Chapter Nine
“New sponsor! That’s great! Now you need to land a documentary film, like your brother.”
Austin gripped the phone a little tighter. His dad had called early and Austin decided it was time to answer. “I don’t want to be the subject of a documentary, Dad.”
His brother, Ty, hadn’t been that wild about it in the beginning, but it had worked out for him.
“You’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot.”
“Yeah.” Austin pressed a hand against his forehead, wondering for the umpteenth time what his stage-mom father was going to do when both of his kids were out of the business and he could no longer be a vicarious champion.
“I know some people—”
“Dad…”
“Okay. I’ll keep my mouth shut. For now. But if you change your mind…”
“I’ll let you know. I’ve got to start working out now. Could you put Mom on?”
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks, Dad. I appreciate the support.”
After talking to his mom, he ended the call and stuffed his workout clothing into a small grip bag. He’d do his physical therapy in the gym today. Kristen had been politely friendly, yet somehow distant, this morning before going to breakfast without him when his dad called, thus setting the tone for the remainder of their time together.
He liked her.
More than he should, but their time together was limited. She was working to break free, as she’d called it, and to be more flexible—hell, she’d practically propositioned him—but she was still Kristen Alexander. Overachiever with a mission in life, and she’d be back at that mission after making peace with her family. She’d probably end up being vice president of a bank or something, and he would… He didn’t know. He had money in the bank and no idea what he was going to do for a career once he was done riding bulls.
Something would shake out, and until then, he’d focus on winning this tour.
The other bull riders would be drifting into town today and tomorrow. There were sponsor parties and pre-functions to attend, and he and a couple other riders had a signing at a big western store on Friday before the prelims. If all went well in the prelims, he’d ride again on Saturday and on the following day he’d drive Kristen to Marietta.
Two weeks later he’d be in Portland, once again traveling alone. He really should hook up with someone and share a ride, since it didn’t look like his usual travel partner, who, along with Braden, had been demoted to the minors, was going to be back on the main tour any time soon.
Or maybe he’d continue his solo act. It felt comfortable.
Although he was beginning to think that comfort was overrated. He couldn’t say it was easy having Kristen sharing a room with him—but it was interesting. And he was having a hard time shoving her out of his brain when he needed to focus on other things.
He was going to have to work harder at that—for both their sakes.
*
Kristen was beginning to think that Austin was avoiding her. She’d left the room that morning when he’d taken the call from his father, and found it empty when she came back forty minutes later. It was still empty when she stopped by after spending a couple hours taking in the sights, and when she returned later that afternoon, she found a note propped against the television saying that he was out with some bull riders who’d just got into town. Possibly the same crew he’d been with at the Silver Bow.
“Be back late,” the note read. “Charge your dinner to the room.”
The last bit sounded like an order. Austin might be a take-charge kind of guy, but that didn’t mean he needed to take charge of her, or direct her activities when he wasn’t there. She’d pay for dinner herself, thank you very much.
Kristen took the elevator down to the lobby and spent some time perusing the magazines and books in the lobby gift shop before buying a box of microwave popcorn and a Diet Coke. She’d just put her charge card back in her purse when someone behind her said, “Excuse me.”
She turned to see the young bull rider who had called Austin an asshole the previous evening standing behind her. He pulled his hat off, his face going red as he said, “I was, uh, hoping to see you before I left. I want to apologize for the scene I caused.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say, other than maybe he shouldn’t drink so much.
He gave her a jerky nod, then abruptly turned and walked away, clamping his hat back on his head as he left the gift shop.
What would it be like to be nineteen and have your dream on the skids? Bull riders did not have long careers for obvious reasons. Some guys lasted longer than others, competing into their thirties, but for the most part, that didn’t happen.
It hadn’t happened to Braden.
Which made her wonder what was going to happen to Austin. He was twenty-six—old in this game. He didn’t seem all that concerned about life after bull riding. She’d been guilty of the opposite—she’d spent so much time plotting and planning the future that she hadn’t enjoyed the moment she was in. The only mistake she’d made was in thinking her job was secure and not socking away enough money for the future. And again, Austin was the opposite. He had money socked away, but she couldn’t help believing that he probably would have been just as satisfied with his life if he didn’t.
She headed for the elevators, glad that the young bull rider had gone the opposite direction—hopefully steering clear of the security guy. The door to the elevator that had taken her and Austin on the wild ride the day before opened and Kristen stepped back to let the people move past her.
“Hey,” one of them said coming to a stop next to her. “I know you.”
Her stomach fell as she met the eyes of the Brazilian bull rider who’d been with Austin that night at the Silver Bow. The one who’d taken such great interest in her costume. The upper part of it anyway.
