The Cowboy's Baby Bargain
The emptiness in her stomach was a new experience.
Perhaps it was time to be spontaneous. Renting the Miata was a baby step compared to what she was actually considering. She popped a chalky tablet into her mouth and washed it down.
“Barbecue too spicy?” The genuine concern in his voice and on his face was both unexpected and touching.
“No, I take these for the calcium.” And for the baby she hoped to conceive.
“Gonna finish your dessert?”
She’d only taken one bite. Caleb had shared the other and killed her appetite for her beloved chocolate with one steamy look. “I…no. I’ll take it with me.”
Start as you mean to go. Book one, chapter one. She’d spent the last ten years chasing success, trying to please her publisher, her accountant, and her parents. She’d focused on external goals—visible signs of success—rather than internal ones. It left her feeling empty, like a fraud who didn’t practice what she preached. When a rival had called her a sellout on a national radio show, she’d acknowledged that he might have a point and vowed to change her focus. The move to Texas signified a shift toward satisfying her emotional needs.
Right now she needed Caleb. Oh dear.
She could tell him goodbye, go back to her motel room and finish this milestone birthday alone, or she could reach beyond her comfort zone and test her resolve to find herself.
Be spontaneous. She suppressed a shudder. Spontaneity went against every fiber of her being.
She needed her Day Planner and a pen. It was vital to consider all the angles before making a decision as important as this one. But she’d left her planner in her car, and if she took the time to get it and map a strategy this opportunity would pass.
Personal growth is only achieved by stepping beyond one’s boundaries. Never let a day go by without taking a step toward your goal. Book one, chapter two.
“M-my motel is just down the road.”
He blinked those lush lashes, one slow sweep of black against his tanned skin, but not before she saw desire ignite in his eyes. Caleb leaned forward and she caught her breath, but instead of kissing her like she thought he would—like she’d hoped he would—he pulled out his wallet and tossed enough money on the table to cover the bill.
“I’m supposed to pay for dinner,” she protested.
“You can buy the condoms. Lady’s choice. Let’s go.”
When he put it like that she wondered if she might have been precipitous in making her decision.
“I—I—” Her bottom might as well be glued to the chair, and even though she made her living as a public speaker, she couldn’t seem to think of a single thing to say.
He paused, his face carefully neutral. “Or I can walk you to your car and point you in the direction of your motel.”
You run out of chances when you stop taking them. Her own words haunted her. She took a deep breath, wet her lips and tried to summon her courage.
Caleb lifted his hat from the extra chair and set it on his head. His expression tightened. “How about I thank you for your company and say good night right here?”
“No, I—” Her mouth was as dry as the Mojave Desert. She swallowed, but it didn’t help. “Caleb, wait.”
She’d never been tempted to sleep with a total stranger. Of course, she’d never been impregnated by a man she’d never seen before, either, but she would be tomorrow.
Be spontaneous.
Every muscle in her body clenched as she prepared to take the leap. She might as well have been jumping out of an airplane for all the trepidation she felt. “You’ll have to tell me where we can buy the…condoms. I’m not familiar with the stores here.”
Fire, hot enough to incinerate her where she sat, flashed in Caleb’s eyes. “There’s a pharmacy on the corner.”
Her parents would say she was suffering from a psychosis. Such impulsive behaviors were certainly a deviation from her norm. But her parents would be wrong. Before she reached her room she’d regain control of her emotions and the situation. But first, she had to get her shaky legs to support her. She wobbled to her feet. “Lead the way.”
He pressed his palm against her spine and escorted her out of the restaurant and across the street to the pharmacy. The heat of his touch transferred through her silk jacket, warming her skin and weakening her knees with the promise of more intimate contact to come.
The pharmacy was a small mom and pop operation. She spotted her latest book on a rack near the back, but didn’t venture over to sign it because Caleb followed one pace behind. She probably wouldn’t have been able to hold the pen anyway.
Brooke snatched the first box of condoms from the shelf and shoved them across the counter to the cashier, hoping she didn’t look as mortified as she felt. Then she looked at her purchase. Oh dear heavens, she’d picked up the jumbo-size box of extra larges.
Caleb said nothing during the purchase, but he arched a dark brow and rocked back on his boot heels when she found the nerve to meet his amused gaze outside the store. “Ambitious, aren’t you?”
Brooke wanted to crawl through the cracks in the sidewalk. She’d never bought condoms before, and frankly, it was embarrassing, but she refused to give up ground by admitting she might have been…overzealous in her purchase.
Cross those self-imposed boundaries and seize the momentum.
She stiffened her spine and stared right back. “Afraid you won’t live up to my expectations, Caleb?”
A slow and devastatingly sexy smile eased its way across his face. “Sweetheart, I’ll do my best or die trying.”
