The Devil Inside (16 page)

His last.

Next week, he’d be competing in his first rodeo since the accident. Giving in to temptation, he’d sent a postcard to Sam with all the details.

She probably wouldn’t show. But oh, how he hoped he was wrong.

“Morning, Cody.” Zac clapped him on the shoulder. “Ready for one last ride today?”

“You bet.”

“Then let’s go get some breakfast and hit the chutes.”

The noise of the crowd echoed around the arena as the announcer ran through his pre-show chatter. Sam sat back in her chair, gripping the armrests and trying to ignore the butterflies stampeding around in her stomach.

She wanted to be here, wanted to be part of this aspect of Cody’s life. But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t having a really hard time with it, too.

“Are you ready for some bullriding?”

Around her, the crowd roared its approval. Sam smiled and gripped the armrests tighter.

It had been a month since the accident, and true to his word, Cody was back on the circuit. Before, that would have been enough to end it for her.

Now, things had changed.
She
had changed.

She’d done her work. Now, it was time to see what he was willing to do.

“Up next is Cody Shaw of Wyoming, riding Risky Business.”

Even through her tension, Sam was able to smile a little at the appropriate name. Then the gate opened, and bull and rider exploded into the arena.

Her eyes stayed glued to the whirling, bucking bull and the man clinging to the bullrope as they leapt around the arena. Clods of dirt flew, rodeo clowns raced to get out of the way, and Cody’s arm waved above his head as he rode.

An eon passed. Then two. Sam held her breath as the bull twisted and kicked, doing all in its power to dislodge the man on his back.

And she remembered how much she’d loved this back when she was a kid, back before her father’s accident. Even through the painful memories and the heavy weight of fear, she felt that same rush of adrenaline that the rodeo had always brought her.

Finally, the buzzer sounded, and Cody dismounted with the help of a rodeo worker on horseback. The bull was escorted back to the chutes, and Cody walked out of the arena, waving to the crowd.

Sam leapt up from her seat and rushed to the aisle, clattering down the steps to the exit. Once she made it outside the grandstand, she looked around. Where was Cody?

“Sam!”

Her heart stuttered at the sight of him, standing in the entryway to the chutes. His Wranglers were coated in dirt, and his shirt was untucked. He smiled at her and opened his arms.

With a cry, she flew across the dirt floor and threw herself into his arms, clinging to him as he whirled her around.

“You came,” he murmured against her shoulder, the scent of dust and sweat and good, clean cowboy intermingling.

“How could I be anywhere else?”

He hugged her close, then pulled back to look into her eyes. “So you’re okay?”

She nodded. “I’m done running.”

He bent his head and kissed her, a kiss that swiftly turned heated. They were both breathing hard when they broke apart.

“Even with all the rodeo issues?”

“The rodeo issues are my problem, and I’m working on them. I’m not saying that it’s going to be easy, or that I’ll get over it right away, but I’m willing to try.”

Cody turned at the sound of the announcer, shading his eyes as he looked at the reader board. “Seventy-nine,” he shouted. “Can you believe it? Seventy-nine!”

“Congratulations!” Then she pulled back and frowned at him. “By the way, what the hell are you wearing?”

“Like it?” He tapped the hard shell. “This was one of the conditions for returning to the ring. Bullriding vest and helmet.”

She glanced down at the apparatus he held in his hand. Sure enough, it was a helmet with full face protective gear. “No more cowboy hat?”

“Bite your tongue, woman.” He tucked her into his side and started walking with her to the contestants’ tent. “Of course I’ll wear my cowboy hat. Just not in the ring.”

“Good.” She winked. “I like that hat.”

He grinned. “I met with the sports medicine team at the trainer’s before I started riding again. They recommended this gear to make sure the ride is as safe as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“Nothing’s guaranteed. Anybody could get hit by a bus crossing the street.”

“Or locked in a barn with an angry bull,” she added. “But I don’t want stay in my house for the rest of my life out of a fear of buses. Or bulls.”