She felt the frozen deer-in-the-headlight feeling coming on and did her best to stave it off with a weak smile. “Yes. I remember.”
“That was a helluva trick you pulled on Austin,” the bull rider said, pushing his hat back. His dark eyes were dancing with amusement. “He fell for it.”
“For a while anyway,” the other guy, whom Kristen also recognized from the casino, said. “He figured it out pretty fast, but damn, girl. Good one.”
Kristen found that her smile was becoming more genuine at the bull riders’ earnest congratulations. “I regretted it afterward.”
“Austin needs shit like that.” The Brazilian extended a hand. “Gustavo Santos. Gus.”
The other bull rider also leaned in for a handshake. “Josh McIntosh.”
“Kristen Alexander.”
“Salt Lake City is a long way from Reno,” Gus said.
“I’m on my way home to Montana.”
He gestured with his head in the direction of the bar. “You want to join us for a quick drink?”
Her first instinct, as always, was to say no and escape, but she was trying to do things differently, so why not? A quick drink. It wasn’t like her microwave popcorn would go bad, and she was curious about these guys. More bad boys of the cowboy world. “Sure.”
“We’re not keeping you from anything?” Josh asked as they started across the lobby.
“Not a thing.”
“Pretty girl like you?” Gus asked going into such exaggerated lady’s-man mode that Kristen had to laugh. She was still smiling when they navigated around a marble column and ran smack into Austin, who was also heading for the bar.
The look on his face when he saw her with his friends was almost comical, and then his expression cleared and his jaw muscles tightened.
“Austin, look—we found your friend. The one with the rattlesnake,” Gus said as if Austin would need a hint as to who she was.
“Yeah.” He shifted his attention to Kristen. “I was up in the room looking for you a few minutes ago.” He was wearing a freshly ironed and starched shirt, so yes, he probably had been.
“I was down here.” She held up the plastic bag. “Dinner.”
“I thought you were going to charge dinner to the room. Like a real dinner.”
“Changed my mind.”
The two bull riders exchanged looks, then burst out laughing. “You two?”
“I’m taking her home,” Austin said, his voice clearly indicating that he wasn’t in the mood to take any crap off them.
Josh reached out and patted Austin on the shoulder. “I guess you guys made up.”
“Guess it’s none of your business,” Austin countered pleasantly, but there was an edge to his voice.
“We were going to have a quick drink before your function,” Kristen said.
He turned back to her and there was something in his expression that she couldn’t quite read. “I was trying to find you to see if you wanted to go to the function.”
“Am I invited?”
“You will be.”
Well, wasn’t that a surprise? Kristen took in the bull riders’ polished boots, starched shirts, shiny trophy buckles, then calmly met Austin’s gaze. “I don’t have anything to wear. I packed light, remember.”
“Maybe we could go upstairs and look.”
“Or you could have a drink with us,” Gustavo said with a crooked grin. The guy was definitely not shy.
Kristen looked at the trio of bull riders and shook her head. Part of her wanted to go have her damned drink and the other part wanted to go to the room and have a few things out with Austin.
“Maybe another time,” she said to Gus, who winced as if he’d been hit.
“You bet,” Josh said.
“Maybe we can hook up tomorrow,” Gus suggested. “After the prelims. You can have a drink with the winner.”
“I’ll give her your number,” Austin said, taking Kristen’s elbow in a light grasp and steering her toward the elevators.
“What was that about?” Kristen asked through her teeth as they walked back across the lobby. She took a sideways step when they stopped so that his hand dropped away.
“We can talk in the room.”
They caught the elevator they’d kissed in, but this time it took them straight to their floor with no side trips. Good. She had things to say to him and didn’t need to be distracted. As soon as they got to the room, Austin went to her closet and opened the door. Kristen closed it again and his gaze jerked up in surprise.
“Do you really want me to go to this function? Or were you just trying to pry me loose from your friends?”
“I know my friends,” he said darkly.
“That isn’t an answer.” She drew in a breath and asked the question that had been bouncing around in her mind since Austin interrupted her trip to the bar. “What business is it of yours who I hang with?”
“I didn’t think you needed to end up in Gustavo’s bed.”
She gave a short laugh. Really? “And maybe that’s not your call.”
His gaze dropped to the carpet and he ran a hand over the back of his neck before looking back up at her. “I know it’s not my call.”
“Thank you,” she said with exaggerated politeness.
“But be warned—Gustavo will treat you like any buckle bunny on the tour.”
“Maybe that’s what I’m looking for.”
His eyes went dark. “You sure about that?”
She took a step forward and tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. Anger made it so much easier to say what she thought. It always had. “I’m sure that I can do what I want, see who I want. You aren’t in charge of my…scars.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“Well, the guy I know isn’t interested.”
