Starstruck Cowboy (Working Man Series Book 1) Read online

  Star meant to stop this before it went too far. But then the smell of his leather chaps only seemed to enhance his masculinity, about driving her from her mind. His essence intermingled with hers as his tongue pressed up against her mouth. She opened for him and his tongue entered.

  Hot. Smooth. Engulfing. Tantalizing. A million words filled her head as she reveled in the feeling that was now pulsing through her.

  Star’s eyes popped open then, as she realized she enjoyed this. It was new to her since Teddy had never kissed her in this way. He had hardly ever kissed her the two times they made love. All he was ever interested in doing was releasing his urges as quickly as possible.

  Star raised her hands and gently touched Luke’s cheek. It was soft and clean-shaven. The smell of spicy aftershave filled her senses, making her feel heady. If the man kept up his intoxicating kissing, she didn’t know if she’d be able to control herself much longer. A part of her had been longing for this her entire life. Another part of her feared it.

  Star suddenly realized that while they were kissing, Luke’s hands had traveled to her breasts. He caressed them much the same way he caressed Didi’s teats. Small circles around her nipples, right through her clothes, made her squirm with desire. Then she felt a pulling motion in and out that sent a strange throbbing between her thighs.

  Finally, she came to her senses. The thought of being nothing more than another one of his follies unnerved her. She pictured him bragging to the hired hands of mounting her the way he spoke of mounting Isobelle. It angered her immensely. She pushed Luke away from her and stared him in the eye.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked. “You were just starting to relax and enjoy it.”

  “I guess I just wanted to show you something I’d enjoy even more.”

  Luke grinned devilishly as he straightened his hat. “I’d like to see that,” he agreed a little too eagerly.

  “Oh you will . . . and close up, too.” She pulled back her fist and smiled as Luke’s eyes opened wide.

  “Star? What are you doing?” He seemed too shocked to move.

  Star’s fist slammed into his face just as Luke turned his head. This time, she managed to hit his good eye.

  “Ow! What the devil was that for?” Luke’s hand covered his eye.

  Star brushed off her hands and grabbed the nearly-empty pail of milk. Heading out the door, she called over her shoulder, “Well, Mr. Tyler, just consider it my idea of foreplay.”

  Chapter 7

  Star’s neglected chores kept her busy and she managed to avoid Luke for the rest of the morning. The crew had arrived and were set up in trailers near the far side of the ranch along the creek. People bustled about busily, preparing for the shoot that would take place the next day.

  Sitting high atop her horse, Star looked out over the corral. A big, black and white mare tied to the opposite end of the fence munched on hay. Luke stood nearby it, talking with a woman who had red hair down to her waist. Star wondered if the woman was Velvet’s double for the stunts. She sincerely doubted Velvet would ever agree to doing something like sitting on a horse.

  Luke put his arm around the girl’s shoulder and took a few steps. The girl then gave him a quick side hug and headed toward the trailers.

  “Isobelle,” Star murmured, feeling jealousy welling in her chest. This woman had to be Isobelle, the beauty with the long legs and mane of hair down to her butt that Luke had spoken of.

  She watched Luke take a few long strides toward the far end of the corral and hoist himself up to sit on the fence. He had an apple in his hand and was about to take a bite when the black and white horse nuzzled its way under his arm. He reached over and ran a gentle hand over the mare’s nose. He then gave the apple to the horse and scratched her behind the ears.

  “He has her eating out of his hand, just like you’ll be doing soon,” came a woman’s voice from behind, startling her.

  Star turned her horse to see Velvet standing there watching her. Velvet’s bosom seemed more pronounced than it had been when she entered the barn earlier that morning. She had changed her clothes again, too. This time, she wore spandex pants and a low-cut halter top that showed too much cleavage. Her white cat, Foo Foo, was resting in the crook of her arm.

  Velvet swung her curvy hips and sashayed toward the wooden rails that enclosed the corral. She nodded toward Luke and donned a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses. “He has all the women eating out of his hand except for me.”

