Two To Wrangle (Hotel Rodeo #2)(11)

“Yes,” she agreed. “You did, but I thought it was mostly the booze talking. Sometimes people under the influence say things they really don’t mean.”

“Maybe the booze unlocked my lips, but I remember every word I said, Monica. I not only remember it, but I meant it. Do you need to hear it again to believe me? I still want you,” he continued. “You’re the only one I want, and it’s damned near making me crazy.”

“Me too, but I don’t want to do this again, Ty. We’re no good together.”

He stroked his hands down the length of her arms, watching a trail of gooseflesh form. “I don’t know if you’re trying to convince me or you. Either way, it’s not working. If you want me, all you have to do is say so.”

“Please Ty, I really can’t.” She pressed her hands against his chest.

The contact with his body only made him itch to have her hands slide up and around his neck. He tamped back the powerful urge to wrap his arms around her and pull her in close.

“Yet you’re here. In my room.” He added softly, tracing a finger over her lips. “Waiting in my bed.”

“I wasn’t waiting for you!” she protested. “I told you I just wanted to know more about your life here with Tom. I can’t help feeling a little jealous that you had him for all those years and I didn’t.”

“There’s no need to feel that way,” he said. “Sure, Tom was like a father to me but you’re his flesh and blood.”

“I feel so resentful,” she confessed. “I lost something that I can never, ever replace.”

“That makes two of us,” he said. “But it’s time to move on. You know as well as I do that Tom would have wanted that.”

“And that’s why I came here,” she said. “To say goodbye and then to move on.”

“Back to New York?”

“Yes.”

“And that *, Evan? Are you back with him?”

“No, I’m not back with Evan. When I left Vegas with him it was only to return to my job. We’re not back together as a couple.”

His gaze narrowed. “But you’re thinking about it?

“I haven’t decided,” she replied.

“It’s time you did decide,” he replied. “We’re too old for games, Monica. You need to make up your mind if you’re coming or going.”

Was it only weeks that had passed since this impossible and infuriating woman had strutted into his life in her four-inch f*ck-me pumps, barking orders and expecting everyone to kowtow to her? They’d butted heads from the very start, both believing they had nothing in common besides Tom, but it hadn’t taken long for their mutual antagonism to combust into explosive passion.

He’d never met another woman who had such an effect on him. He’d hoped this incomprehensible attraction would wane in time, but his aching balls told him not a chance. He slid a hand into her silky hair and cupped the back of her head, his gaze probing hers.

“What’s it gonna be, Monica? Are you coming or going?” He continued in a smooth, seductive tone, “Just know that if you do stay, I can guarantee you’ll be coming.”

She swallowed hard as if unsure whether he meant it as a promise or a threat. But Ty wasn’t in the habit of making idle threats or promises he didn’t intend to keep. Before she could reply, he claimed her mouth. She whimpered a half-hearted protest, but instead of pushing him away, her arms crept up to entwine around his neck. He deepened the kiss. Their tongues tangled. She shut her eyes on a moan as his erection pressed against her soft belly.

Breaking from the kiss that left them both panting, she insisted breathlessly, “This doesn’t mean anything. We’re both hurting and need to relieve some stress; that’s all this is.”

“That’s pretty much what you said the first time we were together,” he said, “and I still don’t buy it.” Their moans mixed as they continued a slow backward two-step to the bed. “But if that’s what you need to tell yourself, just keep talkin’.”

He reached under the dress she’d fallen asleep in, sweeping up the inside of her silky smooth thigh, groaning into her mouth as he delved into the warm wetness beneath her lace panties. She echoed with a long, shuddering moan of her own as he slid his fingers inside her. Ty continued kissing her senseless while his skilled fingers worked her into a frenzy of want.

“Now, Ty,” she begged. “Please, I need you.”

“What do you need, sugar?” he asked, salivating at the mere thought of getting his tongue back inside her. “My mouth or my dick? Whatever you want, however you want it, I’m yours. But I wanna hear you say it.”

“What if I want both?” she asked, bold as brass.

“Both?” He cocked a brow. “You’re a greedy one, Ms. Brandt.”

“Hell, yeah, cowboy.” She smirked. “I was raised to shoot for the moon.”

Ty couldn’t help chuckling when she parroted back his own words from a month ago. No, he wasn’t half ready to let her go again. “If we do this, will you stay?” he asked, suddenly serious.

“I don’t understand what you want from me,” she said, brows drawn.

“I don’t want you to go,” he replied, still too wary to commit himself beyond that. “And I’m not beyond blackmail if that’s what it takes. So here’s the deal, if you want this gigantic rock-hard cock inside you, you’ll agree to give me a little more time.”