by Vanessa Vale
“They don’t swear?”
It felt good to laugh. “No, not that “F” word. I meant forever. No guy would say they wanted forever if they didn’t mean it. I mean, if they wanted to keep having sex with me, they could have said we’d have fun the rest of my vacation. A clear end date. But no. They didn’t give themselves that out.”
“Wow.”
“I was the one who’d said I only wanted one night.”
“You did?” she asked. “Hang on.” I heard her hand go over the phone, her voice muffled for a minute. “Gabe says he wants to meet them. Do not marry them until he does a background check on them.”
I stood, went to the window and looked out at the creek. It was running a little higher than it had the day before, but the storm had dropped a lot of rain.
“He’s the one who eloped with you,” I reminded her. “He might run a high-tech company, but he is not looking into Colt and Micah.”
“Colt and Micah,” she repeated, but I knew she was telling Gabe. “She hasn’t said her last names. No, she’ll kill me. Yes, they work for the guest ranch.”
“Ann Marie,” I groaned.
“Let him do his thing. He’s your brother now and is protective of you, too,” she countered, then whispered. “Good, he’s gone off to play golf. Now tell me about the sex.”
Talking to her was like a bad case of whiplash.
“Amazing.”
“I tell you about my sex life,” she grumbled when I didn’t say more.
“No, you don’t. And please, don’t start now.” I loved Gabe, but I didn’t want to know about what he and my sister did together. It was one thing when we were younger and dated a bunch of different guys, but I had to get together with Gabe for the rest of my life.
“Fine. But you have to at least tell me what it’s like being with two guys at once. It’s not every day a woman gets two cowboys.”
I went into the bathroom, stood before the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. I was a little bedraggled, my hair a wild tangle. First, it had gotten wet in the storm, then it dried while I’d napped, then a night of sex, then a sexy dip in the lake. My on-set hairstylist would keel over, but I had to grin. I had I’ve-just-been-well-fucked hair.
“I didn’t have two at once,” I admitted.
“You mean—” She cleared her throat. “You didn’t use the lube?”
I remembered being bent over the porch railing, the drizzle of lube and the play of Colt’s fingers. Micah’s thumb as he fucked me.
“We used the lube, but not for what you’re thinking. At least not yet. They said I needed to be prepared first. It was just play.”
“Oh my god.” She said it a few more times. We were back to that again. I sighed, but it felt good for her to be okay with what I’d done. I shouldn’t need validation, but a girl needed her sister sometimes.
“You know what this means?” she asked, once she pulled herself together.
“That I’ve got anal sex in my future?”
“That, but it means forever.”
I sat down on the lip of the claw foot tub. “How does lube mean forever? They could just want to double team me and put notches in their headboards.”
“True, but not with these two. They’re not players. They’re honest-to-God, real life, honorable cowboys.”
“Who like to fuck,” I added. “A lot.”
“Even better. You’ve told me what they want. How do you feel about them?”
I stood, tucked the phone between my cheek and my shoulder and worked off my socks and jeans. I had to multi-task here if I was going to be ready for Micah and Colt in the hour window they’d given me. The idea of a spanking had my nipples hardening, but I needed a breather. I was a little sore. It was their intensity, though, that had me wanting a little break from sexy times. I had to figure out what I wanted from them. Ann Marie’s question was timely.
How did I feel about them?
“I don’t know very much about them. Micah runs an outdoor adventure company and Colt, while he works here at Hawk’s Landing, has land he wants to turn into his own ranch.”
“Family?”
“You mean are they married?” I asked.
She sighed. “No. I mean, parents, siblings.”
“One set lives here, the other moved to Arizona. Still married, from what they’ve said.”
“So they have jobs, don’t live in their parents’ basements. They kept you safe in a dangerous storm and kept you very warm last night.”
“I don’t know if they have food allergies or if they leave the seat up on the toilet. I have no idea if they have a gambling addiction or if one of them has a houseful of parakeets.”
“Parakeets?”