  Star held tighter to the reins as her gaze drifted back toward Luke. He stripped off his shirt and used it to rub down the horse. “I hadn’t noticed,” was Star’s reply.

  “Oh, I think you have.” Velvet didn’t bother to turn and look at her. Instead, she kept her eyes glued to Luke. “I know he wants you, and will do anything to get you in his bed.”

  Star felt her heart beating faster at the mere mention of being in the same bed with Luke Tyler. Still, she refused to comment.

  “He’s not a bad kisser,” Velvet said nonchalantly.

  “Really?” Star pretended not to know. “I suppose you would know this, being his co-star and all. Have you had to kiss him for the movie?”

  Velvet spoke with her back toward Star. “You mean to tell me, he hasn’t tried to kiss you yet? That doesn’t sound like Luke Tyler at all.”

  Star’s horse whinnied and became restless beneath her. She was sure it was only picking up her own emotions, feeling unsettled around Velvet. “Why, no, he hasn’t,” she lied. Her lips burned just thinking about the kiss Luke had given her in the barn. “Why should he?”

  Velvet finally turned to look at her. She removed her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. Her cat hopped to the ground and rubbed up against her leg. “If he hasn’t tried yet he must really dislike you. Luke always zeroes in on the attractive girls before any of the other cast members have a chance.”

  Star wasn’t sure if she should be flattered that Velvet insinuated she was attractive, or insulted that Velvet would think she would fall for such a man. “Are you saying he’s a womanizer?”

  “The best there is.”

  “Then why don’t his charms work on you?”

  Velvet replaced her sunglasses and took a step toward her. Her cat followed. “I refuse to be used by that arrogant jerk even if he is the heartthrob of every girl who’s ever seen a Valens production.”

  “So, you’re saying you’re not attracted to him?”

  Velvet smiled and licked her lips before she answered. “Let’s just say I save the bedroom scenes for in front of the camera only. But I have to admit,” she said as she picked up Foo Foo and snuggled the cat to her face, “he is good with his hands. After all, just look how Isobelle’s enjoying it right now.”

  Star almost got whiplash turning around so fast. Luke was in public and giving this so-called Isobelle a rubdown? He wouldn’t . . . he couldn’t . . . she spotted Luke making circles with his fingers over the horse’s back. No woman was in sight. Not even the redhead who she was sure must be his lover. “Where’s Isobelle?” she asked.

  “Isobelle’s right there.” Garvey replaced Velvet somehow and was pointing in Luke’s direction. “One damned good-lookin’ mare, isn’t she? Luke Tyler uses his own horse for all his stunts.”

  “Garvey, are you telling me Isobelle is his horse?”

  “Why yes, Ms. Star. What’d you think?”

  “Never mind.”

  She took one last look at Luke. He hoisted himself up on Isobelle’s back in one fluid motion. Bareback, she noticed. He grabbed the reins and directed the horse with a squeeze of his leather-clad legs. Suddenly, she felt like the biggest fool to walk the earth. Isobelle was a horse, not his lover. The mare ate out of his hand, he rubbed her down . . . the whole conversation in the barn was taken the wrong way. The horse’s mane was even down to her well-muscled ass. She wondered now if Luke had purposely made Isobelle sound like a girl just to make her jealous.

  “Get back to work, Garvey.” Star turned her horse,
Licorice, around and rode at breakneck speed away from there.

  “Wait!” Garvey called out. “They’re goin’ to be practicin’ a ridin’ scene. Don’t you want to see it?”

  Star rode off as fast as she could, refusing to turn around.

  It was late by the time Star rounded up the cattle and brought them back to the ranch. She opened the gate and swung Licorice around as Maxi barked and nipped at the cows’ hooves. As the last one stampeded into the pen, Star jumped off her horse and swung the gate closed. The sun was setting on the horizon and dew was already dampening her clothes.

  She’d purposely waited until dinner was over before she ventured back. After what happened between her and Luke in the barn, there was no way she could face him now. The production crew was gone for the night, headed back to the motel to get a good night’s sleep before they started shooting in the morning.

