Rodeo Queen (21 page)

“Too late.” She smiled up at him, the room beginning to tilt slightly. “I fell for you a while ago.” Sydney’s eyes widened as she realized how loose the wine had made her tongue and what she had just revealed.

Scott’s chuckle rumbled in the back of his throat. “I seem to recall our meeting somewhat differently.”

Sydney shot him a sly grin. “I’m a good actress.”

His laughter erupted as he led her in front of the tree and the other diners turned toward them. Embarrassed, Sydney pressed a finger against her lips. “Be quiet,” she whispered loudly. “Everybody is staring at us.”

He leaned close to her ear, sending chills down her spine as his warm breath caressed her neck. “They’re staring at my beautiful date. I think it’s jealousy.”

“Nope.” Sydney shook her head. In her inebriated state, she lost her balance and felt her legs give way beneath her as the floor rushed toward her. Sydney giggled as Scott caught her in his warm embrace and lifted her onto his toes. “This is how my dad taught me to dance when I was little.”

Scott’s eyes twinkled. “I think it’s a bit easier than trying to hold you up all night.”

Sydney felt like they had been dancing for hours. When she needed something to quench her thirst, Scott was right there with a glass of something refreshing, but whether it was wine or water, she could no longer tell. When she found herself still leaning against Scott’s shoulder with no music playing, Scott decided it was time for them to head back, and she wasn’t about to argue. While the dance floor spun around her, Scott led her to his truck and helped her into the passenger side. When he slipped behind the wheel, she scooted close to his side, curling up against his arm with her head against his bicep.

S
COTT PUT THE
truck into gear and looked over at Sydney, fully prepared to kiss her senseless, when he found her already asleep against him. “So much for a night she’ll never forget. I’ll be lucky if she even remembers anything tomorrow,” Scott mumbled and turned the key in the ignition awkwardly with his left hand in order to leave Sydney undisturbed.

As he pulled into the arena below and parked beside the trailer they would share, he realized that Sydney was quietly snoring and had passed out. He left her in the truck to unlock the door of the trailer before returning to her, gathering her gently into his arms and carrying her inside. Scott laid her on the bed and stared down at her. Her soft sigh of contentment pounded in his brain, sending a pulsating need throughout his body, making him ache for her. But he knew he couldn’t live with himself if he were to take advantage of her in her less than conscious state. He reached down and brushed a curl from her cheek.

Sydney’s eyes opened. “Scott?” Her eyes remained glassy but trained on him as he dropped to a knee at the side of the bed.

“What’s the matter, princess?” Scott cupped her jaw in his hand, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

“Gimme a kiss.”

Although she slurred the words slightly, he could understand the need that drove them. He prayed he could retain control of his senses as he gently placed a chaste kiss on her pliant lips.

“No, no, no . . . not like that,” she scolded as she cupped his face with her hands and pulled him toward her.

As she pressed her lips to his he stiffened, knowing he should break the kiss now before he lost all sense of control, yet unable to tear himself away from her. When Sydney darted her tongue past his lips to meet with his own, sighing deeply in her throat, he knew he was lost. Her tongue began to duel with his and he could taste the sweet honey of her mouth, nearly driving him insane. She pulled at him, urging him to join her on the bed. He tightened his fingers on her shoulders, wanting nothing more than to lose himself in her. Scott growled, a sound that to his ears was a mixture of pleasure and pain, forcing himself to end the erotic kiss.

Sydney sighed. “That was a kiss.”

Scott smiled down at her, although he despised himself for his lack of control where she was concerned. He started to rise. He had to put some distance between them or she was going to be his undoing.

“Jus’ where do you think you’re goin’?” Surprisingly quick in her inebriated state, Sydney reached out and grasped his wrist.

Scott’s chest was tight as he faced her. God, she was beautiful. “Princess, you’ve had a lot to drink tonight. I’m just going to let you sleep it off.”

“What if sleep wasn’t what I was thinking about?” She smiled up at him wickedly.

Scott felt his loins burn at the thought. “I don’t think that’s a good idea tonight.”

“You don’t want me?” Scott saw the disappointment in Sydney’s eyes as embarrassment colored her face.

