Love Me, I Dare You! (Hell Yeah!) Page 14

  “Sounds perfect, thank you so much.”

  Her gratitude blew him away.

  Josh trailed kisses from her breast to her belly, then lower. Emma froze, unable to fathom what he was about to do. Holding her breath, she felt his tongue tease her belly button, then lick his way to her pussy, giving her one long, slow luscious lick. She tilted her hips up, grasping onto the sofa cushion as he pleasured her with lips and tongue. If there was a heaven, she was already there. “Oh, Josh, I don’t know if I can handle this,” she moaned, almost in a state of mindless delirium. His lips on her throbbing sex was causing a fever to rise within her, she felt her desire flow from her to coat his tongue.

  Through a haze of ecstasy, Emma heard Josh coax her. “Let go, baby, cum for me.”

  Wanting to please him, she gave herself over to ecstasy. Arching her back, she screamed her orgasm. Emma writhed against his hungry onslaught, he held her, forcing her to accept his gift of intense pleasure. Stroking, kissing, petting, he was with her until her breathing evened and she was able to think. “Josh, can I hold you? For just a minute?”

  “Sure.” Josh was so hard, he thought his dick might break off – but he went. Coming to his feet, he picked her up and sat back down, holding her nestled in his lap. His tutelage of Emma was far from over, and he was looking forward to more.

  “What do you want to eat tomorrow?” She let out a long sigh and nestled deeper into his arms.

  “Surprise me.” The thought occurred to him that he wasn’t just talking about food, she was constantly surprising him.

  “Okay, I will. We’ll have a good time.”

  Of that – he had no doubt.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I need to send you on a little business trip if you’re up for it.” Lance said, as Josh finished gassing up the Mule at the petrol waystation. “How’s the leg?”

  Josh knew he was still limping and if he were to say the pain was all gone, he’d be lying. What he could say was that he was worlds better. “I’m making it, not a hundred percent, but I’m up for whatever you have in mind, unless its running a marathon or jumping out of an airplane.”

  “No, nothing so strenuous. I need you to go on a cattle buying trip for me.”

  This surprised Josh. “Do you think I’m up for it? Would the McCoys trust me to do that for them?”

  “It was Joseph’s idea,” Lance said as he removed a bridle from a big red quarter horse and turned the animal back into the corral.

  “When?” Josh asked, noticing a truck was coming down the drive and had made the turn toward the ranch office and the barn.

  “A few days, Aron is lining up some places for you to go, making the arrangements.” As he answered, he turned his attention to the vehicle, a smile breaking out on his face.

  “Who’s that with Avery?” Josh could see a pretty blonde in the passenger seat.

  “Hands off, Romeo, as Aron or the boys would say… ‘Tag’.”

  “Tag?” Josh laughed. “I remember what that means, I heard Aron use it just the other day. Those McCoy boys always reserved the best girls before any of the rest of us could even get our game in gear.”

  Lance slapped Josh on the shoulder about the time Avery pulled to a stop beside them. “From what I hear, you haven’t had too much trouble finding female company over the years.”

  Josh shrugged. “I don’t want to brag…” He really didn’t. Just today a woman had almost run him off the road, trying to get him to stop. Her face had looked familiar, but the life of him he couldn’t remember her name. When he was on the circuit, the attention had been more welcome, he hadn’t had anything to do but ride, drink and fuck. Here…here things could be different.

  “Well hello, Lance, Josh, how are you two doing?” Avery asked as she opened the door and climbed out of Isaac’s blue King Ranch pick-up.

  “We’re good.” Lance answered with a smile as he went to open the passenger door. “How’s it going, Tricia?”

  “I’m great. How are you, Lance? It’s good to see you.”

  Avery watched her friend’s face light up when she saw the Tebow foreman. “Well, I’ll swear,” she murmured under her breath as she came to stand by Josh. “Why haven’t I ever noticed that spark before?”

  Josh glanced at Isaac’s wife. “You’re dangerous, did you know that?”

