Cowgirls Don't Cry(98)

Don’t look. Your cousins will beat your ass for gawking at their wives’ bared breasts.

This was so freakin’ weird. Yeah, he knew that breastfeeding was natural and all that jazz, but he had brothers for Christsake, not sisters, and he’d never actually seen a live pair of breasts until he was sixteen.

He’d never seen woman nurse a baby. Ever. And it sure as hell didn’t look as clinical and messy as a cow standing around chewing her cud while a calf noisily sucked on her teats.

“Brandt? You okay?” India asked.

“Um, I gotta go.” He raced out so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet.

Feminine laughter chased him out of the room.

Brandt slipped into the den and heaved a sigh of relief. All men in here, burping, farting, scratching themselves, arguing, being guys. Guys, he understood. Women, not so much.

And maybe that was his biggest problem.

Before he left Cord and AJ’s, Skylar took him aside. “I’ll be honest, Brandt. This is a confusing time for you and Jessie both. But you need to remember one thing.”


“What’s that?”


“If you give her a reason to stay here, she will.”


“And how do I do that, Skylar?”


Her gaze flicked to Landon, sleeping on his shoulder, and then back to him. “By not giving her an excuse to leave.”


Well, that cleared things up a whole helluva lot.

Not.

He smiled tightly. “Thanks for the advice.”


Later that night he lay in bed and waited for Jessie to call. But she didn’t.

Nor did she call the next night.

Would he seem too f*cking needy if he called her?

Or would it seem like he didn’t give a shit if he didn’t call?

Man, he sucked at this relationship stuff.

Finally he called and left a message on her voice mail.

But she didn’t call him back.

Chapter Eighteen


Good. He was home.

Jessie left Lexie outside to run off her extra energy after being cooped up inside the truck for the last five hours. She tried to be quiet as she snuck up the steps, wanting to maintain the surprise.

It worked. After she opened the door and slipped inside Brandt’s trailer, she glanced at the man who sat on the couch, remote in hand, completely goggle-eyed.

Then his sly, sexy smile appeared. “Damn girl. It’s great to see you, but you had me worried since I haven’t heard from you the last two days.”


Jessie kicked off her boots. Unwrapped the scarf. Peeled off her gloves and unbuttoned her long wool coat. “Sorry about that. I lost my cell phone Friday afternoon in the Tetons when we were snowshoeing. By the time I realized it and activated a new phone, and charged it up, it was time to head home. So here I am.”


“I’m glad you’re here.” He set the remote on the coffee table, next to a full bottle of Corona. “Did you have a good time at your mom’s?”


Brandt? Making idle chitchat? Which would be sweet if his hungry eyes weren’t already stripping her bare. Not a sweet thing about those midnight blue eyes right now.


She skirted the coffee table. “Is Landon sleeping?”


“Yep. He’s been down about a half hour.”


“Good. Then I timed it perfectly.”


His eyebrows lifted. “Timed what perfectly?”


“This.” She straddled his lap, held his face in her hands and kissed him. She tried to keep it easy, a deep, slow, wet reunion kiss. But the sensation of his full warm lips beneath hers, the glide of his tongue against hers, his taste and his scent made her wild, and she inhaled him in a blazing kiss of pure need.