13. Sarah
Chapter 13
Sarah
I had no idea how I got here in such a short amount of time. I’d gone from a lonely single woman who was desperate enough to consider asking her best guy friend to pop her cherry to riding in a classic Chevy truck with a tall dark and handsome man who smelled like leather and fresh-cut grass.
I was in heaven.
Willow and I had gushed over Ranger when she came to my house tonight to help me get ready for our first date. I told her about the kiss and how I felt like I was floating on clouds ever since. She laughed, of course, and asked for every naughty detail. Then I told her to thank Asher for me because if he hadn’t eaten that skink, I probably wouldn’t have experienced the best kiss of my life.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked Ranger because the roads were starting to look unfamiliar.
He slid his gaze toward me and my stomach did a flip. “ It’s a surprise.”
“I’m not very good with surprises,” I grumbled.
His deep, raspy laugh made my heart squeeze. “Why not?”
I sighed, dramatically. “It’s the anticipation. It eats me alive.”
“I think I like getting under your skin.” He shot me a wink and I turned to puddy in his passenger seat.
After a few more turns, we ended up on a dirt road with no street lights. About a half-mile down, there was a large cabin-looking structure with a bright neon sign that read Cowboys . The parking lot was filled with pickup trucks and a few motorcycles.
“Oh my God! Are we going line dancing?” I squeaked, sitting tall in the seat to get a better look through the hazy windows of the establishment.
“Cats out of the bag.” He found a spot at the end of the lot and came around to open my door. “Are you excited?” He looked at me under the brim of his black cowboy hat, the boyish grin tugging on his lips pulled at my heartstrings.
“I’ve always wanted to go line dancing.”
“You never have before?”
“Nope. My mother always told me that real ladies don’t line dance, they waltz.”
Ranger snorted. “I’m pretty sure that sentiment is outdated, sugar. I can promise you, there will be plenty of ladies in there line dancing.”
Sugar .
The man just called me sugar and now my entire body felt like it was taking flight—lifted into the air on butterfly wings with a simple word.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Mmhmm,” I replied, even though I had no idea how I was going to make it out of his truck without falling because my legs felt like they were tingly all over. I had no idea how one person could have such an impact on me, but here I was completely enthralled by his charm.
I didn’t have to worry about my legs spontaneously deciding to stop working because Ranger grasped my waist, picked me up, and set me right in front of him like I was just a barrel of hay that he could maneuver easily. His calloused palms stayed on my hips, grazing over the sliver of skin between my jeans and my flannel.
My core clenched when his tongue darted between his lips, those stormy blue eyes growing hazy.
“Kiss me,” I whispered, needing to feel this man’s lips against my own.
He studied me for a moment before he took off his cowboy hat, his black curls falling into his face. I stepped into him, feeling the heat from his body as I rose onto my tiptoes and draped my arms over his shoulders.
With a hand on my lower back, he brought me closer until I could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest against my own. His heartbeat clamored against his ribs, matching the wild rhythm of my own heart.
When his thumb found my bottom lip, a shooting star couldn’t rival the burning heat of my body when his lips met mine. He took his time, holding me tighter like he was afraid I might disappear if he loosened his grip.
Somehow I knew that this was what I had waited for. I hadn’t simply chosen to be alone to focus on my career. I was waiting for a man to come along who made me feel like I wouldn’t survive without his touch. When Ranger’s hands came to grasp each side of my face as our lips parted, I knew this was what I’d wanted all along. And maybe my younger self knew it too as I watched him from a safe distance. Waiting for him to see me too.
The space between us grew shorter as he inhaled deeply, his broad chest widening. “I wish I could do that all night,”—he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear—“but I promised you a date.”
“Right,” I grinned, burying my face in his chest. “Maybe we should go do that.”
He reached around me to grab his cowboy hat from where he placed it on the passenger seat before taking my hand and shutting the door.
“Is this your first time line dancing?” His large hand enveloped mine as we started walking toward the entrance.
