Slow Ride Home (The Grady Legacy) (8 page)

Figured she’d eye the combine with an almost unholy glee. “It’s bigger than the one you used to drive. Are you up to it?”

“Are you dissin’ me, Grady?” She hooked her thumbs in her waistband and squared her shoulders, her smile broadening. “Because I can handle this baby as good as you any day.”

Gotcha!
“Then put your money where your mouth is, Ms. O’Keefe,” Ben said. Anticipation filled him, though he wasn’t sure which direction his decisions might take him. Might take
them
. “Because you’re hired.”

* * *

Aware of Ben tensing beside her, Allie swerved the wheel to miss a marked rock. It may have been a few years since she’d driven anything larger than her Honda, but she hadn’t lost the knack of handling a combine. As long as she paid attention. It was Ben’s damned fault she’d been distracted. Her palm tingled where he’d held it when he’d helped her get up after lunch, and her butt was still warm from when he’d brushed the grass off her.

“You’re tryin’ to knock me off my feet, aren’t you?” Ben straightened but didn’t let go of the back of her chair he’d grabbed at her maneuver.

“Hey!” the hand driving the truck beside her called over the radio. “Warn me next time, will ya?”

She slowed the machine until they were idling again and twisted in her seat to glare at him. A good offense is better than going on the defensive. “I’ve done three passes now. Doesn’t that prove that I don’t need you looking over my shoulder?”

His eyebrows lifted to his hairline. “You just about ran over that rock back there. Do you have any idea how much it’ll cost us if you break this machine? And not just in money—I’ve already got one machine down. We can’t afford to lose any of either crop because we don’t get it cut and dried before the next storm comes in.”

A hundred thousand for a combine this size—though it would take an act of God for her to completely wreck the behemoth—but a delay for repairs could cost him close to thirty thousand for the hay, if they got a full five bales per acre. “All right,” she conceded. “But you’re making me nervous standing behind me. Just get out and leave me to cut your damned oats or do it yourself.”

“Fine. You win.” He tugged the end of her ponytail, the way he used to when he sat behind her in Miss Bonner’s English class. Or the way he used to whenever they’d kissed. “And don’t forget to talk with Joe if you’re gonna be swerving again.”

Ben radioed to the truck driver that they’d be stopping. After checking to make sure the truck had stopped and was idling beside them, he opened the cab door and jumped down. “If you hit anything and damage the blades, I’m sending the repair bill to your boss.” He winked at her, then sauntered off, his thumbs hooked in his belt loops. The man had a mighty fine ass.

She released a soft sigh when he bent down to peer under the broken swather She’d spent the night before tossing and turning, rehashing that last day, and Ben’s version of it. All these years she’d blamed him along with his family, assumed he and Logan had set her up. To hear he had no knowledge of it, and more damning to learn that her father had been fired for theft, left her confused.

While she’d never admit it to him, her stomach had fluttered from the moment the ATV had drawn to a stop. There’d been a hunger to his gaze, and it had been locked on her, not the picnic basket Butch had handed him. As they’d spoken, him listening to her, taking her seriously, the lock she’d tried to put on her heart had loosened. It hadn’t fallen away completely, but he wasn’t the bad guy she’d thought of him for so long.

“You got a problem?” Ben called.

“Nope. None at all.”

The shadows of the past that had haunted her retreated as she put the combine in motion. She cranked up the CD and swayed in her seat to the music, though she kept a careful eye for the hazard markers.

Four hours later, the final swath was cut, and she pulled up the machine beside the oat truck. Her cheeks ached from grinning. Allie climbed out the doorway and prepared to jump the distance the way she used to.

Ben caught her at the waist and lowered her down. “Whoa there, you could twist your ankle jumping from that high.”

Without thinking, she looped her hands around his neck and her ankles around his waist and whooped to the sky. “Oh my God, I had such a ball! Are you doing any cutting or raking tomorrow? Because if you are, I want in.”

Ben’s eyes darkened as he sucked in a breath. Allie’s own breath caught as a hard ridge formed between them. It had been six months since she’d felt a man grow hard for her. And then it had been more of a mutual itch scratching she’d shared with a male friend right before she’d moved to Houston. A casual
since we’ll never see each other again
encounter.

