Branded as Trouble (Rough Riders #6)(25)

The tension crackled through the wooden door slats and India held her breath.


“No.”


“That’s what I thought. You were in there with her. When you were supposed to be on a date with me. People warned me about you, ‘Don’t go out with Colt McKay, he’s a womanizer and a player of the worst sort’ but did I listen to them? No.”


India’s stomach churned.


“Did you honestly believe no one would see you taking her into a supply closet for a quickie? Are you that much of a sex maniac?


Good Lord. You have to know I am not the kind of woman who does that sort of thing on the first date.”


Tell her you haven’t been on a date in your sober state. Tell her you haven’t had sex in three years.


He stayed mum.


“I cannot believe I thought you’d changed.”


“Live and learn, I guess,” Colt said bitterly. “You ready for me to take you home?”


She laughed. Cruelly. “Right. Like I’d be seen with you again.


It’s probably just as well I caught you cheating right away, rather than finding out later what kind of sneaky man you are. And if she’s  the kind of woman who lets you screw her in public? Then you two deserve each other.”


Her angry bootsteps faded down the hallway.


Colt didn’t call after her.


Poor Colt. India really had no idea what to do.


You could’ve defended him.


Yeah, popping out of the closet with her lips swollen from his hard kisses would’ve been a sure-fire way to defend Colt’s honor.


When India finally found the guts to open the door, Colt was long gone.


Chapter Seven


“I cannot believe I thought you’d changed.”


Story of his life in recent years.


Colt chinked his glass of Diet Coke to his reflection in the sliding glass door as a sarcastic self-toast. Well done. He wasn’t surprised Fallon had lashed out. He’d hurt her; her natural instinct was to strike back.


His natural instinct was to hole up with a bottle.


Not possible, but his body still craved a drink so badly his teeth hurt.


He’d tried to get out of an unhealthy situation with India, only to find himself defending her at the first opportunity.


The silence in the community center after the auctioneer announced India’s prize package tied Colt’s guts in knots. India might act tough, but beneath that hard outer shell was a softie trying to find her place within a community that didn’t easily welcome strangers.


Or didn’t readily believe long-time citizens could change.


They were both screwed. No wonder they’d been together these last few years. And Fallon, while trying to make it an insult, had it exactly right: they did deserve each other.


How could he convince India that statement was true?


The high point of the night had been the ten minutes of heaven he and India carved out in the supply closet. Nothing else mattered but the need pulsing between them. Each kiss, each touch, awakened the sexual beast sleeping inside him.


Maybe that’s why he’d been content living a celibate life. He’d needed to learn who he was as a man, not a male who only thought with his dick.


So what now that the beast was fully awake?


Sate it. With lots and lots of sex.


Colt knew if he drove back into town and trolled the bars he could have a woman in his bed within an hour. But there was only one woman he wanted in his bed.