“Found a stray cowboy and brought him home?”
I blew out a breath. “Was it that obvious?”
He nodded. “Given that Troy’s even better-looking than Dusty, it’s no wonder Rufus is getting worried. He’ll be trying to find a way to get rid of him next.”
“Unless this whole thing is a concoction of our own suspicious minds,” I cautioned. “Although I have to admit, it does seem kinda fishy.”
“Yeah. Too bad we don’t have any proof.”
“No shit. You guys need to be very careful and watch out for each other.”
“I don’t think Rufus could get rid of all three of us.” His lips curled into a delightfully devilish smile. “Maybe we should keep him guessing.”
I grinned up at him, shaking my head. “And here I always thought you were shy.”
“You know how it is. You kiss an ugly guy and tell him he has a charming smile and…” He shrugged, still smiling at me.
I patted his arm. “It’s nice to know I have that effect on a few of you, anyway. I was beginning to think I’d sprouted warts or something. I felt like a freakin’ leper. But you’re right. We probably should keep him guessing.”
A cluster fuck in the bunkhouse might make enough noise to attract attention…
Sometimes the ideas popping into my own head amazed me. Fortunately, Joe wasn’t privy to those thoughts or he’d have been blushing like a beet.
“Does that mean you might kiss me again?” Whereas he’d seemed hesitant before, now he seemed…hopeful.
“Maybe, but only when someone else might see us.”
“Damn.” He swore so loudly, Goldie threw her head up in alarm and nearly hit me in the face. “I was kinda hoping for right now.”
“It wouldn’t help if we didn’t have a witness, Joe.” I pushed Goldie’s head aside. Too bad she couldn’t tell Rufus I’d been alone in the barn with Joe, because then he might have gotten his wish. As it was, I didn’t see the point. Kissing Joe wasn’t something I’d ever considered doing before, and that kiss in the kitchen had only been intended to needle Rufus. Under ordinary circumstances, I probably never would have done it—or even thought of it.
“You wouldn’t get any complaints from me,” he said. “And if we practiced, it might be more convincing.”
I might’ve reacted with an eye roll and a giggle, but I couldn’t argue with him because he did have a point.
He took a step closer. “Aw, c’mon, Angela. What could it hurt?”
I giggled again. Here was Joe, of all people, making me feel like a silly schoolgirl—and at my age too. “Where the hell is Rufus when I need him?”
“Washing dishes, I hope.” Darting a glance at each end of the stable, he took another step toward me.
“Maybe I should go back and give him a hand. He must’ve been good for something all these years if he’s been keeping you wolves in line.”
“I guess so.” Joe’s smile disappeared and he stared at the ground again, mumbling, “If you could call a guy like me a wolf.”
“No, you’re not a wolf. But you could’ve made up all that stuff you just told me. That way I’d think you were one of the good guys, and you’d be in the perfect position to take advantage of me.”
“I’ve never taken advantage of a woman in my life.” Spearing his fingers through his hair, he kept his gaze fixed firmly on the dirt, apparently still finding it easier to look at anything besides me. “At least I don’t think I ever have.”
This was more like the Joe I knew. Never saying much and rarely glancing in my direction. Then, almost as if he’d heard that thought, his eyes slowly sought mine. His smile was wistful rather than wicked or charming. “Let me put it this way, Angela. When it comes to matters of the heart, I’ve always been the one to get the shaft.”
If he kept on with this morose train of thought, I would have to kiss him just to cheer him up. I tried for a teasing tone. “Uh-huh. Now you’re playing on my sympathy.”
“Not really. It’s the truth.”
Obviously, he was in no mood to be teased. My choices were either kiss him or get the hell out of there. “I’ve already got more irons in the fire than I need. I don’t think I could manage another one.”
“It wouldn’t be like that, Angela,” he promised. “I wouldn’t expect anything more than a hug or a kiss once in a while.” He sighed. “It sure would beat the hell out of what I’ve been getting up to now.”
