Rodeo Queen (24 page)

Scott’s arms circled her waist. “Want to take a dip with me?”

“I don’t think I can in jeans and this shirt.”

Scott reached up and slipped the straps of her tank top over her shoulders. “You won’t be,” he hinted.

“Anyone can see us!”

Scott laughed. “Who? Like I said, only a couple of people even know this place exists. I doubt that Davis or Mike are going to show up. Besides, that is the only entrance.” Scott pointed at the grassy path. He reached for her shirt again and this time she let him remove the garment. He slid her jeans down her legs, removed her boots, and left her standing in only her underwear. She stood rooted in place, watching as he rid himself of his clothing. He stepped into the water and turned to watch her join him. Hesitantly, she lowered herself into the pool.

“It’s a heated pool?” she cried out, surprised.

“I told you this was my private oasis.” Scott laughed. “All of the controls are over there.” He pointed toward a moss-covered rock that perfectly blended in with the surroundings.

“This is amazing!” She swam toward the waterfall and the deeper water, finding a step designed to look like a rock at the edge. She watched as Scott moved fluidly through the water to where she waited.

“You look like a mermaid.”

“Right.” She laughed. “I probably look more like a wet poodle.”

“No,” he disagreed. “More like a water nymph, put here to tempt me.”

Sydney smiled mischievously as she wound her arms around his neck. “It’s too bad,” she said, forcing a note of remorse into her voice.

“What’s that?”

Sydney could barely think of what she’d been about to say. When her body had pressed up against his heated torso, fire exploded inside her. Wanting nothing more than to touch him, her playful side overtook her desire. She slid her fingers into his wet hair. “It’s too bad you’re a sucker for temptation.” She pressed her hands on top of his head, pushing him under the water.

Scott rose to the surface, sputtering water and threats as she swam back toward the shallow end. But she wasn’t fast enough as he reached for her ankle.

“Woman,” he growled as he pulled her back toward him in the water. “You could have drowned me.”

Sydney’s reply lodged in her throat when she twisted around to fight back and realized that Scott had released her and was nowhere to be seen. “Scott?” she called when he still hadn’t surfaced after several seconds.

Her scream pierced the air when she was pulled under the water by two unmistakable hands. When she surfaced, she was not surprised to see him just out of her reach.

“Are we even?” he asked as she gasped for breath. She sent him a wilting look. “Would you rather I leave?” Scott laughed as she considered the offer. “If I go, princess, I’m taking your clothes with me,” Scott warned.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Sydney’s chin rose with a confidence she didn’t really believe. Scott swam toward the bank where her clothing lay. “Okay, okay, we’re even,” she conceded quickly.

Sydney and Scott played in the water like children until Scott mentioned how dark it had become. Sydney followed his glance toward the sky, seeing the first stars beginning to twinkle in the darkness. Scott pulled her into his arms, brushing his thumb across her nipple, causing it to tighten in reaction. He bent and kissed the hollow behind her ear.

“We should probably head back.” She trembled in his arms, arching her back and pressing her into closer contact with him. “You’re cold.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell him she was as far from cold as possible. In fact, she was on fire with need for him to touch her. She climbed from the water, modesty overtaking her as she wrapped herself in one of the warm towels before dressing behind a bush to hide the way her bra and underwear had become transparent.

By the time they walked back to the cabin, the stars were twinkling brightly overhead and the moon had completely risen. It cast an otherworldly glow over the path; the sounds from the night animals beginning to rise from their slumber made her feel as if they were the only humans on earth.

Scott led her back into the cabin, built a small fire, and ushered her to the couch in front of it. He kneeled before her. His eyes darkened with desire as his thumb caressed her collarbone. Sydney just sat before him, silent, waiting for him to say something, anything. Sucking in a deep breath, Scott rose and left the room. She heard him moving around in one of the rooms behind the kitchen. She heard what sounded like drawers opening and closing before what sounded like a door closing. Moments later he entered wearing nothing but a baggy pair of sweatpants. He handed her a thick robe and a dry towel.

