Crazy For You (24 page)

Damn.

She pushed away from the bar and felt like she had to physically break the connection with him to do so. “I’m busy.”

“Is that right?” he said.

“My daughter has a kindergarten open house.” Tess smiled at the thought of Jenny then felt an immediate stab of guilt that she had to work so late when she should be home with her.

Gage started to say something but to Tess’s relief, a crowd of young adults pushed their way into Nectars.

“Excuse me.” She gave Gage a quick smile then moved down the bar to where one of the young men had come up to order. “I’ll need to see your ID,” she said to the guy. He pulled out his driver’s license and handed it to her. The license had the name Hal Johnson on it. When she returned it, she gave a nod in the direction of the two young women and another young man who sat as a nearby table. “Theirs, too, if they’re ordering drinks, Hal.”

Hal looked a little annoyed, but said “All right.”

After checking everyone’s ID and making sure they were at least twenty-one, Tess took their orders and served up beers for them.

When she finished with that group, two separate couples walked through the door. The evening crowd had begun to filter in. She glanced back to where Gage had been sitting and saw that he was gone, and that once again he’d left a generous tip sticking out from beneath his beer mug.

Even though he’d left, she still felt as if she could sense him watching her. Warmth spread over her skin as if he was touching her now. Just thinking about the man was going to drive her crazy. She shook her head. Damn.

There was something about Gage McBride that intrigued her in ways she couldn’t begin to understand. She liked solid, dependable men like the man she’d married. Steve had died from a car accident some time ago and she hadn’t dated anyone since he’d passed away. Pain still squeezed her heart when she thought about him but the pain had faded enough that maybe she should start dating again.

But
not
a sexy cowboy ladies man. That was not smart. Not smart at all.

# # #

Cheyenne McCray

“I guess that will have to do for today.” Cat brushed her hair out of her eyes as she started to organize the papers on Blake’s desk. “We can work on this more another day.” She glanced from the papers to him. He was sitting in the chair beside her now, in front of the desk. “My schedule is still pretty open,” she said. “When is a good time for us to get together again?”

He was studying her, his gaze so intense that she felt the heat of it on her skin. “Friday night at seven,” he said.

“Friday night?” It took a moment to register that he was asking her out. “Oh.” She hesitated and he kept looking at her with that same dark look. “I—sure.”

She felt warning bells going off in her head, but too late. It wasn’t good to spend so much time with the man. She was going to fall head over heels for him again.

If she hadn’t already.

She looked away from the intensity of his gaze and got to her feet. From her peripheral vision she saw him stand, then felt the heat of his body when he moved closer to her.

“I think we made pretty good progress.” Her heart pounded faster and she busied herself with making each stack on the desktop perfectly neat. “We might be able to get everything done in one more meeting.” She rushed her words, feeling like she was babbling.

“KitCat.” His voice was soft and she went still at the low, throbbing quality of it.

Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet his. He was looking at her intently. Her lips parted, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say.

He took her by the shoulders, bringing her face to face with him. “Damn, Cat. I don’t know how much longer I can be around you without having you.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted. He wanted her?

He gripped her upper arms tighter, the pressure of his fingers almost hurting her. “Damn,” he said again before he jerked her up against him and brought his mouth hard down on hers.

She gasped as he took control of her mouth, kissing her hard. It was more primal than the night before, almost wild. She didn’t remember him kissing like this before. It was as if the man he had been before had matured, becoming more dominant and decisive. She knew he’d decided he was going to have her. If she said no, he’d let her go, but she didn’t want to say no. She wanted him.

A groan rose up in him and she followed his lead, letting him take the kiss to a level of passion she’d never experienced before. He released her shoulders and slid his hands over her blouse to her waist then cupped her ass and pulled her up tight to him. The feel of his erection against her belly sent fire through her straight between her thighs.

She breathed in his clean, masculine scent and reveled in his taste and the feel of his hands on her. She moved her hands up his chest, feeling the soft cotton of his T-shirt beneath her palms, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against him.

When he broke the kiss, he moved his lips along her jawline to her throat. His stubble felt rough against her skin but something about the sandpapery feel of it made her even more excited.

“I’m not going to be able to help myself with you.” He groaned as he pulled her short skirt above her ass and felt the silky panties underneath. The heat of his palms burned through the thin material to her skin and it almost felt like she was wearing nothing at all. “Hell, you’d better tell me now if you want to stop.”

“Don’t stop.” She moaned, as he trailed his lips and tongue from the hollow of her throat to the V in her blouse.

He whirled her so that she was backed up against the desk and she had to brace her hands on the stacks of papers to either side of her in order to balance herself. She arched her back as he moved his hands to the buttons on her blouse. His big fingers fumbled with the buttons and he gave a low growl and grasped the material.

Buttons flew and she gasped as he tore the blouse open. She heard the ping of buttons but was barely conscious of them as he pushed her blouse over her shoulders and down her arms before she shook it the rest of the way off.

#  # #

New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author Cheyenne McCray’s books have received multiple awards and nominations, including

*
RT Book Reviews
magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice awards for Best Erotic Romance of the year and Best Paranormal Action Adventure of the year

*Three “RT Book Reviews” nominations, including Best Erotic Romance, Best Romantic Suspense, and Best Paranormal Action Adventure.

*Golden Quill award for Best Erotic Romance

*The Road to Romance’s Reviewer’s Choice Award

*Gold Star Award from Just Erotic Romance Reviews

*CAPA award from The Romance Studio

Cheyenne grew up on a ranch in southeastern Arizona. She has been writing ever since she can remember, back to her kindergarten days when she penned her first poem. She always knew one day she would write novels, hoping her readers would get lost in the worlds she created, just as she experienced when she read some of her favorite books.

Chey has three sons, two dogs, and is an Arizona native who loves the desert, the sunshine, and the beautiful sunsets. Visit Chey's
website
and get all of the latest info at
her website
and meet up with her at Cheyenne McCray’s Place on
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!