“But one day you might get greedy, Joe. What would happen then?”
“When have you ever known me to be greedy?”
I was forced to admit I hadn’t. Joe wasn’t like that. I’d never seen him eat very much or get in anyone else’s way. Anytime the men were lined up for anything, he was always somewhere toward the back of the pack and accepted whatever was left without complaint. No, he didn’t want much. Not from me, anyway. My chest tightened painfully. He would have me in tears if he kept it up much longer.
In the next instant, Goldie apparently decided to add her two cents’ worth to the conversation and gave me a nudge from behind that sent me staggering into Joe’s waiting arms. I held onto him for support for a second or two, but Joe didn’t act like he wanted to let go—at least, not yet.
After thanking Goldie for her assistance, he proceeded to give me a good, long hug. “You gave me a hug and a kiss a while ago. All I’m asking is that you let me return the favor.”
I hadn’t seen this much action with this many different men since, well…ever, and I guess it went to my head.
It was only a kiss—such a simple thing, really. I didn’t think it would matter, didn’t think anyone would care, and I certainly wouldn’t lose my heart, so, in the end, I glanced up at him and nodded.
That was my first mistake.
Joe took a long time to lean down to kiss me, touching my lips tentatively when he finally reached them. No, Joe wasn’t greedy, nor was he one to rush things. He took his time, seeming to savor every moment I gave him. His gentle hold slowly became a caress, encompassing every part of my body within his reach. His lips took all that my own had to offer, and I couldn’t help responding, moving a shade closer and holding him a teensy bit tighter.
That was my second mistake…
Joe might not have been greedy, but he obviously thought I was asking for more. Deepening the kiss, he swept his tongue slowly over my lips before slipping past them. I could’ve clenched my teeth to keep him out, but, quite honestly, it never occurred to me to do that. Maybe I wanted it as much as he did, or was at least curious, but either way, before long, the kiss wasn’t friendly and comforting anymore. It was intensely sexual, bordering on erotic. The rest of my body responded with enthusiasm, making me wonder what sort of effect this kiss had on him.
Unfortunately, acting on that curiosity was mistake number three…
Pressing against him in an effort to discover whether he was as hard as I was wet, I must have ground my hips just enough to encourage him to explore places I should’ve insisted he leave alone.
I say should have, because I didn’t.
Those parts were reminding me that some of them had a will of their own—as well as the power to make me follow their lead if I didn’t keep a close watch on them. My right hand was the first to assert itself, sliding down from the unexceptionable location of the middle of his back—first to his hip and then on around to cup his left cheek—and not the one on his face, either.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Dammit.
Of all the people in the world who might have followed us to the stable, it had to have been Troy…
Chapter 14
I pulled away from Joe just in time to catch Troy’s expression of hurt and outrage before he turned and stomped back toward the open doorway.
“Wait, Troy!” I ran after him. “Wait!”
“Wha
t for?” he shouted over his shoulder. “What am I supposed to do? Stand around and watch while you fuck him?”
I caught up with Troy right outside the barn. “I wasn’t going to do that. I—It’s hard to explain. Troy, please don’t be angry, it’s just that, um…you kinda had to be there. I’m sorry.”
“I keep forgetting I don’t really know you at all.” His voice was clipped, angry. “This could be normal for you, and how the hell would I know? Rufus may have been right. Maybe he felt he had to keep the cowboys away from you so you wouldn’t be tempted since apparently it doesn’t take a helluva lot to do it. I guess I should have realized that from the start. You’re a little too easy for me, Angie. Maybe I should move on.”
Now, I was pissed. “I haven’t heard you complaining about me being too easy up to now. As I recall, it was you who asked me if I wanted a—how was it you put that? A slightly used boy toy?”
“Yeah, well, you took advantage of me,” he retorted. “I was thirsty and hungry and exhausted and had just gotten dumped on the highway by my girlfriend. Then you came along and gave me everything I needed in the space of an hour.”
