“How long do we have to wait before we can do that again?”she asked, rolling over toward him and running her hand up and down the center of his chest.
He couldn’t help but laugh.“Give me at least a few minutes, and maybe a sip of water.”
Her soft chuckle was like music to his ears, after he started to worry if he’d hurt her.And she surprised him by rolling out of the bed naked to walk over to the minibar.She grabbed a sports drink and came back to bed.After opening the bottle and taking a swig she passed it to him.“I’ll be right back,” she said then slipped into the bathroom.
He disposed of the used condom and pulled the covers down before lying back on the pillows just as she reappeared.
“Ready now?”she asked.
Something about this woman’s spitfire confidence mixed with naivety was really messing with him.She was the hottest woman he’d ever met, offering him sex with no strings attached, and yet he wanted to know exactly what she was thinking and feeling.
“Did you happen to buy more than one condom?”
A blush spread through her already glowing cheeks.“I bought three, just in case.”She picked up her jeans and pulled out two more packets from the back pocket.
“I guess we’ll find out tonight if the third time really is the charm.”He held out his hand for her to get back in bed.And guided her to straddle his lap.“Maybe we should try a different position where you can be more in control.Since you’re calling all the shots tonight anyway.”
Her blonde hair tickled his chest as she leaned forward to kiss him and then said, “Don’t get attached.”
And he hated to say it might already be too late.They spent the rest of the night tasting and teasing each other.As expected, she rode him with so much enthusiasm he had to go over football plays to distract himself from coming too soon.Then she let him hold her as they both drifted off to sleep, but she woke him in the middle of the night by palming his length until he was ready.What started out as quiet and slow from behind turned into an intimate experience between strangers because from this angle his hand could skim every inch of her body, while he watched her arch into each thrust he made.
But the next morning it was as if Miranda had been a dream.The only trace of her was his exhaustion and the faint smell of her sweet scent on his sheets.She must have gotten dressed in the dark and slipped out before sunrise because the clock only read 6:03 a.m.She was gone, leaving him wanting more of her.But today he was leaving, just like he’d planned.Even if he wanted to stay, there was no one here who was asking him to.
CHAPTER FIVE
Miranda
Daydreaming
All morning, shekept smelling her own hair because somehow it smelled like the stranger she’d spent last night with.Maybe it was from the hours of rolling around in his bed or falling asleep on his chest.Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine the sound of his heartbeat under her and the feel of his hands along her skin.Smiling, she shook off the memories of him underneath her because daydreaming wasn’t going to pay the bills, and she had a lot of work to do.Running a ranch with ten horses on her own wasn’t easy.Which was only part of the reason she’d left the hotel at the crack of dawn to get home.She also hadn’t wanted any awkward conversation to ruin the memory of what he’d given her.
The most pleasure she’d ever experienced.
She couldn’t even muster up the guilt of not telling him she’d been a virgin, because she hadn’t wanted to risk him rejecting her.And she didn’t regret that decision one bit.If she was going to be stuck in this town the rest of her life, at least she’d have the memory of the time she was careless and free.She used to think she was saving herself for true love, but she knew better now.So, she’d given away the last part of her she’d saved for someone she didn’t even believe existed anymore.
“Hey, Andy, I thought you might need a little extra pick-me-up this morning,” her best friend’s sing-songy voice called from the front of the barn.
She stopped in her tracks, wondering how Shelby could possibly know what she’d done.“Why would you say that?”
“Oh no reason, but Wes said he saw your truck parked in town overnight, so we figured it must have broken down, or you stopped into Hooligans for a few bourbons and caught a ride home.”Shelby walked down the center of the dust-covered barn and handed Miranda a large, iced pumpkin-spiced latte.It didn’t matter it was summer—it was her favorite coffee all year long.
“Oh thanks.It was a two-bourbon night.But I don’t think I like being that predictable.”She tilted her cup to cheers Shelby’s coffee and grinned.
“Well, you could always switch to tequila, but they say that makes people take their clothes off.”
Miranda sputtered, trying not to spit out the sip she’d just taken.
“Why are you acting so weird, and what is on your neck?”Shelby reached up to pull back Miranda’s flannel off her neck.She always wore one in the barn, or the hay would make her skin itchy.
“Uh.”
“Miranda Sutton, is that a hickey?”
She froze for a beat and then blurted out, “I had sex for the first time last night with some cowboy, fitness model god, and it was insanely amazing.”
Shelby stood with her mouth wide open and didn’t blink for at least a full minute.
“But we’re not going to make a big deal about it, because I’m twenty-seven, and I made a big-girl decision, and I don’t regret it.I mean, I am a little mad that you didn’t explain to me accurately just how good it can be.”
