Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off (11 page)

"How did I look when you met me if I look better now?” She looked down at her attire and laughed as they walked.

"I don't know, you looked, like a princess or something. I thought to myself, what in the world is this little cupcake doing in a country bar? Then, you came over and put your moves on me.” Jack laughed.

"Moves?” Bethany laughed, too. “I fell off a bar stool."

"And I caught you. You could have fallen into the other guy,” he teased.

"Thank God, I didn't.” Her admission stopped him in his tracks.

"Do you mean that?” He looked down into her soft, green eyes, pushed a loose curl behind her ear, and smiled.

"Yes. I like you. You're the most decent man I've ever met, so far.” She bit her lower lip as she teased.

"So far?” He followed as she headed to the barn.

"Yes. You could still turn out to be a jerk!” She laughed and took off running.

He gave her a head start. Then, he chased her. Like a lovesick teen, chasing a girl into the barn. But when he got there, she was standing stock still with her hands at her heart, and he feared she was not used to running.

"Jack, look at them.” Bethany breathed hard as she looked down the row of horses.

"I look at them every day. You're from Kentucky, surely you've seen horses.” He walked past her to the first stall.

"Just at the Derby. My father wouldn't let me actually go down and see them though. He didn't like animals."

She moved to stand next to him. He looked down at her. She was chewing her lower lip and looking at his favorite horse like she just fell in love.

"This is Jumper.” He had named the horse according to his affinity for jumping things.

"What kind of horse is he?” She did exactly the same thing he did. Her hand came up slowly and stroked Jumper on the cheek.

"A Morgan, did you know the American Morgan can be traced back to one horse?” He watched carefully as Jumper let Bethany touch him. She had no idea how impressed he was. Jumper tried to nip everyone, including him sometimes. “Lucky guy."

"Jack.” She rolled her eyes at him. Apparently, he wasn't as funny as he thought he was.

"Come on before he bites you.” Jack tugged her by the hand as he headed to the next stall. “This is Sheba, a Tennessee walker. If you want to ride, this is the horse I would put you on."

"What if I wanted to ride Jumper? He looks so sweet.” She looked at Sheba and got the same expression of awe. “Look at her."

"She won't jump and throw you off. I'd like you to live long enough to meet the rest of my family, maybe grow old, have some kids. I put you on Jumper, all that is out the window.” Jack kissed Sheba above her nose. “You're a sweet girl, aren't you, darling? Yes, you are."

"She lets you get so close?” Bethany moved closer, and the horse mouthed her hand. No teeth just lips.

"She's kissing you. Very good sign.” He turned his attention to Jumper who neighed loudly. “Jealous, old boy? You were going to bite her."

"No, he was not,” she said with certainty. “You're not scaring me, Jack Johnson. These horses wouldn't hurt a soul."

He shrugged his shoulders. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to keep learning about animals the hard way. “Let's let them back out to the pasture. Come on."

He walked to the front of the barn and closed the door, leaving only the backside open. He then opened the stall next to Sheba's and then the next. Bethany watched him open two; then she opened the next one on her own, helping him.

"Why don't you let Jumper and Sheba out?” she asked as she worked the next gate.

"I'll show you.” He put a rope lead around the Arabian's long, white neck, and the line of horses came out of their stalls and followed his lead. “Stay with me. If they get antsy, you might get kicked."

"Jack,” Bethany said his name as though she were tired of him warning her, but the last thing he wanted was for her to find out today was horses kick, they bite, and if she got in their way, they would push her, especially if they knew they could. None of his animals were mean, not even Jumper, but they lived by a hierarchy, and Bethany wasn't established in their chain of command.

"Open the gate, will ya?” Jack pointed ahead. She jogged to the gate. Two reasons he asked her to do it. One, because the White Queen, the Arabian he had harnessed, didn't like to back up and wait for the gate to open, and two, Bethany bounced and jiggled in great places when she ran. “Thank you."

He let the White Queen go and smacked her on the hind quarter letting her know she could take off now. The horse loved to run, itched to do it, the reason why she went out first. She would plow through everyone else otherwise. “Watch out now."

