Big Sky Seduction Read online

  The best mistakes are worth repeating...

  There’s no room for chaos in interior designer Gloria Hurst’s life. Everything in order, everything under control. No exceptions. Well, aside from one wicked, messy, incredibly passionate night with rodeo rider Dillon Cross. He’s macho, overconfident and sex appeal incarnate. He’s everything Gloria despises...so why is he the secret star of her wildest dreams?

  Now her control is about to be seriously tested. Dillon has hired her to help him sell a ranch he’s inherited. Gloria can’t escape him, or the way he ignites a delicious hunger in her for more than just his body. Dillon Cross is a mistake Gloria wants to make over and over again...until she loses control and all hell breaks loose.

  “It’s not like there’s anything between us...”

  With a hand on the wall above her head, Dillon leaned right down. Gloria’s lids fluttered and she tilted her face up, like she wanted him to kiss her. “This sure as hell feels like something,” he whispered.

  “It’s not,” she panted back.

  “Felt like more than something last night.” He wanted to touch her face because there was that blush, spreading like a wildfire up from her chest into her cheeks, and he needed to know how it felt.

  “It wasn’t.” She licked her lips in between ragged breaths.

  He leaned down and for a second—maybe not even—their lips touched. Then she ducked beneath his arm and scurried to the other side of the small room.

  “This will not happen again...”

  Dear Reader,

  I had so much fun writing Big Sky Seduction because it’s set in one of my favorite parts of the country, Montana, where the sky is endless and the mountains stand guardian over the forests and hills. Not to mention there is something so sexy about the Montana cowboy. Dillon Cross is my ultimate hero: proud, stoic, the kind of man born of the elements, as solid as the Rocky Mountains, with spring water running through his veins. He’s the kind of man who knows how to treat a woman and it doesn’t hurt that he’s got plenty of rope and knows how to use it. Yeehaw!

  On a more personal note, the setting of this story harkens back to my youth. I grew up in a place very similar to Half Moon Creek, and our small town hosted the annual county fair and rodeo, similar to the one that takes place in the book. Would you believe that I made my rodeo debut when I was twelve? Maybe I didn’t catch the greased, squealing pig as we chased it around the ring, but it was an experience I’ll never forget (or repeat).

  If you’re from the city, like Gloria, I hope you fall in love with Half Moon Creek and its cast of quirky characters, but most of all with Dillon, because—seriously—what’s not to love? (Sigh) Oh, and if you enjoy this book, watch for upcoming releases from Daire St. Denis at dairestdenis.com and like me on Facebook at facebook.com/dairestdenis.

  Happy reading!

  Daire St. Denis

  Daire St. Denis

  Big Sky Seduction

  New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Daire St. Denis is an adventure seeker, an ancient history addict, a seasonal hermit and a wine lover. She calls the Canadian Rockies home and has the best job ever: writing smoking-hot contemporary romance where the pages are steeped in sensuality and there’s always a dash of the unexpected. Find out more about Daire and subscribe to her newsletter at dairestdenis.com.

  Books by Daire St. Denis

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Excerpt from The Flyboy’s Temptation by Kimberly Van Meter

  1

  OH, DEAR GOD...

  Gloria’s vision narrowed, like the shutter of a camera in ultra slow motion, closing in smaller and smaller. Her chest ached as if an elephant was sitting on her and a knot the size of a fist formed in her stomach.

  No.

  Not here.

  Not now.

  Carefully, she lifted the big, rough hand from her hip and rolled, or tried to, but her legs were stuck—entwined—between two large, tree-trunk-sized limbs.

  “Mmm.” A hand slid around her waist and snuggled her even closer to that massive chest at her back. So close, she could feel the sound of contentment rumbling against her shoulder blade, the kind of sound a big, well-fed cat of the king-of-the-jungle variety might make.

  With each wriggle she made in an attempt to break free, his ridiculously powerful arms held on tighter.

  “Ah, Dillon?” The words were more a gasp than a name.

  “Hmm?”

  She wriggled some more. No give, whatsoever. “Dillon?”

  “Mmm.” He nuzzled his whiskered jaw into the back of her neck, placing a sleepy kiss there. Those big, callused hands of his roamed freely across her stomach, one up...the other down.

  Gloria pushed herself away and sat up on the edge of the bed, breathing hard, as though she’d just climbed a flight of stairs, not made the simple transition from lying to sitting. Was it the dim light in the room that made her vision spotty? She rubbed her eyes.

  No. It was something else.

  Panting, she said, “I’ve got to go.”

  “To the loo?” He drew a line across her lower back. “Okay, darlin’. Hurry back.”

  Oh, God.

