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“Walker,” she said again, her voice sweet and soft and wrapping around him as her hands twined into his hair. “Stupid men aren’t good with people. Stupid men don’t attract women like flies. Do you think I...” She leaned in and pressed her mouth to his, a whisper of a kiss. “Would sleep with a stupid man?”
He slid his hands up her thighs. “You haven’t slept with me, Charlie.”
“Mm.” Her mouth opened for him as his thumbs slipped over the impossibly soft skin of her thighs. She licked at his tongue, barely giving him a taste before she withdrew. “Are you trying to get a sympathy fuck, Walker?”
His laugh was half a groan, because now her pussy was pressed against him, but still so damn far away.
“Maybe if I resist, you’ll tell me how much it hurts. How much you need me to touch it.”
He groaned into her mouth, then swept his tongue deep inside her.
“Mm,” she hummed into him before pulling back to trail her mouth along his jaw. “Do you need me to touch it?”
“God,” he groaned. Was this what she liked? Teasing? Torturing? All foreplay and no sex? He would’ve hated that in high school, but now it was almost as delicious as it was painful. “Yes,” he said, finally giving in. “Touch it.”
“Oh. So bossy.”
He growled at her.
“Okay, I’ll touch it.” Her lips closed over his earlobe and sucked gently. When she spoke again, he shivered. “But not until you admit you’re not stupid.”
Did she think he had a dog in this fight? He happily folded like a damn blanket. “I’m not stupid. In fact, I’m a goddamn genius. I play chess on the trail and read Shakespeare by starlight.”
“That didn’t sound sincere,” she whispered.
“Oh, it was sincere. I promise you that.”
“Walker.” She leaned back just as he was trying to slide his hands beneath her skirt to cup her ass. “I want to touch your cock as much as the next girl, but I can’t do it unless I believe you.”
“God, Charlie. What do you want from me? You were my tutor. You know exactly how dumb I am. No! Wait!” He tried to keep a hold of her thighs, but she slipped off his lap and eased her skirt down.
“You listen to me.” Instead of reaching for his zipper, she pointed at his face. He thought he might weep. “You’re a good man. You’re smart and sweet and wonderful with people. So don’t you take some job in the middle of nowhere if it won’t make you happy. Don’t do that!”
“I need a paycheck through winter. I’ll find something better next spring.”
He’d thought those were harmless words. Appeasing, even. In fact, he was already reaching to pull her back down to his lap, but Charlie’s spine went straight and she put her hands on her hips to glare at him. “You can’t work at a job that’s going to beat you down. You look tired already after two days there.”
“It was hard work, that’s all. And it’s temporary. No big deal.”
“That’s what people say to themselves. ‘I’ll just do it for a little while, just for the paycheck.’ But then it’ll be spring and you’ll be busy. If you don’t get work at the lodge, you’ll have to make time to look for a position somewhere else, and you won’t want to leave your current boss in the lurch.”
He shrugged. “Summer, then.”
“Walker!” She seemed shocked by the loudness of her own voice, and pressed her lips tight together before taking a deep breath. “Just...try to find something else, all right? Something that’ll make you happy. Maybe branch out. What if you like people more than ranching? I could see if there’s a position at the resort—”
“Charlie, that’s enough. I’m a cowboy. I’ll always be a cowboy. Winter work is just a temporary gig. It’s
nothing. Hell, I know plenty of men who drive down to find work in Texas for a few months. At least I’ll still be in my own place.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I promise! I’m not going to throw my sorry life away for a few months of work. Trust me. I’ll find something I like soon.”
“Will you keep looking for a little while, at least?”
“I’m not sure why it means so much to you, but I’ll ask again at the lodge if it’ll get you back on my lap. Will it?”
“Maybe,” she agreed with another hard look.
