Her Bucking Bronc (9 page)

Dylan had the same reaction the first time he saw Hannah. “That would be Hannah Blackwood.”

Liam’s smile widened and he held out his hand. “Liam, nice to meet you, ma’am. Blackwood? I know a few Blackwoods. Tanger?”

Hannah smiled and Dylan’s gut tightened. Damn she was gorgeous. “Yep. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Let’s go take a look at your list and see what we’ve got.” Liam held out his arm and damn her hide, she took it.

Dylan wanted to growl, but he kept it inside. “Give her the friend discount on the prices.”

“Of course.” Liam winked. “I wouldn’t dream of overcharging this lovely lady.”

“It’s getting thick in here.” Hannah chuckled. “I may need my shit kickers.”

Liam guffawed and Dylan wanted to punch his friend. What in the fucking hell was wrong with him?

“I’ve known Dylan for about twelve years.” Liam’s expression was pure evil. “I’ve seen some things.”

“Shut up, Bridger.” Dylan pointed at the prep tables to their right. “You think we can do business instead of chewing the fat?”

“Oh ho. It’s like that, is it?” Liam always saw too much. “Sure thing, let’s take a look.”

They turned toward the stainless steel prep tables and Hannah whipped out a tape measure. As she bent and squatted and worked, both men watched. Dylan should be embarrassed, but he wasn’t.

“Is she your boss or your girl?” Liam asked in a low voice.

“My boss.”

Liam hmphed. “You sure are all het up over your boss.”

“Fuck you.”

“Miss Blackwood, did you know Dylan used to be on the rodeo circuit?” Liam jumped out of reach. “He was a damn good bronc rider.”

Hannah turned to meet Dylan’s gaze. “Really? Hmm. No, I didn’t know that. A cowboy, huh?”

“I’m the reason he came to Texas after high school. I lived in North Carolina for a year and this man was the only reason I made it through that year.” Liam talked far too much. “He rides horses like the wind, so he rode the circuit to make money.”

“Not bad for a Tarheel, I suppose.” She patted one of the tables. “I like this one.” She pulled out her phone and took pictures from every angle. “What about appliances? I want to try to match the brand and I prefer Energy Star ones. I want a twelve burner range, a combination convention and steamer oven, commercial griddle, a charbroiler, an under counter freezer, a conveyor dishwasher, a commercial-grade toaster and a dough sheeter. Oh, and a walk-in cooler.”

Liam took a few moments before he replied, “She’s scary.”

“This much I know. Now let’s get cracking on her list so I can go back to work.” Dylan might regret bringing her here, but they needed to get everything ordered and he was certain Liam wouldn’t cheat her or steal from her.

The next couple hours were spent looking at, poking at, measuring, and dickering over the price of her laundry list of appliances. Dylan wasn’t bored, but he sure as hell was itching to get back to the jobsite.

As they were getting ready to leave, Liam held Hannah’s hand a bit too long and smiled a bit too brightly. Dylan gave him the death stare and then endured his friend’s laughter.

Dylan was not stuck on this woman. He couldn’t be.

Chapter Six

Hannah stared at the clock. The red LED numbers told her it was five fifteen in the morning. She clutched the blanket under her chin and told herself to go back to sleep. The restaurant wasn’t open. She didn’t need to be up, but she was.

It was all Dylan’s fault.

Since their trip to his friend Liam’s warehouse, she couldn’t stop thinking about Dylan on the back of a horse. Busting broncs in a rodeo. The very idea made her nipples peak and started a low throb in her belly.

She didn’t usually yearn after a big man, but since their backyard tryst, she’d done nothing but boil in lust. She didn’t need to add to it by imagining him on the back of a horse.

She rolled over and stared at the shadowed ceiling. The fan spun in slow lazy circles moving the air just enough to caress her cheek with a tiny breeze. It was peaceful, but it wasn’t enough.

