CHAPTER 23
Normally, Lydia kept her phone on vibrate while she was in the booth. She hated the way phones interrupted conversations, and she always wanted potential clients to feel like they were the most important person in the booth.
But not today.
Not when she was waiting on pins and needles to find out if Colt would need surgery. It bothered her that he wouldn’t let her accompany him. But he was right, her presence wouldn’t change the outcome, and she’d secured five more boot orders this morning. That put her total up to twenty orders. Exhilarating, affirming, and also terrifying. She’d already ordered leather and lasts so she could hit the ground running once she returned to Prairie, but doubt chased her. Working around the clock, she’d made a pair a week, but that pace wasn’t sustainable.
In the back of her head, she could hear Emma Sinclaire reminding her that scarcity was a good thing. But not when a potential client could walk two aisles over and procure a pair of boots for the same price in half the time. With her heart in her throat, she’d quoted a bride a three-month wait on a pair of rhinestone embellished boots.
It could be worse.
She could have spent all this time making a portfolio and leave San Antonio with no orders. She’d known aspiring shoe designers in New York that had gone broke before they got off the ground. Custom-made cowboy boots held a mystique that the average stiletto couldn’t match. And the two-page spread the local paper had printed on her, hadn’t hurt either. The writer found a female boot designer a bit of a novelty and had angled the article to highlight the scarcity of women in rodeo, both in the arena and in the exhibition hall. Colt had been so proud, he bought twenty copies of the paper and insisted on mailing one home to her mother, which meant everyone in Prairie had read it by now.
Her phone vibrated and started playing Supertramp’s Give a Little Bit. It had to be Colt. He must have figured out how to mess with her ringtones. “Nice song choice,” she said wryly as she smiled into the phone.
His low laugh tickled her ear. “Paybacks, darlin’.”
“Careful what you start, cowboy. I’ve got more songs up my sleeve.”
“Bring it.”
She turned serious. “Well? What’s the news?” Her heart beat erratically, and she squeezed shut her eyes, bracing for the worst.
“I’m clean. Doc said all that yoga probably saved me from a tear.”
Hot relief swept through her and her knees wobbled so hard, she dropped into a chair. “Oh, I’m so glad.”
“Not half as glad as me.” His voice lowered. “But as long as you don’t tie me to the bedpost, I should be okay.”
Wet heat burst between her legs, and she let out a nervous giggle. “No tying you up. At least not tonight,” she added impishly. Let him stew on that for a while. “Where are you?”
“Look behind you.”
She swiveled the chair around, to see him strolling down the aisle holding the phone to his hear and holding a bag. Condoms? No, there was more in the bag than a box of condoms. It looked more like take-out. She disconnected and tossed the phone into her bag, walking to meet him halfway. Even from a distance, she could see the relief on his face and a lightness in his step. “What’s in the bag?” She wrapped her arms around his waist, standing on tiptoe to feather a kiss across his jaw.
He turned his head and caught her mouth with his. The kiss turned hot and forgetting herself, she pressed against him, running her hand up his arm. She didn’t know what it was about the way his rock-hard triceps fit against her palm, but the sensation acted like a match, igniting a fire inside her. He pulled back, gazing down at her through heavy-lidded eyes that spoke volumes. “Sustenance.”
“I can close up early,” she offered, heart kicking erratically.
“I don’t mind waiting.”
“I do.” She stepped out of his embrace and took his hand, leading him back to her booth, where she hurried to put things away, profoundly aware of Colt’s eyes tracking her like a wolf ready to pounce.
He wasn’t the only one ready to pounce.
Her body hummed with anticipation as she locked her boots away and refilled the brochure dispenser. Turning back to him with an impish smile, she held out her hand. “Ready?”
“More than you know.” His eyes lit with hunger.
Twining her fingers with his, she pulled him in for another slow kiss. “Let’s get out of here.”
