Cowgirl Heart (The Dalton Boys Book 12) Read online

Getting to his knees over her, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and sucked them clean.

  Her nipples hardened even more in reaction to the sexy gesture, and she reached for his belt buckle.

  She’d never noticed him wearing such a countrified accessory, and it both suited him and turned her on like never before. With skilled hands, she flipped open the buckle and popped the button on his jeans. His zipper was an easy conquest. Then she was sliding her hand into his boxers and touching his hard length for the first time.

  Closing his eyes on a growl, he went still.

  “Condom?” she whispered.

  “In my wallet.”

  She reached around his backside and located the leather bifold in his pocket. She tugged it out and handed it to him. While she learned the shape and size of him, he located a condom and tore it open.

  The next moment, he had it in place, his jeans and boots kicked off and her thighs around his hips.

  “Open your mouth for me, baby girl.”

  Maybe she wasn’t the only demanding lover.

  She did, and he plunged his tongue inside at the same moment he teased her with the head of his cock, running it through her slippery folds, passing over her bundle of nerves still leaping from her last orgasm, and to her opening.

  “I need someone strong like you, Kizzy.”

  “You need someone?”

  He looked down into her eyes. “I need you.” In one hard thrust, he joined them.

  Her passion exploded as he stretched her inner walls. Pressure built in her core, doubling as he went dead still inside her.

  She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his spine. “What is it, Knox?” she asked softly.

  He met her gaze. “I’ve never felt this way.”

  “Show me.”

  When he kissed her this time, a thrill hit her belly and continued to tremor. Each pass of his lips and stroke of his shaft had her floating higher and higher. The feeling of coming apart and being lost all at the same time was frightening and yet euphoric. After it was over, she wouldn’t be the same, and maybe he wouldn’t either. He’d admitted as much.

  The rock of his hips drove her upward, and she explored his chiseled body with her fingertips, learning the swells and dips.

  He shoved deep and withdrew with a slowness that had her on edge. She bit into her lip and swallowed back a frustrated cry. A second later, he teased it out of her with his tongue and two more erotic jerks of his hips. Need clawed at her insides. She looped her arms around him and held on tight.

  “Let go for me. I’ve got you, baby girl.” He kissed her as the release hit. And dammit, she was right—she wasn’t the same.

  * * * * *

  The tight contractions of her inner walls around him stole the last of his control, and Knox exploded. With a muffled roar, he shot jet after jet into her body. The flames licking at his heart built, and he had no clue how to hold back that piece of himself.

  She deserved something better than this confused and indecisive man he’d become, but Kizzy made him feel things he didn’t know how to put into words.

  She also made him want to stay here on the ranch and take her to his bed every damn night for the rest of his life.

  As the final vestiges of his release left him, he braced himself over her and let his head drop forward. Their noses brushed. Her minty breath washed across his face, and she stroked a hand up and down his spine.

  What the hell was that? He had broken all the rules and bound her to him in one stupid, forbidden lapse of judgment.

  He withdrew from her body, and damn if his heart didn’t flex in rebellion. He didn’t look at her as he sat on the edge of the sofa near her thighs, regaining his senses.

  There didn’t seem to be much to regain—the woman had him knotted up good, and all he wanted to do was dive back inside her and kiss her senseless. In his bed. In hers. In the barn and on the dining room table. And on his desk back in Houston.

  This was bad—very bad.

  She sat up. Then she climbed off the sofa and began searching for her clothes. They were strewn about the room, and he forced himself not to watch her dress, hiding away all that scrumptious skin from him.

  When she had her shoes in hand, she tossed him a look and then walked out of the study.

  Son of a bitch.

  He’d just lost the best assistant he’d probably ever have. And worse, he’d just lost his damn heart with her.

  Chapter Six

  “Jess.” Her sister’s name came off her lips, shakier than she expected. But she shouldn’t be so surprised—she’d just done something so unspeakable it was no wonder she was a wreck.