“You know what I mean. I know nothing about them.”
“While I knew Gabe didn’t have any tropical birds in his house, I wasn’t aware he drank OJ out of the carton until we were engaged and I hadn’t even realized he shaved his balls until I walked in on him in the shower two days ago.”
I was lifting my shirt over my head when she said the last and I stopped, horrifically imagining Gabe shaving his balls, and I got tangled.
When I put the phone back to my ear, I had to yell. “Ann Marie, I told you. TMI!”
“Sorry, but you get the idea.”
“I got the idea without knowing about Gabe’s balls.”
“So how do you feel about them? Your cowboys, not Gabe’s balls.”
I glanced down, saw the hickey on the upper swell of my right breast. I didn’t remember when I got it exactly, but I did remember the very serious, very thorough attention Micah gave my breasts.
“I like them. They like me. The real me. They know what I do, I told them, but they know nothing about the show and didn’t seem to care I was famous.”
“Honey, from what it sounds like, you could have told them you were a parakeet breeder and they wouldn’t have minded.”
“That’s my point. They want to be with me. It was the first time in…well, forever, that I didn’t have to be “on.” I didn’t have to pretend or act. And they’re nothing like the guys I know in LA. They’re real. Honest. It’s…easy.”
“That’s when you know it’s the real thing.”
“What? Easy?”
“Yes. It just is.” Her voice had changed from squealing madwoman to tender-hearted sister. “Now what?”
“Now I hustle to take a shower and go to a barbecue with them.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go, but I want to hear more about this Bridgewater thing. I’ll have Gabe look into it.”
I groaned, then laughed. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Have fun—use condoms!”
I hung up, tossed my phone on the bed, smiling. I couldn’t help it. I had two men who were interested in me. Not just one. Two. It felt really good. Not love good, but amazing. I would go with it. See where this thing went. Worst case, I’d be leaving in a few days with an amazing fling to remember. Best case…well, that was still undecided.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Micah
“You’re Jane Goodheart!”
“Oh my goooooood, I’ve been in love with you ever since that evil man, Ramos, bit you and made you a vampire. Where’s Kade?”
We’d handed off the horses to the guys working in the stable and took showers in the employee locker room before collecting Lacey from her cabin. Had we known she was to be accosted at the outdoor lunch, we would have avoided it entirely.
But we’d had no idea how famous she really was.
When we’d knocked on her door, she’d been ready, dressed in a pretty sundress. It was modestly cut, but I couldn’t miss her delectable curves. My cock got hard at the sight of her, knowing exactly what was beneath, but since it was demure, it ensured no one else would.
“Is this okay?” she’d asked, glancing down at her outfit.
“For the picnic? Yes. To keep our hands off you? It’s going to be hard,” Colt said, shifting his cock in his clean jeans.
>
“That’s not the only thing,” she replied, grinning.
Colt cupped her waist, pulled her in for a kiss. He rolled his hips and I knew she felt him. “Damn straight. Are you sure we can’t stay here and have a picnic of our own?” Colt leaned in, murmured in her ear. “We’d take turns eating you.”
Lacey licked her lips and I saw the heat in her eyes. She knew we’d follow through on his words if she said yes. “Oh no. I want some of this barbecue. I’ve worked up an appetite.” She squeezed between us and down the steps as if she had to get as far away from a bed—and privacy—as possible to ensure we didn’t get between her thighs.
We’d made it through the buffet line and had our hands full with loaded plates of smoked meat, side salads and sliced fruit, cutlery and drinks. But a couple blocked our way to one of the picnic tables spread out across the flat area behind the main lodge, stopping us. Or at least stopping Lacey.
They were in their thirties, with big smiles and eager gazes. The man wore jeans and a pale blue golf shirt with sneakers. The woman wore a black skirt and white tank top with cowboy boots. Based on their Southern accents, I had to assume her footwear was brand new.
