Wild Cowboy Ways (Lucky Penny Ranch #1)(83)

Allie wished all three of them the best of luck in their ventures and could have personally hugged them for taking some of the heat from the rumors away from her that week. She was picturing three stores on Main Street with clean windows and folks fanning in and out of the new businesses when she came to the end of the baseboards and stood up to paint around the door facing.

She caught a whiff of wood smoke but figured a draft had sent it from the fireplace to her nose. Paintbrush loaded, her hand was headed toward the middle of the door trim when two hands snaked around her waist. It startled her so badly that she squealed, flipped around, and threw up the brush, sending a broad swath of white paint across Blake’s face. White went ear to ear, across his mouth, chin, and below his nose, before she dropped the brush on the toe of his right boot.

He pulled her tightly against his chest, tipped up her chin and kissed her, smearing wet white paint all over her face. She tasted wood smoke, cold winter air, and a hint of black coffee mixed with paint. Who would have ever thought that that mixture could be an aphrodisiac?

She rolled up on her toes and then remembered Deke. Sweet Jesus in heaven! She had to get to the bathroom and wash all that paint off her face before he saw it or else he’d have a million questions and at least that many lectures all ready to deliver.

“Deke?” she whispered.

“Is on the way. He wanted to finish up the cord of wood he was working on so that Herman could buy it and take it out of the field. Weatherman says it’s going to snow more, starting tonight and going through tomorrow. Never seen winter like this in central Texas before, but when it’s cold outside we have to get warm inside, don’t we?” Blake pulled her back to his chest.

“You got that right, but first we’ve got to get the paint off before Deke gets here,” she said.

“Hey! This room is almost finished and it looks great.” He took a step back and looked around at the fresh sandy colored walls and white trim work. “I can move my furniture back in tomorrow evening soon as we pull up this nasty carpet. That means we’ve got a date, right?”

“Thursday evening?” she asked.

“I’ll pick you up at seven at your place. Should I wear body armor?” He led her to the bathroom and turned on the water in the wall-hung sink.

“It might not hurt. Lizzy is a crack shot with a rifle and she’s not budging.” Allie stuck her hands under the warm water.

Blake applied soap to a wet washcloth and held it up to her face. “Let me.”

She turned her face up so he could reach it better. “You scared the devil out of me.”

Blake chuckled. “Then I guess you must be an angel, then.”

“Oh, darlin’, I got my angel wings the first time we went to bed together.”

He wiped away most of the paint from her face and rinsed the washcloth under the warm water. “I scared you when we had sex?”

“No, darlin’, you screwed the hell out of me…that gave me my angel wings and my halo,” she said.

Behind the white painted-on beard, Blake’s face went crimson red. “Your ancestors’ blood is rising to the top today.”

“Yep, it is.” She took the washcloth from him and removed the rest of the paint from her face, then started on his.

“Hey, where are y’all?” Deke called from the living room.

“Cleaning Blake up,” Allie yelled back.

“You are what?” Deke wasted no time getting down the hall. He stopped at the bathroom door and leaned a shoulder against the jamb. “What happened?”

“Never scare a woman who’s holding a paintbrush,” Blake said.

“Good enough for you.” Deke laughed out loud. “Be glad she slapped you with that brush and not her freshly painted wall. For that she might have shot you on the spot.” He left the bathroom and peeked into the bedroom. “Lookin’ good. You’ll have it done by quittin’ time today. It’s amazing what a coat of paint and a new ceiling does for a room, ain’t it? I’m going to wash up in the kitchen sink and then I’ve got something to tell you.”

Allie picked up the washcloth again and wiped away more paint. Cupping his chin under her hand sent waves of desire through her body. Did angel wings and halos have to be earned every day? If so, she was more than willing for more of that hell removal business anytime that her halo and wings started to fade.

“I’ve got the bowls on the table. Y’all going to take all day in there?” Deke shouted.

“Almost done,” Allie yelled back. “Be there in two minutes.”

“Make that three or four. Get out the cheese, salsa, and chips.” Blake raised his voice and bent his head to kiss her again. Her halo was secure by the time he finished the blistering hot kiss that took her breath away.

“Wow,” she muttered.

“It never gets old or dull, does it?” Blake whispered.

“Hasn’t yet,” she said.

“It’s on the table and if you ain’t here in thirty seconds, with or without paint all over your face, I am eating alone. You’ve had time to take off the first layer of skin, Allie,” Deke called out.

When they reached the kitchen, she sat down in her chair. “You must be hungry, Deke.”

Deke got busy dipping tortilla soup into bowls. “I’m always starving by dinnertime. And, Allie, I know y’all are more than friends so you don’t have to find excuses to stay in the bathroom and make out.”