“I used to do it a lot with my sister. We learned from our parents when we were kids. Almost every night, they’d turn up some country music while my mom cooked dinner and they’d always end up dancing around the kitchen. When my dad passed away, Callie Rose and I kept up the tradition until I went away. I haven’t danced since I got out.”
My heart broke for him, hearing that prison had stalled something he clearly loved. I only knew what the townsfolk whispered about him because I tried my best to stay away from the news. Watching it had always made me feel angry and sad. But now I wished I had paid better attention to his trial all those years ago because while there were certainly people who thought he belonged behind bars, I couldn’t help but feel they were wrong about him.
The questions bounced around in my mind. I hoped I would get the chance to hear his side of the story one day, but I wasn’t going to ruin our first date by probing about his past.
So I squeezed his hand and said, “Thank you for choosing to dance with me tonight.”
He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I’m just glad you said yes.”
I bumped him with my hip. “You knew I’d say yes. I was the one who asked you out first.”
He winced. “Why don’t we just pretend that I did the right thing and asked you on a date the morning I bombarded you at your bakery?”
Through tight lips, I sucked in a lungful of air. “I don’t know if I can give you that one. I think you might need to live with the regret for a little while longer.”
His laugh was warm. “I can handle that.”
Sweat trickled down my spine, a wide smile parted my lips and I was almost out of breath as Watermelon Crawl came to its final note and the DJ started with Tim McGraws’s Something Like That .
“I need a drink!” I shouted over the rising music to Ranger. A sliver of his tan chest peeked through the V of his flannel where the top two buttons were undone. Sweat glistened on his skin and I found myself wanting to press my tongue against him to see what he tasted like.
He grabbed my hand and guided me through the crowd to the bar and I admired his tight ass the entire way. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have him deep inside me while I reached around and dug my fingernails into one of his firm cheeks.
Shit .
I was already sex crazed over this man and the only thing we’d done so far was kiss. But those kisses had blown my world to bits and I only wanted him to show me more of what he could do.
“What do you like to drink?” Ranger asked as his hand slid around the curve of my waist, his fingers wound through the belt loop of my jeans. Every bit of my concentration went to that small area of my body where his thumb started roaming over my hip.
I cleared my throat, trying to knock myself from the daze his touch brought over me. “I’ll have ginger ale and Captain Morgan.”
“A rum girl?” Those bright blue eyes shone with amusement like I surprised him .
Avoiding the heat of Ranger’s gaze, I looked to the bartender as she made her way over to us. “The combination tastes like cream soda.”
“Two ginger ales with Captain Morgan, please.” He shot me a wink before sliding his credit card to the bartender. “And you can close it out.”The bartender nodded as she grabbed his card and started on our drinks.
“Having fun?”
He leaned an elbow on the bartop and settled his foot on the footrest at the bottom of the bar. I couldn’t help myself as I took in the full power of his stature. Even though the bartop was high and deep, Ranger made it look like it was child-sized and I found myself wondering what it might be like to be held beneath that much power. If the tingling sensation between my thighs was any indication, I suspected it would be fucking amazing.
“I am,” I smiled up at him. “I feel like I’ve been missing out on something special my entire life.”
His laugh skated over my skin like velvet as I watched his Adam’s Apple bob up and down. “Next time you see your mom you’ll have to tell her that ladies do, in fact, line dance.”
Rolling my eyes, I snorted. “I don’t think that would go over too well. Best to keep this secret between us.”
When I looked back at him, his eyes were questioning and a flurry of nerves took over me as I realized what I’d said. My mother was the last person I wanted to think about tonight and I silently hoped he wouldn’t find the need to start asking questions .
His hand shifted upward from my hip along the edge of my rib cage, leaving a trail of fire in its wake before I felt the rough callouses of his palm settle on the nape of my neck. He pulled me into him, the brim of his black cowboy hat grazing my cheek as he leaned his lips to my ear. “Here’s to hoping we have a lot more secrets to share.”