  She stumbled—naked—to the bathroom, found the robe the hotel provided hanging on the back of the door and slipped it on. Her clutch—the one that matched the Valentine red of the bridesmaid dress that lay crumpled somewhere on the hotel room floor—sat open on the vanity counter. She checked the contents: room key, phone, lipstick and a twenty dollar bill.

  Good enough. She leaned against the vanity, gulping air, willing herself under control. When she opened her eyes, her gaze landed on the cellophane-wrapped, one-size-fits-all slippers. She unwrapped them and stuck her feet inside—they were miles too big but they’d have to do. When Gloria went to stand up, her head spun and her vision closed in around her, forcing her to sit on the closed toilet seat, the bathroom suddenly a fishbowl, all watery and blurry. Closing her eyes, she focused on breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In. Out. Nice and slow. Unfortunately, images from earlier in the evening decided to replay behind her closed lids to mock and taunt her.

  Dillon’s big, rough hands on her body. Dillon’s big, talented tongue in her mouth. Dillon’s big, sinfully male appendage inside of her, so...wonderful.

  Wonderful? Really?

  If it was so wonde
rful, why was she sitting here on the toilet seat on the verge of a panic attack? She hadn’t had one of these suckers in years. So, why now?

  It had to be the cowboy.

  Gloria pressed her palms to the sides of her head to try to stop her ears from ringing.

  No.

  This was not going to happen.

  Fumbling for her phone in her clutch, she turned it on and did her best to type a one word message—EMERGENCY!—to her best friend, Daisy. Though whether her fingers actually hit the correct letters, she couldn’t tell because her phone was no more than a fuzzy shape in her hand. After a few more deep breaths, she pushed herself to her feet and careened her way to the hotel room door. She paused, listening, but all she heard was the roaring of blood between her ears.

  The second she was outside in the hallway, she could breathe again, as if there was more oxygen out there. She still felt wobbly and, with a hand to the wall to keep herself steady, she lurched down the hall because it seemed that the farther away from the room she got, the clearer her vision became. Clear enough to check her phone for a reply from her best friend. Not that she really expected one.

  It was Daisy’s wedding night.

  Shit.

  She stopped in front of the elevators and pressed the button, not because she had anywhere to go, but because that was what a normal person did when standing in front of an elevator. Except normal people didn’t stand in front of elevators naked under their hotel robe.

  Good God, Glo. What were you thinking?

  “I don’t think I was,” she whispered aloud.

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. A bellboy was inside.

  “Having a good night?” the young man asked, with a smirk.

  After a deep breath and with her head held high, Gloria entered the elevator. “Yes. Thank you.” She turned to face the front where, unfortunately, there was a mirror on the inside of the door, forcing Gloria to face exactly the state she was in—her makeup streaked, her pretty updo no longer up unless sticking out in all directions was considered up.

  She groaned. It was worse than she thought.

  “Which floor?”

  “Honeymoon suite.” The words came out before she had time to consider them. The young man pressed the button and Gloria was subject to the longest elevator ride of her life. She avoided his eyes by checking her phone every few seconds, hoping for but not expecting a reply from Daisy.

  How on earth had she found herself in this position?

  It could have something to do with the fact that it was Valentine’s Day and her very best friend in the world just married an amazing man and it was the nicest wedding, ever, and while Gloria was over the moon for Daisy, she was also a little bit...

  Hmm. Jealous?

  No.

  Did she feel sorry for herself? Was that why she’d slept with the cowboy?

  God. That was sad.

  It all started when the cowboy in question, a cousin of the groom, got up to do his speech, but he didn’t speak. Oh, no. He had a guitar stashed in the back, retrieved it and sang “Remember When” by Alan Jackson—only one of her favorite country songs of all time. She’d nearly dropped her wineglass. Instead she downed its contents followed quickly by another glass. His voice, deep and smooth, sang, “Remember when we vowed the vows...” It was her fantasy come to life. Except the man in her fantasy sang to her, not to the bride and groom—of all the cracked things one could imagine. Then the dance started and he asked her to dance.

  She should have said no.

  How was she supposed to know the man could dance?

  But he could.

  He led her around the dance floor, spinning her, pulling her in close, holding her tight, so sure of himself, sure of his movements, and Gloria knew, she just knew he’d be good in bed.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  Because when he wasn’t singing and he wasn’t dancing, the cowboy drove her bat-shit crazy. From the moment they’d met ten months ago, when he’d purposefully done everything in his power to irk her, she didn’t like him. Not one little bit. He was messy and loud and obnoxious and too sure of himself and too big and...ugh!

  Every word that came out of his mouth made her want to scream. Everything he did made her want to smack him. Hard.

  But, earlier tonight, while in the throes of passion, she’d let him smack her on the backside.

  That was not Gloria. She did not do that shit.

