Carter hadn’t wanted to dance with Carolyn at the start of the night. And it wasn’t because he didn’t know how to dance, it was because he didn’t know how he’d have his hands on her and not get rock hard.
But the woman wanted to go dancing, and it only took one look around Charlie’s to see that Carter wasn’t letting her dance with any of the guys in here but him. It wasn’t that he could stop her, but with one glance, he could stop any man who approached her. All they had to do was look in his eyes to know he was dead serious.
The world might see Carolyn Ashford as a spoiled, privileged heiress, but he was discovering unexpected depths to her, and it ate at him to think of the way the men in her life had let her down. You could tell just by looking at her that she still had a spark of innocence, of trust, even though she shouldn’t have much reason to trust anyone anymore.
When he felt a small hand on the crook of his arm, he stopped and looked down at her. “Yeah?”
The music was a bit loud, and it forced him to put his ear close to her mouth. And when she spoke it was pure, spine-tingling torture. “What kind of music is this?”
He placed his lips over her ear. “This particular song is a two-step.”
“I don’t know how to cowboy dance. Don’t you have any regular clubs around here?”
He laughed and gave her an are-you-serious smile. “As you pointed out yesterday, we’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s the Texas two-step or no step for you.”
“But I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you.”
“You seem to be teaching me a lot this week.”
There were so many things he wanted to teach her if she’d let him. “You’ll be fine, just hold on to me.”
And she did. She clung tight as he walked her to the dance floor. “Who sings this one? I swear, I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
He laughed. “This is classic Eddie Rabbit. This song is called ‘On Second Thought’.”
But as he held her close, he was the one having second thoughts. Carolyn did something to him that he didn’t have much control over. Heaven help him, this was going to be a rough night.
“Put your left hand on my shoulder, here. Then hold my other hand.”
Carter placed her hand on his shoulder, and she loved the feel of it under her palm. But when he slid his fingers under her arm and cupped his hand on her back, she liked that even better. That was until he grasped her fingers in his and she decided that holding Carter’s hand was the best.
He looked into her eyes with the authority of a drill sergeant, but the tenderness in his touch was something else entirely. “So the basic idea is you do two quick steps then two slow steps. You’re going to step back on your right foot first, and I’ll step toward you with my left and we’ll do just two quick steps like that, then we’ll stretch those steps out and slow it down just a little for the next two steps. Ready?”
She clung tighter to his shoulder. “Probably not.”
He chuckled. “Ready…in three…one, two, three…step back with your right.”
By the next song, Carolyn was starting to get the hang of it. Thankfully she was a fine dancer and a quick study of the moves. But by the third song, she noticed Carter was doing it differently than most of the other cowboys.
A song came on where the man said he was working on his next broken heart, which would have seemed depressing if not for the fun, quick beat. “Hey, Carter,” she said, leaning a little closer to his ear.
Still moving to the music, he met her stare. “Yeah?”
“How come we’re not doing it like the other couples?”
He frowned. “Like what?”
She glanced out across the dance floor and was sure Carter was teaching her a different style. “I don’t know…close. Look at the other couples. The man sort of has his leg between the woman’s and their upper bodies are touching.”
“Yeah, and those couples over there are doing spins. I don’t think we’re ready for that yet.”
She raised a brow. “Man up, cowboy. Hold me closer. I won’t take advantage of you—I promise. Jeez…” How much clearer could he be that he didn’t want her? She could deal with that disappointment privately, but did he have to hold her in public like she had a contagious disease?
She could have sworn he growled or cursed under his breath, but then his leg slipped between her thighs and his chest came flush to hers. She felt the warmth of his body radiating out, making her cheeks even more overheated. Having him that near, feeling the strength in his limbs and the thickness of his torso, she almost missed a step.
“Better?” he asked.
She couldn’t see his face, but for the moment, being this close to him was a fair trade. She cleared her throat. “Uh-huh.”
And they danced.
She had found her bliss. His skin was slightly moist through his shirt and she knew hers was probably gleaming with the sheen of perspiration. She’d never been particularly religious, but she thought she might just have found heaven here in Carter Halston’s arms. Too bad he didn’t seem to be enjoying it as much. Slowly but surely, he was losing focus on the dance and starting to hold them farther apart.
She tried not to be hurt. He’d danced plenty of songs with her, and maybe some other cowboy wouldn’t find her so distasteful. “Are you done, Carter?”
He looked down at her. “What?”
“We can stop if you want to. I can tell you’re not enjoying yourself anymore. It’s okay. You taught me the dance and there are other men waiting for a partner.”
His uncomfortable expression turned into a scowl. “What are you talking about? You think I’m not enjoying this?”
