Dan (Texas Rascals Book 9) Read online

  “Please what?” he asked.

  “Please…” She gulped, then whispered, “Kiss me.”

  Holy smokes, had he heard her correctly? Dan’s heart skipped, and he lowered his head.

  She offered no resistance. In fact, she went up on tiptoes, tilted up her chin, and pursed her lips.

  How beautiful she was with the blazing afternoon sun dappling patterns of light across the freckles dusting her small, pert nose.

  In his arms she felt so tiny, so vulnerable. It amazed him that she could readily control large horses with the tone of her voice and firm discipline.

  His body responded to those sensual thoughts. Firecrackers of awareness ignited inside him, and he felt his jeans tighten.

  He envisioned them locked together in the throes of lovemaking, her head thrown back, her glorious red hair fanned long and free over his bare skin. Her sweet feminine scent assailing his trembling nostrils, invading his very being. Her generous squeals of pleasure filling his eager ears.

  Her lips quivered.

  Dan moaned softly and bodily lifted her off her feet.

  His self-control shot all to hell.

  “Oh,” Raleigh whispered.

  Dan kissed her like she’d never been kissed before. His lips pressed to hers, wild yet tame, strong yet tender. Only her sleeveless cotton tank top separated his bare flesh from hers.

  She gulped, her mind whirling. A white hotness boiled within her until her whole body simmered with vibrating need.

  Dan deepened the kiss. His mouth searched, growing more insistent, more demanding, destroying her will, eroding her control.

  Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as she found herself kneading his rock-hard biceps.

  His tongue feathered along her lips, and he tightened his arms around her.

  She inhaled his unique smell—the heady combination of horse, spice, sand, and man.

  A driving force connected them. A force as natural and primal as stormy weather. Urgently, she drank in the taste of him.

  He twisted her braid around one hand and gently pulled her head back as his tongue thrust deeper.

  An unexpected sound startled Raleigh.

  She jumped. Could it be Pete and Caleb? From her peripheral vision, she saw Chester lope up on the porch beside them.

  Shame burst inside her. What on earth was she doing? She’d sworn nothing like this would ever happen, and here she was kissing Dan on the very first day.

  “No,” she cried and twisted away from him.

  Instantly, Dan released her.

  She slid to the floor, her bootheels skidding on the worn wooden porch. Furiously, she raked a hand across her mouth damp from his kiss.

  “W-what did you do?”

  “You asked me to kiss you—”

  “I was out of my mind.” She smacked her palm against her head.

  “Raleigh... I-I’m sorry. I misunderstood.”

  But he hadn’t. She’d led him on. She was the problem. Not him. Before she could tell him that, Pete and Caleb pulled into the driveway.

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, scrambling to her feet and tucking loose hair behind her ear. “I’m just…I… Let’s forget this ever happened, okay?”

  She smoothed down her shirt, then stepped out on the porch to greet Pete and her brother.

  “What’s up?” Pete asked, slamming the pickup door and glancing from Raleigh to Dan and back again. Raleigh knew her hair was mussed, her face flushed, her mouth swollen from Dan’s kisses.

  “Did we miss something?” Caleb hitched up the too-big jeans she’d bought him at a thrift store.

  “Nothing,” she and Dan chorused in unison.

  “Okay.” Pete held up both palms. “None of our business.”

  Raleigh caught Caleb eyeing her thoughtfully. Oh gosh, what kind of example was she setting for her kid brother? This was wrong.

  “C’mon,” she said, determined to pretend the kiss never happened. “Let’s get this truck unloaded.” She ignored Dan, grabbed a box from the back of the van, and shouldered past him.

  Her heart thundered like a prizewinning filly accelerating on the last furlong. Her lips tingled, and her stomach fluttered. How could she have let this happen? How could she have begged him to kiss her?

  Considering the distressing effects of Dan’s lips, she was a fool to stay here. But what choice did she have? She had no job and no place to stay. Essentially, she was trapped—isolated with a man who could steal her will with a single, mind-blowing kiss.

