All Flash No Cash Page 9

  This was her rodeo.

  She gazed into his eyes as she found a rhythm, her hips tipping back and forth, working his shaft as she moved her tight opening up and down, nearly off him, then all the way down, until her core shifted enough that she took him all. Every piece of him suctioned deep inside her.

  He wanted to come, wanted to shoot off, but he held back, let her have her fun. This was all about her, and he’d make damn sure it was unforgettable.

  The camera snapped a few more times as she rode, sliding and squeezing, making him more insane for release with each movement.

  He untied her bikini top and tossed it aside. Pulling her forward, he leaned in and took her nipple into his mouth. She tasted like sweet wine and sunshine.

  CJ squealed and he could sense she was close. Hell, he was so close, it’d be a contest to see who could last longer.

  Pete suckled her breast, cupped her ass with one hand, and slid his thumb between her legs, softly touching her clit.

  “Oh, God!” CJ shouted, her body shook as she rode him faster, up and down as quickly as she could. She broke. “Pete!” Her head dropped forward, her tight core contracted around his shaft, fast and strong, like a fist gripping him.

  “Yeah.” He let go, his body tensing, his balls shooting cum that pulsed through his cock into her. A blast of fire rode his spine to his head and shattered like a crystal ball hitting cement. He tunneled far away from sound and awareness, only feeling, a pleasure as pure and raw as life itself.

  He came back down quickly, catching CJ as she collapsed onto him, panting, her arms around his neck, hanging on tightly. Leaning back, he cradled her, still joined with her, feeling residual quivers inside her slick channel.

  She kissed his neck, then stiffened. “Pete.” Pulling back, she looked at him. A wrinkle formed between her brows.

  Whatever she had to say, he wasn’t going to like it.

  “Pete, I want to say this now, just so everything is clear between us.”

  He nodded. “Go ahead.” This was the part where she broke his heart.

  “I really like you. And as you can see, I’m not strong enough to resist what you offer.”

  What he offered? Just some fast, wild sex? Maybe he hadn’t made his intentions known. “CJ, I don’t want this to end.”

  She touched her finger to his lips, her eyes shifting away. “I’m not the ‘settling-down’ type.” Putting her foot on the floor, she lifted off him, tearing herself away physically and emotionally. “And I’m guessing you are.” She didn’t look at him as she picked up her robe and slid it on.

  Fuck. He swung his leg over the bike, dealt with the condom, and got dressed.

  The whole while, she just stood watching him.

  He glanced around. Everything he’d brought was already packed in his truck. He wasn’t leaving anything behind to remind her of him. He took his camera off the tripod. “The photographer will be back in a couple hours for this stuff. He’ll call when he gets here.”

  “Okay.” She stepped closer. “If we can find a way to get together without either of us having expectations, I think we—”

  “Too late.” He handed her the memory card with all the photos on it. He figured he was going to sound like a puss when he said it, but he didn’t care. He looked into her eyes, waited a second, then took a breath. “It’s all or nothing for me, CJ. You are all I want.” He turned to leave.

  “Pete.”

  He froze, praying for the words to come from her mouth.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The wrong words. He left, closing the door quietly. The drive back to Williston was going to be a long one.

  Six hours later, with a headache, an empty stomach, and the need to have one too many shots of whiskey, he stormed into his apartment.

  The guys sat around the table playing poker.

  “Hey, how did it go?” Huck dropped a red poker chip into the pile in the middle of the table.

  Pete collapsed into the empty chair. “Photo shoot, good. The rest of it, shit.”

  “What’s going on?” Dax’s black hair was wet, like he’d just showered. “Did she get all clingy and demanding?”

  Pete huffed a breath. “Just the opposite.”

  Shaw set down his cards, his gaze zooming in on Pete. “So, you got all clingy and demanding?”

  Pete gave a half-smile. “Not quite, but I told her I wouldn’t be her booty call.”

  Dax whistled. “You got them feelings going on, huh?”