Hell, this is what he’d been trying to avoid. Scott dropped to a knee beside the bed again and cupped her face in his hands. His desire for this woman flooded his senses, the sweet scent of her driving him insane. He tipped his finger under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Do you really believe that?”

Sydney tried to turn away from him. “I’m not sure what to believe.”

“Princess, do you really think you mean so little to me?” His voice was husky with desire. She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Sydney, answer me.”

“I don’t know what to think,” she shot back, defensively.

Scott realized that she had taken his concern for rejection. He kissed her cheek. “Don’t you see how much I care about you? I have never felt this way about anyone.”

Sydney’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, but he wasn’t sure if they were due to pain or joy. “Liz . . .” she began.

“No,” he assured her. “I never felt this way about her. I wasn’t leaving the room because I don’t want you. I was sleeping on the couch because I don’t want you to hate me in the morning for taking advantage of you.” Scott stared at her perfect lips.

“Really?”

Scott sighed and closed his eyes before meeting her questioning gaze. He couldn’t resist the desire to taste her lips again. He lowered his head, intent on tasting her mouth again, when he saw her face contort. Knowing what was about to happen, he jumped from the bed, clearing a path for her to the bathroom door.

“I’m going to be sick,” she explained as she hurried toward the toilet.

Scott followed her, reaching for a washcloth and wetting it at the sink with cool water. He reached the bathroom door in time to see her sit back on her heels, trying to pull the loose tendrils of hair back away from her face. He handed her the washcloth and helped her hold back her hair.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Wiping her face with the cloth, Sydney rose and walked to the sink. As she reached for the sink’s handles, she lifted a white rose from behind them. He hadn’t even noticed it in his hurry to get to her. He watched her fingers pluck a note from the wall behind the flower. As she read it silently, he saw her eyes brighten before misting over. She turned and smiled brightly at him, holding the note out for him to take.

“What does it say?”

“Read it.” She continued to hold the paper out until he took it.

Scott glanced at the handwriting and instantly recognized Clay’s scrawling script. He’d expected it to have been from Jen.

Sydney,

I realize that I haven’t known you long and I don’t know you as well as Jen does, but it’s obvious to everyone that you are a wonderful, talented, and loving woman. It’s no wonder that Scott fell for you from the start. Don’t let his evil looks and foul moods fool you. He is happier than I have seen him in years because of you. Thank you for giving us back the “old” Scott.

Clay

Scott wasn’t sure what to say. Clay had always been pretty quiet about the situation with Liz, and he certainly hadn’t mentioned that he thought Scott was unhappy since, but he was right. Scott had allowed his feelings about one failed relationship to color every chance at finding what Jen and Clay shared.

“So, are you happy now?” Sydney rinsed her mouth at the sink before sitting on the couch.

Scott tried to judge Sydney’s motive for asking. He didn’t like reminiscing about the past, seeing no point in bringing up buried things, but he’d almost lost Sydney once when Liz returned. He didn’t want it to happen a second time. But Sydney didn’t pry; she simply waited for his answer expectantly.

Scott sat on the couch next to her, urging her to curl into his arms. “I didn’t exactly have a picture-perfect childhood, but at first it was pretty great. My parents were partners with Mike and his wife. Jen was about twelve when my parents left to do a no-name rodeo on the coast.”

Scott paused and took a deep breath. It had been so long since he’d allowed himself to think about his parents and what he had lost, what each of them had lost.

“How old were you?” Sydney asked, looking up at him.

Scott dropped his cheek to the top of her head, her soft curls tickling his lips as he inhaled the sweet scent of her, reminding him of raspberries and leather, femininity and strength.

“I had just turned eight. Derek was only about two.” Scott kissed the top of her head. “Anyway, they were gone a lot back then and we stayed with Mike, his wife, Ellie, and Liz. But this time, they didn’t return home. They were killed instantly by the semi that hit them head on in the fog.”

Scott tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, making any further comment impossible. He willed back the moisture in his eyes that threatened to spill over. He would not cry—not now, not ever, especially for something that couldn’t be changed. He had become the man in their family at eight, and a father figure to Derek as a child. There was no time for regret or sorrow.
Cowboy up,
Scott instructed himself.

