The Barn-Dance (5 page)

***

It had taken that look for him to say it. The one that said,
I’ll give you whatever you want
. And more than anything, he wanted the feel of her around him again.

The tension that built in his abdomen while she’d been feasting on his cock hovered at a threatening level. He might have one thrust before he came. One good, deep thrust into the cavern of her…God, he might come right now, just thinking about it, waiting for her hands to unbutton and shed those little jean shorts.

And those shoes. The straps curled around her ankles, like ballet shoes, and the heels lifted her a good three inches off the ground already. As her fingers worked the button and zipper on her shorts, the heels of her shoes clicked on the floor, a precise snap that always reminded him of her.

She’d always worn shoes like this. Since they were in high school. Fancy heels that clipped like a horseshoe on any surface she touched. For so many years, he would hear that clicking sound and think of her. And now she was here. Getting undressed in front of him, having just sucked his cock. His chest expanded, and he had to take a deep breath to steady himself.

Mindy stepped out of the shorts and came close enough that he could grab her by the hips. He hooked his thumbs underneath the thin fabric of her panties. How like Mindy to wear pink panties and pink shoes and a pink shirt. He vaguely remembered a pink bra. The girl was a girl, if ever there was one.

“Can I take these off?” His voice was quiet, almost reverent. He hated that he wanted her so much. The power she had over him was daunting. But unavoidable.

She curved her fingers around his and helped him pull her panties off. Her lips hovered near his as she bent over to step out of her panties, and he captured them with his own. He drank deep of her, dragging her toward him.

He palmed her ass in his hands, loving the weight of her against him. She sat on his lap, her thighs on his knees, her pussy lingering in the air between his thighs. The light crop of hair between her legs was mere inches from the base of his erection.

Not close enough.

With his hands still on her ass, he pulled her forward so that her pussy rubbed against him. The light pressure, after so long without being touched, was exquisite. Her wet heat pressed against his balls and the shaft of his cock. He groaned.

“God, Min. You feel so good.”

“Oh, Leo!” Her cry, not one of ecstasy, temporarily pierced his haze of lust. Something was wrong.

“What?”

The distraction of her wetness on his bare skin was enough to drive him to distraction. Or to drive inside her. But something was really wrong. He could hear it in her voice.

“Do you have a condom?”

Oh, God. He didn’t even know. It had been awhile since what’s-her-name. And that had been in his truck, anyway. He knew his dad wouldn’t have a condom in the house. Or the kitchen. And of course, he had planned not to have sex with her. So he hadn’t been prepared.

“I don’t have one, Min.”

The tension in her face showed her double mind. He had the same issue. On one hand, the urge to drive inside her was almost palpable. And she was so close.

Until she moved away. She stood in front of him, completely naked except for those damn heels. She crossed her arms under her breasts, but oddly not over them. Her nipples stood at attention, like they begged for his hands.

She lived to blue ball him.

“We shouldn’t do this if you don’t have a condom.”

Of course, she was right. Yes, and they’d managed to stop. So it was all good. Leo glanced down at his erection. Well, almost all good.

Mindy’s eyes followed his.

“I’m sorry, Leo.”

He put his hands on his thighs, digging his fingers into his skin to ground the sensations in something other than pleasure. “No, you’re right. We should stop.”

She closed the distance between them, her legs pressed against his knees. For a moment, he thought she was going to resume her position on his lap, and the thought of being inside her again without anything between them sent a chill through his body.

Instead, she reached for his erection. As much as the sensation of her smooth skin against his burgeoning cock made him happy, something about the gesture made a fist of anger unfurl in his chest.

She started to pump her hand on his erection, and with a quick movement, he stopped her. His gaze drifted from his lap to her face.

“What are you doing?”

Mindy’s eyebrows raised. “Giving you a hand job.” Then her head jerked, as though he’d startled her. “Haven’t you had one before?”

“Mindy—”

She shook her head. “No, I want you to get off.”

He sucked in a deep breath. She was so uncaring, so detached. This wasn’t his fantasy at all.

“I don’t want to ‘get off’ with you, Mindy.” Leo placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently back. She released him, and while the sensation was pleasant, there was a rock on his chest now that he couldn’t shake off.

