NotoriousWoman (8 page)

Last night he’d made a move on her. And now he’d done it
again. What was he thinking? This urge to pleasure her wouldn’t go away.

Well, there it was. He wasn’t thinking at all.

He couldn’t resist those lips begging to be kissed, her dark
eyes that seared him with just a glance, the gentle rise and fall of her
breasts that promised so much to a man who was willing to surrender to their
charm.

Steady
, he cautioned himself. This filly needed special
care.

“I’m sorry about your jaw,” she said. She parted her lips
ever so slightly and her eyes delivered an invitation of wanton need.

He hadn’t been wrong. She wanted him still. There’d be no
disputing he wanted her. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he answered.

“What was I thinking?” She put her head back against the
chair and laughed.

“My kisses don’t usually cause such a reaction.”

Kate surveyed him with a catlike curiosity. “I suppose not.”

“I reckon you’re out of practice,” he replied with a throaty
growl. He burned for another taste of those lips. His cock strained against his
pants, his need urgent to bed her.

“Is that why you’re here, Jake? Are you going to teach me
about lovemaking?”

Jake recognized the trap she was setting. “If that’s what you
want.”

Her cheeks flooded crimson and she jumped to her feet,
knocking over the pail of water. “Shit.” She hopped on one foot and grabbed
hold of the back of the chair.

Jake righted the pail. “Settle down. I’ll clean this up.
Where do you keep the mop?”

She clenched her teeth. “Just leave it.”

There was no pleasing the woman. Damn it, the cold wench was
back with a vengeance. “Whatever you say.”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit.” She spoke with fury.
“You’re only a fair-to-middling
kisser
.”

Jake grinned. The woman was definitely battling the devil.
And she knew damn well he was a fine
kisser
. “That’s not what I’ve been
told.”

Kate yelped and then pushed past him, walking on her heel.
When she reached the doorway, she opened the door. “Time you got back to your
chores,” she said, pointing to the great outdoors.

“Yes ma’am.” He scrunched on his hat.

What in tarnation?
She was madder than a wet hen. He
brushed past her as he exited. He hadn’t missed the pebbled nipples beneath her
shirt or the sharp intake of breath as he grazed her shoulder. She wanted him
bad but had hardened her heart. He didn’t understand why. What had put her
dander up?

As he strode off the front porch, he saw Jolie marching
across the yard.

“I figured you’d be halfway to town by now,” he said.

“Don’t be an ass,” she replied, disgust punctuating every
word.

Jake lifted his hat. “Yes ma’am.”

It appeared both sisters had a way with words when they were
in a temper.

“If you’re done pouting, there’s work to be done,” Kate
said, stepping out onto the porch, holding on to a mop handle as if she were
choking it.

Jolie stopped and glared at her sister.

“Whoa,” Jake said. “We aren’t gonna get anything done if you
two insist on bickering the whole day long.”

Kate rounded on him. “I’ll deal with Jolie. You take care of
the work I hired you to do.” Her words snapped like clothes drying in the
breeze.

Jake shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

He didn’t want to be in the middle of sisters brawling. He’d
had about enough of these two and welcomed the company of Rascal and some wily
steers.

“Hitch up the buckboard,” Kate commanded Jake. “I’m going to
the mercantile.”

“You don’t say?” Jolie flushed crimson. Her lips thinned
into a crooked line.

“We need salts and I’m the one to go get them,” Kate said.
“I won’t dawdle when I’m in town.”

Jolie’s shoulders slumped and she looked at the ground. Jake
hated to see her take the brunt of Kate’s anger. The girl had done nothing
wrong and Kate was using her to vent an inner rage, which he had triggered.

“Which is it, Kate?” he asked. He wiped off his natural
grin. He wanted to show her he could be as hard as she could be. “You want me
to continue my chores like you asked or bring in the team and hitch up your
buckboard?”

She blinked several times. “Bring in the team. We need Epsom
salts and by God I’m going get them.”

Jake touched two fingers to the brim of his Stetson. Her
fury was building and somebody in town was going to catch hell shortly.

