Boots and Bareback: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 3 (6 page)

Despite her vow to stay clear of the O’Briens except for her bachelor party commitment, Isabella ran into Tanner at the Sweet Temptations Diner two days later.

“Please, have lunch with me.” He held the door open for her, sun glinting off his green eyes, his sensuous lips almost breaking a smile.

Isabella sighed. “Okay, but it’s not a date.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded. “Just lunch between two friends.”

The waitress showed them to a table in the corner and Tanner held her chair for her. His mamma had taught him well how to behave around a woman.

How nice. Daniel never held her chair. For that matter, he’d rarely taken her out to dinner or lunch or even for a friggin’ cup of coffee.

Sitting across the table from the broad-shouldered Tanner, Isabella folded her hands in her lap, crossing her legs at the ankles, suddenly feeling more feminine than she had in a long time. More feminine than she had felt wearing the red bikini at the saloon the other night. And all that femininity made her body warm and excited.

She forced herself to relax and smile when she’d rather strip his shirt off and see what all that muscle looked like beneath the fabric. Squashing the image, she asked, “Why are you in town today? I’d think you’d be out working with the horses or cattle.”

He shifted in the chair, his tanned complexion taking on a ruddy tinge. “I had some…errands to run.” Tanner lifted his menu and studied it until the redness subsided.

“Did you come to town just to have lunch with me?”

His color deepened again and he sighed. “Was it that obvious?”

Isabella chuckled. “No, but I’m touched. I’m sure you have more important things to do than lurk around town, waiting for me to get out of bed in time for lunch.”

His brows dipped. “I wasn’t lurking. And how else was I going to get time alone with you?”

Cute. A big, tough cowboy embarrassed?

Isabella’s heart warmed. Not only was the man extremely drool-worthy, but a girl could fall for a guy like Tanner’s soft-spoken, quiet ways. He didn’t seem a bit egotistical or full of his own importance. He was just a good man. One worth loving, just like his brothers.

They spent lunch discussing the best way to train horses and hauling hay in the summer. When the waitress brought the bill, Isabella insisted on paying her half. “It’s not a date, remember?”

Tanner’s brows furrowed in a ready frown, giving him the appearance of a grouchy bear, making Isabella want to kiss away the lines on his forehead. Before she could act on her impulse, she slapped some money on the table and shoved out her hand. “Thanks for keeping me company,
friend
.”

When he grasped her hand, electric shocks skittered up her arm, spreading throughout her body.

“Would you consider going out with me?” he asked.

Friend
didn’t quite encompass the naughty thoughts Isabella had at that moment. She began to regret her self-imposed prohibition on the opposite sex. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. But thanks for asking.” She hustled out of the diner and headed for the little lingerie shop, Naughty Nothings, a couple doors down, ducking in before Tanner could follow.

“Hi, Isabella, can I help you?” Molly O’Brien touched her arm.

Isabella jerked upright, her cheeks burning. “I…uh…need…” She glanced around the store, realization sinking in that she was in a sexy shop, talking with the sister of the guys she’d been having crazy sexual fantasies about. “I’m just looking.”

Molly glanced past Isabella. “Oh, there’s Tanner, and look, there’s Gabe and Sean.” She waved through the window. “Yoo-hoo!”

Isabella ducked past Molly and hurried to the back of the store, glancing at the door through her peripheral vision.

All three men ducked into the tiny shop, filling it with their wide shoulders and utter maleness.

“About time you came in to check out my day job.” Molly hugged each of her brothers and then waved her hands toward the interior. “What do you think about my store?”

“Nice,” Sean said, his gaze going for Isabella. “Hi, Isabella.”

“Yeah, some pretty things in here.” Gabe fingered a pair of sheer panties.

Isabella waved from across the small room, heat suffusing every part of her body. Then she turned away and pretended to inspect the merchandise in front of her until she realized they were sexy teddies lined with faux fur, complete with fuzzy handcuffs to match.

“You boys better get out of here. You’re blocking the doorway.” Molly shooed them through the door.

Isabella let out the breath she’d been holding and took a really good look at the things she’d been pretending to study. “Holy crap, do women really wear this kinda stuff?”

“Oh, yes. I sell a lot of the red teddy and cuffs. And you wouldn’t believe who buys them.” Molly winked at Isabella. “I hear you’re the entertainment at my brother’s bachelor party. Were you looking for anything in particular for the event?”

“I…” Isabella stared around the shop, completely overwhelmed by all the pretty, sexy, naughty items. Her shoulders sagged. “I’m just a cowgirl. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Molly’s eyes lit and she slipped an arm around Isabella’s waist. “Well, honey, let me help.”

Out of her depth, Isabella let Molly take the lead. An hour later, she walked out of the store with a red-sequined bikini top and a matching vest and thong.

The thong had Isabella the most worried. How in hell was she going to strip to a thong in front of all those men? If they had any doubts walking into the saloon that she didn’t have the ass to jiggle, by the time they left, they’d be certain.

As she exited the store, she almost ran into Sean, leaning against the wall.

“Need some help?” He reached for the bag she carried.

Isabella jerked it back. “No. I don’t need help. What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d walk you home.”

“What is it about you O’Brien men that you can’t take no for an answer?”

He grinned. “We’re stubborn.” He leaned over her arm, peering into the bag. “Whatdya buy? Silk panties, edible underwear, stockings and garters?”

Despite his prying, he was too cute to be mad at. She wrinkled her brows. “Do I look like the stockings and garters kinda girl?” She glanced down at her jeans and cowboy boots.

Sean’s eyes lit. “Absolutely. I believe every woman has an inner vixen, begging to get out.”

“Only a man would say that.”

