It was an interesting conundrum he found himself in. Not once in his life had he ever had a problem mixing it up with the ladies, nor had he ever worried himself over it. He’d always had the gift for sweet-talking. Add that to his decent appearance and he hadn’t done too bad.
He’d also never treated a woman with disrespect. Partly because his parents had instilled manners into them from the day they took their first breath, and partly because he wanted to ensure a repeat was always an option. One never knew what situation they might find themselves in.
Yet there was one woman in the world who he’d treated badly. He was man enough to admit—at least to himself—that he’d dumped all his past pain and heartache at Bristol’s feet, holding her responsible for the sins of those who’d come before her. Unlike the women in his past, Bristol hadn’t stuck around to face his wrath. Which he figured was the very reason he thought about her endlessly no matter how hard he tried not to.
And there she was sitting not twenty feet away right now.
He wanted to ask her to dance and he had no fucking idea why that was.
As he was contemplating an asinine move, the perfect opportunity presented itself when Bianca called it a night, leaving Bristol and Jamie alone at their table.
The bright red bow on the opportunity-of-a-lifetime package came when CJ asked Jamie to dance and she said yes, which left only one sitting at that table.
“Where’re you goin’?” Kaden asked when Keegan got to his feet.
“I’ll be back,” he assured his twin.
Without hesitating, he started toward Bristol. When he approached, she was tucking her cell phone into the dainty little purse she was carrying and pulling out her keys.
He cleared his throat to get her attention.
No, he wasn’t expecting a smile, so he was only mildly disappointed when he didn’t get one.
She turned her attention back to the table, to the glass of what looked to be vodka with soda and lime she’d been nursing for the past hour. “What do you want, Keegan?”
“Care to dance?”
She didn’t bother looking up at him when she said, “No. I don’t.”
Usually he could take a hint, but for some reason his feet wouldn’t move to carry him away from her table. He remained where he was, staring down at her, willing her to look up.
When she finally did, he held her gaze, ensured she saw he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Not happily, anyway. “Dance with me, Bristol.”
There was a flash in her eyes, and he was fairly certain it wasn’t disdain. In fact, he was pretty sure she liked that he wasn’t trying to butter her up with sweet words and bullshit.
Holding out his hand, he waited for Bristol to take it. She hesitated for long seconds, which only made it sweeter when she relented. When her small fingers grasped his, Keegan felt heat travel through his entire body. An image of this woman naked, sandwiched between him and his brother, writhing and crying out their names, was nearly enough to have him missing a step. Luckily, he’d long ago learned how to walk and fantasize at the same time.
They made their way past the tables to the small dance floor. Turning to face her, Keegan took one of her hands in his, the other moving to her hip. Without effort or thought, they began to two-step, a dance that was as natural as breathing. Because of the height difference, Bristol had to move in close, a plus as far as he was concerned.
Keegan felt the tension in her body, the jerkiness of her movements but he pretended not to. After a few minutes, she seemed to relax a little, her hand softening in his.
Brantley Gilbert gave way to Luke Combs on the jukebox, the slower song giving Keegan the opportunity to pull Bristol in even closer. Her hair smelled like lavender, a sweet scent he knew he’d be smelling in his dreams.
Neither of them spoke for the longest time, not until Keegan became aware of her staring up at him as they moved.
“What’s on your mind, darlin’?” he asked, peering down as he firmed his grip on her hip and resisted the urge to pull her in even more.
“Nothin’.”
“Liar.”
The tension was back, her body stiffening. Keegan didn’t stop moving, continuing around the dance floor with her keeping up.
He stared down at her, waiting for her to look at him again. She finally did.
Were those tears in her eyes?
Just the thought of her crying made his heart clench in his chest.
“Bristol…” Forcing his feet to stop, Keegan held her stare as he cocked his head to the side.
“I need to go,” she said, making a feeble attempt to pull away.
Keegan held on. Not too tight, not enough to force her to stay but enough to let her know it was where he wanted her.
“Why’re you doin’ this?” Bristol whispered.
He stared down at her. “Doin’ what?”
“Actin’ like we’re just gonna pick up where we left off.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” It wasn’t the wisest thing to say, but hey, when a man was awestruck, words weren’t the most important thing on his mind.
“It’s been a month, Keegan. A month since I’ve so much as talked to you. And if I remember correctly, you were more than happy to be rid of me.”
He pulled her into him, lowered his head in an attempt to settle her. He didn’t like how near to the surface those tears appeared to be. “I don’t recall you showin’ up on our doorstep, either.”
“Darn right I didn’t. And I won’t. No matter what, I won’t ask you for a damn thing.”
That comment took him by surprise. Not only the words but the tone.
He stared down at her, saw her blue eyes glistening until a single tear finally spilled over. It was nearly his undoing, those damn tears.
But he should’ve known Bristol wouldn’t let anyone see her cry. She quickly ducked her head, and it only took a minute before she’d pulled herself together, stepping back from him.
“Bristol…”
“No.” She shook her head as though to punctuate the word. “I … I…” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I don’t have the energy for this right now, Keegan. I’m not willin’ to go back to playin’ your stupid game.”