  “I guess. I don’t know.” He explained how he’d withheld the fact that he was swimming in money, was going to buy out the properties surrounding the family ranch, and would hire enough ranch workers so he wouldn’t have to muck stalls every day.

  “The gentleman rancher.” Huck raised a brow. “Dad’s gonna call you all kinds of a fool for trusting a foreman to run the ranch.”

  “Dad can…” Pete shrugged. “He’ll be in Texas, if mom has her way. And I’m gonna keep my boots on soil, but I don’t want to work twelve hour days like he does. I want to raise a family and travel—”

  “Hold it, cowboy.” Dax set down his cards. “This is getting serious. Like, ring-through-the-nose serious.”

  Pete couldn’t help wondering if Dax was right. “I don’t know. I just want to get her to admit she has them feelings for me; the dirt farmer. Not the man with a big bank account.”

  Shaw scratched his head, snarling his brown hair. “Sounds like the same thing with me and Harper. She thought I was a roughneck, working the oil fields to get rich and retire early in some big citified house.” He laid his forearms on the table. “I let her go on thinking that, even when I owned a ranch, and was working the Bakken to save money for cattle.”

  “How did that turn out when she found out the truth?” Huck’s rhetorical question was asked as a warning for Pete.

  “Not good, but it worked out.” Shaw stood. “Pete, just be careful. Harper is a very different kind of woman than CJ. And your CJ might not be as forgiving as my woman.”

  Pete nodded. “What choice do I have, though? If I drive down there tonight with a printout of my bank balance, and she professes her never-ending love, how will I know it’s not the dollar signs that she wants in her life?”

  “Shit.” Dax stood, too. “You got a mess, son.” He yawned. “I’m going to bed. We’ll finish this game tomorrow.”

  Huck got to his feet. “You wanna talk some, little brother?”

  Pete shook his head. “I need some time to think.” He got up and pulled the bottle of whiskey from the top of the refrigerator. “And drink.” He caught the look his friends shot each other. “Just one. I promise you won’t hear me cryin’ two hours from now.”

  “Go ahead and cry.” Shaw headed into the room they shared. “Just do it out there on the couch, okay?” He chuckled as he shut the door.

  Chapter Twelve

  Friday morning, CJ sat in her office with the photographer and chose a picture for the advertising push. She sent it to her graphic designer with all the details. By Wednesday, they’d be selling tickets, plastering posters all over the county, and flashing PG-rated commercials on the local TV channels.

  As she wandered from her office out the back door, she avoided looking at the garage. This weekend, Pete would be on his ranch, and she would be here. Working. Visiting Dad. Working some more. She climbed the steps to her apartment.

  No one to make her coffee, offer her eggs for breakfast. “Yuck.” But it was the thought that she appreciated. No one to tuck in when he passed out on his bed.

  “Hell.” His parting words echoed in her head a hundred times an hour. You are all I want. How was a person supposed to get over hearing that? It’d scared the tar out of her, then had become a persistent call, making her question her goals and priorities.

  What did she want? For so long, it had been the urge to travel that kept her moving at full-speed, and kept her from going crazy with the loneliness she’d ended up embracing. Once her dad no longer nee
ded her… She stopped on the first landing. He was getting worse so quickly, it could be only months.

  CJ started climbing as a chill fall wind blew leaves around in circles on the pavement below. She’d intentionally kept her friendships to a minimum. Had pushed away any relationships that would make her grow roots in this town.

  She stepped into her apartment and wandered down the hall to the guest room. Why hadn’t she washed the sheets after he left? The room seemed to close in, oxygen felt hard to come by. Lying down, she pressed her face into the pillow, catching his scent, earthy man mixed with paint.

  He was a good guy. Solid and honest, sexy as a fresh load of sin. She’d love to have him in her bed again. And again, and again, and again. But would that be too risky? Would her heart take hold and never want to let go?

  Halloween took forever to come, and the evening of the Bash, CJ looked at every face that came into the huge tent set up in the back parking lot. Looking for Pete. The last few weeks, she’d nearly dialed his number a dozen times. Something held her back, and intensified her struggle between needing him and needing freedom.

