“Fell off a horse and broke my shoulder.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, no riding for a while yet, but I’ll be out of the sling soon. But you’d be surprised what I can do with only one good arm.”
Oh, that smile was wicked. “I know you can rescue purses from thieves. What else?”
He looked around. There was a tiny dance floor by a jukebox where a few couples were shuffling around. Nodding his head that way, he said, “I can dance. How about it?”
Damn, he was cute. No, he was hot. Standing there with a smile on his beautifully sculpted mouth, dimples winking in his cheeks, and a devilish light in his true-blue eyes. “Have you tried dancing since you broke your shoulder?”
“No, but I’m up for the challenge.”
“You’re on, cowboy.”
“Call me Chase.”
“Chase. I’m Ella.”
He wasn’t kidding. He could really dance, even with one arm in a sling. Country, rock, rhythm and blues, slow, fast and everything in between. She’d thought they’d just dance to a song or two but she was having fun and he clearly was too and one dance turned into two and so on. Late in the evening they were slow dancing with Ella pressed up against his right side with her head against his chest, and her arms around his waist.
“Chase?” She looked up at him.
He looked down at her and smiled. “Ella?” He made it a question.
“What else can you do one-handed?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. She could swear her lips tingled from the heat in his gaze. There went that badass smile again. “Oh, darlin’, are you sure you want to know?”
Was she? “Yes.” Her voice sounded husky and she knew it. She willed him to kiss her.
He bent his head, oh, so slowly, giving her plenty of time to change her mind. But all she could think waskiss me!
He captured her lips. Slow, sweet, sexy. His tongue gently probing when she opened her lips and invited him in. Everything faded. The bar, the people, the music. Everything except this one exquisite kiss. Perfect.
Chase lifted his head and smiled at her. She tried to think of something clever to say but he’d pretty much fried her brain cells with that kiss. So she said the only thing she could think of. “More.”
His smile widened. “My pleasure,” he said, his voice deep and sexy. He kissed her again.
She melted like butter in the hot Texas sun.
*
Three days. Ithad been three days since Chase’s night with the mysterious Ella and he still couldn’t get her out of his mind. Shit, he’d dreamed about her every night since, waking up hard, aching, wishing he was back in bed with Ella instead of all alone in his cold, lonely bed. Why in the hell hadn’t he gotten her number? Or at least her last name? Sure, they had agreed it was a one-night thing, just fun and no strings. So they’d had no need to exchange any more information.
But hell, when he agreed to that he hadn’t slept with her. Hadn’t spent the night with her. And he sure as shit hadn’t gotten his fill of her. Maybe it hadn’t been as great as he remembered. Dark blonde hair cascading down her back, over her breasts, curtaining them when she leaned down to kiss him. Her eyes, a clear spring green, sparkling with fire. The feel of her breasts in his hands—soft, silky skin and just the right size.
The sex had been amazing. Explosive, and he didn’t think it was only because he hadn’t had sex in months. What would it be like if he was fully healed?
You’re not going to find out, cowboy. You blew it.
His sister Damaris entered the room and he looked up from the papers he’d been pretending to work on for the last hour.
“I’m in a bind. I set up a ranch manager interview for this afternoon and forgot that Marshall and I have an appointment to see a new mare. Could you do the interview for me? Around two?” she asked.
“Sure.” It had been over a month since Chase had taken on managing the ranch and they’d yet to find someone they all thought was the right person for the job.
“This mare has good bloodlines but we want to see her in person.”
