Lipstick and Leather: Three Sexy Cowboys, Three Sexy Tales by Cheyenne McCray Page B

way he had looked at her, had told her how much he loved her.
    Those same blue eyes that had once looked at her with caring were now narrowed as recognition flashed in them. As they grew cold and angry, heat rushed to her cheeks. His features were hard, no softness at all in his expression.
    He released her arm and touched the brim of his hat as if he was politely greeting someone he didn’t know. “Ma’am,” he said again and started to move past her.
    “Gray.” She said it loud and firm enough that he stopped and turned to look at her. “Hi,” she added more softly.
    Conflicting emotions flickered across his face. She could tell he wanted to be angry with her but was battling the same memories that were attacking her.
    “Is that it?” Gray hitched the bag of grain up higher on his shoulder. “I need to be getting back to the ranch.”
    “I hear you’re married.” Susan tried to keep her expression calm and to hide her disappointment that he wasn’t free.
    He just studied her and said nothing.
    She took a deep breath. “I had planned to stop by and see you.”
    “You’re nine years too late for that.” His words were hard and she almost flinched. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Suze.”
    The pain his words caused had tears pushing at the backs of her eyes. “Can I at least explain? I had a good reason for not taking your calls when I returned to Dallas. Please believe me.”
    “I need to get back to the ranch.” He started to take another step.
    “Wait.” She dug in her purse, searching for a scrap of paper and a pen. She found one of her business cards and wrote her number on the back. She handed the card to him. “That’s my cell number. Call me if you change your mind and want to hear what happened that summer.” He took the card from her outstretched hand and glanced at the number before pocketing it.
    “Not likely,” he said before touching the brim of his hat again and turning away.
    Pain she hadn’t expected to feel crawled up her throat and almost released the tears building inside her. She managed to hold them back as she watched him walk to a work truck and throw the sack of feed over the tailgate before climbing into the cab.
    He headed out of town and never looked back.

    Ah, hell.
    The shock of seeing Susan after all of these years had caught him off guard. The pain had been sharp and swift, slicing into his heart like one of his best carving knives.
    He shouldn’t have said what he did. He could tell that he’d hurt her and she’d been about ready to cry. He’d reacted like a wounded animal, growling and snapping at anything that even came close.
    Gray pulled the truck over to the side of the road just inside the gates to his ranch. The truck rattled over the rough shoulder before he stopped and put it in park. He stared in the direction of Sally Fairfield’s ranch that butted up against his eastern fence line about a mile down the road.
    Susan was likely staying with her aunt, which was too damn close. As far as he knew, Susan hadn’t been back to visit since the summer they met…when he was nineteen and she was eighteen. They hadn’t been more than kids, but they’d both done a lot of growing up while she was here.
    She’d left abruptly with nothing more than a note: I can’t see you anymore. Please, don’t try and reach me. Please trust that I love you and I always will .
    After refusing to take his phone calls or responding to his emails for a month, he’d given up.
    He always figured she’d found another boyfriend and had moved on.
    His temples throbbed and he rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger, and thought about the way she had looked. Her blond hair had been soft around her face, her big green eyes begging him to listen. She still had curves in all the right places, generous and beautiful, but she had matured and had a more confident air about her.
    He shoved his hand in his front pocket and pulled out her card and studied it. The card had her