One Night With a Cowboy (18 page)

“A
nd there is the bank I use.” Tuck pointed out the side window of the truck. “The university
will set up direct deposit for your checks if you ask them.”

Listening to himself drone on, he had to stifle a groan. Could his tour of Stillwater
be any more boring? He was really making an effort to honor Becca’s
can we be friends
request, even though he had taken advantage of the friends’ benefits package more
than once last night in her apartment.

She followed his gaze and then turned back. “I guess I’ll have to open an account.”

“Do you want to do that now? They’re open.”

Her stomach grumbled, deep and loud. Her eyes opened wide as she covered her belly
with her hand.

“Or we could stop for an early lunch. I could definitely eat.” He laughed.

He pushed aside naughty thoughts about the parts of Becca he’d like to nibble on and
realized after his workout with the cadets this morning he was more than ready for
some food. Another dose of caffeine, too, come to think of it.

“You wouldn’t mind if we ate?” She glanced at the dashboard clock and cringed. “It’s
barely eleven.”

“Yup. It is, and I’ve been up since zero-five-thirty so no, I won’t mind. Not one
bit. I’m ready for lunch. You in any rush to get home?”

“Nope. Nothing planned for the rest of the day.”

“Good.” Though with Becca sitting next to him in a sundress that would make any man
stand up and salute, he was ready for more than lunch. He was ready to head back to
her place, but that would have to wait until later. “There’s a place I know that makes
the best smoke sauce and jalapeño hush puppies you’ve ever tasted.”

He checked the mirrors and swung the truck into a wide turn, heading for the road
out of town toward a spot he knew. It was in Drumright, which was a bit of a drive,
but it had great food. And since it was so far out of town, there was little chance
of someone from the university seeing Becca and him on what might look like a date.

It was bad enough he’d spent a considerable amount of time breaking the school’s non-fraternization
rules with her last night. They’d probably break those rules again later today if
he had anything to say about it. But he didn’t think he should push his luck by taking
her to lunch someplace where a slew of OSU people—either faculty or students—were
likely to be.

He looked over and saw Becca glancing at him and smiling. Tuck narrowed his eyes.
“You laughing at me, woman?”

“Never. It’s just . . .” She shrugged. “Besides the fact I don’t even know what a
hush puppy is, forget about having ever had one to compare these to . . . I’m finding
it kind of nice having somebody to show me around. Take charge of little decisions
like where to eat so I don’t have to.”

If that’s what she liked, he could take charge, all right. Not a problem at all. After
all, the military had trained him to be a leader. He could lead her to good chow.
He could also lead her straight to the bedroom.

He couldn’t help his own smile. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

“I am. Thank you—” The ringing of her phone interrupted her. Becca stared at her purse
but didn’t make a move.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“It’s probably Emma.”

“And?”

“And she’s going to grill me about you.”

Tuck grinned and extended his hand. “Give me.”

“What are you going to do?” Her voice squeaked with panic.

“Let me handle your sister.”

She looked hesitant but finally handed over the phone. He glanced down and hit the
button to answer. “Hey there, darlin’.”

He glanced over and saw Becca’s jaw drop at that, which was only slightly less amusing
to him than Emma’s stuttering on the other end of the phone line.

“Um, I, uh was calling my sister?”

“You got her phone. Don’t you worry.” He couldn’t help laughing.

“Um, is she there?”

It was too much fun to tease these city girls. “She is, but we’re fixin’ to grab a
quick lunch and then do a few . . . other things after. Is it okay if she talks to
you later? But it may be much, much later, if you get my drift.”

As Emma seemed speechless on the other end of the line, Tuck grinned when Becca covered
her eyes with her hand. Silly girl. As if that would do anything to block her from
hearing him. “Anything else I can do for you, Emma?”

“Uh, no. Just tell Becca I will definitely be talking to her. Later.”

He had no doubt about that. “Will do. Have a great day.” He disconnected the call
and handed the phone back to Becca. “There. All taken care of. See how easy that was?”

“Easy for you, maybe. I’m going to get the third degree when she calls back later.”

If she wanted a take-charge kind of guy, he’d be one. “If I’m still with you, I’ll
answer then, too. I do have rodeo practice tonight with the team, though, but that’ll
only take a few hours at most.”

