Sam sat back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Jack, meet Abigail Moore. Abby, sweetheart, this is my partner, Jack Barnes.”
Jack Barnes turned toward her, his eyes narrowed, and for a moment she wondered what she’d done to piss this man off. For a second it was as if she was seventeen again and she was up against the judgmental authorities of the town. Except he would be even harder to stand up to. This was a man who would get what he wanted, and if he wanted her out of town, she would go or he would ensure that she regretted it.
And then it was gone as though that dark look had never existed. His whole face softened and he held out a hand.
“Ms. Abigail, forgive me for the intrusion. I thought Sam was causing trouble where he shouldn’t,” he admitted.
“Trouble?” She couldn’t imagine Sam causing trouble, though admittedly she’d only recently met him. He seemed super sweet. If he came into her ER, she would immediately put him in the easy-patient category.
Not so Jack Barnes. He would be stubborn as hell if he thought he wasn’t getting the right care.
“Sometimes Sam forgets where he’s supposed to be,” Jack said with a frown.
“Sometimes Sam finds a new place that he’s excited to be in,” Sam returned smoothly. “Sometimes Jack forgets what it means to be spontaneous and to have fun.”
“Sometimes Sam forgets he’s got a job to do,” Jack replied.
“Oh, I never forget that Jack. It’s just sometimes you don’t like how I do my job,” Sam replied with a silky smile.
Wow, they had some issues. She stood up, hating the fact that she’d already caused trouble. “Mr. Barnes, please let me apologize. I asked Sam to help me with moving some boxes and then Christa offered him some iced tea. It’s my fault if he’s late to work.”
Jack Barnes looked her over. “Yes, I can see that.”
Sam didn’t miss a beat. “Abby is from Fort Worth. She’s a nurse and unfortunately she lost her husband a few years back. She’s been on her own since then. She’s in town for a few months to help her momma recover from surgery. You can see why I offered her some help with her boxes. She’s not going back to Fort Worth. She’s not sure where she’s going next.”
“I’m in transition.” She didn’t know why but she felt a need to explain herself to the dark-haired man. “I think it’s time for a change, but I haven’t figured out what that means yet.”
He shook his head and released a long breath. When he looked back up, he was charming and held out a hand. “Ms. Abigail, please forgive my temper. We’ve had two hands down with the flu and I’m on edge, but I should never take that out on a lady. I’m glad Sam could help. Please feel free to call on either one of us if you need anything at all.”
His hand enveloped hers as she took it. He covered her with his other hand, encircling her with warmth. She had to remember to breathe for a moment. He was so big and…solid. That was the word.
This was a man she could count on if he liked her. This was a man who would do anything for someone he cared about and anything to his enemies.
And it was very obvious he was jealous of his boyfriend’s time.
“Thank you for that, Mr. Barnes,” she replied, gently removing her hand. “But I think you’ll find I’m a very independent woman. Boxes aside. I’m here for a few weeks, month and a half tops, and I intend to be very quiet about my stay. I doubt you’ll even notice I’m here.”
“I don’t think noticing you is going to be a problem,” he replied.
She flashed him what she hoped was a carefree smile. “Well, I better get on over to my momma’s place. Christa, I’ll take you up on that job while I’m here. I can start tomorrow if you’ve got a shift in the morning. Mom doesn’t come home until tomorrow night.”
Christa hugged her tight. “I’ll have a uniform waiting and ready. I love it. You and me against the world. It’s high school all over again.”
Sam stood up, frowning. “Maybe I should follow you over to your mom’s. In case you need any help.”
She shook her head and grabbed her purse. “No, but thank you so much.” She glanced up at Jack, trying to let him know she wasn’t going to come between him and Sam. She’d been happy to make a friend. The last thing she needed was to cause trouble. “Like I said, I’m very independent. Y’all have a good night.”
