Loving Bailey (11 page)

That wasn’t how Trace was looking at him.

“Bailey, where the hell were you?” Andrew
asked playfully, looking around to make sure her parents and
brothers weren’t within listening range. “Whose bed were you in or
do I want to know?”

Bailey felt her face flush, but it was the
anger rolling off of Trace in hot waves which worried her. Not that
it should. Skinny blonde after all.

“None of your damn business, counselor,” she
said, swatting him.

He laughed and she wriggled out from under
his arm.

“Hey, Trace,” he said, extending his hand.
“It’s good to see you, man. Wish it was under different
circumstances.”

For a moment it looked like Trace might leave
the other man hanging, but eventually he shook Andrew’s hand and
muttered, “me, too.”

“Chicken!” Taylor came flying into the
kitchen and planted a smacking kiss on Andrew’s cheek.

“What makes you think I got any for you,
brat?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Because you love me,” Bailey’s sister said
matter of factly. “You know you do.”

Something flashed across Andrew’s face but
before Bailey had a chance to decide what it was, it was gone, and
the rest of her family was piling into the kitchen and digging into
the bags and buckets. Taylor snagged a drumstick and stood eating
it at the counter, not bothering with a plate or napkin.

“Heathens,” Bailey said with affection. She
went to the cupboard to get plates, grateful for something tangible
to do. When she turned, Trace was standing beside her with his
hands out, waiting to help her.

She handed him the plates and reached for the
serving bowls. “Could you grab the silverware?” she asked,
motioning to the drawer behind her. She put pole beans dotted with
bits of salty pork and cooked until they barely held together and
gooey scratch-made macaroni and cheese into bowls, swatting her
brothers when they tried to get at the food.

“Wait. You know Momma hates to eat out of
cartons.”

They didn’t look happy about it, but at the
mention of their mother, they backed off enough to let her finish
putting the fried chicken and biscuits onto plates. Trace piled the
silverware next to the plates and Bailey grabbed some napkins.

“Save some for Momma and Daddy,” she said as
her brothers descended on the food.

“You’re likely to lose an arm if you reach in
there now.” Jude’s fiancée, Autumn stood beside her, her arms
crossed protectively under her breasts. “How do they eat like that
and look so good? That’s what I’d like to know.”

Bailey snorted. She didn’t usually think of
her brothers as attractive, but if she was being objective, they
were all handsome men. Jude with his unruly sandy hair, hazel eyes
and a demeanor that said if he couldn’t handle it himself he knew
someone who could. The dark haired, dark eyed twins who were copies
of each other down to their broad shoulders and easy mannerisms.
And Travis the way he’d looked in his dress uniform the day he’d
graduated from VMI. Even Andrew with his strong jaw, tight waist
and sexy professor look would make any woman with a pulse sit up
and take notice.

But none of them compared to Trace. His storm
cloud gray eyes and perpetual five o’clock shadow were sexy as
hell, but it was his hands that got Bailey. His hands were strong
enough to do anything and tender enough to plant the most delicate
seedlings. There was a time when she’d have done almost anything to
have those hands on her. She could not think about them touching
the blonde.

“Your farmer fits right in with all the
gorgeous men,” said Autumn, glancing from Bailey to Trace.

“He’s not my farmer,” said Bailey, walking
over to where Trace leaned against the counter, eating chicken with
her brothers and Andrew.

She picked up a plate and loaded it with a
piece of chicken, beans and mac and cheese. It wasn’t health food,
but it tasted so good and when her heart hurt Hawk’s chicken
helped. Trace saw her and scooted over, making room for her to
stand next to him.

“We could go sit in the dining room,” she
said.

“Naw, too far from the food,” said Adam
around a mouthful of chicken.

Bailey rolled her eyes and looked over at
Trace. “I was thinking, I want to stay until Momma and Daddy get on
the plane tomorrow, but I’m sure you have things you need to get
back to. I can get Taylor or someone to give me a ride back to
Mountain Lake if you want to leave after lunch. You’d get home with
plenty of daylight left.”

“I can give you a ride home tomorrow,” said
Andrew, taking a bit of his biscuit.