“Army workout in the morning. Rodeo practice at night.” She shook her head. “You sure
have a full life, Tucker Jenkins.”

“Don’t forget
be Becca’s tour guide
in the afternoon. That’s as important as the rest of my day.” And much more fun.
He smiled and sent her a sideways glance before checking his mirrors and changing
lanes.

“Thank you.” She blushed prettily at his comment.

“You’re welcome.” Though if she were really intent on thanking him, he’d come up with
a few ideas of how she could . . . later, in private.

He navigated the truck onto the highway that would lead them to Joseph’s Fine Foods.
The country station on the radio filled the silence between them, until he glanced
over and saw Becca smirking. “What’s tickled you so now?”

“Are you listening to the lyrics of this song?”

He had been too busy salivating over thoughts of what he’d be ordering for lunch and
thinking about what Becca could provide him later for dessert to be listening to the
damn song. “No. Not really. Not a fan of country music?”

“I can’t say I’ve had much exposure to it.”

“Well, you will here in Oklahoma. That’s for sure. You can change the station if you
want.”

“No. It’s okay. I’m going for the full immersion experience now I’m here.”

He’d like to immerse something into her. He kept that thought to himself. “Good for
you.”

Tuck opened his mouth to ask if she’d like to come to his rodeo team practice as part
of her Oklahoma culture indoctrination, then closed it again. He couldn’t be seen
bringing Becca, the new English professor, to the OSU rodeo team practice. There was
no reason for her to be there. Damn non-fraternization rule.

He got off the exit and drove down the street to the restaurant, where he parked easily
enough. It was well before noon, so the place wasn’t packed with the usual lunch crowd
yet. That was good. It would afford them privacy and cut down on the chances of being
seen by anyone from the university taking the hike to get some of Joseph’s signature
smoke sauce.

The hostess seated them at a back table, also good for privacy, and handed them menus.
Two needs dominated him when he glanced over the menu at Becca, looking adorable across
the table—food and sex. Since he wasn’t sure he should be talking about sex so early
in the day, he figured he’d better stick to the other topic occupying his thoughts.
Food.

“I’m not letting you leave here without having your very first hush puppy. We’re definitely
ordering those. So besides that, let’s see what else looks good.”

She frowned down at the menu. “There’s a lot on here.”

“Not all that much.” He smiled at her. She most likely meant there was a lot of food
on this menu she’d never had, and some she’d likely never heard of. “Want me to help
you choose?”

Becca folded her menu and laid it on the table. “That would be good. I’ll eat anything
except the fried smoked bologna sandwich.”

He couldn’t help laughing at that. “All right.”

“What’s so funny?”

“That’s my favorite.”

“Fried bologna?” Her eyes opened wider. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. Love it. Get it near every time I come here. It’s an Oklahoma barbecue tradition.
Hickory smoked and deep fried with melted cheddar on top and a side of steak fries.”

Her expression had him laughing out loud as she reached for the menu she’d put down.
“I think I’ve changed my mind about you ordering for me. I’d better pick my own.”

“Stop. I won’t order you that. Promise.” He glanced down at the listings. The stacked
sandwich with beef, sausage, and coleslaw piled high would probably send her running
for the door, but he couldn’t let her leave here without at least trying some of the
smoked beef served with smoke sauce. “How do you feel about the brisket?”

Becca pursed her lips and finally nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” When she didn’t put down her menu right away, he reached out and took it away
from her. “Stop. I know you’re looking at the chicken Caesar salad or something equally
safe, but you can’t eat in an Oklahoma landmark famous for its special sauce and smoked
meats and order something you could get anywhere in New York. As your tour guide,
I won’t let you do it.”

She finally relinquished her hold on the menu. “All right. Since you’re my tour guide,
and since you’re not making me eat the deep-fried bologna thing, I’ll listen to you.”

“Oh, I won’t make you order the bologna, but you’re sure as hell gonna take a bite
of mine.” That came out a bit more suggestively than he’d intended, but she didn’t
seem to mind.

“Oh, really. Is that a fact?” Becca leaned in, her voice low and sultry, and his gaze
dropped to her tempting lips.

“Yes, it is.” He noticed his own voice had dipped lower.

“
If
I do, I certainly hope it lives up to expectations.” Her eyes narrowed.