He shook his head. “Actually, I got that off my sister, Molly.” He cringed. “Although hearing her say it gave me the willies. She’s my baby sister, for God's sakes.”

Isabella laughed out loud and let him draw her free hand through his arm. “I didn’t say you could walk me home.”

“Ah, but you didn’t say I couldn’t.” He strode forward, smiling and confident.

Isabella could stand there and argue or go along with him. Either way, she needed to get home and start getting ready for work. If it meant walking with a handsome man on the sidewalk, so be it. Having other women give her envious stares was a novelty Isabella discovered that she enjoyed. Perhaps there was something to that inner vixen.

“How is it to be a middle child in the O’Brien family?” Isabella asked.

His eyes narrowed for a moment. “It can be challenging and yet easy. I don’t have the burden of being oldest and having to set the example for my other siblings, but I never take for granted the family name.” He shrugged. “I guess I’m more carefree than my brothers. Not that I don’t work just as hard.”

“I don’t doubt that in the least.” Isabella squeezed his muscle, enjoying how thick and hard it was, her thoughts going to the bulge behind his fly, her gut tightening. She wondered if he was thick and hard all over. His youth and enthusiasm would make him a lot of fun in bed. That thought immediately led to the other brothers. Were they as thick and hard all over? Would they satisfy her in bed?

She let go of his arm and nodded toward her apartment building. “I can take it from here.”

“Better yet, I’ll race you there.”

“Your legs are longer.”

“You can have a head start.” His green eyes twinkled. “Ready? Go!”

Caught up in Sean’s playfulness and eager to be away from temptation, Isabella tore out, running for her apartment.

Halfway down the block, Sean passed her and stopped on the steps.

When Isabella slowed to a halt, Sean swung her up in his arms, laughing.

“That’s what I like about you, Isabella,” he said as he set her back on her feet, his arm retaining its hold around her waist.

Breathless, Isabella smiled up at him. “What’s that?”

“That you’re fearless. You aren’t afraid of anything.”

Her smile faded. “I have to go.”

Sean frowned. “So soon? Do you need me to carry your bag upstairs for you?” He pulled her close, his fly rubbing against hers, reminding her of how much he turned her on, as well as of the fact that she was anything but fearless about one thing. And that one thing had her petrified.

“I really need to go.” She ducked beneath his arms and took the steps two at a time, pushing through the door to her apartment building.

God, she was a fool to think she could play with fire. Getting involved with the O’Brien men would only burn her.

Chapter Four

Isabella ducked into the storeroom the following Friday night at fifteen minutes to midnight, escaping the noise, yelling and sloshed drinks. Tonight, after the bar closed early at the unheard-of hour of midnight, she’d perform for the bachelor party. Her costume of the sequined red bikini top with a matching thong bottom, the sequined vest and glossy, black faux-leather chaps hung in the room behind the stage.

The Gray Wolf brothers stood ready to move the mechanical horse onto the stage once the band cleared out. All the music they needed would be provided by the open juke box, rigged to play for free after the regulars left.

For Isabella, the week had flown by. Everywhere she’d turned, an O’Brien had been there, wooing her, bringing her flowers, leaving chocolates and notes at her doorstep. What would it take to get rid of them?

She couldn’t start something with any one of the brothers without turning the others down. And they were all so darned charming and good-looking, she couldn’t decide which she liked most.

Not that it mattered. Isabella Severs wasn’t in the market for a man. No matter how sexy he was or how aroused she became when any one of the O’Brien men were around. She’d spent too many sleepless nights already fantasizing about Gabe. Problem was that she fantasized over Tanner and Sean, as well. How wrong was that? Couldn’t she dream about one man alone? Sometimes she made love with just one at a time, but ultimately, all three ended up in her bed in her dreams, pleasuring her, wooing her with their hands, their tongues and other parts of their anatomy. And every time, she startled awake, tears in her eyes when the apparitions shook their heads, disappointed that she couldn’t come, no matter how hard they tried.

Isabella couldn’t bear to open herself up to failure. She’d even considered going to a doctor to have him check her over. Maybe her orgasm muscle was defective. The humiliation of discussing her sex life with the local doctor paled in comparison to failure to attain the female equivalent of
getting off
in the presence of the handsome cowboys.

No matter how horny she was getting, or how handsome the men were, she couldn’t…no, she
wouldn’t
put herself through that mortification again.

However, the flowers, notes and sweets had been so nice. And all three of the men had been complete gentlemen, courting her the old-fashioned way.

Maybe that was another one of her problems. Maybe she needed less gentlemanly behavior. That way if she did happen to sleep with one of them again, he wouldn’t notice if she didn’t orgasm. He’d get in, get out, satisfying his own urges, never minding that he hadn’t satisfied hers. She could deal with that better than being singled out for inability to perform.

“Five minutes to showtime,” Greta Sue’s voice boomed through the back of the saloon.

Isabella’s breathing grew more labored, and her heart raced, pain ripping through her chest each time she inhaled. Good lord, was she having a heart attack?

She pressed a hand to her ribs and doubled over.

A gentle hand smoothed her hair back from her face. “Are you all right?”

Isabella glanced up into Audrey’s concerned face. “I can’t seem to get enough air.”

Audrey smiled and handed her a paper lunch bag. “Breathe into this.”

Her brow furrowing, Isabella shook her head and gasped. “I told you, I can’t breathe.”

“Try.” Audrey shoved the bag over Isabella’s mouth. “In with the good air, out with the bad,” she chanted, repeating the phrase several times.

Audrey’s persistence and softly spoken words had a gradual effect on Isabella and soon her breathing returned to normal, the pain in her chest receding. Finally, she straightened. “Thank God. I thought I was going to die.”

“That’s how I felt the first time I stripped.”

“Does it get any easier?”