Kix laughed softly at the challenge she’d just issued. He couldn’t wait to get her underneath him. Hell, he couldn’t wait to get her on top of him. He’d give her a no-holds-barred ride that she wouldn’t get anywhere else. Damn, but she was driving him crazy.

Truth be told, he hardly had to lift a finger and the women came running. Between being the sheriff and being part of the Branaman clan, he almost had to use the nightstick to beat them off.

There’d been a couple of fillies along the way who’d tried to play hard to get, but Cady was the real deal—a heap of honesty laced together with sensuality. She’d probably be a hellcat in bed—with the right man. And he was planning to be that man.

Kix grinned. She felt the attraction, and he’d bet his favorite truck that her sweet pussy was all slicked up and waiting for him. And her nipples—they’d been as hard as his cock from the moment Adrienne had introduced them. Now he just had to get her to stop dancing out of reach and accept what was going to happen between them.

“The Weasel sounds like a good man to talk to,” Kix said when they were on their way to the racetrack. He couldn’t resist the temptation to lean closer and brush the wild curls back from her face.

For a split second she allowed the touch, then color rushed to her face and she jerked away from him. “Do you think you could stay on your side of the truck?”

“I reckon I can try if you really want me to.”

Cady risked a glance in his direction and immediately wished she hadn’t. He was just…too masculine…too sexy…too adorable…too everything…and definitely too much for her. “Are you sure you’re really a sheriff?”

“Yeah, been one for the last five years.” He grinned and she was immediately entranced by the sparkle in his eyes and the little dimple next to those kissable lips. His eyebrows moved up and down. “You want me to bring out the handcuffs, or do you want to move right to the nightstick?”

Cady forced her eyes back to the road, though she had a harder time forcing erotic images of being cuffed to the bed out of her mind. Not that she’d ever even come close to experiencing that fantasy, but with Kix—whoa, nix that. She was not going to get involved with him. He was trouble with a capital H for heartbreak.

When they got to Bay Downs, she pulled out her camera and made sure she had release forms along with film. Besides being a great cover for investigating, she genuinely loved photography—it was one of many things she had in common with Erin and Lyric.

Kix quirked an eyebrow. “No digital camera?”

“Not on Bulldog’s cases. He wants to have negatives.”

Kix picked up her camera case and studied the laminated business card glued to the front. “Cady Montgomery, Professional Pet Photography.” He grinned. “This for real?”

“Yes.” Cady cringed inwardly when she heard the defensiveness in her voice.

“Would have pegged you for a doer instead of a looker.”

“What does that mean?”

A slow grin settled on Kix’s face. Damn if she wasn’t as prickly as a hedgehog. “I’m just surprised you’re a picture taker. Way I’ve always seen it, there are two kinds of people—those that stand around watching life go by and those that take it by the horns and ride it for all it’s worth.”

Cady frowned at him. “A person can be a professional photographer and live life to the fullest, just like a person can be good at multiple things. Not everyone”—her eyes conveyed a silent like you—“is good at only one thing. I’m also a good PI and a damn fine poker player.”

“Well darlin’, I’m good at a lot of things, too. In fact, I’ve been known to play a mean game of strip poker, myself. Maybe later we can see who’s better—just to set the record straight.”

Before she could stop herself, Cady’s eyes dropped to the still very noticeable bulge in his jeans. “Pass.”

Kix chuckled. “Darlin’, at least hesitate for a minute before you slam my ego.”

Her eyes moved back up his body until she met his gaze. God, he was hard to resist. She was a sucker for men who had a sense of humor and didn’t take themselves so seriously. “I’ll bet you weren’t even raised on a ranch. You probably grew up in the city watching westerns.”

Kix slapped his hand on his chest. “You’ve wounded me. I was born and raised on the Kicking A Ranch—home of fine horses, fine cattle and mighty fine men.”

“Of which you’re the exception.”

Kix took the opportunity he’d been waiting for and moved in, trapping her against the side of the truck before she could escape. He speared his fingers through her silky hair and turned her face up to his, delighting in the way her cheeks flushed with color and her eyes couldn’t hide the fact that she wanted this as badly as he did. “Darlin’, I can’t let that insult to my manhood go unchallenged.” He dipped his head and sealed her lips with his own.

Cady melted the moment his mouth covered hers. When his tongue teased her lips open and stroked inside, she felt like someone had poured warm honey into her.

The man could kiss. That didn’t surprise her in the least—what did was the fact that she not only let him, but couldn’t help returning the kiss. She wanted to eat him up.

He moaned and pulled her even tighter against him, thrust his tongue in and out in a rhythm that had her channel clenching and her nipples straining. Cady shivered and pressed closer. God, he should be banned or jailed—everything about him was sinful and tempting.

Kix shifted, burrowed his cock closer to where it wanted to be. Damn, but this attraction
had him feeling like a bull rider who got tossed and stomped on right out of the chute. If he didn’t get a tighter hold on himself, he was going to end up hog-tied and too sorry-assed in love to care.

They were both breathing hard by the time the kiss ended. Cady somehow managed to move away from him, her eyes once again dropping to the erection that pressed boldly against his faded jeans.

Kix grinned. He was randy as a stud and lighthearted to boot. “You’re a mighty fine distraction, little darlin’.”

“I do have a name,” Cady muttered.

Kix pulled her against his body, tight enough so that his heavy cock pressed against her. His laugh was low and husky as he whispered a kiss along her neck before nuzzling her ear. “Oh, I plan on using your name all right, Cady, just like I plan on hearing you scream mine.”