The Connor Ranch: Mac Read online

  She bit her lip and suppressed a smile. Yeah, she wasn’t pissed at his nerve. With other guys she might have been, but somehow Mac made it seem like harmless fun.

  “Guess we are getting to know one another quicker than we thought,” she replied.

  She’d noticed the bulge in his pants as soon as he’d set eyes on her, but now without doubt that bulge had grown. It excited her to think she turned him on so well and so quickly. Just the thought of what lay behind the zipper on his pants, thrilled her. Her nipples pulled and hardened.

  “I guess it’s colder in here than I thought,” he said.

  Damn, he’d seen her body responding.

  “I had a child throw up on my scrubs and I have to find my t-shirt.”

  She turned and walked toward her backpack she’d sat on a chair when she’d first come into the building that morning. She only hoped it was still there.

  Mac’s finger traced the tattoo on her shoulder. “Cute,” he said. “I would never have figured you for someone who’d get a tattoo.”

  His finger tickled her skin and now that he’d started to touch her, she didn’t want him to stop.

  “It’s not my only one.”

  “Oh yeah, care to show me that one too?”

  “When we get to know one another some more.”

  He whistled. “Now I’m intrigued to find out just whereabouts on your body it is.”

  “Patience is a virtue.”

  “It is, but I’m not a very patient man.”

  He ran his finger around the dog tattoo on her shoulder again.

  “I can’t believe you’ve got one tattoo, let alone two. Guess I do have lots more to find out about you.”

  “It’s amazing what you do when you’ve had one too many tequilas.”

  “And what else do you get up to when you get drunk?”

  Knowing if she let him continue rolling his finger over her skin like this, it could result in her taking the lead and ripping off his clothes, she quickly put the t-shirt over her head and shoulders and stepped away from him.

  “So what brings you here today?”

  “I brought Amy…she’s the granddaughter of the cook who works at the ranch. Amy’s dad is in the army and away on duty so Cook’s looking after her and I said I’d bring her here to see some puppies.”

  “That was sweet of you.”

  “In fact, I should get back out there before she wants to take one home with her and her gran won’t be happy with me.”

  “I’m heading back out so I’d like to say hi to her.”

  Mac held the door open for Steph and they made their way down the hallway to the main reception area where a little girl with dark hair and bangs that framed her eyes so beautifully, sat holding one of the black lab puppies.

  “Amy, can you say hello to Steph? She’s a vet and she takes care of the horses and cows at the ranch.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hello,” said Steph getting down on her knees so she could also stroke the puppy.

  “Uncle Mac, can I take this puppy home with me?”

  “Sweetie, you’ll have to wait until your dad comes home.”

  “Please can I?”

  “How about you bring your dad here and I’ll help you pick out the perfect puppy for you,” said Steph.

  Amy nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll tell him he has to come here.”

  Steph stood and looked at Mac who raised both his eyebrows.

  “Well, I have some animals to check out while I’m here. It was nice meeting you, Amy. And Mac, good seeing you again.”

  “Same here.”

  She walked away but then Mac was beside her before she realized it.

  “If you’re not doing anything tonight, you want to get together for a movie and popcorn at my place?” he asked.

  “I guess it would be a great way for us to get to know one another.”

  “I’ll be one step closer to finding out where that second tattoo is,” said Mac.

  Chapter Four

  Asking her out had taken some courage. He was usually the king of that, but this time it had been different. He’d almost lost his opportunity when she walked away, but then suddenly out of the blue, he’d found his nerve again. Maybe it was easier asking a woman out when you knew there wouldn’t be a second date, but this time around, he wouldn’t let it end at just one. Mac hoped that Steph felt that way too.

  Mac heard the doorbell ring about seven. He smoothed back his hair and headed toward the front door. He opened it to see a goddess standing on his step. She literally took his breath away. Her hair hung around her shoulders framing that cute heart-shaped face of hers. The turquoise blue top and brown necklace were perfect colors on her, and the tight jeans. Need he say more? He licked his lips. They were suddenly parched––a sure sign of nerves. He’d never been scared around women before. Steph was certainly bringing out different feelings from within him.

  “I thought you might like some wine with the movie,” she said stepping inside the house.

  He took the bottle and looked at the label and then up at her. He wasn’t an expert, but knew just enough to realize she had good taste and had picked the perfect one to go with a snack. “You want to come through to the kitchen? I was just about to make some popcorn.”

  “Sure, and maybe I can open the wine for us.”

  He led her through the living room and out into the kitchen where he handed her a corkscrew and two glasses.

  He pulled down the container of popcorn from the cupboard above the stove, put the scoop into it and then turned on the machine.

  “So how long ago did you take over running this ranch?” she asked him.

  Mac poured the kernels into the machine before he answered.

  “Actually not long. I came back here after I was done with the rodeo circuit and my dad died two years later. Mom died when I was fifteen and I thought about selling it, but somehow I couldn’t stand the thought of parting with it. It’s like a family tradition…but I guess if I don’t have kids, someone else will run it one day.”

