“I know.” Jolene studied her coffee, looking for answers in the black brew and knowing she wouldn’t find them there. “I wish he’d open up and tell me what it is, but he’s pretty tight-lipped about it.”
“Then you’re either going to have to wait for him, or go after him.”
“I went after him the first time.” Jolene lifted the pot and watched the steaming brew slide into her cup. “The ball’s in his court now.”
walker was beyond stupid. this was a huge mistake. He was going to get fired, just like last time. Only last time he hadn’t deserved it.
This time, he would.
But he couldn’t help himself. Jolene was like a drug in his system and he was addicted.
He’d ignored her for over a week now, made sure he volunteered to work on whatever Mason was working on. Since Mason was the foreman, he and Jolene generally split up and didn’t work together. Which meant if Walker worked with Mason, he’d be far away from Jolene. And Walker figured lack of proximity would help.
It didn’t.
He also figured she’d chase after him like she usually did.
She hadn’t.
It had been more than a week, and he’d barely seen her.
That bothered him. It actually pissed him off that she hadn’t come after him when he’d done everything he could to ignore her, to create distance between them. What kind of an asshole did that make him?
A huge one.
And now he stood at the back porch door to the main house at one in the morning, knowing that back door was unlocked, knowing the place was dark, knowing Jolene was in there.
And knowing he was going to sneak into her room.
He was a hundred kinds of crazy for doing this, but he turned the knob and he stepped into the mudroom, quiet as could be as he tiptoed past the kitchen and into the hall. He looked up the stairs.
Last chance to change his mind, to come to his senses and realize this was a really bad idea.
Instead, he held on to the banister and headed upstairs, just waiting for the steps to creak.
They didn’t. He got to the top of the stairs, turned left and headed toward the door to Jolene’s room.
He turned the knob, quiet as he could, inched open the door, slid inside and closed it behind him.
And heard the unmistakable click of a round being slid into the chamber of a revolver. Hard metal pressed against his side.
Shit.
“You are so damn lucky I’m a light sleeper and I see well in the dark, Walker Morgan. And that I don’t shoot without knowing who or what I’m shooting at.”
Jolene pulled the gun away from his back and set it on the nightstand. Leave it to her to be armed in her bedroom. She turned on the bedside lamp and sat on the edge of her bed, her long legs peeking out of a white T-shirt that sported some kind of pink cartoon bear on it.
Annie Oakley in a teddy bear shirt. Didn’t that just figure? As usual, Jolene was unpredictable. All sweet and innocent looking in her kiddie T-shirt, all soft desirable woman underneath, and a hard-ass with a gun to boot.
No wonder he wanted her so much he was willing to risk his job.
“What the hell are you doing sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?”
Relaxing now that he wasn’t going to be shot, he leaned against the wall. “If I need to explain it to you, then maybe I should leave.”
She pushed onto her bed and leaned against the pillows, stretching out her legs. “You think you can ignore me for a week, then come up to my room and fuck me just like that?”
“I was ignoring you, I admit that. I didn’t think you and I getting together was such a good idea.” He shoved off the wall and headed toward the bed, stopping when he reached the side of the mattress where Jolene’s long legs were so temptingly displayed. He sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed his hands over those legs. They felt like silk under his calloused fingers. He watched her eyes go dark, her nipples peaking hard under her thin T-shirt.
“And now you’ve changed your mind.”
“No, I still don’t think it’s a good idea.” He pulled off his hat and let it sail across the room and onto a nearby chair, then leaned over her, placing his palms on either side of her hips. “But I just don’t think I care all that much anymore.”
“Really. And why’s that?”
“Because I want you. And I’m tired of denying myself what I want.”
His face was inches from hers. God, she was beautiful, her hair a cascade of blond waterfall over her shoulders, her eyes so many different colors he could get lost in them. And her mouth—he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. Last time he’d been in a hurry, had taken and demanded instead of explored. All he’d thought about since then was all the things he’d missed.
She sighed against his mouth, and he smiled against her lips. She tasted like cookies and milk, and he swept his tongue along her bottom lip to capture more of her flavor before sliding it inside to lick against her tongue.
Jolene moaned and scooted over, and Walker climbed onto the bed, then pulled her onto his lap, his hand sliding over the bare skin of her butt as he did. She didn’t have anything on under that T-shirt, a fact that made his dick go rock-hard in a fraction of a second. He pulled her tight against his chest and slid his hand up the back of her shirt, scoping out those sweet mounds of her ass, so firm and yet her skin was so soft. He felt bad that his hands were so rough, and yet everywhere he touched her she moaned, so she must like his hands.
And he liked the feel of her skin, like gliding his fingers across butter.
He deepened the kiss and held Jolene as he moved on the bed, then laid her in the center of the mattress. He climbed over her, lifting up her shirt and bending down to press a kiss to her belly, ignoring her sex for now even though the scent of her filled the room. He wanted to bury his face in her pussy and lick her until she screamed.
She tangled her fingers in his hair, raised her hips against his chest, and his cock pressed hard and insistent against his jeans.
His cock was going to have to wait. This was playtime.
He took her T-shirt off. Bare, she made his breath hitch. He’d seen enough of her that first time to know she was beautiful and built. But now he could look his fill with her underneath him, could take his time to smooth his hand over the soft column of her throat, the valley between her breasts, admire the pretty pink nipples that seemed to pucker and harden to tight points just from him looking at them.
He bent down and laved his tongue over one. Jolene arched her back and dug her fingers in his hair, pulling at him as he took the nipple in his mouth and sucked, hard, while he used his hand to roll over the other nipple, to tease and torment it.
“Oh. Oh, God, Walker, I really like that.”
Her voice was a yielding whisper, nothing like the hard barking orders she gave out on the trail. He enjoyed her soft like this, her body squirming under his mouth and hands as he moved down her rib cage, teasing her belly button by diving into it with his tongue. Her hands followed his trek south by staying in his hair, holding onto him like he was a lifeline and she was drowning.
He wanted her drowning. He wanted her coming. He wanted to taste her.
He slid off the bed and kneeled on the floor, and dragged Jolene to the edge of the mattress, her pussy dangling right at the edge, sweet and wet.