Part 6 (1/2)

'Hey, we're supposed to be taking this slow.'

'Dammit, Dakota! Don't spoil it.'

She tried to kick him but he wouldn't let her.

'Honey, this is my problem not yours. I want you right now, here in the street.' She tried to speak but he covered her lips with his hand. 'If we don't stop or go back to the motel, that's what's going to happen. Me on you, possibly an audience, followed swiftly by a spell behind bars for public indecency.' He smoothed her heated cheek. 'I'm not changing my mind. I just want to do right by you.'

She stared at him for a long while, her breathing as ragged as his own. 'OK.'

'OK what? I can ravish you here?'

'Let's finish putting the bike away, get the shopping and go back to the motel.'

He winked at her, hoped she couldn't hear his c.o.c.k complaining. 'Let's do that.'

Chapter Six.

Before Dakota even shut the door, Robyn dumped the thin plastic bags on the first bed and ran for the bathroom. She was beginning to feel like a teenager, always seeking rea.s.surance and refuge in the mirror. She filled the sink with tepid water and splashed it on to her dusty heat-fried cheeks.

Had those women in Wal-Mart recognized her? Would she wake up to find some sleazebag from one of the entertainment rags camped outside her door, gleefully exposing her riches-to-rags story?

She gripped the edge of the basin. Perhaps she was worrying too much. It wasn't as if she resembled her TV persona anymore. The TV Robyn Sparrow people tended to remember was a cute kid, not a 25-year-old has-been. Sometimes even she found it hard to believe that, along with her two sisters, she'd been famous, the youngest cast member in a popular family comedy show that went on for way too many years.

G.o.d, had Dakota worked out who she was? Was that why he'd come on to her and been so keen to get her out of the store? She drained the sink, scrubbed at her face and stormed back into the bedroom. Dakota lay stretched out on the bed, his bare feet crossed at the ankle, watching TV.

He smiled at her. 'Hey, do I get a fas.h.i.+on show?'

Robyn stopped. 'What?'

'A fas.h.i.+on show of you in all your new stuff, you know.' He winked. 'Especially the bra and panties part. I'd like to see that.'

'You are such a . . . sc.u.mbag.'

His smile faded. 'What the h.e.l.l have I done now?'

'I didn't say you'd done anything.'

He brought his feet down to the floor with a decisive thump. 'You didn't have to.' He placed his hands flat on his knees. 'Is this because you've changed your mind again?'

'No, it's because of your behavior in Wal-Mart.'

'Because I got you out of there quick? You didn't seem to mind at the time.' He sighed. 'Look, I had a good reason. There's something I should tell you.'

Robyn took a step back until she was against the door frame. Here it came, his sudden reasons for 'wanting' her.

'There are some crazy fans out there who stalk me.'

She struggled to stop her jaw from hitting the floor. 'Stalk you?'

He looked embarra.s.sed. 'Some of them are rodeo fans. Ever since they started televising the big events we've had an increase in the crazies. And the rest . . . Well, I appear in some cowboy-boot ads and . . .'

'You're in ads?'

'Don't sound so surprised. I only do it as a favor for my half-brother Jay who makes the boots. It's no big deal.' He studied his fingernails, his shoulders tense.

Robyn frowned. 'So that's how you afford the motorcycle.'

He half smiled up at her. 'That was a gift, but I do earn enough to buy it for myself.'

Robyn's lips twitched. 'Oh my G.o.d, that's so funny. I thought you . . .' She let the rest of the sentence trail away, aware of his shrewd gaze on her.

'You thought what?'

'Nothing really.' She clapped her hands. 'You wanted a fas.h.i.+on show, right?'

He kept staring and she held his gaze. No way was she going to tell him anything until she'd digested the fact that her cowboy was a bit of a reluctant star. At the height of her fame, she'd craved media attention, needed it to get through each day. It was only later, when her problems began, that she wished she could find a way to stop the tidal wave of interest she'd helped to create.

'New bra and panties coming right up!'

She reached for one of the bags next to him. He caught her wrist and brought it to his mouth. His teeth grazed the soft underskin and she s.h.i.+vered.

'I'm not buying the innocent act, but I'm way too interested in the panties to argue with you right now.'

'OK.' She swallowed hard and retreated to the other side of the bed. 'Close your eyes, then.'

She dove into the nearest bag and pulled out a pink and black fake lace bra and panties set. Turning her back, she s.h.i.+mmied out of her old clothes and into the new ones.

'OK, you can look now.'

'h.e.l.l, lady, I was looking all the time.'

She turned around and gasped as Dakota slid his arms around her hips and rubbed his unshaven cheek against her stomach. He licked the indentation of her navel and the small silver ring inserted through it.

'I like it.'

She glanced down at the top of his head. 'You can't see it, you're way too close.'

'Nope, I'm good.' His tongue slid lower until he licked the edge of her panties. 'How about you let me help you relax? It's been a long day.'

His big hand squeezed her a.s.s cheek in time to the sweep of his tongue.

'I haven't showered.'

'Neither have I,' he murmured as his teeth tugged at the elastic, drawing it lower with every subtle movement.

Robyn grabbed his thick brown hair until he went still. 'I thought we were going slow.'