The wife, who had to be five feet tall, pushed Colt out of the way, his lemonade sloshing over the edge of his cup and dripped down his hand. Lacey backed up a step, bumping into me. Her ponytail brushed across my plate before I could move it out of the way and she had potato salad on the ends.
“Oh um…thanks,” Lacey murmured. For a second, when the guy said she’d been bit and turned into a vampire, my mind had stalled. I thought the guy was insane. Her name wasn’t Jane Goodheart. They must have mistaken her for someone else, but then I remembered she’d said she starred in a TV show about vampires.
The couple, who had the biggest, goofiest grins, looked around. “Where’s Kade?”
Who the fuck was Kade? I watched as Colt put his food down on the nearest table, wiped his hand on a napkin and watched closely. I didn’t think he’d tackle the couple to the ground since they were ranch guests, but they were in Lacey’s face. Not only was she also a guest, but she was ours. If she needed protecting, even from this duo, Colt would step in. So would I, brisket be damned.
“Kade’s not real. He’s just a character on the show,” Lacey told them.
Their expressions drooped as if they’d just been told there was no Santa Claus.
“Yes, but you’re Jane! I understand if you’re taking a vacation—isn’t this place fabulous?—but Kade should be with you.”
“I’m not really Jane,” Lacey clarified.
The woman waved her hand as if she didn’t believe her. “What did you do to your hair? We almost didn’t recognize you.”
I wasn’t an expert on women’s hairstyles, but her hair looked fine to me. I didn’t see any difference in it from an hour ago.
Lacey lifted her hand to the side of her head, ran it down her ponytail, frowned when she felt the bits of potato salad. The woman reached out with her napkin and wiped off the food, stared at it. “Oh my god! This was on Jane Goodheart. Will you autograph it? I’ll be able to sell it on eBay for like, a hundred dollars!”
I put my food down and—figuratively and literally—stepped between the couple and Jane…Lacey. They were way over the top. Completely in Lacey’s face. “Let’s let her eat her meal,” I said.
The couple wasn’t having any of it. “It’s Jane, everyone!”
People were staring because of the scene the couple was making. I heard some murmurs about recognizing Lacey, but they didn’t really seem to care. Some people recognized boundaries.
“If I sign something for you, will you let me eat my lunch?” Lacey asked. I could hear the touch of aggravation in her voice, but her expression was as sweet as pie. Yeah, she was a good actress.
I wasn’t. Colt wasn’t either by the thunderous look on his face.
“Sure, sure,” the husband said, pulling a pen out of the camo fanny pack about his waist. “Here. Make it out to Sam and Belinda.”
“No,” Belinda countered, looking at Sam. “We should just have the autograph so we can sell it. It’s not like there are other Sam and Belinda’s out there.”
They bickered back and forth and Lacey grabbed the napkin and the pen from their hands, moved to the closest table and signed her name, careful not to tear it. Then she grabbed her own napkin and did a second autograph.
She spun back. “Here. Have a great vacation.”
The couple stopped arguing and looked at Lacey. Took the napkins and pen. “Oh, thank you!” They started talking about how they liked her hair blonde better than how it was now. Dark. Lacey just smiled, picked up her food and cup and walked away. Colt followed right behind, ensuring there weren’t any other rabid fans among the ranch’s guests. I lingered behind and watched as Belinda lifted her phone and took a few candid pictures. “Enough,” I told her, blocking her view of Lacey.
It was, perhaps, the harsh tone of my voice or the way I loomed a foot over her that the glee dropped from her face and she lowered her phone.
“Here at Hawk’s Landing, we don’t stand for harassment of other guests. I think you’ve found she’s been more than generous with her attentions on her vacation and it’s time to let her get back to it.”
“But she’s a vampire! She shouldn’t be out during the day.”
The woman was completely bat-shit crazy.
“I’ll be sure to tell her,” I replied, leaving them behind as I worked my way over to Colt and Lacey. They’d settled at a far picnic table, alone. Lacey sat facing away from the rest of the barbecue, her view was solely of the open field and the mountains in the distance. Colt had his eye on the group of guests, ensuring she didn’t have any more surprises.