“My game?” He couldn’t believe she’d accused him of playing, much less laid all the blame at his feet. “If I recall correctly, it was your game and I didn’t bother playin’.” He stepped in closer, lowered his voice. “Yet you still ended up in my bed.”
She jerked back as though he’d slapped her.
Before he could elaborate on the matter, a gruff voice sounded behind him.
“Mind if I cut in?”
Keegan forced his attention to the cowboy who’d interrupted. “Actually, I do.”
“Why don’t we let the lady decide.” The man’s hardened gaze shifted to Bristol. “Now that you’ve added dancin’ to tonight’s festivities, I figure you owe me one.”
Because he was in tune with her body language, Keegan saw Bristol tense, knew she wasn’t interested in dancing with the man, which was why he was taken by surprise when she stepped away from Keegan and right up to the asshole.
“Sure,” she said, not bothering to look Keegan in the eye as she moved away from him.
Keegan felt a shocking possessiveness coil in his gut when the man put his hands on her. He didn’t like the way the guy pulled her close, as though he had every right to do so. Even when Bristol attempted to put space between them, he would step in, closing the distance once more.
“What the fuck?” Kaden hissed when he moved to stand beside him, their arms touching.
Damn good question.
*
Sticking around while Bristol danced with that jackass was about as fun as a root canal, yet Kaden refused to leave until she did. Not only because he knew she was doing it for their benefit, or because the thought of her leaving with that dick made him sick to his stomach, but more so he wanted to ensure she left safely.
Just call him Saint Kade
n.
Of course, waiting meant watching the dipshit do his best to talk her into leaving with him. Not for coffee or a late dinner, of course. No, this guy’d been raised in a doghouse somewhere, because Kaden overheard the fool asking her to go out to his truck so they could make out. Seriously. The son of a bitch was failing miserably but he was either too drunk or too stupid to realize it.
And Kaden had a front-row seat to the pathetic action. Lucky him.
He considered asking to cut in, but being rejected by her in such a public way wasn’t high on his list of things to do. She’d shunned him once, completely brushing him off after he’d told her he loved her. Last thing Kaden wanted was another dent in his ego. Rather than try, he waited. Eventually, his patience paid off.
“I’ll walk you out,” the dumb shit offered Bristol when she finally pulled away from him.
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Not a problem,” the man assured her. “Just gives me more time to talk you into breakfast.”
“It’s too early for breakfast,” she said, clearly not realizing what the man was proposing.
“Perhaps we can fill a few hours another way,” he suggested, the two of them passing right by Kaden.
Whether it was because he willed her to or purely by chance, Bristol glanced over at him, their eyes meeting. He hoped like hell she saw his disappointment, his hurt, not to mention his concern. He still wasn’t sure what the hell had actually happened or how Keegan ended up dancing with her. Whatever transpired between them hadn’t ended well, and Keegan hadn’t been forthcoming with details when he’d asked, either.
She looked over at Keegan before passing them on her way to the exit. No sooner had her new friend pushed open the door, motioned her outside than Kaden was on his feet, marching after her at a fast clip. He heard Keegan right behind him along with a few choice curse words from his brother.
With a sigh, Kaden followed the not-so-happy couple, stepping outside, hoping like hell his twin didn’t do something stupid like beat the fucker to a pulp. It wasn’t that Kaden wasn’t interested in throwing down in the parking lot, but admittedly, he wasn’t keen on the idea of going home with unnecessary scrapes and bruises. Or more importantly, putting Bristol in the middle of it and risking her getting hurt.
Kaden stopped on the wooden porch of the bar, watched the pair as Bristol was attempting to get her car door opened. The man had leaned against it, making it impossible for her to get past him.
“Come on, honey. What’s one night? Just the two of us? Beneath the stars.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Keegan grumbled. “I’m gonna beat his ass if he doesn’t move on.”
“I’m good,” Bristol told him. “But thanks for the dance. Now if you don’t mind.”
Surprisingly, the guy moved away from the car, opened the door as she slipped inside. Perhaps he wasn’t as dumb as he looked.
“Maybe tomorrow night,” the man stated. “You. Me. Dinner. My place.”
Because she was in her car, Kaden couldn’t make out her words, but based on the idiot’s grimace, she’d once again rejected him.
“Fine.” He stepped back, shut her car door a little too hard. “Not like you’re the last woman on earth.”
And even if this fool was the last man on earth, Kaden had a feeling the guy would’ve still struck out.
“Come on,” Kaden told Keegan, nudging his shoulder. “Let’s get home.”
Keegan shook his head. “Wait till she pulls out. I wanna make sure he doesn’t follow her.”
Well, now. If that wasn’t an interesting change of pace. Keegan worried about Bristol. And outwardly showing it.
Interesting.
Conceding, Kaden crossed his arms over his chest, waited for Bristol to start her car while the guy headed in the opposite direction. She made two attempts before the engine sparked to life, but it lasted only a second before it died on her.
From his position, he could see her frowning, the yellow glow from the sodium lamp shining down into her car. Bristol gave it two more tries but the click-click-click a pretty telltale sign it wasn’t going to give in.
