Read an Excerpt
Sweet Ride
A Playing for Keeps Novella
By Cathryn Fox, Candace Havens Entangled Publishing, LLC
Copyright © 2015 Cathryn Fox
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63375-397-6
CHAPTER 1
Alix Harris walked the length of the barn, yelping when a blade of straw cut into the soft flesh between her sandaled toes. Rivulets of perspiration trickled down her cleavage in the stifling heat, plastering the bodice of her dress to her skin. God, she was so not in the mood for this today. She plucked at the expensive fabric, the slight stirring of air doing little to cool her overheated flesh or lighten her mood.
Hot, sweaty, and hardly dressed for a working dude ranch, she haphazardly tucked a long strand of hair back into her once-perfectly-coiffed ponytail. She shook her head, her thoughts rewinding back to a week ago, to when she'd received a hand-delivered invitation promising her a week of R&R at a ranch in cowboy country. She'd had no intention of going until — well — she'd rather not think about the events that drove her to the airport and then to the other side of the country. The second she came face-to-face with the boy from her youth — the one who'd been a bit of a geek back in the day, but still managed to invade her private thoughts at night — she knew what this reunion was really all about.
Sex.
Honestly, what else could it be? She'd caught the hunger in his glance when she'd exited the plane, noticed the way his eyes darkened as they traveled the length of her body, gazing at her like she was a tall glass of water and he'd been in the prairie sun too long. She also noticed his sidekicks, Coop and Mac, who were standing on the tarmac waiting for Julia and Jess — girls she knew from years ago and who had received the same invitation as her — to disembark. What kind of guys tracked down women from their past to offer them a free vacation without wanting something in return? None. She was used to a world of tit for tat and could only assume Jag wanted the former.
She barely knew Curtis Jagger back in high school, and she was a little shocked to discover that he'd brought her here to live out some juvenile fantasy with her. In their teens, they'd traveled in different circles, and even though the president of the audiovisual club had grown into a gorgeous man with a banging body, it didn't mean she was going to hang around and become his plaything for the next week. She was so done with men, and rocking the headboard a time or two — or ten — with Jag was the last thing she needed right now. No matter how sexy he looked in that damn Stetson, or how long it had been since she'd been touched.
Don't even get me started on that.
What she needed to do was turn around, get on the next plane back home to Nova Scotia, and figure out what the hell she was going to do with her life.
Why would I want to do that? To run another political campaign for her fiancé? She snorted. What a way to put her hard-earned politics and international relations degree to use.
If only life came with a redo button. Even if it did, she doubted she could change hers, anyway. With a father who was mayor and a socialite mother who backed him unconditionally, she'd been groomed for the public life since the get-go.
Dammit, she was so tired of being a doormat, tired of doing what everyone else wanted her to do. She scuffed her Jimmy Choos on the barn floor as she paced. Maybe she should just say the hell with them all and stay here for a week and enjoy a few fantasies with the hot cowboy. What is that they say? An eye for an eye? Wouldn't that put her fiancé in his place?
Ex-fiancé.
With her back to Jag, she continued to pace, and a laugh caught in her throat, even though there was nothing funny about any of this.
"Hey," a deep, masculine voice said from behind. "You okay?"
Alix spun around, and when she found Jag watching her with rich, smoldering brown eyes, there was nothing she could do to stop her mind from traveling down an erotic path. One where limits were pushed, boundaries were crossed, and satisfaction was guaranteed. Her gaze traveled over his broad shoulders and wide chest, going lower to take in the jeans that hugged him to perfection. Her body stirred in a way it hadn't in so very long. Maybe having a wild week with him was exactly what she needed to do.
Except that is so not like me.
Or maybe it is, and I've just stifled that side of myself for far too long.
"Alix," Jag said again, taking a measured step toward her. "Relax. I promise you, everything is going to be okay."
With his hands shoved deep in his pockets, his grin was sexy and laid-back, but his easygoing nature did nothing to relax her. She sucked in a quick breath and ignored the need taking up residency between her legs as her voice lodged somewhere in her throat.
He slanted his head, his dark eyes full of heat and humor as they moved over her face. "You really don't remember me?"
"No," she lied, not wanting to admit to anything or let him think she was going to play into his fantasy. She cleared her throat and tried for normal. "Should I?"
He took another step forward, and apprehension surged inside her as the clean, spicy smell of his skin drowned out the aromas inside the barn. She filled her lungs with his scent. If he smelled this good, how would he taste? Her mind raced, envisioning her tongue on his hard body, licking, teasing, and savoring the saltiness of his skin. Oh God ... Her sex clenched, and she shifted uncomfortably. In an attempt to take the edge off, she squeezed her thighs together, cursing her body for its unwanted reactions. When her attempts proved futile, she starched her spine and worked to purify her thoughts before she became completely unhinged.
