Chapter Nine
Matt was running the table at pool, gladly showing up the young buck who’d been bragging about everything from the size of his bulls to the size of his balls. He was Reggie’s cousin, maybe. A twenty-five-year-old bull rider from Casper who was staying in Matt’s house this week and getting on Matt’s every last nerve.
For a few minutes, Matt could focus on lining up shot after shot, enjoying the sound of the billiard smacking around the table while a country rock band came back for another set. For the first time since the start of the bachelor party, the bull rider blowhard was quiet. Whatever the guy mumbled now between mournful sips of beer, Matt couldn’t hear it.
Leaving him free to think about when he could leave the dive bar and head over to Larissa’s place. Tapping the green ball into a corner pocket, Matt straightened to chalk his stick.
“Nice shot.” Reggie Montgomery, Cassie’s fiancé, joined them, beer in hand.
With his wide black Stetson and white button-down, the groom-to-be was better dressed than most of them, and he was one of the few in attendance who—like Matt—wasn’t interested in drinking himself stupid. Reggie’s best man was a capable sort, however, and Matt had made sure the guy had a plan for getting everyone back to their respective houses safely. They’d all have a day to dry out before the wedding on Saturday.
The rest of the guys would be fine. Matt, on the other hand, would have to walk his only sister down the aisle and figure out how to say goodbye to Larissa on the same day.
“One of our old bunkhouses used to have a pool table in it. I spent way too much time over there as a kid.” Matt set down the chalk and looked over his options for his next shot.
“Bunkhouse billiards?” Reggie grinned and tipped the brim back on his hat to scratch his forehead. “I’d heard the Briggs are good to this town, but that cinches it.”
Leaning over the table to put his opponent out of his misery, Matt called for the eight ball in the corner pocket. He sank the shot before answering.
“Since it’s not like my sister to talk up the family like that, I’m curious who you’ve been asking about us.” It was true that the Briggs family tried to buy local and support the regional economy first. Matt knew he hadn’t done as good of a job at that as his father always did.
Reggie gently took the cue stick from his cousin, taking charge of racking the balls for a new game. Matt had thought about leaving the party, but wouldn’t have been rude enough to bail when the man of the hour wanted to play a round. Especially when he was curious about the direction of this conversation.
“I wasn’t asking about the family, per se.” Matt’s future brother-in-law took his time lining up the balls and positioning them where he wanted them. “I approached Jeb last month about doing business since I had some breeding stock and I knew from Callie you were in the market. But he said the Briggs always buy local.” He gestured to the table. “Do you want to break?”
Break from tradition? Break from the way his father had always done things?
It took Matt a moment to realize Reggie was asking about the rack.
“Sure.” Matt lifted his cue stick.
From behind him, a chorus of feminine squeals distracted him. Turning, he spotted a familiar group of women led by his sister.
“I’m here for my man!” Callie called over the hoots and hollers of the guys around the bar. One of her cousins tried to stop her—teasing, of course—and her elbow was enough to send him scuttling back to the bar.
Matt monitored the situation, making sure no one hassled the ladies while surreptitiously searching for the green-eyed brunette he wanted to see most. He settled his cue stick back into the stand on the wall now that his pool opponent was escorting the bride to the dance floor.
Not exactly the usual end to a bachelor party, but given how wrapped up the bride and groom appeared, no one was going to suggest they stand on protocol.
A pair of cold feminine hands slid around Matt’s eyes and for a second he hoped that Larissa had found him. But almost before he finished the thought, he realized the scent and touch was all wrong.
“Hi, Matt,” a too-high soprano voice spoke in his ear, her breasts making themselves known against his back.
Damn.
“Hey, Tammy Lynn.” He had known Callie’s friends from the time they were all kids and his strongest memories of this one were shoving the other girls away from her favorite pony on her eighth birthday.
Callie insisted the girl had mellowed, but she’d never be Matt’s type. He unwound the woman’s hands from his face just in time to spot Larissa a few feet away. Watching.
Unease stirred in his gut as she charged toward him, a determined set to her chin.
“Want to dance?” Tammy Lynn was asking him, twining her free arm under one of his. “I love this song.”
