How to Seduce a Texan

Chapter 6

Mooooooooo!

Nikki flew out of bed, ran into the wall, bounced around, and stared into the eyes of a big brown beast that had a string of drool dripping from its mouth to the floor.

She screamed.

Cal stuck his head through the open window, shoving the animal back. “Move over, Bessie.” Then he turned his attention to her. “Mornin’. Good, I’m glad you’re up. I don’t suppose you have any coffee made.”

“Coffee?”

“No, I didn’t think so, but I sure could use another cup. Well, get dressed. I’ll get Bessie settled in the barn. Better hurry, though, it’s already past milking time and she’s getting anxious.”

“Milk?”

“Didn’t I tell you that’s part of the experience? Darn, I can’t believe I left that little detail out.” His eyes twinkled. “You’ll love it.”

He moved away from the window, but just as she started to relax, he popped his head inside once more. His gaze wandered very slowly from her head to her feet, then back up. “By the way, I like your pj’s.” He whistled a jaunty tune as he ambled away.

She glanced down. Her thin red silk teddy left little to the imagination. It was cut all the way down to her navel and the only thing holding it together was one strip of sheer lace.

Not only did it show a considerable amount of cleavage, but the morning air was cool and her nipples were pebble hard.

A wave of heat washed over her. She grabbed the quilt and pulled it in front of her but not for modesty’s sake. She felt the need to hold on to something-anything.

No gentleman would’ve mentioned her nightclothes since they barely covered her. And a gentleman wouldn’t have stared so blatantly, either, making her body grow hot, then cold, and then very, very hot.

A slow smile curved her lips. It was nice to know Cal wasn’t that much of a gentleman.

Naughty, naughty.

Her mood quickly changed when she thought about the cow. She might have the hots for Cal but she was certain she’d hate Bessie.

Her forehead wrinkled in thought. Hadn’t Bessie been black and white yesterday? Not that it mattered one way or the other at this point in time. And did Cal really expect her to milk a cow? She had a feeling he did. Then what would she do? Her job description didn’t include milking cows.

She closed her eyes. She would stay calm. None of this mattered as long as she got her story. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay, she was ready-maybe.

She grabbed her clothes and began dressing. She was just tying her hair back when she heard the screen door slam.

“Hey, have you noticed anything strange about the rooster?” Cal called from the other room.

Her hands stilled and her heart began to pound. She pictured the damned bird stiff from rigor mortis, skinny legs straight up in the air.

She took a deep breath and tried to sound innocent. “Rooster?”

“Yeah. He’s acting kind of weird and walking funny.”

“No, but then, I wouldn’t know whether he was acting normal or not,” she lied, swallowing past the lump in her throat. At least the rooster was still alive.

“I guess not. Maybe he ate some bad grain or something.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. She was off the hook.

But then she looked in the mirror. Blue short-shorts and a yellow and blue top. The cute little outfit was made for walks along the beach or lazing around poolside with a tall frosted drink, not for roughing it. This was all she had that was appropriate, though.

Oh, well.

She glanced toward the door, then unbuttoned the last two buttons of the top and tied the ends beneath her bra. That was better. Slap a piece of straw in her mouth and call her Elly May Clampett. She rolled her eyes and left the bedroom.

She aimed toward the kitchen in desperate need of a strong cup of coffee and a bagel. Not that she remembered seeing any bagels in the boxes she’d carried inside.

“I don’t suppose you made coffee while I was getting dressed?” she asked as she joined him, but she didn’t smell the tantalizing aroma of a freshly brewed pot. She glanced toward the black beast of a stove and wondered how far it was to the closest Starbucks.

Cal didn’t say anything. Just stared. When he continued staring without saying a word, she cocked an eyebrow. “Do I meet with your approval?”

“That’s not exactly the kind of clothes made for roughing it.”

But that was only his opinion. Her interpretation had a whole other meaning. “I’ll need to go into town today and buy some…” Her gaze trailed over him. “Something a little more…appropriate.” She kept her voice soft and sultry as she blatantly flirted with him. “Will this be okay for now?”

He dragged his gaze up to meet hers. “You’ll do.” His words were gruff. Without waiting for her, he pushed the door open and went outside.

Oh, yeah, he was definitely interested. She grinned. Score one for the city team. She’d have her article by the end of the day.

Just as quickly, her smile faded. There was still the cow to deal with and, apparently, she’d have to wait on coffee. He could’ve brought her a cup. A cinnamon mocha latte. She really missed the city, where there was a coffeehouse on practically every corner.