“If you want to shower, the bathroom is straight down the hall. I’ll fix us something to eat.”

Sydney rose, wondering at the change in him. She felt as if she’d almost been dismissed. Her body was aching for his touch, yet he didn’t seem to desire her at all.

S
COTT WATCHED AS
Sydney made her way to the bathroom and almost breathed a sigh of relief when she left the room. He had to use this limited amount of time to gain some semblance of control over his need for her. Every second he was around her seemed to wear down the defenses he had placed around his emotions. She had a way of turning his body into a raging storm of desire that he had no control over. He pulled in a ragged breath as he visualized Sydney as she had looked stepping from the water, her bra revealing more of her bronzed flesh than it hid. Scott felt himself harden. He’d never met a woman that could push him to the brink of ecstasy at the mere thought of her.

He pulled a bottle of wine from the cooler on the counter and removed the meal that Silvie had sent with Mike for them, reading her instructions and placing the tin foil-covered dish into the oven. He was trying to focus on anything that might take his thoughts from the last night he’d spent with Sydney. His hand shook as he poured the white wine into two glasses.

When he turned around, Sydney was standing behind him, her hair lying in wet strands on her shoulders. She looked warm and desirable with his robe tied around her waist. It was far too big for her, falling at her shins. He handed her the glass of wine.

“Dinner is heating up, thanks to Silvie.”

Sydney took the glass and sat on the couch, burying her feet under her.

“Sleepy?” he asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch.

“Um,” she said, “a little.” She curled her arm on the back of the couch and pillowed her head with it. “So, why’d you rebuild the house?”

“I told you how we lost our parents and moved in with Mike when I was eight? I still wanted to have some sort of connection to my parents. I missed them, but I knew I had to grow up and be a man for Jen and Derek. There was no one to take care of them but me.”

“There was Mike,” she pointed out. Sydney’s voice was soft with pity. She was the last person he wanted to pity him.

“Yeah, but Mike had a daughter to take care of. He didn’t need three more kids. I was determined to make sure that we weren’t a burden on him. Jen took care of Derek when she wasn’t in school and I worked on the ranch. I started heading to rodeos with him when I was fourteen.”

“When I first met him, he said you’d been working with him since you could pick up a rope.” She yawned. “He said you were like his own kid.”

“We’ve been pretty close. Especially since I took over most of the rodeo operations. I got my diploma early and took night classes until I got my degree in business.” He smiled as Sydney’s brows arched in surprise. “I was always good with numbers. It’s the reason why our operation has grown while so many others failed. I’ve been able to keep us in the black by running several businesses in conjunction with the ranch. Like breeding Valentino.”

She blinked slowly and took a deep breath. She relaxed as the warm pool, shower, and wine were started to take effect. Her hair was starting to dry, bouncing into ringlets that shone red in the firelight. He longed to touch them, to see that they were indeed as silky as they appeared.

“Anyway”—he returned to his original topic—“after my parents died, I was so busy trying to hold the world together on my own shoulders that I didn’t want to complain to Mike, or to anyone else for that matter. When I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore, I’d saddled up my horse and headed over here. Mike knew where I went, encouraged it actually. Once the operation really started to earn I decided to repair the wear and tear on the house from age. By then, Jen and Clay were already dating and she knew what the house meant to me. Derek never remembered living here, so he didn’t really feel the connection to it. They both let me have it to do what I wanted.”

Scott ran his hands through his hair and arched his back, stretching his muscles, which were tight from lack of actual work.

“I think your parents would be thrilled to know their home is still in your hands. It’s obviously well loved.” She looked around the room. “But you don’t stay here most of the time?”

“Most of the time I’m in the trailer at a rodeo, but when I’m home for more than a few days I come back here.” Scott leaned back into the soft leather, watching Sydney intently, wondering what she was thinking.

“That explains where you were some mornings.”

“Were you looking for me?” Scott gave her a rakish grin.

“Maybe.” Sydney couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face.

