Double Your Pleasure Bundle (5 page)

"I'm not angry. I just want to dance. It's obvious that I'm not going to get to if I stay out here with you two."

"That's not it, I can tell. Are you one of those women who say 'nothing' when their man asks them what's wrong, even though they know damn well what he did wrong?"

Hearing him say 'when their man asks what's wrong' shot an odd, warm heat through my body. Like I'd ever be able to call a cowboy like Scott my man.

I countered with, "Wow, you just like to put people on the spot don't you?"

"No, not people. Just you, it seems. I like to watch you squirm. Making you squirm does strange things to me, Grace. Ok, so you don't want to tell us why you are angry. That's fine. So let's dance instead."

I let him lead me inside, as Adam trailed behind us.

As the three of us entered the dance hall, I kept my eyes facing forward, but I could feel most everyone inside note our arrival. Ok, maybe not everyone, but damn near every woman.

Young and old, feminine eyes followed our every step as Scott pulled me toward the dance floor. Adam peeled off, finding a place to lean on the rail surrounding the dance floor, and flagging down a waitress.

The hand holding my wrist raised, and he slid his palm against mine instead, his other arm wrapping around my waist. He started to move to the sounds of the music the band was playing.

He was surprisingly good.

My steps fell easily into the rhythm he set, and as he realized that I actually could dance, instead of doing that sway thing some girls liked to do, his two-step got more intricate. He danced me all around the small floor as Adam watched with a grin.

He spun with me, holding me close.

Our steps were small, since the dance floor was so crowded.

His leg slid smoothly between mine as he led us into a turn.

"Is he drunk?" I was trying to think of anything to say at this point. Anything to keep my mind off of his strong thigh working between my bare legs.

My skirt had risen some as we danced, and if he pulled me just the slightest bit closer his Wrangler clad thigh would be rubbing against my thin panties with each and every step we took.

"Adam? No, not really. Well, maybe just the slightest bit. His prized bull won a shit load of cash today, and he felt that it would be rude to turn down all of the congratulatory shots handed to him a bit ago. He's fine, though. More tired than tipsy. My guess is that he'll nurse a beer for a while. He won't pass out or anything, I promise."

"Oh, good."

"Why are you angry?"

"I told you, I'm not..."

The look Scott shot me said that it didn't matter what followed, he wasn't going to believe me.

"I'm not angry. Really. I'm just..."

"What? You can tell me."

"It's stupid."

"Tell me anyway, please."

He spun me again as the song started to come to an end. As the last notes spilled out into the night he surprised me by dipping me.

He held me tight, but we came out of that last spin and I suddenly found myself tipped backward in his arms as he dipped me, just like they did in those old movies.

For a second I thought he was going to kiss me, right out there on the packed floor, with his brother looking on. But he raised me back up again, and held me close, facing him.

I blurted it out before I could stop myself.

"You didn't call."

"Was I supposed to?"

"You said you wanted to see me again, but you never called."

"Actually, what I said was, "Keep an open mind, Grace. I'll see you later.""

"And yet you wonder why I thought you'd call?"

He smiled a slow smile, practically melting my panties even as my pride warred with my libido. I was not the type of girl to whine about a guy not calling her. But then again, I'd never felt like I did around Scott, either.

"I've been out of town. I had to take a few of the old, retired horses across Texas to the Swingin' D Dude Ranch so they could live the rest of their lives out as dude ranch horses."

I couldn't help it, I interrupted.

"Seriously? Someone really named a dude ranch 'The Swingin' D?'"

He laughed.

"Yes. It's run by the Dickerson's, and the name fits them in more ways than one, but I won't get into all that here. I actually meant to call you when I got back, but two things occurred to me.

One, I realized that I didn't have your number. They only way I knew to get ahold of you was to call the vet clinic, and I wasn't sure you would appreciate that, since more often than not that number gets forwarded to wherever your dad is at the time.

And secondly, I hoped to see you here tonight.

Does your admission mean that you've been thinking about me? About Adam?"

The band started up again, and Scott danced us back over by his brother, so my eyes shot to Adam when Scott mentioned him.

He was watching us, leaning against the railing, just an arm's reach or so away from us. He didn't look drunk anymore, he looked like Scott had said, very tired.

