“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. All right, baby, but I'll have you know, you’d better not expect to get much sleep tonight.”
“I don't. Not at all.”
“Good.” He leaned in and whispered into my ear, “I want to kiss you so fucking bad right now. But I can’t, and somehow that makes it even hotter.”
Yeah, it did. It really did. We were playing a dangerous game. And both of us knew it. Because one of us was going to break. And it might be me.
13
Clara
Mav smiled at me, his tender and genuine expression making my heart flutter.
“Maybe I could convince her to call it a night,” I said, but he shook his head.
“No, you're right. This is your night out, and I crashed it like an asshole. I'm going to snag Trent, and the two of us are going to find somewhere else in this bar to spend our evening so the two of you can have a good time without a grumpy cowboy watching your every move.”
“I’m pretty sure you're going to be watching my every move whether you're next to me or not.”
“True, but at least I won't be calling attention to myself while I'm doing it.”
Jenna bounded up to where we were, and she gave Mav a considering look. “Does he know?”
“Does he know what?” Mav asked.
Jenna gave me a sidelong glance, and I sighed. “Yes, he knows.”
“Good. I don't like to keep secrets. So, Mav, that means you can help me convince Clara to get her butt up on that bull tonight. It might end up being the last time she gets to do it. Pregnancy and mechanical bulls don't go hand in hand.”
I laughed. “Why would I get on the bull? You know I'm not good at it.”
Mav strode over to the table, and we followed. He grabbed his beer and took a long pull before handing me my club soda. “She's right, you know. You won't be able to do it once you're knocked up. Wouldn't be good for the baby.”
“It's not good for me right now.”
“Yes, it is. This will be your last hurrah, one wild night at the Spur.”
I chuckled. “I don't see you in line to ride it, Maverick Wilde.”
“Oh, don't you?”
“No. I don’t.”
Trent raised his finger, calling our attention to where he was sitting at the table. “I might have put all of us down for a ride.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“The winner gets a free night of drinks for their party.”
“Our party is only two.” My protest had Jenna rolling her eyes.
“Not anymore. Mav and Trent have joined us. All you can drink all night. And with Maverick on our team, we’re a shoo-in to win.”
“I’m not even drinking alcohol.”
“Exactly. You can be our designated driver, and we can get hammered.”
I shook my head. “I foresee a lot of designated driver duties once I can't drink.”
Jenna leaned in and brushed a kiss on my cheek. “You're not wrong. Not by a long shot.”
Maverick brought his face closer to me and whispered in my ear, “Show me how you ride the bull so later, you can do it again, but with me.”
That made tingles race straight between my thighs. “Okay, sure. Let's do it. What the hell?”
“That's my girl,” Jenna said.
We watched as the bull rides started, people staying on for five seconds. Three, even seven. But nobody seemed to be able to best it, which made sense because the thing was turned up high and on the hardest possible level. This was rodeo style. This was the kind of bull riding Sam Ryker did professionally. Only he was on the back of a real animal.
I watched cowboy after cowboy tumble off the back of that bull, lucky they were landing on soft padded mats and not hard concrete. Jenna was called up, and I didn't miss the way Trent’s eyes watched her as she sashayed her way to the pen. She hopped up on the back, and the bull started, going slow at first, giving her a false sense of security. She laughed and kept one hand raised in the air like she was supposed to, looking back behind her. And then the bull jerked and spun 180 degrees before sending her flying. She landed in a heap in the corner, and before anybody else could react, Trent hopped over the railing and was helping her to her feet.
“Looks like I don't need to be a wingman anymore,” Mav murmured.
“Jenna will chew him up and spit him out. You know that, right?”
“Jenna can certainly hold her own. But so can Trent. Just because he's a gentleman doesn't mean he's a pushover.”
My name rang out over the PA system, and Mav jutted his chin toward the bull. “You’re up, darlin’. Show me what you got. Show me what I'm looking forward to. Just remember, you got to roll your hips with every motion. Don't fight it.”
“I know. I've done this before. You act like I'm not from around here.”
“Technically, you're not.”
“So? I can do this.”
“Let's see.”
Mav helped me over the railing, and I climbed up on the back of that bull. The music started, and I did exactly what he told me. I rolled my hips forward and backward. I clenched my thighs around the sides. I held on and leaned back when the bull pitched forward, draped across the thing like it was a bed. And when I locked eyes with Maverick, I knew no matter what we'd agreed to, there was no way I'd be staying at the Spur after this.
He looked at me like he was going to devour me. And I had no problem with that. Before I knew it, the song was over, and I had not fallen off. But I was so focused on the man’s burning gaze, I hadn’t even realized what was happening. I could’ve been about to fall off a cliff, and I wouldn’t have noticed anything but him.
The crowd was cheering, and Mav, who had been the last one in the competition, forfeited his turn. I got off and joined Jenna back at our table, where she immediately high-fived me and told me how fucking awesome I was. She headed to the bar to get a fresh round of drinks for everyone, leaving me alone with my cowboy until Trent took a seat at the table.
“I need to talk to you outside,” Mav said, his voice low and tight.
“Everything okay?”
“No, but I know exactly how to fix it.”
“Do you?”
The heat in his gaze had me wondering what exactly he had planned. He glanced at Trent, who gave the man a questioning look. “We'll be right back. Keep Jenna occupied, will ya?”
Trent smirked. “My pleasure.”
And then Mav had me by the hand, and he tugged me out the front door.
“Where are we going?” I asked as he pulled me around to the back of the building. “Mav, what are we doing?”
“This,” he said as he cupped my face with both hands and shoved me against the wall in the dark, quiet night.
His kiss was rough and hungry. Everything I wanted from him right now. I moaned into his mouth as he threaded his fingers through my hair and gripped hard, pulling the long strands, my body going lax as he fitted me against him.
“Fuck,” he murmured against my mouth. “I’ve been dying to taste your lips. I don't think you know how hard it was for me.”