A Cowboy in the Streets (Lodestar Ranch #1)

by Elizabeth Bright

And then the bell jangled as the door opened, boots tapping lightly against the old wood floor beams, and I could swear my back felt warm, like I had walked into a sunbeam.

Hilarity literally never ensued.

And the view. Holy shit, the view. Horses to the front. Mountains to the back. I had died and gone to heaven.

Of course I could see that James was special. She was like the sun.

“It wasn’t the kind of situation where names were exchanged.” “I don’t like the sound of that.” Dad pointed the wooden spoon at me. “Do not tell me you met her at some shady, rent-by-the-hour—” “Dad, for heaven’s sake,” I said, exasperated. “Aspen Springs doesn’t have motels that rent rooms by the hour.” Dad eyeballed me speculatively. “That’s the sort of thing a man wouldn’t know unless he tried.”

Well, fake it ’til you make it, as Mom always said. Of course, Mom never had to fake anything except her hair color. So.

It would have been unnerving if I hadn’t had a lifetime of experience disappointing men. Maybe I should give him my dad’s phone number. Let them commiserate.

I named this place for her, you know. Lodestar. That’s what she was to me. My lodestar, guiding me through the dark. She never steered me wrong.”

When she caught sight of me, her smile widened. My bones decided it might be worthwhile to hold together a little longer.

“I come find you,” Adam growled. Heat scalded my cheeks. Even though the words weren’t for me, they sent wholly inappropriate shivers down my spine. If this man ever came looking for me all grumpy and growly like that, I’m not sure I would mind being caught.

She’d been here less than a week, and already she was making my men as soft and gooey on the inside as her chocolate chip cookies.

“Such a good boy!” she cooed. Apparently, my dick was just as dumb as these assholes because it twitched like her words were meant for me. Jesus.

still wanted to personally remove his eyeballs from his head to keep him from looking at her the exact same way I had. She was just doing her job, and we were all staring at her like goddamn perverts. It was hard to say who I hated more in that moment: him or me. Oh, who the hell was I kidding? It was me. It was definitely me.

“I mean it,” she insisted. “The second we’re off Lodestar Ranch, you’re not my boss.” Ah, hell. There were lots of reasons to keep my mouth off Ms. Pink Boots, but that right there was the best of them. And she had just stripped it away.

It’d be hard to keep that whole grumpy cowboy thing going while eating a cookie. You might have lost your scowl.”

“That’s not a gentleman. That’s a cowboy. Completely different breed of animal.” She grinned at me. “You know what they say, a cowboy in the streets, a beast in the sheets.” I nearly choked on my drink. “That’s not how the saying goes.” “Well, it should be. Look at that man and tell me he couldn’t throw a woman around and make her enjoy it.”

“Acting like a girl.” It took me a beat to fully comprehend that. “But you are a girl.” Or woman. Female? Shit. She smirked at me over her shoulder. “Noticed that, did you?”

“Dream on,” she scoffed. “I’m not baking you cookies.” “You keep talking, buttercup. But all I hear is you lying to yourself.”

Good lord, the man was smiling. Full on smiling. At me. And it was every bit as dangerous to my well-being as I had suspected it might be. He was gorgeous.

She’s had my attention since the moment I heard her laugh in the coffee shop. Warm and full. She was like the sun. The closer I got to her orbit, the warmer I felt. And I was so fucking cold. Cold and empty.

Held her steady as I pressed my mouth to hers. Completely fell apart when she welcomed me in.

Maybe that’s the problem. The cowboy in the streets needs a little time being a beast in your sheets.

Dignity, schmigity. I’m beneath that.

The man had needed a hug, not a mouth mauling. But I hadn’t been able to see that through my lust-fueled glasses. Worse, it hadn’t been only lust. I had thought we were having a moment. A connection. When really, he was having a moment with his dead ex-wife.

Save a horse, James. Save so many horses.

