The Maverick Meets His Match (30 page)

Mandy stood in Ty’s office, looking over the report submitted by the analysts. She could hardly believe the seven-figure number she was viewing.

So much money made her a little shaky about turning down the offer.

She looked up from the paper, and the eyes that followed her were serious and somber. He undoubtedly knew that the amount would make it tough to walk away. He was counting on it.

“That dollar figure guaranteed?”

“There are no guarantees, but I was conservative. I do know a little about real estate development.” And, no doubt, this deal would be a feather in his cap.

“Even in this market?”

“Even in this market.”

She folded the paper and shook her head. “The ranch is off the table regardless of the money. I’m half owner, so you can’t do it without me.” She prayed Tucker would stay the course and money wouldn’t lure him. After all, Tucker had walked away from Prescott even though it cost him some stock.

“You wouldn’t just be well off—you’d be rich. As would Tucker.” He hesitated a breath before adding, “And so would the baby.”

Mandy wasn’t sure she could trust her ears. “The baby? Does that mean you agree? To having a baby?”

Her heart was thumping, and she felt like her blood pressure had just shot up. Could it be true? She might almost forgive him for pursuing a sale—almost.

“Yes.”

Mandy felt the burn of tears in her eyes as she released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “You sure?”

His smile was surprisingly broad as he rose.

She scrambled from her chair, her mind whirling and her heart bobbing in her chest like a buoy on a breaking wave. He’d agreed. He wanted a baby. With her. She’d always been attracted to him, but at that moment, he was like the most powerful magnet in the world drawing her to his outstretched arms.

Coming around to his side of the desk, she flung her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. He seemed prepared for her, because he scooped her up and held her tight against his hard chest. She fed him kisses like a gambler feeds quarters to a slot machine. She was relieved. Happy. Bliss filled.

His hands cupped her rear end, and, coming up for air, he tilted his head back. “Does this mean we are having sex?” he said, barely above a growl.

The giggle bubbled in her throat. “Unless you know of a better way to make a baby.”

He nuzzled her neck, and tiny little pricks of lust zinged through her.

“I mean right now, here, in the office.”

That had her straightening up. “Noooo.”

“Why not?”

“What would we tell our child?”

“Who tells a child how they were conceived?” He nipped her shoulder and then covered her mouth with his lips. He kissed her like a she was the last woman on earth—engulfing her in a siege of pheromones. She slid her hands down his shoulders, down his back, beneath the waistband of his pants until she felt warm flesh. Then she worked her fingers back up his bare skin and pressed his back, holding him to her. His mouth pressed deeper, and her tongue teased his. She felt his muscles tighten under her hands. He pulled her hips closer to his, and she felt him swell against her belly. Feminine satisfaction filled her.

He stepped back and, without a word, walked toward the door. Was he leaving?

She heard the lock click.

“No one to bother us,” he said, sauntering back.

“Karen’s right outside the door,” she reminded as she sucked air back into her lungs.

“We’ll be quiet.” He pulled her against his hard body She felt him, long and hard.

College dorms had given Mandy some practice at being quiet.

Ty feathered kisses down her neck while his hand massaged her breast. It had only been a few days, but it had seemed like a few years since he’d made love to her.

“You want a baby, right?” His hand slid lower, brushing the denim of her jeans against her skin.

She nodded, having a hard time finding her voice when he cupped her crotch.

“No better time to get started. Skin to skin. Flesh to flesh. No condom.”

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. He was moving against her through the denim fabric, and she could feel the wetness between her legs.

He shifted so that he sat on the front edge of the desk, capturing her between his legs. With a swipe, he unfastened the button of her jeans and pulled down the zipper, his fingers brushing against sensitive areas.

She groaned.

“Shhhh,” he said as he nuzzled her ear.

Oh God, she had to be quiet. So quiet.

He unfastened the button at the top of her jeans, and with both hands, pulled down the zipper, his hand brushing against her silky underwear. Little shimmers of sensation danced inside of her.

He pushed down her jeans and undies so that they pooled around her ankles. “Boots,” she whispered.