Scott took her empty wine glass into the kitchen to refill it and check on the food. “I was about nine when I found the stream,” he called from the stove. “Well, back then it was a stream. I remember making a campfire and sleeping by the water. A couple of raccoons woke me that first night, stealing my food.” Scott chuckled at the memory. “That was the one place I could just be me. So when I renovated the house, since the stream had long dried up, I decided to give it a renovation as well.”

He made his way back to her, holding out her wine. Sydney lay with her head on her arm against the back of the couch, sound asleep. Scott set the wine onto the table and lifted the sleeping woman into his arms. He inhaled the scent of her, like honey and leather, and her curls tickled his jaw. He fought the urge to bury his face in them as he carried her into the master bedroom. He laid her down on the thick comforter and reached for the quilt lying over the back of a nearby chair. He spread the blanket over her and stared down at the vision.

Her hair had spread across the pillow and she had curled a hand below her chin. With her eyes closed, her face had softened, losing any pretense at controlling her emotions. She looked angelic. Her lips parted slightly as if waiting for a kiss. His gaze dropped to the robe that had slipped from her shoulder and revealed the satiny bronze skin beneath, giving him just a glimpse of her breast. Oh, how he wanted to reach out and touch her. Just the thought sent lightning coursing through his veins. There was no way he would be able to sleep next to her and not touch her tonight.

He forced himself to turn from her and walk into the kitchen, taking out the meal and turning the stove off. He considered dishing himself up a plate of the pasta but rejected the thought. His hunger had nothing to do with food. He put the food into the refrigerator and headed for the bathroom. He was going to need a cold shower if he was going to get any sleep. Although he’d had all three of the guest bedrooms decorated with comfort in mind, none of them held any appeal to him. He wanted to be curled around the soft form in his bed, feeling her hips pressing against him. He headed to the shower downstairs.

He stifled a groan as he stepped into the spray, letting the cool needles beat against his skin; they cooled his flesh but did little for his desire. He tried to keep his thoughts from drifting to the woman asleep in his bed. Working the soap into a lather, he recalled the shower they had taken together. He sighed and turned the knob, forcing even colder water out. He turned his back to the stinging cold.

Had Sydney really said that she loved him? Maybe he’d simply heard what he’d wanted to hear; he wasn’t even sure that was what he wanted. He’d sworn off loving anyone after Liz. The way he was feeling right now, this could certainly be nothing more than lust.

Would you really be standing in this ice cold water, letting her sleep, if it was just lust?

Scott knew that somehow Sydney had breached the wall he thought he’d built too thick for any woman to penetrate. She may not have torn it down completely, but she’d slowly been able to chip away at it, enough to remind him that his heart still beat and that he could love someone. He hung his head, water dripping from his forehead and nose. There was no doubt that he was in love with Sydney Thomas, and the thought scared him to death.

He stepped out of the shower, taking the towel from the sink and wrapping it around his slim hips. He stood in front of the mirror, drying off his head with the hand towel. He braced his arm and stared at his reflection. What would happen if he allowed Sydney to know how much he cared for her? He couldn’t allow another woman to have that power over him again. “This has to stop right here.”

“Scott?”

Sydney stood by the bed. The light from the bathroom spilled through the doorway and illuminated the hesitation in her eyes. She was a vision, her curls haloing her face, her lips full and pouting. Scott couldn’t hold back his passion for this woman any longer. He covered the few steps to her side and slipped the robe off of one shoulder, causing it to gape open. He pulled her with him toward the bed until the mattress hit the back of his calves.

Scott sat on the bed, pulling her between his thighs as he untied the knot at her waist, and the robe fell, catching on her arms. Sydney cradled his head against her stomach as his fingers held her waist. His fingers drifted over her ribs to the sides of her bared breasts. She looked down at him as he placed a gentle kiss along the swell before meeting her gaze.

“What do you want from me, princess?” His question delved into his very soul. How much was loving her going to cost him?

Sydney twined her fingers through his hair, her eyes glowing as she stared down at him. “I want you to love me, Scott.”