To Tame a Cowboy

He glanced at the bedside clock. Nearly midnight and he hadn’t heard anything in the house for a while. More than likely Piper was sleeping in something satiny, sans sheets and blankets to stay cool, with all that silky red hair spread across her pillow.

When she tapped on his door, Ryan jerked up in bed. Damn ribs had him wincing and clutching at the sheet like a baby. Obviously she wasn’t resting.

“Come on in.”

He had no idea what he expected her to be wearing when she stepped in, but booty shorts and a skimpy tank both in the color of a pale blue was not it. Would he have welcomed her in had he known she was wearing so little? Hell, yeah. Even if he didn’t have permission to touch, he would look and capture mental picture after mental picture to use for future fantasies.

How pathetic could he be? In his defense, he usually only saw her in that ugly work uniform or denim and boots. Though he did admire her in a nice pair of fitted jeans and those sexy cowgirl boots she wore. Now if he could just get her to wear them with a little skirt or something to show off those long legs. And her pajamas did cover more than a bathing suit, but still...

“I brought you an ice pack and some ibuprofen.”

With all his fantasizing, he hadn’t even noticed she carried a bottle of water and ice pack in one hand and three pills in the other.

“I assumed you wouldn’t come ask for anything.” She set the water on the bedside table and handed him the pills. “So here they are and we can pretend you’re still macho and repel pain, but humor me, take the pills and use the ice pack.”

Ryan laughed, popped the pills into his mouth and took a long swig of water. He needed it to replace the saliva that had all dried up when his best friend and her smokin’ hot body had sauntered in.

“To be honest, I was just thinking of getting something for the pain.”

“Let me look at your ribs,” she told him, easing down on the side of the bed. “I’ll try not to poke too much.”

While most women who wanted to get up in his business tended to tick him off, he found Piper’s gentle hands and caring nature sexy and appealing. She was certainly no buckle bunny with blatant sexual advances. Piper wasn’t a woman who needed to throw herself at a man to gain attention, nor did she need a man to complete her.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try like hell to get her attention. This was new territory for him, but after seeing passion flare in her eyes in the kitchen earlier, he was confident in his quest.

Piper Kindred had been independent since she’d bopped him in the eye in the third grade and as the years had moved on, he’d respected her more and more.

But now his feelings were growing beyond respect, beyond friendship. And now that he’d retired from the circuit and was closer to opening his own rodeo school, the thought of settling down appealed to him more and more. Piper appealed to him more and more. He’d have to be damn sure he wanted to cross over that friendship line and take her along for the ride.

As she slid her hands over the tattoos covering his torso and side, Ryan resisted the urge to reach out and move a wayward curl that had slid down over her eye. Instead he allowed his gaze to journey down to the vee of her cami. The thin material did nothing to hide the outline of her nipples. And those dainty straps could be snapped off with one expert flick of his fingers.

“There’s still some swelling,” she murmured. “But the ibuprofen and the ice will help with that.”

She glanced up at him, and he was totally busted for looking at her chest.

“Are you serious?” she joked with a smile. “You’re checking out my boobs?”

Ryan shrugged. “You put them out there.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “I sleep in this, you moron. Besides, you’ve seen way better racks on the hoochie mamas that chase you all over the circuit. There’s not a lot here to see.”

“Listen, I’m a guy,” he countered. “You should be worried if you’d walked in here like that and I didn’t stare. Boobs are boobs and we want to see them all.”

“Yes, I know. Any hint of skin around the chest area and you guys instantly quit blinking and your mouths fall open.”

Grinning, Ryan took the ice pack she held out. “We only do that with attractive women.”

“Oh, please.” She laughed. “Besides, Ryan, we’re best friends. I’m like one of the guys.”

“Not from where I’m standing. You’re all woman.”

With no effort on his part, his tone had changed. His voice had deepened, his smile had faded. Yeah, he wasn’t kidding about her not being just one of the guys. Yes, she’d grown up around cowboys and now worked with mostly men, but she was far from a guy and all that silk and lace hanging to dry in her guest bath proved his point.

“You’ve seen me in a swimsuit,” she reminded him, her voice softer. “It’s not a big deal.”

He couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming over her bare skin and that valley between her breasts. When he met her gaze again, he didn’t see desire as he’d hoped, he saw uncertainty.

“You must’ve really hit your head,” she joked. “You’ve never talked like this before or looked at me like...like...”

“Like what?” he murmured.

“Like you want me.”

“I know exactly what I’m saying and what I want, Piper.” He purposely let his eyes drop to her mouth as he slid his hand up and over her bare shoulder. “You know how special you are in my life and how much I value our friendship.”

“Then why are you looking at me like you want to kiss me?” she whispered.

“Because I do.”

She didn’t back away, but her body froze beneath his touch. The dead last thing he wanted to do was to scare her or to make her uncomfortable. Unfortunately he’d managed to do both.

His plan of seduction needed a bit more work. He wasn’t used to being the one chasing. If he didn’t botch it, this could be interesting.

Ryan dropped his arm and eased back into his propped-up pillows. “Thanks for the pills and the ice.”

Her brows pulled together. “So you get all worked up and then...nothing?”

Shrugging, Ryan grinned. “I’ve been worked up before, Red. Now get out of here before I take what I really want.”

Deep green eyes widened, but she just nodded as she came to her feet. “Good night, Ryan. I’ll be in periodically to check on you.”

He swallowed, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he’d beg her to stay, to crawl beneath the sheets with him and see just how far they could push their friendship.

But in the end he watched her go, and waited for the door to click shut before he groaned out his frustration.

Thank God his injuries weren’t worse. There was no way he could stay here long term and not want to try his hand at playing house with his very sexy, very intriguing best friend.

And he’d been scared that retirement would be boring.

* * *

Mercy. Someone had beaten him with a two-by-four...or his car had flipped and pinned him. Either way, Ryan nearly whimpered when he crawled—yes, crawled—out of bed the next morning.

He’d been thrown from a horse countless times. But normally he’d soaked in a tub of hot water and have a nice rub-down after to help ease the pain that would inevitably set in.

But asking Piper for a rub-down last night would’ve only ended one way...with all their clothes off.

Padding down the hallway toward the kitchen, Ryan rounded the corner. At the small kitchen table, Piper sat with papers spread around her and her hand holding her forehead up while her other hand scribbled something. A tall oscillating fan sat in the corner, rotating back and forth to stir the air.