  Surprised by his remark, Avery laughed. “What do you mean?”

  “Emma told me you wanted to set us up and I think you’ve got the same idea in mind for these two.” He couldn’t help but smile, she looked so guilty. “Of course, I can understand a little bit after seeing those posters in your office. You’re a romantic.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “When were you in my office?”

  Josh cleared his throat. “Emma took me in there to talk.”

  She gave him a knowing look. “I see. So, you think the posters on my walls say something about my personality?”

  Shuffling his feet, Josh tried to determine if he was in trouble. “Well, I was a bit surprised at your choice of reading material.” He drew up a bit and prepared to dodge if his friend got a little huffy with him. She seemed to be enjoying the conversation, but you could never tell with a woman.

  “Those posters don’t reflect just my choice of reading material,” she leaned toward him and whispered. “I wrote those books.”

  “Seriously?” He looked at Avery with admiration. “You and that husband of yours are just full of surprises.”

  “Excuse me, Avery,” Tricia interrupted, “speaking of surprises, I think it’s time we delivered this one.” She opened the back seat and took out the huge balloon bouquet.

  “Here, let me help you.” Lance came alongside Tricia. “What’s going on?”

  Avery let them go. “I don’t think I’m needed after all,” she said with amusement. They walked off together while Tricia explained to him that one of his ranch hands, Devon, had a not-so-secret admirer. The woman who’d bought him at the bachelor auction intended to come back for seconds.

  At Josh’s questioning glance, Avery explained. “Tricia and I own a little florist shop in town. I’m mostly just a silent partner, I have my hands full with the bar and my writing but when I need to relax or unwind, working with Tricia and the flowers is like a dose of medicine.”

  “I understand. It’s good to have things in your life that fulfill you.” He was struck by the obvious adoration in Tricia’s eyes as she glanced up at Lance. With an odd pang in his chest, he wished Emma could look at him like that.

  “Hey, Josh?” Avery broke him from his daze. “Would you consider joining Isaac and me at Legends for a steak dinner?” When he was about to answer, she added quickly. “And bring Emma with you.”

  Dinner? A date? With Emma? “Well, uh.” He was about to say he didn't know if that would be a good idea when Tricia’s voice rang out.

  “Help! Avery call an ambulance and call Noah. It's Skye, she’s fallen out of a tree.”

  “What the hell?” Avery began to run toward Tricia with her phone in hand, while Josh followed as fast as he could on his crutches. God, he hated these things! When they reached where Lance and Tricia was bent over Skye Blue McCoy, she was trying to sit up. It took a minute for Josh to realize she wasn’t crying, she was laughing.

  “Don’t call either one of them, I’m fine.”

  Skye was a true beauty. Josh had only met her once, but he’d been impressed by her regal appearance that masked a quirky sense of humor.

  “What the hell were you doing?” Lance asked, and Josh was a little taken aback by his familiar attitude to one of the McCoy wives.

  Avery saw his expression and hastened to explain. “Skye is Lance’s sister.”

  “Oh, I see,” Josh nodded, understanding.

  Skye rose to her feet with her brother’s helping hand. “Don’t laugh. I was coming toward the barn and saw a baby mockingbird on the ground. I looked up and saw the nest, so I decided to put the little bird back w
here it belonged. When I got up there, I came face to face with a chicken snake who’d climbed up to get them, I guess. I put the bird down, then tried to knock the snake out of the tree. I think I succeeded, but I fell in the process.”

  Tricia shivered. “A snake?” She began to look all round on the ground.

  Lance put his arm around her. “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

  Skye laughed. “Hey, I thought I was the injured party.”

  Avery put her arm around her sister-in-law. “You are. If nothing else, you’re a heroine. Let me drive you back up to the house and we’ll make a pot of coffee. I want to talk to you about something, anyway.”

  As the women moved off, leaving Lance and Josh watching after them, Lance shook his head. “Every time I start to ask that woman out, something interrupts us. This time it was a damn chicken snake.”

