Cowboys In Her Pocket (7 page)

“You’ll all have a piece only after you eat a nutritious breakfast,” JJ said with a firmness that conveyed to her men that when it came to food she was firmly in charge.

JJ didn’t miss the odd questioning look on Blue’s face. Oh dear, in the way Blue had suddenly blushed before, she was getting the idea that Blue might have heard them or maybe even seen the three of them down here having sex early this morning.

It would certainly explain how Blue had acted first thing this morning when she’d come downstairs. A little nervous. Distracted. Avoiding eye contact, just like she was doing now.

JJ believed Blue had been disturbed by the storm and hadn’t slept much and that’s why she’d been a bit off, but as the day progressed Blue had returned to acting her normal self.

She hoped that Blue didn’t get any inkling of what truly went on beneath this roof. The last thing she wanted was for gossip to circulate that she was sleeping with not only with one of her bosses, but all three of them.

After agreeing that Rafe and Brady would do a quick check on the cows and the secure the outbuildings, the two guys hurried outdoors. In the meantime, JJ supplied some pillows and blankets for Blue, who nestled on the armchair beside where Dan lay on the couch. Then she cleaned up the dishes before meeting Rafe and Brady at the bottom of the stairs half an hour later.

Both men were quiet and solemn as they ascended the stairs with her. When they reached her bedroom Brady asked her if she would feel better spending the night with either of them tonight.

She would have, but with Blue being in the house and the guys and herself needing sleep, she knew if she climbed into bed with one or both of them, sleep would be hard to come by.

JJ shook her head.

“I’m fine. See you in the morning.”

Before she could slip into her room, Brady grabbed her by the elbow, stopping her cold. His eyes flashed with an edge of anger, but there was also a tender softness.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier, JJ. It’s just—”

“He gets that way when he cares,” Rafe interrupted with a firm glare. “Now let the woman go so she can get some sleep.”

Brady nodded. But she could tell by his anxious gaze that Brady wanted to discuss this matter some more. Thankfully, Rafe smacked Brady’s ass and Brady chased Rafe down the hall. Rafe laughed wildly as he slammed the door shut with a bang before Brady could catch him.

Before Brady could turn around and come back down the hallway to go downstairs to his room, JJ took that moment to slip quietly into her room, closing the door behind her. She didn’t lock it. She never did. She knew she’d be safe with her men home. She also knew it was going to be a long night of worry for Dan.

* * * * *

“Are they always like that?” Blue asked as Dan watched her settle into her armchair. He knew why she’d picked that spot. From her perch, she could keep an eye on the living room windows as well as watch Dan. Not that he was anticipating any problems. He was actually feeling better after having two cups of coffee and four brownies. No use in telling Blue about his progress. She was kind of like JJ, a strict, no-arguments type of girl.

“Like what?” Dan feigned ignorance.

“So rowdy. And so…loving…with JJ.”

Blue suddenly clammed up, but Dan didn’t miss the rosy cheeks that suddenly bloomed again.

“I sense you want to say something else?” he prodded.

Despite the pain thumping into his brain, he enjoyed how she shifted uneasily. She shook her head and her hands knitted tightly in the blanket she’d tossed over herself, despite it being pretty warm in here. He should tell her to turn on the ceiling fans, but he was suddenly feeling sleepy.

He usually felt that way after a late-night coffee, despite the caffeine rolling through his veins or maybe this time he was a bit more tired because of the added bonus of having his head bashed in this morning.

But Dan knew what Blue was thinking. She thought something was going on between JJ and either Brady or Rafe. He wondered if she could even guess it was much more. He doubted JJ had told her anything. It wasn’t something a woman would go bragging about. Besides, they barely knew each other.

“How’s your daughter?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

Blue brightened immediately.

“Ivy is absolutely the most beautiful baby girl in the world. And she’s grown so much since you last saw her.”

Dan laughed. “Considering she was born five months ago. You should bring her by.”

Blue shook her head.

“She’s still too young. When she’s older. Lord knows I don’t want her to become a bush pilot like her mom. If I take her flying too much, she’ll catch the flying bug.”