Damn Chloe and her agenda to get me laid. When I had opened the white paper bag she had given us with our coffee, I had found a handful of condoms in there with the muffins. Fortunately, I had managed to sneak them into my bag before Adam could see.

“James,” he said suddenly. “That kiss in my office, that wasn’t about Emily, either.”

“No. I kissed you because I was cold, and you are the fucking sun.”

I was right. An aching dick was much better than an aching back. But god damn.

I could feel every muscle in her entire body clench as she assessed the situation. She released my dick and gave it a friendly little pat, like it was a puppy she had accidentally stepped on.

When the bathroom door closed behind her, I gave into it. I rolled onto my back and laughed. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The floodgates opened. I laughed about her patting my dick and rolling to the floor. Somehow that segued into remembering our first meeting, when we fell into each other’s arms and mashed our mouths together. Holy shit, my dad was right. Fucking hilarious.

Of course I couldn’t make eye contact with James. Not after what I did this morning. If I had taken myself in hand, imagining her naked and wet in the shower? Fine. If I had thought about her plush pink mouth on my dick? Totally understandable and no one’s business but my own. But I had jacked off to feelings. What the actual fuck was that about?

But like a million men before me, I found myself agreeing to do something stupid to impress a girl. Suckered by a pretty face.

She’d screamed my name in the rodeo arena. Mine. Not Zack’s, even though he deserved as much—if not more—credit for our win. That meant something to me. Because I meant something to her.

It had been a long time since I had mattered to a woman. Hearing her cheer for me, seeing that lust-glazed look in her eyes when she told me to fuck her…it was a powerful drug, being wanted like that. I was almost lightheaded from it.

Tonight you damn near gave me a crick in the neck from keeping my eyes up like a gentleman.” “I wanted your attention.” Her confession was soft. Shy.

“The boots stay on, buttercup. I want to feel your heels digging into my back when I make you come on my tongue.”

If Adam thought he was below average in comparison to his brothers, then what the hell kind of fire hydrant dicks were they sporting?

“Okay,” I said slowly, “but if you did care and you told me why you cared, maybe I would say something you wanted to hear.”

blue eyes doing awful, achy things to my insides. Most of the time, this man had confidence to spare. But when it came to how much I truly wanted him, he couldn’t believe it.

“Sometimes I come to these events and I bring condoms. I figure maybe I’ll meet someone. Maybe something will happen. But I didn’t this time. You know why? Because I knew nothing could happen with you, and you were the only one I wanted.”

I wasn’t a forever guy. Why should she toss aside her reputation for a relationship that was going to end eventually anyway? That wasn’t something I could ask her to do. I respected her and her career too much for that. If she wanted to keep us a secret, fine. I would take my time basking in her sunshine for as long as she would have me.

I didn’t feel like I was looking at my wife. It was like looking at an old friend, someone who should have been there for milestones and birthday parties and first days of school.

Maybe I would have gotten over myself and found someone to share my life with. I saw play out like a moving in my mind’s eye, the parallel life. But it wasn’t some faceless woman I imagined myself with. It was James.

“It didn’t feel like I thought it would,” he said finally. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m sad. Sad that Ben doesn’t have a mom around. Sad that Emily missed out on his life. But it doesn’t feel like it used to.”

“Nice stitch.” Hannah leaned over to check my work. “So tight and firm.” “That’s what he said,” Chloe murmured, making me snort.

For once, I had remembered to shave. Yesterday I had left a rosy-red burn between James’s thighs. Considering the amount of time those thighs spent in the saddle, I figured I ought to do my part to keep them comfortable.

“I don’t need you to.” “Again, that’s different. Because in this case, I needed to carry you. I needed to not see you in pain.”

“Yeah. My mom was a big fan of fancy bathrooms. And Dad was a fan of giving her everything she ever wanted.”

“You’re too precious for me to risk hurting you like that.” Goddammit, this man. What was he trying to do to me? “I was reminding myself, not you,” I groused. “Because certain body parts keep forgetting. And you…Don’t say things like that to me. It makes everything too confusing.”