Every cell in her body quivered like Jell-O. Oh. My. God. She was actually going to do this. “My motel is—” Her throat knotted and she couldn’t finish it.
Caleb had no such problem. “Around the corner.” He winked. “Only one in town. The question is whether or not you want my truck parked outside your room.”
The gesture was unbelievably considerate considering she’d picked the man up in a bar and didn’t intend to see him again once she checked out of the motel.
He tucked her hair behind her ear and tilted up her chin. The gentle scrape of his fingertip along her jawline was unbearably intimate. “Why don’t you tell me your room number? I’ll park across the street at the waffle shop and meet you there.”
She’d reached the point of no return, but the turbulence in her stomach didn’t call for an antacid. The only cure was a dark-haired, dark-eyed cowboy. “Room 118. It’s in the back.”
He walked her to her car, opened the door and bent in the opening after she sat down. His arm brushed her breasts as he fastened her seat belt. It was a slow, deliberate move that nearly caused her to have a meltdown right there on the leather upholstery.
“If you change your mind, don’t answer the door. No hard feelings.” He closed her door and walked off before she could think of a reply.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Caleb had a mile-wide gallant streak.
If she had to take a walk outside her comfort zone, at least she was doing so with someone she believed she could trust.
The question was could she trust herself?
Three
Caleb didn’t expect Brooke to answer the door when he knocked. He figured she’d come to her senses once she was out of range of the attraction flaring between them and decide not to waste herself on a lowly cowboy. And he wouldn’t let himself be disappointed.
He rapped once and she eased the door open. She’d kicked off her shoes. Her painted toenails dug into the carpet, and her teeth dug into her lip. “Come in.”
Judging by the way his body saluted her husky voice and bare feet the show would be over quicker than he could hog-tie a steer. He needed to slow things down. So even though he wanted to toss her on that motel mattress, bury himself inside her and ride like the wind, he rocked back on his heels, hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, and said, “Make me.”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“If you want me, city girl, come and get me.”
She looked left and right down the deserted walkway, but in this back corner of the motel they were the only ones around. She folded her arms across her chest. “I thought you were a big, tough cowboy who knew exactly what you wanted.”
He winked. “You got part of that right.”
Her gaze dropped to his distended fly. She blushed and looked away. Her nostrils flared and her breasts rose as she drew in a deep, shaky breath. He was beginning to think he’d chosen the wrong strategy when she peeked at him from beneath her lashes. The spark in her eyes combined with a sensuous curving of her lips sent a jolt through him.
Very deliberately, Brooke untied the silk belt knotted at her waist. Caleb’s pulse leaped and only raced faster as she eased the strip of fabric inch-by-inch through her belt loops. Once it was free she pulled it taut between her hands and ever so slowly twisted the ends around her palms. Every adolescent fantasy he’d ever had came rushing back.
She arched the slip of fabric up and over his hat. Cool and slick, it curved around his nape. She tugged him into the room one step at a time.
He’d challenged her, but he hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic response. He wanted to kick the door closed and grind his lips and body against hers. It nearly killed him to wait for her next move.
Without breaking eye contact, she transferred both ends of the tether to one hand, freeing the other to remove his hat and place it on the table beside the door. His heart nearly knocked a hole through his chest when she pursed her lips and considered him from his boots to his eyebrows.
“I’ve never done this before,” she confessed in a whisper and shut the door.
It was difficult to think with her soft fingertip tracing his bottom lip, but surely at her age she didn’t mean what he thought she meant. He opened his mouth and tried to taste her but she’d moved on to tease his ear.
“Which this? Making love or tying a man in knots?”
Her quiet laugh drifted over him like a cool breeze on bare, damp skin. “Am I tying you in knots, Caleb?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She tugged on her belt, pulling his head down and positioning his lips at a reachable height. His mouth watered, anticipating her taste. To keep from grabbing her he gripped his belt loops so tight his thumbs went numb.
Her breath fanned his lips, but at the last minute she veered left and kissed his jaw. Her lips were soft, cool and dry. He could rectify that and have her hot and wet—inside and out—in seconds, but he waited, determined to let her set the pace even if it killed him. And it might. But he’d rather be dead than go off like a misfired cannon. He wondered if mentally calculating feed ratios would cool him down.
She nibbled along his jaw, dipping the tip of her slick tongue in the cleft of his chin. His knees nearly buckled. He swallowed, but a knot the size of an armadillo stayed stuck in his throat.
She drew back a fraction, aligning her mouth with his once more. “I’ve never made love to a man I wasn’t committed to.”
Alarmed, he drew back. His mother had been a cheater. He would never be the one responsible for breaking up a family. “You’re not married, are you?”
“No.” She sounded a little disappointed. “You’re currently the only man in my life, and that’s just for tonight. You understand? Afterward we say goodbye and forget this ever happened.”