Dan caught a shot of sadness simmering in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t you want her to be a bush pilot? We need more of them up here. It’s such an important job. We rely a lot on North Country Air to deliver our mail and other things we need.”

“And it’s a very dangerous job, too. You never know if you’ll run into bad weather or engine trouble and if you do, there’s not too many safe places to make a landing.”

“Yeah, but people get killed just walking across the road or driving to work in the cities,” Dan said and then he yawned.

Blue frowned. “True, but I was thinking of giving up being in the air for long periods of time and putting down roots like you guys did. Starting my own ranch is what I’ve been thinking about for so long. I was wondering if maybe I could pick your brains maybe some time. Give me pointers?”

“Sure, no problem. I know of a few abandoned ranches that are up for sale. It’s not an easy life.

Plenty of people head up here with grand hopes and realize you really have your work cut out just to survive. But you know that with being a flyer. When you’re ready, just give us the word and we can sit down and help you get started. I know the place just north of us, on the next lake, has been up for sale for years. Although it is a hundred miles away. So maybe an hour, give or take, depending on your speed from here to there.”

Blue smiled. “I’d like that. I really would like to try a ranch maybe with sheep.”

Dan laughed. “Sheep?”

She frowned. “What? Not good?”

“Hell, I’m not familiar with sheep. Lamb chops on the supper table sounds delicious. Not to mention all that wool you can get from them. You’d need to research which breed can handle the cold winters up north here.” He couldn’t stop himself from yawning again.

Man, he really was tired.

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“My sister, Jenna, runs Cowboys Online, in case you need some help. She can get you a cowboy or two to help around your ranch.”

“Sounds good,” Blue said with a nod and a smile. He noticed her cheeks redden again. Wow, this was interesting. He’d never seen her blush so many times in one day.

“Are you sleepy?” she asked softly.

Dan nodded and sunk his aching head into the cozy pillow.

Blue switched off the lamp on the nearest table and the room plunged into darkness. It took him a minute before his eyes adjusted to the moonlight that splashed in through the windows.

He yawned again.

“So, what about the baby’s father? Is he going to help you start the ranch?”

Blue visibly stiffened.

Oops, he’d stepped on her toes. Time to back-pedal and make things nice.

“Sorry, none of my business. This knock on my head seems to have loosened my tongue.” He lifted his hand and with his fingers made a “zip it” motion across his mouth.

She relaxed and leaned against her perch. A wistful smile whispered across her lips.

Blue hesitated and then she continued. “He’s not in the picture. It’s complicated.”

He didn’t question her further. Again, none of his business. But he wondered what kind of man wouldn’t be involved in his baby’s life. He would, if he were a dad. He’d never leave his kid, no matter what. Which reminded him, he needed to give his mom and dad a phone call one of these days. Just to say how much he loved them.

He closed his eyes.

“I’m thinking you’d better sleep, Dan. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours.”

Blue’s soft voice settled in around him like a warm blanket.

He slept.

The next day proved busy for JJ. Blue was kind enough to help with breakfast, some chores she had to do, and then she also helped JJ get lunch ready for the guys. Dan was awake and seemed alert, despite admitting to a continuing headache and some dizziness. Blue didn’t appear concerned, but JJ was thankful when she volunteered to stay until late afternoon.

It was fun having another woman around. While Blue helped her with the laundry and then in the garden planting some seeds, they chatted about Blue’s daughter, the latest in fashions and then Blue’s plans to start a sheep ranch.

Blue was so lucky. She had a baby she adored and now she was thinking about getting her very own piece of land.

Freedom of owning a plane and having some of her own land would make JJ incredibly

delirious with happiness. Not that she wasn’t already very happy with her three cowboys. She truly was thrilled to have three men in her bed.

JJ had been pardoned from a prison sentence that had hung like a guillotine over her head for years, and now she could go anywhere she wanted. But she wanted to stay here. Yet she wanted something else too. Something that she could achieve on her own and claim just for herself…like learning how to fly.

JJ had been saving her money from the generous wages she received from her sexy bosses. Yet she didn’t think she could afford to rent a plane, let alone buy land just to live out some foolish need for independence. She seriously needed to keep herself in reality and stop with her fantasizing. But wow, it sure was fun having dreams rolling around in her head.