Keegan was off the wooden porch and heading her way before Kaden realized what he was doing. He motioned to Bristol as he neared. A second later, she was out of the car with her phone in her hand.
“Need some help?” Keegan offered, his tone curt as he moved toward her.
Like he didn’t want to help.
Right.
Clearly Bristol hadn’t realized they’d come out, because her eyes widened as they focused on Keegan then darted over to Kaden.
“Happens all the time. It won’t start. I’ll just call Bianca, see if she’ll come get me.”
Keegan glanced back at him. “Bring the truck around. We’ll jump it.”
If it was what Kaden thought it was, jumping it wouldn’t help. But who was he to intervene?
Figuring his brother had a plan, Kaden made his way to the truck. By the time he pulled it around, Keegan had the hood of Bristol’s car propped up, shining the flashlight on his cell phone at the engine.
Kaden made quick work of grabbing the jumper cables from the toolbox in the bed before joining Keegan.
Ten minutes later, they were in agreement that her alternator was bad, and the battery would no longer hold a charge.
“What does that mean?” Bristol asked when they explained the situation.
“Nothin’ major,” Keegan assured her. “Little pricey, but won’t take much to change it out, get a new battery along with it. We’ll get it towed to the Walker Demo shop tomorrow. Fix it right up.”
Bristol shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”
Kaden urged her toward his truck. “Of course we do.”
“I can call a mechanic,” she told him, her eyes sad.
Keegan cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve got two right here. Why pay someone when we can knock it out for free?”
Kaden held his breath, prayed WWIII didn’t break out between these two. It was obvious they were both harboring a grudge, but the situation prevented them from being outwardly hostile about it.
He hoped.
Bristol didn’t say a word and Kaden waited for her response. He recalled the last conversation he’d had with her. It had been through her front door when she refused to talk to him. The night he’d told her he loved her. He hadn’t made any more attempts at conversation since, despite the fact he’d seen her around town numerous times since.
Her pretty blue eyes bounced back and forth between them for a moment. She looked incredibly sad and more than a little wary.
“Curtis and Lorrie would insist,” Kaden told her when it was clear she was still debating. “In fact, they’d have our hides if we didn’t do it.”
There was real concern in her eyes. Or was that regret?
“As long as I can pay for the parts,” she finally said.
Knowing she wasn’t going to relent, Kaden nodded. It was late and he wasn’t in the mood to argue.
“We’ll give you a lift to your place,” Kaden told her.
Not exactly in line with the fantasies he’d had as of late, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
While she grabbed her purse and locked up her car, Kaden stored the jumper cables back in the toolbox, then the three of them piled into Kaden’s truck. Much to his dismay, Bristol had gotten comfortable in the back seat. He would’ve preferred she sat up front with him, but when Keegan offered, she had refused.
“You know, my dad was a mechanic,” she said absently as Kaden was pulling the truck out onto the main road that led away from town.
Yes, Kaden knew that. He knew quite a bit about her, actually.
“That was his life,” she continued. “The only thing he loved in this world.”
Kaden peered at her in the rearview mirror.
“Besides me, of course,” she added with a sad smile.
“Sorry for your loss,” Kaden said.
Because it was such a
small town, the ups and downs of someone’s life were pretty much fair game. He knew her father had passed away many years back, knew she lived alone in the house she’d grown up in. If the rumors were true, her mother had abandoned them when Bristol was young, but that was all he’d heard.
“Thanks.” Her gaze shot to his in the mirror. “I still miss him. Your parents are in El Paso, right?” she asked, her voice coming across somewhat stronger.
Idle chitchat. That was what she was going for. As though they were fucking strangers.
Kaden gritted his teeth, focused on driving.
“They are,” Keegan answered.
“When’s the last time you visited?”
“It’s been a while,” Kaden told her. “But they’re comin’ down for Christmas.”
“Is it hard to be away from them?”
“We get back there as much as we can,” Keegan explained. “At least once every couple of months. Since Ethan and Beau had the babies, we’ve had to cut down on the number of trips. They understand.”
“Now that you’ve got the ranch, I guess you won’t be traveling too much, huh?”
Kaden wasn’t surprised she knew about the ranch. Small towns and all. But he did sense the curiosity in her tone.
“Not anytime soon,” Keegan stated, his eyes shooting over to Kaden. “A lot to take care of.”
“Congrats, by the way,” she said softly.
“Thanks.”
Kaden pulled into her driveway, put the truck in park, and stared at the house. He wasn’t getting out if he didn’t have to. And he didn’t give a shit if it was rude.
This brief interaction was just about more than he could handle.
“Thanks for the ride home.”
He nodded. “You’re welcome. We’ll check in with you tomorrow. About the car.”
“I’ll walk her up,” Keegan said softly before opening his door.
As he sat in the truck, he watched Keegan escort her up to the porch and wished like hell he had the nerve to talk his way into her house and right into her bed.
Because, of course, he was certifiable.
Chapter Twelve
Kaden & Keegan (The Walkers of Coyote Ridge Book 9) Page 17