Lone Star Burn: Broncos & Bouquets (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

When she had composed herself enough to start moving again, his hands were on her ass, guiding her. She rocked against him, his cock as deep as it could go. Moving faster, she rode him hard and his fingertips dug into her. With a final groan, his body found its release and he held her in place as he bucked. She collapsed onto his chest, their rugged breaths mirroring one another’s.

He wrapped his sweaty arms around her sweaty body and she didn’t mind a bit. They stayed just like that, as a feeling of peace washed over her.

Chapter 10

Sawyer held Laney in his arms and didn’t think he’d ever had sex like that before. He’d never wanted to. It had always been primal and raw. The main objective was getting off. He was skilled in giving a woman an orgasm and had prided himself on it. But it had always been do it, ride the high, then move on. No tenderness, no cuddling.

He didn’t want to move on from Laney. He liked holding her, cuddling her. He loved the feel of her body tucked into his arms, the way she fit so perfectly against him. They lay in her bed under the sheet, her back to him. He wanted to stay there all night, sleep with her just like this. But did she want that too?

“Do you want me to go?” he asked.

She pulled his arm tighter around her. “No.”

“Good.” He kissed the back of her head and drifted off to sleep.

In the blink of an eye, the annoyance of the morning’s alarm blared through the room. Laney silenced it and snuggled back against his chest, pulling his arm around her tight.

“Good morning,” he said.

“I wish we didn’t have to get out of bed.”

“Do we have to right now?”

Visions of the night before swirled though his head. He could still taste her, her sweetness on his tongue, the way she’d quivered at his touch. He let his hand slide down her body to the tiny patch of soft hair above her heat. He didn’t even have to ask. She spread her thighs for him, inviting him in. He slid a finger between her lips, her center already dripping with sweet nectar, and he salivated.

He found her nub, already swollen with need. Her body jolted at his touch. His fingertip moved back and forth, slowly, deliberately. He wanted to take his time, bring her there gradually.

She reached between them and took his cock in her hand, stroking him base to tip, massaging the head with her thumb. Which made it so much harder to concentrate on pleasuring her.

He added a bit of pressure as he rubbed on her clit and a moan escaped from her throat. The sound alone made his dick throb. He dipped his finger into her wetness, bringing it to her nub, the slickness and touch making her writhe in his arms. He worked her harder now, her moans more frequent. Her hand tightened on him and he knew he was getting close, too. But he needed her to go first.

“Come for me, baby,” he whispered in her ear.

That did it. Her body pulsed as orgasm crashed through her, euphoric screams filling his ears. God, he loved the sound of her.

When she finished riding the waves, she spun in his arms, her lips to his, her tongue sliding deep into his mouth. But if he didn’t do something quick, he was going to get off all over her and her nice sheets.

He pulled back. “Let me get a condom.”

“Uh uh.” She shook her head, mischief in her eyes as she rolled him to his back, scooted down, and settled between his legs. Her golden hair fell around her face as she leaned down and took him into her mouth.
Holy fuck.
She wrapped her hand around the base of his cock, stroking as her lips and tongue devoured him. He reached out, his hands grabbing fists full of sheet, and he watched her take him fully.

The feel, the sight of it, everything. It was so erotic and sexy. And then she lifted her gaze and met his, those gorgeous eyes watching him as she moved up then took him into her mouth again.
Done. I’m a goner.
The surge of orgasm rocked his body. She held him tight, taking every last drop.

When he finished, he pulled her to his chest. “You. Are. Amazing,” he said between breaths.

“So I take it you enjoyed that?”

“Hell yeah.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She gave him a squeeze. “I really hate to do this, but I seriously need to get up and get ready.”

“The sooner we get on with our day the sooner we can get back in bed.”

“I like the way you think.”

They dragged themselves out of bed and took a real shower, no fun stuff. Well, a few stolen kisses. He couldn’t not kiss her when she was standing there looking so damn sexy.

Laney dried off and wrapped the towel around her then started rubbing some makeup on her face. “I need to load up and be out of here by ten. I should be home by four at the latest. Wanna meet up for dinner?”

He didn’t want to leave her. “If you want, I can help you deliver everything.”

“I can’t ask you to blow off work at the ranch for me. Don’t you have stuff you need to do?”

“I do have days off, you know.”

“Then that’s even worse. I’m not gonna make you work on your day off.”

He stepped to her, towel secured around his waist, and wrapped his arms around her. “Trust me. Spending the day with you, regardless of what we’re doing, is way better than sitting alone in my room doing nothing.” Until now, he’d never really taken days off. He just found more work to do on those days so he wasn’t bored.

She looked at him in the mirror. “Are you sure?

“Yes. It would actually prevent me from boredom if you let me tag along.”

“Okay then. Be prepared to be submerged in wedding mania.”