Usually he was the one to make his intentions clear up-front. It felt a little funny to be on the receiving end. Even though he agreed they had no future, he sure as hell didn’t intend to be forgettable. “Fine by me, but I want all night, not just one go’round.”
She shivered. “All right. How does one go about a one-night stand, Caleb? I don’t know what to do next.”
Oh man, did he ever have suggestions, but he was game for whatever she dished out. “Anything you want, sweetheart.”
She tugged on the silk. “Should I tie you up or will you be a good boy?”
The look she shot him from beneath her lashes nearly caused a problem he hadn’t had since his first time. He tensed every muscle and fought for control. Sweat popped out on his forehead and his throat closed up like somebody had put a noose around it. His chest was tight and he could barely breathe. “I’ll be good whether you tie me up or not.”
Tingling in every inch of her body, Brooke drew back in surprise. She’d made the absurd remark half-hoping she’d frighten Caleb away. The men in her life had always tried to dominate her in bed and out, and control wasn’t something she handed over easily. Ask any of her former lovers. More than once she’d suspected her inability to let go had contributed to her unsatisfactory sex life. Caleb, on the other hand, seemed willing to let her lead.
“You mean you’d let me?”
Although he shrugged casually, his heart pounded harder and faster beneath her palm. “Don’t see why not. Hadn’t tried it before. Might be fun.”
Desire had never, ever affected her so strongly that she trembled with anticipation for what would follow. Caleb made her yearn to experiment in ways that had never tempted her before. She mentally shuffled through every sexual act she’d ever been curious about and never had the nerve to try and wondered if she was brave enough to explore the forbidden with a man she’d never see again.
No. Even though there was safety in anonymity, she was more of a navigator than an adventurer. She liked to know where she was going and how she’d get there.
But you’ll never see him again, her conscience insisted.
“Sweetheart?” He interrupted her search for explanations.
“Hmm?”
“I don’t mean to be pushy here, but could we move along?” The huskiness of his voice told her that she wasn’t the only one fighting overpowering need.
“You have somewhere to go, cowboy?”
He gave a rough laugh. “Going wasn’t what I had in mind.”
Cupping one big hand around her nape, he traced her bottom lip with his thumb. The rasp of his skin over her flesh made her quiver. His coffee-dark gaze practically scalded her and his grin was lethal. “I have a hunger for your mouth that just won’t quit. I’m wondering how long you’re gonna make me wait before you put me out of my misery.”
“My—oh.” She couldn’t catch her breath. Her past partners never talked during. If Caleb talked it might distract her from her goal. It took all her concentration to—to—He lowered his head until his mouth hovered a centimeter from hers and she lost her train of thought.
“Are you gonna make me suffer, city girl?” His breath fanned her lips, making her heart race like she’d never been kissed.
She yanked the belt, closing the gap between them. Heat seared her the moment their lips touched. From belt buckle to nose, he burned her. She brushed her mouth over his once, twice. Impatient. Hungry. Cautious.
The need to let go and see where the current of desire would carry her coursed through her, but if she wanted to get any pleasure out of this, she had to stay in control and focused on the outcome.
Caleb’s hand clenched in her hair. A groan rumbled in his throat and vibrated through her. Feeling bolder, she sucked his full, lower lip into her mouth and teased the silky inside. He made an impatient sound, but didn’t pounce. She wondered what it would take to push him over the edge. The determination to find his limits filled her, but that would have to wait until she was sufficiently aroused or she’d be left out.
She traced her tongue along his teeth. He drew a sharp breath, widened his stance and settled his hands on her hips. If the hot length of each of his fingers could arouse her this much through her silk suit she wondered how she’d survive when he touched bare skin. Eager to find out, she cupped his strong jaw with both hands and traced his cheekbones with her thumbs, and then deepened the kiss, tentatively exploring further.
Caleb startled her by sucking her tongue and pulling rhythmically on her body the way she’d pull on his later when he was inside her—if she was lucky. A thrill shivered over her.
An impatience to investigate every inch of him enveloped her, but she held back. Her past encounters had been a race to completion, which she often hadn’t finished. Her only chance of finding satisfaction lay in keeping the pace slow enough for her body to warm up. It took her an embarrassingly long time.
Although Caleb seemed to have given her a head start tonight.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of aroused man and a hint of aftershave. Blindly she explored the width and firmness of his chest, the trimness of his waist and the tautness of his belly above the thick leather belt while she sampled his mouth, his neck, his ears. The first two snaps of his Western-style shirt were already unfastened. She popped open three more and stroked his hot skin. Crisp hair teased her palms, shooting need to her very core.
“Caleb—” All night she’d wondered how his hands would feel on her belly and breasts, and she couldn’t wait another moment to find out.
“Tell me what you want.” His voice rumbled against her cheek. His lips feathered over her cheekbone.
