Page 43 of One Texas Night...
Expecting to see Jared, she swung open the door and stopped abruptly. A stranger in a uniform stood at her door. At the curb a truck was parked. Another man in uniform stepped out of the truck and went to the back to open double doors.
“Delivery for Ms. A. Tyler.”
“That’s me, but I didn’t order anything. What kind of delivery?” she asked, wondering what the two men could have in the truck. Puzzled, she looked at the clipboard in the man’s hands.
“We have two boxes, one table and one mirror, picked up yesterday in Houston.”
Shocked, she nodded and signed where he showed her. “Who sent this?”
“J. Weston.”
“Bring it in,” she said, dazed, her curiosity growing. Jared was giving her the two things she’d intended to buy from the Delaney mansion. How had he known what she wanted? The only person who’d known was her father.
Surprised over the gift, she motioned to the men where to set the boxes inside her front door.
Accepting a copy of the receipt, she closed up behind the deliverymen as soon as they left. She couldn’t wait for Jared to get there and ask him about the boxes.
Twenty minutes later when she opened the door to let him in, she lost her train of thought. He looked so good, he could have been in an ad. His black wide-brimmed Western hat sat squarely on his head. He wore a black Western shirt, jeans and black boots. Stepping inside, he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve waited all day for this moment,” he said, kissing her long and hard.
Longing filled her, a deep hunger for him as if she hadn’t seen him for weeks. His kiss held dreams and fiery reality, a start to seduction.
“Jared,” she gasped finally. “You’re going to be in a rodeo tonight. We should go.”
He was breathing as hard as she was, and his eyes were half-lidded, making her weak-kneed and wanting to forget the rodeo completely. “All right,” he said with a rasp. “We’ll go.”
“Before we do—thank you. The things arrived from Houston today. You shouldn’t have done that. Let me pay for them.”
“No, I want you to have them. I didn’t even see those boxes when I came in. I was too busy looking at you.”
“You found out what I wanted from Dad, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Have you opened them?”
“No. You’ll probably have to help, because they look as if they are really packed well.”
“I’ll do that, but not right now.”
“I didn’t mean now.” She stepped up to wrap her arms around his neck. “I shouldn’t accept those from you without paying you for them.”
“You have to. I won’t take payment.”
“Thank you,” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him, another long kiss that became passionate and made her forget the evening ahead. His arms circled her waist, and he held her tightly.
She finally stopped. “We have to go.”
He inhaled deeply, looking as if he might be debating whether to make love or go.
“Jared, you can’t be a no-show,” she said.
He nodded. “We’ll take up later where we left off,” he said. He took her arm to walk out to his car, closing the door when she was seated and walking around to climb behind the wheel.
“Are you excited over your ride tonight?”
He glanced at her as he drove. “Over my ride? No. I can barely think about it. I’m excited, but not over that. My excitement is over hot kisses and your soft body. Your big blue eyes and your mouth on mine. Over expectations of holding you later and making love to you for hours tonight. Over dreams of having you with me tomorrow night and the next night.”
“I get the picture,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m trying to avoid thinking about when you have to ride one of those monstrous bulls.”
“I’ll have the time of my life for maybe eight long seconds, I hope, although there are some other things that are definitely more thrilling.”
