Jack was watching her, and not like before. Abby’s breath caught. There was no wariness in his dark green eyes. He was watching her with the eyes of a hungry predator. He didn’t even try to hide it. He let loose with a slow smile Abby felt in her toes. It was a smile that promised a wealth of dirty fun.
Abby looked to Christa suddenly. Her heart was pounding at the invitation in Jack’s eyes. “What the hell is wrong with Jack? He’s looking at me like I’m a perfectly cut filet and he’s been on vegetarian rations for a month.”
“Wow, he’s not even subtle, is he?” Christa looked at the big, gorgeous cowboy with a sort of amused fascination. “Guess that’s what he needs Sam for.”
She turned to her friend and whispered behind her hand. “I’m sure he needs Sam for a lot more interesting things than his subtlety. I’ll be honest, Chris, those two make me crazy. I would give a lot to be able to watch them make love. It would feed my fantasies for years.”
Christa’s mouth hung open for a long moment. She stared at Abby and then glanced back at the men, her voice going low. “Seriously? Oh, Abby, we have should talked before now. You honestly think they’re gay?”
Abby kept hers at a whisper, too, so the men sitting at the counter eating lunch wouldn’t hear her. “There’s nothing wrong with it.” It was shocking that her best friend was homophobic. It wasn’t something she’d expected. Had she outed the two men when they’d been trying so hard to fit in? She was the last person who wanted to cause them trouble. She knew how hard it was to fit into a small town. “I could be wrong, of course. It’s perfectly reasonable for two men to be roommates in their thirties. I’m sorry I said anything.”
Christa rolled her eyes and snorted. “I couldn’t care less what they do in the bedroom, though I suspect it’s much more interesting than you think from some of the stories I’ve heard. I like the hell out of Sam, and I think Jack Barnes is an honorable man. I want you to be happy. You need to cut loose and live a little. Ben died two years ago, and Adam a long time before that. It’s time for Abby Moore to find herself again.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Abby asked.
“It means watch out, you got an order up. This is a place of business, after all, not some gossip station.” Christa waved her finger with an imperious snap she softened with a wink. “Go forth. Those men need beef. And keep a damn open mind.”
What exactly was she supposed to be open minded about? Tray in hand, she approached the table. She gave them her sauciest smile, hoping she hadn’t hurt their reputations. “Here you go, boys. Two burgers, one with bacon and cheese, one plain and medium rare.”
Sam looked ready to demolish his burger. “You’re a priceless jewel. I can’t believe how hungry I am.”
“I can.” Jack’s voice was a low growl.
Abby had the sudden feeling he might not be talking about food. She flushed under his gaze. “I’ll go refill your Cokes.”
The minute she turned, she hit a slippery spot on the floor and her sneakers slid.
Sam’s arms came up around her to keep her from falling back. She wondered when he had gotten behind her. He moved fast. Jack was there, too. He took the tray from her and held her hand in his.
“Careful there, darlin’.” Sam’s slow drawl was soft and sweet to her ears. “We don’t want you to fall. But don’t worry too much about it, Abby girl. Jack and I’ll catch you if you go down.”
“You will?” Even to her ears she sounded breathy and surprised.
“I promise.” Jack’s hands securely held hers.
“So do I,” Sam interjected with a happy smile.
She nodded, not sure what to do. When she’d fallen back into Sam, she was pretty sure she’d felt the hard press of an erection against her backside. That was crazy. It was probably his wallet or something else in his pocket.
She would not look down to get visual confirmation. Nope. She was keeping her eyes firmly on his face. The last thing she needed was to get caught checking out their packages to see if they were ready for delivery.
“I’ll try to stay on my feet, boys,” she promised.
Jack’s hands were warm and surrounded hers. It made her wonder what it would feel like to have those big hands all over her body. It was impossible not to imagine that callused hand cupping her as he pulled her into the hard strength of his body.
“You all right now?” Jack pulled her away from Sam so that she was steady on her own.
