother in LA one year. My parents were having problems and they sent me away.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked.

“Because it’s hard to talk about.” She looked away. “There are things in my past that I’d rather leave there.”

He frowned. What else was she hiding?

“I won’t judge you for whatever happened in your past,” he said. “I just hate liars. Are you lying to me about anything else?”

“No,” she said quickly. Almost too quickly.

“If you are, now’s the time to tell me,” he said. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want to confess all of your secrets to someone you didn’t know very well, but I was hoping we could get to know each other a little more.”

“I’m leaving at the end of the week,” she said.

“I know. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least see if there’s something between us.”

“You want to get to know me?” she asked.

“I guess that’s what I’ve been trying to do,” he admitted. “I know I said I’m totally against a relationship, but I do believe in fate. Who knows, maybe—”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying.”

He looked away. What was he doing? Wasn’t this the exact reason he’d stayed away from relationships all these years? All they did was complicate things.

She stood and circled around to his side of the bench. As she slid in next to him, he turned toward her. She placed her hand on his.

“I’m sorry I lied. Can we just start over from here?” she asked.

He hesitated until her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. The sincerity in her voice broke his resolve.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s start from here.”

“Good,” she whispered as she leaned over to kiss him.

The brush of her lips against his stole every last bit of reluctance. What started as a gentle kiss deepened until his heart raced and blood surged through his veins.

“We should head back,” she said as she placed her palm on his upper thigh.

His cock twitched at her invitation. His bear roared with approval, and he groaned in response. He’d gone far too long without a hot woman in his bed. How could he turn her down?

***

Cindy stood in the bathroom inside her bedroom with her hands on the counter and her head down. What was she doing? If she walked back into the room and joined Drew on the bed, she’d only be adding to the pile of lies. This was nothing more than a ploy.

Why did he have to be so scorching hot and so honorable at the same time? Well… maybe not honorable considering he’d wasted no time climbing into her bed. She’d retreated to the bathroom in an attempt to calm the flutter of nerves in her stomach.

She turned her back to the mirror and lowered her robe to her hips. She looked over her shoulder at the long, jagged scar that slashed across her back from shoulder to waist. How in the hell was she going to explain that?

“You coming?” Drew called.

“In a minute.”

She pulled up the robe and belted it. If he even caught one glimpse of her scar, he’d start asking more questions she wasn’t ready to answer—like why she was calling herself “Sharon.”

She turned on the faucet and splashed icy water over her face. After drying her damp skin with a hand towel, she folded the cloth and set it over the edge of the bathtub. She tiptoed to the door and peeked out at Drew’s prone form.

Already shirtless, the faint light of a single lamp bounced across his rippling abs. With each breath, his chest rose as if proudly displaying his virility. Clad in only a pair of jeans, he laced his fingers behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Was he having second thoughts too?

Her gaze dropped to the thick bulge in his jeans. She squirmed, sliding her thighs together in an attempt to calm the flood of heat tearing through her core. If this was only about sex, then she wouldn’t hesitate to walk into that room and yank his pants off with her teeth. But after getting to know him a little more today, she didn’t want to hurt him. She had to find a way out of this situation.

She pushed open the door. Drew’s bedroom eyes raked across her robed body.

“You’re not naked.” He arched a brow.

“Drew…”

He slid off the bed and prowled toward her. Before she could process what was happening, he’d pulled her tight against him. The animalistic glint in his eyes was her undoing. He gave her an incendiary look clearly devised to make any woman forget her inhibitions.

When he reached for the tie at her waist, she took a step toward him. It was all the encouragement he needed. As he slipped the robe from her shoulders, she backed toward the lamp. With a flick of her fingers, she plunged the room into absolute darkness.

“I want to see you,” he whispered.