Page 28 of One Wild Texas Night
She smiled and nodded. “Okay. We’ll see what happens. I suppose you’ll pick me up there, too.”
“Might as well. I’ll be parked and waiting if you can give me an approximate time.”
“Sure. Give me an hour.”
“That’s not a lot of time.”
“Persimmon isn’t a big place, and they’re limited on what they have. It won’t take long because I’m not particular and I’m a fast shopper. Just in case, an hour and fifteen minutes.”
“Sounds good to me. Like Scotty’s Burgers? If you do, I’ll have two when I come get you.”
“That would be nice. Now I need to get dressed.”
“Can I help?”
She smiled as she shook her head. “I think not. We might not get to town at all if you help.”
“Might not, but I’ll bet you’d have more fun.”
“I can’t argue that one,” she said as she wiggled away.
He put his hands behind his head to watch her as she got out of bed. She was nude, gorgeous, and he wanted her again. She yanked the top sheet off the bed, wrapped herself in it quickly and started out of the room as he reached for her, but she did a quick step and dodged his hand.
“Claire, come here,” he coaxed in a husky voice.
She shook her head. “No, no. We’re sticking to our plan. You promised to take me to Persimmon for clothes, and we’re not putting that off any longer. We’ve already made love for hours. See you on the porch.” She rushed out of his room and closed the door behind her.
Smiling, he got up to take a cold shower. He needed it. They had made love for hours, but he couldn’t get enough of her, and the sight of her nude made him want her just as much as if they hadn’t loved at all.
That was a new one for him. In fact, he thought, several things about her were different from his experiences with other women. Not being able to get enough of her was one. He wanted her even more now than he had before their first kiss. And, he didn’t want her to go home—in this case, she didn’t have her ranch home to go back to, so he might get that wish. Claire wasn’t like any other woman he had ever known—independent, a rancher and a damn good one. On top of that, she just might be the sexiest woman he had ever known—that was the real shocker.
Just thinking about her made him want to go find her and peel her out of her clothes and make love again before they left for town. He knew she wouldn’t go for it, but that’s what he would like to do, and he was shocked by his own feelings. How much was she going to tie him up in knots and change his life?
* * *
After an hour in Persimmon, Claire went back to where they agreed to meet. She had new jeans, new socks and sneakers, new underwear and T-shirts in bags and boxes. She saw Jake sitting in the driver’s seat of his pickup, his feet on the dash, his head back on the seat.
She put her head in the open window and leaned close to his ear. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, I’m back,” she whispered.
As his eyes opened, his arm slipped around her shoulders. He pulled her closer.
“Jake—” she started to protest. He drew her head down, covered her mouth with his and ended whatever she had been about to say.
His tongue stroked hers, and she forgot everything else, forgetting where she was, what she had been doing, everything except Jake, his mouth on hers in a kiss that made her want to keep on kissing. Finally, she wiggled away slightly, but he kept his arm around her.
“Jake, wait—we’re on Main Street. Do you want all our relatives to know we have a truce? And they will hear about it.”
“I think you started this,” he said in a lazy drawl. “Get in this pickup with me and I’ll finish it,” he added, making her want him more than ever, even though she laughed.
“I should have known better than to walk up and whisper in your ear like that,” she told him. He opened his arms, and she slipped away, walking around to get into the passenger side.
“My brothers will hear about us,” she said as she buckled her seat belt, “so watch your back.”
“I promise you—I’m not scared of your brothers. I’ll take one of my cowboys as a bodyguard,” he smiled.
“I’m serious! Please be careful. I’m sure someone saw us.”
“You didn’t buy anything?” he asked, sitting up.