The girl she’d once been, who had been unafraid of anything, screamed to be let out. This was Ben, the first man she’d fallen in love with. The first man to break her heart, and yet he hadn’t.

Everything she’d believed was different.

For the first time she let herself see him as he was now. Not as the boy he’d been.

While he’d always been strong, he’d filled out—gone from a boy to a man. With a man’s calluses creating a delicious friction against her skin. Though his eyes still had that bright shining fun in them, there were frown lines too. Where she’d once sworn she could touch him in the dark and know it was him, his body was different. Harder. More muscled. The strength in his forearms and shoulders, sculpted by years of hard work, not through hours spent in a gym.

Bracing herself, she lifted up and slid down over the hard ridge, drawing another harsh breath from him.

Ben stiffened, and Allie realized the ranch hand who had been driving the oat truck was watching them, eyes wide.

“Hey, Joe,” Ben said slowly. “Why don’t you take your load to the silo?”

“Sure thing, boss.” After he clamped his hat back on his head, Joe climbed into his truck.

“Where’d the other guy go?” Allie asked as they watched the oat truck lumber down the road.

Ben gestured to the completely cut field. “He finished about an hour ago so I sent him back to the yard with Dale.”

It would have been safer to keep someone around to stop her from giving into her wild side, but the tingling in her body celebrated with each yard farther away their chaperone traveled.

The moment the truck was out of sight, Ben pressed Allie against her machine, resting her on the footrest to nuzzle her neck.

He smelled of oil and hay and everything that screamed working man she found sexy. Her breath releasing in a soft sigh, she tilted her head to the side, giving him access to her neck.

His fingers dug into the hair at the base of her ponytail and held her as he lifted his head. His nostrils flaring, his voice dropped until it was almost a rumble in his chest. “I want you.”

He hadn’t asked for a commitment, any more than she was prepared to commit to him. All he was asking for was a kiss, his lips hovering just above hers. Giving her the power to accept him or step back.

Even as her brain screamed
bad idea
, she clutched the back of his head and brought his mouth to hers.

After a slight adjustment of angle, Ben nipped at her bottom lip, before soothing the spot with his tongue. His stubble scratched her chin in a way it hadn’t the last time he’d kissed her. One hand banded her waist, drawing her snug against him. Though it had been fifteen years since he’d kissed her, they fit together as if they’d never been apart a day. Except Ben was a much better kisser than he’d been back in high school, Allie conceded. Grown-up Ben knew exactly what pressure to apply, and how to take her breath away. Not that she wanted to dwell on just how—or with whom—he’d improved that skill. Her breath hitched as the kiss deepened, changed into one of need and lust, from him and from her.

Her hands roamed all over him, skimming over his chest, his belly. Skating around his sides and up his back, learning all the planes she’d once known by heart. He was equally busy exploring her too. At some point he’d loosened her top and slid a hand beneath the fabric, the palm of his other hand flat on the small of her back, pulling her close.

Breathing hard, he broke off the kiss, his eyes darkened not only by the shadows cast by his hat.

“Yes,” she breathed, answering his unspoken question.

She only had time for a single breath before he snatched her off the footrest, tossed her over his shoulder and half-ran across the field to where he’d parked his truck. He set her down but kept hold of her wrist. Once he’d opened the door, he grabbed a blanket from behind the driver’s seat. She stumbled after him as he rounded the truck and lowered the gate.

Allie laughed and let her head fall back in joy when he grabbed her by the waist. It had been so long since she’d felt not just needed, but unashamedly desired.

“Hold this” was the only warning she got before he hoisted her into the truck bed.

Excitement flashed through her as he kicked the feedbag and shovel aside. Shadows still obscuring his face, he curled his fist around the blanket and pulled her toward him. Her skin tingled when he once again slipped his hand over her bare belly, ranging higher until he found the clasp of her bra.

“Front opener,” he murmured. “Perfect.” With a single movement, the pressure of her bra relaxed and his palm cupped her breast.

“Lift up.” God, the need in his voice sent chills through her. Chills she hadn’t felt for far too long.