He let out a snort. “Oh, it will. Believe me.”

And now he had a raging hard-on from talking about fried bologna sandwiches. Though
not really, because somewhere along the way, this conversation had taken a severe
left turn.

They definitely weren’t talking about sandwiches anymore. As hungry as he had been
for food, he was hungrier for Becca. All he could think of now was her lips wrapped
around him. He was ready to say forget it and forgo eating. Get back in the truck,
find a private road, and do with her what he’d dreamed about so many times.

“Have you decided?” The waitress, pad in hand, stood by waiting for their order and
putting the kibosh on his fantasy plan.

“Oh, yeah. I’m good and ready.” With any luck they’d order, get their food before
the lunch rush arrived, and be in and out of here fast. After that conversation, he
wasn’t going to be satisfied no matter how many fried bologna sandwiches he ate.

B
ecca unlocked the door and had just turned the knob when Tucker grabbed the back of
her head, spun her around, and crashed his mouth into hers. As he kissed her silly,
he backed her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn’t stop
until they’d hit the kitchen island.

She broke away from the kiss, a little breathless, but she still managed to ask, “What
got you all . . .”

“Horny?” he suggested before he latched on to her earlobe with his teeth and tugged.

That proved so distracting she had to struggle to maintain her train of thought. “Not
exactly my choice of words, but yes. That. You’ve been looking at me strangely since
the restaurant.”

“The bologna sandwich conversation got to me.” He growled his answer near her ear
and then nipped the skin of her neck.

A tingle ran down her spine, even as she pulled back. “Are you serious? Bologna sandwiches
got you turned on?”

“Oh, yeah.” The dark, overt sexual desire she saw in his eyes now, and to a lesser
extent every time he’d looked over at her in his passenger seat, was proof he wasn’t
lying.

His raw need was more than enough to make Becca’s insides heat. She supposed it was
a good thing they’d made it through lunch at all. At this rate, they could both waste
away to nothing, because sex with Tucker was much more enticing than food.

He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and set her on the kitchen island. With a
near feral growl he bit her neck while his hands settled on her thighs.

“What are you—” She didn’t have to finish the question, not that she could have since
his mouth had found hers again. The answer was more than obvious when he pushed the
hem of her sundress up her legs. She leaned back. “Tucker! Oh, my God. Here?”

“Mmm, hmm.” He smiled as he spread her thighs and stepped between them.

“But the bedroom is right there—”

“I know very well where your bedroom is. If I’d wanted to take you there, I would
have.”

“But—”

“Live a little dangerously, darlin’. You might like it.” His smile looked devilish.
“You will if I have anything to say about it.”

This did seem dangerous, all right. She was pretty high up, sitting there on the island.
One wrong move and she could fall off, break a tailbone or something. It was almost
as scary as when he’d tried to pick her up in the shower last night and she wouldn’t
let him. Slips and falls in the shower were a very real danger. How would she have
explained that in the emergency room?

“Stop thinking so hard or I’ll be forced to do something to distract you.” He issued
that order just before he leaned over her.

He slipped the tip of one finger beneath the elastic of her panties. That was certainly
distracting. He plunged his other hand beneath her hair and held her head captive
as he claimed her lips again. After a few heat-filled moments, he pulled back, but
the clenching need low in her belly didn’t stop just because the kissing had.

“Mmm, you keep any honey in this place for that tea you’re always making?” He spoke
so close to her ear, the warmth of his breath sent another tingle of desire through
her.

“Yes.”

“You remember which cabinet it’s in?” There was laughter in his question.

Maybe.
She wasn’t sure she could think right now with what he was doing to her. “Next to
the stove, where the cups and tea are. Why?”

“We didn’t have any dessert, but I’m thinking we can come up with something both of
us will enjoy.” He leaned back and raised his eyebrows. “If you’re game.”

Her cell phone rang on the counter inside her purse. He reached for it and glanced
at the readout. She watched as he answered and said, “She’ll have to call you back,
Emma. She’s busy. Bye.”

“Tuck!”

He hit the button and tossed it back into her bag. “What? I didn’t tell her what you
were busy doing.”

“You have to stop answering my phone.” Her eyes opened wide to reinforce her point.

