The Trouble with Texas Cowboys (Burnt Boot, Texas #2)(69)

“Smart Brennans,” Jill said.

“Oh, honey, Naomi Gallagher is going to shit little green apples when I make the call to tell her that her precious new breed is all gone but one heifer,” Gladys said.

“Ain’t life a bitch?” Jill hit the “end” button and turned around to find Sawyer so close that she had to put out her hands to keep from crashing into him.

His arms circled her waist, and he gazed down into her eyes. “What’s a bitch?”

“Life. Looks like the Brennans created a diversion and stole all those highbred cattle. There’s only one lonesome old heifer left over in that pasture.”

Sawyer set her up on the tailgate of the truck. “You give a damn about that heifer right now?”

She shook her head.

He lowered his lips to hers, claiming them in a blistering-hot kiss that cold afternoon. When he broke the kiss, his brown eyes still captured hers and held them without blinking. “I mean it, Jill. I like where we are headed, and I don’t want to stop, but I will slow down.”

She put a gloved hand on each of his cheeks and drew his lips to hers for another searing kiss. When she broke, her eyes bored into his. “I’m not sure what I want, but I know I don’t want to stop completely.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “Let’s kick this hay off the truck and go get Gladys. Damned pig war sure has a habit of getting in my way.”





Chapter 22


There had to be more to wooing a woman than feeding cattle, minding the store, tending the bar, and sex. That wasn’t a bad combination in getting to know a woman, but now that he knew Jill, he wanted to hang the moon for her, make the stars brighter, and force daisies to grow from frozen ground.

“Shit! I forgot,” he murmured.

“You talking to me?” she asked.

Kittens scrambled over her lap, chasing each other, rolling around like clumsy wrestlers as they bit each other’s tails and ears. In the beginning, Chick was the mean girl, spitting and scaring the bejesus out of Piggy, but these days it was a pretty even match.

“I need to call my mama, or else she’ll get in her truck and drive up here,” Sawyer answered.

“I probably should call my mama too, but I’m sure that neither wild horses nor the National Guard could force her to drive to Texas, or even to fly here, though.”

Sawyer carried two cups of hot chocolate to the living area and handed one to Jill. “So she doesn’t like Texas? Do I hear a ‘but’ in your voice?”

“You do. But there’s only one love in a lifetime like what she and my dad had. She still gets misty eyed when she talks about him, and Texas reminds her of him,” Jill said.

“You think you’ll ever find that love?” Sawyer asked.

Jill thought about the question so long that he didn’t think she was going to answer, but finally she said, “Maybe I will. Do you?”

“If I think with my heart and not with my brain.” Sawyer scooped her up from the floor, amazed like always that someone with so much power and energy didn’t weigh a lot more. He buried his face in her hair and hoped the kittens didn’t get underfoot as he carried her toward his bed. “I do not plan on letting my head lead my heart ever again.”

“Me, either. Don’t forget to shut the door,” she said.

Gently, he set her on the bed, and with a few soft, well-placed kisses, he undressed her, then patted the pillow. “Welcome to Sawyer O’Donnell’s massage parlor. The hot rocks are out of commission today, but I’m available for a sixty-minute massage if the lady would like one.”

“Oh, my God, Sawyer! You didn’t tell me there was a lady in the room. Give me my clothes,” she joked.

“Then I’ll rephrase. Does this sexy, hotter’n hell spitfire of a redhead want a massage today? I could make a phone call if you’d like the ultimate in hot rocks, scented lotion, and all the fancy words in the sex-to-sexty dictionary. Would you like Tyrell or Quaid?”

She flipped over and glared at him. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

“What?”

“Bring up those two names in this bedroom when I’m stark naked.” Her eyes said that she wasn’t teasing or flirting. “Now, here’s the deal. I want a massage, and I hear that hunky cowboy named Sawyer is available. But the only way he’s going to get paid is if he takes his clothes off to do my massage. Because when I get ready to pay him, I damn sure do not want to take time to undress him.”

“Your wish and all that…” He kicked off his boots, and his clothing landed somewhere near the end of the bed, a piece at a time thrown over his shoulder.

*

“Where did you learn to do that?” Jill moaned when he dug his thumbs into her shoulder muscles. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t even want to know. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I don’t knit.” He chuckled. “I’m sorry all I’ve got for lotion is this cherry-almond stuff from Walmart. I buy it because it’s the best I’ve found for my hands when they get chapped.”

“It’s my favorite,” she said.

His hands moved down her back to the rib area, turning gentle as he worked the kinks out and then harder as he massaged her butt muscles. She could farm him out and make more money than ranching. All she needed was a number machine to nail to the front porch and…suddenly a vision of Betsy lying naked on the bed popped into her mind.