He reached for the side chair, pulled it forward, and gently pushed her onto it. Her body collapsed into it like a tent without its poles. He bent on one knee and pulled the right boot off, then the left, before tugging the jeans, undies, and socks off each leg. She was naked from the waist down.

He kissed her inner thigh and then kissed the same spot on the other thigh. His thumb touched where she was slick, and Mandy had to bite her lip to keep in the moan that had climbed up her throat. His hands slid under her backside, and he lifted her to his mouth. Mandy fisted her hands in his hair, astonished that he was doing this where he was doing it. She’d never been more aroused.

When his hot mouth touched, her back arched as his tongue caressed her. Pure pleasure swirled around her, dragging her into a vortex of sensation.

“Ty,” she whispered. Tension coiled inside of her. With each swirl, each flick of his tongue, the tension pulled tighter. He draped a leg over his shoulder while he pressed his hand under the thigh of the other leg. She held his head, and he worked his tongue so each lick took the tension up a notch, then another, then another. She bit her lip and wondered if it was bloody from biting down so hard to keep from calling out his name. When she thought she couldn’t stand it any longer, she dropped over the edge in a shuddering climax, the contractions racking through her like the aftershocks of an earthquake.

Ty rose and unbuckled his belt. Within a heartbeat his boots were off, his socks and pants thrown to the side, and he stood there, half naked, with a wonderful, full erection. He pulled her to her feet and leaned his butt against the edge of the desk.

“Climb aboard, Mrs. Martin,” he growled. “We’re making a baby.”

Mandy didn’t have to be asked twice. He held her at her hips, and she propped a knee against the hard surface of the desk and slung a leg around his waist. The engorged head of his hot erection nudged against her opening. He pressed her hips down as he thrust up. He stretched her, but she was slick and he buried himself inside her, deep inside her. A moan escaped.

“Shhh, honey. You said you’d be quiet.”

But he didn’t tell her how erotic this would be. How aroused she would feel.

“Wrap your legs tight around me,” he commanded.

She did as he asked, and he lifted her as he rose off the desk. He flipped around, and her bare butt slapped the smooth surface of the desktop.

“Hold on tight,” he whispered through the sexual fog engulfing her mind.

His hands moved to her back, and he pressed her to him. Then his hips moved back, and he was hammering into her, again and again, faster, harder, pushing against her as his large hands held her in place. His chest heaved, and his breathing was ragged. Still he pounded, and she was caught in a sexual swirl that sent her, finally, over the edge, the contraction hard and powerful, and it shook her like an earthquake splitting the earth. She wanted to shout, but somewhere through the haze, she remembered she had to be quiet, and instead she bit into the soft fabric of his shirt to hold it in. The aftershocks rippled through her, and she tightened her grip on his shirt. His groan rumbled out like plains thunder, and his knees bent for a second before he crushed her to his chest. So much for being quiet.

Ty had just had the best sex of his life, in an office, on a desk. He fastened his belt and helped Mandy find a sock. Clearly it wasn’t due to the surroundings.

Mandy, still breathing a little heavy, sat on the same chair where he’d made her come minutes before and pulled on a gray python boot with a pointed toe. He’d never realized how many different types of boots there were until he’d met Mandy.

“If you’d be okay with it, I’d like to move back to the ranch house. I think, given one life ended there, it would be fitting to begin a new life there.” She looked at him from under those beautiful thick lashes of hers, and he felt a zing of lust. Hell.

“You want to?” He wasn’t sure that going back to her grandfather’s would be good for her, but if that’s what she wanted, he had no problem.

“I know you wanted to have a place to work out and all.”

“I haven’t used the facilities since we’ve been married. I’m too exhausted at the end of the day, and there’s too much to do at the beginning of the day.” He leaned over and nipped her ear. She smelled like him. “Seems my muscles are getting enough of a workout the old-fashioned way.”

She kissed his cheek. “I’ll ask Mrs. Jenkins to fix up the bedroom and tell her we are coming back. I think she’ll be relieved.”

His smile crooked up. “As long as it’s the bedroom with the king-size bed.”

