Grant nodded as he moved into the room, quickly shunning his clothes as he moved toward them.
Once he was naked, he crawled into the bed facing Grace, sandwiching her between them.
“I’ve never been better,” he told them.
Why didn’t she believe him?
Afraid of ruining the moment, Grace didn’t ask the inevitable question. She just stared back at him. For now, this was going to be all right. The rest of the world was safely locked outside, and she could enjoy the warmth of these two men for the today and maybe tomorrow.
And Monday, she’d worry about that then.
Because until they had to face the harsh realities of the real world, nothing else mattered.
□●□●□●□
Lane felt the tension in the air around him. He could see it in the way Grant moved, in the way he looked at them. Fear was already setting in.
He fully understood that fear. Fear of what tomorrow would bring. Fear that they’d lose this moment and never recapture it.
Last night had been perfect. In fact, it had been so incredible that when they found each other in the early morning hours, he’d been so overcome with emotion that he’d had to sit back and claim to only want to watch. These two moved him in ways he never expected.
Well, actually he had expected it. From the moment he met them. Lane wasn’t one to fall in love easily, but he’d been in love – at least a little bit – with both of them for so long that this just felt normal. But it wasn’t normal. At least not by everyone’s standards and he knew that’s what Grant was worried about. He could see it in the man’s stormy blue eyes.
Grant was thinking too much.
Wanting to erase the shadows he saw in Grant’s eyes, Lane willed him to look at him. And almost as though he could feel his request, Grant looked away from Gracie and up at him.
“I love you,” Lane said, putting it all out there. “I love you both.”
“I –” they both said simultaneously.
“No, wait,” Lane interrupted. “I’m not asking you to say anything back. I just needed you both to know. It’s true. It’s always been true.” Lane hated that his emotions were getting the best of him, but he forced himself to continue. “I don’t want this to end. Ever. But, I’m not naïve enough to think it won’t be hard. I just want you both to know that it can be done. If we want it enough, it can be done.”
Neither of them spoke, but Gracie shifted so that she was looking up at them. There were tears in her eyes and Lane leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
“I want it enough,” she told him, a mere whisper against his lips.
Lane lifted his head and met Grant’s eyes. He didn’t speak, but he nodded his head.
And right then and there, Lane knew that they could make this work. They would make it work.
There were a few obstacles that they would need to overcome first. It was just going to take some time.
And he was all right with that because he had all the time in the world. And loving both of them would only make that time pass much more easily.
Chapter Nine
Mercy Lambert sat at the table in the crowded dining room, trying to ignore all that was going on around her. She just wanted to finish her breakfast and sneak out before anyone paid her too much attention.
“Hey, Merce.”
The deep voice sounded from behind her and Mercy tensed, an automatic response to the one man she tried to avoid on the best of days.
“Mind if I join you?”
Mercy looked up into Cody Mercer’s startlingly brilliant green eyes. Doing her best not to shake her head no, she darted her eyes toward the chair on the opposite side of the table.
The man didn’t take the hint.
No, Cody wasn’t the type of guy to let her put too much distance between them, no matter how hard she tried. And yes, Mercy tried pretty damn hard.
Proof in point, Mercy turned her attention to the bland eggs and rubbery bacon that sat on her plate. Their cook needed a stern talking to because he was falling down on the job, which wasn’t doing a damn thing for her appetite. And Lord knew, she needed to eat because she was about to spend the next six or so hours out in the heat, probably without a minute to spare for lunch.
Okay, so yes, she was avoiding this man. So much so that she was studying the consistency of the eggs, separating them with her fork, making sure to slide the fork across the glass plate, emitting an ear splitting sound.
Anything to keep from looking up into that incredibly handsome face.
“Still not talkin’ to me, huh?” Cody asked, sounding as confident as he usually did.
“Tryin’ not to,” she answered, still not looking up at him. “You make it damn hard to succeed.”
“That’s the plan.” The rich, deep laugh that echoed through the oversized dining area made Mercy’s insides tingle.
Damn him.
She did not want to be attracted to this guy. She did not want to sit there and have a normal conversation with him. And by God, she did not want to remember the one night they spent together not that long ago, both of them sweaty and slick as she rode him like a fucking cowgirl right there in the garage that housed the heavy equipment that he worked on.
“You’ll come around, I’m sure,” Cody said softly, setting his coffee mug on the table, his hand grazing hers as he pulled away.
Mercy jerked her head up, pinning him with a glare that she hoped was evil enough to send him toppling over in his chair.
Son of a bitch.
Cody smiled. And damn him all to hell, she loved that sexy little smirk that curled the left side of his mouth, exposing that damned dimple that she found so damned attractive.
Damn.
Okay, and now her vocabulary had been reduced to that of one of the redneck cowboys she came in contact with generally when she was down at Whiskeys, the only bar within a ten mile radius. The one she was already making plans to visit in the very, very near future. Hell, at this rate, who needed to wait until five o’clock?
“Come on, babe, when are you going to get over the fact that I rocked your world and you liked it?”
When Cody went to touch her hand again, Mercy picked up her fork and stabbed the table, mere centimeters from where he’d just been. His eyes opened wide and it was her turn to smirk. “In your dreams, cowboy,” she said, keeping her voice as low as she could.
But then that damn smirk on his face was back and Mercy felt an answering tug deep in her womb.
Yep, she was pretty damned sure that she’d found something she never, not in her wildest dreams, expected to find on this ranch…
Her Kryptonite.
Dear reader,
I hope you enjoyed the introduction to the sweet, sultry Lambert sisters and the sexy cowboys they love. Don’t worry; there’ll be plenty more of Lane, Grant and Gracie in book 1 of the Dead Heat Ranch series, Betting on Grace coming July 29, 2014.
Additional Books by Nicole Edwards
The Club Destiny Series:
Conviction
Temptation
Addicted
Seduction
Infatuation
Captivated
Devotion
Perception
Entrusted
The Alluring Indulgence Series:
Kaleb
Zane
Travis
Holidays with the Walker Brothers
Ethan
Braydon
The Devil’s Bend Series:
Chasing Dreams
The Dead Heat Ranch Series:
Boots Optional
Betting on Grace
Nicole would love to hear from you:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicoleEAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author.Nicole.Edwards
Website: www.nicoleedwardsauthor.com
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Nicole Edwards, Boots Optional
Boots Optional Page 8