He walked so fast toward the exit, she skipped to keep up with his long strides, pulse thrumming, propelling her forward. Without saying a word, Colt wove through the crowd, pushed open the door, and doubled his pace through the parking lot. When he reached the truck, he spun, pushing her against the cab and bracing an arm above her. Before she could speak, his mouth crashed down, tongue sweeping into her mouth with a possessiveness that stole her breath. Melting into him, she responded in kind, threading her fingers through his hair and knocking his Stetson to the ground.
“I want you so bad, I could take you right here,” he rasped when they pulled apart.
“Really? Do you think anyone would notice?” She’d never done anything as scandalous as have sex in public, but Colt brought out her reckless side, and the thought of dropping his jeans for a wild ride in broad daylight made her clit throb with want. And oh, how she wanted him. Shocking and delighting her with his hands, his tongue.
His low laugh tickled her ear, sending jolts of anticipation through her, tightening her nipples and soaking her panties. She was so ready, it wouldn’t take long. “I have a condom in my bag.”
Again, his laugh danced over her skin like a sparkler. “Always prepared.”
“Always.” Her fingers played with the buttons on his shirt. She cocked an eyebrow as she pulled the top button free.
He momentarily looked discomfited, but then his cocky smile returned. “Far be it from me to say no to a lady in need. But then we’re going straight back to the room and not leaving the bed until I’ve properly loved you up. Multiple times.”
Her pussy throbbed eagerly. “Promise?” At this rate all he’d need to do was brush her clit, and she’d come on his hand.
He opened the door, then lifted her up on the running board, eyes blazing hotter than the afternoon sun. “You sure about this?”
“If you’re worried I won’t come, don’t.” She pulled off a boot, tossing it to the mat. Next, she unzipped her pants, shimmied them down and pulled out a leg.
Colt tilted his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. “You look like you’ve done this before.”
Her cheeks flushed as she shook her head. “Just have an imagination,” she said as she let her knees fall open.
His breath halted. “I like your imagination,” he said with a rough edge to his voice as he reached to touch her.
She dropped her head at his feather-light caress. “I swear, Colt. I’m ready.”
He let out a dry laugh, shaking his head, and dug into her purse, rooting until he lifted out the sole condom left over from her stash. She’d removed them from her purse before coming to San Antonio, but had found a stray one earlier while she’d been reapplying her lipstick.
His belt buckle jingled as he loosened it and dropped his pants.
“Oh,” Lydia gasped as she laid eyes on his heavy, hard erection.
His eyebrows jumped with pleasure at her gasp, as he rolled on the condom. “All for you, babe. Now lift your hips.”
Hooking her leg around his hips, she pushed back on the side of the seat and angled her hips to receive him. He pushed into her with a grunt, and she swore she could feel him at the deepest part of herself. Clasping her neck, he pulled her mouth to his, as he thrust again. The friction acted like a match on a trail of gunpowder, sending heat racing through her. And maybe it was the danger of being discovered, but every nerve ending was firing, acting in concert to barrel her toward an explosive orgasm.
Colt’s mouth landed on her neck, his breath coming in ragged pulses. But it was his teeth scraping her skin that sent her over the edge in a whoosh of white light. He followed her, ass clenching and hips thrusting so powerfully she thought she might split.
Hours later, as they lay spent on the bed back in the hotel room, limbs entwined, she traced a finger along the curve of his tattoo. “Don’t you think you need to rest now?”
“Hmm.” His thumb made lazy circles on her hip. “I’ve got four days to recover. Another day or two of this and I’ll be in good shape for the semis and the finals.” He spoke with the confidence of a man who knew he was on top of the world.
But Lydia’s stomach clenched at the thought of returning to Prairie alone in eight days’ time. Pushing the thought from her mind, she continued to trace the intricate design, fascinated with how his muscle rippled under her touch. Here and now was what mattered. Not the heartbreak that would come when their wild ride inevitably came to a screeching halt.