“Kris…have you ever had a one-night stand?”
Her gaze slid down to his mouth, which was set in a flat line as he waited for her answer. “What do you think?”
“I think no.”
There was an intensity in his expression that made it impossible to look away.
“Don’t start with Gus.”
He stepped back and shoved a hand through his hair before giving her an accusing look. “I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
“I wasn’t thinking along those lines either.” Not much anyway. “But something changed. Somebody kissed me. Got me thinking. Got all those high school fantasies roused up again.” One corner of her mouth tightened ruefully. “Good ones, too.”
He sat down on her bed, his jaw muscles tightening as he stared past her, his expression intense. Too intense.
Needing to regroup, Kristen turned to the closet, pulled the door open. “Do you still want me to go to this function with you?”
The door swung shut, startling her, since she hadn’t heard Austin move. She turned to find him only inches away from her, his jaw muscles still so tight that she could see the pulse beating there.
“Do you want a one-night stand, Kris?”
“I…” The answer died on her lips. Any doubts about whether he was attracted to her evaporated in the sizzling heat of his gaze. She swallowed, managed to force a single word out. “Yes.”
He brought his hand up and lightly stroked his fingers down the side of her face, sending a shiver through her.
“Last chance for sanity.”
“Not taking it.”
“You’re sure?” His voice was low, almost a growl. Rather than answer, Kristen touched his face, holding his gaze as she ran her thumb across his firm lower lip.
He caught her hand, brought her knuckles to his lips. “Lead the way, Kris.”
Her heartbeat skipped as she realized what he was saying. He wanted her to take charge. To prove that he wasn’t taking advantage. The old insecurities started to rise, but she made a Herculean effort to put them aside.
If he wanted her to lead, she’d lead.
Without a word, she took his face between her palms and slowly pulled his mouth down to hers. But instead of kissing him, she teased his mouth, stroking his upper lip lightly with her tongue, nipping his lower lip. Doing her best to show him she could take charge. Austin stilled, met her gaze. She lifted her eyebrows.
He gave her a so-it’s-going-to-be-like-that look, then pulled her against him, claiming her mouth. So much for her taking control. But she’d make her point and then there was no more thought of insecurity. Only Austin challenging her to let go. To forget everything except the sensual fire he was stoking with his lips, his tongue, his fingers. He slid his hands down over her ass, pressing her against his hard length before traveling back up her sides, brushing over her breasts, making her swallow first a gasp, then a groan as his thumbs brushed over her nipples through too many layers of fabric.
There was no more ice princess. In her place was a woman whose insides were blazing.
She sucked a breath between her teeth as his lips traveled down the side of her neck to the sensitive hollow there, before moving back up to her mouth again. Her nipples strained against her bra as he cupped her breasts, teased them through her cotton dress, her bra. There was simply too much fabric between them. She needed to feel his hands on her skin, not on her clothing.
She turned and moved her hair aside, offering him the zipper of her dress. He took hold without a word, smoothly drawing it down to her lower back. She shrugged her shoulders and the dress skimmed down over her hips and fell to the floor. Stepping out of the pooled fabric she turned to him. There was nothing between them now except for expensive lace, cotton and denim.
Austin addressed the cotton, popping the snaps of his shirt one by one, exposing his chest, his rock-hard abs. The scars on his pecs and the big one curving around his side.
“Someday you’ll have to tell me about all these scars.” As soon as she spoke, she regretted it. One-night stand, remember? Except that she didn’t believe this was going to be a one-night thing…not when they had more nights together before heading home.
“Which one do you want to know about?”
She touched the small one on his pec, first with her fingers, then with her lips. His skin was salty, which made her want to trail her tongue along the contours of his body, tasting as she went. Oh yeah. She was a salt girl.
“I was young. Riding a bull whose horns hadn’t been blunted. Stupid.”
She continued her exploration of his scars, of the hard planes of his chest and abs, without further questions. Time for that later. When her hands reached the top of his jeans, she looked up at him. “Any scars down here?”
His chin dipped lower, watching as she undid the trophy buckle on his belt. His flat stomach contracted as she dipped her fingers beneath the waistband of his jeans and undid the top button.
“Feel free to explore.”
She stepped back and gestured at his feet. “Boots, Austin.”
He sat on the bed and pulled off his boots. Then he stood and unzipped his jeans, pushed them down over his muscular thighs, bringing his boxers with them. When he straightened, his erection bobbed impressively. Kristen looked first at his hard-on, then met his gaze and held it as she reached out and took his cock in her hand, running her hand over the heavy length of it.
And then, she stepped forward, hands now on his chest, forcing him back until his knees hit the bed and he sat. That was when she lowered herself down between his knees and slowly drew him into her mouth. Felt a small rush of power.
