Chapter 16
Tumbleweeds rolled through Kit’s belly as she smiled up at Carter. He rested his palm at her waist, over the soft material of her white embroidered peasant blouse that was tucked into her full red skirt, and escorted her into Los Dos Vaqueros. When they’d talked during their picnic, before they’d made love, he’d promised to take her to the Mexican restaurant.
Made love? Is that what we were doing?
She mentally shook her head. Much too soon for that.
They reached the hostess stand as her stomach twisted.
For all she knew, Carter would dump her the moment he found out about Michael.
“What’s that frown for?” Carter spoke close to her ear, above the sound of mariachi music. “Is everything okay?”
Kit pushed away the thoughts she’d been having. Tonight was for fun. Later she’d worry about telling him the truth, and she would share every bit of her shame, no matter how hard it was.
She didn’t have to force a smile as he pulled away and she met his gaze. Something about this man made her want to smile all the time. “That wasn’t a frown, that was concentration.” She grinned. “This is fun. I’m soaking it all in.”
He looked relieved, like it meant a lot to him that she was enjoying herself. He tugged a strand of her hair. “Wait ‘til you taste their flan. Best I’ve ever had.”
“I love flan.” She turned her gaze on the approaching hostess. “If it’s that good, I wonder if they’ll give me the recipe.”
“Never hurts to ask.”
The hostess selected a couple of menus before escorting them to a booth in one corner of the restaurant. Kit took in their environment, from the walls painted in bright shades of yellow, orange, blue, and green, to the colorful decorations native to Mexico. It seemed like almost every square inch of walls was covered by the decor.
Carter waited for Kit to slide into the booth then scooted beside her. His body heat traveled through her as he pressed his thigh into hers.
She settled into the pleasure of the moment. “I don’t know how we managed to leave the ranch together without running across family or employees.”
And Grace. Especially Grace.
The conversation she’d had with her boss after lunch yesterday had left her uneasy. Grace had made it clear she expected Kit to be on time and to avoid fraternization and workplace romance.
Grace hadn’t said anything specific, she’d just made her message loud and clear. It was like she considered herself above Carter even, when it came to managing employees.
“It’s been weeks.” Carter put his hand over hers, his touch comforting. “How much longer are we going to keep this to ourselves?”
“I’m not sure.” Kit sighed. “But I do know I need time.”
She needed time to tell him the truth before things went that far. How had she let weeks go by without letting him know about Michael? Why was it that hard to do?
Because I don’t want to lose the precious moments we’ve shared. It’ll all end when he finds out.
It was wrong of her, but she’d dug herself so deep she didn’t know how to get out.
Carter rested his hand on hers. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like keeping our relationship secret. I get it and I respect your decision, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
She swallowed. Tonight. She just needed to do it.
“Thank you for holding out for me,” she said as a server brought them tall glasses of ice water.
She followed Carter’s lead and asked for the restaurant’s house margarita.
They spent the next few moments poring over the menu. The server returned with their margaritas and they gave him their food order.
After he took their menus, he retreated, leaving them alone again.
“Grace knows.” Carter’s statement jerked her attention back to him. “It’s only a matter of time before everyone else does, too.”
“I had a feeling.” Kit blew out her breath. “She talked with me about being late and avoiding workplace fraternization.”
Carter’s jaw tightened. “Grace seems to have forgotten who the real boss is at the SSR.”
“She just wants the place to run smoothly.” Kit didn’t know why she was defending Grace. “You and me—it complicates things.”
“That it does.” He took a big drink of his margarita.
She sipped hers, when what she really wanted to do was gulp it down. God, but she needed to relax, not to mention a little liquid courage. Yeah, screw sipping.
Carter raised an eyebrow as she downed a third of her drink. “Might want to pace yourself, Kit.”
She placed her giant glass on the table. “The margarita is fantastic. Been a good long while since I’ve had one of these.”
He rested his arm on the back of the booth. “Tell me more about your youth.”
Kit swallowed. “You know a lot of it.”
He studied her. “But there’s quite a bit I don’t.”
She picked up her margarita glass and took another long swallow. Her body slowly relaxed with every drink she took. When she placed the glass on the table, she kept a grip on the thick stem.
“I didn’t have an easy youth.” Kit blew out her breath slowly. “But parts of it were good. My memories of my grandparents’ farm and the fun times my sister and I had before we were homeless are ones I treasure. Those were carefree years I wouldn’t replace.” She gave a little smile. “As mad as I was about the way my dad left us with nothing to live on, I still remember good times we had before we lost him.”
“What are some of the good times?” Carter gave her an encouraging smile. “Name your favorites.”
“You’re asking a lot.” Kit’s smile came easier now. “I loved to go fishing with my dad and reel in as many as possible. “We had such a great time. We’d take peanut butter sandwiches, Oreo cookies, Lay’s potato chips, and orange Crush.”
“Did your sister go?” Carter asked.
Kit shook her head. “Sarah hated it all. I liked baiting the hooks with earthworms and I learned how to clean fish. That all made Sarah squeamish, and she hated the fish flopping around once they were caught. Back then she was a little princess.”
