Free Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? by Kate Pearce Page B

them to his mouth and slowly licked them clean. Heat expanded in Lauren’s lower stomach and she moved instinctively towards him.
    Grayson shook his head. ‘You’ll have to wait, honey, until I’ve time to see to you properly. We’re going on a tour of the ranch.’
    Lauren hooked her index finger inside her tiny panties and slowly pushed them down her legs. Grayson took a step towards her, his eyes intent as she bent to pick them up. She folded the scrap of lace between her fingers and stuffed it into Grayson’s shirt pocket. She imitated his slow drawl.
    ‘I’ll hold you to that, cowboy, and it’d better be worth my while.’

Chapter Seven
    Grayson saddled two horses while Lauren went to feed the chickens. She seemed to have taken a motherly interest in them, which amused Gray immensely. It was hard not to laugh at her surprise at his ability to conduct business out in the wilds. But, if he wanted her to stay, it was vital she believed it.
    His faint smile died. When she’d mentioned Prairie Dawg Boots, he’d almost choked. Of all the companies in the world why had she picked them? Of course, it wasn’t that much of a coincidence. When she got back to work and saw his name and his brother Jay’s at the top of Prairie Dawg Boots company notepaper she’d be wanting an explanation. He suspected she liked being lied to about as much as he did.
    Hell, he hadn’t realised Lauren was meeting Barry Levarr, his business manager, in Vegas as well as the PBR guys. He left most of the everyday business to Jay and Barry anyway. By the time he’d worked it out, Lauren had already met, married and left him. What the heck was a guy to do when his life got so complicated?
    Past experiences with grasping women who zeroed in on his wealth and connections and not his personality had made Gray cautious. Somehow he knew that presenting himself as both Lauren’s new client and her new husband would kill her passion stone dead. As he saw it, he had to make a choice.
    His number-one priority was to get Lauren back to see if their marriage stood a chance of success. The business end of the relationship, his involvement with Prairie Dawg Boots, wasn’t important right now and it was only a tiny part of his holdings. Convincing Lauren to stay by buying into her cowboy fantasy was.
    Gray slipped the bit into Foxy’s mouth. He couldn’t imagine Lauren choosing to mix her personal and professional lives; he’d have to persuade her. Foxy butted Gray in the stomach as if in agreement as he tightened the cinch.
    He consoled himself with the thought that he hadn’t actually lied to Lauren – yet. He wanted Lauren to see beyond the cowboy fantasy and begin to want him for himself. Explaining his business activities would have to come later.
    He just didn’t see her as a corporate wife, pushing him into expanding the business, using her father’s connections to ‘help’ him along.
    Gray didn’t want that. He’d tried to please his father by entering the business world and it nearly destroyed him. Yeah, he had all the trappings of wealth and success but at the cost of his soul. Would Lauren understand that life on the ranch and arranging his other business interests around that suited him better?
    He reckoned she would if he got up the nerve to be completely honest with her. She’d defied her own father hadn’t she? His problem was that she’d probably wish him well and disappear back to San Francisco without a backwards glance. Why was she so set against marriage? Surely he was the one who should be having doubts.
    Lauren appeared at the barn door wearing one of his long-sleeved shirts tucked into her new jeans. Her soft brown hair was tied back and she wore no make-up. Gray struggled to remember the poised, fashion-plate of a woman who’d stepped off the plane a day earlier.
    He checked Robbie’s cinch and watched Lauren pat Foxy’s neck. He didn’t bother to tell her what to do. Her assured manner around the horses