The horses filed past. As they got to the end of the corral and made their way to the pasture, Jack turned to Bethany. She was smiling in wild wonderment, her eyes as big and bright as a kid on Christmas. “Wait here, when you see me coming, open the gate."

"Okay.” Bethany shrugged and looked back out toward the horses.

Jack disappeared back into the barn. She inhaled the crisp, clean air and looked around at the wide open space, now her home.
Her home
with horses, cabins, dogs, family, a beautiful house, walk in closet ... what more could a girl ask for?

"Open the gate, sweetheart,” he called, and she snapped out of her daydream, only everything still looked the same. She pulled open the gate, and Sheba walked past. Jumper followed. “Now, you made it seem like he's a handful. He's following her like a puppy dog."

"Yes, he is.” She watched him close the gate. They stood there next to each other, looking at the two horses as they made their way to the field. He leaned over. His scent carried on the breeze. Her stomach tingled with expectation. “Watch when he gets there."

She watched as the two entered the field. Jumper started jumping. The horse ran and trotted and kicked and, well, jumped. “What in the world?"

"She's his girl. He won't follow any other horse, and he will bite or kick any male dumb enough to come near her. He bit her once. She kicked the shit out of him, and I thought for sure she broke his back leg. But no, he just limps now and then to get attention. She falls for it every time. This is just to show her he's still got it.” He laughed a hearty laugh. “Reminds me of my brother if you want to know the truth."

"Heath?” She knew it was Heath, the man practically oozed testosterone.

He nodded. The sun did amazing things to his eyes. The starburst of red and gold glinted in the brown pools. The man had the most seductive eyes. She could barely pay attention to what he said. “Makes an impression, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does.” She smiled a secret smile. Here she was in her own little fantasy. She turned her attention back to the horses and watched as Jumper finally settled down. He walked away from everyone else. “He's not even standing next to her."

"But he's not too far away from her either. She stands with the other females. Jumper thinks he's got a harem, but the White Queen belongs to Shadow. He's the solid black one over there."

"How do you remember all their names? The horses, the dogs, the family, I can't keep up.” She followed Jack back into the barn. He didn't open the front door. Instead, he detoured up a ladder. Once at the top, he looked down as though he expected her to be right behind him.

"What are you waiting for?” He wiggled his eyebrows, and she knew he wanted her up there.

"I don't like heights,” she said as she grabbed onto the ladder. Like them or not, she wanted to know what he had in mind.

"It's not high,” he declared as he disappeared to the loft. Looking down, she decided it was definitely high enough!

Once she reached the top, she found him laid back in some hay. It was apparently a storage area with lots of hay, feed, and equipment. “What do you think you're going to do up here?"

"Relax. Talk a while. Come sit next to me.” He held out his hand, and she took it.

He pulled her down into the hay with him and hugged her tightly. They were married, they had had sex more than once, but the intimacy of being held seemed awkward. Bethany wasn't sure she wanted to make their relationship more than physical since it was ending in three months time.

"What's wrong?” He let her loose, and she lay back next to him.

"Nothing. I guess I'm not a touchy feely kind of girl.” Her laugh fell flat.

"I see.” He stared at the ceiling for long moments. She wasn't sure if he was mad, hurt, or what.

Minutes ticked by, and the silence was killing her. The closeness was unbearable. She was lying there, not touching him, and suddenly all she could think about was touching him. “Jack, I didn't mean I don't want you to touch me at all. I just meant that I'm not used to ... you know, being held and stuff. It makes me think things are different when they are still the same."

"I see,” he said bluntly and continued staring at the ceiling. His left leg propped up; his hands folded neatly on his abdomen.

Seconds turned to minutes. She couldn't fight it anymore. The longer he remained silent and not touching her, the crazier she became with the need to be touched. Bethany could feel her hand inching toward him. Her fingers touched his elbow and then slid over his forearm. Each hair she touched directed her toward his hand. Once there, she laced her fingers on top of his. “Jack?"

He made a grunting noise as a response.

"Jack.” She thought about it. She didn't want to ask, but apparently he wasn't going to do it otherwise. “Will you hold me?"

