Jolene lifted upright and positioned his c**k at the entrance to her pussy. “All this kissing is nice, Walker, but if you don’t f**k me right now I’m going to explode just rubbing myself against you.”

He dug his fingers into her hips. “Is that a bad thing? I want to watch you come.”

She slid down his cock, trembling as he entered her, hot and thick and stretching her as she fit herself onto him. “You will.”

When she was fully seated on him, she began to move forward, then back, using his body to hold on to, to lift herself only to ease back down. Shocks of pleasure sizzled through her from the inside out as she rode him, enhanced by the wicked storm of desire reflected in his eyes.

“Lean forward, darlin’.”

She did, and he reached up and slid his thumbs across her nipples. She gasped as the sensation shot straight to her clit. She sat fully on him, grinding against him to capture more of that sinful pleasure.

“Harder,” she said, continuing to rock against him as he rolled each nipple between his fingers, increasing the pleasure. She repaid him by squeezing his c**k inside her.

“Damn,” he whispered, pulling her down to kiss her again.

Jolene was drowning in sensation. His mouth, his hands, moving over her back to grab her h*ps and lift her up and down his cock. He dragged her against his pelvis, rolling his h*ps to give her the greatest pleasure.

She felt him everywhere, from his tongue to his hands to the way he eased up into her slow and easy, then pumped fast and hard until she was squirming, coming, crying out against his lips, digging her nails into his chest as she rose up and rode him like her life depended on it.

He gripped her, holding her down on him as he groaned and thrust into her. Pulsing with cl**ax, Jolene rode the wave of her orgasm while he shuddered underneath her.

This was what she’d been waiting for. And it had been so worth the wait. Walker was everything she had imagined he would be, her match in every way. He loved sex as much as she did, and he went for it with a gusto that equaled her own.

Spent, she fell on top of him, laid her head on his shoulder, listening to his rapid breaths and feeling his heart pound against her.

Walker stroked her back, just holding her, seeming in no hurry to jump up and get away from her.

She hadn’t expect this tenderness, the way he wrapped his arms around her, kissed the top of her head and seemed so content to just . . . be with her. It was so incongruous with the man who’d spent all this time running like hell in the opposite direction.

She was glad he’d stopped running, because she wanted nothing more than to be with him. Maybe she’d convinced him that enjoying each other was worth it.

She lifted her head and smiled down at him. “That wasn’t too painful, was it?”

His look was wary. Maybe she hadn’t convinced him after all. “It didn’t hurt.”

She laughed and pushed off him, then grabbed her clothes. “They’re damp, but they’ll do.” She started to get dressed, deciding that she was just going to ignore the often grumpy Walker Morgan.

After all, she’d convinced him once that sex was a good idea. She could convince him again.

But after tethering the squalling calf and starting the long trek toward home, Jolene bristled at Walker’s dead silence.

They’d just made love. To her, it had been pretty damn monumental.

Walker looked unhappy, uncomfortable, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t because his boxers were wet and twisted.

Halfway home she’d had enough of the grimacing and silent treatment.

“What crawled up your ass, Walker?” she asked as they rode side by side. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the nonstop wailing of the calf.

He turned his head to face her. “Nothing’s up my ass.”

“You look like you just lost your best friend. Having sex with me that awful?”

His jaw clamped shut and he didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Finally, “I just don’t think that was a good idea.”

Irritation made her eyebrow twitch. She gripped the reins tighter. “It felt like a really good idea when we were doing it. And I didn’t hear you complaining.”

“You’re my boss. I work for you. It’s not a good idea to mix business with pleasure.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. That’s a load of crap and you know it.”

“Maybe to you, it is. To me, it isn’t. There’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and we crossed it.”

She pulled the reins and halted her horse. “Do you really think I’m going to give you any special favors just because we had sex?”

He had been ahead of her, but he turned his horse around and came back to face her. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

She leaned against the saddle horn and tipped her hat back on her head. “Then explain what you are talking about.”