“I’m fine. I’ll get those Cokes,” Abby said shakily, her every nerve ending on high alert. She was standing between the two most gorgeous men she’d ever seen, and it was too much like a fantasy. She needed to pull herself firmly back into reality. She was thirty-seven years old and a mom. She wasn’t seventeen anymore with a gloriously firm body. Her boobs sagged, and while she tried to stay fit, she’d put on a few pounds. The boys were playing around. She had to keep her head on straight.
She had to remember, at all times, where she was. This wasn’t Fort Worth, where people mostly lived and let live. This was Willow Fork.
Yes, just for a moment she’d forgotten that. This was Willow Fork and maybe they weren’t as nice as they seemed. It happened from time to time that she made the mistake of trusting the wrong people. Jack and Sam had been in Willow Fork for ten years. They were pretty firmly entrenched in the community, which meant they’d probably spent time with the Echols clan.
If she started parading around with these men, it would prove to everyone in the county that she hadn’t changed. The threats from the sheriff and his deputy hadn’t worked. Maybe Ruby Echols had come up with another plan. Humiliate her. Make her look like a whore in the eyes of the town.
Why else would two of the best-looking men she’d ever met suddenly change their relationship with her? Why go from perfectly platonic to sending her heated looks when she knew she wasn’t their type at all?
The thought sent an ache through her.
“What’s wrong?” Jack’s hand tightened on hers. “You looked very sad for a minute. What happened?”
“I’m fine.” She moved firmly out of their reach. It was time to stop playing and be realistic. She was older than them. If they wanted female friends, they needed someone their own age. Otherwise, she looked like she was begging for something they would never give her. She would look pathetic, and that was exactly where Ruby Echols wanted her. “I’ll be back in a minute with your drinks.”
She walked away to join Christa at the counter. That was one trap she would never fall into again.
* * *
Jack watched Abigail’s fine ass sway as she walked away from them.
“What just happened?” Sam slid back into the booth, his eyes tight with obvious worry.
“I don’t know.” Jack’s gaze never left his rapidly retreating prey even as he took his place across from Sam. He looked down at his burger. It didn’t look as good as it had before. “She was responding to us. She practically purred when I held her hand. I would have sworn she was aroused.”
“Maybe you come on too strong, Jack.” Sam sounded bitter.
“Oh, I come on too strong?” Jack rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Sam. You think I wasn’t watching you last Saturday? You nearly sucked her toes into your mouth when we were sitting on the couch. Don’t think I didn’t see that. You are the most orally fixated person I have ever met. You have to put everything in your mouth.”
“Well, blame my mama,” Sam shot back. “I wasn’t breastfed. It had an effect. We need to try harder. This whole courtship thing isn’t working.”
Abigail was talking to Christa behind the counter. Jack would have given a lot to be in on that conversation. The two women whispered, and Christa laughed lightly. Something had happened to make her suddenly wary. She had enjoyed their attentions for the past week. His plan had been working. From the moment he realized she might be amenable to a ménage, he’d been carefully preparing her for it. She was a serious woman, and he intended to treat her right. They were taking it s
low, allowing her to get used to being between the two of them. She had been ready to move on to kissing, and he intended to do that tonight. He and Sam were going to talk her into coming out to the ranch to watch a movie and then they would kiss her. Sam had argued for doing a hell of a lot more than that, but Jack was sticking to his courting plan. He wanted everything out on the table before they took her to bed. They would talk about what a relationship could be like between the three of them. He might have to rethink that plan. Now she was afraid.
“You don’t think Christa warned her off of us, do you?” He really hoped that wasn’t true. They had a good business relationship with the café owner. Beyond that, Sam considered her husband a friend. Mike Wade was Sam’s drinking buddy. He’d hate to see that go away.
Sam snorted. “Damn, Jack, who do you think told me to open that box of books? Christa told me where to find them and everything.”
Jack was relieved, but it didn’t solve the core problem. “I think we should pull back and give her some space.”