“And what about your mom?”

“She’s not thrilled, but I think she understands now that it’s my life and my decision, whether she agrees with it or not. She’s even stopped bugging me about the riding lessons.”

“Riding lessons?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not at barrel racing form yet, but I’m getting there.”

“Outstanding.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Can’t wait to go riding with you.”

She smiled at the thought. “Sounds wonderful.”

“So how was it?” he asked, indicating the arena with a nod of the head.

She grimaced. “I won’t lie and say I had no problem being here. But I survived.”

“I’m glad.”

“But you’d better get used to having me around.” She bumped hips with him as they walked slowly back toward the arena. “I think it would be harder for me to sit at home worrying, like my mom did. So if this thing between us is going to work, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me.”

“No objections whatsoever,” he said. “I’d love to have you with me all the time. But what about your job?”

“You remember that training program I was shooting for?” She flashed him a smile. “I got in.”

“Great!”

“Once I finish the program, I’ll be a paramedic. And because Four Corners needs paramedics, the chief is willing to work with me to arrange my schedule so I can be at as many of your competitions as possible.”

“You know what I think about that?” He leaned in until their noses touched. “Yee-haw.”

Sam shivered at the thought of all the delicious possibilities contained in that one little word.

“Oh!” He stepped away from her. “Hang on a minute.”

She watched his retreating form as he jogged back under the grandstand to the competition chutes. He rounded a corner, and when he returned, he had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

“Almost forgot my stuff,” he said, dropping it on the ground at her feet. Then he knelt down and unzipped it. Pulling out an item, he stood back up and held it out to her. “For you.”

She took it from him, puzzled. The fabric was soft and warm in her hands. Then she opened it all the way.

A delighted laugh broke free. “You knitted me a scarf?”

“Shh!” He looked around, a finger to his lips. “You’ll kill my reputation.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“Just like you.”

She blushed.

He took the scarf away from her and wrapped it around his hands, tugging gently at it. “And strong, too.”

The wicked look on his face was enough to take her breath away.

“Is it?” She grabbed the center of the scarf and pulled him close. “Care to test that theory?”

“The bed in my hotel room has a really nice open-frame headboard. Perfect for trying out a little roping action.”

“How soon can we get there?”

He checked his watch. “Ten minutes.”

“Make it seven, and you’ve got a deal, cowboy.”

About the Author

A multi-published author in a variety of genres, Kate Davies found a writing home in romance after leaving her junior high teaching job to become a full-time mom. While the kids are busy with soccer practice, piano lessons, and school, she finds time to write sexy contemporary stories about strong, passionate men and women. Kate lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest.

To learn more about Kate, please visit
www.kate-davies.com
. She loves to hear from readers—you can contact her at
[email protected]
or on her blog at
www.kate-davies.blogspot.com
.

Look for these titles by Kate Davies

Now Available:

Taking the Cake

Strip Tease

Challenging Carter

Lessons in Love

Lessons in Trust

Beginnings Anthology: Ritual Love

The Perfect Gift Anthology: Home for Christmas

Just when things are looking up, she falls for the man of her dreams.

Felicity Stripped Bare

© 2008 Vanessa Jaye

It’s been ten years since Felicity skipped out of high school, leaving behind the taunts of “retard”. Things have hardly improved since then. Her job waitressing at a strip club is just one more tick in the “sucks” column of her life. Now she’s signed up for tutoring and her future looks bright…until her hunky new landlord starts wreaking havoc on her libido.

And did he just say, “Evicted”? Not so fast, buddy. She may be dyslexic, but she’s not stupid.

Daniel MacKenzie is
this close
to achieving his dream of setting up his own renovation company, so he’s not interested in more demands on his time. Not even if one of those demands is a tenant wearing skintight jeans, teetering on four-inch heels and complaining a blue streak with the most kissable mouth on the planet.

Despite his resolve not to mix business with pleasure, Daniel not only teeters, he tumbles head-first into the scorching sexual tension between them.