If I'd been a little reluctant to admit that I was disappointed that Scott hadn't called, I was even more reluctant to admit that Adam's kiss had also taken up way too much space in my mind this past week.

I mean, all I knew of him was one quick kiss when I thought he was his brother, and his teasing words when he first called out to me in the parking lot. Of course, I didn't know much more about Scott either, come to think of it.

But it seemed to me that if Scott was a mystery, Adam was a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

"Time for me to cut in?"

Adam's question sent shivers through my body, even as Scott still held me close.

The smartest thing for me to do right now would be to thank Scott for the dance, and disappear into the safety of the crowd with a thanks-but-no-thanks aimed at Adam.

As I opened my mouth to answer, quite uncertain of what my actual response was really going to be, I heard similar words again.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Only this time they weren't Adam's words sending shivers up my spine. They were Jake's.

Chapter 2

Adam

I saw Grace stiffen when Red asked to cut in. For a minute there, I thought she was going to say no.

She wanted to, I could tell. But after a quick, almost panicked glance between me and Scott, she said, "Sure, Jake," and she let him lead her into the middle of the dance floor, away from the outer edge where Scott and I stood, staring at each other in surprise.

Scott spoke first, "Hell, I didn't know Red had a real name. I guess he goes by Jake, when he's not being an ass riding a bull."

I just nodded.

We'd met a lot of cowboys over the years at the local rodeos and we'd seen why they called him Red up close and personal a few times.

He didn't have red hair. He was as blonde as could be, so you'd almost think it was one of those ironic nicknames, like when they call a fat guy Tiny or something, but you'd be wrong.

He was called Red because any time he drank too much, his fair complexion flamed up all red and heated, as did his temper.

"She didn't seem to want to dance with him," I noted to my brother.

"But she did accept."

"Aye, she did."

We kept catching glimpses of the pair as they danced uncomfortably in the center of the floor.

They weren't speaking, just swaying, mostly, as he kept looking like he wanted to say something he couldn't quite get out. His mouth occasionally opened and closed, like a fish out of water.

Either he wasn't actually speaking, or he was, but she was ignoring his words completely as she looked off over his shoulder. It was hard to tell with all the loud music.

"My understanding is that when he's not drinking and being an ass, he's rather... what did that one lady say? Oh yes, charming. I've heard the buckle bunnies comparing notes about how he is in the sack."

"Hmmm," I answered. "His face is a normal color tonight, so he doesn't seem to be drinking. But she doesn't seem to be enjoying his charm, does she? Poor thing. She's already nervous as hell about the two of us. And now there seems to be third man vying for her hand."

"First off, her hand is not what I'm after, and secondly, there's no way in hell I'll share her with
him.
"

Scott's words were teasing on the surface, but I knew my brother well. He was pissed.

"Well, if that's who she wants, I hope she's happy," he said.

"Does she look happy to you?"

"Then why would she go off with him?"

"She didn't 'go off' with anyone. We're in a dancehall, she got asked to dance, Scott. That's all."

I was quite sure that my brother already saw Grace as ours, and he didn't like people messing with those he considered to be ours, especially when they didn't look like they were enjoying being messed with.

He was fiercely loyal and protective of anyone who managed to get under his skin, whether they were family, or friends that became just like family, and I could tell that Grace had already gotten under his skin.

He considered her ours, in the protective way, not the possessive, even though she had yet to agree.

I could tell that behind all of his 'I hope she's happy,' blustering was what he really wanted to do- go cut back in on the dance, and claim Grace as his woman in front of everyone here. Probably with a passionate, showy kiss right there in the middle of God and everybody.

"She's not interested in him, Scott. That much is obvious," I said as I watched Grace try to pull away from Red at the end of the song.

She turned to walk off of the dance floor after the song ended. Even though it looked like he never really said a word to her the whole time they danced, his hand shot out and grabbed Grace by the arm when she turned to go.

She whirled back to face him, saying something that looked along the lines of 'Don't you dare,' or 'Let me go.'

Whatever she said when she whirled on him made the words he'd been holding back finally pour free from his mouth.

From the pinched look on his face as he spat the words at her, and the literally open-mouthed reaction on Grace's face, his words were anything but charming.

I felt Scott stiffen up beside me, and the two of us were all set to barge onto that dance floor and show Red what he could do with the meaty paw he still had on Grace, when we saw something in Grace change.

