God, I’m such a tool. Someone should just come along and put me out of my misery.
I could not take my gaze off Rock.
Could. Not.
He shined too bright. He was too big. Too real. Too much to take in all at once.
Just looking at him hurt my eyes.
“We’re one helluva a pair.” He dug a pill keeper out of his backpack. “All the shit you been through? It’s a wonder you’re not bitter as all hell.”
“Says the man who got hit by fucking lightning.”
For a second, we stared at each other. I mean, it was hard to say which of us had been dealt the worse hand. Normally I didn’t think like that. Compared to some, I’d gotten off easy.
“You know what?” he said. “I don’t want to win a crap-luck competition.”
“Me neither.”
After a good laugh, Rock rubbed his hand over his five-o’clock-now-next-day-shadow. I had the almost irresistible desire to see if I could light a match on it. Finally, he came back to me, and the boneless whisper as our bodies met was music and magic all at once. My fingers tangled in his clothes and hair.
“You feel that?” I asked about the chemistry between us. “I can’t keep my hands off you.”
Rock’s mouth quirked. “Like Elena’s kissing salt and pepper shakers.”
I blinked, hoping he’d expand on that.
He tapped his lips. “Magnetized.”
“Ah.”
He kissed me, thumbing my jaw forentryandmore anddeeper. I opened, sucking gently on his clever, clever tongue. Passion arced between us, unpredictable as a downed electrical wire. I loved looking at him. His blue eyes, the way his nose crinkled when he smiled, the masculine curve of his jaw, the kindness he showed me—I committed all of it to memory. His scent...
Oh, I breathed him in. “You smell delicious.”
“You smell like horses.” He squirmed, lifting a shoulder to keep my tickling tongue from finding all his secret hot spots. “Where’d you ride out to earlier, anyway?”
I dug my hands into the waistband of his boxers.
“Rode out to check for predators, or so Boss said. He warned me off you, but I got the feeling”—I racked my brain for the right words—“he wanted toshowme his idea of paradise. Camping and whiskey and cigars. Real guys’ stuff.”
“Then you came straight to me.” His smile was wide and smug. “Your talk with the boss made you throw pebbles at my window like a dude from one of Elena’s old movies.”
“Yeah.” I’d done exactly that. Might as well admit it. “You’re too important to let someone—”
“Because I’m from up at the ranch house?” he asked suspiciously.
“Nah, Rock. It’s because this thing”—I gestured between us—“is so damn good.”
I wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and pulled him toward me. He slid off the bench seat but rolled us until he was on his back. Draped over him like a blanket, I bent my knees, straddled his hips, and put my hands flat on either side of his head. Maisy fled to the other side of the bench.
He bucked up, and I gasped with pleasure.
“Can I touch you?”
“Yes.” His voice made me shiver.
Beneath me, Rock’s flushed face, his over-bright eyes, his kiss-swollen mouth waited. I kissed him for me, and because I had nothing to give himbutkisses.