Sydney’s hand twined in his, cooling his temper and dissipating his anger. “Derek never knew your parents then?” Her lips moved against his shirt, but he could feel the heat of them through the material.

Scott shook his head. “Everything they had was left to the three of us. Their share of the company has supported us since, and Mike took us in like we were his own children.”

S
YDNEY SAT ENVELOPED
in Scott’s embrace on the couch, her legs curled beneath her, until she wondered if he hadn’t fallen asleep. Scott’s head lay against the top of her own and his chest rose and fell rhythmically. She wanted to be there for him as he relived his past, sharing a part of him that she could tell he still hadn’t made peace with. She had heard the haunted note in his voice as he told her about his parents, and she desperately wanted to share his pain. Her heart broke for the boy who had tried to step into shoes only a man could fill, leaving his own childhood behind.

Sydney could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt and her fingers itched to touch him, to offer him any comfort. But she couldn’t bear to take her hand from his, which was curled against his chest. She heard his breath hitch and he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the palm and sending liquid fire racing from her hand to her shoulder and into the pit of her stomach. She felt the heat of his touch spread to her loins.

Scott looked down at her. “I want you, princess.”

Sydney cupped his face with both of her hands, his rough jaw scraping her palms. She lifted herself onto her knees and straddled his lap, allowing her full access to his mouth. Slowly, she kissed him. With her lips she tried to take away the sorrow she could see he had never fully allowed himself to feel. Her tongue danced with his, urging him to release the pent-up grief. When she finally pulled away, she knew that her heart was in her eyes, the love that she felt for this man shone like a beacon.

Scott’s eyes fell to the spaghetti straps at her shoulders and he slipped a finger under the thin material, letting it fall to her upper arm. Scott’s fingers followed his eyes as he slipped them from the column of her throat to her collarbone and over the crest her breasts. He reached up and pulled the pins from her hair, allowing the curls to fall around her shoulders, and buried his fingers inside the waves, urging her head back and allowing him access to her throat. His lips rained burning kisses on her face and neck. Sydney arched her back at the sweet torture, and he rewarded her with his lips at her collarbone. Scott pulled the dress down and it slid easily to the indentation of her waist. He wasted no time removing the thin barrier of her strapless bra, the only thing between his hands and her flesh.

Sydney felt as if her body were aflame. Scott caressed the hardened rosy buds as he nibbled at her ear, gently probing the pink shell with his tongue. Sydney gasped and pulled him closer, trying to become one with him. She arched her back as his mouth neared her breast. Scott pressed kisses in the valley between them before tasting the underside. His tongue was wreaking havoc on her senses, and she cried out as white-hot lightning shot through her when he took her fully into his mouth.

After turning his attention to the other tight, rosy nipple, Scott lifted his smoky gaze to hers, forcing her to look into his passion-darkened eyes. “Undress me, Sydney.”

With trembling fingers, she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, pulling it down his arms. She moved off of his lap and fumbled with the waistband of his pants, slowly unbuckling his belt and then the button of his pants. She reached for the zipper, her fingers grazing the swollen flesh beneath, and Scott growled.

“I can’t take this.” He stood with her, cupping her bottom, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed.

Scott laid her back with her knees hanging over the end of the bed and pulled her dress from her body, dropping it at his feet. He quickly shed his boots and pants, creating a puddle of clothing on the floor. Then he allowed his eyes to travel the length of her form, starting at the jumbled mass of auburn curls and pausing at the rise and fall of her breasts before continuing to her flat abdomen and the gentle swell of her hips.

Scott leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his unshaven jaw against her stomach. He held her as she curled her fingers into his hair; he breathed ragged puffs against her skin, and she wondered if he felt as out of control as she did. He trailed his fingers down her ribcage and pressed a kiss to her navel—a kiss that was both tender and incredibly erotic. His fingers continued their explorations across her hips, as if memorizing every detail of her skin. As he fell to his knees on the floor, he tugged the thin wisp of fabric with him, leaving her bared to the sweet torment of his hands. Pressing a kiss to her inner thigh, his rough jaw heightened her soaring ecstasy while his fingers found the nest of curls and taught her new pleasures. Scott’s lips inched up her thighs and Sydney arched, unable to control the physical response she had to his touch.