With Blue’s assurance that she believed Dan would be fine, and leaving them a small list of possible symptoms to look out for, Brady, Rafe, Blue and JJ left Dan asleep on the couch and went outdoors. Late afternoon brought bright streaks of sunshine skipping across the white-capped waves, making it appear as if someone had tossed lines of glittering jewels onto the lake.

The sight was breathtaking, and as Blue’s floatplane roared over the rough waters, they waved goodbye to her and watched as her brilliant-blue plane soared into the dark azure, cloudless sky.

Blue did a funny dipping wave with her plane wings and then disappeared over the tree line.

With Rafe and Brady standing beside her on the dock, JJ stared at the sky were Blue had gone.

That familiar urge for freedom surged through her. To just hop into a plane and go were she wanted was something she could almost taste. Over the winter months, she’d dreamed of the idea of becoming a pilot like Kelly and Blue, but with her anxiety issues, she’d never pondered on that subject for too long. Although her panic attacks had lessened until recently, she still anticipated having attacks. Her anticipatory anxiety prevented her from following through on her dreams.

Even though she’d told Blue that she hadn’t spent much time reading the self-help books Kelly had brought on the subject of panic attacks and anxiety, JJ actually had done a little bit of online research in some of her spare time. Yet she still couldn’t get the nerve up to take the plunge to help herself diminish her anxiety issues and learn to become a pilot, especially after learning that part about exposure therapy.

How in the world could she actually confront her fears to conquer them? The thought of doing so, terrified her.

But maybe she would.

Maybe someday.

“What’s got you smiling so widely, JJ?” Brady asked as he slipped his arm around her waist and held her close. JJ trembled at his tender yet firm touch. Moaned softly as Rafe suddenly leaned in and kissed her neck, then cupped her left breast.

“I know what she’s smiling about. She wants what we all missed last night,” Rafe growled.

Excitement toned his voice and lust shone intensely in his eyes.

“I didn’t miss any of you last night,” JJ teased. She suddenly wanted the two of them to make love to her.

“Here,” she whispered. “Fuck me here.”

Rafe moaned against her neck and squeezed her breast.

“Your wish is our command, our beautiful highness. We missed you like crazy last night,”

Rafe whispered.

“More than crazy. And because I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid, I am always prepared,”

Brady said as he let go of her.

JJ laughed as Brady removed a couple of condoms from his shirt pocket and placed the packages on the armrest of one of the several Adirondack chairs they’d brought out of storage earlier this spring and had set on the large dock. Then he dipped his hand into his back pocket, and to JJ’s surprise, he brought out a small pocket-size tube of lube.

“Oh my God, you guys set me up. You planned this.” She laughed as the two men feigned gasps of mock horror.

Then Rafe quickly unbuttoned his shirt.

“More like insanely missed you,” Rafe murmured as both men quickly unbuttoned their shirts and then slid them off. She inhaled as muscles bunched in the men’s biceps and their chests. The dipping sunshine sprayed a golden hue over their tanned bodies and incredible sensations —

excitement, need, hunger — they seared into her as she watched them remove their pants.

With the backdrop of the sparkling lake and the distant dark forest, and the foreground of two primal and now very naked men stroking large erections, JJ couldn’t stop the weakness of submission from humming over her. Suddenly nothing mattered but having both of them

touching her, kissing her, loving her.

Rafe stepped in front of her and reached out. She inhaled as he efficiently popped the buttons through the buttonholes, then slipped JJ’s blouse off her shoulders. He dropped her garment onto the dock. Then Brady undid the back clasp of her bra, removing it and allowing her breasts to spill free.

Rafe’s head lowered. He palmed her breasts. Squeezing them together, he licked her nipples, creating sparks of pleasure. Then he sucked her right one into his mouth, his lips drawing the quickly hardened peak between his sharp teeth, creating a gasping pleasure-pain JJ loved. She moaned into the heat of his mouth and whimpered as Brady drew her pants and panties down her legs. She lifted one foot and then the other, stepping out of them.