  “Why don’t you just call her and ask her out. From the look I saw on her face, she won’t be turning you down.”

  Lance took off his hat and dusted it against his jean clad thigh. “Well, it’s more complicated than that.” Before Josh could ask him how, Lance changed the subject. “It’s quitting time, I’ll let you know tomorrow when you’ll be leaving on the buying trip.”

  “Okay, I don’t need a lot of notice, I travel light.”

  “Are you heading up to the main house to see Cady?”

  Josh shook his head. “No, we don’t have a session planned today. I’m sure she’ll check Skye out just to be sure.”

  “You’re probably right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Josh didn’t linger after their goodbye, he had someplace to be.

  With Emma.

  * * *

  “Fergus, I’m so happy, I might self-combust.” Emma whirled around in a circle, oblivious of the fact she might misjudge and trip herself up. Coming to a stop, she hugged herself. “Josh will be here in a few minutes. How do I look?” she asked the big lab which she knew was sitting right by the door. He always sensed when they were about to go somewhere and he was almost as excited as Emma.

  She ran her hands down her dress, hoping she’d chosen something appropriate. The simple sundress was purple made from eyelet with a tiny fringe of lace that she loved to trace. No, this wasn’t a date. Almost, maybe. Emma turned to the table and checked the tops of the plastic containers that were full of fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans and brownies.

  A knock on the door caused Fergus to bark and Emma to jump. He was here! Remembering what he’d said the day before about not just opening the door without checking, she went to the front and asked. “Who’s there?”

  Josh couldn’t help but grin when he heard her voice. Pushing his hat up on his head, he answered. “Good girl. Take no chances.”

  Emma threw the door open. “I’m glad you’re here. Let me get my things.” She whirled around to gather up the dishes and heard Josh coming up behind her.

  “Let me help.”

  “I’ve got them. You have to manage those crutches.” Emma began to load her arms with the items. “If you’ll just…”

  “Stop.” Josh used his what he figured was a Dom voice and Emma obeyed. “I’m down to one crutch and I’d rather make three trips than for you to tumble down the stairs.”

  “Oh, okay.” She relinquished her burden to the gentleman waiting to help. “Are you sure it’s okay for Fergus to come?”

  “Of course. Fergus, lead us out.” The dog’s ears perked up and Emma took his halter and they set out to Josh’s truck. “Is this fried chicken I smell?”

  “It is, and all the fixings to go with it, including brownies.”

  Josh groaned. “Lord, woman, you’re gonna spoil me.”

  Emma smiled. She’d love to have the chance to spoil him.

  “How did you fry this?” Josh could just picture her standing over a skillet of hot oil.

  Sensing his concern, she assured him. “I have a fryer, so it’s totally safe. But it’s sweet of you to worry.”

  All the time they were talking, Josh had been unloading the food and helping Emma and Fergus into the cab. “The seat is an old-fashion bench, so you sit in the middle and let Fergus ride shot gun.”

  Emma wasn’t going to argue, this way she got to sit by Josh. “I heard some rumors about you.”

  Josh was in the process of getting in the driver’s seat. Her unexpected statement caused him to jerk and his damn leg slipped. “Fuck!”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yea, yea,” he said between gritted teeth. He didn’t know what hurt worst, his damn leg or what he was about to hear from Emma.

  “Oh, good.” She waited until he’d shut the door. “No, I was about to tell you that I’d heard something about you.”

  He tensed and waited for the axe to fall. Josh didn’t know who she’d been talking to, but he had a good idea that it wasn’t good. “Really?”

  “Yea, I heard you were some kind of world champion cowboy.”

  Josh let out a long breath of relief. “Well, I had a few strings of good luck on the bulls.”

  “Such an accomplishment. My greatest claim to fame is winning the spelling bee in seventh grade.”

  Josh eased around Hardbodies driveway, the headlights reflected on the surface of the Guadalupe which ran right behind the bar. “Wow, I figured you for a brain. Why a bartender?” As Emma wiggled in her seat, her thigh pressed against his. The heat from the innocent contact reminded him of what laid ahead for them that evening, what she was entrusting into his care. Her melodious laughter made him smile.