  Dan let out his breath through gritted teeth, hissing like a tire going flat. Remorse, sticky and cloying, wrapped around his heart. Pushing his hands through his hair, he leaned against the front porch railing and sighed.

  Why had he kissed her? Just because she’d asked him to, didn’t mean he should have done it.

  Closing his eyes, he recalled how he’d gotten caught up in the moment. She’d looked so tempting with a fresh sheen of perspiration glazing her peaches-and-cream complexion, the gentle wisps of copper-colored hair framing her face, that jaunty green bandanna tied around her head.

  He fingered his lips and grimaced. There was no denying it, she wasn’t a woman to be trifled with. Dan respected her. She was no shrinking violet, that Raleigh.

  “Boss?” Pete shot him an inquiring glance.

  “It was nothing.” Dan looked over at his friend.

  “You sure?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s under control.”

  “What’s under control?”

  “The situation.”

  “What situation?”

  “Raleigh and me.”

  “What have you been up to?” Pete warned.

  “Nothing.”

  “Something. You look guilty.”

  Dan shrugged but couldn’t meet Pete’s gaze. “I kissed her.”

  “What?”

  “Hey, don’t give me that look. She asked me to.”

  “Dan—”

  “I know, I know. Completely stupid.”

  “Please, don’t hurt her,” Pete said. “She’s been through too much.”

  “Me? Hurt her?” If anything, he would be the one to end up with a broken heart. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Better not.”

  Dan couldn’t have agreed with Pete more. He’d made a big mistake. Although kissing Raleigh was the stupidest thing he’d done in recent memory, it was also the most pleasurable. And that spelled disaster with a capital D.

  Spurred into action, he removed a floor lamp from the van and took it in the house. He stopped short.

  Raleigh stood in the middle of the room looking beautiful. Her tank top emphasized her modest assets while her tight blue jeans flattered her attractive derriere.

  Aching desire drilled through his groin. He had an urge to fling her over his shoulder, carry her off to a cave and make her his. Yet at the same time his knees threatened to buckle at her nearness. Around Raleigh, he felt part tongue-tied schoolboy, part primitive Neanderthal.

  Neither was good.

  Wrenching his eyes from her distracting figure, Dan chided himself. He had to quit thinking about her in this way if they were going to be working together. The last thing he needed was another disastrous romance. Jenny had burned him badly. From now on, Raleigh Travers was strictly off-limits. No matter how hard she begged.

  “Put the lamp in the corner, Dan,” she directed. The calmness reflected in her controlled voice surprised him. She’d shaken off the kiss pretty fast. “Next to the sofa.”

  The same dang sofa responsible for instigating the unfortunate kiss in the first place. If they hadn’t moved the sofa together...well...he would never have spoken those provocative words; she would never have asked him to kiss her; he would never have pulled her to his chest and clamped his lips on hers.

  “Anybody for iced tea?” Raleigh led the way into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and removed a pitcher brimming with freshly brewed tea.

  Caleb unpacked the g
lasses, lined them up on the counter like attentive soldiers, then filled them with crushed ice from the freezer.

  Pete pulled up a chair and sat down at the lopsided table. One of the legs was too short, and Dan made a mental note to repair it for her.

  “Have a seat, McClintock.” Raleigh shoved a cold glass of tea in his direction.

  Dan took the glass and pressed it to his forehead to cool his lust-fevered brow. He pulled up a chair next to Pete, feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Why couldn’t he put the kiss out of his mind the way Raleigh seemed to have done?

  “This place is great, Mr. McClintock,” Caleb said, oblivious to the mounting tension in the room. “I always wanted to live in a log cabin.”

  “Thank you, Caleb. I hope you and your sister will enjoy staying here.” Dan kept his eyes trained on Raleigh. When she was in the room, he couldn’t concentrate on anything else. She leaned casually against the kitchen counter, a glass of tea in one hand, the other hand cocked sassily at her hip. She glared at him over the rim of her tea glass.

