Cowboy Up by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online

hands. “Look, Minnie Mouse.”
    He smiled. “Sorry. That’s all I could find.”
    Instantly she was contrite. “I’m not complaining. I think it’s sweet that you thought to give me gloves in the first place. They’ll work fine.” That’s when she made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and the air went out of her lungs.
    Oh…dear…God. She hadn’t seen heat like that in…maybe she’d never seen heat like that. It was a wonder she didn’t go up in flames. Parts of her felt as if they might combust at any moment.
    Muttering a swear word under his breath, he dropped his gaze. “This is no good,” he said, his voice husky.
    “You’re right. I won’t go.” She took off the gloves and held them out.
    He lifted his head and looked at her. “That’s not right, either.”
    “Sure it is.” She shook the gloves. “Take these back, and I’ll just go on up to the house.”
    He stared at the gloves. Then, with another muttered oath, he took them and tossed them into the front seat of her car.
    “What on earth are you doing?”
    “Making a mistake.” He grasped both her wrists and drew her toward him.
    She should have resisted. She didn’t. Her heart beating furiously, she gulped as the distance between them grew smaller. “You don’t want to do this.”
    “Oh, yes, I do.” Releasing his hold on her wrist, he took off his hat. That went into the front seat, too, followed by her hat.
    “But you said it’s no good.” She began to tremble.
    “It isn’t.” Sliding his hand around her waist, he pulled her into his arms. “Tell me to stop and I’ll stop.”
    She couldn’t believe any woman on the planet had that kind of willpower, especially when said woman had fantasized about the body she was now plastered against. Gazing into dark eyes that promised a thousand delights, she wanted every single one. She spread her hands over his muscled chest and felt his quick intake of breath and the staccato beat of his heart.
    “One kiss.” She struggled to breathe normally. “Surely we can handle that without causing a major problem.”
    “Right.” His head dipped lower. “Maybe we won’t like it.”
    Fat chance. “Maybe not.” Her eyes fluttered closed.
    “At least we should find out.” His warm breath caressed her lips.
    “We should.” Anticipation shot fire through her veins. “But what if we like it?”
    “We’ll worry about that later.” His lips settled over hers.
    Nice, she thought. We fit. He tasted of cherry pie and coffee. She sighed with pleasure, wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. This would be a good kiss. This would be—whoa! He changed the angle and delved deeper. The kiss intensified until the word nice no longer applied. Wicked, maybe or wild, or…
    No words. She had no words for what he was doing to her now. She opened wider, craving him as she’d never craved a man, demanding he give her more, and yet more…her nipples tightened and moisture gathered between her thighs. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she arched against the bulge straining the fly of his jeans, and whimpered.
    And then he stopped kissing her. Gasping, he held her tight and leaned his forehead against hers. “I was afraid of that.”
    “Kiss me again.” She heard the plea in her voice and yet she couldn’t help it. Sometime during the kiss she’d lost a sense of separateness, and now she could no longer tell whether the vibration she felt was her heart beating or his. She wanted to be caught up in the whirlwind once more, just once more.
    He drew in a ragged breath. “If I kiss you again, we’re going to end up naked on the nearest flat surface.”
    Her body hummed with excitement at the thought.
    “And we both know that can’t happen.”
    Slowly but inevitably, his words doused the fire raging inside her. Of course he was right. Loosening her grip on his broad shoulders, she eased out of his arms and took a couple of steps back.
    She combed her fingers through her