“Whatever you say,” he replied. As he headed for the barn,
he could hear her growl. Yes sirree, the old Kate could be ornery. Both Jolie
and he were in the crosshairs of her fury.

Peering over his shoulder, he saw her hobble across the
yard, one foot bare and tender but with her head up and back straight.

“Jake, you son of a gun.” He’d put the brakes on any more
lovemaking until he figured out what put her in such a foul disposition.

Was it something he said? He recollected their conversation
after Jolie arrived. No doubt Kate was embarrassed her sister had barged in on
them but there was something else. Something that put a burr under her saddle
and he aimed to find out what.

The woman was a handful and Jake had less than six weeks to
prove he could tame her.

* * * * *

Mortified. Yep, that’s how Kate felt. Jolie had guessed from
the first glance at the two of them what was going on.

Kate and old “Mort” were good friends. Now her sister would
get romantic ideas and wouldn’t give her any peace.

Why Kate invited controversy and the embarrassing situations
that came with them was a mystery to her.

“Ugh,” she growled under her breath, fists clenched so tight
her nails bit into the flesh of her palms.

What had gotten into her? She’d practically begged him to
kiss her—
where
didn’t matter. He had.

She’d never had a man make love to her with his mouth.
Spreading her thighs for Jake Madden like a two-penny hussy down at the Blue
Bonnet was not how she’d been raised. She’d practically begged him to tussle
with her in the kitchen. No,
practically
wasn’t accurate—she
had
.

And it’d aroused some damn good sensations. Better than
good. She didn’t think she’d be able to go near him without her cunny growing
slick from the memory.

Her face was so hot she swore she’d burst into flames, which
at this point she’d prefer. At least if she burned to ashes on this spot, she
wouldn’t have to be around that infuriating man again. How dare he make her
feel this way? How dare he take control of her until she begged for more? She
was like a mare in heat, ready for the stallion to climb aboard and ride her
all damn day.

“Let me.” Jake was behind her. She was so steamed, she
jumped sideways from the fence so she didn’t have to look at him. She didn’t
want him to get ideas.

He opened the gate and she waited, arms crossed.

From the corner of her eye she watched Jake lead Buck and
Alice out of the corral and hitch them up to her wagon.

You’re weak, Kate Crowley
, she told herself.
You
surrender to the first good-looking cowhand who comes waltzing into your life.
The ranch needs you. Jolie needs you.

Spending time in carnal pursuits would surely take her down
the path of ruin.

Jake made short work hitching the team to the buckboard. But
when he climbed onto the box, preparing to drive her into town, she intervened.

“Mr. Madden, as you pointed out, there is entirely too much
to be done on the ranch for both of us to go into town. I’ll only be gone a
short while.”

He grimaced. “Mr. Madden, is it now?”

“Under the circumstances, I think it best we keep our
relationship strictly formal.”

“You’re the boss.” He jumped down from the box.

“Indeed, I am.” She wasn’t sure how she did it but her voice
didn’t waver. She thrust her chin higher when Jake confronted her with one brow
raised.

“If you ask me, your temper has got the best of you. I don’t
think you want to be that kind of woman at all.”

“What makes you think you know me?”

“I think we’re getting to know each other pretty well.”

She flushed, not with embarrassment but with anticipation.
Damn.
So notorious for her ability to stand up to any man yet she’d whimpered like a
newborn when his tongue flicked across her cunny. “I’m not saying I didn’t
enjoy our brief lovemaking but we have to stop. In fact, I insist.”

He shifted his stance. Showing off his manly attributes.
Giving her reason to regret what she’d demanded. “You think I’m interfering
with the running of your ranch?”

“Aren’t you?”

He surveyed her with his blue eyes sparkling. “I reckon
there’s some truth to what you’re saying.”

“Of course there is. Now let me get on about my business.”

“Do you think it’s safe going alone?” he asked.

“Are you serious?” In some respects, it was comforting to
believe he was concerned for her.

He tied the reins around the slate in the back of the box
and gave Buck a pat on his flank. As he walked toward her, she swallowed the
billy goat caught in her throat.

