What a Man Needs. Patricia Thayer

can’t promise that I’ll get on a horse, Kelly, but I’ll talk to her.”

      Cynthia stood and made her way across the room. She told herself she was crazy to do this, but her heart still raced. Her attraction to this man was not to be denied. As she got closer, that thought was the only thing that kept her from running in the other direction. That and his eyes were a brilliant, mesmerizing blue. His smile, she noticed, was slightly off center, only adding to his appeal. Her knees weakened as he stood up and pulled out the stool next to his.

      She sat down. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.

      Patrick had been crazy to encourage this woman. Any minute his sister could walk in and he would have to end things. And he definitely wanted to spend time with this tall, gorgeous woman.

      “Hi, yourself. I haven’t seen you in here before,” he said, wishing he could come up with something more clever.

      She leaned in close so he could hear her, and he caught a whiff of her intoxicating perfume. “I’m from out of town,” she offered as she stuck out her slender hand. “I’m Cyndi.”

      He clasped her small palm in his and immediately felt a warm, sexual charge. He nearly forgot his name. “Patrick.”

      Again she leaned in and gave a smile that had him forgetting everything. “Nice to meet you, Patrick.”

      He didn’t release her hand, liking how it fitted into his. She didn’t seem to object. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” Suddenly his ringing cell phone broke the spell. “Excuse me.” He pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was his sister. Great, this woman not only made him forget his name but his sister. “Where are you?”

      “That’s what I’m calling about, Patrick. I had a flat tire.”

      “Tell me where you are and I’ll come and fix it.”

      “No, it’s already done. I did it myself. But I’m a mess so I’m on my way back to my apartment. I know you have a long drive back to the ranch, so I didn’t want to hold you up.”

      “I thought you needed to talk.”

      “I do, but tomorrow’s Saturday, so I’ll just come out to the ranch and we’ll talk then. Is that okay?”

      Patrick looked over his shoulder at the sexy redhead beside him. “Sure. I’ll look forward to it.”

      “Patrick, I’m going to be bringing along a friend and…I want you to keep an open mind.”

      Suddenly Cyndi’s body brushed against him as she made room for more people at the bar. He felt a stirring in his gut and he had to work to keep focused on what Nora was saying. “So I’ll see you then. As you can tell, Morgan’s is noisy as usual.” He said good-bye and pocketed the phone.

      Cyndi’s dark, questioning gaze met his. “Your wife?”

      He shook his head. “My sister. I’m not married. How about you?”

      Smiling, she shook her head and it nearly did him in. There was no way in hell he was going to let her slip away. He tilted his head toward hers to say something, but suddenly the jukebox came to life with another song and patrons raised their voices to be heard. “How long will you be in town?”

      She shrugged. “About ten days,” she shouted. “I’m visiting my sister.” She nodded toward the woman at the table. This was perfect. Maybe they could spend some time together while Cynthia was in Portland.

      “What do you say we go some place where we can hear ourselves talk?” He found he was holding his breath waiting for an answer.

      “Do you know of such a place?”

      Hell, he hadn’t done anything like this in years. “There’s a quiet lounge just down the street at the Grand Hotel. We could walk there from here.”

      Amazing herself, Cynthia nodded in agreement. Now she just had to convince Kelly that she was perfectly sane. “Just let me tell my sister where I’ll be.”

      She walked back to the table to find her sister wasn’t alone. Two men were seated with her and she seemed engrossed in conversation. Cynthia took her aside. “Would you mind if I go and have a quiet drink with Patrick?”

      “Cyndi, you don’t have to ask for permission. Besides, he’s sexy as hell. It’s about time you had some fun.”

      Cynthia blushed. “We’re just going to the lounge at the Grand Hotel.”

      “Then go for it. Nora just called and apologized for not being here. She had car trouble. So we rescheduled for tomorrow, and she wants us to come out to her family’s ranch. She insists if anyone can help you with your fear of horses, it’s her brother.” Kelly cocked an eyebrow. “That means I’m coming by your hotel early.”

      Cynthia didn’t want to talk about her fears or her fading career now. “Fine, then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She walked to the door and to Patrick. Tonight she wanted to get lost in this cowboy’s eyes.

      Patrick walked through the front door of the historic hotel, following close behind his beautiful date. He’d been to the bar here before, and it was still pretty lively, though a lot quieter than Friday night at Morgan’s Pub.

      What he wanted mostly was to find somewhere he could be alone with Cyndi. But the tall, statuesque beauty seemed to draw stares everywhere and she seemed almost shy with the attention. Once inside the lounge, he directed her to a small table in the corner where the light was dim and they could talk without shouting at each other.

      He ordered her a glass of wine, and he had another beer. The sound of jazz came through the speakers, but they could at least carry on a conversation. Once the drinks arrived, Patrick had lost his thirst for a cold beer. He wanted Cyndi, and when her hot gaze locked with his, he had no doubt she wanted the same. She leaned forward and whispered, “So, where do we go from here, Patrick?”

      Patrick’s eyes never left hers as he closed the short distance between them and covered her mouth with his. Intoxicating. Sweet. Tempting. They were the words that described this woman. Finally he broke off the kiss.

      “I think I should just call you Cyn. As in pure sin. That’s what you are. And you’ve been driving me crazy since you walked into Morgan’s.”

      “Well, stop wasting time and just kiss me—” The last of her words were swallowed as he captured her mouth once again. This time he ran his tongue over her lips, then delved inside to taste her, mimicking what he wanted to do to her. He released her and sucked much-needed air into his lungs as his lips moved to her ear to nibble. Feeling her shiver, he then returned to her incredible mouth. “I want you.”

      The sound of laughter caused them to break off the kiss, and Cyndi buried her head against his neck and whispered, “We just can’t seem to find any place to be alone. Maybe we should go upstairs.”

      Patrick froze momentarily as Cyndi raised her head, her whiskey-brown eyes showing her desire. “Oh, baby, don’t tease, I want you too badly.”

      “I’m not teasing.” She ran her fingers over his chest. “I want you to make love to me.”

      “Give me ten minutes to make the arrangements.” Patrick kissed her quickly, then pulled away. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

      Patrick had no idea what he’d done to deserve this night, he thought as he handled the check-in. He quickly stopped by the hotel gift shop and picked up some protection. He might be out of his mind for this woman, but he wasn’t crazy. Yes, he was. That was the only thing that explained his impulsive actions, but when he walked back to the lobby to find Cyndi standing by the elevators, all rational thoughts disappeared from his head.

      Silently, they rode up to the sixth floor, then got off. Patrick took her hand and laced it with his, and together they walked down the long hall, her body brushing against his and causing an unbearable tingling. Suddenly he pulled her into the ice-machine alcove and