She went out the back door and trudged after Cal. “You know, I don’t really like milk. It wouldn’t bother me at all not to have any.” She hurried to keep up with his long strides.

“You’ll need the milk to make the butter.” He stepped inside the dark interior of the small building.

“Butter? I thought-oomph!” Nikki thudded against his back. “Why’d you stop?” she complained but hesitated before moving away. She liked the feel of his hard, sinewy muscles against her. And he smelled nice, like soap and spicy aftershave. A thrill of pleasure ran down her spine. Now this was more like it.

“Always let your eyes adjust before you walk into a dark building,” he informed her, his words interrupting her delicious thoughts.

“Why?”

“You never know what’s crawling around.”

A shiver ran over her. She had to ask.

“Well, next time tell me before you put the brakes on.”

Her gaze moved around the interior, her eyes becoming accustomed to the dimness. To her left, hoes and shovels leaned against the wall. On the opposite side, bales of hay were stacked. The musty, not quite unpleasant scent rose to tickle her nose. She peered around Cal. More light came from the back of the barn. Instead of a wall, it opened into a pen.

Bessie glanced up when they approached and meandered over to the fence. “I thought Bessie was black and white.”

“That was the other Bessie.”

“Of course, how stupid of me not to have guessed you have two cows with the same name,” she muttered.

Cal tipped the lid off a barrel and reached inside. “This is her feed. Give her two heaping scoops twice a day, but not until you’re ready to start milking.”

“I don’t know how to milk a cow.” And the other verse was she didn’t want to learn.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you threw in the towel. This is probably more than you ever expected.”

She glared at him, grabbed the scoop, and tossed the feed over the fence into the wooden feed box. Bessie went directly to her breakfast. “Now what do I do?”

With a very snarky grin, he handed her a stool and a bucket. “You milk the cow.”

Smart-ass. From his expression, she knew he was just waiting for her to run screaming from the barn. Well, she’d show him a thing or two. She jerked the stool and bucket away from him. Opening the gate, she tromped through to the other side.

When she stood next to the cow, her bluster disappeared. The animal was huge. Her back was almost shoulder high.

But her brown coat looked like the softest suede she’d ever seen. And the cow had big doe eyes with long black lashes. A big, brown Bambi. She was beautiful. She was…

Bessie’s huge, saliva-dripping tongue emerged and partially disappeared up the cow’s nose.

“Gross!” Ugh! Nikki almost gagged.

“What?”

She glanced at Cal, who seemed quite unaware that anything out of the ordinary had happened. “Nothing.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat.

Cal opened and closed the gate, joining her in the small enclosure. He calmly waited for her to start. She gritted her teeth and set the stool beside the animal.

How hard could it be? Obviously, quite a few people milked cows because there always seemed to be a plentiful supply in the stores. She’d never heard of a death associated with milking a cow. Not that there couldn’t be a first time.

Gingerly, she squatted on the stool and stared at the cow’s bag. Four appendages, like fat fingers, pointed downward. Now what should she do?

As if he’d read her mind, Cal took the bucket from her. He walked to the trough and dipped some water. “The weather is warm enough so the water isn’t too cool. Don’t ever wash a cow’s bag with cold water, though.”

“How will I know if it’s too cold?”

“Oh, she’ll tell you. If it’s cold to you, then it’ll probably be cold to her.” He handed her the bucket.

Nikki looked at it, then at the cow’s bag. “Uh, do you have a washcloth?”

Cal grinned. “You don’t need one. Just reach in the bucket, scoop some water up, splash it on her bag, and wipe with your hand.”

“Oh.” The instructions didn’t sound difficult. Then why did she hesitate? She could answer that easily enough. She didn’t want to touch the damned cow!

“At this rate Bessie will never get milked.” Cal squatted beside her, took the bucket, and began to wash the cow’s bag. “Bessie won’t hurt you. A jersey is usually pretty docile.” He quickly finished and tossed the unused water. “There, that wasn’t hard.” He turned to look at her.

Nikki forgot all about Bessie. His face was so close that his warm breath fanned her cheek. Shivers of excitement ran over her body.

He leaned closer. His lips brushed hers, like butterfly wings. Shock waves erupted inside her. He tasted like peppermint toothpaste and heat. Sweet and sexy. Spasms of pleasure stole over her as he deepened the kiss, his tongue caressing hers while his hand slipped around to the back of her neck and lightly massaged. Swirls of heat coiled inside her, then erupted, fire licking her in all the right places.

