Chapter 12
KAT
“Ithink I’m getting much better at poker,” Kat said, eyeballing the sweat that had just broken out on Cole’s brow and the way the hand holding his cards had started to tremble. “I can see your tells.”
From across the table, Cole forced a laugh. “Don’t get too cocky, kitten. My hand is looking better than you think.”
“I’m not talking about your hand,” Kat said, grinning.
“I’m talking about the fact that you don’t want to think about your past. There’s something you don’t want to tell me, right?
Why don’t you just skip that part and tell me the rest?
Or is it all traumatic? Is the ranch you grew up on a bad memory?
I won’t make you talk about it if it’s a bad memory. ”
Cole laid down his cards and shook his head. “It’s not a bad memory. On the contrary—”
“Then tell me about it.” She smiled to show him she wasn’t going to pry further than he was willing to go.
“But only the good parts.” Kat was new at a lot of things, but reading people was not one of them.
She could tell all this talk was making him deeply uncomfortable.
And she could tell that, if she pried too much, he would abandon more than just the conversation.
If she was right about nothing else, Kat knew one thing for sure. Cole was a man always on the edge of disappearing. He was like a wild animal, easily spooked, and the last thing she wanted to do was spook him. So, like she would with any wild animal, she waited quietly for him to move first.
Finally, he glanced back down at his cards and said, “I call.”
They both dropped their hands. He had four of a kind. “Straight flush!” Kat said triumphantly. “I win.” She was suddenly bummed out that they hadn’t been playing for anything interesting. So, she decided to improvise. “That means you have to tell me a story from your childhood.”
He shook his head with a half-smile. “We didn’t agree to that.”
“Humor me.” She leaned in and fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly. “Puh-lease.”
“Ah, why not?” he said, finally giving in. “What harm could it do?”
Kat sat back and crossed her arms, waiting for whatever story he was willing to tell her. She knew well enough how lucky she was to hear anything at all about him. He was such a closed-off kind of person that she doubted he ever told anyone anything about himself.
“Well…” He cleared his throat and thought a moment. “My dad was very old-fashioned about how he managed his ranch. He taught me how to ride a horse and herd cattle at a very young age, and I loved it. Our town even had a local rodeo competition, and it was my dream to participate one day.”
“Did you?” Kat asked, leaning forward on her elbows.
He gave her a little smirk before answering. “Of course I did. The real question was whether or not I won.”
“By the proud look on your face, I’m going to guess you did. Seems like you’re dying to tell me, though, so go ahead.” His smile dropped right as hers was growing. “See?” she said. “I can play poker, too.”
“I did win in one category,” he said. “Can you guess which one?”
He was turning the tables on her, making her play his game instead of the other way around. She didn’t mind in the least. Whatever kept him talking was fine by her. “Hmm… I’ll guess… that one where you spin the rope over your head and catch calves or something.”
For a moment, he just blinked at her from across the table.
She was feigning a little ignorance to give him the feeling of having the upper hand, and it was working.
“It was barrel racing.” He started shuffling the cards like they were about to play another hand.
“What I’m best at, even on horseback, is running. ”
Kat recognized that last bit as bait she was meant to take.
If she did, it would trigger him into ending the conversation.
He was trying to rip the bandage off now, but Kat wouldn’t let him.
She wanted to keep him talking, to keep them talking to each other.
She wasn’t interested in prying information out of him so much as making some kind of connection.
She was in this for the long haul, even though she hadn’t admitted it to herself right away.
So, rather than ask what he meant, she lobbed another joke at him.
“You sure you didn’t win the beauty contest? ”
Cole shook his head and laughed. “You mean the one for horses? Are you trying to call me a stallion?” He invited her to look him over again with a gesture.
Good. He was feeling playful again. That was a good sign. “Did your dad teach you how to do barrel racing?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes glazing over with whatever memories the question pulled up for him.
“He was a good teacher. Taught me to get back in the saddle, literally. Taught me to never give up, no matter how hard things got. He gave me my first horse, too. She was a beauty and faster than anybody thought she could be with the right rider.”
“That being you,” Kat added.
Cole nodded with a proud expression that made him even more attractive than he had been when he was busy brooding. “I was good.”
“You ever think about getting a horse again?”
He shook his head. “Kind of have to stay in one place to keep a horse.”
There was a comment worth digging into. “And you don’t?”
He took a sip of his soda and dealt the cards, which he’d been shuffling for far longer than Kat felt was normal.
It was clearly a nervous gesture, some way for him to keep his hands busy.
“I’ve been nomadic for years. Moved away from the ranch, said goodbye to everyone I knew, and never looked back.
I haven’t stayed in one place for more than six months in years. ”
“Do you like living like that?” Kat asked.
He shrugged. “There’s a certain charm to it. But it would be nice to have a horse of my own again.”
“Why not stick around here, then?” she said, and immediately, his expression fell. Clearly, she’d taken things a touch too far. “I mean, you don’t have to, obviously. But you could if you wanted to. You’re good at your job, so I’d like to keep you around for as long as you’re willing to stay.”
He pretended to misunderstand her, she assumed, in order to avoid addressing what she said.
“Well, I’ve got to get going soon if I’m going to get to bed at a reasonable hour.
It sounds like the rain has stopped, so maybe I can work on the truck some more.
” He picked up his phone and glanced at the time.
