Texas Size Passion (A Cowboy's Heart Book 2) (7 page)

             
He took the time to kneel down, and give his furry companion a warm hug to thank him for the kind welcome home.

             
“It is good to see you too, my old friend.” John said. He spoke to Fang in a calm yet friendly fashion, giving him only the positive parts of him. Leaning back, his face flashed a gentle smile in the dog’s direction as he continued to talk to him. “I am sorry, but I have to get upstairs, and start work on getting myself cleaned up for a very special night tonight.”

             
John eased his body back to a standing position, and moved up the small set of wooden stairs to the second story of the house. Reaching the top, his heart nearly broke at the sound of his companion downstairs softly whining and howling for him at the bottom of the very steps he had just climbed up.

             
Fang, you are making this really hard on me…I want to play with you, but I just don’t have enough time to do it right now. I promise that we will spend plenty of time together once the dance is done over with, and make it up to you.

             
He forced his body down the small hallway, and inside of his bedroom. Moving past by his king size bed made from cherry wood, John walked right up to where a set of white, double doors were standing, and used his hands to pull them open.

             
On the other side, a rod stretching from one side to the other on the inside of the closet, there was a plentiful amount of shirts and pants hanging down from it on hangers with a rack of his hats nestled overhead of it.

             
All right…Let’s see about finding something to wear that will knock Emily off her feet, and have her wondering why she ever dated that city boy in the first place.

             
A faint smirk danced across his face at the thought of taking her breath away in another while he had managed to do that on the first day that they met in a more…personal way.

             
His hands rummaged through the shirt that hung on the left side of the closet with one another before he pulled out a blue and white patterned top with sleeves that would go down to his elbows. He took only a few moments to look it over before he tossed it towards the direction of his bed, and watched it fall down onto it in a neat way.

             
Well, there is my top. Now…I need to find the right pants for it.

             
John redirected his attention back to the closet, and focused it on where his pants were neatly hanging on the opposite side with the shelf above them that held all of his cowboy hats. As he did with his shirts, his hands moved over the pans, looking for the right pair of denim jeans to wear.

             
Looks like you don’t need my help with this since you are doing a fine job with getting the right clothes together at the moment.

             
He pulled down a nice pair of denim jeans, and retrieved his denim, wide brimmed hat like the one he had on at the moment from the top shelf while he listened to the sound of his conscience’s voice whispering to him.

             
You would be right.

             
John placed the pants and hat alongside the top he had placed out before he reached down to where his nice pair of black boots were standing at the foot of the bed, and brought them up onto the dark brown comforter as well.

             
Today, I don’t need your opinion on what to wear. I have this all figured out, and what I want to wear for the party.

             
Good…Now, you just need to work on bathing yourself, and making sure that you are smelling very nice before you leave here today.

             
Shaking his head, he chuckled at his conscience still finding a way to speak to him in a condescending manner. John took only a moment to toss his current hat onto a nearby rocking chair in a corner of the room while he headed out of the room, and moved towards where the upstairs bathroom was located.

*                            *                            *

              Turning the light on in her personal bathroom, Emily walked over to where a glass shower stood. She slid the door opened, and reached over to the nozzle for the hot water. Her right hand gave the knob a few turns until the hot water started to pour from it without mercy or hesitation. She pulled her hand away from it, and placed it upon the silver handle in the middle of it and the one for the cold water only to lift it up, allowing the flood of hot water to pour down from the shower head that hung overhead.

             
Now…It’s time to get out of these clothes, and start on washing myself from the top of my head all the way down to the bottom of my feet.

             
Emily eased herself away from the shower over to where a brown wicker hamper was positioned with several articles of her dirty clothes to be nestled inside of it. She started with the top that had been on her, removing it over the top of her had before discarding it to the hamper. Her hands moved down to the top of her shorts, eased the button and zipper of them open, and slipped the bottoms down towards her feet.

             
How are you feeling about tonight, Emily?
Her inner voice questioned her, curious to hear her silent answer.
Are you feeling okay? …Good? …Nervous? …Afraid?

             
I am feeling a mixture of things at the moment.
She spoke with sincere honesty to her conscience while her hands placed the shorts into the hamper before moving to the socks on her feet.

             
Could you please explain?

             
Since you asked nicely, I will gladly tell you feeling okay about my ability in getting myself fixed up for tonight, good about getting to let loose at the party, nervous about if John will like my look I am going for this evening, and…afraid that he might not like what he sees in me.

             
Emily, you have no reason to feel nervous or afraid. John clearly wants you, and hasn’t shown you a single sign of losing interest you at any point in the near future.

             
Emily deposited her socks into the hamper before she worked her white panties off of her body, and moved then to her bra. She straightened her body up, and looked upon her reflection in the mirror as she removed the strapless undergarment, exposing a secret she had been keeping not only from John but also from Granny Belle.