“No,” said Trace, loud enough that her
brothers and sisters all turned to look at them. Taylor looked from
her to Trace and grinned.

“I mean, I don’t need to get back before
tomorrow. Jake has things under control. Unless I’m imposing?”

“Don’t be silly,” said Taylor. “We’re glad
you’re here. You’re practically family.”

“We’re playing poker tonight at Andrew’s,”
said Jude. “You should come. We could always use help taking his
money.”

“As if,” said Andrew. “But you should come
anyway. You could stay with me if you want. I’ve got room.”

“He can stay here,” said Bailey’s mother
coming into the room. “We have plenty of room. It will feel good to
have the house full.”

“I fold,” said Adam, laying his cards down on
the table and reaching for his beer.

“I’m out, too,” said Jude. He took a swallow
of scotch and a deep pull on his cigar. “It’s up to you, farmer.
Make him cry.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” said
Andrew through a cloud of cigar smoke. He laid down the five, six,
seven, eight and nine of clubs. “Straight flush. Read’em and weep,
Trace.”

“That is a very good hand, counselor,” said
Trace. “Damn near unbeatable.”

Andrew reached for the nickels and Trace put
his hand out to stop him.

“It’s a very good hand,” he said, savoring
the moment. “But it’s not quite as good as this one.” Trace laid
down the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of hearts.

Andrew groaned and Bailey’s brothers erupted
with woops and laughter.

“You can play with us anytime,” said Adam,
Dunking a chicken wing into so much blue cheese dressing it was
coated white. “I love watching him get beat.”

“I don’t know why I bother feeding you,” said
Andrew. “Speaking of playing, what’s going on with you and Bailey?
I take it she wasn’t with you last night.”

The other men around the table froze, pinning
him with their gazes. Every time he thought he might be able to
like Andrew, he did something which made Trace want to pound him.
The looks on Bailey’s brothers’ faces told him they were thinking
of pounding something, too, but he couldn’t be sure it was Andrew
and not him.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,
she wasn’t with me.”

The other men around the table relaxed almost
imperceptibly, but Andrew wasn’t finished.

“But there is something going on with the two
of you. I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Andrew leaned back in
his chair, steepling his fingers and looking very much like the
prosecutor he was. “So who was she with last night?”

“If you want to know that, you’re going to
have to ask her yourself,” Trace said through gritted teeth.

“Damn, you do like her,” said Andrew. “Well
that must have sucked being the one to go find her this
morning.”

“You have no idea,” said Trace.

Adam and Blake watched him, appraising, but
it was Jude who looked at him with something that looked like a
mixture of approval and pity.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” said Jude.
“Want a lift, Trace?”

“It’s like you’re fucking married already,”
said Andrew, but his tone held enough admiration to take the sting
out of his words.

“I wish,” said Jude with a grin. “And you
wish you were as lucky. Are you coming?”

Trace thought just long enough to decide he’d
rather take his chances with Jude in the car than stay and be
grilled by Andrew and the twins.

“Sure, thanks. And thanks for your money,
gentlemen,” he said, scooping the pile of nickels into a
bandana.

“I’m sorry about this morning,” Jude said
when they were in his Jag and on their way to Avanel. “I didn’t
mean to make things awkward for you.”

The last thing Trace wanted to talk about was
finding Bailey with the writer. Just thinking about it brought back
the image of her naked except for another man’s shirt, with bed
hair and sexy sleepy eyes. Trace shook his head to clear it and
shrugged.

“I’m glad I could bring her home.” That much
at least was true. He was glad he’d been the one to take care of
her, to hold her and soothe her when she found out about Travis and
later at her apartment.

“I don’t get it though. I know she has a
thing for you. She has for years.”

Trace looked over at Jude, trying to figure
out where the other man was going with the conversation.

“So you want her, she wants you, why aren’t
you together?”

“It’s my fault,” said Trace.

“Of course it is,” said Jude, making the turn
onto Main.

He didn’t want to go into the details of how
Bailey ended up with the writer. Jude seemed like a reasonable man,
but Trace didn’t think he’d take kindly to him hurting Bailey even
if it hadn’t strictly speaking been Trace’s fault.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” he finally
said.