He’s a man who’s used to getting what he wants, and he’s not above pulling every trick in the book to get—and keep—Felicity in his life. But she’s holding something back.

And he’s afraid it’s her heart.

Warning: Smart women outwitting gorgeous men, hot explicit monkey-lovin’ and some graphic language.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Felicity Stripped Bare
:

Still…in the minutes that had followed, holding her close, feeling their heartbeats slow to one synchronized beat, there had been a quiet fulfillment in that. It was unexpected, and that was warning enough to stay the hell away, but the memory of her little sighs and the way her body fit against his, teased at Daniel and he knew he wouldn’t.

Which was how he ended up driving to Home Depot with her two days later. When he’d shown up at her door, her body language had been a billboard of rejection. He’d reexamined the showerhead and looked for signs of water damage in the immediate area then checked the pipes in the other units.

She’d kept her distance and her silence, curled up on that ratty sofa in the main room of the flat, her head buried in a book.

Finally he’d walked up to her, ignoring the hostility that rolled off her as she slapped the book shut and hugged it to her chest.

“Was it so bad?” he’d asked. “When we kissed? Was it so damn bad?”

He watched her blush deepen and his need grew, to hear her say the kiss had affected her also. That the memory, the hunger for more, also kept her up late at night.

She’d stared back at him with those large gray eyes, her thoughts well hidden beneath their silvery depths. He wanted to know those secrets she kept hidden away.

“It was just a kiss.”

He shook his head. “It was more than that. Could be more. Sometimes life gives us opportunities, Felicity. Why not take them?” Now if that wasn’t the lamest speech he’d ever uttered. A couple nights of tossing and turning, and stroking himself to release, this is what he came up with?

Yet what else he could have said? Certainly not anything that might even hint at the feelings congealed in his throat. Not that there was emotion involved here except attraction.

He watched as she gave his words some thought, then a slow, tentative smile came across her face, and she hugged the book closer. That smile curled up in his chest. Nested there. Daniel had a sudden urge to sprint for the door.

During the drive Felicity was silent, content to stare out the window at the old buildings that lined St. Clair Ave. West. She loved the vibrancy of the neighborhood with its mix of trendy bars, boutiques and old-fashioned fruit stands and butcher shops. It was home. She’d put down roots here. Finally.

Besides, window-shopping gave her something to do, since Daniel didn’t seem inclined to make conversation over the music spilling from the radio. Instead he nodded his head and tapped the steering wheel to the selection of songs, while singing snatches off-key. And under his breath, thankfully.

She was supposedly tagging along to pick out a showerhead of preference. But it felt like a date. Felicity started nibbling on her hangnail collection.
“Why not?”
he’d asked. And her belly had slithered down to her ankles and wrapped itself around them, while her next heartbeat played hide and seek.

He was the candy in the jar that had been moved down to eye-level and he was telling her to reach right in and grab a handful…of his licorice.

Felicity had never grabbed for anything in her life. It had always been a struggle just to keep up. Yet things had changed in the last year—she’d finally found the strength to leave Stuart and then the tutoring had come through.
So…

She glanced sideways at Daniel’s profile, softened by the sensuality of his mouth and thick sweep of lashes and thought,
why not,
indeed?

Then she started thinking about his gumballs.

When they arrived at Home Depot, Daniel parked the truck before hopping out and quickly making his way to her side of the cab to see her out. Felicity took his hand and was rewarded with a current of awareness that shot up her spine and smacked her in the back of her head.

After that, she kept some distance between them as they walked towards the store. So much for gumballs.
Jawbreakers
was more like it.

Once inside the store, she looked around the cavernous warehouse with avid curiosity. She was probably the only person on the face of the planet who hadn’t set foot in a Home Depot, but there was never any need to before.

She followed Daniel down the aisle, past displays of every gadget, tool and material needed to build, fix, decorate or destroy, and a jumble of ideas raced through her mind.