Abby stepped outside before she could start a fight between them. She was sure Mr. Jack Barnes had heard the rumors about her and hustled over to save his boyfriend from getting mired in her problems. She couldn’t blame him.
Well, she could, but it wouldn’t change a thing. She’d meant what she said. She was here for a brief time and then she would move on again.
Because the last thing she would do was stay in this nasty old town. No matter how hot the cowboys were.
She got into her sedan and was grateful when the damn thing turned over.
Head held high, she drove away, not looking back once. That was a lesson she’d learned the hard way.
2
“Did you have to run her off, Jack?” Christa crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a frown that could have frozen fire. “That is my best friend in the world. I don’t care what you’ve heard about her, if you can’t be civil to her in my home, maybe you’re not welcome here.”
Whoa. Jack put his hands up. He had obviously been misunderstood. “Chris, I meant no disrespect, and you know I don’t listen to gossip. I thought Sam was about to get into another shitload of trouble, and you know he’s on thin ice with the sheriff after the last bar brawl. I had no idea he was talking about your best friend.”
“Talking about her?” Christa looked between him and Sam. “I thought you came over here to drop off an invite to the barbecue.”
Sam was frowning his way. “I did and then I saw her. I was talking to Jack and explained that I needed a few minutes to say hello. I was being neighborly.”
Christa’s eyes narrowed. “You were being horny. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Abby’s been through a lot. The last thing she needs is the two of you humping her leg and making a spectacle of her around town.”
“I would never hump her leg,” Jack replied sardonically. Though, damn, he’d hump plenty of other parts of her. She was the single most gorgeous woman he’d seen in forever. He understood why Sam had gone crazy, but he wasn’t thinking. “How long has she been a widow?”
“A few years now,” Christa admitted. Her shoulders had finally relaxed. “It’s not that you two aren’t great guys…”
It was simply they were two men with somewhat perverse needs. That was what he understood and Sam did not. “I understand.”
“If we’re great guys, then why didn’t we ask her out?” Sam rarely gave up.
Christa looked utterly miserable. “It’s not that I don’t think you should. Honestly, if you could keep it all quiet, I would tell you to go for it, but Abby’s been burned by this town before.”
“I don’t give a damn what the town thinks,” Sam began.
“But she will,” Jack finished for him. “And she does. Her momma lives here. Hell, Sam, how many women do you know who are happy to date two men at the same time? There’s a reason they don’t do it. It’s considered perverted.”
“Well, of course it is. It wouldn’t be fun if it wasn’t perverted,” Sam replied. His eyes held an implied “duh.”
“Did she seem like the kind of woman who does things for kicks?” Jack asked. “Who has a sexual bucket list?”
Sam frowned.
“You know people who have sexual bucket lists?” Christa asked.
“Yeah, I do. I know them because Sam and me, well, we help them check off the ménage portion of that list.” He utterly hated the fact that here he was playing the bad guy again. “It’s not going to happen with her. You need to leave her alone, Sam. She’s here to take care of her mother. Let her do that in peace.”
Something died in Sam’s eyes, a little light. When he smiled this time there was no joy be
hind it. “Sure thing, Jack. You’re right. She wouldn’t want to have anything to do with us. Not if she knew the truth. Christa, it was good to see you. I’ll go run my errands and see you back at the house, Jack.”
“Sam,” Jack said, unwilling to let him go without some kind of offer to make things better. “We’ll head up to Dallas in a week or two. We’ll spend some time in The Club.”
This was all his fault when he thought about it. He’d gotten wrapped up in work and they’d missed their last two planned trips into Dallas. There was a club there that catered to men like him and Sam. They needed a good weekend of indulgent sex to get their heads straight. He wouldn’t let it go so long next time. It would be kind of like setting an appointment to change the oil in their cars, routine maintenance. If they got regular, rocking-good sex, maybe Sam would settle down and stop going after women like Abigail Moore.
“Sure thing,” Sam said. “I’ll look forward to it.”
