“Hometown BBQ and there’s a nice little motel across the street. It should be easier to get a room, they’re not fancy, but they’re clean. That’s all I care about.”
“Same.” I give him a half smile, and we keep on driving. When we pull into town, it’s still pretty crowded, like he said it would be. But we found the BBQ place, and damn—it really is the best I’ve ever had. When we finish, we walk right over to the motel. It shares a parking lot with the restaurant so we don’t even have to move the truck. My boss dings the little bell on the counter before a sweet looking middle-aged woman, I’d say in her fifties, comes out of the back room andgreets us.
“Chris Cole…” Her hands are on her hips. “How many years has it been?” She smiles, he smiles back. They must be old friends—I wonder what used to bring him down to Wyoming? They go back and forth for a minute or two before she even notices I’m standing right next to him.
“Oh, my gosh! Is this beauty with you?” She looks back and forth between us. My boss takes a step back and places his arm around me like we really are here together…
“Yes ma’am, she is. This is Dixie Wilder and I know we’re probably shit outta luck finding two separate rooms, so if you have one with two beds, we’ll take it.” He chuckles and squeezes me to him. What is he up to? He doesn’t need to act all cozy with me, we aren’t anitem.
“Well…” She says, looking at her computer screen. “Are you up for sleeping in the same bed with him, Dixie?”
Same bed?I’ve never shared a bed with a man in my life, let alone a man who employs me. Sleeping in his bed without him there is something different entirely. Sleepingwithhim…? Except if he says no, my heart might crack a little.
“You don’t have two?” I ask swiftly, in the kindest tone I can muster.
“No, I’m sorry.” She scrolls with the mouse a little further. “We’re booked up. But I guarantee you won’t find two rooms anywhere else in town. It’s a miracle I even have one.”
There isn’t a single pause before the man with his arm around my waist pulls me in a little closer and saysconfidently, “One bed will be just fine.” The woman punches the keyboard with her fingers and hands him a key. He thanks her with a smile and guides me toward the door to exit the lobby. Before we get there, he looks back over his shoulder at the woman behind the desk. “You look radiant, Ruby.” She chuckles and waves him off.
Panic sets in a little as we walk toward our room. “I’ll sleep in the truck.” I blurt out, but that doesn’t make him happy.
“No.” His statement is strong and authoritative—one word,no.
“I slept in my truck on the way up to Montana and I was alone and I lived. I have my gun, remember?”
“Dixie Wilder…” His jaw hardens. “There’s no way in hell I’m sleeping in that motel room whileyousleep out there in the truck. But I’m not leaving you alone in a room by yourself either. We can put a damn pillow between us, I don’t give a shit. But quit trying to get out of it, we’re sleeping together.”
I don’t have it in me to fight. So I roll my eyes and say, “Fine, boss.”
Once we’re inside, I steal the bathroom first, brush my teeth, and change into my pajamas. I don’t feel like putting my walking boot back on, so I hang onto the wall and start hopping. “Woman. What are you doing?” Standing from where he’s sitting on the edge of the bed he strides toward me. He wraps his arm around my middle and lifts me off the ground. The covers already turned down, he places me on the bed that’s not even a queen. I don’t know how we’re going to fitus, plus a pillow in the middle. “Don’t move, I’m going tobrush my teeth and I’ll be back.” He points his finger at me and turns toward the open bathroom door.
I lay my head back and close my eyes. I feel myself drift off, but that ends when I feel a massive form slip under the covers next to me. His shoulder bumps into mine and I know damn good and well, there’s no more room on either side of us. “There isn’t room for a pillow.” I say flatly.
“Don’t care.” He mumbles deep in his throat. There’s no going around this bedtime situation. I’m sleeping with my boss and that’s the end. So I close my eyes again and fall asleep.