Shivers coursed over my entire body as his lips found the bottom of my neck. When he pulled away, his eyes had shifted from vivid blue to a stormy gray so beautiful they rivaled the winter clouds hanging over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Here you go.” I jumped at the sound of the bartender’s shrilly voice and backed away from Ranger’s warmth.
“Thanks,” I muttered, wrapping my hands around the cool glass as I tried to reel myself in. But there was no use as Ranger gripped my right hip, rotating me around until my back was flush against him. He draped an arm over the side of my shoulder, letting his hand settle on my opposite hip. I was trapped against him and yet I’d never felt more alive as I let myself settle into his hold.
I let my head fall against his chest as I slowly sipped on my drink, wondering how in the hell it had taken me this long to realize what a pivotal piece of my life was missing. If this was what it felt like to fall for someone, I didn’t want to stop.
I’d chased a singular dream for the better part of my life, never letting myself want for anything else. Maybe I thought it was too selfish. To have grown up with such privilege and have the ability to start my own business. But this moment, feeling Ranger’s strength surrounding me…feeling the need to be even closer to him went way beyond the thrill of defying my parents’ wishes for me. There was a thrum in my blood that had never been there until Ranger came back into town.
I was thankful that despite all the hell this town shot his way, he decided to stay.
“Let’s go dance.” His chest rumbled against my back with his words. I couldn’t turn it off. The acute awareness of every place his body met mine. I wasn’t even sure what song was playing as I leaned back and pressed a gentle kiss to the stubble along his jawline.
“Those lips are going to be the death of me, woman,” he growled before nipping my earlobe, sending me squealing into a fit of giggles.
“Right back at you, cowboy.” I flicked the rim of his hat and he winked at me.
His hold on my hip tightened before I felt him moving us forward. Unwinding our tangled limbs, he reached for my drink and set them both on the bartop before he grabbed my hand and led us toward the dance floor.
A loud smack sounded behind me right as a hand came down on my rear. I was so shocked it took me a moment to register that someone had smacked me on the ass. In public. When I didn’t know their name. And while I was very clearly with Ranger. But even if I hadn’t been. A fucking douchebag stranger had just smacked my ass.
Ranger went deathly still in front of me.
Shit .
If there was a look in someone’s eyes that indicated they were about to commit murder, Ranger had it. All the joy and ease had left him. Those blue eyes that stole my breath away were honed steel, aimed right at the guy I knew was standing behind me because I could feel his presence like the edge of a razor against my neck. He was dangerous and lacked any respect for women.
But I had something far more dangerous. A man who didn’t want his woman to be touched by anyone else.
Ranger gripped my hand and tugged me toward him like we were on the dance floor. Spinning around, I found myself behind him, nestled safely against the edge of the standing bar that surrounded the dance floor.
The guy who smacked my ass laughed drunkenly to his friends, not seeing that the giant in front of him was on a war path for revenge.
Ranger’s hands found their way around the man’s neck—quick as a snake bite, the man jumped. His body didn’t waver far as Ranger yanked his chest toward him.
“Didn’t your parents ever teach you to keep your hands to yourself?”
Wide, frightened eyes darted back and forth between Ranger and where I stood behind him. His drunken brain was trying to make sense of the situation. Unfortunately for him, it moved too slow.
Ranger reared a fist back and clocked the guy right on the chin sending him straight to the sticky floor. His large frame bent over the guy and Ranger stabbed him in the chest with his pointer finger. “If you ever touch a woman without her consent again, I’ll find you and finish what I started. I don’t give a fuck if you leave town and try it somewhere else. I’ll know and I’ll fucking hunt you down and remove your meaty hands so you won’t be able to do it ever again.”
The entire bar was silent, listening to Ranger’s tirade before he rose to his full height and stalked toward me. His breaths were heavy, but so were mine.
He draped his arm over my shoulder. Pulling me in close, he kissed the top of my hair as I slid my hand into the back pocket of his jeans.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said as I looked up at him, the wild still tingeing his eyes.