One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(53)

Lightning split the clouds and the rain started—not a few sprinkles that increased to an intense rain in a few minutes, but a downpour that started with enough power to create a solid sheet, blocking out everything.

Rhett drew her closer and led her to the other end of the sofa. “Meet Jill’s two cats. That one is Chick and the one closest to Dammit’s face is Piggy. Now we’re all acquainted, let’s sit down and visit.”

He pulled her onto the sofa beside him, sitting so close that she could feel the heat coming off his body. She wanted more than conversation, more than kisses, and lots more than making out. She was ready to take the next step, and she wasn’t real sure how to tell him.

“Hungry? There’s a chocolate pie in the fridge.”

She shook her head. Food wasn’t what she was hungry for that night.

“Something to drink?”

She nodded. “Sweet tea would be nice.”

“Got a pitcher full. Bless Jill’s heart, she keeps one in the fridge all the time,” Rhett said. “Give me a minute.”

Another clap of thunder made Dammit whine and both cats sat up and looked at him as if he’d caused the noise. They’d barely settled back down, their legs wound around each other in sleep, when Rhett carried two glasses into the living room and handed one to Leah. She drank deeply, downing a fourth of it before she put it on the coffee table.

Rhett laid a hand on her shoulder. “Leah, what are you nervous about? I’ve never seen you like this. Is it Eve or me?”

“It’s me. I’m not real aggressive, Rhett, but I…”

He gently ran a hand down her cheekbone and stared into her eyes. “But what, Leah?” he whispered.

“But, oh, hell.” She shifted her weight until she was sitting in his lap and pulled his face to hers in a passionate, lingering kiss that left her wanting more than his hands splayed out across her back.

“I like that but very well,” he drawled. “You got any more of them hiding?”

The desire running through her body, melting her into a hormonal puddle, scared the shit out her. She should tell him how she felt, but she wasn’t sure how to do it. She wanted tell him about the thing going on with Tanner, but the very idea of him knowing terrified her.

She shut her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. “No more buts,” she said.

“Sleepy?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep if I were lying on a big, white cloud.”

“Something is on your mind. Just spit it out, Leah.”

“I want you,” she said. “I’m not like Honey or Kinsey. I’m not used to making the first move or stating what’s on my mind, so I’m new at this, but I want you, Rhett.”

“Hang on,” he said as he stood up slowly, his hands cupping her bottom.

With her legs wrapped around her waist, he carried her to a bedroom, with Dammit right behind them. “Not tonight, old boy. You go let the cats protect you from the storm,” he said as he kicked the door shut with his foot.

“He sleeps in here?”

“Oh, yeah, that would be his rug beside the bed.”

“Lucky dog,” she said.

It had to be Eve surfacing, because Leah had never been so bold in her whole life. In both of her semi-serious relationships, she’d waited for the fellow to kiss her first, and she would have damn sure never said those three words—I want you—not even after they’d been to bed together.

Instead of dropping her on the bed and diving right into the sex business, he sat down in a recliner and readjusted her legs until he was holding her like a groom carrying her over a threshold. It was dark and there was no moon, so she could only see him in silhouette when the lightning shot through the sky outside the window.

“Do you know that when someone is blind, their other senses are heightened?” he asked.

What the devil did that have to do with sex?

“We can’t see too well, so this should be an experience,” he said.

By his tone, she could tell that he was smiling. She reached up and traced his jawline with her fingertips and be damned if he wasn’t right. Her fingers were on fire. She circled his eyelids and then drew a line down his nose.

“Sweet Jesus,” he moaned. His mouth covered hers, first in a sweet kiss and then in a hungry one. “It’s true. Every touch, every kiss is so much more.”

“When the lightning flashes, I see you in silhouette, Rhett, and you are one damn sexy cowboy,” she whispered.

“Lord, even your breath against my skin makes me…well…” He took her hand and pressed it to the front of his pajama pants.

There was no doubt that he was ready, and she had been since he’d appeared on the porch with his hair wet and his muscles stretching that tank top. She reached down and tugged the shirt up over his head and then laid her face on his chest.

“Darlin’, you aren’t one bit hotter than I am right now,” she said.

And that’s when Eve did a 180-degree turnaround. Good God, Leah, is instant gratification worth getting thrown off River Bend? You’d better think, girl, before you dive into this water. It’s pretty damn deep.

Leah listened to Rhett’s heart doing double time and wondered when she’d started using swear words even in her thoughts. Not even her alter ego was going to keep her from what she wanted that night. Not Eve. Not River Bend. And for damn sure not Granny Mavis.