“Why? It’s always your sister. You don’t want to talk to her right now while we’re
together, so instead of being rude and ignoring her, I answered.” He shrugged.

“But . . .” She frowned because his logic was . . . well, logical. “What if I started
to answer your phone?”

“Go ahead.” He pulled it out of his pocket and put it on the counter. “It’ll be either
Jace or Logan. Possibly my parents or my brother or sister, but not usually since
I call them once a week.”

“You’re serious. You really wouldn’t care?” She found his offer intriguing enough
to pursue, even if his thumbs were currently making tantalizing circles on the skin
of her inner thighs.

“Nope.” He shook his head and looked pretty certain about his answer.

“What if it was a girl calling you? What then?”

He laughed. “It wouldn’t be a girl. You are the only female who has my phone number,
besides my mother and sister.” He thought for a second. “All right, correction. The
students do have my number, and we have a few female cadets, but kids nowadays don’t
call. They text. So no, no girls will call who aren’t related to me. Feel free to
answer away.”

She tried to come up with some response but was having trouble.

“What’s the matter, darlin’? Run out of things to say?” A sly smile bowed Tucker’s
tempting lips.

Hating to admit he was right, she frowned. “Maybe.”

“Good, because I’ve got a better idea for that pretty little mouth of yours.” He ran
a finger along her lower lip and grinned. “Let’s find that honey.”

Tucker found the correct cabinet on the first try and reached up for her plastic honey
bear. He returned and planted the bear on the counter next to her. “Squeeze bottle.
Convenient.”

“What are you going to do with it?” She was starting to get an inkling of what he
might have in mind, which only made the flutter of desire inside her grow.

“You’ll see. Come on. Time for the bedroom.” He set her down on the floor with ease.

“The bedroom. Now?” She had a suspicion they were about to get very creative—and sticky—with
that honey. Of all times they should be having any sort of sex in the kitchen, it
seemed like now would be a good one. “Won’t that be . . . messy?”

“If we’re both careful and lick it all off real good, it won’t be.”

Oh, boy.
“Oh. Okay.”

“Besides, we need a bed for what I have in mind.” He continued, as if unaware what
his words were doing to her imagination. He grabbed the honey bear with one hand and
her with the other. “Come on. Don’t dawdle. I only have a few hours before I gotta
leave here for practice. We definitely don’t want to have to rush this.”

“Rush?” A few
hours
of honey-filled sex would be rushing it? She swallowed hard as she realized exactly
how boring her sex life had been before the night she’d met Tucker.

He shot her a grin over his shoulder. “I tend to last for an extra-long time doing
what we’re about to do.”

An extra-long time? Longer than usual? Wow. She glanced back at the fridge, wondering
if she should grab a few bottles of water before the marathon, but she was already
being pulled halfway across the living room. “And what exactly are we about to do.”

“Don’t worry, darlin’. You’ll see soon enough.”

 

Tuck turned much too fast into the gravel lot at the practice arena. He hit the brakes
and the truck skidded to a stop. Judging by the number of vehicles already parked
and all the activity, he was among the last to arrive. But considering he’d been enjoying
Becca’s company until just moments ago, he couldn’t feel too bad about it, even though
he probably should.

It would take a stronger man than he was to leave when Becca’s gorgeous lips were
wrapped around his honey-coated cock. The thought of watching the pink tip of her
tongue poking out to tease the length of him was enough to have him getting hard again.
He had to stop thinking about it, as if that were possible when he still had the taste
of Becca mixed with honey on his own tongue.

Damn.

Tuck decided they’d have to repeat today’s bedroom exercise real soon, but right now
he had to talk down his hard-on. He wasn’t exactly late for the four o’clock practice,
but he sure wasn’t half an hour early like usual. He liked to be there to make sure
the kids and the stock were all okay and didn’t need any help.

He’d just stepped down out of his truck and onto the ground when Jace was beside him.
“Hey. Where the hell you been lately?”

“Busy.” Tuck spun toward the arena, walking as he talked to make up time. Jace matched
his step. He glanced at his friend. “Thanks for coming. I appreciate the help this
week.”

“No problem at all. Always happy to help guide the youth of America.” Jace grinned.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Tuck was also sure it was the case of beer he’d promised to buy
Jace for helping with rodeo team practice that added to his enthusiasm.