             
Upon her right firm breast, there was a set of two letters that had been engraved into her soft, fair complexion. They were noticeable right away but only to someone with a sharp eye who could spot it right away.

             
She lifted her left hand, and let her trembling fingertips dance over an ‘S’ that had been carved in her with a knife before slipping over to the form of a letter ‘B’ that had been engraved beside it as well. Even though her face didn’t show it, her soul was torn at the secret she held inside of her out of shame of it coming out into the light.

             
What if he finds out about this mark? I don’t know how he will react when he sees this, and finds out how I ended up with it in the first place…

             
Don’t worry about it right now, Emily. You can ponder on it later when the situation arises. Right now…Just focus on getting cleaned up, and looking forward to a wonderful night with a man that cares so much for you.

             
A shy yet warm smile moved across her face due to the words of motivation coming from her conscience. There was no need to linger on what she held inside of herself when she had a great night ahead of her that would be spent in the arms and company of Mr. John Hicks.

             
She dropped her hand away from the scar on her breast, and headed to the hot shower with her focus shifting from a part of her past to being on getting cleaned up and looking perfect for the evening ahead.

Chapter Eleven

              Moving inside of his tall shower, John stood beneath the shower head, and let the water run over his tall, muscular physique that now had nothing to cover it. He closed his eyes, and leaned his head back, letting the thousands of beads of water move across his thick, black hair and trail down every inch of his body from the top of his head all the way down to his six pack abs to his tight ass and firm legs before ending at his feet.

             
Ahh…This feels so amazing right now.
His hands reached up, and ran them through his hair, letting the water to trail down them just so he could more of its warmth.
After working hard all day…Being able to take a nice hot shower to clean up and unwind is a perfect way to end the day.

             
The day is far from over thought, John.
His conscience butted in and whispered to him in a coy tone.
Your day has only truly begun, and will continue on for several more hours to come for you.

             
His conscience was correct. The day was far from over for him. Even though he had spent most of the day doing errands for Belle and stepping in for Emily when her creepy ex-boyfriend, Johnathan Warrens, had been spying on her through the front window of the dress shop, John had the whole evening to look forward and spend in the company of his boss’s beautiful grand-daughter.

             
He took up his shampoo bottle that contained a really good smelling soap for his hair, and poured just enough into the palm of his left hand that would do the job perfectly. His other hand placed it back on the shelf where it had been before he rubbed the shampoo in both of his hands, and started to work it through his thick strands of hair.

             
You are right on that one.
John chose instead of the conversation between his conscience and him to fall dead to continue it onward while he was cleaning his entire body for the party he was going to be heading out to soon enough.
Things are nowhere near being done for me right now. I have to get myself soaped, washed and dried off really good.

             
Let’s not forget that you have to make sure that you smell nice and looking good for Emily before you step foot out of this house tonight.

             
Emily Withers…What a very worthy reason to make sure that he was at his top game. To show up, and sweep the sweet and sexy southern beauty off of her feet, and show how a real man takes care of a woman…made his body burn with a desire and an arousal all too strong for him to ignore.

             
A smile danced across his face as he rinsed the soap from his hair. He turned around to face the oncoming stream of water while one of his hands reached up to a shelf, and retrieved a bar of soap. His fingers clutched the sides of it while the palm moved it all over his arms and upper body, lathering up the farmer’s tan and cleaning it of any dirty and grime that was there.

             
There is no way that I am going to forget about that fiery angel of mine. She is far from getting lost at the moment.

             
You seem to be determined on making sure that she is not lost at all amongst your other thoughts and feelings that are nestled within the recesses of this mind of yours.

             
And you would be right.

             
Once he was satisfied with his upper body, John repeated the same process with the lower half until it was lathered up enough and placed the bar of soap back where he got it from. He made sure that the water got all of the soap off of him before his body bent down towards the nozzle for the hot water. His right hand reached out and turned it off, causing the flood that had been pouring over him to stop.

             
It will be a cold day in hell before I forget about her.

*                            *                            *

             
Opening up the glass shower door, Emily reached outside to where a large, white towel was hanging on a white plastic hook near her body. She managed to slip it from its confinement, and bring inside the stall where her naked and wet body was nestled.

             
Now…Let me get this around my waist so I am not totally freezing when I get out and into the open of the bathroom.

             
Her hands draped the towel around her body to where the top of it would cover the top of her chest with a little cleavage line being clearly seen on it and the fabric would then travel down and cover her to the tops of her knees. Securing it with a knot on a side of it, Emily slid the glass door open, and slowly moved out of the stall.

             
The moment she removed herself from the warm and humid environment that had built up inside of the shower stall, a rush of cold air hit her so hard it nearly caused her to cripple and tighten on the spot from the sheer surprise of it all.