He strode out of the house and Jack’s stomach sank.
“There’s a club?” Christa asked.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” he replied. A nasty thought hit him. Christa and Mike were the only people in town who knew for sure about their “proclivities.” Well, besides the women they’d fooled around with, but he thought he’d managed to keep it mostly to rumors. But what if it bothered her? “Unless you would rather we stayed away from you and Mike altogether.”
She rolled her eyes. Had she been in the lifestyle, she would have made a glorious brat. “I’m so shocked, Jack.” She sobered a bit. “I didn’t mean to hurt Sam like that. Abby’s been gone for twenty years. We’ve kept in touch. She’s my best friend, but I’m not a hundred percent sure she’s ready for any of this. Don’t take it wrong, Jack. Believe me. I want her to stay here, and if she fell madly in love with the two of you…”
He held a hand up. “Stop right there, Chris. I’m too old to believe I’m going to magically fall in love with someone. I will admit that she is one fine-looking lady, but I can’t see myself falling in love with anyone. If anything, I suspect Sam is going to be the one who’ll get married. If the woman he loves is on the open-minded side, perhaps we can work something out, but I don’t expect more than sex.”
“That sounds sad,” Christa said.
“I’m a realist.” He had to be. One of them had to be. He left, following Sam and hoping his best friend in the world could forgive him.
* * *
Two days later, Sam eased into the booth at Christa’s Café with a brighter outlook on things.
“You get to look at the reports?” Jack asked, pulling out a newspaper.
Once or twice a week they came into town and had breakfast at Christa’s. There was always some errand they needed to run. Today they were picking up feed. Jack said it forced them to socialize, but what he really meant by that was it forced Jack to socialize. Sam socialized plenty.
He glanced around the café. Yeah, he’d socialized with a couple of the women here, but for the most part he managed to stay friendly with them.
Ah, there was the one he didn’t want to be friendly with. Well, he did, but he wanted it to go way further than friendly.
Abby Moore stepped out of the kitchen and she was wearing one of the short pink dresses Christa’s waitresses all wore, though she filled that sucker out way better than the teenagers Christa hired. He had zero interest in those babies. He wanted a woman, and the perfect one had just walked out.
“Sam? You listening to me?”
He smiled. “Yep. I read the reports. The cattle are healthy and happy and exceptionally eager to get sold and made into hamburgers.”
The herd this year was in excellent health, with most of them at prime weight to be sold in the next few months, but then he didn’t need a report to tell him that.
Jack followed his line of sight and went still. That was interesting. There were times when Sam could read his partner like a book and this was one of them.
Jack didn’t want Abby? Bullshit.
He’d seen the way Jack reacted to her, how he’d covered her small hand with both of his. He’d watched Jack go from pissed off to sad when he realized what kind of woman Abby was. Hell, he even knew why Jack had come running. Normally Sam had terrible taste in women. Well, that was what Jack would say. The truth was he had excellent taste in women. It was simply discretion and Jack’s pickiness he lacked. If there wasn’t a fabulous woman waiting around on a Friday night to go home with him, he’d take the mean one home because it wasn’t like he was planning on having a pleasant conversation with her. Sex was easy.
What he wanted to try with Abigail Moore…now that was going to be a bit trickier.
Because he had conversed with her. Because despite his very clever ruse the other day, he’d walked straight out to his truck, gone about his errands, and then happened to find himself at her sad single-wide trailer. He’d wanted to make sure she was safe. He hadn’t spent more than thirty minutes talking to her, but he’d called later on and that had led to a much more detailed conversation and now, two days later, he’d spent roughly four hours on the phone with her.
Oh, he liked her quite a bit.
“Seriously? I thought we had this conversation, Sam.”
Sam let his eyes go wide. “What are you talking about? We eat here every time we come into town.” He huffed a little. “Are you saying I can’t get my waffles because you don’t like the waitress?”
