Название: Cowboy Christmas Blues
Автор: Maisey Yates
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Вестерны
isbn: 9781474080033
isbn:
Oh. My.
He was waiting. For her. For her. Annabelle, who he’d always seen as a kid. But not now.
He did see her as a woman now. And he wanted her. And oh, holy night, she wanted him, too.
She knew it then. She knew it in her soul. That her Christmas present to herself—Cooper Mason—was about to get given to her.
It was working. It was happening.
Screw you, Parker.
“Sounds like we were waiting for each other then,” she said, cringing internally, because she was really bad at this flirtatious back-and-forth.
“You want to get out of here?”
Well, that was quick. Granted, they weren’t strangers. She knew Cooper, had known him for her entire life, even though she hadn’t talked to him in eight years. She knew that he was a good guy. Knew that he wouldn’t hurt her or anything like that. She trusted him.
Still, it was moving a little too smoothly. She hadn’t anticipated him being right into it right away.
“We haven’t even kissed yet,” she pointed out.
Her heart was thundering so hard she could hardly hear his response, because her brain was simply echoing with the rhythmic sound of her pulse.
“I can fix that,” he responded.
He braced one hand on the top of the jukebox, and curved his arm around her waist.
A man hadn’t touched her in over a year, not since her breakup. And she had only ever kissed two men in her entire life. So, having Cooper stand so close to her, his large hand resting on her waist... It was a lot to process. A lot to take in.
And then, before she could think any deeper, Cooper brought his lips down on hers.
His whiskers were rough, his mouth firm, and the whole thing a sensual assault that left her scarcely able to breathe.
This was it. This was what she wanted. This was need that went beyond settling. This wasn’t just a kiss because she wanted a guy’s kiss. This was a kiss because she wanted to kiss this particular man. In this particular moment.
She wasn’t with him because she was afraid of being by herself. Because she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to do better. This had nothing to do with a relationship, with hoping for marriage one day.
No.
This was about desire. Real, deep desire. About a lifelong fantasy, not just vague general needs for sex or closeness.
And that fantasy was finally about to be fulfilled.
HIS JUKEBOX GIRL didn’t say anything when he hurried her out of the bar after their kiss. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, her lips swollen. She was obviously as into the connection between them as he was.
He didn’t usually do totally anonymous hookups. But it was Christmas, and he hated Christmas in Gold Valley, which made it difficult to breathe.
The moment her lips had touched his he had felt like he had drawn his first full breath of air since walking into town more than a week ago.
So he was going with it. She hadn’t asked his name, and he wasn’t going to ask hers. Names didn’t matter. She needed something from him, and he sure as hell needed something from her.
That was going to have to be enough.
“You got a place?” he asked when they were both in his pickup truck.
“Yes,” she said, chewing her bottom lip. “You’re staying with your parents, aren’t you?”
He had mentioned that he was in town visiting his parents. “Yeah,” he said. “Kind of awkward to bring home a date.”
She laughed, a vaguely nervous sound. “I suppose so.”
“Just give me directions.”
It turned out she lived within walking distance, in a little house in one of the historic neighborhoods just a few blocks away. It was a small, simple structure with a pristine porch decorated with hanging flower baskets, empty in the cold, but charming nonetheless.
Hanging flower baskets were not the kind of thing he associated with women trolling bars for one-night stands, but then maybe he didn’t really know anything.
Typically, if he met a woman when he was on the road they would go back to his motel room. So, for all he knew all the women he slept with had hanging baskets on their porches.
He’d never asked.
That made it kind of strange, though. A bit more personal than he was accustomed to.
She had white lights strung in swags across the roofline in addition to the baskets, and a little evergreen wreath hanging on the door. More Christmas. But for all he cared she could have a poinsettia on her bed, and as long as he got to have an orgasm.
Wordlessly, she got out of the truck and didn’t wait for him as she crossed the driveway and went up to the front door. He killed the engine and followed her inside.
The house was as neat and charming as its outward appearance gave the impression it might be. A tidy Christmas tree with gold ornaments and bows was in the corner, little touches of cheer here and there. But luckily there were no poinsettias.
She moved to the center of the living room, standing next to a coffee table stacked high with books he had a feeling she actually read. She clasped her hands in front of her and looked around, her expression growing increasingly worried.
“I got a new bed after my boyfriend moved out,” she said, shooting the words into the silence.
He lifted a brow, things suddenly becoming clearer. “Did you?”
“Just to make sure that we’re clear,” she said. “That it’s a new bed.”
“Honey,” he responded, “I’m used to sleeping in motels. Those are not new beds. People have fucked in them.”
Color flooded her cheeks. “I was just saying.”
It seemed to him that she was out for a little bit of revenge sex after a bad breakup. Worked for him. He could easily call his sex revenge sex. Revenge against the world. But the world was a bitch and she didn’t care.
“I don’t particularly care who slept here before me,” he said, advancing on her. Her pretty brown eyes widened, her lips dropping open. “I only care that I’m the only man you think about as long as I’m here. But I’m pretty sure that won’t be a problem.” She started to say something, but he pressed his thumb against the center of her lips, then curved his hand back, tracing the line of her СКАЧАТЬ