  “Kizzy. What’s wrong?” Her sister Jessamine, as astute as always, was on full alert at the first shiver in her tone.

  “I need to talk.”

  “I’m listening. But first, are you okay? Are you safe?”

  She was sitting on her bed in the big house on the Amazing Grace ranch and she’d just screwed her boss. She was safe physically—but not from the thoughts running rampant through her mind.

  “Yes. I’m with KC.”

  “Your boss?”

  “Yeah. His father died, and we’ve been on his family’s ranch.”

  “Wait, the billionaire you work for has a ranch? I guess I’m not surprised—loads of celebrities and bigwigs have ranches.”

  “That’s besides the point. I made a huge mistake, Jess.”

  “Oh God. You slept with him, didn’t you?”

  “It just sort of happened.” She felt the despair rising again, and there was no confining the few tears of self-flagellation that slipped from her eyes.

  Her sister groaned on the other end of the line. “It’s being in close confines with somebody. Believe me, I know.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, how do you think I got Jake?”

  Kizzy moaned and dropped her face into her palm. “What do I do now? Go on acting as if nothing happened? Start looking for another job?”

  “Depends on how you feel about the man.”

  Another problem—she had no idea. She liked Knox. As a boss, he wasn’t too strict and was courteous to her. He thanked her and gave her credit when it was due. Those ethics were most likely born and bred into him right here on the Amazing Grace, and he’d carried them into his massive company.

  “He’s a good boss,” she said.

  “But you can’t have a relationship with your boss. You need a man.”

  “That’s more difficult. His father just died, and I’m seeing the most vulnerable side of him. Everyone knows you don’t make life decisions after a big breakup or you lose a loved one. This is how women end up with haircuts they despise!”

  “Don’t cut your hair, Kizzy. Step away from the scissors.” Jessamine’s teasing tone had Kizzy releasing a mournful giggle.

  “I’m not. I’m just saying I can’t expect anything from him in his present state of mind.”

  “But you do want something from him?”

  She bit down on her lip. Did she?

  “Too soon to know.”

  “Fair enough. You’ve always been so levelheaded, Kizzy.”

  “This doesn’t feel like the best decision.”

  “Well, how did you leave things? Waking in the morning in each other’s arms?”

  Her stomach dropped. “It happened in his late father’s study on a sofa. And no, I panicked. I got up and left.”

  “Oh dear. You’ve done more than screw the boss, haven’t you? You’ve screwed your career at Cohen Mortgages.”

  She let out another groan. “Don’t even say it. I worked so hard to reach my level of knowledge in a short time. I’m not ready to leave the company.”

  “And if you don’t want more from your boss, then the only answer is to talk it out with him and mutually agree to forget that he slipped you the hot—”

  “Don’t say it!” She cut off Jessamine’s dirty euphemism. “You’re right. I knew it before I even called for advice.”


  “Sometimes we just need to talk things through in order to put it into perspective.”

  “Yes.”

  “When are you coming home?”

  “That’s the thing—I don’t know. Knox has inherited the ranch, and he wants to sell it off in bits and keep a smaller portion for his uncle and the foreman to run.”

  “How big are we talkin’?”

  “It’s the Amazing Grace.”

  “Holy shit.” Awe filled Jessamine’s voice. In the ranch world, the Amazing Grace was like speaking about God Himself. “Girl, you know how to land in manure and come out smelling like roses.”

  “I’m not sure I can climb out of this even with a frank discussion.” She worried her lip with her teeth.

  “Then you’ll find another job that’s much better. You’ve got so much experience now, and you had top grades in college. But Kizzy…”

  “Yeah?” Her mind was so distracted, racing ahead her speech to Knox, that she was blindsided by what her sister said next.

  “I think it’s time you’re honest with yourself and admit you’re falling for him.”

  “H-how do you know I’m falling for him?”

