Rode Hard, Put Up Wet (Rough Riders #2)(12)

Cash’s gaze narrowed. “What was wrong with ’em?”


“Nothin’. The guy wanted too much money.” It burned her ass the guy thought she was too stupid to know he’d been trying to screw her over. But Gemma doubted Cash would understand she’d been dealing with that mentality since Steve had died.


After he’d unhitched the horse trailer, Cash wiped his brow with his forearm and stared at her.


“What?”


“When we’re done with chores, I expect you show me where to put my stuff in the house.”


“I-I—”


“Just so we’re clear. I will be sleepin’ in your room, in your bed.”


Yowza. Gemma nodded and proceeded to show him around, detailing what needed to be done in the morning. She finished the tour in record time. He dragged his duffel bag up the porch steps and dumped it on the kitchen table. Before she opened the door leading upstairs, Cash pressed her against the wall and kissed the holy hell out of her.


When she could breathe again, she tipped her head back and blinked at him. “You hungry?”


“Not for food.”


“Cash—”


“Point me to the shower, winyan. I’ll not come to you the first time smellin’ of a barnyard.”


Feeling reckless, she nipped his chin and tugged the end of his braid. “I wouldn’t mind. The bathroom is the second door at the top of the stairs.”


“Thanks.”


“While you’re cleaning up, should I ask Macie to supper tonight?”


“Nah. We stopped outside of Canyon River and grabbed a burger. She said after she settled in she was goin’ right to bed. Been a long day on the road for her.”


“I imagine.”


Cash shouldered the bag and gave her a gorgeous smile. “Don’t go nowhere, Gem.”


Gemma stepped back and anxiously rubbed her hands over her bare arms as Cash disappeared up the stairs. Lord almighty. The man could melt her with just a look. Was she ready for this?


To make sure, she raced to the guest bath, quickly rinsed off the road grime and combed her hair. After she scrubbed her teeth, she changed into clean clothes, a low-cut tank top and a short skirt.


Dusk had fallen, sending purpled shadows across the yard and darkening the interior of the house. She sipped a beer and gazed out the kitchen window, reluctant to flip on the overhead lights. Talk about magnification of her wrinkles and her age, hell, magnification of all her flaws. Would candlelight make it too obvious she had plenty to hide?


The door creaked and she jumped. She heard the soft pad of feet across the linoleum.


The scent of sandalwood soap, toothpaste and warm male skin enveloped her. Heat from his body seared her back as he brushed damp, soft kisses over her bared shoulder. She trembled and nearly dropped the beer before she upended the remainder and gulped it down.


Cash chuckled by her ear. “Nervous?”


“Yeah.”


“Me too. But that ain’t gonna stop me.” His teeth nipped on her earlobe and she shivered as he suckled the sting. “You expectin’ anybody tonight?”


“No.”


“Good. C’mere, sexy lady.” Cash turned her into his arms and his soft lips nibbled up the side of her neck. “I’m dyin’ to touch you.” His finger traced the lace strap of her tank top. “Take off your shirt.”


Gemma pulled back and looked at him. “Right here?”


“Right here, right now.” When she made no move to move, he frowned. “There a problem?”


“Besides that we’re in the kitchen?”


“Does that bother you?”


“Well. I thought…”


“Ah. That’s the problem. You’re thinkin’ too much.” Cash walked to the door and locked it. Then he snagged a blue bandana off the counter. He folded it crossways in a long strip.



“What’s that?”


“A blindfold. Then you won’t know if you’re in the kitchen, the living room or the bedroom. You’ll be so busy feelin’ what I’m doin’ to you that you won’t have time to think. Now close your eyes and turn around.”


Gemma knew his wasn’t a request. If she refused he’d take it as a sign she wasn’t ready for this intimacy, and he’d leave her house and her employ. But she was ready. It’d taken her a full year to get to this point and she wasn’t about to back down now. Blood pounded a warning in her head not to be stupid. She slowly spun toward the window.


The dense cloth covered her eyes and she felt a pinch in the middle of her skull as he tied it. He turned her back around. “Can you see?”


Gemma’s heart rate kicked up as she opened her eyes to complete blackness. “No.”


“Good. You’ll leave it on? You won’t make me tie your hands too?”


A picture formed in her mind of being trussed up, naked and at his every wicked whim. The thought made her absolutely dripping wet.


He chuckled again. “From the flush on your cheeks I suspect you’d like to be tied up.