  Star rode Licorice into the stables and put her in her stall, making sure to wipe her down and give her an extra amount of food and water for the good job she did in helping to round up the cattle. Star should have had one of the hired hands assisting her, but the last couple of weeks, they’d been short-handed so she insisted on doing it herself.

  It was getting dark in the stables and Star reached up and lit the lantern that hung on a peg. She carefully blew out the match, wishing for electricity in the barn but knowing they couldn’t afford it. Since the death of her father, things were going downhill fast. It was getting much too expensive to feed and care for the animals, not to mention pay the hired help. They really didn’t need Louise to cook for them, but she was Star’s mother’s best friend and Daisy would rather die before she let her go.

  Star’s body ached from a hard day’s work. She leaned against the stall and watched Licorice enjoying her meal. As her own stomach growled from hunger, she found herself thinking about Luke and wondering if he’d ever gotten a decent meal. Something warm nudged her back and she turned to find herself face-to-face with Isobelle.

  “You!” she said in an accusing tone, shaking her finger in the air. “You made me jealous! I hate you.” She turned away.

  Isobelle nuzzled her shoulder and she found it hard to ignore the cute thing.

  “All right, so I admit I thought you were a woman, but your owner played me for a fool. He knew all along what I was thinking and . . .”

  “Did I?”

  “Luke!” Star peeked over the top of the stall and saw Luke lying on a bale of hay. He was naked from the waist up. His leather chaps hung on a hook. He still wore his tight blue jeans, but she noticed they were unbuttoned at the top. His Stetson was pulled over his eyes and his arms were behind his head. She couldn’t see his face, only the toothpick he had sticking out of his mouth.

  “Did I surprise you, Twinkles?”

  “Why didn’t you say something sooner that you were here? And don’t call me Twinkles.”

  “I was trying to catch some shut eye but all your confessing woke me up. And Twinkles suits you well. After all, you’re just like that little star.”

  “Well, I didn’t mean any of what I said.” Twinkles! How dare he. Where did he come off naming her after a child’s song as if she were nothing more than a pet?

  “Like hell, you didn’t mean it.” He took a finger and pushed back the brim of his hat to see her. The light from the lantern flickered across his face, his blue eyes reflecting like sapphires in the dark. His shoulder-length hair fell loose around his broad shoulders. She found her eyes drifting down his face to his hairless chest. Then her gaze skimmed the surface as her eyes made their way to his open button of his jeans.

  “Checking out my crotch again?”

  Star jerked her eyes away from his pants, horrified to be caught. “Velvet was right about you.” She subconsciously licked her lips.

  “How’s that?”

  “She said you were a womanizer and an arrogant jerk.”

  Luke sprang to his feet, throwing the toothpick to the ground. His bare chest was now directly across from her as he leaned his arms on the top of the wooden rail separating the horses’ stalls. “She said that, did she?”

  Star froze as Luke leaned a little closer.

  “Uh huh,” was all she could manage to answer.

  “What else did Ms. Berrybell say about me?”

  She noticed he called Velvet by the wrong surname but supposed that was one of his quirky nicknames for the woman, just like the way he’d called her Twinkles. Star remembered Velvet saying Luke was a good kisser and also good with his hands. But if Star mentioned it, she would only be feeding his ego and opening an invitation for him to talk about sex.

  “Did you have dinner?” she asked, avoiding answering Luke’s question.

  “Fried chicken,” he answered with a smile. She quickly scanned the floor for Baby. “Don’t worry, I put Baby to bed. Not in my belly.”

  “You . . . put her to bed?”

  “Here. Let me show you.” He walked around the gate and took her by the hand. Star felt the connection immediately. Hot. Sensual. Alluring. All this from him only holding her hand.

  “Right this way, Twinkles, and you’ll see your precious Baby all tucked in for the night.”

  “You . . . tucked her in?” She tried to ignore the Twinkles stuff. If this man was being nice to her chicken, then maybe he wasn’t such an arrogant jerk after all.