Then his eyes went wide. “It’s already ten thirty. How?”
“Time flies when you’re having fun?” Kat offered.
He dropped his cards and stood, and Kat was immediately reminded that he was wearing her pajama pants.
They revealed far more than his jeans usually did, and she found herself growing hot in the cheeks again.
He didn’t say a word but went immediately into the bathroom, probably to check whether his clothes were dry.
Kat was certain they’d still be damp, at least.
Then, inspiration struck. “Why don’t you just stay here?” she said.
He poked his head out of the bathroom, still rolling his stubborn, damp shirt down his torso. “Stay here?”
“Just for the night,” she clarified. “I finished setting up the guest room last week, so there’s somewhere comfortable for you to sleep.”
He took his time coming to a decision, and she wondered why. It seemed like an obvious choice to make. Stay the night, get the truck fixed in the daylight. What could make more sense than that? “Are you sure you don’t want to put me up in one of the other cabins?” he asked.
“No way.” She didn’t even second-guess herself.
“They aren’t finished yet. It’s much more comfortable here.
That way I can make you breakfast. Come on, it’ll be much better if you just stay here.
” She opened the door of the guest room and gestured for him to check it out.
“Let me tempt you, huh? Brand new mattress. Fresh sheets. Potpourri.”
He walked into the room and took a deep breath. She could feel him surrender, and she silently celebrated. “Fine,” he said. “But I’m only staying for the potpourri. The mattress and sheets don’t tempt me at all.”
“Impossible,” she said. She waltzed into the room after him, turned on the bedside lamp, tugged down the sheets, and fluffed the pillows until the bed was more than inviting. “No one can resist a bed this nice.”
“Really?” Cole stepped closer to her, and Kat instinctively took a step back.
“Then why aren’t you lying in it right now?
” He stepped toward her again, and she backed up just enough to bump the mattress behind her and fall onto the bed.
“I guess you can’t resist it after all.” He laughed and offered her a hand to help her up.
She took his hand, but instead of pulling herself up, she yanked him down until he was right on top of her.
“It’s too late,” she said. “You’ve convinced me.
I’m sleeping here tonight, so you’ll have to stay with me or swap me for my bed.
This mattress really is the best in the house.
” She shifted her weight to bounce on it like she was testing it.
“Great support, don’t you think? Doesn’t move too much.
I think we can both sleep here quite comfortably. ”
Of course, she was only joking—or, at least, she told herself she was only joking—but the way Cole looked at her made her think he might actually be considering whether to stay with her.
She’d never seen him like this before. He was only an inch away from her, and his eyes were filled with so much desire.
She’d been hoping to tempt him to stay. It turned out she was actually tempting him to do much more than that.
He confirmed her suspicion with a kiss that burned like fire. Before she realized what was happening, his hand was at the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. Then he stopped, pulled back, and looked at her face, so many questions in his eyes. “Yes?” he finally asked.
Rather than answer, she pushed in and kissed him again.
They were lying sideways across the bed, face to face, tongue to tongue.
He pulled his still-damp shirt off and slid his hands around her waist, under her shirt, around to her back.
Neither one of them was thinking straight.
They were discovering each other for the first time, touching each other for the first time.
Probably, they should have taken things a bit slower, but neither one of them was going to be the first to stop what was happening.
Kat was not someone who dated around a lot, so she had less experience when it came to her own libido.
She had no idea how explosive her desire could become, how much of a lit fuse she really was.
The fact that he was wearing her pajama pants only made things hotter.
They were so thin, and he was pressed against her, kissing her neck and her shoulders.
She reached down and pulled the drawstring to untie it in one swift motion.
At almost exactly the same time, Cole’s hand found the bra hooks at her back and quickly undid them.
He kept checking in, she noticed, making sure she was OK.
But she was more than OK. All she wanted was to feel him between her legs, so she told him, “Yes,” over and over again, so he wouldn’t have to wonder, so he wouldn’t even slow down.
Before she was completely undressed, Cole had pushed himself between her legs, his hand squeezing her thigh as he continued to kiss her skin again and again.
She pulled him closer and bit his shoulder when she couldn’t take it anymore.
And he picked up his pace, inside her now, bringing her more pleasure than she would have thought possible.
The man was passion incarnate in bed, and Kat moaned in response to everything he did. He brought her close to the edge over and over again, pulling away at the last second, teasing her until she begged for him to just let go. The second she finished, he did too, like he’d been waiting for her.
When he finally fell heavily on top of her, all she could do was mutter, “Wow,” and the second she did, he burst out laughing.
“Thank you,” he said before adding, “and the same to you.”
“This wasn’t exactly what I meant when I asked if you wanted to spend the night,” she joked. “But let’s do it again soon.”
He nuzzled and kissed her as they shifted to the pillows and made themselves comfortable. “Anything you want,” he said. “Just say the word, and I’ll give it to you.”
“I’ll remember you said that.” She smiled. “So, can I stay here tonight?”
He chuckled. “It’s your cabin.”
“Then, I’m staying. Will you stay, too?”
He paused, and she knew he understood what she was asking, as well as what she was really asking, but was still too scared to say aloud. “I’ll stay at the ranch as long as I can. But I swear to you I’ll be here in the morning.”
They fell asleep tangled in each other’s arms, and Kat felt so safe that she slept better and had better dreams than she’d ever had before.