Matt took her by the shoulders to set some distance between them, knowing he needed to be more obvious about sending her the “not interested” message. Before he could answer, much to his pleasant surprise, Larissa tucked herself against his side.
“Sorry, Tammy.” She smiled sweetly and placed a possessive hand on Matt’s chest. “He promised me this one.”
Matt slid his hand around her waist, noticing how right she felt under his arm. By his side.
He turned her toward the dance floor, breathing in the clean scent of her hair as a bolt of desire shot straight through him.
“You’re a welcome sight.” He brushed a kiss along her temple, not caring who saw. The next two days were going to be all about Larissa. “Although I will admit I’m surprised Callie talked you into busting up the bachelor party.”
“If I only have two days left with you, I plan to make the most of them.” She followed him to the edge of the hardwood where couples swayed together or two-stepped.
The sound system was tinny, the dive bar more notable for its cheap drinks and pool table than ambiance.
“I was having that exact same thought about you.” He nodded toward the well-worn dance floor while a few white lights blinked overhead. “Did you want that dance?”
“Actually, I was more interested in seeing how soon I could take you home.” Her definitive answer intrigued him.
No hesitation. No second-guessing.
She stared up at him with heat in her eyes. Her fingers played lightly over his chest.
“I like this side of you.” The words came out with a bit more growl in his voice than he’d intended.
“Really?” She stepped closer. Whispered in his ear, “Wait until you see it naked.”
*
Larissa drove them back to the house as quickly as traffic laws allowed. They were both quiet and she guessed that they were equally preoccupied by what would happen next. It was like the hunger of being together had built for eight whole years, and now the need was so great they could barely wait to get their hands on one another.
Then tension was thick by the time they stepped over the threshold to the house. She’d never been so bold with any man in her life, but she felt the need to take a risk. To put a relationship first and see what happened, just like Hattie did.
So she didn’t worry about tomorrow or the day after. Didn’t think about next week. She simply tossed down the keys, stepped out of her boots and threw her arms around Matt Briggs.
He lifted her straight off the ground, holding her up against him so they were chest to chest. Mouth to mouth. She kissed him like she might never have the chance again, stoking the heat already simmering through her.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He breathed the words over her lips, just barely breaking the kiss while his right hand palmed her injured hip and gently rubbed it. “We’re going to be more careful.”
She nodded, ready to agree to anything that would get them naked faster. But this, in particular, reached right through all the hot desire to touch her heart. He was a thoughtful and caring man.
“Thank you.” She trailed kisses down his neck, spanning a shoulder in each of her hands. “You are too good to me.” Her throat burned just a little to think about how kind he’d always been.
Why had she run from him?
From this?
But Matt distracted her from those thoughts by lifting her higher still, his broad palms parting her thighs to wrap her legs around him so he could carry her through the house.
Straight to the bedroom.
She’d left a window cracked open just a little and the cool summer night air brought the scent of grasses and wildflowers, stirring the long, cream-colored curtains. Last night, they’d talked and flirted. Tonight felt different. Urgent.
Wordlessly, he set her on her feet and stripped her of all her clothes. Moonlight filled the room with the blinds still wide open. Only the occasional billow of the cotton curtains filtered the bright white light. His touch was fast and functional, although twice he got distracted by her breasts and had to pause to kiss and caress them. The gentle scrape of his stubbled cheek alongside the sensual slide of his tongue made her breath come faster. Her skin tightened and tingled. She hastened him on by shoving at his clothes, needing him inside her.
Wanting him all around her.
He distracted her though, too.
Unable to keep her hands off him, she smoothed a path over his pectorals. Down the center of his impressive chest. Stroking along his abs and covering the sexy obliques that had driven her crazy that day she’d seen him with his shirt off.
He peeled her hands away long enough to shed his jeans, leaving him as naked as her.
Finally.
Before she could launch herself at him again, he slapped a condom packet on the bed, the metallic wrapper glinting in the moonlight. He lifted her so she straddled his lap, lowering himself to the edge of the bed. Keeping them face-to-face.
He collected all her hair in one hand and held it, steering her into his kiss. Her body ignited at the contact, the ends of her hair sweeping along the sensitive skin of her upper back, tickling and teasing while his tongue did wicked things to hers. Her breasts ached for his touch, but so did every other part of her that he wasn’t touching.