Kit sighed. It was truly hard to believe the same Sarah would now rather be homeless than hold down a job and live with family. Kit would much rather have Princess Sarah back and Homeless Sarah just a distant memory.
“Sarah and I would play made-up games like ‘damsel in distress,’ where she was the damsel and I was either a dastardly villain or the hero,” Kit said. “Usually both.”
“Your heroes were a little dark then,” Carter said with a grin.
“Not exactly.” Kit shook her head. “One moment I’d put on a vest with a shiny gold badge and be the sheriff. The next I’d take off the vest and don a black western hat and be the outlaw. Sarah would always be something like a showgirl, or a visiting princess from some other country.”
“A princess in the wild west.” Carter laughed. “Sorry I missed it.”
Kit flashed a grin. “You could have been our hero.”
Carter squeezed her to him and kissed the top of her head. “I would have loved that.”
Kit smiled and took another drink of her margarita before setting it on the wood tabletop. “If only.”
“Tell me more.” Carter stroked his fingers up and down her arm. “I like learning more about you.”
Kit warmed with every word, every touch. She’d never had anyone so interested in her, someone who genuinely cared enough to learn more about her. The deeper aspects, not just the surface. Being with Carter was so much different than being with her ex. It made her realize just how superficial her previous relationship had been.
It would make everything so much harder when she told him the truth. The backs of her eyes ached, as if she might cry.
Stop it, Kit. Enjoy the moment.
“It’s your turn.” She tipped her face to look into Carter’s warm brown eyes. “I want to hear more about you and your brothers.”
“Not sure we should go there.” He winced. “My brothers and I were nothing but trouble.”
“Five young hellions, I can just imagine.” She laughed and patted his thigh. “Get it out. I know this will be good.”
“Where do I start?” He shook his head, but had the cutest grin, like a kid caught in the act.
Kit was going to enjoy this. A lot. “What’s one of the most mischievous things you and your brothers have ever done?”
Carter groaned. “Probably the time we turned a pig loose in the local hall during a country dance.”
Kit laughed. “And why would you do that?”
“It sounded like a fun idea at the time.” Carter shrugged. “I was twelve, and the youngest brother, Brady, was five. You might call me the ringleader, and my brothers were up for anything I got in my head to do.”
“And you thought it would be fun to take a pig to a dance.”
“Yeah, well…” Carter shrugged. “There was this gaggle of old biddies—”
Kit grinned. “A gaggle of biddies?”
“Just go with it.” He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. “The biddies—I mean ladies—had taken to complaining about my brothers and me. Anything we did was immediately reported to the sheriff’s office and our parents.”
“So, you decided to get even.”
“Yep.” Carter gave a slow nod. “The dance was in full swing, people laughing and talking, and no one paying us any mind. It was almost too easy sneaking one of our pigs into the hall.” He grinned. “The biddies were sitting in front of a curtain near the stage. We snuck behind the curtain, positioned the pig, then raised the curtain just enough. A good swat and that pig went for broke.”
Kit snorted with laughter. “I would so have liked to have seen that.”
“It was something to behold.” Carter’s grin broadened. “That pig shot straight under the table and the whole thing came down with a crash. Thank God no one was hurt—that part hadn’t occurred to us.” He shook his head. “Those ladies screamed to high heaven and the whole event turned into mayhem.”
Kit held her hands over her belly as she dissolved into giggles.
“A bunch tried to capture the pig, but we’d greased him right before we turned him loose. He was wound up tighter than a clock spring and didn’t stop squealing or running. Lots of screaming and shouting going along with all that squealing for a good fifteen minutes before our dad and his friends threw a tablecloth over the pig and trapped it. Of course, Dad recognized the pig, so he knew exactly who had done it.”
“That would have been so much fun to watch.”
Carter gave a rueful grin. “We caught hell for that.”
“What was your punishment?”
“Community service for the three oldest, and extra chores for the two youngest.” Carter smiled. “We were also grounded a good long time, but boy did we love telling and reliving that story. We were granted something like hero status by our friends.”
A server arrived and placed hot platters of Mexican food in front of them before Kit had a chance to ask Carter to tell her more of his mischief-making as a kid.
Kit and Carter each ordered a second margarita and dug into their plates filled enchiladas, beans, and rice.
Carter entertained her with more stories of the McLeod boys and had her giggling more than once.
“Amazing food.” Kit gave a satisfied smile when she finally pushed her plate away.
“What do you know, Carter is out with the cook.”
Kit shot her gaze toward the male voice and saw two of Carter’s brothers, Justin and Bear, standing in front of their table.
Speak of two of the devils.
Her cheeks warmed as she realized what Justin had just said.
Busted.
She should have thought more about the possibilities of being spotted by Carter’s family—or employees, or friends…
What am I doing?
Justin hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back on his heels, his mouth curved into a broad grin. “You let her out of the kitchen?”
“On occasion.” Carter looked like he was restraining his amusement at Kit’s expense.
Bear shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Hi, Kit.”
“Hi, Bear.” She met Justin’s gaze. “Hello, Justin.” His eyes always seemed to hold a spark of mischief.
