The Cowgirl's Secret (The Diamondback Ranch Series #) (6 page)

Tori pushed her empty dessert dish away. "So, you decided to call it quits and move back home?"

"Yeah. My mom called me one night, crying. She'd been feeling tired and run down for weeks. She'd thought it was because she was still grieving for my dad. They loved one another deeply. Then she told me she had gone to the doctor for a check up. She'd undergone a battery of tests. The news was the worst. She had . . .
has
pancreatic cancer."

"Oh, Sam. I'm so sorry. How's she doing? Is she better now?"

"She's recovering from surgery and seems to be in remission, but there's no telling how long it will last or if the cancer will come back. She's still weak and fragile. But every cloud has a silver lining as my mom always says. Everything usually works out for the best. She's really glad I was able to come home to be with her."

Tori smiled. "Your mom sounds like an amazing woman."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I really lucked out in the parent department. Anyway, I had been thinking about a career change even before my dad passed away. I'd become a stressed-out workaholic. Work was my whole life. When my dad died, it made me rethink everything. I wanted to go home to Texas. I wanted to find a less stressful job, something that didn't require a lot of brain-drain. A job that would allow me more time for living a life outside the office."

"Wow, Sam. Is that what happens when people approach thirty? They re-evaluate their life choices?"

"I don't know," he said. "It certainly happened to me. Anyway, my mom's illness was the wake-up call I needed. Lucky for me, I wasn't hurting for money, so I quit my job, packed up everything and returned to Texas, where I knew I really belonged."

He shook his head. "Don't get me wrong. I loved New York, but it wasn't home. And here I am. Six months later, eating dinner with you. Life doesn't get much better than this."

Tori lowered her eyes and blushed. Sam loved it when her cheeks grew pink. She fiddled with the dessert spoon. "You've been through a lot," she said, raising her eyes again. "Are you working now? Did you find that ideal job?"

Sam took another sip of his drink. "I took a couple of months off to help my mom get through chemo. Truth is . . . I can't stay away from programming for very long. I get antsy and go stir-crazy. Fortunately, a couple of friends asked me to help out with their start-up. They create and develop digital games, and I do the programming. It's the perfect set-up. I can work from anywhere."

"That sounds like another silver lining to me." Tori placed her napkin on the table beside her empty dessert bowl. "You get to do something you enjoy, and you can work from home and be close to your mother."

"Yeah, it's worked out well." He became silent for a moment as he studied her across the table. "Let's get out of here," he said, tossing down his own napkin. "We can go for a walk. There's a park a couple of blocks away. Are you finished? Do you want anything more?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks for dinner. I really enjoyed it."

"The pleasure was all mine."

Tori smiled a secret sort of smile. "No, not all of it."

"No?" He signaled the waiter for the check.

She shook her head and her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires. Sam felt the familiar tug of desire once again. The woman had his libido stirred up to a frenzied heat. If he didn't kiss her soon, he was going to go crazy for sure.

***

Tori walked beside Sam in the late August evening, the slight breeze warm on her face. Eight-thirty and the sun had almost finished its descent below the western horizon. The temperature had fallen to a pleasant eighty degrees. Still warm, yet perfect for an after-dinner stroll. The park was nearly deserted, and the trees and bushes and flowers were awash with the golden glow from the setting sun.

Tori followed Sam's lead to the gravel pathway that passed through sculpted hedges and formal flowerbeds toward a children's playground, his hand on the small of her back. His touch sent sparks of awareness sizzling through her system.

The feelings churning inside her were strange and wonderful and frightening. She'd never felt this way about a man before. She wondered what it would be like when he kissed her. She knew without a doubt he wanted to kiss her.
And she wanted to kiss him, too, but she was afraid.

As they neared the empty playground with night falling around them, Tori felt compelled to put some distance between them. She broke free and moved toward the swings, where she sat on one, careful to keep her knees together. Her dress wasn't meant for swinging.