I settled beside her, my thigh brushing against hers. Colt was watching her, not eating. His hat sat on the table beside his plate. Lacey was picking at her food with her fork.
I leaned in, breathed in her soft scent. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“When you said you were in a successful TV show, I hadn’t really ever thought about the implications of that,” I said.
She looked to me. Gone was the carefree look she had when we were at the backcountry cabin, or even ten minutes ago. “I have a lot of fans.”
“Not happening, sugar,” Colt said, not liking her diplomatic answer. “You’re a good actress, all right, hiding your true feelings, but not with us.”
“You want me to be upset, to cry, because I had my hair felt up while on vacation? You want me to yell at the couple for selling potato salad on a napkin because it touched my hair?” She grabbed her ponytail, pulled it around her shoulder so she could look at the end, make sure there wasn’t any food left on it.
“That’s better,” Colt replied. “I love knowing how you feel, even if it’s angry. You can shout and scream all you want when we take you to my spread. All right?”
She nodded.
“Let’s eat and we’ll get out of here.”
She picked up her fork and tucked into her meal. Fortunately, no one else approached. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a staff member in the usual uniform of golf shirt and jeans standing between us and the other tables. He faced the guests and was acting as a shield, ready to keep any other crazies away. One of the barbecue workers must have called in the confrontation to the office.
“Do you have people approach you like this all the time?” Colt asked. He cut a piece of brisket, speared it with his fork.
“Yes, all the time. I haven’t been to the grocery store since I found a picture of me online buying melon. The caption said I was deciding what size boob job I wanted.”
I glanced down at her breasts, a perfect handful hidden beneath her dress. They were all natural. Colt and I knew that for a fact. And they were gorgeous. Tear drop shaped, lush. They’d swayed beautifully when she’d been bent over the porch rail and fucked.
I was angry for her, for something that had happened when I hadn�
�t even known her.
“And your hair?” Colt asked.
“It’s been blonde since the start of the show four years ago. The character, Jane, has fair hair so I have to keep it that way. But when I found my sort-of ex-fiancé in my bed fucking, I kind of lost it. That’s why I came here. To escape. I’m not even registered, my sister is. I took over her reservation. When I landed in Bozeman, I had the taxi driver take me to a drug store. I colored it after I arrived.”
“Sort-of ex-fiancé?” I asked.
“I told you about him yesterday. He’s a rock star and my PR people put us together. They put a spin on it that we were dating to drum up popularity.”
Colt glanced past us before looking at Lacey. “It doesn’t seem like you need to be any more popular.”
She took a bite of meat, nodded. “True. It was more for Chris than me. He needed more attention and I was it.”
“So they used you.”
I shrugged. “That’s the industry.”
“To make you have a fiancé? That’s pushing it.”
“The media came up with that on their own. We didn’t date. Not really. Just went out with some people as a group. I don’t even like him. I never really did.”
I wasn’t sure if I should feel angry or sorry for her. “Why didn’t you just say no? Tell the truth and do your own thing?”
“I was too busy with work to really care. I don’t pay attention to the tabloids. My sister, Ann Marie, does, but I avoid it since it’s all speculation and innuendo.”
“Send the media a note. Or a phone call.”
“They’ll spin it,” she replied. “Any way to sell magazines.” She sighed, poked at her cornbread with her fork. “I work fifteen hour days until the filming is done. Then, once that’s over, I do press junkets. That’s why I was in Asia. Instead of writing that our relationship had grown cold, they’d said we’d gotten engaged. I was mad about that, but finding Chris had thrown a party, trashed my house and fucked a blonde, I’d had enough.” She sounded more angry and bitter than sad, and that was a good thing. She’d been a doormat for her PR people. No, not a doormat. A pawn, and she’d let them. It didn’t seem like she was going to let that happen any longer. I was glad of it, and if she needed help standing up to this asshole who used her so fucking badly, to anyone else, we’d have her back.