“Well, you can’t walk around all day with an erection.”

Leo gritted his teeth, then pushed his cock back inside his boxer shorts. A sweet pain shot through his groin as he stood.

“It’ll go away on its own.”

Her full lips curved into a flirty smile. She hooked one finger into his open fly. “But it would be so much more fun if I made it go away.”

“I don’t want you to make my hard-on go away, Mindy. That’s not what this is about.”

“Then what the hell is it about, Leo?”

“If you can’t figure that out, I’m not gonna be the one to tell you.” He stepped away from the counter and glanced at the oven. Ribbons of smoke curled inside the oven. At least one batch was ruined.

It wasn’t the only thing ruined today.

“What about the Barn Dance?” she called after him.

“Your bread is burning, Mindy. Save your job. Forget about the Barn Dance.”

He slammed the door behind him, just as she swore for the second time at a batch of burnt bread. Seemed this girl just ruined everything she touched.

Chapter Six

Leo was certain his dad watched his every move. Since returning just before dark, Dad had stayed close to the Quonset, out of the house, and practically at Leo’s side. The rest of the men milled around waiting for dinner, either out in the barn, back with the horses, or in the Quonset with Leo and his dad.

Several of them had made a beeline for the house, which pissed Leo off to no end. He didn’t want the other guys in there with her. Sharp pressure spread from his throat to his stomach as he thought of Mindy in the kitchen with Chris or Haven. Their eyes on her. He wanted to punch the stupid lust off their faces.

That would be a bad idea.

“You ready to go in for dinner, son?” His dad slapped him on the shoulder and watched him carefully.

Leo shook his head. “I think I’ll take a look at Destry’s walk again. It looks like one of her shoes might be loose.”

His dad’s eyes narrowed. “Somethin’ wrong, boy?”

“The horse. Has a shoe loose. Maybe you don’t care, but—”

“I know better than that. You’re yippy. I don’t like yippy.” Cal Fortiss leaned back against the pickup and stared at his son. If he’d been wearing a cowboy hat, he might have tipped it up like one of those old TV cowboys, given the intense face he wore. Instead, he flipped his ball cap with one finger and clucked his tongue. “I knew when I hired that girl, she would be trouble.”

“She’s no trouble, Dad. I’m just not hungry.”

“No trouble, my ass. If she hadn’t been the only person who applied, I never would have hired her, knowing the past you two got.” Dad spit over the back of the truck and sucked on his teeth. “I told you, you’d have to watch yourself.”

Leo’s heart dropped. Even wanting her was a disappointment. Dad had never gotten over Mom leaving, and every pretty girl was flat trouble. Maybe he was right. “I just have to shoe the horse. There’s nothing going on.”

“When the day comes you’d rather shoe a horse than feast your eyes on that pretty little thing, I will personally cut you a check for your inheritance and croak myself all the way to heaven.” Dad leaned forward, trying to close the distance between them.

Leo stepped back, the threat evident. “There’s nothing going on between me and Mindy.”

“There’d better not be, boy. Or I kid you not, I will fire her ass so fast, she’ll shit smoke for a week.”

Cal Fortiss pushed off the truck and took off for the house. “Now get inside and eat. Show me there’s nothin’ to worry about.”

Leo stood for a moment, focusing intently on the house. In the low evening light, the windows illuminated every scene. The men were mostly in the back, near the laundry room and in their rooms, changing clothes, washing up. Before Mindy came, there was no washing up.

Dad should have known there’d be a contest for her. It hadn’t started yet, but it would. And knowing these guys, it would be over quick. As soon as she picked her stud, they’d all head back out to pasture to find another filly. They were nothing if not fickle and shallow. A pretty face, nice pair of tits, and they were gone.

They’d really scored with Mindy.

Only she was off-limits. To everyone, including him. Well, except when Dad wasn’t around. And only if you had a condom.

Jesus, if he’d just kept a condom in his wallet like the rest of the guys, he could have had her all to himself, all afternoon. But it had been a long time since he’d had a girl, and he just stopped caring enough to keep them in his pocket.