“Bring it on.”

They dressed and readied themselves then he helped her load everything into the van her landlord Hank let her use whenever she needed it.

“Do you mind driving?” she asked. “I’m still learning the lay of the land out here.”

“Sounds good to me. Just tell me where to go.”

She flipped through some papers. “The bride’s house is in Stevensville.”

Shit. Of all the towns in Texas, it had to be that one. Sawyer hadn’t been to his hometown in years. He’d avoided it when he got out of jail. Avoided the people who’d made up his old life. It was the last place he wanted to go, but he couldn’t back out on Laney.

Apprehension swirled in his gut as he put the van in drive and set out toward Stevensville. But maybe it would be okay. It had been more than eleven years since he’d stepped foot in that town. Maybe no one would recognize him.

*   *   *

Laney liked having a helper. In her old life, she’d had a crew of helpers. Every wedding was a huge production that took multiple sets of hands to complete. She knew her small town business would never bring in those types of clients, but she was honestly enjoying the slower pace in Fort Mavis. And a crew of one was perfect for her. Especially when he looked like Sawyer. He was so damn adorable. This manly man helping with her dainty flowers. She couldn’t help but imagine what it could be like. A future with him.

“Are you familiar with this town?” she asked, noticing he hadn’t looked at a map once or asked for directions from her.

“I am, actually.”

“That’s good. Do you know where Thompson Road is?”

“I do.”

“Perfect.”

They ambled over country back roads, farm houses and ranches, until they came to a small town, not too different from Fort Mavis.

“I’m jealous. They have a movie theater,” Laney said as they drove through the center of town, giggling. “Maybe some night we can drive in and see a movie. And hanky panky will totally be allowed.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Not the response she’d expected. She turned to Sawyer and he looked tense. With furrowed eyebrows, lips in a tight, straight line, he stared out the front windshield.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. We’re almost to Thompson. What’s the house number?”

“492.”

He stayed quiet as they turned onto the road and during the couple miles to the address. He pulled in and put the van in park.

“You can stay here while I find out where they want everything.”

He nodded, his gaze out the side window.

Why was he being weird? She couldn’t think about that now. She had a bride waiting for her. Laney slapped on her brightest smile and rang the doorbell.

“Finally!” Michelle, the bride, said as she opened the door.

Laney had arrived fifteen minutes earlier than Michelle had requested, but she kept that bit of information to herself and held her cheery disposition. “Where would you like me to put everything?”

“In the living room, I guess.”

Laney headed to the van and pulled on the back door. Sawyer met her there. They each grabbed a box of bouquets and he followed her into the house. They set them in the living room amidst gowns on hangers and girls in the middle of having their hair done. Laney tried not to laugh at the obvious discomfort across Sawyer’s face.

“You can go back to the van,” she said. “I just need to give some bouquet instructions, okay?”

He nodded and left and she began her bouquet spiel. She demonstrated the proper way to hold them, how to lay them down, what to do if they started to look wilty. She then noticed the bride was not there.

“Where’s Michelle?”

“I think she went outside,” one of the bridesmaids said.

Laney stepped out of the house, ready to leave and get the rest of the wedding flowers set up. They still had a church and reception venue to visit. But as she descended the porch steps, she noticed her bride and Sawyer near the van, in the middle of a pretty intense conversation. She didn’t know what was going on, but clearly heard Michelle’s parting words.

“Stay the fuck away from my brother, you hear me?” Michelle turned away from Sawyer and marched toward Laney, her words like nails. “If I’d known you were dating a convicted drug dealer, I never would have hired you.”

What?
Laney watched her throw open the screen door and stomp into the house. She faced Sawyer, stepping toward him. “What is she talking about?”

He hung his head, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

This couldn’t be happening. Her heart pounded in her chest, so hard she could feel it through her entire body. “It’s true?”

He nodded.

“Look at me!” she demanded. He did, his pain clearly evident on his face, but she was too mad to care. “You’re a drug dealer?”

“No! Not anymore. I did my time and paid for my sins.”

“You were in jail?”

“I was a stupid kid. I didn’t grow up like you. I didn’t have a family who cared about me, or people who supported me. I lived in a shitty trailer park with drug dealers for neighbors.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

His head dropped again. “I know it’s not.”

Rage grew inside her. “I don’t know anything about you, do I?”

“I should have told you.” He met her gaze once again. “But I was scared. I was terrified that what is happening right now would happen. I was ashamed. I didn’t want you to know that part of my past. I’m not that stupid kid anymore.”

“You’re not. You’re a stupid adult who’s too immature to be truthful.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I trusted you. I was ashamed too, but I told you my secrets. You just sat there with your own. You kept your mouth shut instead of telling me.”

“I know and I feel awful about it.”

“You feel
awful
about it?”