  “And you like ranch work?” She pulled the cork out of the bottle and began pouring the wine.

  “Yeah, everything little thing about it.”

  “Then that’s a good thing. I mean doing something you love and running something that’s been in your family.”

  A few kernels began popping and Mac quickly shoved the bowl under the machine to catch the first two that flew out.

  He loved it all right, but not the idea that after his death someone else other than his flesh and blood would own and run it. He was an only child, had three cousins, two of them female, and no one seemed interested in running it and neither did their offspring.

  Mac pushed the bowl closer to the machine as the kernels now popped out at regular intervals. He watched Steph taking one of the grapes from the fruit bowl on the countertop. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she put it into her mouth and slowly bit down on it. The most erotic and seductive thing he’d seen any woman do with fruit.

  He coughed because he felt an erection coming on again.

  “How’s the cow and baby doing?”

  That had caught him off guard. “Both doing great.”

  “And the horses?”

  “Just fine. Cosmo’s growth looks like it’s shrinking.”

  “That’s great. I thought it looked like a simple wart and nothing much to worry about.”

  “The popcorn’s ready if you want to bring the wine into the living room.”

  She slid off the stool by the island and followed behind him.

  Before she’d arrived he’d piled a bunch of pillows on the couch and put a selection of DVDs on the coffee table.

  Before sitting, Mac placed the bowl of popcorn next to the wine glasses. They both sat at the same time, brushing one another’s arms as they did so.

  His first instinct was to put his arm around her, but maybe that was too soon and he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in any way.
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br />   Instead he picked up the DVDs and handed them to her. “Here, as you’re the guest I’ll let you pick.”

  “I’m sure you say that with confidence knowing that you don’t have any chick flicks,” said Steph taking them from him. She placed them on her lap.

  “Who says I don’t?”

  “You don’t look to be the chick flick sort of guy, unless you keep a few handy for female guests you lure to your lair.”

  “So you think I lured you here.”

  “No, but you know I’m smarter than that.”

  He smiled. Maybe that’s what was different about her. What he liked most about her. She was completely opposite to all the empty headed women he’d hung around with over the years. She was intelligent, had a career she enjoyed, and seemed to like who she was.

  Mac watched her hands as she flicked through the selection of movies. She had long fingers and he could imagine them on his body. She leaned over and took a sip of wine before turning over one of the DVDs to read its synopsis. A whiff of perfume headed his way. He took a deep breath wondering what it would be like to have a feminine scent around the place forever, and not just for a few hours or overnight.

  “The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, Superman…hey, I think I might like to see this one. Nothing like a superhero and a man in shining armor to save the day.”

  “Good pick, because I haven’t seen it yet either.”

  He took it from her and stood and walked over to the DVD player. “I’ll close the blinds so the light doesn’t shine on the screen.”

  Mac pushed start, turned the knob around so the blinds closed and then reached for the bowl of popcorn and put it on his lap.

  Steph sat back and sipped on her wine.

  “I just realized that a movie probably isn’t a good way for us to get to know one another because we won’t be talking,” said Mac.

  “We can talk after.”

  “I should have taken you out to dinner.”

  “You did that last night,” she said taking a handful of popcorn. “And are you anxious for us to get to know one another because you’re desperate to find out where that second tattoo’s at?”

  He burst out laughing and she looked at him and smiled. A lock of hair fell over her eye and he brushed it away from her face.

  “Pete did warn me about you.”

  “Oh, I bet he did.”

  He couldn’t blame people for thinking of him as a playboy who would never commit. In truth, that’s exactly what losing a fiancée had turned him into.

  They looked into one another’s eyes. He’d so wanted to hold out before they got to anything physical, but he couldn’t. She was so damn beautiful. He leaned over and kissed her. She had the softest lips and her breath had the slightest hint of wine and popcorn upon it. His tongue glided over her teeth and soon it was dueling with hers as the kiss grew deeper and more passionate.

  They needed air or they’d suffocate. He pulled away. She took the popcorn from his lap, sat the bowl on the coffee table and then put her wine glass beside it.

  “Do you want to take a guess where the tattoo’s at on my body?” she asked.

  He turned off the movie, sensing they weren’t going to watch it but instead involve themselves in another pastime. Mac put his arm up on the back of the couch, rested his chin on his upturned palm and looked at Steph.

  “How about we play a little game? I guess, and you have to take off a piece of your clothing so I can see if I’m right.”

  “I get it. You want me to strip for you?”

  He grinned. “I do, but only if you want to. There’s no pressure whatsoever.”

  “Now I know exactly what Pete was talking about. Okay, take your first guess.”

  Mac thought about what piece of clothing he wanted her to take off first. He didn’t want to make it too obvious.

  “Your right foot,” he said.

  She inched up her jeans and kicked off her shoe. Her toenails were painted a deep pink color that he loved. Maybe later he’d kiss each one of her toes so he could take a closer look.

  Steph lifted her foot up to show him he was wrong.

  “Darn,” he said.

  “Yes, I’m sure you’re really thinking that.”

  “Let me try harder this time. I think I’m sure about this one, your left calf.”

