Page 32 of Score to Settle (Oakwood Ranch #1)

TWENTY-ONE

JAKE

Harper is stunning in red silk that clings to every curve.

It’s a dress made for her. It’s also a dress made to be stepped out of, left as a pool on the floor while I explore every inch of her naked body.

The thought makes my dick stir. I force my mind back to the dance floor and the feel of the smooth skin of Harper’s back against the rough callouses on my hands.

This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. My plan tonight was simple—be Harper’s knight in shining armor. But with her looking like this, I might have a harder time keeping my intentions purely chivalrous.

I remind myself of all the reasons making a move on Harper is a bad idea.

For starters, we’ve only just stopped hating each other.

I like the easy flirting between us and I don’t want to spend the next twelve days together arguing.

Plus, there’s the feature to consider. I’ve been keeping a low profile.

There have been no new bullshit rumors about me.

But this close to the playoffs and contract negotiations, my career is riding on this feature.

I need Harper to see the real me, not the player and womanizer she thought I was at the start.

And I don’t need to drag her reputation into the same mud I’m in.

Which means not making a move. Not to mention the fact I promised I wouldn’t kiss her.

“Remind me to send a thank you card to Mrs. Conley,” Harper murmurs in my ear as we sway to the music, finding our rhythm together. In those strappy red heels, she’s only a few inches shorter than me and her red lips are so close it would take nothing to lean in and kiss her.

I give a questioning look. “Mrs. Conley, the battle-axe principal of West Denver High? Why are we thanking her tonight?”

Harper grins. “Don’t you remember she forced us all to take dance lessons in the weeks running up to prom? I think she hoped it would keep some decorum to the prom nights.”

I tip my head back and laugh. “I’d completely forgotten that.”

“Blocked it out, more like.” Harper shudders. “Mia and Chase always danced together, leaving me slim pickings. Most of the boys were a head shorter than me.”

I chuckle as Harper recounts those awkward high school dance lessons. “I definitely don’t remember having a shortage of dance partners back then.”

“Star player on the football team. What a surprise every girl was clamoring to be your partner.”

“You can’t tell me it wasn’t the same for you. I bet all the boys took very cold showers after dancing with you. I know I will be later.”

Her lips part and she laughs, the sound like honey through my veins as we continue to move around the floor.

“I was a nerd in high school. Big glasses. Braces. Frizzy hair.”

I stare at Harper as she draws in her lower lip, lost in thought. “I got the impression at lunch with you and Mia that there’s something about high school you’re not telling me.”

Harper looks thoughtful for another moment before she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“You sure?”

“One hundred percent.” She grins and her eyes light up. Those eyes I can’t stop staring into.

The music slows, the singer crooning about lost love, and I pull Harper close. Across the room, I catch the glare from her preppy ex and resist the urge to flip him the finger.

Being with Harper is easy. We laugh and joke and dance and the night slips away. When the band stops, Harper leans her whole body against mine and whispers in my ear, “Take me home?”

“To Mia’s?” I ask. And even though I’ve spent the evening telling myself all the reasons why I need to keep my distance, I hope it’s not what she means.

She pauses, looking uncertain for a moment. Then she smiles. “Might as well head back to the ranch with you, since you’re here.”

Relief hits and I smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

Out on the street the air is biting cold, our breath coming out in little white puffs. The streets are empty of people and vehicles. Christmas lights flash in office windows and shop fronts.

When Harper shivers, I lift my arm, beckoning her close. I think she’ll give me that look that tells me she’s remaining professional and doesn’t need my help, but instead she steps into my body. The perfect fit.

“Thank you for making a difficult night fun,” she says.

“Anytime,” I reply, meaning it as we head toward my truck.

The radio plays old country as we make the drive home.

Harper undoes the straps of her heels and sighs as she rubs the back of her feet.

I’m acutely aware that we’re heading back to an empty ranch.

I wonder if Harper remembers. I wonder if that’s why it feels like there’s a loud, palpable tension crackling between us.

As we pull up to the ranch, there’s a break in the clouds and the house is bathed in moonlight. Across the driveway, icicles hang from the eaves of the barn.

I climb from the truck and as I move around to open Harper’s door, the first flakes of fat snow drift down from the sky.

I open the door and Harper swings her legs out.

The red silk of her dress rides up, exposing the smooth skin of her thighs.

She dangles the straps of her red heels from her fingers and pulls a face as she glances at the ground and then the shoes in her hand, her expression so comically pained that I laugh.

“Would the gentlemanly thing to do be to offer you a lift?”

“Gentlemanly? You?”

“Hey, I’ve been your knight in shining armor tonight.” I raise my chin, pulling my own face at her.

She grins. “True.” She glances to the ground again then back to my face, her eyes dancing with mischief that shoots something electric through my body. “What kind of lift are we talking? Because if it’s a fireman’s carry?—”

I roll my eyes. “Come here.” And before she has the chance to talk herself out of it, I slide one hand around the bare skin of her back and one under her thighs, just below that fucking perfect ass of hers, and I lift her up and stride toward the house.

All I can think about is the heat of her body in my arms. Then Harper sticks her tongue out and tilts her head to the sky and I can’t help but laugh.

“What?” she asks with a grin. “Haven’t you ever tried to catch snowflakes on your tongue before?”

I shake my head, watching the white fluffy snow float in the air. “Can’t say I have.”

“Come on, try it with me.” She laughs.

I stop moving and we both let the snowflakes land on our tongues, so cold they feel like they burn for a second before melting into nothing. The way Harper’s eyes shine with delight makes me think I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.

We’re still laughing when we reach the porch and I place her down on the cold planks of wood. The way she’s biting her bottom lip is sexy as hell and feels dangerous.

“Don’t look at me like that, Cassidy,” I say as we step into the kitchen.

Familiar aromas of fresh bread and coffee and home fill my senses.

Buck’s tail thumps from his bed in the corner of the kitchen, but he’s half asleep and doesn’t leap up to greet us.

I go to him, scratching his ear briefly, and when I turn around, Harper is standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the hall, snowflakes still resting in her hair. Fuck, she takes my breath away.

“How am I looking at you?” she asks in a way that makes my dick stir.

I move toward her, resting an arm against the doorframe above her head, brushing a hand through her hair, moving it from where it’s fallen over her face.

Her lips pop open a fraction and I know by the way she’s staring up at me, by the bob of her throat as she swallows, that she wants this as much as I do.

I breathe her in. The wildflower perfume, the coconut scent of her shampoo, the feeling of being this close, of wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

I’m rock-hard in seconds just thinking about what I want to do to her, but I swallow a groan. It takes every ounce of my self-control to keep my promise. I move closer, brushing my lips against her cheek. “Goodnight, Cassidy.”

I push away from the door and step past her, into the hall. My willpower is hanging by a thread and if I see the desire in her eyes one more time, if she calls me back, says another word, I won’t be able to keep my promise…