“Yes.” He stepped to her and reached for her hand. She yanked it away. “But I promise. From here on out, it’s nothing but the truth.”

“I trusted the wrong man. Again. I’m still trying to rebuild my life after the last asshole. I can’t let someone else bring me down. I never should have gotten involved with you to begin with. I should have stuck to my instincts and ignored everything else. This is my fault. But it ends now.” She stepped to the driver’s side door.

“Laney. Please. Let me make this up to you.”

“You can’t.” She looked him dead in the eyes. “I need to salvage my life. You’ll just make it worse.”

Chapter 11

Sawyer watched Laney drive away, a cloud of dust in her wake.

“Poor Sawyer Williamson got dumped.” Michelle stood on the porch, sneering at him. “Don’t expect any sympathy from me. You deserve a hell of a lot more than that.”

Don’t you think I know that?
He was stupid to think he could forget his past and start a new life. He was stupid to think he deserved any kind of joy…love. His mother’s words echoed in his ears.
You worthless piece of shit.

He pulled out his cellphone to call Travis. Dead. He wasn’t surprised. Karma wasn’t a bitch. She gave people what they deserved. He headed for the road and the four-mile walk into town. He knew these roads like the back of his hand. The town, too. It hadn’t changed much over the last decade. Same stores. Same churches. A flood of memories he’d rather not remember.

It was past one when he made it to Sloppy’s Saloon, the town hangout, already open for the day’s business. He sat at the bar, one of many stools he’d occupied from the time he was seventeen. The owner hadn’t cared. Not when Sawyer was dropping the kind of money he was every night.

“Ho-ly shit. I’m either seeing ghosts or my eyesight is more fucked up than I thought.”

Sawyer turned to the voice behind the bar. The bartender, he assumed. He tried to place the face. “Do I know you?”

“Dude. It’s Billy.”

Fuck. The one friend he’d had when he was a kid. They’d gotten into a lot of trouble together. Innocent trouble, like smashing school windows in the middle of the night, stealing beers from the mini mart. Which he now realized was far from innocent fun, but nothing compared to his bigger sins.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t recognize you. How’ve you been?”

“Can’t complain. Married, couple kids. I manage the bar.” He filled a glass and set it in front of Sawyer. “How long have you been out?”

“Three years.” Sawyer took a long swig of his beer.

Billy leaned on the counter. “Man, it really sucked the way it all went down. I still can’t believe that guy was an undercover cop.”

“I deserved it.”

“You were just trying to survive, like the rest of us.” He poured his own beer and took a drink. “So where the hell have you been hidin’ out?”

“Fort Mavis on a horse ranch.”

“No shit.”

“I like it. It’s honest work.” Sawyer drained his glass. “And I really need to get back. Can I use your phone? I need to call for a ride.”

“How’d you get an hour from there without a way to get back?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Then you can tell me on the way.” Billy grabbed his keys from under the bar top then yelled into the kitchen. “Johnny. I gotta go somewhere for a few hours. I’ll see ya later.”

“You can’t just drop everything and drive me home.”

“Sure I can. It’s the least I can do. I woulda been there with ya, but you kept your mouth shut. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

Sawyer nodded and followed his old friend out back to a rusty pickup. They got in and he turned to Billy. “Thanks, man.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

Sawyer hadn’t wanted to hold on to anything or anyone from his past, but maybe there was one person worth holding on to.

*   *   *

Laney placed the centerpiece on the head table at Beautiful Beginnings Banquet Hall and stepped back to make sure it was properly centered. Done. Now she could head home and have a decent cry.

When she’d sped away from Michelle’s house, she let herself cry for a few minutes then wiped away her tears. She had things to do and her misery would have to wait. When she’d arrived at the church, she parked and grabbed a baby wipe from her tool kit—a must have she kept on her for emergencies—then dabbed away the smeared eye makeup. She toted in boxes of corsages and boutonnieres, vases for the altar, bows for the pews. She set everything up then greeted the groom and groomsmen as they arrived, and one by one pinned their flowers in place.

“Uh! You got me,” one had joked, a line she’d heard a million times in her career, and surely she’d hear it a million more before she retired.

She looked up at him and forced a smile, then wondered if he was Michelle’s brother. He kind of looked like her. She wanted to ask if he knew Sawyer.
Don’t do it. Not your circus, not your monkeys.

Sage advice from her grandmother, and she completely intended to follow it.

She pinned corsages on the women, and handed the mother of the groom her nosegay of carnations. She rolled her eyes at it and mumbled something under her breath about her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Laney couldn’t make it out. It was none of her concern anyway.

Job done, she’d moved on to the reception hall. She made sure she introduced herself to the owner. It was always good to be friendly, especially to people who could refer you to future clients.

