“Hi,” she said.
Fully dressed with a plaid shirt covering his scrumptious torso, he tipped his hat slightly. “Hey again,” he said, his eyes sparkling.
Awkwardly, they stood staring at one another for a few seconds.
Scarlett wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t know him and he might be dangerous. Plus, he already had a woman. Any way you looked at it, inviting him in would be bad form. “So…nice to see you again…”
“Yeah…oh, um…these,” he said, lifting up a small container. “I made them for you to apologize about before. Melly…my kid sister, can be such a sassy little filly.”
Sister? Scarlett’s ears perked up and she reached for the container. “Thanks.”
“Cookies…I hope you like chocolate chip.”
Scarlett held the container, taking off the lid for a peek. They looked tasty but a little too perfect. She raised an eyebrow. “You made these?”
He grinned. “Well, to be completely honest, I just took them out of the package and baked them up according to the directions on the back.”
Laughing, Scarlett nodded. “That’s how I make cookies too.” Another few seconds of awkward silence and she stepped back. “Come in and I’ll get some plates and make some coffee.”
Davis wiped his feet on the mat in front of the door before entering and closing the door behind him. Turning her back to him, she made a hopeful face, her eyebrows lifting and her heart turning back flips.
“So…how long you stayin’ if you don’t mind my asking?” His Appalachian accent twanged from behind her as she led the way to the kitchen.
“Just until the day after Christmas—I have to go back to work after that.” She grabbed the coffee and supplies and started to brew a fresh pot before getting a couple of desert plates out of the cabinet.
“What kind of work are you in?” he asked, taking a seat on a barstool at the kitchen counter and placing his hat on the stool next to his.
“I’m a pharmaceuticals rep—presenting to doctors and hospitals. There’s a lot of travel but the pay and benefits are good. How about you?”
“My family owns a horse farm nearby. We train horses, give horseback riding lessons and breed champions. I’m the manager. Melly, who is actually eighteen though she acts like she’s twelve, is a trainer. I have a couple of younger cousins who work for us too, feeding and looking after the horses. Since Mama passed away a few years ago and Dad put himself out to pasture last year, I guess I’m in charge.”
“Your dad did what?” Scarlett placed a cookie on her plate and held the container out to Davis.
Grabbing two and putting them on his plate, he said, “I say put himself out to pasture but it’s more like putting himself out to stud. He abandoned me with all these dang kids to move into a retirement village with a bunch of widows. He’s just chasing tail.”
Scarlett laughed nervously, nibbling on her cookie as her pulse raced. She couldn’t believe such a gorgeous specimen of a man was joining her for dessert. His hand on his chiseled jaw, he fingered his short, sparse facial hair—just enough to give him another kick of cowboy flair.
“Do you always nibble like a rabbit?” he asked skeptically.
Self-consciously, she set the cookie on her plate, turning her back to get two coffee cups and filling them with the freshly brewed coffee. “Sugar or cream?”
“Black is fine,” he answered.
Setting his cup in front of him and hers down beside her plate, she finally answered his question. “I really shouldn’t be eating sweets at all…you know…cause of my great big butt.”
Davis nearly spewed his coffee, his eyes wide with surprise. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, covering his mouth with his hand. “No!”
“No?” She tilted her head, observing him. For someone so damn hot, he really wasn’t all that smooth but his verbal clumsiness was sort of endearing.
He stood, shaking his head adamantly. “That’s not…I mean, your butt is big but…”
She gasped, astonished by how easily she’d allowed herself to walk right into that one.
“No, no, no… Melly wasn’t insulting you. She was messing with me…Your ass is gr…uh…damn, I’m bad with words!”
Unable to argue with his assessment, Scarlett stood slack-jawed and speechless.
Looking off to the side, a resolved expression on his face, he shook his head. “Melly was teasing me because of…well, my type.” He crinkled his thin-bridged nose, giving her a sheepish look as he moved in closer, rounding the counter until he was standing beside her.
“Your type?” She turned her head to face him.
Once his sea-green irises scooted up from their perch on her behind, their eyes locked.
He licked his bottom lip, running a hand through his hair. “Your ass is fantastic.”
Caught off guard, she panted, still staring at those thin lips. Just then he moved in, lowering his neck as he slipped an arm around her waist and laid a kiss on her mouth. As their skin made contact, a buzzing current roared between her legs and only intensified as she placed her hands over his muscular chest—he was incredibly solid. Raising her chin, she kissed him back, crushing her lips to his. His hands roamed, feeling her rear and squeezing it in his mighty grip. As the kiss broke, she let out a moan just before his lips pressed back onto hers. His tongue darted out and she opened her mouth to welcome it with hers.
Her head swam as the oral titillation continued. Is this really happening? The