Hannah had spent too much time letting life pass her by. She needed purpose again. The one thing she knew how to do well was cook and bake. The restaurant would be hers to run again soon, but for now she would follow her heart, and it was telling her she should bake pastries.

And fall in love with Dylan Bennett.

Her breath caught and she sat up straight in bed. She was falling for the man she had disliked intensely the first time she’d met him. Holy shit. He wasn’t her type, but apparently none of it mattered.

Hannah was about to be reborn. Excitement danced across her skin. She smiled into the darkness and her eyes stung with tears. Happy ones. She jumped out of bed and headed for the shower. She had some pastries to bake.

An hour later, she wrapped each bear claw in an individual piece of wax paper and sealed it with tape. She put twelve of them into her picnic basket, then the other two dozen into a cake carrier. It had gathered dust in the cupboard while she’d been drifting through life.

Washing it in the soap and hot water had been a cleansing. Dusting off her life, her soul, her heart. She hummed as she closed the carrier.

“What has happened to my daughter?” Mama walked in wearing a pink bathrobe and a smile. Her hair was in lovely disarray from sleep. “You’re humming.”

“Mama!” Hannah took her mother’s hands and danced around in a circle with her, laughing and feeling as light as air. “Good morning to you.”

Mama pulled her into a hug. “I’m so glad to see you smile.”

“I guess we’re both feeling better.” Hannah kissed her mother on the cheek then stepped away. “There’s coffee and I left you a couple bear claws. I’ve got some deliveries to make.”

Hannah slung her purse on her shoulder, then picked up her basket and the cake carrier. She walked out the door with light steps and an even lighter heart.

* * * * *

Dylan had spent a restless night thinking about Hannah. Not that he wanted to, but his mind refused to stop. When he finally rolled out of bed at five, his eyes were gritty and his mood shitty.

When he stopped to get coffee, Amber gave him a bright smile, but it didn’t even scratch the surface of his foul mood.

“That’s a new Costa Rican roast. Has a nutty undertone that’s delicious.” She chatted as she fixed his thermos.

He grunted in response and wondered when he would feel normal again. Not that his life was full of fun and frolic, but it was his to own. The hotel had become a home away from home. He hadn’t been to his apartment in two weeks.

Maybe that was what he needed. To go to his real home and remember his real life. Hannah had gotten under his skin and he wasn’t sure he wanted her there. No, that wasn’t true, he
couldn’t
have her there.

“Oh, and I’m happy to say we have a new pastry vendor.” She handed him something in wax paper with a small sticker on it.

He brought it closer and peered at it. “I’ll be damned.” The sticker read
Devils’ Corner
.

“I promise you it’s delicious. I had one myself earlier.” Amber smiled. The girl was quite pretty, but she didn’t make his heart quicken. Not like the woman who’d made the pastry in his hand.

“I’m sure they are. I’ve, ah, tasted her goodies.” As he spoke, his cheeks heated. He sure as hell had tasted her in more ways than one. A throb echoed through his body. He was caught, stuck in her sugary web, and he damn well knew it. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, there was something between them. It had sparked from the second they met.

When she’d pulled a gun on him.

With a chuckle he paid Amber and left the coffee place. He tore open the wax paper and devoured the bear claw in four bites, then set off for the jobsite, sure to find Hannah there.

Her red truck was parked in his spot, as usual. He jumped out of the truck with his thermos in hand, eager to see her. He found her chatting with the men with her picnic basket in hand and a smile on her face.

His stomach did a funny flip. This time he wasn’t jealous. He wasn’t angry. He was desperate to kiss her.

Then she spotted him and her smile widened. He had a hard time believing he was the reason. What he saw on her face was joy.

His stomach flipped again.

“Good morning, Dylan.” She pointed to his thermos. “I’ve got a treat to go with that coffee.”

