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Tell slowly turned around on his barstool to see a redhead glaring at him. Aw, hell. Not again. He remembered he’d done a little mattress dancing with this cutie last year, but he couldn’t recall her name. “Hey, pretty lady. ”
She rolled her eyes. “Does that work for you? The ‘hey, pretty lady’ when you can’t remember a woman’s name after you slept with her?”
BeeBee snorted.
Tell grinned. “Yep. ”
The woman opened her mouth, no doubt about to read him the riot act, but he jumped in to head her off.
“Now, don’t go getting all indignant, darlin’. We both had a great time—that part I do remember. I told you up front that’s all it’d be. ”
She sidled up to the bar, telling BeeBee, “A honey Jack and seven with lemon, please. ” Then she cocked her head. “I’m Jamie. ”
“Well, pretty Jamie, I may’ve been fuzzy on your name, but I do recall one thing about you. ”
“What’s that?”
Tell traced the line of her neck from beneath her jawbone to the hollow of her throat. “How much you liked havin’ my mouth here. ”
Jamie’s breath caught. “You are the devil. A handsome devil with dirty, sweet-talking ways and wicked, wicked hands. ”
“Mmm-hmm. But knowing that ahead of time still didn’t keep you from sayin’ yes to me, did it?”
“Because I didn’t want to say no. ” Her gaze gravitated to his crotch and zoomed back to his eyes. “Then or now. ”
He raised a brow. “That right?”
She inserted her curvy body between his thighs and leaned into him. “Buy me a drink, cowboy, and we’ll talk. ”
His night was looking up. “BeeBee doll, put Jamie’s drink on my tab. ”
BeeBee snorted again.
“So, you here with anyone?” Tell asked.
Jamie took a healthy sip of her drink. “My friend Stephanie and some chick she knew in high school. ”
High school. A time in his life he’d rather forget.
He set down his bottle and said, “Dance with me. ”
There wasn’t a band, just piped-in country music, but several couples were on the dance floor.
Three fast songs later, Tell led Jamie back to their seats at bar. “I forgot that you’re such a great dancer,” she said breathlessly.
“Ain’t a lot of other things to do around here on the weekends. ”
“But I haven’t seen you in Ziggy’s for a while. ”
He didn’t mention he was in here every Tuesday night for dart league. “We just got done calving. Now I’m gearing up for rodeo season. Which means I’ll be gone most Friday and Saturday nights. ”
She placed her hand on his chest. “Is that your way of warning me off?”
“Nope. Just stating the facts up front. ” He shifted against the bar and put his mouth on her ear. “So knowing that… What are the odds that you’ll come home with me tonight?”
“It depends. ”
“On what?”
“On whether you still live with your brother. ”
His lips nibbled down her jawline to the column of her throat. “My brother was only staying with me temporarily. So it’d just be you and me. I’ll be the only one to hear you moan when I do this. ” Tell parted his lips and sucked on the sweep of skin where her neck met her shoulder.
“God. You’re good at that. ” She bared her entire throat.
“At what?”
“Seducing me with your mouth and the words flowing from it. ”
He chuckled against her neck. “So is that a yes, pretty—”
“Jamie?”
Tell froze. He recognized that smoky voice. Soft, sweet, unbelievably sexy. Been a while since he’d heard it. He lifted his head, but kept his face shadowed beneath the brim of his hat.
“Can’t you see I’m a little busy?” Jamie said crossly.
“I wouldn’t bother you, but Stephanie told me to tell you that your sister has called your cell about ten times. She thinks you oughta call her back in case it’s an emergency. ”
Jamie stepped away from him, warning, “Don’t go anywhere. ”
“I’ll be right here, waitin’ on you. ” As soon as Jamie flounced off, Tell raised his head, looking at the woman who’d starred in his teenage fantasies for three long years. “Hello, Georgia. ”
Surprise crossed her face. She stumbled backward and would’ve fallen on her ass if he hadn’t lunged for her.
“Whoa, there. ”
“Tell? Tell McKay? You’re the hot cowboy Jamie was talking about?”
Tell wasn’t sure if he should scowl because of Georgia’s shock or if he should grin because she’d called him hot. A smile won out. “Yep, that’s me. ”
“Wow. You…look amazing. ” Georgia’s gaze traveled over his shoulders, his arms, his chest and then landed back on his face. Her fingers tightened on his biceps as if she was testing the merchandise. “Like, really amazing. ”
He couldn’t look away from her. Christ. Hot Lips Hotchkiss was still a knockout. Her ebony hair was shorter—shoulder length, rather than flowing halfway down her back in a tangle of black silk. Same lush mouth. Same startling blue eyes. She’d put on weight, which had softened the sharp angles of her face, and added some curves to her compact body.
