Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
isaac
By eleven, I’ve convinced myself that the captivating woman with the whiskey eyes and long legs isn’t going to show.
The Wild Coyote is busy tonight. Carly Rae Brannigan is here, in her typical form, half-drunk and looking to fight or fuck.
She’s eye-banging me to death from the mechanical bull, but I shake my head and nod toward Beau Mitchell, who’s operating the bull tonight.
She wrinkles her nose and turns her attention to an older guy who’s been buying her drinks for the past hour.
After finding out Beau has had a thing for her since high school, I felt awful about hooking up with her.
It was only once—and it was a threesome, so not super intimate—but I think it broke Beau’s heart all the same.
She’s pretty much the female version of, well, me.
Hell of a lot of fun but far too wild to tame.
Beau looks at her like a lovesick puppy anyway.
Poor guy. Reminds me of my lovesick newlywed brother.
Unlike Ivy, Carly Rae is a long way from settling down. She’s aware of Beau’s feelings and she avoids him on purpose. It’s sad as shit to watch.
It’s already been a long ass day, and I still have a contract to read and sign.
I take a drink from what I’ve decided is my last beer for the night. I’m about to tell Brett and Beau I’m calling it and heading home, when I see her.
And I’m not the only one.
Both male and female heads turn as she enters.
There’s something about this woman I can’t quite name because I’ve never experienced it before. But her presence brightens everything—even the air around her shimmers somehow.
If anyone else said something like that, I’d give them so much hell. But she’s fucking radiant, from the gleam in her dark eyes to the shine of her silky black hair.
My mystery woman steps through the door of the bar and eyes the rowdy crowd. When her gaze meets mine, she only lifts an eyebrow as if to say your move, cowboy.
My cock jerks hard in awareness, angry at the restrictive denim holding it captive behind my zipper.
The exhaustion that had been weighing on me, and the worries about Ivy’s show and if I can uphold this bullshit contract and not screw it up for the ranch, lift instantly. With renewed energy, I stride toward her before I can think twice about making her come to me like I typically would.
“Well, look who made it.” I place my free hand on the small of her back and guide her toward the mechanical bull.
“Let’s hear about this deal,” is all she says.
I turn her toward the metal animal surrounded by blue padding.
“That’s Hank. I have reins in my truck. Whoever stays on Hank the longest, gets to be in charge of the reins. All night.”
Her eyes go wide. “You think you can last all night? Seems presumptuous.”
I grin at her. “Only one way to find out.” I turn to the sign in sheet. “I signed us up already even though I didn’t know if you were coming. Guess I’m presumptuous.”
Her face angles toward mine, our lips almost touching. With a smirk she says, “That’s the deal, right? I show you up on this bull then get to tie you up and have my way with you until I’m coming?”
My knees go weak.
“Close,” I tease with a wink, taking another long drink of my beer. “But I’ve never been bucked off this bull. And you’re about to be.”
“We’ll see.”
I jerk my chin toward the bar. “Want a drink?”
“I’m good,” she says, then proceeds to take the beer bottle I’m holding and lift it to her lips. I watch the smooth length of her throat as she swallows. I have to adjust myself in my jeans.
“Okay then.” My beer is hers now. I’d probably give her a kidney if she wanted it, so I don’t bother pretending to be put out that she stole my drink.
When we reach Beau, she steps back and crosses her arms over her ample cleavage. “You first. Show me those riding skills of yours.”
With a grin, I tip my hat at her. “Sure thing, darlin’.”
Heat flares in her eyes. I expect her to give me some shit for laying on the charm, but it turns her on.
Hell yeah, it does.
I lean down and tell Beau to give the folks a good show.
For the next eight seconds, Beau, who’s probably working out some of his aggression toward me about Carly Rae, tries his damnedest to buck me off the bull.
He doesn’t though, and I’m grinning like a fool when I reach my competition.
“You’re turn, prin—”
“You’ve really got to come up with a more fitting nickname, cowboy,” she interrupts. “I’m the furthest thing from a princess you’ll ever meet.”
With that, she shoves my beer bottle at my chest, and I take it.
“Hold my beer, sweetheart,” she says as she sashays toward Beau. When she turns and smiles at him with the force of the fucking sun, I’m the one overcome with jealousy. “Give it to me good and hard,” she says seductively. “I like it rough.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says, looking half in love with her already.
I might pass out. Or punch Beau in the mouth just because.
Every drop of blood in my body has relocated to my dick.
Who is this woman and where did she come from?
I polish off the last swallow of beer in the bottle and set it on a nearby empty table, then move closer to Beau. “Let her play a little, then buck her off,” I tell him. “I have a bet to win.”