Cal pulled away all too soon.

She almost fell off the stool. Okay, take a deep breath, girl. She was the one in control.

Her flirting had worked. He’d fallen beneath her spell. It still took her a few seconds to regain her senses. He was a fantastic kisser.

“You kissed me.” She leaned a little closer to him. One more and she’d have him completely bewitched.

“You wanted me to.” He shrugged nonchalantly as he straightened. “Can’t get your research done if all you’re thinking about is kissing me.”

Her thinking about kissing him! The only thing she’d been thinking about was seducing a story out of him. Of all the self-centered… Before she could do more than sputter and spit, Cal grabbed her hand and wrapped it around one of Bessie’s teats. Then he grabbed her other hand and did the same thing.

“Now, squeeze and pull, alternating hands,” he told her.

Ugh! It was worse than she could’ve imagined. “I can’t.” Because she didn’t want to!

“Pretend you have your fingers around someone’s neck that you don’t like. I’m sure there has to be someone in your life who pisses you off.”

She scowled at him. She was looking right at the person who was currently raising her ire. It wouldn’t be his neck she’d pretend she had her fingers wrapped around, though! Nikki squeezed and tugged on the teat, then another.

At first, nothing happened. On the fourth pull a stream of milk squirted out, pinging against the side of the bucket. She jerked her hands away.

“I did it!” She nearly fell off the stool in her excitement. She’d actually milked the cow. “Did you see that? And I hit the bucket, too.”

“Yeah, I saw.”

“Cal…”

“Don’t get too excited about a little drop of milk. You still need to fill the bucket.”

She pursed her lips as he turned away.

“I’ll be back to check on your progress,” he tossed over his shoulder as he walked away.

And she’d milk the damned cow even if it killed her. She’d show him! Fill the bucket, indeed! Not that she thought he was telling her the truth about that. It would take her all day to fill the bucket.

Cal drew in a deep breath as he stepped from the barn. Why had he kissed her? That was easy to answer. When Nikki turned to look at him all he saw were those luscious lips tempting him. How the hell was he supposed to resist?

He wasn’t immune to her even knowing she was a reporter and was here only to get a story. Damn it! He still shouldn’t have kissed her. If he didn’t watch out, he’d get himself into trouble because Nikki sure hadn’t seemed to mind his touch. But one thing had kept him from seeing just how far she’d let him go.

He didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.

Not when he knew the story was all that mattered to her. He had the upper hand and planned to keep it. He didn’t care how she dressed or how much she flirted-he wouldn’t fall for her tricks.

If she’d done her research, Nikki would know that she wouldn’t get her story that easily. He was a hell of a lot tougher than that.

He strolled to the pickup, grabbed a sack of feed, and slung it over his shoulder before carrying it toward the barn. By the time he got there, he was back in complete control. As he set the sack just inside the door, he could hear Nikki mumbling.

“Well, that’s just great!” Nikki jumped from the stool, taking her milk bucket with her.

He leaned against a bail of hay and listened.

“You couldn’t wait to go to the bathroom? It’s not as though you had all the time in the world before I sat down. I saw you and you were just standing at the fence doing nothing.”

A slow grin spread across his face. She didn’t really sound angry, just put out. Damn, she was cute.

“In the future, I’d appreciate it if you’d see to your bodily functions prior to being milked. Just because you’re a cow doesn’t mean you can’t have any manners.”

Cal barely contained his laughter. She’d call it quits now. She might be The Barracuda, but this ranch didn’t have an ocean for her to swim in and it didn’t look like it would be that long before she’d go looking for bluer waters.

But she didn’t leave.

He quickly sobered when she repositioned the stool and sat back down. She had mettle, he’d give her that. There was no way she’d last, but yeah, she did have mettle. Odd, but his grandfather always told Cal that you could judge a person by how much spirit the person had.

Well, she may have spirit but it was for all the wrong reasons.

“Ugh! You stink.”

Bessie turned her head and looked at Nikki, mooing an apology.

“Those big eyes won’t get you anywhere, and I’m not going to forgive you-at least not for a while. You should be down here inhaling this obnoxious odor.”

Cal grinned as he went back to his pickup for the other sack of feed. It was already proving to be an interesting day. And he had to admit, she was kind of fun to have around. He hadn’t minded kissing her, either. No, he hadn’t minded that at all.