“It’s . . . complicated.”

“I’m not a dumbass. I think I can reason it out. Toss me a few crumbs, Walker.”

“It’s nothing. Forget it.” He turned his horse around and started moving again, staying far enough ahead of her that she couldn’t hitch Paradise into a gallop without forcing the poor tethered calf into running to keep up.

Asshole. He’d turned a nice time between them into something unpleasant.

Why did sex have to be so complicated?

walker rode far enough ahead of jolene that she wouldn’t be able to catch up, but not too far ahead. He still had sight of her, and still heard the calf, though he paid no attention to the noise. His thoughts centered on Jolene.

What kind of a sissy-assed weakling was he, anyway? He had no willpower. He should have said no. Sure, she’d been na**d and all, but he was a grown man. He’d seen plenty of na**d women before. Didn’t mean he had to go jump on every one he saw. He was hardly a horny teenager who had to f**k a woman just because she offered it up. Not that he was God’s gift to women, but he got his share of offers from eligible women in town. He could have turned Jolene down.

Instead, he’d let her climb on and he’d enjoyed one hell of a ride. And even worse, he’d held her after. Like he . . . cared.

Shit.

It wasn’t going to happen again. He liked this job, had fought hard to get it when no one else would hire him after what had happened at the last ranch. The last thing he needed was another scandal.

He was so dumb. And even dumber was that even now his body still craved her. He’d only scratched the surface of his desire for Jolene. There hadn’t been enough time, it hadn’t been the right place. There was so much more he wanted to do with her.

Too bad. What he wanted and what he was going to get were worlds apart.

five

one week. one whole friggin’ week, and walker had done his best to avoid her.

Jolene paced the kitchen. It was well before dawn, and she’d already had four cups of coffee. She was as agitated as an unbroken horse and ready to do some damage.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor stomping your boots like that.”

Valerie yawned and padded into the kitchen on bare feet, still in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess—great sex, no doubt—and she had pink cheeks.

Jolene was profoundly jealous. Valerie was sleeping with someone. Jolene was sleeping alone, through no fault of her own.

Valerie grabbed a cup of coffee, pulled up a chair, yawned loudly and stared at Jolene through half-opened eyelids.

“Do you have to look so damn content?”

Valerie cocked her head to the side. “What’s got you in a lather this early?”

“Walker.”

“Ah. And what’s he done this time? Or not done?”

Jolene leaned against the kitchen counter and palmed the hot mug of coffee. “I don’t understand men.”

Valerie lifted her mug in salute. “Welcome to the club, honey. They’re as mysterious to us as, I’m sure, we are to them.”

Jolene’s only response was to grumble and take a long swallow of coffee.

“So what’s the specific problem?” Valerie asked.

“We had sex.”

Valerie laughed. “That doesn’t sound like a problem.”

“He’s avoided me for a week.”

“Yeah, that is a problem. I’m sorry, honey.”

“Oh, it’s not that he dumped me. He liked it. I liked it. He wants to do it again. I know he does.”

Valerie sipped her coffee and studied Jolene, then shook her head and smiled. “You are nothing if not humble, little sister.”

“That’s not what I mean. I know he didn’t dump me because he didn’t feel anything or the sex was lousy. I know he isn’t seeing anyone else. I mean I was there. I know what went down. It was good for both of us. We connected. So I just don’t get what his problem is.”

“Men are notorious noncommunicators.”

Jolene sighed. “Tell me about it.”

“But you don’t strike me as someone who backs down, Jo. If you want him, and you say you’re pretty sure he wants you, then go after him.”

“Normally, I would. But honest, Valerie, I’m getting tired of the chase. I’ve already done it. I’ve been doing it. I think it’s time he came to me.”

Valerie shrugged. “Up to you. But don’t be surprised if he doesn’t. There’s something holding him back.”

“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 as**ole 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 f**k 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 ni**les 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.”