She’d never been a vocal lover. Covering his hands with hers, she slid them upward and whispered, “I want you to touch me.”
As if he’d been waiting for those words, he yanked her closer. One hand splayed on her buttock, holding her captive against the length of his body. The other tangled in her hair. He captured her mouth in a ravenous kiss.
Alarm shot through her. The balance of power had shifted. He would race onward and leave her to finish in a frustrated last place. She wanted to ask him to slow down. Her finicky body had certain requirements, but the way he devoured her mouth didn’t leave room for conversation or even coherent thought.
He danced her backward until the wall pressed her spine. Sandwiched between the cool solid surface and hard heat of his body, she couldn’t move. Her hands were trapped uselessly between them. He thrust his thigh between hers, applying sweet pressure to her most sensitive spot. For a moment she battled a shameless urge to slide against him, but the move seemed too brazen, and it wasn’t something she’d done before. She managed to restrain herself, but it wasn’t easy.
His hands skimmed over her in the lightest of caresses. Teasing. Tantalizing. Her clothes provided no barrier to the patterns he traced over her waist, her thighs, and along her spine. All the while he did things to her mouth that no man had ever done before. Kissing had never been particularly exciting for her. It seemed to be something her partners enjoyed much more than she did, but Caleb seemed determined to introduce her to what she’d been missing. And she liked it.
Her breasts ached for his attention. If she could have freed her hands she would have grabbed his and put them where she needed his touch the most. After all, she knew she required quite a bit of foreplay there to get things started.
As if sensing her thoughts, his hands plunged beneath her blouse. She gasped, nearly sucking the breath from his lungs. His callused palms lightly scraped her waist, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake. She shivered despite the furnace heat of his body and the blasts of his scorching breath on her cheek.
In agonizingly slow motion he eased his thumbs beneath the elastic band of her bra, gliding them backward and forward. His thumbnails scraped the sensitive skin on the underside of her breasts, and her nipples tingled in anticipation. Hunger built in her midsection. She wanted to groan in frustration when he bypassed the sensitive tips to bisect her belly with the rasp of a fingernail. Her stomach muscles quivered.
He moved to the waistband of her skirt, and with a deft flick of his fingers the button gave way. The zipper quickly followed. And still he kissed her, with silken strokes of his tongue and teasing nibbles of his teeth. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. He made her needy in an unfamiliar way.
He eased back a few inches and cool air swept between them. Before she could pull him back her skirt puddled at her ankles. Now that he’d freed her mouth she wanted to protest, to slow him down, but when his hand splayed over her belly, a finger edging beneath the band of her panties, the words incinerated on her lips.
He held her at arms’ length and groaned. “Should’ve known.”
She shook her head, trying to clear the sensual haze. “Should have known what?”
“That you wouldn’t wear white cotton. You’re determined to drive me outta my mind, aren’t you, city girl?” He skated a knuckle along her jaw and his lips curved in a slow, sensual smile that sent adrenaline surging through her veins.
He dropped to his knees and pressed a kiss against her lacy, lavender panties. His breath steamed her through the thin fabric and sent her senses reeling. She clutched his shoulders for support. Caleb was moving too fast and doing things all out of her usual order. She opened her mouth to tell him what she liked and how she liked it, but the words vanished when he stripped her panties with a quick jerk and brushed his lips against her curls.
Her breath caught at the boldness of his actions and at the strength of her reaction to them. He’d skipped all the preliminaries. There was a certain order to this business that ought to be respected. She shouldn’t be enjoying this, but she was. He hadn’t even touched her breasts. Being so out of control frightened her. Intent on yanking him back up, she curled her fingers into his thick hair.
In her mind she knew she wasn’t ready for Caleb’s primitive brand of loving, but the sensations coursing through her body argued otherwise. He gently stroked her with his hands and mouth, coaxing a response from her. She knew she needed to tell him…something, but it took all her concentration to keep her knees from buckling.
Caleb freed one foot and then the other from her skirt and panties then curled his hands around her ankles and eased them apart. He stoked upward in torturously slow circles—the same tantalizing circles his tongue drew on her sensitive flesh. The sudden rush of pleasure made her dizzy.
Her libido galloped ahead, as if it hadn’t spent the last fifteen years plodding toward satisfaction, most often not getting there. Her muscles trembled. Her chest and belly tightened. Her tenuous hold on her control ebbed.
This couldn’t be happening. She never, ever, reached the pinnacle with less than thirty minutes of serious foreplay, including substantial attention above the waist—primarily the seduction of her mind. But here she was. Digging into a stranger’s scalp and holding on for dear life as she spontaneously combusted. She, who never did anything spontaneously, exploded like a shaken bottle of champagne.
Warmth rushed over her in waves. Her legs quivered like a tuning fork. Her body hummed and she couldn’t catch her breath. What in the world had just happened here? What had the man done to her?
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