She closed her mouth, her head rose high, and her shoulders straightened up as she took a step closer to him and yelled something into his ear as the band started up loudly again.

As she spoke, her eyebrows rose high on her forehead and it looked like she was telling him where to stick it all by herself, and in a way that even from way over here, looked like she damn well meant it.

Then she pulled her arm from his grip with a jerk and backed up a step, narrowing her eyes at him, like she was just daring him to say or do anything else.

When he didn't, her jaw clenched and she nodded a dismissive nod at him before turning on her heel and walking off the dance floor, the crowd parting before her to let her by.

The large handful of people who'd seen the obvious confrontation looked from Grace's back, to Red's shocked and stony face, and then shot a look over toward Scott and I before swinging back to watch Red storm off of the dance floor in the opposite direction from the way Grace had gone.

"That's my girl! Damn, did I not tell you there was passion behind those eyes? Fuck! That made me kind of hard just watching her."

I rolled my eyes and said, "How about you pull your caveman shit another time, and help me keep an eye on this guy tonight, huh Scott?"

"Oh, I intend to. Red isn't the type to take being dressed down by a woman very well. We haven't seen the last of him."

"Shit."

"What?"

"Grace. She was just stopped by a guy and a girl. She seemed to know them, she told the woman something, and then the woman offered Grace her shot, with a 'men suck' shake to her head."

"And? She probably needs to blow off some steam with a friend after what just happened," Scott said.

"I agree. But then she also grabbed the shot the guy was holding, downed it too, gave them both a quick hug, and headed out to the parking lot."

"Shit is right. You follow Grace, make sure she's OK and doesn't drive, and I'll see if I can find Red and make sure he isn't up to anything."

"My thoughts exactly, brother. Call me if you need me."

Scott just nodded an acknowledgement that he heard me, as he was already in search mode, looking the crowd over for Red.

I started weaving my way through the same crowd, in pursuit of Grace.

I found her minutes later, near my truck, cussing up a storm and kicking the shit out of my tires with the sole of her boot.

At least she was smart enough not to kick with her toes,
I thought.
As revved up as she looks, she'd probably break one.

"Grace, are you alright?"

"What? Yes. No! Did you see that asshole grab my arm? And then to say what he said? He's lucky I didn't kick
him.
I need to blow off some steam. Is this your truck? One of your trucks? You two were standing here earlier, I just assumed. Can we go somewhere?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care. Anywhere. I just need to get out of here. I just need to...something. I don't know. Oh! I do know! I know exactly what I need. Kiss me, please. Kiss me like you did in the barn. Kiss me til I forget my name again, please."

"I can't."

"You can't? Why not? Shit, was that too forward? I know I keep saying that I don't normally jump in with both feet, but it doesn't look like that, does it? It's true, though. There is just something about you that brings out this crazy, needy, fuck the world and its consequences feeling in me and I..."

"Grace! No, it's not too forward. In fact, just hearing you say 'kiss me' makes me want to press you up against the side of my truck and take you up on your offer. But, I can't this time, not without making sure you know who you're kissing. I already did that to you once, I don't want to add that to your night. I can't kiss you like in the barn, because that wasn't me, it was Scott.

But I
can
kiss you. I'd
love
to kiss you. As long as you know it's me, Adam, that you're asking."

She stopped talking, and kicking, and turned to face me. Her eyes bore into mine, as she started to speak.

"I've been so busy kissing you two that I haven't actually
looked
at you two. I mean, trust me, I have looked. I've looked
a lot
. But to compare you guys against each other, to be able to spot what is different about you, I haven't done that. Your eyes are softer, somewhat. Scott has this quiet edge, but you're more open, more playful.

Scott is playful too, but in a cat playing with a mouse way. But you, you're playful in a goofing off on the beach way, right before we tumble into the surf and make love in the sand.

You don't mind?"

"About what?"

"That I kissed you, thinking you were him. And then I kissed him, too."

"No. I don't mind."

She nodded at me, still looking at me thoughtfully, before saying, "Well, Ok then."

She took a step toward me, closing the gap between us. She placed one hand lightly in the center of my chest, and then in one quick motion, she shoved me back against the side of my own truck, wrapped her arms around my neck, pressed her body against mine, and
she
kissed
me.