  Grabbing a bottle from the rack behind the portable bar, she stared again at the black nail polish she’d painted on that afternoon. Silly, but it matched the shiny black cat-ear headband she’d dug out of her Halloween costume box. A black sweatshirt, jeans, and her hightop sneakers with orange laces, and she was in costume.

  The tent was filled nearly to capacity, and Dolby and his son Jake kept track of the headcount here and in the bar itself. The band loaded in their equipment, setting up on a small stage in front of an even smaller dance floor. The noise level wasn’t too bad with just the voices of the drinkers, the high peaks of the tent absorbing most of it, but once the band got going…

  A tall man wearing a dark cowboy hat over his brown hair walked into the tent. Behind him, a petite woman with gorgeous red hair stepped inside, looked around, then reached behind her to take another cowboy’s hand.

  Pete?

  Her heart stopped for a few seconds. His black cowboy hat sat tipped back on his head, his T-shirt had a rodeo logo on it, and his jeans looked brand new.

  Pete. With another woman. Had he brought her to show CJ he was over her already? “Stop it.” She had to blink away the urge to cry.

  Two more cowboys followed them in and…holy shit, did Pete have a twin brother? She could tell them apart, but just barely. The five of them walked to the corner where the motorcycle sat on a triangular riser, two mirrors showing off all sides of the bike under the bright lights. A velvet rope kept anyone from getting too close, and a huge, round mesh barrel next to it was nearly full of raffle tickets.

  CJ craned to get a look at Pete. The redhead had let go of his hand, and the tall cowboy who’d come in first had his arm around her. The relief flowing through her was ridiculous. Why should she care if Pete had another woman?

  Pulling her lip gloss from her pocket, she smeared some on and walked in their direction.

  Pete’s twin took one of the business cards she’d set up near the bike. Pete had sent her a hundred, and they were almost gone. This bike would make his career.

  “Hi.”

  They turned. She’d never felt as scrutinized as she did at that moment. She swallowed down her nerves. “Glad you could make it.” She pointed to a table near the bike with a big “Reserved” sign on it. “Have a seat, and I’ll bring you something to drink.”

  Pete stepped forward. “CJ Overton, I’d like you to meet Harper Johanson, Shaw Donahue, Dax Marshall, and my brother, Huck.”

  She shook hands with each of them. “Thanks for coming. What can I get you to drink?” CJ wanted to be away from this group right now. Pete must have confided in them, and they each looked a little wary of her.

  “Beer?” Pete looked at each of them. Getting their approval, he turned to CJ. “Let me help.” They walked to one of the portable bars and she poured five plastic cups full of tap beer. When Pete pulled out his wallet, she shook her head. “Free tonight.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Free forever, Pete.” She set beer in front of him. “We’ve never sold even a tenth this many raffle tickets before. Thank you. We’ve already hit twenty-five thousand dollars.”

  He picked up two of the full cups. “I’m honored to be part of this, CJ.”

  His words made her a little sad. She’d made the whole experience a challenge for him, and it hadn’t had to be that way. But at least he saw who she really was. No sugar-coating. She picked up the last three beers and walked out from behind the bar.

  She led the way to their table.

  “How’s your dad?” Setting the beer down, she realized her hands were shaking. “He’s about the same. We thought of bringing him here, but he wouldn’t have understood.” She dropped her head, took some breaths, and regained her composure. “But I showed him pictures of the bike, and he smiled so wide, Pete…” Again, she had to force down emotion.

  With a soft touch on her arm, he tipped his head. “I’m glad. He’s a special man to have raised such a strong, independent daughter.”

  Strong. Independent. That was her. Not loveable and cuddly and cute. She turned to the four sitting at the table, who were staring intently at her. “We have a limited menu tonight, but order up whatever you want. On the house.” She nodded to Pete and walked away.

  ****

  Pete watched her go. Her almost-playful side, the nail polish and cat ears, her only concession to the holiday. Had she even thought about him the last two weeks? Or was she tough enough to forget and move on without a backward glance.