He nods as my mystery woman settles on the bull. Half the bar stops to watch.
An oddly unfamiliar prickling sensation unfurls from my chest. I don’t have a possessive bone in my body, but these fuckers ogling this woman is making me agitated.
Clearly, I’ve been hanging out with Wyatt too much.
If someone had told me I’d be getting turned on watching a woman in skin-tight jeans straddle a mechanical bull like she was born to do it, I’d have laughed them straight out of this bar. I’ve seen women ride that thing half naked in G-string bikinis and it didn’t even faze me.
Yet here we are.
She tosses a wink over her shoulder at Beau as she adjusts her grip on the rope tied to the handles. I think he forgets how to breathe. Or maybe that’s me.
“Still time to back out,” I call to her, leaning against a half wall beside the mat I hope she’ll be sprawled on soon. “Wouldn’t want you bruising that ego when you fall flat on your ass.”
Her grin is breathtaking, literally, when her eyes meet mine like a dare. “You gettin’ nervous about that bet, big talker?”
I smirk back at her. “Not even a little bit.”
I’ve already pictured the many, many positions I plan to have her in before the night is over.
She nods at Beau and he hits the switch. The bull jerks to life and she rolls with it. As in rolls her hips in perfect time to the beat of the country-rock song pulsing through the speakers. Her long, dark hair whips behind her, and her mouth curves into a smile that could start a war.
Beau speeds the bull just enough to cause her firm lush tits to bounce. My cock is already giving her a standing ovation.
She lifts one hand dramatically like a damn rodeo queen then blows me a kiss. I think it’s to me. Some dickheads behind me swoon like teen girls at a boy band concert.
Brett, Beau’s brother, snorts from beside me. “Never seen you look so pissy about a woman blowing you a kiss.”
I hadn’t even noticed him walk over. Because this woman, whoever the hell she is, has every ounce of my focus.
“I’m not pissy.” A little nervous maybe, because I hadn’t planned for a tie. I’m not sure if that will cancel our deal altogether. Fuck, I hope not.
Six seconds, then seven on the clock.
Beau jerks the controls hard, as hard as he did with me. She holds on with one hand and grinds down in a way that makes my jaw clench. The tightness in my jeans is becoming painfully uncomfortable.
“Come on, throw her,” I hiss-whisper to Beau.
“Trying,” he mutters.
Brett chuckles from beside me.
Another hard turn of the bull and my beauty queen falters, but she catches herself with a laugh that carries across the crowd like smoke.
The buzzer blares and she dismounts and bows. Fucking bows.
The crowd goes wild, cheering and offering to buy her drinks.
Me?
I watch as she approaches me like a smug predator coming in for the kill.
My entire body warms to a dangerous degree as my heart pounds harder in my chest.
Women do not have this effect on me. Ever.
They’re beautiful creatures and when they get naked, I enjoy them. Thoroughly. Fully dressed they don’t typically take my breath away. Whatever entity is responsible for creating this specific woman must’ve done so with my undoing in mind.
“Guess it’s a tie,” she says once she’s within reaching distance.
“You cheated. Pretty sure seducing the operator running the bull is against the rules.”
She tips her head back and laughs. The sound is musical, making me wonder if she’s a professional singer.
“I wasn’t shown a rule book,” she says once she’s sobered. “It’s not my fault you underestimated me.”
She moves to step around me, heading toward her crowd of admirers no doubt. But I grab her wrist gently, just enough to stop her.
She glances down at my large hand encircling her delicate wrist then up into my eyes. Whatever she sees in them has her licking her lips then inhaling deeply.
I lean in to speak closer to her ear. “What does a tie mean for the bet? We calling it even or do you want a rematch?”
Flames flicker behind her stare. “Where I come from, a tie means we both win. So we’ll take turns. Equal amounts of time using the reins however we each see fit.”
We’re so close, I catch the scent of bourbon, beer, and a faint floral scent that must be her perfume. Or maybe it’s just her. Whatever it is, it makes my mouth water and I’m aching for a taste.
“My truck is out front,” I say evenly. “Unless you need to make an appearance for your adoring fans first.”
She sways closer to me, and I realize I haven’t released her wrist. And she hasn’t pulled it from my grasp.
“I just got a text that my hotel room is ready. It’s only a few blocks away.”
There’s only one decent hotel nearby. “I know exactly where it is.”
She nods. “Then lead the way, cowboy.”
“With pleasure, prin—” I stop myself, recalling that bull riding performance she just gave. The way she gives as good as she gets, spitting fire at me. “Spitfire.”
Her answering grin tells me I got it right this time. “That’s more like it.”