  Ever.

  When the elevator finally reached the top floor of the Drake Hotel, Gloria exited with about as much dignity as a cockroach scuttling out of a room when the light came on, finding the nearest crack to crawl inside. Because of the big slippers she wore, her scuttling was more of a shuffle-slide.

  “Enjoy the rest of your evening,” the bellboy called.

  Ignoring him, Gloria checked the screen of her phone. It was 3:17 and still no message from Daisy.

  Crap.

  She leaned against the wall, trying to figure out what to do. She wasn’t about to interrupt her friend on her wedding night, that was for sure. But what were her options? Go back to her room? Tell the cowboy to get out?

  Just like that, her vision went all spotty again and Gloria doubled over to keep from passing out. Seriously! What was it about the man that pushed her to the brink of a panic attack just by thinking about him? If that wasn’t a sign that tonight had been a big, fucking mistake, what was?

  She concentrated on her breathing again, following the advice her psychologist had given her a decade ago to keep the sense of panic at bay. But the ringing between her ears only got louder.

  Wait. That wasn’t between her ears, that was her phone.

  “Gloria?” Daisy’s voice was soft and slurred with sleep. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”

  “I’m standing outside your door.”

  “You’re where?”

  “Just outside.”

  “What are you doing there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The phone went dead. Turning toward the wall, Gloria banged her head softly against it. This was ridiculous. Here she was standing outside her best friend’s honeymoon suite, on her wedding night.

  The door opened and Daisy stuck her head out. At least her best friend looked just as disheveled as Gloria. That made her feel better. And, the fact that her friend was letting her in at all. She had to count that as a blessing.

  “What happened to you?” Daisy asked, covering a yawn that looked suspiciously like a smile, as she opened the door wider.

  So her best friend should be a little less amused and a little more empathetic, but whatever, she was there. Daisy closed the door, slid her arm through Gloria’s and pulled her close. Gloria held on tight, appreciating the simple comfort of having a best friend when she needed one.

  “How’s the cowboy?”

  Some best friend. “How’d you know?”

  Daisy’s eyes twinkled. “The way you two were dirty dancing out there tonight? Uh, yeah, doesn’t take a genius.”

  Gloria dropped to the big white couch in the sitting area of the suite. Weird how she’d been there only twelve hours earlier, in this exact place, laughing and toasting, never imagining she’d be back. The cowboy never even entering her mind. Well, that wasn’t quite true. He’d been annoying the hell out of her all day. Contradicting her, teasing her by calling her darlin’ and Red and other offensive pet names. He was the kind of macho man she despised and avoided.

  Until tonight.

  Daisy sat next to her and Gloria realized they were dressed exactly the same, both sporting the too-big hotel robes, but Daisy’s feet were bare, and her toes painted a pretty pink that matched the icing on the cupcakes that had served as Daisy’s wedding cake. Focusing on Daisy’s toes seemed like the only way to
not focus on what just happened.

  “Tell me...” Daisy said, patting Gloria’s knee. “Is the big cowboy...big all over?”

  “Daisy!”

  This time Daisy didn’t even bother covering up her laugh. “Honestly, Glo. What’s the problem?”

  “I did not mean to sleep with him.”

  “Hmm.” Daisy tilted her head to one side. “Kind of looked like you did.”

  “I don’t like him.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No. I’ve disliked him from the moment I met him. Remember what a jerk he was at your fund-raiser last year?”

  “Of course I remember the fund-raiser. I don’t remember him being a jerk. I thought he was sort of—”

  “No.” Gloria held up a finger to stop Daisy. “He’s an ass. He may be Jamie’s cousin, but he’s an ass.”

  Daisy’s brows drew together. “So, why’d you sleep with him?”

  “I don’t know.” Gloria dropped her head to her hands. All she knew was that every time she thought of him she felt as if she was in a tiny, constricted space where there wasn’t enough air and she couldn’t move and she couldn’t breathe and she needed to get out of there as fast as she could.

  They sat there for a few minutes, Daisy rubbing slow, comforting circles on Gloria’s back. “So,” she said eventually. “The sex was bad, huh?”

  Gloria didn’t answer at first. “Well...”

  Daisy’s hand stopped moving. “Does that mean the sex was good?”

  “No. It was not good.” Gloria lifted her head to meet her friend’s gaze.

  Liar!

  Gloria’s body—the lower bits—quivered indecently at the thought of the sex. Dillon was certainly adept between the sheets. God, the man had owned her body yet took the time to give her pleasure, as well—more than once. It was too much. The way he made her feel so beautiful and desirable and good. The way he’d murmured wicked things in her ear...

  “Glo?”

  “Hmm?”

  “How come you’re smiling?”

  She wasn’t smiling. Absolutely not.