What the hell is wrong with me?
"I used to sign the club's audiovisual equipment out to you back in high school," he explained. He watched her for a moment, like he was waiting for a lightbulb to go off inside her head. She folded her arms and stared at him, hoping to give him the impression that she had no idea what he was talking about. "That's okay," he said. "I'm not that guy anymore." He paused and pressed his thumb into a muscular chest that her traitorous fingers suddenly itched to touch. "I'd really like for you to get to know the guy I am today, anyway."
Too bad really, because the Jag from her youth was sweet and caring, always going out of his way to sign out expensive video club equipment to her when she needed it for one of her student council functions, or simply because she wanted to borrow it for her own personal use. But because he was from the wrong side of the tracks, and she had a reputation to uphold in society, her parents forbade her to associate with him, even though he was so much nicer than the privileged boys from her circle.
Tired of being yanked around by everyone in her life, she said, "No games, Jag. Tell me why you really invited me here." She held his gaze and smoothed down the bodice of her designer dress that belonged nowhere near a ranch, but she'd raced to the airport so fast she had no time to go shopping for something more appropriate.
"We were sort of friends once and I was thinking about you a few weeks ago." He gave a casual shrug. "I thought we could reconnect, get to know each other better." His lips twitched, but there was something very honest and open in his eyes as he looked at her.
"How will we do that?" she asked bluntly.
He waved his arm toward the towering Rocky Mountains with all their riding trails. "Ride the trails, go rock climbing, swimming. Whatever you want," he said.
She was no fool — or maybe she was. Either way this was about sex. And as tempting as his offer sounded, she couldn't do this. She had obligations and responsibilities. As the mayor's administrative assistant and daughter, she had duties to uphold at home and shouldn't have run off without letting anyone know. She shook her head. Dammit, she never should have tucked tail and gotten on that plane.
"I need to go home."
She stepped outside the barn and panned the huge estate. God, it really was beautiful, but she didn't belong here. No more than he belonged at one of her political functions.
As the midday heat engulfed her, she folded her arms to shade her pale, unprotected skin. Wouldn't Mother have a fit if she knew I was standing in the sun unprotected? She could almost hear the lecture now. Appearances are everything, Alix.
"When is the next plane?" she asked.
Instead of answering, Jag stepped up behind her, pulled off his Stetson, and settled it on her head. Shaded by the wide brim, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. She was about to thank him, but the second their gazes collided she caught the heat and hunger in his eyes. Every reason she had for leaving suddenly seemed so insignificant.
He squinted against the sun, all traces of humor gone from his face. "Why did you come?"
Angry tears pricked her eyes as she thought about the events that led up to this moment. She turned, offering Jag her back. She didn't want him to see her cry. Hell, the last thing she wanted to do was cry again. She pinched her eyes shut, but there was nothing she could do to expel the image of her fiancé kissing another woman.
There they were, arms around each other and lips locked in a way that left no mistake the two were lovers — or that she was pregnant. Yeah, she saw the bump, the way his hand rested on it in a protective manner. Tucked under a towering tree, in a secluded area of the park, they hadn't seen her taking pictures at first. Alix had been snapping photos of the sunset, enjoying nature at its best, until she spotted them. Her chest tightened, squeezing the air from her lungs. She'd never felt so betrayed, so used. If it weren't for her and her father's connections, Nelson wouldn't even be a member of the legislature.
Her hand went to her stomach. She'd been nothing but the dutiful fiancée and had given him everything she could. The one thing she couldn't provide, he went ahead and found with another woman. It was just last week they'd talked about the venue for their wedding. Did he really think he could have her and a mistress and child on the side? She wiped her face, swatting at the liquid on her cheek. The lying, cheating bastard didn't deserve her tears.
When his glance met hers, she should have confronted him. She should have smashed her camera over his head. But she ran home and swore off men as she threw her clothes in a suitcase. And now here she was, halfway across the country. Her life was a total freaking mess as she faced a man who'd always been so damn sweet to her — one who already had her reconsidering her vow to avoid the opposite sex. But wouldn't that just complicate her life more than it already was?
A strong palm landed gently on her shoulder and turned her around. "Why did you come?" he asked again, the tension between them palpable as he dipped his head to meet her gaze unflinchingly.
"I just ... I was ..." She exhaled slowly and looked at the ground. "Look, Jag, you asked the wrong girl for the wrong thing on the wrong day."