“And why do you think that was?” My tone was softer now. He’d been hurt every bit as badly as I had been, and his wounds were still raw. I needed to remember that. “Because I was used to doing it? No, Troy, it was because it was unusual. I was so lonely. Trust me, I needed you just as much as you needed me.”
“You didn’t need me,” he insisted. “You’ve got Joe and Dusty. You don’t need me at all.”
“Yes I do. Joe just—”
“—happened to come in and tell me some trumped-up story about Calvin wanting to talk to me so he could get you alone. And now I find you out here kissing him.”
Obviously, I was going to have to tell him everything. “Troy, take it easy and let me explain. Joe wanted to talk to me about something Rufus said. I brought him out here so we wouldn’t be overheard. I’m not in love with Joe, but he’s every bit as lonely and miserable as the rest of us. I was only trying to—”
“Cheer me up,” Joe spoke up from behind me. “It wasn’t what it looked like, Troy.” Joe’s sidelong glance assured me he understood my motives completely. “I had an idea there was something going on between the two of you. I guess I was right about that.”
“If you thought that, then why did you kiss her?” Troy demanded.
Joe scuffed the toe of his boot in the gravel, staring down at the ground again. “You know how it is when a woman you care about says something nice to you,” he mumbled. “It gave me…ideas.”
“Oh yeah?” Troy’s voice had lost some of its heat. He seemed slightly mollified by our explanation, although not entirely. “Would you mind telling me whose idea it was for Angie to put her hand on your ass?”
“Mine,” I conceded, waving my errant fingers at him. “All mine. You know how I am about that. My right hand is the one to blame. It has a mind of its own sometimes.”
My confession drew a glimmer of a smile. “Yeah, I know about that.” He glanced at Joe. “Angie likes ass.”
“No kidding?” If the light had been better, I’d have said Joe’s eyes were twinkling.
Troy nodded. “You should have seen what she did to me last—”
“Hold on there, Troy,” I cautioned. “Let’s not be telling him everything. He might go running to Dad or Rufus, and then I’d be in even more hot water.”
“Aw, I wouldn’t do that,” Joe insisted. “But I wouldn’t mind hearing more about what you did to him. My own fantasies are getting kinda worn.”
“Use your imagination, Joe,” I suggested.
“Your wildest imagination,” Troy amended. “That way you might be able to think of something half as good as the reality.”
“Oh, don’t tell me that,” Joe groaned. “I feel deprived enough as it is.”
“Okay. That settles it,” I said. “We are all going out on Saturday night, and we’re going to find you a girlfriend. I’ll pimp for you if I must, but one way or the other, I’m getting you laid.”
“Promises, promises,” Joe mocked. “Bull’s always saying shit like that, but it never happens.”
I shot him a scowl. “Oh, come on, Joe! You wouldn’t want the kind of woman Bull hangs around with, would you? I’m gonna find you a nice girl who’ll love you to pieces. I already know a few things I can pass on as incentive.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, you know…great kisser, nice ass, hung to your—”
Joe silenced me with a hand over my mouth. “Hush, now. You couldn’t possibly know any more than that. Troy’s ready to mop up the floor with me as it is.”
“She’s right, though,” Troy admitted, albeit with obvious reluctance. “I’ve seen you coming out of the shower, Joe. You’re hung like a stud horse.”
I gazed up at Joe with newfound respect. “Damn. I knew I should’ve installed a peephole in the bunkhouse. Just think what I’ve been missing.”
Not surprisingly, Joe seemed rather pleased, smiling sheepishly as he shuffled his feet. “I dunno about that, but I can tell you this much, Angela. If you had a peephole, and we knew you were watching, there wouldn’t have been a soft dick in the place. We wouldn’t have told on you, either.”
Honest to God, I hadn’t had this much fun in years. “Aw, you mean your dick would get hard just because I looked at it? I never knew I had such an effect on you guys. Let me see.” I reached for his zipper.
