Do Me Right

“I don’t think one beat-up cowboy’s going to scare them much,” she said.

If he thought she really meant the words, he might have been insulted. But the very way she avoided looking at him told him she was all too aware of his presence. He liked that. She didn’t look like the kind of woman who was easily unnerved, but he’d managed to get to her. Score one for the cowboy, beat-up or not.

“Besides, it’s a free country,” Theresa continued. “We can’t stop them from walking on the sidewalk.”

“Screw ’em,” Eric said. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”

“They don’t have much of a sense of humor, do they?” Kyle leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “A guy out there told me this place ‘encourages overt sexuality and flaunting of the body.’ Like that was a bad thing.”

“Hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it,” the blonde said, flexing a scrawny arm.

“Sounds good to me.” Kyle’s gaze lingered on Theresa’s inviting cleavage once more. “What do you think, Theresa?”

She switched off the machine and patted Eric’s shoulder. “I think that’s all for today,” she said. “Next time I’ll do the talons and finish up the pyramid at the bottom.”

“Thanks, T,” the biker said. He raised up on his elbows while she cleaned and dressed the fresh tattoo. “You here for a tattoo?” he asked.

Kyle shook his head. “No, I’m just here to harass Theresa. I know how much she loves it.” There went that blush again, the slightest pink along her cheekbones. It was immensely gratifying and sexy as hell.

Eric dressed and left. Kyle got up and walked over to where Theresa was cleaning off her work space. “I’ve been thinking about you,” he said softly.

Her shoulders stiffened, but she kept on working. Pretending to ignore him.

He smoothed his hands down her upper arms. “I’ve been thinking about the way you kissed me.”

She shrugged out of his grasp and moved over to the workbench. “I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me.”

He followed. “Ah, but you kissed me back.”

She stripped off her latex gloves and turned to face him. “So what if I did?” Her breasts rose and fell, almost brushing the front of his shirt, though whether she was breathing hard from anger or arousal, he couldn’t tell.

“A woman who can kiss like that shouldn’t be content with just a kiss.” He resisted the urge to touch her again, and settled for staring into her eyes. They were dark brown, almost black, a shade lighter than her hair. Heavily lined in black, the lashes lush with mascara, her eyes looked exotic. Erotic as the rest of her. He shifted his stance to accommodate his growing erection. If she had any doubts about his reaction to her, one look would tell her all she needed to know. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about the proposition I made.”

She glanced past him, over his shoulder. Too late he remembered the blonde at the cash register. “Scott, go ahead and go to lunch,” she said.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. You don’t have any appointments until three, do you?”

“Figures you’d run me off just when it was getting interesting.” But he scooted his chair back.

A few moments later, the bells on the door sounded and they were alone. He reached for Theresa, intending to kiss her, but she scooted sideways, out of his grasp. “What’s in it for me if I do agree to your proposition?” she asked.

He folded his arms across his chest and struck a casual pose against the workbench. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. The fireworks we set off the other night were just a little preview.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, cowboy.”

He shrugged, ignoring the uneasy feeling in his gut. “What do you want?”

She bit her lip. Her uncertainty surprised him. She took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s how it is. If I agree to do this, it’s just you and me for six weeks. No other women on the side.”

Easy enough. He nodded. “Darlin’, I don’t intend for either one of us to have time to see anyone else.”

She hugged her arms across her breasts. “And you won’t try to change me—not the way I dress or act or anything.”

He looked her up and down. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“And no lies.”

He blinked. “What would I lie about?”

“In my experience, some men will lie about anything. Just don’t try it with me. If I find out you’ve lied, you will live to regret it.”

He was starting to get a picture here of one or more lying, cheating, manipulative men she’d been involved with in the past. The thought of some bastard hurting her that way made him more than a little angry. “No lies from me,” he said. “Believe it or not, all that stuff about truth, honor and the cowboy way isn’t just hogwash.”

She nodded, though she hadn’t relaxed one bit. “All right then.”

Not quite the enthusiastic response he’d been hoping for. “Is that a yes?”

“Come back tonight after closing.” She turned and began rearranging things on the workbench. He stared at her back, at the leather miniskirt that clung to her shapely backside, at the fall of straight black hair that reached almost to her waist, at her shoulders hunched against him. That was it? An order to come back later?

“That’s not the way to seal a bargain.” He closed the gap between them in two strides and put his good hand on her waist, his mouth next to her ear. “We need to give each other something to mark the occasion.”

She looked back at him with a puzzled expression. “You want me to give you a gift?”

He smiled at her confusion. He liked this version of her, soft and a little vulnerable, almost as much as he did the sexy, woman-in-charge side of her. Gently he turned her until she was facing him, her back against the workbench. He moved in closer, letting her feel exactly how much she turned him on. “A kiss will do,” he said. “One kiss to give us both something to think about until tonight.”

Her lips were every bit as soft as he remembered—soft and sensuous. He coaxed them apart and her tongue met his, sparring and retreating in an erotic dance. He sucked gently at her mouth and she responded, nipping at his upper lip, sending a jolt of heat straight to his groin.

With a sound that was part growl, part purr, she reached up and put her arms around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. She pressed her breasts to his chest and ground her pelvis against him. He slid his good hand down to cup her bottom, bringing her closer still. They were as close as they could be without being naked, and the sensation drove him half-crazy. To hell with waiting until tonight. They had a pretty comfortable-looking reclining chair right here….

Then, in an instant, it was over. She slipped out of his arms and stepped back, one hand to her swollen lips, her breasts rising and falling as she struggled to control her breathing. “I-I’ll see you tonight,” she stammered.

He started to protest, then thought better of it. She’d laid down the rules, and for now he’d do best to follow them. He didn’t want to risk her turning skittish and backing out of the deal. Not when he was on fire with wanting her. He took a step back, toward the door. “Yeah. Tonight.”

Before he could change his mind, he turned and left, pushing past the protestors, ignoring their attempts to press more flyers on him. He had to get away from Theresa now, but he’d be counting the minutes until he saw her again.

“SO WHAT’S UP WITH YOU AND that cowboy?”

If Theresa had hoped Scott would forget about Kyle over lunch, she had no such luck. He’d returned fifteen minutes after Kyle left the shop, bearing a burger, fries and a Coke—and a lot of questions.

“It’s personal,” she said, settling at the table in the back room to eat her lunch.

He turned a chair around and straddled it. “That was obvious. How personal?”

“None of your business. Shouldn’t you be up front, in case anyone comes in?”

“We can hear the bells from here.” He rested his chin on his folded arms and studied her. “If you ask me, it’s about time you hooked up with somebody. I don’t think you were cut out to be a nun.”