Shana Gray - A Cowboy In Paradise

Dallas sucked in a breath and knew it was no use. The image of her would be seared into his memory for the rest of his days. He also knew the only way he stood a chance to get her out of his blood was to bang her. But his gut told him that would only whet his appetite, making him want her more.

He entered the barn and wandered down the center between the horses. Their wide standing stalls either side of him ran the length of the shed row. Dallas had had the structure built a few years back to house up to fifty horses and storage for a couple hundred bales of hay. The peaked roof and no sides kept the weather and sun out, but the breeze from the ocean flowed freely. He’d also had storm shutters built into the roof that could be dropped down easily. He hoped like hell they wouldn’t be needed on this trip. All the horses faced in, so it was easy to feed and water them.

“Hey, boss. We’re all set,” John said, tossing a few more flakes of hay into the last couple of stalls. He’d finished bedding down the horses for the night.

Dallas rechecked the ties and rubbed the forehead of every horse he walked by on his way to John. He loved the comforting sounds of their contented munching and their earthy scent. He loved everything about horses.

“Good job. Everything for the wedding all ready?”

“I guess so. I’m steering clear of all that hullabaloo. It’s chaos, I tell ya, and I want no part of it.”

Dallas laughed and nodded. “I’m with you there, buddy. Listen, keep it all tight, though. I have a feeling we’ll be getting some rain.”

John walked out from under the gabled roof and looked to the sky. “Ya think? Only thing that showed up on radar was about three hundred miles offshore, tropical-storm status but not heading this way.”

Dallas nodded. “Still, keep an eye on the sky. A little bit of rain won’t hurt anybody, but if that storm shifts and intensifies we’ll be stuck up here.”

John grunted his agreement as he walked away and said over his shoulder, “Time to get that barbecue fired up. Oh, hey, Tucker wanted me to tell you he was heading up.”

Dallas nodded. His brother usually joined them, but wasn’t sure if he’d be on island soon enough. He was also friends with Matt, and did his damnedest to get chickenshit Matt to surf. Now Diana had put a complete stop to that activity, saying it was far too dangerous. Dallas shook his head and was glad he’d managed to sidestep any long-term commitments where women were concerned.

He lingered with the horses. They were his spirit animal and he felt best when hanging with them. He was here as a wedding guest as well, not just as a boss or ranch owner, but it was hard to not oversee everything. All these people up here were his responsibility in the long run and he wanted them to have the best time in order for them to spread the word about Broken Creek and bring in new business.

“Excuse me.”

Dallas paused, his hand on the forehead of the gray gelding. Both he and the horse turned in unison toward the female voice.

Dallas sensed who it was. His heart thumped in his chest like a smitten boy, which he was none too happy about. The woman who only moments before had stood close to naked in her tent walked toward him, her fingers tucked into her jeans front pocket. They were way too big for her, and so was the plaid shirt. He noticed she had bare feet. He raised his eyebrows, not expecting to see bare toes. But he liked it—maybe she wasn’t so high maintenance after all. It definitely made her much more intriguing even though he didn’t want to be intrigued. Or tempted.

Her tits jiggled under the top. Was she still wearing that see-through bra? Even with the baggy jeans and baler twine for a belt, her curves left little to the imagination. Her hips moved with an enticing sway that made him want to grab them and haul her up tight to him. Heat boiled down into his balls and he shifted his feet.

“Yes, hello.” It was about all he could muster up with the images of her luscious body still seared into his brain.

She cocked her thumb behind her and gave him a direct look. “Um, back there. I—”

“Don’t worry.” Dallas shook his head, not wanting her to feel...what? Bad. Uncomfortable. Exposed. Yet he was so glad he’d walked by to get that visual treat. He’d been celibate far too long.

“I’m not worried. It’s just that, well, if you liked what you saw, why didn’t you just come inside?”

She was direct.

He narrowed his eyes and searched her face. Did she want a fling? Weren’t wedding hookups commonplace? If she was offering, he decided he didn’t want to let her down. That wasn’t gentlemanly, right? But then who said he was a gentleman. He’d been told as much by... He refused to finish that thought and pressed his lips together. Ranch rules. His rules. No getting involved with guests. “Well, ma’am—”

“Please don’t call me that. My name is Jimi.” And she smiled at him, a seductive and enchanting curve on her lips that heated his blood. It was like the sun came out and shone down just on her, while everything else faded to black. He was mesmerized, again. Oh yeah, she spelled trouble with a capital T. Perhaps this would be a much more interesting weekend than he’d anticipated. He knew he was about to break all his hard-and-fast rules, which made him angry at himself just as much as it excited him. Something about this chick had his radar humming, and he was obligated to find out why.

“Pleased to meet you, Jimi.” He offered his hand. She took it. Dallas was surprised by the strength of her slender fingers and the sizzle of erotic heat that flashed up his arm. He curled his hand around hers and pulled her ever so slightly closer to him. She didn’t resist.

He looked down at her. She wasn’t short, likely around five-seven, but still much shorter than his six foot two. He liked taller women, and her height was just under his preference. Still, though, he figured they’d fit together perfectly, just like puzzle pieces.

She gazed up at him and goddamn if he didn’t lose his breath. Like Kilauea had erupted inside him. His blood pumped in his veins, hot, thick and achingly slow. He was lost in her eyes, which sparkled like stars twinkling against the indigo canvas of a Hawaiian night, a beautiful blue with tinges of amber and sand in their depths. Her curly hair a halo around her head. Dallas sucked in a breath as desire slipped down his spine and settled in his hips. In the short space of time since this woman had crashed into his life, it was like everything had changed. Something in his world had shifted. All he wanted to do was drag her into his arms, kiss her senseless and crush her to him. Dallas was rocked to the core, never before having had such a powerful reaction to a woman. All because of a smile, the touch of hands and a body he’d like to feed off for days.

3

JIMI STOOD IN front of this mountain of man, staring up at him as he glowered down at her with an intensity that made her shiver. Her mind went nuts with the possibilities of all the good bad things they could do together. Something about this man made her want to be bad. Naughty. While not a prude about sex by any stretch of the imagination, it just wasn’t often that her body made the decision before her brain did.

His calm silence couldn’t hide the passion she saw brewing in his eyes. She wondered if he would be just as intense and quiet if they fucked. Yes, that was how she’d look at it. Not making love, no way. Love was something she’d given up on a long time ago. Anyone she’d ever loved had left her. But that hadn’t stopped her from searching for it—God, how she’d searched—and in all the wrong places, too. To distance herself from the unorthodox way she was raised had been her driving force. She’d navigated through the concrete jungle of New York City’s fashion world and made it. At times, though, her past came back to haunt her, like it seemed to be doing here, today. So many little reminders. It was unsettling.