Sam leaned against one of the thick wooden posts supporting the swing set and fort and watched her. Like he'd been watching her all through dinner.
As if he wanted to consume her very soul.

"You going to swing in that dress?" he asked, his voice low and hushed in the summer twilight.

Tori swallowed and lifted her chin. "I was thinking about it."

He raised one dark eyebrow. "You might want to reconsider."

"Should I?" For some reason, Tori felt the prickles of defiance rise up against that lightly veiled challenge. She gripped the chains and backed herself up, standing with the swing in position ready to launch.

"Yes, you should." Sam's mocha-colored eyes moved from her face down the path of the low-cut neckline of the silky red dress, over her breasts, where his gaze lingered a moment, making Tori's nipples bead in response to the thoroughly masculine appraisal. Sam's eyes shot to her face again, holding her captive, before continuing his thorough perusal of her body, all the way down to her strappy sandals, then slowly back up again.

Good lord, the man was lethal
. Tori struggled to draw in a breath. She had more than a sneaking suspicion she was playing with fire when it came to Sam Garza.

He flashed that special smile, the one that played havoc with her nerve endings. "On second thought," he said, "how about a push?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Why had he suddenly changed his mind? She searched his rugged face, looking for what . . . she didn't quite know.

Anticipation made her throat go dry. Would he take hold of the chains of the swing or put his hands on her body to give her a push? She really needed to get a grip on her hormones. They'd never run this rampant before. Somewhere deep inside, Tori felt a wild, untamed passion clawing its way toward the surface to break free.

Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Sam leisurely pushed off the post of the swing set with one booted foot and walked until he stood directly behind her. Her heart revved up a notch when his big strong hands settled on her hips. His fingers burned through the thin silky fabric of her dress. For a minute, he just stood there with his hands on her, his thumbs smoothing over her hips in slow, unhurried circles. He kissed the top of her head and slivers of desire flooded her body, making her want something more.

"Ready?" Sam's hot breath scorched her ear. Everything about Sam Garza made her hyper-aware of his powerful masculinity and accentuated her own femininity.

Not trusting her voice, Tori nodded and felt herself being lifted upwards and back. The pull of gravity vied with the strength of Sam's muscles. He'd wedged his hands between her bottom and the plastic seat in order to get a good hold of the swing.

Tori held onto the chains with tight fists trying to grapple with the overwhelming sensations generated by the feel of his hands so close to her core. Time stood still for a moment, as Sam held her suspended above the ground as if demonstrating that he was the one in control. She'd never thought something as simple and ordinary as swinging could turn into such a sensual experience.

When he finally let go, she was propelled forward--not too high, not too fast--in a gentle swoosh of a wide sweeping arc. On the return trip, Sam pushed both the swing and her butt, propelling her forward again.

She crossed her legs at the ankles to maintain her modesty, especially since every touch of Sam's hands on her butt generated far-from-modest feelings inside her body. Pretty soon, Tori gave herself up to the pleasure of swinging. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been on a swing. Holding on to the chains, she leaned back, pointing her toes toward the darkening sky. This time on the return swoop, Sam pushed her on the shoulders, and Tori laughed as she swung higher still.

She leaned way back and right before she began the downward descent, she could see Sam waiting for her, his smile flashing again in the twilight. Before she knew what he was about, he rushed in and grabbed hold of the chains directly above her fists to slow her down, cushioning the abrupt halt of the swing's arc with his hard body aligning itself with her backside.

Tori's breath stalled in her lungs as her bare back lay nestled against Sam's solid-muscled chest. She felt his lips on her hair, his kiss burning her scalp. Hot prickles of desire infused her blood, and she couldn't help tilting her head forward, wanting to feel his lips on her skin. He was quick to oblige, trailing kisses across the nape of her neck and collarbone. She held the chains in a death-grip, and Sam slid his hands over hers, covering them in a none-too-gentle grasp.