“You’re staring at me,” she said in that low-pitched voice he’d dreamed about.
“You were staring at me first, darlin’. And I’m pretty sure you can let go of me now, unless you wanna challenge me to an arm-wrasslin’ match?”
“Ah. No. Sorry. ” A hint of pink spread from her neck up to her cheekbones and she dropped her hands.
Interesting. Tell couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen her blush in high school. “So what are you doin’ here?”
“Having a drink with Stephanie. You remember her?”
Tell frowned. “Was she in our graduating class?”
“Yes. Stephanie Blackstone?”
“Ah. Now I remember. One of them smart girls. But I didn’t know you two were friends. ”
Her eyes turned cool. “I couldn’t be friends with a smart girl because I was a dumb cheerleader?”
Shit. He’d stepped in it with her first thing. He felt the knots tighten in his tongue as that stammering, apologizing, blushing boy from the past made a brief appearance.
No sirree. He was not going there. He hadn’t been that kid for a long damn time. He reached for his beer and sipped. Then he granted her a slow grin. “Georgia girl, you were smart enough to get a boy like me to do your schoolwork, even when you were more than capable of doin’ it yourself. So that snippy response don’t hold true and you know it. ”
She laughed self-consciously. “I guess I deserved that. ”
At least she could laugh at herself. “I haven’t seen Stephanie in years. ”
“Steph moved back to Moorcroft last year but she travels all over the state for her job. ”
“I haven’t seen you in years either. What brings you back to Sundance?”
His cell buzzed before she could answer. Normally he would ignore it, but he’d been expecting—dreading—this call. He lifted a finger and said, “Hold on a sec. I gotta take this. ” He clicked Answer. “What’s up?”
“Landon has been shrieking since you left him here. He don’t wanna watch a movie. He ain’t hungry. And the little sh— poop kicked my dog. When I put him in time out, he smacked me in the face with his fire truck. Sorry, bro, but I can’t do this alone. ”
Perfect fucking timing as usual. “Fine. I’ll be there in fifteen. ” Tell finished his beer. He fished out a twenty and dropped it on the bar, signaling to BeeBee. “We square?”
“Sure enough. You’re leaving so soon?”
“Gotta deal with a kid problem. ”
BeeBee frowned. “You’ve got Landon this weekend?”
“Yeah, and he’s actin’ up bad en
ough to warrant a call, so I gotta get. Thanks. ” Tell looked at Georgia with serious regret. “Sorry we didn’t get a chance to catch up. Take care. ” He slipped on his PRCA jacket and hustled out the door.
Georgia watched the hot cowboy with the black hat disappear into the night. Tell McKay had been cute in high school in that sweet and dorky way. But now? The man was drop-dead gorgeous.
And built. Holy cow. She’d gotten a good grip on his muscled biceps when he’d kept her from making a complete fool of herself.
Now she felt totally perverted since she’d been sneaking peeks at Jamie and him on the dance floor, mesmerized by his fast, sexy, smooth moves. She’d kept watching them when they returned to the bar. Saw him draw Jamie in. He hadn’t given a damn who knew he was seducing her. Jamie had been his only focus in a bar full of people.
Lucky, lucky Jamie.
What would it be like on the receiving end of such potent sexual attention? She’d know if she hadn’t tuned Jamie out as the girl had regaled Stephanie with explicit details of her last hookup with the man she’d referred to as “cowboy hottie”.
What an understatement.
She’d spiraled back ten years when Tell’s eyes met hers. Even back then, she’d felt he saw so much more than other kids their age, which sent her into full retreat. Maybe she’d even acted a little cold to him sometimes because she hadn’t wanted anyone—especially a sweet-talkin’, sharp-eyed McKay—to see that deeply inside her, fearing he’d find her…shallow.
Georgia dodged dancers on her way back to the booth.
Stephanie stirred the ice cubes in her glass and watched her approach. “Jamie had to bail. Issues with her sister. ”
At least she wouldn’t have to break the news to Jamie that Tell had left.
“I saw you talking to Jamie’s mystery guy. ”
“So you didn’t know the hot cowboy Jamie was going on about…was Tell McKay?”