  “Would you believe a dare?” She let her hand drop and squeezed his knee. “I do too many things on dares.”

  “Oh, really? This should be interesting. How did that happen?”

  Emma turned her head and pressed it against his shoulder. The gesture took him by surprise. “Before I came to Kerrville, I lived in Wimberley. Don’t laugh, but I was a DJ of a tiny radio station and my roommate…”

  “What?” Josh laughed. “Wait a second, a DJ?”

  “Yea, we operated out of a small store. The main reason the station is needed is for emergency communications, floods and such. I started out as an unpaid volunteer, making my living as a telemarketer, but that was no fun.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Anyway, when the radio station could afford an employee, I was the lucky one.” She giggled. “I think it’s my ability to tell a joke.”

  “Tell me one,” he urged.

  “What do you call a sleeping bull?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “A bulldozer.”

  Josh roared with laughter. “You’re a mess and a half.”

  “I know,” she agreed readily. “Back to my story. I worked at the radio for a while and while I was there I made a new friend, Happy Carmichael. We ended up moving in together.”

  “Wait, is Happy a girl or a boy?” She lightly pinched his knee again. He was loving this.

  “A girl, a really nice girl. She worked as a bartender at one of the clubs in Austin and she taught me how to mix drinks at home. One night, she had some friends over and I wowed them by fixing their cocktails. One of them dared me to do it at a gathering they were having, they thought it would be an oddity, a conversation starter – you know the blind girl bartender – and I said yes.”

  “But how…?”

  “How do I keep the bottles straight?”

  “Yea, I’ve watched you. If I didn’t know you couldn’t see, I wouldn’t be able to tell. I mean, I know you’re well-organized…but…”

  “That’s a huge part of it, but I also go in early every shift and I make sure I know where everything is placed. I’ve memorized all the taps, all eighteen of them. Every bottle has its own feel, shape, weight. Plus, I double-check by tasting to make sure I’ve marked the bottles correctly. I make sure I have enough supplies. I also have an eidetic memory, my own kind of visual image that I store and refer back to.”

  “And you use that memory for everything.”


  “Yea, I do.” She clasped his arm. “My dad was my inspiration and he told me that life is a glass, we can either decide if it’s half-full or half-empty. For my part, I’ve decided my glass is overflowing. Now, enough about me. Tell me where we’re going. Where do you live in relation to the bar?”

  “Close, we’re almost there and I’ve been just poking along, thoroughly entertained by you.” He put on his blinker. “Heck, you could walk to my place from the bar. In fact, there’s a trail right down by the side of the river. It’s about a mile from the bar to the turnoff, the first dirt road to the left. There’s a small bridge over the river, and from there my old house is just about a quarter mile on the right.”

  “I’ll have to take a stroll down by the river again sometime soon. Fergus enjoys watching the birds and turtles.”

  Again, a pang of remorse hit him. She couldn’t see the river or the birds or the turtles – or sunshine or rain or…him. “I bet he does.” Josh slowed down and turned onto his property. “My house is in pretty bad shape. If I stay, I’ve got a lot of work to do to get it fixed up.” He stopped, cut the engine, and opened the door. “You and the pup sit still, let me put the food on the porch and then I’ll come back after you. I don’t want you stepping through a hole on the steps.”

  Emma agreed and sat patiently until Josh came and opened the door, assisting them out. “So you tend to do a lot of stuff on dares.”

  “I do.”

  “Why?” he asked as he led her up on the steps. “There’s a swing to your right. Sit there while I unlock the door and get the porch light turned on.”

  Emma followed his instructions, holding Fergus’s halter and lifting her face to catch the evening breeze. “I think I respond so readily to a dare because that’s how my father motivated me to not give up after I lost my sight. He dared me to memorize the house, step by step. He dared me to go to school, to learn Braille, to ride my bike.”