Beneath the Stetson

Exultation flooded his veins, despite the tiny voice inside his head that said he was making a mistake. “Good to know.” The three words were gruff, but it was hard to speak when arousal made his entire body tense with need. “There’s more,” he said.

A tiny smile appeared and disappeared. “I’m bracing myself.”

He stood up, no longer able to feign relaxation. “It’s not easy for a single man my age to live in a place like Royal and do something as prosaic as dating. When Cade was almost three, I tried it for the first time.”

“And?”

“It was terrible. Everyone tried to give me sympathy and child-rearing advice, or they offered to bake me casseroles.”

“Not altogether bad things.”

“Of course not, but I wanted to forget for a while that I was a single dad. I wanted companionship and...”

“Sex.”

He saw no judgment in her gaze, but his cheeks reddened nevertheless. “Yeah,” he sighed. “It would be easier if I lived in a big, anonymous city, but here in Royal everything I do is fodder for the gossip mill. I value my privacy, and I don’t think my personal life needs to be front-page news.”

“But you don’t want to spend a lot of time out of town because of Cade.”

“Exactly.”

“You’ve given up a lot for him.”

Gil frowned. “I haven’t given up anything. He’s my son. And I love him.”

Bailey crossed the tiny distance between them. Putting a hand on his chest, she looked up at him. “You’re a very nice man, Gil Addison.” Her smile warmed him to a sobering degree.

He moved restlessly, fighting the urge to grab her. “It’s not about being nice, damn it. It’s what a parent does.”

Some of the light left her eyes. “Not all of them.”

He wanted to tell her that he had heard what she said to Cade, that his heart broke for a little girl with no mother and a surly dad. But her confidences had to be freely given or not at all. He wouldn’t embarrass her that way. “Cade is the best thing that has ever happened to me. His childhood will pass quickly enough. I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

She went up on tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. “If you’re asking me to spend some...time...with you while I’m here, then the answer is yes. I understand the rules. You don’t have to worry. And I will do my best not to let Cade get attached to me.”

He winced. “God, you make me sound like an ass.”

Her expression was wry. “Not at all. You’re simply a straight arrow of a guy who doesn’t hide behind platitudes. I respect that.”

He gave in to temptation and stroked his thumb over her cheekbone. “You have the softest skin,” he muttered. Slowly, he cupped her face in his palms and tipped her mouth toward his. “Have I told you how much your ugly suits turn me on?”

Bailey melted into him. “My suits are not ugly. They’re professional.” Her tongue mated lazily with his, hardening his sex to the point of pain. Of all the dumb ideas he’d ever had, this one ranked right up near the top. The door wasn’t locked. Though no one was likely to disturb them, their current behavior was risky at best.

He kissed his way down her throat, toying with the buttons on her silky top. Bailey’s eyes were closed, her lips parted. More than anything he wanted to bend her over his desk and take her hard and fast. Lust wrapped his brain in a red haze. His hands trembled as he found his way past her blouse to her breasts covered in lace.

Each soft mound was a full, perfect weight in his hand. He squeezed gently, shuddering when Bailey’s low moan went straight to his gut and stoked the fire. He was rapidly reaching the point of no return. The problem with long bouts of celibacy was that a man tended to go a little insane when the woman he wanted was in touching distance.

“Tell me to stop,” he pleaded.

Her hands tore at the lapels of his jacket. He helped her remove it and tossed it aside. He was burning up from the inside out.

“Touch my skin,” she pleaded.

How could he say no? Each delicate nipple furled tightly as he stroked her with reverence. He lifted her onto the desk. Now he could reach her with his mouth. Shoving aside the gossamer cups of her bra, he first licked her, then suckled her, growing more and more hungry with every second that passed.

Her hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer. “Bailey. Bailey...” He didn’t even know what he wanted to say.

“Gil,” her voice was little more than a whisper.

He inhaled sharply, close to begging. “What?”

“I think we have to stop. I don’t want to, but we’re at the club.”

“At the club?” He could barely make sense of the words. He needed to be inside her more than he needed to breathe.

She shoved him, her two hands braced on his shoulders. “Stop, Gil. Please.”

At last her protest penetrated the fog that bound him. He staggered backward, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. It hurt to look at her. He leaned against the file cabinet, burying his face in his arm. Agony ripped through him. He had caged the tiger that was his lust for too long, and now the animal was free.