“So tell me the schedule for this week again?”

“Do you listen to me at all when I talk to you?” Tuck frowned.

“Yeah. Mostly. I just don’t want to screw it up.”

He blew out a breath of frustration and launched into what was happening this week
for the second time. “Tomorrow’s team practice is while I’m away camping with the
cadets, so you’ll be here to take my place to help with the bull riders. B & N Rodeo
Stock brings the bulls in, so you don’t have to do anything with that. The two owners
are Ben and Ned and they handle the stock. Just be there to make sure the kids don’t
get hurt and give them advice on what they’re doing wrong.”

“Gotcha.” Jace glanced around. “I don’t see any bulls.”

“That’s because today’s practice is for barrels and roping. I told you that on the
phone.” Tuck shook his head. “You better pay attention tonight so you’ll know what
the hell you’re doing when I’m gone tomorrow, because there are no cell phones allowed
on the ROTC retreat.”

“No cell phones?” Jace’s expression was one of absolute horror. “What if you need
something?”

He had a feeling Jace was thinking more what if
he
needed something and couldn’t call Tuck to get it. “We lock the phones in the vehicles.
We can get to them if we need them but that’s it, so don’t bother calling to ask me
any questions. Got it?”

“I’ll be totally alone?” Jace looked like he was regretting agreeing to step in as
coach in Tuck’s absence.

“No. My assistant coach will be there to help. I’m going to introduce you to her.
She should be here already.”

“She?” Jace visibly perked up.

“Jace . . .” His voice dipped low, carrying the weight of his warning. “Stay away
from her.”

“Well, how can I work with her if I stay away from her?” He cocked a brow and though
he may have been trying to look innocent, it wasn’t working.

“You had better act like a professional. Promise me.” Crap. Tuck was starting to rethink
this decision, but he really had no choice. He couldn’t be two places at once. With
the OSU rodeo team practicing three days a week, and the ROTC cadets’ retreat falling
on the same day as one of the practices, he needed help.

“I promise.” Now they’d reached the rails of the practice arena, Jace’s gaze scanned
the action. “Which one is she? Your assistant coach?”

“Jace, I swear to God.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “Hands off her and, for heaven’s
sake, don’t even look twice at the female students.”

Maybe he should call Dillon McMann. He hated to take the kid away from his wife and
new baby daughter for a three- or four-hour practice, but . . .

“Tuck, relax, will ya? It’ll be fine. I’ll be good. I’m just cuttin’ up with you.
Jeez.” Jace rolled his eyes. “So what’s the deal? Do we do some exercises with the
ropers while the barrel racers are using the arena?”

Jace seemed sincere so Tuck forced himself to try to relax, just a little bit. Hoping
he wouldn’t regret the decision tomorrow, he tilted his head toward the action. “Let
me introduce you to Carla and the team first; then I’ll run through procedures.”

An hour later, Tuck felt a little better about the situation. He watched Jace inside
the arena, his brow creased as he concentrated on showing one of the ropers what he
thought was the proper way to tie a piggin’ string. If nothing else, Jace liked to
be a know-it-all, and this position as stand-in coach allowed him to do just that.
The man had even gotten on a horse to show a student the proper way to dismount when
going after a calf.

He came back to Tuck dirty and breathing heavy, but looking happier than he had in
a while. “The kid was adding a good three seconds to his time tying the calf like
that.”

“Well then it’s a damn good thing you showed him the right way to do it.” Tuck grinned.

“You ain’t kidding.” Jace brushed the dirt from the knees of his jeans. “So, you wanna
get a few beers after this is done?”

Tuck made a face. “I probably should get home and go to bed.”

“What? Are you joking?” Jace stared at him like he’d grown antlers.

“I have to be up before dawn tomorrow morning.” And he hadn’t gotten a whole lot of
sleep last night.

“What’s going on with you this week?” Jace turned to fully face Tuck, his back to
the arena now. “Half the time I call you, you don’t answer the phone. You’d rather
go to bed than out for a beer. What the hell?”

“I’m tired. Sorry.” Tuck shrugged, keeping his attention on the action behind Jace
as another calf was released from the chute and the next horse and rider left the
box.

Jace’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, my God. You’ve met a woman, haven’t you?”