The men straightened up and more than one of them snickered or shot him a knowing grin. To his surprise, it didn’t bother him. They felt comfortable enough to tease him and he trusted them enough to take it. Tanger had some kind of magic.

“Can I talk to you in the trailer?” He kept his voice neutral while inside his inner caveman was howling to be let loose.

She handed the picnic basket to the man beside her. “Make sure everyone gets their fill, Mauricio. I’m counting on you.”

The carpenter smiled—almost shyly, by damn—and took the basket from her. Hannah turned and walked toward him. He glared at the men, daring them to watch her ass, and they all turned their backs and started reaching for the pastries.

His throat tightened as she approached him. Hannah was gorgeous in every sense of the word. Somehow over the last couple of weeks she’d lost the angry sharp edge she’d been carrying. This woman looked happy.

She took his arm and held up a wax-paper-wrapped bear claw. “For you.”

They walked together to the trailer. He unlocked it and gestured for her to precede him in. Dylan slipped in and flicked the lock behind his back. She sat down in what he was beginning to think of as her usual chair.

“Are you going to eat that?”

He set the thermos and the pastry on his desk. “Not yet. There’s something else I need to do first.”

He pulled her to her feet and pulled her tight against him. The feel of her marvelous breasts against his chest made his dick hard in an instant. And she smelled wonderful, that lemony cookie scent he would always associate with Hannah.

“Oh my.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now what?”

He growled in his throat and kissed her. She was tall enough he didn’t have to bend himself in half. No, she was the perfect height for him. Her lips were soft and lush and he reveled in the feel of them.

Instead of losing himself in the force of lust for her, he dialed it back and took his time. Slow nibbles followed by swiping his tongue at the seam of her lips. Teasing him, teasing her.

By the time their tongues found each other, his heart was hammering like a battle drum. He’d never had such a visceral reaction to a woman. By no means was he a man who didn’t get a hard-on when he kissed a woman, but this was beyond just having a stiff dick. He was consumed with every molecule of his body.

He kissed his way across her jaw to her neck. Her scent surrounded him and he drank her in even as his hands cupped her spectacular ass. He pulled her against his throbbing cock, eager for more.

“I, uh, wow, that feels good.” Her voice was high and breathy.

“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to stop myself.” He was being truthful, which was another surprise. He simply couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her.

She backed him toward the desk and he found himself sitting in the chair. She straddled him, pressing her heated core against his aching staff while her breasts were right in front of his mouth. A bountiful feast.

“We shouldn’t do this in here.” She pulled off her shirt, revealing a lacy blue bra. He kissed the valley between her breasts, then licked her skin.

“No, we shouldn’t.” He thrust up against her and they both gasped.

“Anybody might walk in.” She scratched at his shoulders.

“The door’s locked.” He cupped her breasts and closed his teeth on a nipple.

“Oh thank God.” She grabbed his hair and held him against her. “More.”

He pushed aside the lace and lapped at the turgid peak. All rational thought fled. He needed her. Now. Now. Now.

“Hey, boss?” The voice preceded the knock at the door. “We have a problem with one of the nail guns.”

Dylan let the nipple loose with regret. He kissed it then pulled the bra back into place. Disappointment raged with unrequited lust. God, he wanted to get this woman in a bed for once.

“Be there in a minute,” he called out. He whispered against her gloriously soft skin, “Damn it.”

She kissed the top of his head. “You might want to wait a few minutes before you go outside. Or you could use your dick to hammer those nails.”

He almost choked on a laugh. “Truer words were never spoken.”

She climbed off and his body cried out in dismay. As she pulled on her shirt, he mentally said goodbye to her breasts. He almost had them bare in hand and he made a silent vow to do so. Very soon.

She tugged at her jeans and blew out a breath. “Holy shit. That was intense.”

“I’ve got more where that came from.”

She laughed, that husky sound that echoed through him. Dylan managed to get to his feet. His dick throbbed against the zipper that held it in. It was his turn to adjust his trousers.