Mandy sat on the sofa in the ranch house library and as her heart hammered against her ribs, the clock ticking the seconds away while she waited for Ty. He was in the kitchen, having insisted on fixing them coffee after the wonderful dinner of ribs and sweet potatoes Mrs. Jenkins had made before she’d headed out at her designated time of three o’clock. Mrs. Jenkins had seemed quite cheered by the news that Ty and Mandy would be coming back to the house and appeared relieved when Mandy had asked her to make up the guest room with the king bed. Mandy imagined she’d been a tad worried about her job, despite reassurances.

Talk over dinner had been about the preparations for the Cheyenne rodeo. Yet all she could think about was Ty’s mouth on her crotch and her straddling him on his desk. She flushed just remembering. And they might have made a baby. Right there.

Ty strode into the library, tray in hand. “Here you go,” he said, lifting the steaming cup of coffee from the tray. “Just the way you like it, strong, diluted with sugar and lots of cream.”

He’d remembered.

“Thanks.” She sipped the coffee. It had been so unlike her, having sex in the office. Oh, she’d had her share of sex in cars, sex in the living room, once even in the kitchen. But an office was a somewhat public space, and she’d never had sex in a public space, unless a campsite in Yellowstone qualified.

The coffee was strong, yet mellow. Just the way she liked it. “Good coffee.”

“Thanks. I’m actually pretty handy in the kitchen. Had to be if I wanted to eat, given I’ve been on my own all these years.”

“Really.” She tried to imagine him bustling about the kitchen, and failed. The man was full of surprises.

“If we ever find a weekend when we are at home, I’ll cook you something. I make a sausage and pasta dish that’s garnered a few accolades.”

She set her coffee down on the tray that graced the square walnut table in front of the overstuffed sofa. Ty sat on the edge of the cushion within arm’s length of her.

“You okay being here, in the ranch house?” Ty asked.

Her mother and Mrs. Jenkins had done a good job of clearing out the little things of her grandfather’s—framed pictures, many of his books, much of his private papers—as well as his bedroom. But all the awards the company and its livestock had earned over the thirty-plus years still hung on the wall or sat on a shelf. The overstuffed furniture covered in saddle leather, the worn rug, and the bookshelves that lined the wall and framed the big-screen TV were comfortingly familiar. It felt like home, in a good way.

“I think it was just the day, the funeral being so recent. It actually feels good to be here. And there’s more room for my boots.” Mandy had moved about half of them in already. She’d had to commandeer one whole closet in another bedroom to accommodate them. She’d have to get one of those closet companies to come in and organize them all.

“I never knew there were so many types of boots. How many do you have?”

She shrugged. “Have never counted them. But a lot.”

Ty chuckled. “You have enough inventory to start a business.”

“Speaking of business, how do you like it so far? Certainly not a nine-to-five lifestyle.”

He took a gulp of coffee before answering. “I never did work nine to five, so the hours aren’t much of a change. But I’m finding I enjoy it. I like working with livestock again. I like the business end too. Negotiating contracts, putting together budgets, looking at strategies to grow the business. Those are things I think I’m pretty good at. Seems it’s the best of both worlds. What makes you so committed to the rodeo business?”

“I like working with the animals and the people, establishing relationships with the committees. I think I’m pretty good at those things.”

Ty raised his cup in a toast. “Seems we make a good team. You know we’ll have to keep on trying until we get it right?”

“Get what right?”

“Making a baby.” His grin exposed his set of very white, very straight teeth.

A flush of heat washed over her.

“I suppose we will have to do it more than once.” She tried to keep her tone casual, but the thought of more sex with Ty had her pulse rat-a-tatting.

He lifted his cup in a mock toast and waggled his eyebrows. “I’m counting on it. I’ve something to show you,” he said and stretched out his hand.

Clasping it, a warm cozy feeling enveloped her. They rose together, and he led her out of the library and down the hall toward the bedrooms. He walked through the house as if it was the most natural thing for them to be there, together. And heading for bed.

They passed the closed door of her grandfather’s cleared-out bedroom, passed the guestroom where the king-sized bed had been made up, and stopped at the guest room where they had spent their first night in separate twin beds. The door was closed, and she wondered if he’d made a mistake.