"Are you sure you want me to? Don't do it because I want you to. Do it because you want to. If you don't want to have sex anymore, then fine. I understand, but you have to tell me.” He shifted to face her. His serious expression made his masculine features stand out more.

He ran his hand down the side of her arm. She watched his whiskey brown eyes soften as he leaned in for a kiss. Her heart began to race. Her body betrayed every thought her head sent to it. She did not want this. She did not want to like him so much. She never planned to like his house or his animals or his stupid big brothers.

But once Jack's lips met hers, everything else went out the window. The only thoughts she had were of Jack, his soft lips, his warm wet mouth, and his long tongue.

She sighed in surrender to his kiss. The man had a way of kissing, and it chased everything else away.

His heavy body settled over her, and he wrapped his arms around her back, lifting her closer to him. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to get her clothes off or do anything else besides kiss her.

She felt it as it moved up her throat and into his mouth, a moan of pure enjoyment, of complete satisfaction. And as always, he pulled back, nipped her lower lip, and smiled his bright smile, full dimples, and dared her to resist him.

"You are the devil, Jack Johnson.” Bethany was limp, warm and ready to do whatever he had in mind, and he knew it.

"Don't say that. I just want to make you happy, sweetheart. If you don't want me..."

"I want you. I want you too much. It's confusing because I know it's going to end. My head tells me that I shouldn't want you, but my body can't seem to resist.” She sighed, traced his cheek with her fingers. It was no use. She wanted him. Should, should not, it really didn't matter. No one had ever made her feel as alive as Jack did.

"Let's just take it one day at a time,” he whispered against her lips then kissed her silly all over again. His hand moved to her breast.

At the same time, a loud sound came from downstairs. The sunlight filtered back through the main door to the stables.

"Shh.” He covered her mouth. A woman's voice could be heard.

"I don't know who let them back out. It's my day to feed them,” the woman said.

"Well, be thankful one of them helped you out,” a man said to her.

"Buck, they are always trying to help me out. I can pull my own weight around here.” Jan, the sister, and her husband, Buck, were below them. Jack could apparently see them from his angle, and he still had his hand on her mouth. Bethany bit his finger, and he moved it, giving her a disapproving look before smiling.

"You are the most hard-headed woman.” Buck sounded exasperated. Maybe the whole Johnson family was exhausting.

"Jerk.” Jan apparently did something as she said it because he laughed but said ouch.

"I'm just teasing you,” Buck soothed.

"So, the horses are out, and we're here, just the two of us. What do you want to play? Cowgirl ropes cowboy, or the other way around?” Jan's voice changed, and Bethany tried not to laugh as Jack's face blushed. He looked mortified. Then, he looked angry.

"Get your hands off my sister!” he yelled as Bethany tightened her whole body against his rage. His voice rang in her ears. By the time she sat up, he was already on the ladder heading down. He was fast when he was angry.

"Jack!” she and Jan both yelled.

"Sorry, Jack.” Buck obviously felt embarrassed himself.

"We are grown and married. We can play whatever we like whenever. Besides, what were you doing up there? Huh? You and your little bimbo taking a roll in the hay?” Jan asked with such venom Bethany almost didn't want to go down there, but she wasn't little, and definitely not a bimbo, and no one was going to accuse her of being the latter.

"I'm not a bimbo,” Bethany said at the top of the ladder as Jack said she was not a bimbo at the bottom. She smiled. At least he would take up for her though in this case it was true. “I have a master's degree from Ohio State University."

"And you're not blonde.” Jan looked shocked. Her auburn hair hung long down her back like a horse tail. Her brown eyes were rounded and perfectly set apart. She was almost as tall as Jack and had a body like a supermodel. It made Bethany sick. “I..."

"I get it. It's no big deal.” Bethany smiled. It had to be tough being so young. Buck stood behind her, blushing, his blonde hair and blue eyes a stark contrast to the rest of the men. He was taller than Jack and bigger. She doubted the three brothers really wanted to tangle with him. He had youth and about twenty pounds or more on his side. “You must be Jan and Buck. I'm Bethany."

Jan and Buck both met her halfway and shook hands. Buck was such a sweet cowboy. He tipped his hat and called her ma'am. Bethany blushed. Jack harrumphed.