A rough, calloused hand cupped her chin and lifted it until she was looking directly at him. "I didn't ask you for anything."
She drew a shaky breath and eyed him suspiciously. "You just said you wanted us to get to know each other better, so I assume that this" — she stopped to wag her hand back and forth between them — "this setup is about sex. Some juvenile fantasy you must have been harboring about me." She shook her head, panning him from head to toe. "I mean, come on, look at you. Everything about you screams sex." As soon as the words left her mouth she gulped and tried to get them back. "Wait. I mean ..." Ugh.
He grinned, but it wasn't conceited or egotistical. In fact, it was warm and tender, full of gentle understanding. She stared up at him. The Jag from her youth was no longer that awkward boy with a camera permanently strapped around his neck, nor did he wield his good looks and magnificent body like a weapon or think he was above reproach. He certainly wasn't a man from her world. Which made him that much more appealing.
Her purse began buzzing. She unzipped it and pulled out her phone. Caller ID revealed it was her mother. She squeezed the phone until her knuckles turned white, and with eyes tired from all the tears she'd shed since catching Nelson, she stared at the screen.
"You don't have to answer it," Jag said quietly.
She grunted. If only he were right. But he just didn't understand how things were done in her world, especially with her mother. Dutiful daughter that she was, she slid her finger across the screen and tried not to sound as shaky as she felt. "Hi, Mom."
"Alixis, where are you?" she asked, her voice boarding on hysteria.
"I'm" — she paused and looked up to find Jag staring at her — "out of town. Visiting a friend."
"A friend? Who? Where are you?"
She pinched the bridge of her nose. She could only imagine what her mother would say if she knew she was here with Jag. Maybe she should tell her, and while she was at it, let her know she was thinking about having wild, crazy sex with him. Then again, she didn't want to send her into cardiac arrest.
"No one you know," she said.
"Nelson called and said you weren't home or answering his calls. He was very worried about you."
I just bet he's worried. About his career, her father's political pull — losing it all.
"I'm fine," she lied, pretty sure she'd never be fine again. A beat of silence reigned, then she asked, "Did he say anything else?"
"What else would he say?"
"Nothing," she said, feeling defeated. There was no point in saying anything. Her mother had stood in the shadows of her father's affairs, and likely expected Alix to do the same.
"Then get yourself home right now," she demanded, her voice so loud she had to pull the phone away from her ear. "You know Nelson has that very important fund-raising dinner and speech tomorrow tonight. How would it look if you weren't by his side? And your father needs you in the office tomorrow. You have responsibilities. I don't know who you think you are, or what's gotten into you, but you can't just take off whenever you feel like it."
Her gut squeezed, the sense of duty that had been pounded into her since birth swimming to the surface. "I know. Okay —"
Jag moved closer, lightly cupped her elbow, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "What do you want?" he asked.
Her words fell off as she took in the concern in his eyes. Oh God, he'd heard. Embarrassment clutched her, but as he continued to stare at her, he tightened his grip. Like a match to tinder, the strength of his touch, and the power behind it, sparked something inside her and set off a chain of events that filled her with rebellion.
What did she want?
How come no one had ever asked her that before? She rubbed one temple, feeling like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and that she could collapse at a moment's notice.
"Alix, I don't know what you're up to but it's your duty ..."
There was that word again. "Duty." Except to her it wasn't just a word, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
"I have to go," Alix said quietly, her calmness belying the storm going on inside her. Even though her mother was still lecturing, she powered down her phone. Much like an ostrich that shoves its head in the sand, she dropped her phone into her purse, zipped it shut, and ignored everyone and anything except this man staring at her. One who wanted to know what she wanted.
Jag rubbed her wrist with his thumb. "I want you to know, this week is about you. Anything you want, I can make happen. You're the one calling the shots."
She swallowed, hard. Her whole life she'd been a good girl, taught to behave in certain ways, inside the bedroom and out. But she was tired of that, goddammit, and maybe a week with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks was just what the good girl needed before facing her life back home. It wasn't like there could be more between them, or she'd fall for him in the end. They were different people from different worlds.
Am I really considering this?
She took a step back, from Jag and the whole situation closing in around her. "Well, you should probably know that I've sworn off men," she blurted out, still unsure about this whole setup. "In fact, I'm thinking about switching teams."
His grin widened, his dark eyes smoldering with passion and laughter as he raised his hands in surrender. "Okay. So you're playing for the other team now. That doesn't mean you can't hang out here and relax, does it?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Sweet Ride by Cathryn Fox, Candace Havens. Copyright © 2015 Cathryn Fox. Excerpted by permission of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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