“Just the two of you?” Carter asked. “Or do you have a couple of women squirreled away?”
“Meeting Mandy and Sandy,” Bear said in his deep voice. Kit liked Bear and his quiet strength. He was a thinker and a doer.
“The Dawson twins,” Carter told Kit. “Those girls were wild back when we were kids.”
“Still are.” Justin gave a nod with his chin in the direction of the back of the restaurant. “Just got a text from Mandy that they’re here early and have a table in the back. They had some kind of women-thing today.”
Kit raised a brow. “Women-thing?”
“One of those parties women like to go to.” Just pushed up his Stetson, looking a little puzzled. “Plastic bowls or maybe it was fancy glass crap this time. Hell if I know why women go to those things.”
Kit laughed. She’d been to her fair share of home goods parties back in L.A. She especially liked the one with new cooking gadgets.
“Justin talk you into a double date with the twins?” Carter asked Bear with clear amusement.
“It involved a dare with a steer, a red cape, and a silver spittoon,” Justin said. “I won.”
Bear rolled his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head before meeting Kit’s gaze. “Good to see you, Kit.” He then looked to Carter. “See you later, bro.”
Justin touched the brim of his hat and grinned at Kit. “Make sure our brother treats you right. Only the best for the most amazing cook in all of Arizona.”
When the men left, Kit let her breath out slowly. “This waiting before we say anything to anyone is harder than I thought.”
Carter took her hand in his and rested it on his thigh. “We might be ten miles out from the edge of the Phoenix metro area now that it’s nearly reached us, but out here it’s still somewhat like a small town. Bound to run into just about anyone we know.”
Kit nodded. “Appears so.”
Carter looked like he wanted to say something more about making their relationship public, but he squeezed her hand and asked instead, “Ready for some out-of-this-world flan?”
“You bet.” Relief flowed through her that he’d let it go. For now.
Carter caught the attention of the server and gave the order for one flan to share. While they waited for the Mexican custard, Kit told herself over and over that she needed to tell Carter about Michael. Why was it so hard?
Give it another day. Why ruin such a perfect evening?
Carter followed Kit into the cottage and locked the door behind him. All night he’d wanted to get her alone. He had to be alone with her.
He could never get enough of Kit.
She turned to face him, and he swept her into his arms in one fierce movement, holding her tightly to him. She gasped in surprise, but he captured the sound as his mouth took possession of hers. He kissed her long and hard, letting every ounce of desire flood through him and into her.
He broke the kiss and raised his head. Her lips were parted and moist from his kiss, an answering need in her eyes.
No time to make it to the bedroom. He had to have her now.
“You’ve been teasing me all night.” He caught the hem of her blouse, pulled it over her head and flung it aside. “Pure torture watching every bite you took of that flan. I wanted your mouth on me, not on dessert.”
“You noticed.” She gave him a devilish grin, but then caught her breath as he pinched her nipples through her bra.
“How could I not notice?” He kissed her hard again. He reached around her and unfastened her bra, then flung it somewhere in the room. He didn’t give a damn where it landed, as long as he was on his way to having her naked.
He lowered his head and captured her nipple in his mouth. Breath hissed from Kit as he licked and sucked her nipple before he lightly bit it, then moved to her other one, giving it the same treatment.
Kit gripped his T-shirt and he helped her pull it over his head. He toed off his boots and stripped out of his socks, boxer briefs, and jeans. He was naked, she wasn’t, and he couldn’t have that.
She kicked off her sandals, and he practically ripped off her panties. She started to push down her skirt. Before she could, he swept her in his arms and laid her on the couch, then pushed her skirt up to her waist, baring her.
“Can’t wait,” he said in a deep, almost guttural voice.
He pressed her thighs apart with his hips and sank into her as she looked up at him with wide eyes that grew even wider as he filled her and stretched her tight channel.
She felt so damned good. He was more than grateful they had talked it out and they didn’t need a condom between them.
Her silky heat gripped him as he slid in and out of her, picking up his rhythm as she whimpered and moaned.
“Yes.” The word came out on a rush of air. “Feels so good. I want it harder, Carter.”
He obliged, driving into her deep and pulling out only to drive in deep and hard again and again.
Tightness gripped him, spinning in circles in his groin. Tighter, tighter yet. Harder and harder.
They’d never had fast and furious sex. It had always been slow and deliberate.
But this time he needed like this, and he could tell she needed him just as much.
He’d never lost control like this. Never wanted anyone like he wanted Kit.
She was his. He would never let her go.
Never.
He was so close to coming. “I can’t hold back much longer, Kit.”
She gave a little cry of desire, her skin pink with perspiration, her hair damp on her forehead. “I’m almost there, Carter.”
And then she screamed as her body convulsed. She’d never screamed like this before, and he loved it as it sent his oncoming orgasm into overdrive. He thrust a few more times, then shouted his own release as he came hard. He throbbed inside her core, which gripped him like a tight satin glove.
He stayed inside her, his breathing hard as he looked down at Kit.
She was smiling up at him. “Nice ride, cowboy.”
Carter grinned. “I’m just getting started.”