Lone Star Midnight Read online

  Including Megan.

  It was ironic that his mother’s latest matchmaking attempt had put a stop to the very thing that she’d been trying to start. If she hadn’t called him when Megan had been on the porch with her sister, Shane likely could have coaxed Megan into getting back on that bed with him. Instead, he’d walked out.

  Shane wanted to put the blame solely on his mom, but the truth was, it was his own fault. He should have stood his ground by staying put instead of storming away to deal with the crap that he’d been feeling.

  Was still feeling nearly a week later, he amended.

  It hadn’t helped that he’d seen Megan earlier. She had been coming out of the bakery, a cup of coffee in one hand and a huge cookie in the other. When she’d taken a bite, his stomach had clenched. Not in a good, “I want a cookie” kind of way, either. Instead, he’d wanted her mouth—heck, even her teeth—on him.

  That proved that he was indeed one sick puppy. It definitely hadn’t helped his mood.

  He was ornery, frustrated and, yes, aching to have sex with her again. It was a damn combustible situation. But here he was, walking into the Gray Mare, because simply put, he hadn’t wanted to be quizzed and pressured about the cause of his rotten mood. Best to have a beer, claim that he was too tired to stay long and head back home.

  When he didn’t see Jacob and Liam at the bar, Shane searched through the booths, found them. And he cursed. They weren’t alone. There was a woman seated across from them. Not Megan. It was Jaylene Winters, who had recently moved to town and had bought a bakery called Patty Cakes. Jaylene was attractive, single and no doubt meant to be a setup for him.

  Liam stood when he saw Shane. He leaned in, whispering in Shane’s ear. “Hey, you told us not to fix you up with Megan, and we didn’t.”

  Shane just sighed. Obviously, next time he needed to make it clear that any and all fix-ups weren’t allowed.

  “Shane,” Jaylene greeted. She gave him a cautious smile and slid over in the booth so he could take the seat next to her.

  “Jaylene,” he greeted back.

  Since he wasn’t facing her, it gave him a good chance to glare at his brothers. He didn’t have anything against Jaylene. She seemed nice, but there was no way he was going to let this turn into a date.

  And yes, that had plenty to do with Megan.

  If he couldn’t get a woman off his mind, then he darn sure wasn’t going to turn to another woman to try to fix that. He was either going to have to sweat this out like a bad fever or give in to it and have his life change forever.

  No pressure.

  “Service is slow tonight so I’ll get you a beer,” Liam offered, and he headed off toward the bar.

  “I’ll help and get us all fresh rounds.” That came from Jacob who at lightning-fast speed followed Liam, leaving Jaylene and Shane alone.

  Which had no doubt been their plan right from the start.

  A fix-up with a side order of meddling by giving Jaylene and him some time to get to know each other. Time that Shane didn’t want.

  “Sorry about this,” Jaylene said, taking the words right out of his mouth. “I know you’re not interested in me, and that’s okay. I came because I’m friendly with your family and didn’t have anything else to do.”

  Shane managed a smile but then frowned. “How’d you know I’m not interested in you?” he asked.

  “Because I have eyes. I caught a glimpse of you catching a glimpse of Megan when she came out of my shop earlier. My snickerdoodle cookies are tasty enough, but I didn’t think that’s what had gotten your attention.”

  Well, hell. If Jaylene had noticed, others likely had, too. He sincerely hoped that none of those “others” had already reported back to his folks.

  “I’m guessing things are complicated between Megan and you, and that’s why she’s over there with her sisters instead of being here with you,” Jaylene added. She tipped her head to a booth on the other side of the bar.

  Shane’s head whipped so fast in that direction that he heard his neck pop. Yeah, it was Megan all right, and he felt that same hit of longing that he’d had when he’d seen her come out of Patty Cakes.

  Janie and Ella were seated across from her. Nico Laramie was next to Megan. Shane felt a quick hit of a different kind then. Jealousy. Nico was a hotshot rodeo champion and seemed to have a knack for charming women straight from the Gray Mare to his bed. Shane’s jealousy cooled, though, when he recognized the look in Megan’s eyes that was almost certainly in his own.

  She had been set up, too, and didn’t seem any more pleased about it than he was. Good. And then he cursed himself for thinking that “good” was the right reaction.

  “I could try to switch places with Nico,” Jaylene suggested, sympathy now in her voice. “That way I’d be with Megan, and Nico could come sit with you and your brothers.”

  Shane wanted to thank her, but that would be a fast way of drawing attention to Megan and him. Of course, it would also be a fast start to Shane getting his hands on her.

  “I’m sorry,” Shane told Jaylene when he realized he’d spent a good thirty seconds staring at Megan.

  “No worries. Tell you what.” She leaned forward, making eye contact with him. “Your brothers will be back any minute now with those drinks that none of us actually want. Before they get here, I’ll just excuse myself to go to the ladies’ room. That’ll give you some time to decide if you want to stay here or go over there and pluck Megan from the booth.”