“Screw that.” Sam looked a little desperate. “It’s been a month. I can’t take another night. This whole dating thing is crazy. Can’t we fuck her now and date her later?”
“No, Sam. You asked me to give this a chance, and I’m giving it the best chance I can. She’s not a one-night stand,” Jack said firmly. “She’s nervous now. We need to set this on the right footing. We need to let her know we’re going to treat her like a lady. Let’s ask her out to the ranch. We’ll have a nice meal and show her around. She’ll see how serious we can be.”
Sam looked disappointed, but he rarely argued. “All right. I’ll follow your lead, but damn, Jack, don’t take too long. I’m likely to die of sexual frustration.”
Abigail walked back up, two drinks in her hand. She placed them on the table. “Is everything all right with the order?”
He hated the flat, professional voice she was using. There had to be a way to get her back to the vivacious woman she normally was. “This burger better be good, darlin’. I won’t have my product being mistreated.”
Curiosity flashed in her hazel eyes.
Sam took the ball and ran with it. “This burger here is 100% organic beef. It’s the best you can buy.”
“Really?” She looked down at the burgers. “Christa buys your beef?”
“Straight off the Barnes-Fleetwood Ranch,” Sam said with a smile. “We’re becoming quite big. When we started, we barely had a couple hundred head of cattle. Now we run several thousand and have a bunch of ranch hands helping us out. We have a packaging plant, too.”
“We’re still smalltime, and I like it that way.” Jack could talk about business. “If we get much bigger, we’ll have to hire more hands and deal with more people. The quality will go down, too. There’s a reason organic ranching is hard.”
Her eyes sparkled with interest. “So you don’t give the cattle antibiotics?”
“No, unless they’re actually sick, of course.” Sam slathered his bun with ketchup. “We won’t let an animal go without if she needs it, but we don’t proactively dose our herd. We take care of them. They’re grain fed.”
“Yes, I’ve read about that,” she replied, her head shaking. “Those big ranches feed them protein and sometimes they feed them other cows. It sounds horrible.”
“It’s a way for them to cut corners,” Jack explained. “It’s cheap. The public wants cheap beef, so they use the parts they can’t sell to feed their herd. It’s easier to keep the cattle in pens than to let them roam and feed naturally. It’s why we’ll have to stay small and local.”
“So you don’t pen up your cattle?” Abigail pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Sam popped a French fry in his mouth. “We’re old-school cowboys, darlin’. We let the herd wander our spread. When we bring them in, we do it on horseback.”
Jack shook his head slightly. Sam did like being a cowboy. “One day I’d like to try to add a dairy farm. I think we could sell to the local stores and even feed into Dallas–Fort Worth.”
Abigail smiled shyly. “That’s sounds like a good plan. I like the fact that you take care of your cattle.”
“Jack and I personally give each heifer a kiss good night,” Sam interjected, causing her to laugh. “You should come out to the ranch sometime. You would find it interesting. I’ll take you riding. We’ve got some gentle mares.”
“It has been a long time since I was in the saddle.”
Jack bit back a groan at the thought of riding Abigail. Sam was right. This dating thing was going to kill them both. “You’ll like our horses. We take care of them, too. We take damn fine care of everything that belongs to us.”
Sam looked up at her. “How about you come out to the ranch tonight? We could show you around and take you riding, and then we can have dinner, maybe watch a movie.”
A bubbly laugh came from her mouth, her face flushing. “Well, Sam, you make that almost sound like a date.”
“Then I wasn’t trying hard enough, darlin’,” Sam said with a serious expression on his face.
“You’re asking me on a date?” She looked between them, her confusion plain to Jack.
“I apparently wasn’t doing a good job. Yes, Abigail Moore, we would like to ask you on a date. Will you go out with us?” Sam seemed as confused as Abby. “What does she think we’ve been doing for the last week, Jack?”
“I don’t know.” Jack turned to her. Maybe he’d been too subtle. “Abigail, what do you call it when a man takes a woman out, picks her up, pays for everything, and then politely takes her home?”