He stopped only inches away and leaned into her, his warm
breath fanning over her. Chills swept their way up and down her arms, raising
gooseflesh, reminding her all too well how her body took over her good sense
whenever he was near. His forceful gaze locked with hers. His lips were just a
breath away from her.

“You can try to deny your attraction, Katie, but your eyes
betray you.” His rough fingers trailed up her arm and she stifled a moan. If he
took her in his arms, she would crumble.

Sweat beaded at the base of her throat and trickled down her
chest. She didn’t pat her skin dry. “Please keep your opinions to yourself,”
she said a little breathlessly.

“Given the time and with no interruptions, darlin’, oh the
things I’d do.”

“Is that so?” Shivers of pleasure raced from her breasts to
her cunny. He promised more than what he’d already given. She could faint from
imagining what he might do next.

“You don’t know it but you’re free to make love the way a
woman should.”

She clenched her fists tight. No man had the right to talk
to her this way. Especially this man. Here today. Gone tomorrow. What she
needed was someone to hold her for the long haul. “I’m not free, Jake Madden.
Now quit talking nonsense and leave me be.”

He stepped back and took off his hat. There was something
extraordinary about him—the way he moved was almost elegant. Certainly
exciting. No girl would be able to resist what he offered.

She had to stop him. She had to stop this. This yearning she
had for him meant disaster and she’d been there before. It hurt, was painful.
It took a long time to pick up the pieces and fit her life all back together.

She pulled from his grasp. Time he learned she was not some
spring chicken who would melt with a sultry
come hither
. “I’m not sure
what you think you’re trying to accomplish, Mr. Madden.”

“Just continuing what you started in the bunkhouse and the
kitchen.”

Kate huffed. “Me?”

“You can’t resist my charms.”

The man was so full of himself. “Obviously I was caught up
in the moment,” she said, “and overly grateful for your…help. If I’d been in my
right mind, I wouldn’t have put myself in such a vulnerable position and
believe me when I say I’ll never,
never
, let it happen again.”

Something fierce flashed in his eyes but he quickly
recovered and the man with the lazy smile and don’t-give-a-damn attitude
returned. His lips curved upward. “Whatever you say, darlin’, whatever you
say.” He put his hat back on, tipped it and headed back to the corral.

She stood frozen to the spot. Obviously, he hadn’t believed her
protestations. He intended to kiss her again. Lord help her, she wanted him to.
What was she going to do now?

Despite how she’d acted in the house, Kate did not normally
toss her shirt over her head at the first sight of a handsome cowpoke. In fact,
she’d only ever made love to one man—her despicable, hope-he-rots-in-Hades
ex-fiancé. And she wasn’t sure that really counted. They’d fumbled around in
the dark and she wasn’t entirely sure he made it inside her before he finished.

After he’d rolled off her, she’d lain in bed in the dark,
wondering if the thrills and chills of lovemaking had been exaggerated.

That had been months ago, she’d been foolish and those
memories were best forgotten.

And Jake was only another sweet-talking man she would be
wise to keep at a respectable distance.

She frowned. She’d be a fool to believe in his
palaver—except his slow hands could make her body clench and shudder. Her body
betrayed her every time he looked at her. What was she going to do?

There was only one explanation for her recent behavior. She
was possessed. Who wouldn’t be with Jake Madden around? He had the gentlest
touch but he was strong as he held her. He showed a tender side when he rubbed
her back, wiped away her tears.

Damn him. Did he really care? She wanted to believe him and
knew she couldn’t.

She shook her head and climbed into the wagon. How could a
man wearing tight-fitting jeans and a wicked smile cause so much trouble?

She picked up the reins and released the brake.

“Giddy up,” she told the horses as she snapped the reins,
and they were off.

With Jake’s mind on romancing, there was only one solution.
She must find a new foreman sooner rather than later. Hopefully Jake would keep
his lips to himself until she could replace him.

When she got to town she’d ask around about needing to hire
someone. A man who was older and ugly as dry rot. With bad breath and who
didn’t smile very much. But honest and hardworking. Yes, that was the only
thing she could do. A man who wasn’t so tempting, a man who wouldn’t put her
under his spell.