And that look on Mindy’s face, when she took a hold of his cock and started pumping with her tight little fist, like he was a job she had to finish so she could get back to baking. His ears went hot just thinking about it.

Humiliating.

He was never gonna let a woman humiliate him like that again. That’s for damn sure.

“Boy, you’ve got ten seconds to get your ass in here, or I’ll make good on that promise!” His dad yelled across the yard, and the few men still outside perked up their heads from the jobs they’d been at and followed Leo inside for supper.

***

Mindy heard Cal yell at Leo and wondered why it was taking him so long to come inside. Most everyone else had been in for at least ten minutes. Except the guys who were putting in the horses. It always took them longer.

Cal stalked into the kitchen, his boots clapping the hard floor. His demeanor had never changed, since Mindy could remember. He’d always reminded her of the Marlborough Man. A good-looking, hard-ass cowboy. And he sure ran this ranch like a hard-ass. The way he was glaring at the spread she put out—well, suffice to say, if looks could kill, she wouldn’t need to butcher that chicken next time.

“Melinda.” He nodded to her, taking a seat at the head of the dinner table. She noted the cold tone in his voice. “At least it smells good in the kitchen tonight.”

“Yes, sir.” Mindy put the last of the warm rolls on the table and stepped back, her hands on her hips. “I hope it meets your expectations.”

One of the cowhands in the middle of the table snickered. “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Now, boys.” Cal’s tone took on a much warmer note, and he smiled. “Let’s be respectful. Melinda is an employee here, just like
all of you
.”

She opened her mouth to express her gratitude when the door opened again.

Leo stood in the door, his green John Deere cap tweaked to the side, but otherwise dressed as he had been the last time she saw him.

Minus the erection, of course.

She scurried back to the kitchen before everyone saw her flush. Good Lord, it wasn’t like she was a blushing virgin. What the hell was wrong with her? The giddy jump in her voice would have been too obvious if she’d spoken, so she just let the excitement wash over her and fetched the last water pitcher from the kitchen island—where she had been naked less than three hours previously.

Naked
and
wet. Ready.

Mindy plucked the pitcher from the island trying to wipe her mind of the memories of this afternoon. And when she turned around, the pitcher in front of her, she smacked right into Leo.

Water went everywhere. Mostly on her clothing, but also all over Leo’s white shirt. Her eyes glued onto the contours of his chest under the already tight shirt, and she remembered wiping her hand on that shirt, wishing she could tear it off him. She still wished she could.

But her insides reignited with quick heat when she looked up at his face. The hunger in his eyes scalded her. She had to take a shallow breath to keep from imploding. Everything in her cried out for him.

Mindy put her hand on his chest to steady herself, and the heat intensified. A lusty haze clouded her thoughts again, and all she could see were memories of their afternoon, the night they spent years ago, and her fantasies of Leo from the last six years.

Because if she was honest, she had been having them. She didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. And the way her body responded to him, just being in his presence, even with both of them fully clothed…she hadn’t experienced anything like that with other men.

No one could live up to her first love. Even if she didn’t love him anymore.

And yet under his black hungry stare, something else lurked. Hatred? Anger? Something that hadn’t been there this afternoon. But as he stepped away from her touch, she knew that something was different.

“God, Leo. I’m sorry.”

His jaw clenched. “Just go, Min.” When she attempted to bend over, he hissed in a breath. “Go to your room, girl. You’re wet through.”

She stood and looked down. Her shirt clung to her breasts and had gone so sheer, even she could see the dark outlines of her areolas.

“Jesus, Min.” The heat in his eyes returned, and he continued to stare at her breasts. Leo looked around, almost frantic, then pulled off his wet shirt and thrust it toward her. “Go. Change.”

She held the shirt up, trying not to look at his corded muscular body, tantalizingly half-naked in front of her. “This is as wet as mine.”

“Wear it backwards, and hurry. You are
not
going out to those other guys looking like that. I’ll handle my dad.” His voice was husky, affected, and the depth of his desire made her nipples tighten in anticipation of having his hands on her. Or her hands on him—those perfect muscles under her frenzied touch.

Instead, she scurried toward the stairs, relishing the rich, woodsy scent that surrounded her.
Ah.
Leo.