She gnawed on her bottom lip. Her gaze shifted between the two men. “I thought we were being friends. Like Will and Grace, if you two were both Wills. A lot of gay men like hanging out with women.”
“What?” That came out way louder than he’d intended and suddenly everybody in the café was watching their table. In all the scenarios that ran through his brain, Abigail thinking she was auditioning to be their Grace hadn’t come up.
Sam seemed unperturbed. His blue eyes were lit with laughter. “Jack, I believe she thinks we’re gay.”
Jack stood up suddenly. It was obvious she was under a misconception that he intended to remedy. “Darlin’, I have never been accused of not enjoying a woman. While I don’t have any problem with a person’s sexuality, I don’t swing that way. I haven’t been spending time with you hoping you’ll give me the name of your hairdresser. I’ve been spending time with you to try to get you into bed.”
Sam could barely talk for his laughter. “Well, if we’re gay, Jack, at least I’m the pretty one.”
Her hands twisted around her notepad, crushing it slightly. “It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption. You two are unmarried, successful men who spend almost every moment together with no visible female in either of your lives. I’m sorry if I offended you. If it helps, I thought you made a very attractive couple.”
“Damn it, that does not help, Abigail,” Jack said.
“Abby, we’re not gay.” Sam slid out of the bench to face her.
“I’m getting that now.” Her eyes were wide.
“But we do like to share.” Sam patted Abby on the back almost sympathetically.
Her mouth formed a perfect O before she turned and fled. She was running by the time she entered the ladies’ room.
Sam stared after her. “Guess that whole dating thing is over.”
Jack felt his eyes narrow. Everyone was watching, but he had no intention of backing down. He’d tried to take things slow. He’d tried to be a gentleman. That was over. If she thought he was backing down, she had better think again. “Time for a new plan, Sam.”
He strode toward the women’s bathroom.
“Hallelujah!” Sam’s shout rang throughout the small room like a battle cry.
6
Abby stared at herself in the mirror, the quiet of the ladies’ room almost deafening. What the hell had happened? She’d been dating two men and hadn’t even know
n it? And Jack Barnes was wrong about dating. A date ended in kissing. She hadn’t even been kissed.
The door to the women’s room slammed open. Abby practically jumped, ready to beg whoever was walking through to give her some privacy. Jack filled the doorway with his presence.
“You can’t come in here, Jack.” She smoothed down her uniform and swept back her hair, trying to retain as much dignity as she could.
“Why not, darlin’? I am going to admit that I’m not a man who tends to let things like social conventions keep me out of a place I really want to be in.” Jack walked right up to her. The man really wasn’t big on personal space.
Sam walked in and closed the door. He leaned with his back against it. One boot rested negligently against the painted pink door.
“Sam, tell him he can’t come into the women’s room.”
“You’re the one who chose the venue for this particular conversation, Abigail.” There was nothing vaguely resembling a joke in Jack’s voice now. Abby looked to Sam for help.
Sam shook his head. He was grinning like an idiot. “Hell no, honey. You’re gonna have to learn that when Jack gets that hard edge to his voice, he means business. Besides, I’m happy with the way things went. Thank you, baby. You made this so much easier. Jack was talking about dating you and treating you like a lady. That was gonna take forever. It’s much simpler this way.”
“What’s simpler?” Abby was unable to keep the trepidation out of her voice.
“Taking you home, taking you to bed, and showing you where you belong,” Sam replied with a wink.
“Where do I belong?” Abby couldn’t take her eyes off Jack. There was a simple smile on his face that held a wealth of arrogance. He’d been serious. He really had been playing the gentleman. Abby got the feeling she was about to get a full dose of Jack Barnes, and damned if she wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Always between me and Sam.” Jack reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, his expression intense. “Tell me you don’t want us, Abby, and I’ll walk away right now. I won’t bother you again.”
Naked Love Page 92