Page 8 of Hometown Cowboy

He stroked the back of his knuckles down the side of her breast. Her nipple puckered in the wake.

“No bra under that dress, eh?”

“No. Emma had them designed so we wouldn’t need to try and fit one underneath, to be more comfortable.”

“Remind me to thank her,” he murmured, and stroked again, this time coming around beneath her breast, then up over the curve, just missing her nipple. He dipped his head and licked it.

Darby gasped and jerked against his mouth. She forced her eyes to stay open. Ryan Thomas was licking her breast, she was damned-well going to watch.

He sucked it into his mouth ever so gently and glanced at her. “You have absolutely gorgeous breasts. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

When she would’ve refuted him, he did it again. She couldn’t help it, this time her eyes closed and she shoved her hand into his hair to hold him there. She didn’t care if he was just making small talk. All she cared about was that he kept going.

He lifted his head and tapped her nose. Amused eyes looked back at her when she opened her own.

“This time I’m going to do this properly,” Ryan said.

Darby laughed. “Properly is relative. I’m quite happy with how things proceeded.”

A goofy smile widened his mouth. Shadows danced on his face as he tilted his head. “Me too, but I jumped the gun a little and manhandled you in the hallway. Sorry about that.”

“I’m not. So hurry up already.”

Ryan laughed. “Well, then. Can’t keep a lady waiting.”

He dipped his head and worked his way up her neck with slow, lingering kisses.

Oh, yes…

He reached over and snapped the switch on the lamp, plunging them into darkness. Faint illumination came through the door from the hall and outlined his fine form.

Ryan nipped at her neck and she laughed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned into the dark.

This was going to be the best night of her life.

Chapter Four

Darby closed Ryan’sfront door as quietly as she could and stepped lightly onto the steps. She wasn’t exactly tiptoeing, but it was pretty close. A kookaburra chattered suddenly in one of the huge gums behind her, making her jump. Frost crackled beneath her bare feet and she shivered violently as the frigid cold leached up her legs. It was late in the season for a frost, but not unheard of.

Stupid bird!

It wasn’t even six in the morning and the sun was trying to peek weakly over the ridge behind the house. She shivered again and shook her head. She was sneaking out of Ryan’s bed as if it was somewhere she shouldn’t be, going so far as to hold her shoes in her hands rather than put them on her now-freezing feet so that they didn’t make any sound on his floor.

Her hand shook as she opened her car door and sank into the seat. She dumped her dress and shoes onto the passenger seat and closed her eyes momentarily as she started the car. The engine sprung to life, almost soundless in the still morning.

Darby tugged the hem of Ryan’s T-shirt down to the top of her thighs and absently clicked the seat belt into place. She’d pinched the biggest one she could find in her rush to get out of his house before he woke up. It covered her butt with about an inch to spare.

I hope Mac O’Brien’s not about this morning.

Explaining why she was driving around half-naked if she got pulled over by the cute policeman would be mortifying. Particularly if he surmised—correctly—that she’d gone home with Ryan. He was a mutual friend who’d been at the wedding, so he’d have seen them together. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

She blew out a wobbly breath and swung the car around, heading down the driveway. The heater finally threw out some mildly warm air instead of the pathetic freezing offering it had tried to make.

Darby tried to peer through the kitchen window of Julie’s house as she drove slowly past. Her hybrid car was incredibly quiet, being only a couple of years old. She wouldn’t wake anyone.

She couldn’t see movement or lights in the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief.

While she didn’t really care if people knew she’d spent the night with the town playboy, Ryan was a friend, a good one, and she didn’t want the stupid comments and side glances that went with living in a small town and being caught out doing something that everyone would have an opinion about. Besides, she respected Julie far too much to give her hope that something might develop between her and Ryan.

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