Letting me into his life and into his bed had been easy enough. Letting me into his business hadn’t gone as smoothly. The man was a control freak and it was like beating my head against a very sexy brick wall every time I tried to get him to let me help him with the marketing and the branding of the ranch. He was a savvy businessman, but he was out of touch with the human element. I reminded him, over and over again, that I made my living convincing people to spend money, but got nowhere until a competitor located in Jackson Hole reached out and asked if I would be interested in working on a new campaign for them.
I told Cy he could either let me in the gates at home or watch me lead the enemy into battle and eventually, after a few days of brooding and a few nights of no sex, he came around. Making up was fun, but digging my hands into something that would be around forever and would be passed down to generation after generation of Warners, was even better. There was reward in convincing people that Cy’s ranch and the backcountry tours Lane led were better than everyone else’s because I really believed that. This place was a part of me now and I wanted everyone who visited to love it and be transformed by it like I had. I meant every single word I said when I went to work convincing the world they needed to leave their cares behind and visit here to shut out the noise.
Cy had been on conference calls all day, so I hadn’t seen much of him. He still wasn’t overly friendly with the guests, but he was getting better. His permanent glower had been replaced with a grin and the storm in his eyes only raged now when we were alone, and when that happened, I couldn’t wait for it to crash into the shore.
I was navigating the massive, rustic house when my phone beeped with an incoming email. Every time that happened I hoped against hope it was Em . . . but it never was.
This time when I saw who the sender was my disappointment was shoved to the side and a smile tugged at my lips. The contents of the brief email made me chuckle as I pushed into Cy’s office, eyes immediately going to the big desk and the even bigger man behind it. He was still on the phone and the scowl on his face indicated that he wasn’t liking whatever he was hearing on the other end of the conversation. I made my way over to him, climbed over one of his legs, and propped myself up in the center of his desk right in front of him while I tapped out a response to the email. His other leg pressed into the outside of my knee so I was caged in. I liked that his scowl had switched to a seductive smirk as he watched me watch him.
He still favored soft tees and beaten denim. His hair still looked better than mine at any given minute of any given day. He still wore motorcycle boots instead of cowboy boots and the only time he wore his Stetson was when I begged him to bring it to bed. It never stayed on for very long but I liked the way it looked on his dark head. I may have let him get away with all the dirty things he wanted to do with me when he wore the hat. It was a weakness and I never could deny him a thing when he had it on.
Not that I wanted to.
Climbing the proverbial sexual mountains with Cy wasn’t something I would change for the world. The view from the top was unbeatable . . . the view from the bottom wasn’t all that bad either.
He cut the conversation short and rolled the leather chair closer to me, his hands on either side of my hips.
“What has you grinning like you’re up to no good, Sunshine?”
I pushed the brim of my hat back with a finger and set my phone down on his desk. “I got an email from Evan. She’s trying to talk her mom into bringing her and Ethan back to the ranch for winter break. Her parents are getting divorced and it sounds like Meghan is taking Marcus to the cleaners. I guess getting caught in a shootout in the middle of the woods was an eye opener for her.” It was also the reason she wasn’t too keen on bringing her kids back to the ranch, even though they begged endlessly. Everything that had happened gave Evan and Ethan the best stories to tell back at school. They were the most popular kids in their class once their faces had hit the news.
He chuckled and used his grip on my waist to pull me closer. I put my hands on his shoulders and bent my knees so I could climb on top of him in the chair, perched over his thighs.
“She also mentioned she has a new soccer coach and that he’s really cute.” Cy grunted and moved his hands around my back so he had a firm hold on either side of my ass. I obliged him with a sigh as he lifted me up a little bit and let me fall so that the seam of my jeans where I was soft and warm pressed against the line in his that was growing hard and stiff underneath me.
“She needs to learn to chase after boys her own age.” He grunted as I wiggled on top of him in search of more friction. He squeezed my backside in response and lifted me up and let me fall again.
“She says he’s only twenty. Not great, but better than where she was.” I pressed forward so I could touch my lips to his. He always tasted like coffee and life. I grinned as the salt and pepper brush above his lip tickled me. “How’s business?”
He sighed and gave me a kiss that was harder, wetter, and lasted a lot longer than the one I gave him.
“Business is good, in no small part because of you.” I wanted to preen under the compliment. Instead, I kissed him again.
“You can hire someone to push paper and talk on the phone if you don’t want to be trapped in here all day.” He was making enough money between both the functions of the property. He didn’t have to be chained to this desk unless he wanted to be.
He rubbed his bristly cheek against mine and it made me shiver all over. So did his questing fingers as they worked their way under the hem of my shirt. He pulled it out of my jeans.