  “Because you would never have a casual fling with a man you didn’t care for at least a little bit. Not even as mercy sex for the brokenhearted. I know you, sis, and that’s not how you’re wired. So before you say anything to him, maybe you need to really consider what you want out of this. Do you want to lose the job and the guy?”

  Her sister had her more tangled up than ever. She felt as if Jessamine’s statements were ropes lashed around her wrists and ankles, leaving her immobile and clueless as to how to proceed.

  “You’re right, Jess. I’ll think on things before I say a word. I’m going to slip into a hot shower and hope it clears my mind a little bit.”

  “Do that. And come visit Jake and me as soon as possible. We’re doing so much remodeling to this old house, and I’m chomping at the bit to show it off to you.”

  Not for the first time lately, she felt left out of the Dalton family festivities.

  “Has everyone been over?”

  “Not yet. We’re planning a big housewarming party, but not until we get all the nails and plaster swept up. Can’t have any of Easton’s kids eating them.”

  She laughed. Her sisters always made her feel better, and speaking to Jessamine was a homecoming without taking the trip.

  “Love you, sis,” she said.

  “Love you, Kizzy. Don’t despair. It ain’t over till the billionaire rancher draws his sword and rides in on his white steed to ask for your hand in marriage—or he fires you.”

  “I’m not looking for a fairytale, but I’d like to keep my job.”

  * * * * *

  Kizzy didn’t show up for dinner, so Knox had taken his plate and a glass of whiskey into the living room to eat. The flatscreen was blaring a game he wasn’t interested in watching while he ate food he didn’t even taste.

  His mind was overflowing and when that happened as a kid, he turned to the horses. Galloping across the fields and taking to the trails always granted him peace and a grander view of his problems. Most often, he’d come home with a plan.

  After moving to Houston, he had given up horses as a consolation, but sitting in his penthouse apartment and brooding didn’t work either, so he went out on the town. Sometimes he just sat at a bar alone, thinking. Other times he’d decide a woman was interesting enough to take to his bed, and another lonely night filled with too many thoughts would pass.

  Not this time.

  He could still smell Kizzy on himself. Even after a shower and a change of clothes, her sweet scent had permeated his head and filled up his soul. Stupid thought. She was an ordinary woman, like any other.

  Except she wasn’t—she was pretty fucking perfect, and that made it even harder to figure out what to do. There was no clear path.

  He pushed aside his uneaten plate of food and reached for his whiskey. It went down in one gulp, not smooth, but he embraced the burn.

  Despite the heavy weight of Kizzy on his conscience, he still had work to do, and plenty of it. If he was going to wrap up at least one sale of a parcel of the ranch before returning to Houston, it needed to be soon.

  Luckily, he had a ready buyer. According to the realtor, who was an old buddy from Knox’s high school days, the couple had been practically begging for a chunk of the Amazing Grace for years. In fact, the realtor had a list of interested parties in the event the ranch ever went on the market.

  Tomorrow was that day. Knox was going to accept their bid for ten thousand acres and as soon as he could ensure things were going according to his plan, he would return to his own empire.

  He poured more whiskey and stared at the amber liquid. His father would be pissed. In fact, he’d throw Knox out and order him never to return.

  Maybe the better idea was to grant everything to his Uncle John. If he loved the place so much, let him run it.

  Only Knox wasn’t letting it go because he didn’t love it. The ranch was part of his soul—how could it not be? He’d been a cowboy as soon as he’d gotten his first pair of boots at the age of one. And by the time he’d won his first roping championship, his momma had taken off, leaving him to look up to the only parent he had left. And his daddy had done a good job teaching him that business came first in life.

  Knox had never confided any of this to a single living person, and he felt whiny now for even thinking it. He wasn’t wrecked by his father’s workaholic attitude—only driven to succeed in his own corner of the world.

  No, his father would not be happy with him at all right now.

  But what are you gonna do about it, Dad?

  The question is what you’re going to do about it. The prospect of sellin’ isn’t making you happy.