  Their eyes met, clashed. They exchanged an unspoken challenge. She flicked her braid over her shoulder, and a quicksilver lick of desire lashed through him like a whip.

  Dan shivered.

  “Cold, Dan?” she asked, never dropping her gaze.

  “No. In fact, it’s quite hot in here.”

  “It sure is, Mr. McClintock. I’m sweating like a horse rode hard and put up wet.” Caleb wiped moisture from his face.

  Me, too, Caleb. Me, too, Dan thought, and the resulting spark of arousal chasing through his abdomen had nothing to do with the external temperature in the room and everything to do with the sultry redhead peering at him.

  “And please, call me Dan.” he said.

  “Okay.” Caleb grinned. “Dan.”

  “No,” Raleigh said. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. After all, Mr. McClintock is our boss.” She set her empty glass in the sink and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

  “But you call him Dan,” Caleb argued.

  “He’s gotcha there, Raleigh.” Pete smiled.

  “Well... well... I shouldn’t call him Dan, either,” she sputtered.

  “I don’t mind.” Dan grinned. He met her stare again, but this time she was the first to look away.

  “Fine. Whatever,” Raleigh muttered. “I don’t have time to sit around gabbing; I’ve got work to do. There’s a truck that needs unloading and horses that need to be fed.”

  With that announcement, she turned, flipped her sassy braid over her shoulder once more, and stalked past Dan’s chair.

  A devilish impulse overtook him. He felt the sudden need to get a reaction out of her, to break her supreme control. Before he considered the consequences, Dan reached out and captured her elbow.

  She sucked in her breath, her muscles tensing beneath his fingers.

  “Outside, McClintock,” she barked, “Now.” Wrenching herself from his grasp, she fled out the open front door.

  6

  Raleigh squinted against the blazing sunlight, wondering where she’d misplaced her sunglasses. Despite the demanding afternoon rays, it felt good to escape the cabin.

  Dan followed her outside.

  She was grateful to see that he’d slipped his shirt back on. His bare chest befuddled her, and she’d been unable to think clearly.

  “We’ve got to talk,” she said. “Somewhere private.”

  Pete and Caleb were standing in the doorway, watching them with avid interest.

  “Let’s stroll over to the stables.” Dan tilted his head.

  Raleigh didn’t wait for him. Terrified of her emotions, she spun around, tucked her fingertips into her back pockets, and rushed toward the stables. In her haste, she accidentally had kicked the door open too hard and startled the horses in their stalls. Pacing the hay-strewn aisle, Raleigh folded her arms and struggled to rein in her feelings.

  Dan entered the barn behind her, his palms raised. “Before you go off like a geyser, I’ve got something to say.”

  Was she really that predictable? That easily set off? It wasn’t a pretty quality. She needed to work on controlling her emotions. Count to ten, Raleigh. It was okay to be upset; she just needed to set strong boundaries.

  With Dan…

  Ha!

  With herself.

  She was the one who’d asked him to kiss her. “I’m listening.”

  He arched his eyebrows. “Thank you.”

  “I…we…can’t do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “This.” She flapped a hand between them.

  “Talk in the horse barn?” he teased.

  “Touch…kiss.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re my boss.”

  “I could be more. I want to be more.”

  “We barely know each other.”

  “We’ll be spending a lot of time together. We can get to know each other. Slowly,” he said. “Over time.”

  She shook her head, her knees weak and her heart pounding. She wanted to fling herself into his arms and say, Yes, yes, yes, let’s get to know each other.

  “Come on, Raleigh. You may not like it, and heaven knows I find it inconvenient, but there is some force drawing us together.”

  “No, there’s not,” she whimpered, unable to take her eyes off him.

  “Admit it. You felt it when I kissed you. I could taste it on your tongue.”

  “I felt nothing,” she lied through her teeth.

  “Who are you trying to kid? Me or yourself?”