  The idea of plucking Megan greatly appealed to him, but considering how he’d left things with her, she might tell him to go to hell. He’d had sex with her and had then run out when the meddling had gotten to him. In hindsight, that seemed stupid, but then everything he was thinking right now was colored with jealousy and lust.

  The lust won out.

  “Let’s go with your plan,” Shane said, getting out of the booth, and while Jaylene headed for the bathroom, he made his way across the room.

  Megan immediately looked at him, their gazes connecting, and Shane got a different kind of punch. One that made him nearly stop in his tracks.

  Because it sure felt like more than lust.

  Since telling her something like that might send Megan into a panic, it would be yet another thing he would take to the grave. And he wondered if there was a baggage limit on that kind of thing. He was getting pretty weighed down with eternal secrets.

  Shane went closer to the booth, and he doubted it was lucky timing that had Nico standing as he approached. “I’m going to grab me another beer,” Nico announced. He flashed a grin at Shane. “Anybody else want something to drink?”

  Megan and her sisters declined, but the moment Nico was on his way to the bar, Megan stood, too. “Have you got a minute?” she asked Shane. “I wanted to talk to you about some repairs needed on one of the back fences. I won’t have time to get to them and thought you could help.”

  Shane doubted her sisters bought that. Still, it was better than the feed recommendations that he had planned to ask her about. He followed Megan to the side door and toward the parking lot. It was in no way private since the lot was just off Main Street, but at least no one would be able to hear what they said.

  Unless the gossips resorted to lipreading, that was.

  While they walked, Shane could feel plenty of eyes on them, but he ignored that and fastened his own attention on Megan, trying to gauge her mood. And he quickly figured out that it wasn’t a happy one.

  “Janie knows you were at my house that day,” Megan said once they were outside.

  That wasn’t much of a surprise, but it also meant that Janie likely knew Megan and he had had sex. Janie wasn’t stupid, and she would have been able to figure out that if nothing had gone on, he would have come out of the house to make sure Janie knew that.

  “Since Janie knows, how the heck did she talk you
into coming here and meeting Nico?” Shane asked.

  “Probably the same way your brothers talked you into coming here and meeting Jaylene. Blatant trickery,” she added in a snarl. “They didn’t mention it being a setup, and it’s not even a serious attempt at one. It’s more of an insult because they know I’m not interested in Nico and that he’s not interested in me.”

  “Same here with Jaylene and me. Makes me wonder if my brothers coordinated this with your sisters.”

  “Almost certainly.” She kicked at a rock and folded her arms over her chest. “You didn’t call,” she snapped but then waved that off. “I mean, I didn’t think you’d actually call, but then I got pissed when you didn’t.”

  Shane didn’t like that he’d been the one to cause her angry mood, but he deserved it. “It probably doesn’t help that I called you in my mind.”

  She rolled her eyes. “My telepathic skills aren’t what they used to be.” Then she cursed. “I was confused, mad, frustrated and...mad. And yes, I know I used that one twice, but everything kept circling back to that.”

  “Yeah. For me, it was double frustration. I wanted to call you. Wanted to hear your voice.”

  She whirled on him as if she might curse him. She didn’t. After a few seconds of that silent burst of temper, Megan just sighed and pushed her hair from her face. “But there was one advantage to you not calling. Because I wasn’t talking to you, I had some time to think.”

  Hell. He braced himself for her to say that this had to end, that she didn’t want to go through any more anger, confusion or frustration. And he didn’t want that to happen.

  “Come with me,” he snapped, and since that sounded like an order, he huffed and added a “please” in a more civil tone.

  “Where?” she asked.

  Shane decided not to think about his answer before he blurted it out. “To my bed.”

  That got her attention all right. Megan’s eyes widened, then softened. “You’re sure?”

  “Sure that I want you—yes. I’m hoping sex will burn off some of this heat so we can think straight.”

  Of course, that was stupid logic. The only thing the heat was likely to do was make more heat. Still, eventually they’d burn through enough of this lust so they’d be finished with each other.

  Or continue something that would complicate the hell out of their lives.

  Still, his flawed logic continued to convince him that having Megan in his bed would make things all right.

  “We’ll deal with the rest later,” he assured her.

  And with that head-in-the-sand approach, Shane put his arm around Megan and led her to his truck.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ELEVEN.

  That’s how many people Megan counted in or around the Gray Mare who could and did see Shane and her leave together.

  Their siblings knew for certain, and while none of them would spread gossip about the “fence repair,” it would get around in less subtle ways. There’d be smiles and behind-the-hand whispers from her sisters that would clue her mother in that something was up. It wouldn’t take long after that for her mom to connect the dots, and those dots would lead straight to Shane and her.

  The wedding plans would begin.

  “If you’re having second thoughts...” he said as he drove down Main Street toward the McKay ranch.

  “Oh, I’m past seconds and have moved onto double-digit doubts,” Megan admitted.

  Funny though that those doubts vanished when she looked at him. Ogling a hot cowboy could wash away doubts, common sense and lots of other things that could interfere with the heat.

  “I’m not changing my mind,” she assured him. “Not being with you right now would be like denying myself a hot fudge sundae. I can do without whipped cream if necessary.”