  Just then, she stopped and turned to look at him.

  His eyebrows shot up. That was unexpected.

  She went back to work and Pete sat next to Harper. “How was the rodeo circuit this year?”

  With a glance at Shaw, she shrugged. “It gets long and lonely on the road so much. And with the head offices and my apartment in Chicago, I’m not getting to see my cowboy enough.”

  Shaw threw his arm around the back of her chair. “I’m trying to talk her into moving closer, working for a local beverage distributor.”

  Shaw worked on the Bakken, saving up the money to stock the Lemmon, South Dakota ranch he’d inherited from his grandparents. Pete had no doubt that once he had his stake, he’d swoop Harper up and move her into the old ranch house with him.

  “I bet CJ could help with that.” Dax set down the bar-food menu and waved over the waitress.

  Shaw and Harper looked at Pete.

  He nodded. “I can ask.” He looked toward the bar where she was working. The line was eight people deep. Pete turned back to his friends. “Maybe I’ll wait a bit.”

  Harper laughed. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

  Dax ordered everyone a hamburger, and large orders of fries, onion rings, and jalapeno poppers to share. The band took the stage and started off by encouraging everyone to buy raffle tickets, then jumped into a traditional biker song.

  CJ came by with fresh drinks for them all, and Pete asked her to sit a minute in the chair Huck had vacated.

  She plopped down, looking beat.

  “Lot of work, huh?” Pete would love to pull her feet onto his lap and give her a massage.

  “This and Sturgis are the busiest.”

  The band slowed to a belly-rubbing song.

  “You wanna dance?” He didn’t know why he asked, why he wanted to torture himself that way, but holding her in his arms one more time was the only thing he could think of right now.

  She blinked a few times, her pretty green eyes uncertain. Then she nodded.

  He helped her to her feet and found them a spot at the edge of the dance floor. When he tucked her close, she turned her head so her breath feathered warm on his neck. Temptation on two legs, this woman. But he wasn’t going to settle for being her booty call while she owned the bar, then being tossed aside like an old bar rag when she packed up and left Deadwood.

  “CJ?” She lifted her head, her eyes kind of wo
ozy.

  “Yes?”

  Was she expecting him to beg for one more night with her? “Harper, Shaw’s girl, works for a national beverage distributor, but wants to find something local.”

  She gazed to the side, her lips curving down at the sides.

  “If you get a chance, would you set up a time with her to talk later?”

  “Sure.” She looked around. “Pete, can we talk?”

  “Yeah, go ahead.” With CJ, he never knew what was on her mind. Romance? Work? Rejection?

  “Come outside with me.” She strolled away and he followed.

  Outside the tent, the autumn wind cooled him. “What’s up?”

  She took a breath. “Are you all staying in Deadwood tonight?”

  “Yeah, we got hotel rooms.” He had a good idea where this was going.

  “If you’d like, I have the guest room open…for you.” She groaned. “I mean, I’d like you to stay the night with me.”

  He could see it was hard for her to ask, especially after the speech he’d made the last time they were together. “Has anything changed, CJ?” He took her shoulders, turning her so her face was in the light. “Or is this just one night?”

  Her mouth opened, then closed. She dropped her head. “Just tonight. That’s all I can promise.”

  He slid his hands down her arms and took her hands in his.

  Hers trembled slightly.

  Pete rubbed her palms with his fingertips. “I’m sorry. The offer…there’s nothing I want more right now, but I’m the kind of guy who likes to invest everything.”

  When she looked at him, her eyes shone with moisture.

  He kissed her quick on the lips then took her hand and led her back to the tent, letting her go in before him, releasing her hand and letting her go free. Walking back to the table, he nearly turned and went back to her, but this had to be the way it ended.

  Platters of food filled the table and they ate, drank, and danced until midnight, the witching hour.

  The band stopped playing and CJ took the stage, adjusting the mic. “Thank you all for coming, and thank you for supporting the local Alzheimer’s organization with your purchase of the raffle tickets. We’ve nearly sold out, and will be giving them a check for almost thirty thousand dollars.”