  She kicked off the other shoe before standing. She popped open the button on her jeans, unzipped them and then slowly wiggled her hips to free herself of the denim. He was mesmerized now. Couldn’t take his eyes off her body as she pulled the pants over her thighs, letting them fall to the ground and then stepping out of them.

  He loved the black lace panties. The front panel was transparent enough that he got a glimpse of the dark curls that lay underneath.

  Steph showed him her calf.

  “This is a tough one. Let me think again. The first one was on your right shoulder blade and I might have been paying so much attention to that I didn’t see the other one on the left blade.”

  Without questioning him or saying anything, she bunched up her t-shirt and pulled it over her head, letting it hang on her hand for a few seconds before dropping it to the ground. She turned around.

  “Nope, wrong again,” he said, scratching his chin to make it look like he was puzzled.

  He was running out of options and she was running out of clothes. He had an idea where it was but he’d prefer she took off her bra before her panties.

  “I know. Right breast.”

  She reached behind her back, unclasped the bra and then eased the straps off her shoulders, allowing it to fall forward.

  He swallowed, went rock hard, and his cock began twitching. All he wanted to do was pick her up and take her to his bedroom where he’d make love to her all night long.

  Steph’s breasts were perfect. Well, perfect for him. He loved full-figured ladies. He couldn’t take his eyes off their nipples, so big and pink. They were almost beckoning for him to touch them.

  “Last chance,” she said, pulling him out of his train of thought.

  “I’m not sure if it’s the left or the right ass cheek.”

  She turned around and painfully slowly, or at least it seemed that way to him, slid the panties downward, wiggling her hips from left to right like a professional stripper. And yes, he’d seen lots of them when he’d been on the rodeo circuit, but Steph was way more classy, entertaining, and sexy. He was almost tempted to slip a dollar bill in her crack.

  The panties were half way down her thighs, and her ass, that gorgeous butt he’d first set his eyes upon in the barn, was now right in front of him. Curvy, creamy white skin, so smooth, he had to keep his hands at his side to prevent himself from reaching out and touching her.

  She kicked off her underwear and wiggled her butt at him. The second tattoo was on her right butt cheek and was a small red heart.

  He couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He reached out and stroked her butt.

  “You have them both done at the same time?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah, I’ve only been that drunk once in my life. And it was when I graduated from veterinarian school. Tequila makes me lose all my inhibitions.”

  “I think I have some around here somewhere,” said Mac.

  She turned around. “No, I’m not drinking any more of that stuff ever again.”

  Mac looked at the curls at the apex of her thighs. The last woman he’d been with had just a landing strip which he’d hated, but Steph’s were untouched. The kind he liked best. Burying his fingers in them and getting lost on the way to the clit.

  “Anyone ever tell you you’re gorgeous?”

  “Do you say that to all the ladies?”

  He wanted to be honest. This was the new Mac. She’d already reformed him.

  “I do, but this is the first time I’ve actually meant it.”

  There, how was that for being honest?

  “I think that might be the sweetest thing a guy’s ever said to me. Not the bit about being gorgeous, bu
t the fact that you really meant it. One thing I like in a man is complete honesty.”

  She kneeled on the couch, leaned over and kissed him. “I think it’s about time we got you naked too.”

  Chapter Five

  What had she been thinking? And this time, no tequila was involved in her lack of inhibition. She was sober, in control of all her faculties…so what had happened here tonight? Mac, that’s what. He was the intoxicating element and it was so much better than alcohol.

  She unzipped the fly on Mac’s jeans, playing her own guessing game as to whether he was a briefs or boxers type of cowboy. She also had a naughty thought about trying to guess how big his cock was… She hiccupped. Maybe it was the wine. Perhaps any alcohol made her act on impulse. No, it was Mac and she wanted more of him.

  Steph pushed her hands inside his pants as Mac leaned back on the couch, resting both his arms on its back. Briefs, yeah, she should have known.

  Easing her hand into the slit, she realized he was rock hard. He was also huge.

  “Hey, you as rough with the animals as you are with me? You’re checking me out pretty good down there and your hands are cold.”

  “You want me to give you a quick physical?” she asked.

  “And what would that involve?”

  “Something like this.” Steph squeezed his dick, making him groan. As she ran her hands around his balls, nice ones if she was any judge, a moan escaped his lips.

  “You mind coughing for me, please?” she asked.

  He burst out laughing. “Do I pass inspection?”

  “You certainly do, cowboy. Lift your butt and let’s get you out of these things for the rest of your physical.”

  He lifted his butt off the couch so she could pull the pants down his legs until they sat around his ankles.

  Steph ran her hands over his thighs, seeing his cock twitch the closer she got to it. Soon her hands were up under his sweatshirt, feeling muscles push against her palm. He’d obviously kept in good shape since his retirement from the rodeo circuit.

  She couldn’t wait a second longer to see what the rest of his body looked like so she pulled up the shirt, but let him remove it from his arms. She sat on his lap and kissed him, but then pulled away and then ran her finger around his lips.