Learning to Stay (Pine Creek Falls #1)

Chapter 1

Gia

“That’s quite the sour expression on your face.” The deep voice interrupts my internal musing.

“I swear to fuck, if the next words out of your mouth are ‘you should smile more,’ I will throat punch you Melissa McCarthy-style.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch the man dropping his head back in a full-body laugh. His reaction surprises me. So much so that I actually turn to look at him instead of ignoring him like I’d planned.

I wait for the inevitable moment of recognition. With a famous identical twin sister, I can rarely go anywhere without someone mistaking me for her.

But oddly, it never comes.

Bright blue eyes, filled with mirth, sparkle at me, and behind that is a bucketful of attraction I can’t help but return.

My gaze roams up to the messy brown hair on his head, then down to the worn button-down and jeans.

All that’s missing is a… Nope. There’s the cowboy hat on the bar top.

This man isn’t playing dress-up to get attention, he’s a certified cowboy.

Fitting for this tiny town in Colorado. I think there might be more cows here than people.

At any other point, I’d be all in on flirting with this sexy-as-fuck man.

And while I’m not opposed exactly, tonight is just different.

I’ve been attempting to drown my loneliness with vodka since I walked in, which doesn’t usually lend itself to feeling flirty.

Although the way this man is oozing sex appeal might convince me otherwise.

“I suppose that would include any other variation of the phrase as well?”

“Let’s just say any use of the word ‘smile’ would result in a violent response.”

Blue-eyes grins. “What if I were going to offer to buy you a drink with no strings attached?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I’d say that’s highly unlikely. There are very few men who would buy a woman a drink without expecting something in return.”

“Maybe I’m one of the few.”

“Are you?”

He shrugs. Brownie points for not automatically saying yes. “My word only goes so far with a stranger. I also recognize the expression on your face. It’s one I’ve seen in the mirror more often than I care to admit.”

“Wow. A man who can share his feelings? You might’ve just convinced me.”

The bartender comes over at the man’s wave. “What can I get ya, Holt?”

Holt. Now that’s a solid name for a man. “Another beer for me and whatever she’s drinking.”

“Vodka soda.” The words are out before I think better of it. This is probably the worst decision I could make, but in the five minutes we’ve been talking, he’s helped more than the vodka has in the last hour.

Is it smart to stave off loneliness with a meaningless one-night stand? Probably not, but I’ve had enough to drink that it’s starting to sound like a decent idea, especially if sexy cowboy here lives up to the big dick energy he’s putting out.

Once our drinks are placed in front of us, I expect the man to say something else, but he just sits quietly next to me. It’s making me itchy. Like my insides are squirming with the need to keep his attention.

Which is wholly out of character. I’m the type of girl who doesn’t have to try very hard for a man’s attention. Once I’ve decided to flirt, they’re hooked.

Holt seems to be perfectly content to have bought me a drink and leave it at that. He said that’s what he intended to do in the first place, but I didn’t honestly believe he meant it.

Now, I’m not so sure I want him to mean it. I kind of liked the way he smiled at me. It was genuine instead of goal-oriented.

I find myself explaining, “I thought I needed time alone. My friends all left this afternoon, and I decided to stay an extra night.”

“What brought you to Pine Creek Falls?”

I smile at the memory. “Letters from the late 1800s, if you can believe it.”

“How’d that come about?”

“My friends and I have been on a wild goose chase trying to track down what happened to the original authors of the letters. It took us a while, but they led us here, and we’ve spent the last few days learning about the town.

” The history of Pine Creek Falls was fascinating.

It became a safe haven for people who didn’t quite fit in anywhere else and still perpetuates that ideal.

It’s like a Hallmark movie set come to life.

”Where are you from?”

“North Carolina.”

Holt’s eyebrows fly up his forehead. “That’s an awfully long way to go for some old letters.”

I shrug. “Maybe, but it was an adventure.”

Holt and I sit in silence for another minute before I decide to lay my cards on the table. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Holt whips his head toward me with wide blue eyes. “Really? I swear I didn’t buy you that drink to get you into bed.”

I grin. “I know. That’s why I want you there anyway.”

He swallows hard as he looks at me. Then he nods as if he’s come to a decision and throws some cash on the bar top. “Holler at me if that’s not enough, Will,” he calls out to the bartender.

Will waves him out without looking at him.

Holt holds out his hand to me as he settles his hat on his head.

“Holy hot cowboy,” I murmur.

Holt pushes me back against the closing door to my hotel room. He grabs my face in both hands and kisses me hard.

I grip his wrists, needing to hold on to something. The lust pouring off this man is intense. He’s got me panting for him with merely a kiss. If this is how our night is starting, I’m not sure I’m going to survive until the end. I can’t wait.