Austin’s head dropped back and his eyes closed as she sucked, teased, tasted, until he abruptly pushed himself upright. His breath was ragged as he said, “Yeah. That’ll do for now.”
She slowly got to her feet, dragged her gaze from his swollen cock to his face. He made a circular gesture with his finger. “Turn around.”
When she did, he pushed aside her hair and undid the clasp of her bra, then tucked his thumbs into the sides of her panties and rolled them down past her thighs. Kristen’s breath hitched as the silk slid down her legs, then she inhaled sharply, when he lightly nipped the cheek of her ass.
If she was wet before, she was drowning now.
He put his hands on her waist, turned her around and pulled her down beside him on the bed, where his hard body pressed against hers. But what she thought was going to be a quick coupling, turned out to be a long, slow exploration of her body—every part of her body. He worked his way to her most vulnerable area, and she gave a tiny whimper as his tongue flicked over her sensitive clit. One more touch like that and she’d be done for.
Austin must have read the warning signs, because he abandoned his mission and pulled himself back up alongside of her, stroking her hair back from her face, and dropping a quick kiss on her lips before getting out of bed and walking to his bag. A moment later he was back.
He settled a knee between her thighs, a hand near her head as he positioned himself over her, the blunt tip of his cock pressed against her. She had the strong feeling that he was giving her one last chance to back out, but there was no going back. He waited until her taut muscles relaxed before he started pushing himself into her. He was less than halfway in when she followed instinct and arched against him, hard, burying him all the way inside of her.
“Is that what you wanted?” He murmured the question close to her ear.
“Yes.” She couldn’t think of anything that had ever felt better than Austin inside of her.
He lifted his hips, pulled almost all the way out of her, then slowly drove into her.
“Like that,” she murmured.
His cock throbbed inside of her and then he began moving inside her with a steady rhythm. Slow, but not too slow. Then fast, but not too fast. Touching that magical spot some people said didn’t exist. It did. And it was sending wicked sensations through her every time the end of his cock hit it.
Oh. No.
“Don’t…”
“What?” He stopped instantly, his hand coming up to her cheek, his eyes dark with concern.
She pressed against him. “Don’t let me come too soon.”
He let out a breath, shook his head, then started again with a serious motion, his strokes long and deep. She felt the climax building again, fought against it. It was too soon, way too soon.
“Austin…”
He didn’t slow down. He kept moving, his rhythm increasing, his body beating into hers. Her control was slipping…and then it was gone.
She cried out against his shoulder as her body exploded. She arched against him and then came down to earth in a thousand small pieces. Austin gave one final deep stroke before his head dropped and he half collapsed, taking care not to drop all his weight onto her.
As if she cared.
She smoothed the damp hair away from his forehead, bringing her cheek to rest against the side of his head. She closed her eyes, let out a low breath as his hand came up to cup her breast.
“I can’t remember the last time I felt this good,” she murmured.
“I’m doing okay on this end, too.” He ran a hand over her back in a slow soothing motion.
She let herself relax against him, wishing they could simply go to sleep, but he had the function to go to. “What happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t want things to get weird, you know…after we get back to Marietta.”
He raised an eyelid to look down at her. “When reality takes over?”
“Exactly.”
“They won’t get weird.” He sounded like he fully believed what he said, and that helped Kristen believe as well. “We’ll enjoy this time while we have it, then real life will kick in and we’ll go back to being friends. The important thing is that we know that going in. Know what we want. Know what we expect.”
“Sounds good.” It also sounded like a free pass to do what she’d never dared do before—enjoy life in the here and now, with no big plans for the future.
He rolled over onto his side so that they were face to face. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“How’d you get that scar on your upper arm?”
“My scar?” She twisted her arm so that she could see the J-shaped white mark. The accident had happened such a long time ago that she rarely thought about her scar—especially since she couldn’t see it.
“It’s how I knew it was really you in the casino that night.”
She made a face at him as she let her arm drop back onto the bed. “Taken down by my past.”
“I was almost convinced that it wasn’t you until I saw it.”
And maybe, considering all that had happened between them, that was a good thing. “I was fencing with my cousins on the MCC ranch one summer. The wire they were pulling snapped and whipped back. I was lucky it only hit my arm.”
“Shit.”
“I know.”
He rolled her over onto her back and gave her a long, lingering kiss. “I need to go.”
“You do,” she agreed.
“I want you to come with me.”
“I honestly have nothing suitable for a western event.”
“I don’t trust Gustavo not to slip away and come calling. We’ll find something.”
Kristen nipped his lower lip, smiling when he gently returned the favor. “No worries there. One bull rider is plenty. I don’t need two.”