“None of that, now.” Grabbing me from behind, Troy pulled me out of range. “I think we’ve created a monster, Joe. What do you think we should do with her?”
“I know what I’d like to do with her,” Joe said, chuckling. “But I don’t think you’d approve.”
“Ooh,” I said with fiendish glee. “Cluster fuck me in the bunkhouse?”
“Cluster fuck?” Joe’s eyes were as big and round as a pair of teacups. “Where on earth did you ever hear that?”
“My husband,” I replied. “You guys never knew about Cody and me, did you? On a typical day, we did the deed at least twice—and more often than that if we had the chance. I never bothered to check you guys out—never really needed to—partly because I didn’t have the time. Cody kept me pretty busy.”
Joe let out a low whistle. “I had no idea. I always knew you and Cody seemed happy, but I never knew you were that happy.”
“Well, now you know,” I said. “Is it any wonder I’ve been such a wreck since he died? I miss him every day, and not only because of the sex.” My throat constricted on a sob. “I loved him, Joe. I loved being in love with him, and I loved making love with him.” I paused briefly to wipe my eyes before tears ran down my cheeks. “Imagine what it was like for me to have that and then suddenly be plunged into the sterile existence I’ve had to endure ever since. No one looks at me, or touches me, or in your case, hardly ever even speaks to me.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t throw a rope on Dusty and tie him to his bunk and have your way with him,” Joe agreed. “Hell, I’m surprised you didn’t get desperate enough to do it to me.”
“Now, Joe,” I chided. “You’re not to say things like that about yourself anymore. I won’t allow it. A woman wouldn’t have to be desperate to want you. She’d just have to be—”
“Blind?”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” I insisted. “I was going to say… I don’t know what, exactly, but it wouldn’t take desperation. She’d have to get to know you well enough to appreciate your, um, hidden attributes.”
“Meaning you’d have to show her your dick,” Troy said, as though any clarifications were needed. “Trust me, Angie, if you’d ever seen it, you would never have picked me up, that’s for sure.”
“That good, huh?”
“I’m not overly fond of them myself,” Troy said candidly. “But I know a first-class dick when I see it, and
he’s got one.”
“What about Dusty’s?” I was fascinated by the peculiar nature of this conversation, discovering things I never dreamed I’d ever have the chance to learn. “Is it as big as yours?”
“Never seen it when it was hard,” Troy replied. “But Joe there, he’s hard most of the time.”
I gazed at Joe with increased admiration, but I was also a tad concerned. “How do you ever manage to ride a horse? That has to be uncomfortable.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “Aw, he’s making that up. It’s not hard all the time, and to the best of my recollection, he’s only seen it once.”
“So, Joe, have you ever seen Dusty’s tool?” Knowing I might never have this opportunity again, I intended to pump them both for all the information I could get.
Bowing his head, Joe scratched the back of his neck as though trying to remember. “Can’t say I ever have,” he finally said. “He doesn’t sleep naked, so I’ve never seen it when he gets up in the morning, for example. Now, Bull, on the other hand… I’ve seen his plenty of times.”
“And?”
Joe’s grin was wider than ever. “Mine’s bigger.”
I giggled. “I was hoping you’d say that. Now, let me get this straight. Bull’s is smaller than yours, yours is bigger than Troy’s, and we don’t have any idea about Dusty. Is that right?”
“Hold on there now,” Troy said. “You’re making it sound like Bull and I are the same size.”
“Well, aren’t you?”
Troy shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got him beat too.”
“Great,” I said. “Now, we just have to find out about Dusty.”
“Find out what about me?” Dusty hobbled down the bunkhouse steps. “What are you guys talking about out here in the dark anyway?”
I considered it fortunate he hadn’t heard any more than he had, because if he could hear our discussion, Rufus might have overheard us too.
“Come over here for a minute, Dusty,” I called. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
Joe let out a loud guffaw. “Be careful now, Dusty,” he said between chuckles. “You might not like the question.”
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