“You taste so fucking good.” He continues to fuck my mouth with his tongue, and it’s driving me crazy. I want to feel that tongue on my clit. I have no doubt he can do wicked, wicked shit to my body with it.

I yank at his shirt, pulling it out of his jeans, and start unbuttoning it.

Holt takes a step back to drop his shirt off his shoulders, and my pussy clenches hard at the sight.

His cowboy hat is askew, the white ribbed tank is tight across his well-defined muscles, and the large metal belt buckle shines in the dim light of the hotel room lamp. The dirty boots just complete the whole ensemble.

“Why the fuck do you look like that?” I groan.

Even his bewildered smile is fucking sexy. “Like what?”

“Like you just stepped out of one of my smutty romance books.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Thanks, I think. Though now I’m a little worried I won’t live up to your expectations.”

“Oh, trust me, Cowboy, you’re doing a hell of a job so far, and our clothes aren’t even off.”

“We should fix that.” He undoes his belt buckle before unbuttoning his jeans. But then he leaves me hanging as he turns to grab the standard cuck chair in the corner of the room.

“What are you doing?” I ask, stepping closer to him.

“I’ve been daydreaming about watching that dress come off you all night, and I plan to have a good seat for the show.” He moves the chair directly in front of me and then sits down. With his knees spread wide and his belt buckle loose, he looks like a debauched country playboy.

“So you were fantasizing about me.” I grip the hem of my sundress and slowly inch it up my thighs.

Holt’s eyes stay locked on my hands as he responds. “Fucking right, I was fantasizing about you. You’re a gorgeous woman in a sexy-as-hell dress. What else was I supposed to do? Doesn’t mean I was going to take advantage of the situation.”

“Why not?” Under the loose skirt, I grip my underwear and slide them down my legs. All Holt gets is a flash of my upper thigh.

He spears me with his gaze, and I suddenly feel very naked despite still having my clothes on. “You seemed sad. And lonely. I figured being kind was better than being a sleazeball.”

I whip my dress off in an effort to refocus our attention. I’m not about to delve into my issues with a man I met an hour ago.

“Holy fuck.” Holt groans. He reaches out and snags me around my waist, then goes straight for my bare breast, sucking my nipple into his mouth. I grip his hair as my head falls back on a moan. That feels so good.

Holt uses his hand to pinch and pull at my other nipple. The sensation is overriding all of my thoughts. I need more, and yet I never want him to stop.

I climb onto Holt’s lap, my knees on either side of his hips. Being naked while he still has most of his clothes on should make me feel vulnerable. All it’s done is embolden me. I feel as if Holt is focused on me and my pleasure. Not his own.

He proves that thought true by reaching to run his fingers through my wet slit. It’s soft, exploratory, until he starts to tease my clit. Then he’s testing my reactions, finding the right pressure that makes me crazy. I’m bucking against him, my pussy clenching around nothing and begging for more.

“You’re fucking soaked, Rainbow.”

“More,” I growl. I don’t even have the wherewithal to be annoyed by the nickname.

“You want my cock? Does this pretty little pussy need to be filled?”

Jesus. Dirty talk for the win. I move off Holt’s lap, needing to take things into my own hands. On my knees, I yank down his jeans and underwear.

It seems the universe is on my side because Holt is packing.

Before I can take his pants off completely, he pulls his wallet out and grabs a condom. I reward him for his thoughtfulness.

“Oh, fuck,” Holt curses as I swallow the head of his cock.

I use every trick I know to bring this man to his knees—figuratively, anyway, since he’s sitting down. I work him up and down until he’s sliding into the back of my throat with every thrust.

He grips my hair in his fist, yanking me off him. “As much as I want to come down your throat, I’ll have to save that for later. I want to feel you coming around my cock.”

“Fuck yes,” I say, repositioning myself across his lap. I quickly slide the condom down his length before guiding him to my entrance. It takes me a minute to get him in all the way, but the effort is more than worth it. I’ve never felt this full in my life.

Holt grips my hips and begins to thrust up into me. The pressure is overwhelming, and with every punch of his cock, I swear I see stars. Reaching down, I play with my clit.

“That’s a good girl. Fuck, I can feel you getting close. Are you going to come for me?”

I moan, my words evaporating in the haze of hovering at the edge of a cataclysmic orgasm.

“Come on my cock, Rainbow.”

The words, in tandem with the way this man is fucking me, send me straight into the stratosphere. I explode around him, my thighs shaking with the intensity.

“Fuck yes.” Holt groans, his hips stuttering as he comes right after I do.

I drop my head on his shoulder, trying to catch my breath.

“You better not be tapping out yet,” Holt says in my ear.

I lift my head to raise an eyebrow at him. “You think I’m done with you? Not even close.”