Jack sat back, setting the newspaper down. “It’s not that I don’t like her.”
“You don’t even know her so how could you dislike her?”
“She seems very nice.”
“I think she’s lonely. Have you noticed how some of the people won’t talk to her?”
Christa stopped at their table with a pot of coffee in her hand. She filled their mugs. “Hey, boys. Abby will be with you both in a moment. Unless you want another waitress.”
Jack looked around the diner. “Why are we the only ones in this section?”
Christa sighed. “It’s what I like to call ‘church lady’ day. At this time of day, it’s all women who meet for the church or the public school. They plan events and activities. They don’t much like Abby, but she can use the money and it’ll pick up come lunchtime. The highway workers don’t give a crap who brings them their burgers.”
Abby seemed to realize she had customers and smoothed down her tiny skirt that could easily be flipped up so he could have access to her pussy. She looked slightly flustered as she tried to find her notepad. She gave him a bright smile and then it seemed to dim as she saw Jack.
He was going to have to be charming enough for both of them until Jack got his head out of his ass and realized that the world wasn’t all dark and dim. The man brooded too much.
“Why does she need the job here anyway? I thought she was a nurse,” Jack said, obviously unable to take his eyes off her.
He was probably thinking about that pink skirt, too. And the wealth of beauty that lay under it. Though he would bet Jack was thinking about her pretty ass.
“Her husband’s cancer treatment was very expensive. Even the co-payments nearly wiped her out. Not that she had much to start with. She paid her own way through school and raised her daughter by herself. She has enough savings to get Lexi through four years of school and for a down payment on a small house or condo. She can use some spending money until she can find work again.”
Jack’s hands made fists on the table and he moved them under. “We’ve got a hospital.”
“They told Abby they didn’t need her services, but they would call her if a position opened up. Small towns work in mysterious ways,” Christa said as Abby joined them. “So, Abby is going to help you boys out today. Have a good breakfast.”
Abby had a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes, as though she wasn’t certain of her welcome. “Hello, Sam. Mr. Barnes.”
“It’s Jack, Abigail. You can call me Jack.” Jack’s hands made a reappear
ance, reaching for his coffee. “You are looking lovely today.”
Score one for his freaking team. All he needed was to poke that place in Jack that couldn’t stand not lifting up the underdog. In this case, they would be lifting her up and setting her right back down on one of their dicks.
She flushed slightly. “Thank you. It’s been a while since I wore a waitress uniform. Now, what can I get you two for breakfast?”
“What do you like here?” Jack asked as though he hadn’t ordered the same damn thing for the last ten years. “I’ve heard the waffles are pretty good.”
Abby grinned. “They are. They’re excellent. Of course, everything is. Christa’s mom used to run this place and Christa still uses most of her recipes.”
She was off, talking about how she and Christa used to play in the kitchens when they were kids.
When they left, Sam noted the overly large tip Jack left.
It was only a matter of time.
He had to be patient. A wee bit manipulative.
His best friend had taught him that. Sam went about his day with a spring in his step. This was going to work out. He knew it was.
3
Abby sniffled as she tried to figure out how to get the cracked board off the stairs that led up to the tiny trailer she’d grown up in. The stairs probably hadn’t been properly taken care of since her father died. They’d been tricky to maneuver even back when she’d lived here.
She took a deep breath and tried to remind herself why she was here. Her mom needed her. When she didn’t need her, Abby would head straight for Austin to see how she liked the city.
Her baby sure seemed to like it. Lexi was thriving in college. That had to be enough.
The unmistakable sound of heavy tires crunching on the gravel road brought Abby’s head up and she got off her knees. There was no way she was having this conversation on her knees.
“Hello, Ken,” she said, recognizing her old high school classmate despite the fact that he was wearing a deputy uniform instead of a football jersey. He’d been the best running back in the area until he’d blown out his knee in his sophomore year at LSU.
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