Suddenly, he twirled her around to face him, the chains crossing above her head. She felt like a captive animal, tangled in a trap. Tori looked up at him. He really was a brutally handsome man, his features hard as granite. She fleetingly wondered how a man who looked so fierce, so feral, could scatter such gentle kisses across her sensitive skin. How a man who had uprooted his whole life so he could help his sick mother--how could such a man look at her with such intense yearning? Such hot passion?

Sam's eyes dilated beneath heavy lids. He bent toward her, stopping only millimeters from her mouth. His breath was hot on her lips. Tori's stomach dipped in an alarming manner.

"I'm going to kiss you." His voice was rough with desire. "I've been wanting to kiss you from the first moment I saw you at the bar."

He grabbed her wrists and pulled her from the swing. Tori's knees threatened to buckle, but Sam steadied her while dragging her beneath the wooden play-fort and slide. They were shielded from view, standing together in the small enclosed area where escaping him would be impossible.
Not that she wanted to be anywhere but here.

He yanked her into his strong arms and gathered her close. He was warm and hard and very aroused. Before Tori could say or do anything, his mouth crushed down on hers in a hungry savage kiss.

CHAPTER THREE

Sam swiped his tongue against Tori's cherry-ripe lips demanding entrance and immediately, she opened to him. He plunged into her hot wet sweetness.

Tasting, testing,
devouring
.

He dove his fingers into the glorious mass of golden curls, holding her head still as he plundered her mouth. He felt her arms move to wrap around his waist, her small hands grabbing his shirt at the small of his back. He willed her to move her hands lower, or better yet, move them round to grab hold of his hard aching shaft. His body flexed against the zipper of his slacks, yearning for a woman's touch.
This
woman's touch.

He trailed kisses along Tori's jawline, bit her earlobe, nipped then sucked the sensitive skin of her collarbone. He felt a moment of satisfaction when she tightened her arms around him and wiggled closer.
Oh yeah
. He kissed his way back to her lips and thrust his tongue inside her heat again.

Immediately, Tori latched onto his tongue and sucked hard. Sam thought he would explode right then and there. It had been too long since he'd been with a woman. Yet it could have been yesterday and it wouldn't have mattered; he wanted Tori, and no one else would do. His body was like a stick of dynamite just waiting for a spark to ignite the fuse.

And Tori was the one to provide the spark; she was generating enough heat to send them both up in flames. And this was only their first kiss.

Damn!

Sam gripped the back of Tori's neck at the nape, holding her in place. With a hand not quite steady, he traced a finger down that enticingly low neckline, over the rise of one rounded breast, touching the pebbled nipple, cursing the layer of clothing keeping him from naked woman flesh.

Tori's quick inhale of breath inflamed Sam's body to an almost unbearable pitch. He was burning up. He pushed the red silk downward and bared one pretty breast. Sam kneaded the firm round flesh, weighing it in the palm of his hand, circling the taut nipple, rubbing the turgid peak between his index finger and thumb.

Tori broke the kiss, and sagged against him, gasping for breath. "Oh God, that feels good. Don't stop. Don't ever stop."

Sam's hand continued the sensual torture. "Don't worry, babe. I'm not about to stop."

Tori's head fell back and she opened her eyes wide. "Oh God. I said that out loud, didn't I?" She tried to pull out of his embrace, but Sam tightened his grip and smiled.

He kissed the tip of her nose, the corners of her bewitching mouth. "I thought you didn't want me to stop." He searched the ocean depths of her eyes, watching for her reaction as he continued caressing her breast.

Ever so slowly, he slid his hand down the length of Tori's lithe supple body, relishing the curves of her slender waist, the fullness of her hips. He eased his way to her back and clamped his hand on her tight little butt, pulling her flush up against him. He deliberately nudged his erection against her stomach, and he swelled even harder when she closed her eyes on a moan.