  In hindsight, that probably hadn’t been a good thing to bring up. Not only because she couldn’t explain it but because it had caused Shane’s forehead to bunch up in confusion.

  “You’re, uh, tasty,” Megan tried again.

  That soothed his forehead and caused the corner of his mouth to hitch. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you. And if you want whipped cream, I think I’ve got some in my fridge.”

  Megan thought there might be a life lesson in that, something about seizing an opportunity or cosmic signs, but life lessons required a higher level of thinking. She lost the ability to do that when he looked at her again. There was heat and plenty of it in his eyes. Enough that she knew that he wasn’t going to change his mind, either.

  And that there might indeed be some whipped cream in her near future.

  First though, they’d have to get past this raging urgency that she also saw in his eyes. It wasn’t just visual, though. The temp was rising inside the truck. Inside them.

  Cursing, he dragged her as close as the seat belt would allow, leaned in and kissed her. It was scalding hot despite his being behind the wheel and driving past more potential witnesses.

  “I thought maybe we could talk about it,” he went on, stealing another kiss while his attention volleyed between her and the road. “But it seems past the point of conversation.”

  It was. Well past it. And Megan was certain that sooner or later she’d have to deal with that dreaded subject—feelings. For now, though, the only feeling she wanted was the heat.

  And she got that.

  When he finally pulled to a stop in front of his place, the seat belts came flying off, and they lunged at each other, the kissing continuing. This time, there was no driving or witnesses. Well, unless she counted the Angus cattle that were milling around in the pasture right next to his house. Since they weren’t going to tattle, Megan melted right into the kiss and Shane’s arms.

  Mercy, he was good at spiking up the heat inside her. She could have sworn she felt little electrical currents zinging and snapping over her skin. There was groping, tugging and pulling before they became so oxygen deprived that they had to break for air.

  “We should go in,” he insisted.

  She certainly wasn’t going to argue with him even if he didn’t have her mouth occupied with his. But it suddenly seemed like a great sacrifice to be without those kisses while they got out of the truck and hurried to the porch.

  The sacrifice continued when he had to take the time to unlock the door, though he did kiss her while he fumbled with his keys—which was probably why he’d fumbled with them in the first place.

  The moment they were inside, they lunged at each other for the second time in the past couple of minutes. As if starved for each other, their bodies slammed together, and mouth met mouth. All in all, it was exactly the kind of contact that made Megan’s body send her a Texas-size thank-you.

  “Later, there’ll be foreplay,” he mumbled against her lips.

  Because he took his mouth to her neck, it took her a moment to realize that he was planning on a two-fer with this visit. Megan was all for that. Especially all for a quick release right now, of the pressure-cooker need steaming and churning inside her. She did intend to have her way with him again later and start up the pressure cooker all over again. In fact, maybe this could be a three-fer kind of night.

  Shane helped with the “quick release right now” and made it worse at the same time. He pinned her against the back of the door, kissing her and making her insane when the fumbling began again.

  This time with her clothes.

  She was wearing a dress, which he finally just shoved up to her waist. Hooking his thumb around the top of her panties, he got those off her, too.

  Fast, fast, fast. That’s what her body kept demanding. Apparently though, Shane’s notion of fast and no-foreplay weren’t the same as hers. He kept kissing and added some clever touches.

  Megan protested the delay when his hand slid down her stomach. Then she lost both the protest and her breath when the sliding contin
ued between her legs.

  Oh, my.

  The man had magic fingers to go along with all those other incredible things about him. One of the “other things” brushed against her thigh, and she felt him huge and hard—and not inside her. She wanted the orgasm he was on the verge of giving her, but she preferred they did this together.

  That brought on more fumbling. This time from her. She went after his belt and the zipper on his jeans. No easy task, and she made a mental note to ask him to consider going naked whenever she was around. It would not only give her a nice view of his incredible body, it would get them those double orgasms sooner.

  With his breath ragged and the urgent need burning in his eyes, Shane finally stopped touching her so he could get on a condom. They didn’t bother stripping off their clothes. He just lifted her up, hooking her legs around his waist, and he pushed into her.

  That one push was all it took for Megan to start feeling some relief along with a whole boatload of pleasure. Of course, the relief didn’t last. That was the thing with good sex—the pressure returned and just kept building, stroke after maddening stroke.

  “You’re so much better than whipped cream,” she said, the words falling out of her lust-hazy mind and straight to her mouth.

  Shane might have been puzzled with her sex chatter, but he took it as the compliment that it was. One that he seemed to understand. Because despite that intense “let’s finish this” look on his face, he smiled at her. Kissed her, too, with that smile still on his mouth.

  She could almost taste it.

  It gave her a nice zing. So did the fast strokes inside her, and after just a couple more of those, Shane and she zinged to the finish line together.

  * * *

  THEY HAD USED all the whipped cream.

  While it had been incredibly interesting licking the frothy cream off various parts of each other, Megan thought the topper was the shower sex that had followed. And then the lazy, sleepy cuddling in his bed that had come after the shower.