  “See for yourself.”

  Atop a bale, Baby was nestled in a small, wooden box. Hay stuck out from under her, along with the shirt Luke had been wearing that morning.

  “You tucked her in.” Star felt touched but the sensitivity of this otherwise crude man.

  “It’s the least I could do for our Baby.”

  Our Baby. The words branded her soul. Somehow, she wondered if this was Luke’s way of subtly suggesting something else. She swallowed the lump in her throat as he gently squeezed her hand in his.

  Star turned her eyes upward and looked directly at him. A five o’clock shadow covered his jaw only causing him to look more manly than he did this morning. He pulled her closer and the hint of herbal soap drifted past her nose, reminding her of the incident in the shower.

  Womanizer. Jerk. Velvet’s words rang in her ears as Luke’s eyes focused upon her lips. He slowly raised her hand to his mouth instead of the kiss on the lips she expected. The scratchy stubble of his whiskers along with the softness of his lips brushed against her hand.

  He’s not a bad kisser. And good with his hands. Velvet’s words stuck in her head.

  “I’ll be sleeping with Isobelle tonight. I hope you’re not jealous,” he said and grinned.

  She yanked her hand away from him, remembering just how humiliated she was right now.

  “I’d rather be giving you rub downs instead of Isobelle,” he continued.

  “Ease up already, will you?” she spat. “Start behaving yourself and maybe, just maybe, I’ll agree to you sleeping inside the house tomorrow night instead of in the barn.”

  Luke nodded and strolled over to the lantern. He blew out the flame, leaving them in the dark.

  “I hear the guest room is right next to yours,” came his deep voice from right next to her.

  “I am well aware of where the guest room is, and don’t need you to remind me,” she replied. “You may have had good vision in shower steam, but I’ve got exceptionally good vision in the dark.” She stepped away just as he reached out to touch her.

  “I guess that’s a warning?”

  “You’d better get some sleep, Mr. Tyler. I hear movie stars start almost as early as we do around here. I’ll wake you up when I feed the pig if you’d like.”

  “Don’t bother with the wake-up call,” she heard Luke answer from somewhere in the dark. “I seem to have an aversion to leftover Texas chili so early in the morning.”

  Chapter 8

  “Tyler, get up, will you?” Brent kicked at Luke’s foot that was hanging over the side of the bale of hay.

  “Umph.” Luke hadn’t slept well in
his makeshift bed. The old sow was more comfortable than he was.

  “Luke! What’s the matter with you?” Brent reached out and shook his shoulder. Isobelle neighed and swished a fly with her tail. “We’re ready for the shoot, and you’ve missed breakfast.”

  Luke rolled over and scratched his armpit. He picked up his hat that had fallen to the ground and placed it on the bale. He then grabbed his boots from the floor. “You mean to tell me Twinkles didn’t give me a wake up call?” He pulled on his boots and stretched before he got to his feet.

  “Twinkles? What the hell are you talking about? Quit your jabbering because we’ve got a scene to shoot. We’re already behind schedule.”

  Luke blinked, rubbed his aching eyes, and picked a piece of straw from the waistband of his pants. “Just figured that little spitfire would have brought me breakfast in bed, that’s all.”

  “Tyler, what the hell happened to you? You look like a raccoon. Those bags under your eyes will take a fortune in makeup to cover up. I was hoping to hit budget by not using makeup for the outdoor scenes.”

  “Yeah, well, you have Ms. Brighton to thank for the condition of my face.”

  “Daisy did that to you?” asked Brent. “What happened? Did you have your feet on the table again or did you come in late for a meal?”

  “Neither.” Luke rummaged through his duffel bag that was thrown in the corner. He pulled out a clean black T-shirt and pulled it over his head. “Let’s just say I’m a Starstruck cowboy.”

  “Star?” Brent’s lips curled up and he stifled a laugh. “You mean to tell me that little thing did so much damage to you? I thought you were going to try to seduce her, not fight her.”