“Well then fix it,” said Jude.

Trace couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine,” he
said. “Let me ask you something. Is it worth the risk?”

Jude glanced over at him, puzzled. “What
risk?”

“Loving someone, making things permanent.
Giving another person all of you.”

“Absolutely,” said Jude without a moment’s
hesitation.

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” The
difference was that now Trace had started to believe it might be
true, too.

“So where were you last night?” asked Rachel.
“Jude was a wreck.”

“And why weren’t you sleeping with the
farmer?” asked Taylor.

Bailey and her sisters were piled on Taylor’s
bed, and her sisters hadn’t wasted any time before starting to
grill her.

“I was with Spencer. And how was I supposed
to know Jude was going to be looking for me. I left my phone at
home.” She knew she sounded defensive, but she could still hear the
worry in her brother’s voice when he’d left the message.

“So you had sex with this Spencer guy – who
is he anyway – and the next morning Trace showed up to drag you out
of his bed? Wow.” Taylor pinned her with a look, demanding
answers.

It had been so long since she and her sisters
talked about this. She wasn’t sure where to start, but she badly
needed another opinion and if they were talking about sex they
could stop worrying about Travis for a few moments. Bailey sucked
in a breath and shook her head.

“Spencer and I didn’t have sex. I tried to,
but he wouldn’t.”

“What do you mean he wouldn’t? Is he gay?”
asked Rachel.

“No, he’s not gay. Remember how I hadn’t had
sex in college.” She felt her face flush as she waited for her
sisters to catch up.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Rachel. “You aren’t
seriously saying you’re still a virgin? You can’t be. You’re
twenty-five.”

“Nice. Thanks,” said Bailey. “I don’t know
about the physical stuff. I’ve used my vibrator. A lot. I’ve just
never actually had sex with a man.”

“You’re kidding,” said Taylor.

“God, shut up,” said Bailey, wishing she’d
never started the conversation.

“She’s not kidding.”

“I knew you were a late bloomer,” said
Rachel. “But damn, I had no idea you still hadn’t done it.”

“It’s not because I didn’t want to, but you
know what it was like growing up around here.”

“Of course,” said Taylor. “Big, angry older
brothers. Stupid high school boys more likely to talk than satisfy
and the incredible fear of getting pregnant. But still, Bailey, we
both managed to have sex.” She motioned to Rachel who nodded.

“Lots of sex,” said Rachel, in a tone that
had Bailey wondering whether it was a good or bad thing.

“So who is this Spencer guy and why didn’t
you do it with him. If you spent the night at his house last night,
you had enough time. What are you waiting for?” asked Taylor.

“I’m not waiting!” said Bailey louder than
she intended. “I’ve been trying desperately to give it away. I just
can’t get any fucking takers.”

Taylor dissolved into giggles. “Fucking
takers,” she snorted and Rachel joined her, holding each other and
laughing. Bailey tried but sitting on the bed with her sisters she
couldn’t be angry and she started to laugh, too.

“I mean it,” she finally said when she could
get her breath back. “At first it was necessary and then for a
while it seemed charming, but now it’s just weird.”

“So if you’re so desperate to get rid of it,
why didn’t you and this Spencer guy have sex?” asked Rachel.

Bailey took a deep, steadying breath but
before she could speak, Taylor chimed in.

“Oh my God,” she said. “You told him you were
a virgin.”

“And scared the crap out of him,” said
Rachel, clapping a hand over her mouth.

“Yup,” said Bailey with a nod. “He thought I
was saving myself for someone special and he wasn’t interested in
anything serious. Well hell, neither was I. That’s why I picked
him. It was just supposed to be a couple of days worth of fun and
then we could both move on. I’m not in love. Not with him.”

Taylor and Rachel looked at each other. “The
man is obviously a wanker,” said Taylor and Rachel nodded.

“The thing is, he’s really not,” said Bailey.
“I tried to explain the whole not serious about him thing but we’d
been drinking a little bit. He said if I still wanted to do it when
I was sober, we could. And then he went to get a shower and I fell
asleep. I woke up to Trace pounding on the front door.”