  The old man’s voice in his mind had him raising his glass in a silent toast. “To you, Dad. I’ll do what’s right for me, just like you did.”

  A movement caught his eye, and he glanced up to see a dark veil of hair as Kizzy spun from the door.

  “Kizzy.”

  She stopped and backed up. It was dim in the living room, with only the flicker of the TV for light. It spread ghostly shadows across her beautiful features, and his gut clenched at how lovely she still looked even with the strain clear on her face.

  She stepped into the room, taking in his uneaten food and the empty whiskey glass in his hand.

  He set it down on the coffee table and got to his feet. He wasn’t drunk or even tipsy, and at least he didn’t sway, because that would be damn pathetic.

  Lifting a hand, he rubbed the hair on the back of his neck. “Do you want a drink?”

  She shook her head and wrapped her arms protectively around her middle. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

  He waved to the sofa, but she veered away from it and took one of the plaid armchairs far away. Probably a good thing—he couldn’t be trusted near her with a sofa handy. His stomach stirred at the passion they’d shared earlier today.

  He still wanted her.

  Clearly, she was having second thoughts. She’d gotten up and left without a word, and Knox had sat there, stunned and stupidly at a loss for how to react.

  I should have gone after her, whirled her into my arms and told her I damn well was going to kiss her again.

  I shouldn’t have touched her in the first place.

  Kizzy perched on the edge of the seat, eyes wide. “We need to clear the air, Knox.”

  “Of course.”

  “What we did earlier was… great.”

  His heart leaped.

  “But we shouldn’t have done it.”

  “No.” He dropped his head. “I’m sorry I got carried away with you. And it’s important for you to know that it’s never happened before. I don’t go around sleeping with employees.”

  “I realize that. And you’re not the only one to blame—we both wanted it.”

  He lifted his gaze to her. Heart tapping a fa
st staccato, he stared into her eyes. I still want you, dammit. Can’t you see that?

  She was waiting for him to say something, and he knew it wasn’t the words drifting through his mind like a tumbleweed on the breeze.

  Nodding, he said, “We got carried away. It was mutual, and it won’t happen again.”

  “Right.” She sounded far too cheery about the prospect, and that cut deep.

  To take charge and be big enough to do the right thing, he stood and extended a hand. She got to her feet and took it, clasping it in the same firm handshake she’d given at her first interview. She pumped his hand hard once.

  “It’s settled then,” she said.

  He fought to keep from dropping his gaze to her mouth. So soft, plump and so damn close.

  Why was his heart slamming this hard?

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Kizzy. We have a lot of work to do if I’m splitting the ranch.”

  “Of course.” Her brows pinched, and she stepped away. “Lots of work.”

  With a yearning ache in the pit of his stomach, he watched her walk to the door. When she threw a look back at him, he saw a similar expression of longing on her features.

  She cleared her throat. “’Night, Knox.”

  Before he could get the word past the lump in his throat, she was gone.

  He turned back to his whiskey. “Goodnight… beautiful Kizzy.”

  * * * * *

  The brand-new truck that pulled into the drive screamed money, as did the couple who climbed from the gleaming white leather depths. Dressed to the nines in authentic leather barn coats and the most expensive boots, these people clearly had the financial backing to purchase the acres Knox was offering them.

  Knox crossed the lawn to greet the guests, and Kizzy hung back a bit, prepared to take any notes or orders he requested, but she was also a people-watcher and settled her gaze on the trio.

  Her boss was smiling, but she’d seen that wolfish look in his eyes before, and it said he wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable.

  The husband, who told Knox to call him Marty, shook his hand and gave a boisterous laugh at something Knox said. A little false? Maybe.

  She turned her attention to the wife. Tall and thin and blonde, more of Knox’s type than herself, she was also older and carried the look of experience with her. She had crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes from squinting into the sun and when she took Knox’s hand, Kizzy saw the work and wear on those fingers too. The wife really was an outdoorswoman and could be the push behind her husband to acquire a piece of the Amazing Grace.