She wriggled closer, shifting on his strong thighs so that she felt his abs contract and the hard length of him strain against her. Blindly, she reached around the bed for the condom.
Her hands were unsteady as she ripped it open. She trembled everywhere. Releasing her hair, Matt took over the task, rolling the condom into place. He kissed her deeply, gripping her hips in both hands and lifting her so the hottest, needy part of her stroked up his jutting erection. By the time he centered her right where they both wanted, she was already so close to completion.
Yet, she knew if she came apart now, she’d only want him again moments afterward. On and on, all night long. Just like the night before.
Matt paused. When her eyes glanced to his, questioning, he moved again, lowering her slowly. Joining them.
His gaze locked on hers, fitting together as surely as their bodies. Somehow, in that moment, her defenses all slid away. They must have. Because she felt Matt settle into her heart, taking more than just a piece. He seemed to steal the whole thing in the space of a breath.
She shut her eyes again, fast. Needing to hold on to the moment. The heat. The sex.
“Rissa.” He said her name roughly and softly at the same time, like a soul-deep admission of need.
Or maybe it was just her who felt that.
Opening her eyes again, she found him still watching her. Then, he began to move. Or, rather, he moved her. He rocked her against him, guiding her hips so she never had to move. She only had to feel. Only had to lose herself.
He thrust inside her once. Twice.
Deeper.
Her forehead fell to his shoulder, the curtain fluttering against her back as the breeze swirled through the room, cooling their heated skin with a sensual tickle. Larissa combed restless, needy fingers through his hair. Tension built higher and higher.
When she couldn’t hang on any longer, a cry broke free from her throat. Her shout filled the room, surprising her with the wanton cry as wave after wave of pleasure filled her. Matt didn’t last much longer, his body so responsive to hers. His shout made hers sound tame, the volume reverberating through her. They fell together on the bed, breathing hard, legs shaking.
The silence afterward felt delicate and profound at the same time. Larissa wondered what would happen if she broke it. If she blurted out that she wanted to stay in Cheyenne. That she wanted to see what might happen between them if she stayed.
Would he be happy? Wary?
Would he look at her the way he’d looked at Tammy Lynn Searles earlier that evening—like he needed to let her down easy but there wasn’t a chance that things would ever work between them? For a moment, Larissa had almost felt bad for the woman who must not know him well enough to see that she had no chance with him.
But what if Larissa was just as blind when it came to Matt Briggs?
“Are you okay?” Matt asked, his voice tender next to her ear in the moonlit room.
How to answer that one? She truly had no idea.
“Does your hip ache?” He smoothed along her side with his palm.
“It’s fine.” Her hip was the least of her worries right now. She needed to talk to Matt about her, what would happen after this weekend.
About how their futures might intersect.
But she also hated to disturb this perfect moment in his arms as their breathing slowed and synced up. He kissed her forehead. Her eyelids.
Gladly, she kept her eyes closed, reveling in the feel of his hands all over her. She liked holding on to the hopeful feeling in her heart that his feelings toward her were growing in the same ways hers were for him. Talking to Matt about things like sheep and ranching was simple. Fun. Conversation about the things that really mattered?
That had never been easy for her. He was a straightforward man and he said what he thought, always sure of himself. Larissa, on the other hand, wasn’t always certain of herself. Take her dancing, for example. It had been a dream for her, but over time it became so bound up with other significance and emotions that she couldn’t tell what dance meant to her versus the promise she’d made to her mother.
And her feelings for Matt—while strong—were even more complicated. What if she didn’t express them well? Or accurately? Would he retreat from her even more than he had eight years ago? He’d certainly accepted her leaving easily enough.
He’d never tried to contact her after her text.
Which, she’d told herself, was only what she deserved for the callous way she’d left. But still. She couldn’t afford to mess things up a second time.
Morning would be soon enough to tell him she’d like to stay. That the thought of getting in the car again and driving away from Cheyenne was too difficult to contemplate. Yet as she fell into a fitful sleep beside him, she feared that Matt was the kind of man who gave people one chance.
Because if that was the case? She already knew she’d blown hers eight years ago.