Wild Cowboy Ways (Lucky Penny Ranch #1)(90)

A shiver running from her backbone to her toes let her know that the legs of her jeans were every bit as wet as her socks. She undid her belt buckle and shimmied out of the jeans, hung them in the closet, and caught her reflection in the mirror across the room. White cotton bikini underpants when she knew she was going on a real date; she slapped her forehead with her palm.

“Allie, open up, my hands are full and I can’t knock,” Blake called out.

She did double time from heater to door and slung it open to find the abominable snowman on the other side. The wet snow had stuck to Blake’s eyelashes and his black cowboy hat had an inch lying on the brim. She grabbed his arm, pulled him inside, and slammed the door shut, but not before a gust of wind blasted her with a face full of cold white snow.

She took the trash can full of vending machine goodies from his arms and set it on the desk. “Get undressed. Hang everything in the closet. I’ll put a towel on the floor to catch the drip. Then get under the covers, Blake. You have to be chilled to the bone. Even your jeans are soaked.”

His teeth chattered as he reached inside the closet and brought out the rest of the hangers. “I’ve got a better idea. I’ll get undressed in the bathroom and hang all my wet things in the shower, but I will take your advice and get under the covers. I don’t think I’ve ever been this cold and I’ve ranched through cold winters my whole life. But I do like that outfit. Did you bring it special in your purse in case we had to stay in a motel tonight? This is some first date, Allie.”

“I bet we don’t ever forget it.” She smiled.

The black hat came off first and he hung it on the showerhead. Allie fought the urge to hum the stripper song as he removed one article of clothing at a time. When he pushed his jeans down over a bright pink ass, she gasped and he laughed.

“Didn’t want anything to slow us down in case I got lucky on our first real date so I came commando,” he explained.

“How did the butt of your jeans get wet?”

He talked on his way to the bed where he threw back the covers and crawled in between them. “It’s slippery out there and the soles of my boots don’t have the traction that my old work ones do. When I was going to the vending machine, I fell twice.”

“Are you okay?” Dammit! What if he’d cracked his head on something and died out there in the snow and she’d been too stubborn to tell him that she was in love with him? He would have died without knowing and she would have never forgiven herself.

“Nothing hurt that a sexy woman cuddled up next to me in this big bed wouldn’t heal.” One hand came out from under the covers to pat the place beside him. “I need body heat so you really should take off those cute little panties and that sweater and the bra.”

“Who says I’m wearing a bra?” she asked. “Maybe I’m going commando in case I get lucky on this first real date.”

“I can see the line of a bra under that sweater, but the picture in my mind is damn sure warmin’ me up,” Blake said.

In seconds the rest of her clothing was tossed toward the desk and she was shivering in his arms. “You could have told me the sheets had been stored in the freezer.”

“My love will warm things up real fast,” he said.

She looked up into his green eyes. “About that? Are you sure that what you said wasn’t…”

He put a finger over her lips. “You know my reputation, Allie. You know what kind of cowboy I’ve been. But what you don’t know is that I’ve never, ever said those words to a woman before. Not even the girl I married while on a drunken binge after we’d graduated from high school. I stood there and promised to love, honor, and respect her until death parted us, but I couldn’t make myself say those three words.”

“But you were pissed at me,” she said.

“I was.” He yawned. “But it was male pride getting in the way and doubts that I could ever deserve a woman like you.”

“And now?” She pressed even closer to him.

He buried his face in her hair. “Now, I feel free. I’m happy. I can’t imagine life without you in it. I was terrified I’d wreck the truck and hurt you, and I’m exhausted, Allie. Can we take a short nap together before we get lucky? I’ve got the worst adrenaline letdown I’ve ever had.”

“Me, too. Let’s take a short nap.” She still couldn’t utter the L word.

“Sleep first, then a fancy vending machine supper, then making love, more sleep, and more vending machine food. Sounds like a good plan to me…” His voice trailed off and his eyes fluttered shut.

The phone setting on the nightstand not two feet from her face woke her. At first, she thought it was the alarm and then she felt Blake’s naked body wrapped around her and remembered the whole evening. She opened one eye and checked the clock. It flipped another minute making it 11:11. That meant she could make a wish and it would come true. Sure it was superstition, but she and both her sisters had believed it since they were kids. The first person who saw all four ones lined up on the clock got to make a wish.

She brought one hand out and reached for the remote phone receiver. “Yes?”

“This is the front desk. I got a call from a feller named Deke saying to tell Blake Dawson that he has Shooter at his house. Cell phone towers are down all around us so he couldn’t get through to you that way.”