Back in the van, and headed for home, she could finally relax. But without wedding stuff to concentrate on, her brain reminded her of the disaster that had happened that morning.

Sawyer
.

Tears returned to her eyes and she let them fall. She’d thought he was different. A simple guy, no drama. But he was the exact opposite of what she needed in her life right now.

Laney parked the van behind the hardware store and headed for the stairs leading up to her apartment. In approximately three minutes she’d be in her fuzzy pajamas in her bed, throwing herself a pity party.

But then she saw him. Sitting on the ground, leaned against the brick building. She quickly wiped the moisture from her cheeks. He couldn’t see how upset she was.

“What are you doing here?”

Sawyer looked up at her, appearing as miserable as she felt. “My keys are upstairs.”

He’d left them because they were planning on coming back to the apartment together. They’d planned to spend the rest of the day in bed. No fuzzy pajamas. No crying until her head hurt. Just the two of them and the little piece of heaven they’d found in each other’s arms.
It was all a lie.

Laney unlocked the door and he followed her up the stairs. She wondered how he’d made it back to town and felt bad for deserting him like that.
He deserved it
.

She pushed the door open at the top of the staircase and stepped into the small kitchen. The keys were on the counter. After grabbing them, she held them out to him. He took them and she turned away. She needed to get away from him. If she escaped to the bedroom, he’d get the hint, right?

Laney walked away before she fell apart. She couldn’t let him see that. Flopping face first onto her bed, she could still smell him on her sheets, her pillow. She waited to hear the click of the door.

“Can I please explain?”

He was in her room. The last place she wanted him to be. “You need to leave.”

“I was sixteen years old. My sister was long gone. My mom was never home. We hardly had any money. I was lucky if I got one meal a day.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

He continued anyway. “The guy in the double wide next door asked me if I wanted to do him a favor. He gave me a hundred bucks. All I had to do was meet this guy at the park and give him a paper bag. For ten minutes of work I had food for a week. I started doing it more and eventually he gave me stuff to sell on my own. OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Percocet. I had them all. Out here, there’s enough broken bull riders and ranch hands to keep a thousand dealers in business. It was easy money. I could finally buy a decent pair of sneakers and jeans without holes in them.”

Laney didn’t want to hear anymore.

“When I was nineteen I got caught selling to an undercover cop. They searched my trailer and found enough to convict me. Seven to ten, but I got out after eight. It would have been less but I refused to narc on people. I would’ve been dead if I had.”

She sat up and faced him. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“I want you to know the whole story.” He stepped toward her. “I want to get past this. All I’ve wanted for the last three years is to build a new life and forget about it. I met you, and for the first time ever, I actually had hope that I might have a normal life. And I want it with you, Laney.” He paused, his gaze locked on hers. “I love you.”

She wished her heart hadn’t skipped a beat when he’d said it. It would be so easy to give in, to ignore the warning bells clanging in her ears. To chase the happily-ever-after she’d envisioned only hours earlier. But she knew from experience that life didn’t work that way. She couldn’t ignore her cautious brain. But it would be so much easier if she didn’t have feelings for him.

“Would you have even told me if I hadn’t found out from Michelle?” she asked.

He breathed deep and exhaled. “What would you have said if I did?”

“I don’t know. You didn’t give me the chance. Instead I was ambushed.”

“I’m ashamed of that part of my life. I want to forget it happened. You of all people should understand that.”

“Don’t go comparing the two situations. They’re completely different. I didn’t do anything illegal.”

“My crime was worse, but I paid for it. I was locked up for eight years. I was just a kid. Do you have any clue what it’s like to be in prison?”

“No, but if you expect sympathy from me, you’re not going to get it. You broke the law. You deserved to go to jail.”

“We all pay for our sins eventually, one way or another. For what you did, you lost your job, and you deserved that.”

Laney’s jaw dropped. How dare he? “We’re done. You can go now.”

“No one’s perfect. I fucked up, but I’m trying to make up for it. You’re doing the same. Why can’t we do it together? I love you. You can’t tell me you don’t feel it, too. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t.”

Laney’s heart drummed in her chest. “It doesn’t matter what I felt, because it’s gone. You’re nothing but a distraction that’s going to wreck my life for a second time if I let you. Now will you please leave?” She didn’t know how much more of this she could take before breaking into a million pieces.

He shook his head. “I’m not giving up.”

“You have to. We’re over.”

“I don’t believe that. I can’t walk away from you.”

“Get out!” she screamed as tears spilled from her eyes.

That did it. Sawyer backed away, and turned around. Laney watched him leave, the click of the door like a gunshot a foot away from her ear. She flopped onto the bed, sobs consuming her body. But she’d get over it. She’d be fine. Once she cried her eyes out, she’d pick herself up and go on like he’d never been a part her life. That’s what she had to do.