  “This has to stop,” she whimpered.

  “You’re sure that’s what you want?” His eyes glittered. “Because you’re sending mixed messages.”

  “It’s the way I want it,” she said, but her words sounded hollow, empty.

  “Why?”

  “W-Why? Why?” she sputtered.

  “Yes,” he said calmly. “Why?”

  “Because you’re my boss!” She ducked her head, willing her heart to stop beating so loudly.

  “So?” A sexy smile curled the corners of his handsome mouth.

  “It’s unprofessional. And besides, I don’t want to be attracted to you.”

  “Okay. I can honor that.” Both palms went up. Stop sign hands. He stepped back.

  “I am not attracted to you,” she insisted.

  “Are you telling me I don’t make your pulse hammer, the way you make mine take off?” He slouched against one of the stalls and brushed a wisp of hair from his forehead.

  No, she couldn’t deny it.

  “It was just a kiss, Raleigh. Why are you letting it twist you up if you’re not having deeper feelings?”

  Only a kiss? If that was only a kiss, then what would his lovemaking feel like? That dizzied her head. “Are you in the habit of kissing women you barely know?”

  “Just the ones who ask me to.”

  Oh dear. He was right. She wasn’t mad at him but rather her own lack of self-control.

  “What are you so afraid?” he murmured. “What has you running scared?”

  What was she afraid of? So many things! Life continually robbed her of her loved ones, and losing them caused so much pain. If she didn’t let herself care, she’d stop getting hurt. Long ago, she’d come to grips with a lonely future, in fact, had embraced it. She didn’t need Dan. Didn’t need any man.

  And yet, just looking at his gentle eyes and kind smile loosened her knees and weakened her resolve. Was she really ready to give up on love?

  Love? Good grief. Who said anything about love? What she felt for him was red-hot desire and nothing more. Nothing.

  “Raleigh…” he whispered.

  That soft, barely audible sound shouldn’t have warmed her from the inside out, but it did. “You’re just trying to charm me.”

  His steady gaze confirmed it.

  Alarm spread goosebumps up her arms, inflamed her heated skin. He wanted her. Worse, she wanted him right back.

  “You’ve been h
urt,” he said. “Badly.”

  She didn’t answer as she rubbed the tip of her right boot against her left calf.

  “So have I,” he said. “But I haven’t given up on people.”

  “I’m scared,” she startled herself by admitting.

  “I know.” Sadness glimmered in the depths of his dark eyes. “I am too.”

  Raising her chin, Raleigh renewed her resolve. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can work here.”

  He looked so disappointed it ripped at her heart. “Please reconsider. I need you, and you need a place to stay. We can help each other.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t kiss me again. Not even if I beg. Promise me you won’t kiss me again, no matter what. That’s only way I can possibly stay.”

  “I can promise that.”

  “Can you?”

  Dan nodded. “I confess, things got out of hand, but I assure you it won’t happen again. No matter how much I enjoyed kissing you.”

  She’d enjoyed it too, which was the problem.

  “You’ll stay?” He sounded hopeful.

  “I do need the job.” She hesitated, her thoughts jumbled. “And I’m excited about doing farrier work. Here’s my conditions. The cabin, barn, and stables are my territory. You keep to the big house while I’m tending the horses. Caleb and I will see to our duties. No shared meals, no sharing anything. If that’s not good enough for you, then forget it.”

  There. She’d put up boundaries. Drawn her line in the sand.

  Dan nodded. “I accept those terms.”

  “And if you violate my terms, Caleb and I are out of here. Got it?”

  “Loud and clear.”

  From his stall in the corner, Matt Dillon whinnied as if confirming their agreement.

  “I mean it, McClintock.”

  “I have no doubts about that.”

  “So, it’s settled.”

  “Want to shake on it?”

  “Don’t push me,” she warned but grinned.

  “All right,” he said and bobbed his head. “I’ll leave you to it.” Then he turned and walked away.