“Your body speaks for you. And please don’t make a big deal of it. It’s okay.” She forced a smile. “I may have fancy shoes, but I don’t expect every man to want to put them under his bed.”
He blinked. “Is it possible you think I don’t find you attractive?”
She looked away, staring out at the other dancers, anywhere but at Carter. Because the only thing worse than her being so desperate for a man who didn’t want her was having to hash it out with that man. “Please. It’s not a big deal. I shouldn’t have said anything. This was a lot of fun. Thank you. We can stop now.”
His jaw went hard and the hand that had been resting on her back slid more fully around her waist as he led her off the dance floor. “Come with me.”
“Huh?” She was plastered to his side, her shorter legs trying to keep up with his long strides.
He walked them to the restroom, and for a moment she was confused until he opened the door and pulled her inside, then locked the door behind them. “I may get slapped for this, but come here, Carolyn. Let me show you why I can’t hold you close. Want to feel how much I don’t want you?”
She mewled a needy sound when his hands cupped her ass and pulled her to him. Then his mouth was on hers, his lips hungry, and a hard length pressed into the V of her thighs. She moaned, and her hands clenched the shirt at his waist. “Carter,” she breathed, wanting this so much.
Carolyn had never been able to afford getting caught in a scandal. She could go to coffee with a man for the first time and have the tabloids telling the world she was pregnant with his child the week after. But after separating from her husband, she wondered why she hadn’t enjoyed her life a little more before she married. The answer was that she needed to feel more than lust to have sex. And she felt that for Carter. She couldn’t define it, but it was a bone-deep trust mixed with a desire so hot it scorched her from the inside out.
She opened her mouth to him, and her fingernails sank into his skin when he thrust his tongue against hers. She tilted her pelvis up, showing him his desire didn’t offend her in the least. And when his hands began lifting the hem of her dress and then paused, she grabbed his hands in hers and urged them to continue. “Don’t stop.”
“Shit, Carolyn. You are so fucking hot.”
His fingers found her drenched pussy lips through the silky fabric of her panties, and he ran them along the seam. She wasn’t thinking straight. She knew this wasn’t okay. They were in a restroom in a dive bar, but she didn’t care. She never wanted him to stop.
“Touch me,” she whimpered. And when she felt his finger skim the fabric again, she ground her hips against his hand. “No. Touch me.”
He pushed her up against the wall and moved her panties aside. When he plunged two thick fingers inside her, it burned just a bit, but in such a good way. She felt the slippery slide of the delicious friction inside her and marveled at how wet she was for him. She’d never been this wet for any other man. She wanted to be taken by Carter Halston. She wanted him inside her.
“More, cowboy.”
He kissed her hard and then took her chin in his hand to look in her eyes. “How much more do you want, beauty?”
His fingers pumped inside her, and she temporarily forgot about anything else. She placed her hand over his and rode his thick fingers for all she was worth. “Everything,” she panted, her inner muscles clamping down. “Yes, like that.”
Carter grasped the nape of her neck with his other hand and kissed her passionately, the force of his lips against hers pressing her head flush against the wall. She gasped against his open mouth, her breath coming in short pants and a low cry beginning to peal from her chest. It was too soon. This was insane. But she couldn’t stop.
The jean-clad length of him moved against her thigh as he pumped his fingers. “Come for me, Carolyn. Please.”
Her fingernails curled into his arms and her pussy contracted so powerfully, she feared she was losing control. And suddenly, a rush of liquid surged from her body, drenching his hand and running down her thighs straight into her pumps. At the same time, Carter groaned into her hair and thrust against her once more, his body quaking with tremors. She might have wondered if he just came, if she wasn’t so busy wondering what the hell just happened to her shoes.
After another few seconds of clinging tight to each other, Carter began to step back, and with cheeks stained in shame, Carolyn looked at his pants. Had all that liquid come from her? The mix of post-orgasm euphoria and mortification was too much to process.
Silently, she fetched some paper towels from the dispenser and handed half of them to Carter. “Thank you,” he said, looking as stunned as Carolyn felt.
She cleaned herself up and used the rest of the paper to clean the tiny drips from her shoes. She couldn’t look at Carter. Had she squirted enough liquid to make that dark splatter on his jeans? She hadn’t even thought that was really possible to do. “I’m so sorry.”
His eyes widened. “You’re sorry? I just came in my pants. I didn’t even do that as a teen. Holy shit, woman, you blow my mind.”
She would have grinned if it wasn’t all so awkward, but at least he’d answered her question about his pants. She and Carter finished cleaning up, though there wasn’t much either could do as they left out the back door of the bar and slunk to the truck in their wet undergarments.
Carter lifted her into the truck, then he got in on his side and fired up the engine. With a wry smile he looked over at Carolyn. “Between you and me, I think the drought is officially over in Texas.”