A loud crack has me jolting from my slumber and gripping the bedsheet.Thunder.It’s still dark. Without thinking, I roll sideways to glance at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. But as I do, I remember where I’m at and bump into the behemoth sleeping next to me. My palm hits his chest and…holy shit there’s nothing on it. Nothing but a coat of soft hair. My hand burns and my mind screams at it to pull away, but it refuses to listen.Don’t you dare.I beg, as it disobeys, my palm moving gently over the massive, muscular chest beneath it. My fingers spread as my hand continues to move up and down, side to side. Then my thumb brushes across one of his nipples and stops. I’ve never touched a man like this before. Sure, I’ve seen ‘em buck naked and touched them that way too—just not like this. Never intimately. Pulling cactus needles from someone’s behind or wrapping a wound—but those men weren’t,Him.
His breathing is deep and steady, no sign he’s awake, so my hand moves again—off his chest and down hisabdomen. The soft hair doesn’t disappear, my fingers keep gliding through it in a trance… slower and lower, my hand keeps going. I feel his belly button, then the tips of my fingers move beyond it. The waistband of his shorts has to be right there, but I’m afraid I won’t notice and…
“Dixie.” My frame goes rigid. My hand freezes where it stopped. What just happened? What am I doing? This man is my fucking boss, and I practically molested him while he was sleeping. I’m done for. He’ll drop me in Texas and tell me not to come back. There’s a magnet between us, I won’t say there isn’t. He’s flirted with me, I’ve flirted with him. We banter like we’re annoyed with each other, but we both know that’s not true—maybe at first, but not anymore. We’ve been through too much this last month to say otherwise.
I tell my hand to rip itself off of his beautiful body and this time it listens. “I was um—trying to lift myself up to see the clock, but you were in the way and…”
“I’ve been awake since the thunder happened—don’t lie to me, blondie.” His voice is even deeper than usual, from sleep. I don’t dare tilt my head up to see his face, because what if it’s—mad?
I need to get out of this situation. “We should probably get on the road, don’t you think? I haven’t heard the rain, and we could probably beat it. Just give me a few minutes, I can throw on my boots and we can head out.” I move to roll back over, to get out of the bed—but his arm grabs mine.Damn his grip is lethal.
“Yeah, we can go.” But his own body betrays his words when he rolls on top of me. One knee swings over my middle, both arms caging me beneath him, his puremasculine essence stifling all my oxygen. His face hovers just above mine, our eyes locked in the dark. Nothing about his face is mad. “You forget I worked in special operations—stealth is my job. I can sit still for days if I need to. You wanna touch me? Do it. I operate on signals, you don’t have to ask.” And then he’s gone.
I watch him stride to the bathroom and I have a clear view from where I still lay in the bed. I expected to see the door shut, but it didn't. He leans over the sink, his muscular arms flexed straight with one on each side of the porcelain. His reflection stares back at me through the mirror and he smirks like the devil. Knowing he’s tempting me without shame. I watch as he brushes his teeth—rinses and spits, then uses the tiny bottle of hotel lotion on the counter to moisturize his pillowy chest, chiseled torso and biceps. I don’t think I’ve ever seen bigger arms.
I watch him drop his basketball shorts, step out of them and wink. Then he moves to the side where I can no longer see him. I hear a steady stream hit the toilet water and I know exactly what he’s doing. Did he pull his briefs down so his ass is out along with his dick? Somehow, I feel that is exactly what he wants me thinking right now. He closes the lid, flushes, then steps in front of the sink, ass fully clad, smirking at me through the mirror as he washes his hands.
“So—you’re not angry?” I mutter as he turns to exit the bathroom, but stops in the doorway. His arms fold across his chest and he leans a shoulder on the door frame, silent as he touches his beard.
“Touch me anytime you want. Naked, clothed, undermy waistband—I don’t care. But know this—I don’t mess around. So if you choose to make a move, be prepared to go all the way.” He reaches to the floor and picks up his shorts. Then strides to the bed and says, “Your turn, get dressed.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
