She glanced over at her sisters, admittedly a bit jealous at their smiles of contentment. She was happy for Valerie and Mason, who had a second chance at happiness, and for Brea and Gage, who’d found kindred spirits in each other. It was just seeing her two older sisters happy and in love made Jolene crave something she had never really wanted before.
She liked sex just fine, enjoyed a roll in the hay as much as any other woman her age did. But the sudden craving for permanence was new, as was the need to have a man claim her as his and the need to claim him in return. It was something she had never considered before, probably because she’d been too busy running the Bar M and arguing with her uncle Ronald. She’d never had the time to think about settling down, about falling in love, about who she’d eventually end up with. She figured there’d be time for all that later.
But now, seeing her sisters with men at their sides made her look at the men in her life differently.
She’d have to get around to settling down one of these days.
She thought about that silly M.A.S.H. game she’d played with her sisters last month, and realized she’d only listed one man’s name, not four. And that name had been Walker’s. Probably because no other man was on her radar at the time.
Hell, no other man had ever been on her radar like Walker had been, no doubt due to the fact that he wouldn’t even give her the time of day.
She was hardly hideous in the looks department, so what was it about her that made him not want to occupy space with her? They worked together just fine, but when it came down to socializing, he was nowhere to be found.
Like now. She’d been so deep in thought she’d lost sight of Walker. As she glanced through the crowd, she couldn’t find him. She stood, threw her empty plate into the nearby trash can and grabbed another beer, then spotted Mason and Valerie and headed their way.
“Lila outdid herself on these ribs,” Mason said as Jolene stopped in front of them.
“And you need a shower in the worst way, Jo.” Valerie brushed her thumb over Jolene’s cheek and showed her the blackened evidence.
“Yeah, I know,” Jolene said, scrubbing her cheeks with her fingertips.
Valerie laughed. “Now you’ve made it worse.”
“I don’t care. I know I’m a mess.”
“And yet, still as beautiful as Cinderella after cleaning the chimney,” Valerie said with an affected sigh.
“Bite me, Val. Have either of you seen Walker?”
Mason’s lips twitched, and he motioned with his head over his left shoulder. “I think he said he was going to the bunkhouse.”
“Okay, thanks.”
The party would be going on as long as there was beer left, and there was plenty of beer, so she didn’t think any of the cowboys would be moseying on to the bunkhouse anytime soon.
She knocked on the bunkhouse door and waited. No answer, so she knocked again, and when he didn’t answer, she crossed her arms and tapped her feet.
She rapped again, harder this time. “Walker, open the door.”
Still no response. Irritation drove her to pound on the door. He was avoiding her and that pissed her off. “Open the damn door and be a man. I know you’re in there, Walker.”
“Actually, I’m not.”
She yelped and whipped around.
“Dammit, Walker, you scared the shit out of me.”
His lips curled as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. “It’s your own fault for having a hissy fit on the doorstep.”
She followed him inside and shut the door. “I was not having a hissy fit. I never have hissy fits.”
“If you say so.” He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer without bothering to offer her one.
“There’s plenty of beer over at the main house.”
He popped the top off the can and bypassed her to lean against the counter. “I know that. I just didn’t feel like socializing. I’m going to finish this beer, then I’m going to take a shower.” He pointed the beer can at her. “You could use one, too.”
She knew what she looked like, and it probably wasn’t her finest moment. It was hard to attract the man you’re hot for when you were covered in black ash, but he’d seen her looking a lot worse. She had him alone for the first time in ages and she intended to take advantage of that. “I could shower here,” she said, grabbing the beer from his hand and taking a long swallow before handing it back to him.
“Why would you do that when you have a shower at your house?” Was he truly that dense? She moved in, trapping him between her and the counter. She laid her hands on the tile counter, only a fraction of an inch separating her body from his, and inhaled the scent of smoke, and male. He frowned at her, but didn’t push her away. That was a good start.
She raised up on the toes of her boots, her lips next to his ear. Her breasts brushed his chest and she heard his harsh intake of breath. Bingo.
“Maybe we could share the shower. I could wash your back and you could wash mine.”
She leaned back to gaze at his face. A flicker of heat sparked in his stormy eyes. They narrowed, his brow arched just a fraction of an inch as if he were considering the idea, and just the way he looked at her made her hot all over. Despite dirt, ash and whatever else was coating them, Jolene still wanted to get him naked and explore every part of his body. With her tongue.
And when he grabbed the front of her shirt in his fist and hauled her up against him, she bit back a gasp, her heart pounding. His knuckles brushed her breasts and her nipples tightened.
Yes, this was what she’d wanted from him for far too long. His body was steely muscle, and as he pulled her against him, she felt the hard evidence of his desire brush against her hip. She melted right then, everything that was female in her responding to all that was male about Walker. She automatically slid her hand down his body to reach for him . . .
Right before he flipped her around so her back was to his chest and rudely pushed her toward the front door.
“I’ve got no patience for your games tonight, Jolene. Go home and take a shower. A cold one.”
He shoved her out onto the porch and closed the door behind her.
She flipped right around and turned the handle, chagrined to discover he’d locked the door.
Son of a bitch.
She stared at the door for a full minute, debating whether to knock. But she did have a little pride.
The bastard. She owned everything on this land, including the goddamned bunkhouse. If he thought he could keep her out of the building, he was wrong.
But her indignant march back to the house cooled off her anger. What was she going to do? Open the door, walk into the shower and force herself on his cock?
As appealing as that idea was, she was going to have to go about this a different way, be more subtle.
She was going to bring Walker Morgan to her. Because he wanted her, she’d felt it during the brief few seconds he’d held her against him. Oh, had she ever felt the evidence of his desire for her. Why he turned her out when it was evident they both wanted the same thing remained another one of those mysteries she was dying to uncover.
But she was going to have him. It was just going to take a little longer than she thought.
walker let the water spray over his head and slide down his body. The shower felt good, but it did nothing to cool the heat raging inside him.