her ass which
was unexpectedly sweet, and without being aware of moving he found he’d taken
two steps forward. It was like being pulled by an invisible force and he didn’t
like it one bit but before he had time to step back, she straightened up and
turned to face him. The scent of crushed mint and lemon rushed his nostrils. It
instantly reminded him of the delicious and refreshing sensations of drinking
summer lemonade under the cool of a tree on a hot day.
She stopped abruptly as she realized he was standing quite
close to her and he felt the breeze against his face created by the piece of
paper she was waving at him. “Luke Anderson. I’m looking for Luke Anderson.”
Surprise rocked through him and he opened his mouth to reply
when a yapping streak of white flew out the open car door.
Mac barked furiously, his hackles rising fast in defense of his
master and his property.
“Steady, Mac,” Luke growled, not wanting Mac to eat the
terrier.
A second later, Luke yelped as the needle-sharp jab of teeth
tore through his jeans and clamped around his calf. The damn thing was biting
him. He thrust out his right leg, shaking it hard, trying to dislodge the
mutt.
Mac leaped.
The woman yelled, “Maggie-May,” and threw herself between Mac
and her dog. Her chest knocked into Luke’s hip and with one of his legs already
in the air, the momentum overbalanced him. He fell to the ground taking her with
him.
The wind left his lungs, stunning him for a moment but as cold
mud lined his back and oozed through his shirt before trickling down into the
gap at the top of his jeans, he slowly became aware of hands gripping his upper
arms and a delicious heat seeping into him from chest to toe. Her breasts
pressed hard against his chest. Her legs tangled with his, and one knee was
pushed up against his crotch.
Air whooshed back into his lungs as his entire body tensed and
his testicles tightened protectively against the possibility of being firmly
kneed. Then he went hard.
Shit.
Her eyes did that startled wide-eyed thing again, only this
time it wasn’t caused by mud and he knew she’d just felt his hard-on against her
belly. Double shit. He’d always prided himself on
his control with women and this reaction to her made no sense because apart from
that hooker mouth and a sweet behind, she looked exactly like the sort of
high-maintenance woman he deliberately gave a wide berth. He dated women who
were relaxed, uncomplicated and out for a good time.
Correction , used to date.
Since coming home to the farm a year ago, he hadn’t dated
anyone because casual was too hard in a town the size of Whitetail. No guy
wanted to meet their fling at the grocery store or the bar every day for the
next decade. So he’d hardly dated much lately but even so, he had more restraint
than this. It was time to take charge and wrench back control.
To the high-pitched yapping of the terrier and the full-fledged
barks of Mac, Luke gripped her arms and rolled her off him. Wiping mud out of
his eyes, he managed to grind out, “I’m Luke Anderson.”
Amidst the noise from the dogs and the cows, he thought he
heard her groan.
Chapter Two
Utterly stunned, Erin stared at the mud-soaked man in front of her and died a thousand deaths. She’d just knocked the one man she needed to make a favorable impression on into a pile of mud and manure. Then she’d lain on top of him like a dog in heat. Her cheeks burned hot and her breasts tingled at the memory of being pressed against his rock-solid chest and caressed by the faint but firm beat of his heart.
God, he’d felt good. Amazing. Solid. She’d clutched his arms but her fingers had barely dented the firm muscles that lay under all that golden skin. Still, no matter how gorgeous, he was a stranger and she didn’t make a habit of lying on top of men she didn’t know. She couldn’t quite work out why she hadn’t scrambled off him the moment they’d hit the ground.
Because this is as close as