Her brain had stopped screaming, had stopped thinking about anything other than Ben touching her, her body reacting instinctively to his husky command. He pulled off her shirt, then her jeans along with her panties, frowning when he reached her boots.

“Shoot. Forgot about those. “ A quick tug on each foot, and she was soon naked from the waist down.

The sun warmed her already heated skin almost as much as the heat of his gaze. The bright blue of his eyes had been reduced to a narrow ring around his dark pupils. The dark depths drew her in, scorched her doubts to cinders.

Her fingers shaking with need, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it. He finished the job, shucking the tee, leaving her to explore the bare expanse of his chest. The light furring of blond hair gleamed gold in the bright sunlight. Using her index finger, she traced the Texas A&M tattoo on his left pec.

“Got it senior year.”

Thrilled at the roughness in his voice, she trailed her finger across his chest, circling the other nipple. His skin lifted in fine bumps with each swirl. If she mentioned it, he’d probably claim it was because of a breeze, but the wind had dropped. Even if there had been one, it would not have caused him to shiver but to sweat. Her entire body thrummed at the power that she had over him.

“Take your boots off.” Her own voice was dark, betraying her need. “I want you naked too.”

He sat, pulling her to sit beside him while he unlaced his boots. The moment he kicked them off, she took off his hat and tossed it to the corner, then pushed him to lie on his back then went to work undoing his belt buckle and unzipping his fly.

“You’re taking too long.” He swept her hands aside, lifted his hips and pushed his jeans down his thighs.

She reveled in the erection that sprang free when his briefs followed his jeans leaving them both bare-assed naked.

Her body softened at the sight of the head of his cock glistening in the sunlight, bobbing toward her, as though it sought her attention. She wrapped her hands around the hard shaft and stroked, earning a very masculine groan from its owner. God, she loved the smoothness of his skin, the warmth, the strength hidden beneath. “Tell me you have a condom.”

“In my back pocket.” He gasped when she lowered her head and ran her lips over his cock.

It wasn’t smart, fucking him out in the open again. Fucking him at all. But she needed this, needed him, right here, right now. “Let’s get you saddled up there, cowboy.”

She dug the silver packaged condom out of his jeans, ripped it open and rolled it down his length. Putting her brain in park, Allie straddled him and lowered herself over his now-sheathed cock. But there was nothing to match the pleasant burn as he stretched her, the bite of his fingers as they dug into her biceps. Even the threat of being sunburned in all kinds of place that wouldn’t be comfortable didn’t make her give a damn. As she descended, she let her head fall back. It had been so long since she’d given herself permission to just feel without thinking, to act without discussing the consequences. And yeah, there would be consequences, she had no doubt.

Laying her palms flat on either side of his head, she leaned over him and rocked, shallow then deep, shifting slightly until she got the pressure on her clit that she needed to go with the pressure of being filled.

Her breath stuttered at the memory. Did he remember their first time had been in the back of his truck? She’d been nervous back then, but excited too. He’d wanted to do it properly, he’d said. Inside. In a room, on a bed. But they’d never managed to find a place alone except out here, in his truck. It didn’t matter to her, it was still romantic. They’d gotten off to a fumbling start, well, more her fumbling than his. But Ben had found a rhythm that had soon made her lose all her inhibitions. Introduced to the physical sensations she’d only read about beneath the covers with a flashlight.

Then Ben, the grown-up Ben, skimmed his hands down her sides, letting them rest on her hips. A thrust of his hip, a second, and the memories merged until the boundaries blurred. Allie let her body take over and set the pace.

* * *

If there was a better way to spend an afternoon than this, Ben couldn’t picture one. Nothing could top being buried in a woman with the sun beating down on them both. Not just any woman. Allie. Well, maybe having something softer beneath them than the ridged metal truck bed. If he’d planned it better, he would have done it on the edge of one of the uncut fields, a soft bed of sun-warmed straw cushioning them both.

Did she remember their first time had been in the back of his truck too? Maybe it was fate that she’d come out here today. That he hadn’t planned it better. Spontaneous was sure working fine. Though he had no idea where they’d go from here—those thoughts took too much energy. For now he just wanted to enjoy having her with him, covering him. He’d deal with the consequences later. Much later.