by Pamela Tyner
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was quite pleased to note the smirk had disappeared. In its place was a hardened, distrustful expression.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
He leaned close to her ear. When she jerked her head away, he simply followed. “You’re the one who started this little game,” he whispered. “I’m just trying to help you play it.”
“That’s very kind, but I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out.”
“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
“How generous. But it’s really not—”
“David’s headed this way. Let’s look happy.”
He took her hand and planted it on his thigh. Not satisfied with the position of it, he moved it higher until it reached the junction of his leg. She tried to pull away, but he held it firmly in place.
“Pervert,” she said between clenched teeth.
His smile only seemed to irritate her further. Good.
“Hey, Clint, Tricia. Glad to see you made it.”
Tricia gave him a small smile. “Hello, David. It’s good to see you again.” Her voice was steady, and Clint wondered if the fact David wasn’t in uniform made her feel a little more at ease.
He might need to keep that information in mind. It could come in useful. If he could convince Tricia to talk to David, it might be a little easier for her if he wasn’t in uniform.
“How’s it going, David?” Clint asked. “Doesn’t look like the hecklers are too bad tonight.”
“They all stayed away when they heard I was going to be here. Afraid I might arrest them for disturbing the peace.”
At the word arrest Tricia’s hand gripped his thigh. From the corner of his eyes, Clint saw her gaze dart nervously away toward the stage. He placed his hand on her back and rubbed it reassuringly.
David gave Clint an amused grin. “You look like you’ve been branded.”
“What?”
Tricia looked at him and smiled. “You got a little smudge of lipstick.” She touched the corner of his mouth lightly with her finger. “Right there.”
The kiss outside the building flashed in Clint’s mind, and he agreed with David, he had indeed been branded. Grabbing the napkin from under his beer bottle, Clint rubbed at the spot.
Candy rushed by the table carrying a tray of beers, and, although there was ample room for her to pass, somehow she managed to shove against David as she moved by. All three of them watched Candy as she stalked away without so much as an excuse me.
“So, Tricia,” David said, returning his gaze to her. “Have you met Candy?”
“Yes. Nice girl.”
“Mmm-hmm. I imagine the two of you got along wonderfully.”
“Oh, I’m sure that any day now she’ll be inviting me to join her for a girls’ night out,” Tricia muttered.
In the background, the music stopped, and Jack announced the band would be taking a short break. Several minutes later, he arrived at their table carrying four bottles of beer.
“Hey, Clint. You haven’t been in here in forever. When I saw you I was so shocked I almost fell off the stage.”
Right. Jack had greeted them without missing a single beat in the song. “Well, now, that would have been entertaining,” Clint said.
Jack passed out the beers, then grabbed an empty chair from a neighboring table, turned it around, and straddled it.
“Pull up a chair and make yourself right at home, Jack,” Clint told him.
Jack laughed. “Thanks. I will.”
David glanced at the beer Jack had shoved in his hand, then sat the bottle on the table in front of Jack. “Jack always buys me a beer,” he told Tricia. “Because I don’t drink. That way he gets to drink the beer and comes out looking like a nice guy for buying me one. Don’t let it fool you.”
“Damn, tell her all my secrets, why don’t you?” Jack grinned at Tricia and tipped his hat. “Ma’am. I’m Jack Warren. You must be Tricia.”
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you,” she replied with a smile. Her gaze went from Jack to David, then back to Jack again. “Same last name. Are you brothers?”
“I would deny it, but since David’s standing here…” He let the words trail off. “David told me some outrageous story involving the two of you and a poker game. Damn shame I wasn’t playing in that game. Clint can’t bluff worth a damn, I always beat him. If I had been there, I would have won the pot and you wouldn’t be stuck with him. And you clearly deserve someone better—like me.”
Clint narrowed his eyes and shoved Jack’s chair with his foot. “Go away, Jack.”
Jack ignored Clint’s suggestion. “What I want to know is where was this game? Next time I want to be in on it.”
“Too late,” Clint replied. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you missed out. Now, get out of here and leave us alone.”
“Clint.” Jack removed his Stetson and placed it over his heart in a gesture of mock insult. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were trying to get rid of me.”
“I am. I thought I’d made that pretty clear. Don’t you have to go sing some more?”
“Nah.” He plopped the hat back on his head. “I’ve got a few more minutes.”
“Then go visit the guys at the bar.”
“You’re letting David stay,” Jack protested.
“I don’t have to worry about David, because he’s not flirting with Tricia.”
Jack glanced at David, who had been standing quietly, observing the other patrons of the bar. “You hear that, bro? Clint’s not worried about you. Guess he doesn’t consider you to be competition like me.”
“Uh-huh,” David replied absently, his gaze riveted toward the bar. “I’ve got to go. See you guys later.”
David strode across the room, stopping to talk to a pretty blonde named Emily. He smiled, she laughed, and then David sat down on the empty stool beside her.
Clint looked at Jack. “I didn’t know the two of them had hooked up.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder at the bar briefly. “It’s not official yet, but apparently she’s pretty fascinated with his handcuffs.”
“Is that so?” Clint murmured.
Jack nodded, grinned. “Yep. I went to his office the other day and found her sitting in a chair with handcuffs on. David had gone into the back for something, and she found his extra pair and was playing with them.” He shook his head. “I almost had her convinced he probably wouldn’t take them off. But, of course, he did. The minute he walked into the room he took one look, glared at me like he thought I’d done it, then whipped out the key, and ordered me to leave.” He looked over at Tricia with a sad sigh. “People are always ordering me to leave. Makes me feel so…so…unwanted.”
Hell, the next thing you know he’s going to start wiping tears from his eyes.
“You poor thing,” Tricia replied, her voice full of sympathy. She leaned forward and patted his hand.
Clint glanced over to see her eyes sparkling with amusement. This was not going as planned. She was not squirming. She was having fun. And with Jack of all people. He went through women like a drunk went through beers.
Her lips lifted into a smile, and she tossed her head, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
Good God, she’s flirting with him!
Clint reached for Tricia’s arm and tugged her hand away from Jack. The hand that had been laying on his thigh. When had she moved it? He slid his fingers in between hers. “Maybe I should ask David if we can borrow that extra pair of handcuffs he has.”
She turned toward him, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Why would we need…” She gasped, her eyes widening. An adorable pink blush crept over her cheeks.
With a great deal of effort, Clint managed to contain his smile until she had looked away.
Jack coughed, but it did a poor job of disguising his chuckle. “It’s time for me to get back. You got a request for a song?”
“Something slow,” Clint replied.<
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“Gonna do a little belt buckle polishing, eh?” Jack stood, tipping his hat at Tricia once again. “It was a real pleasure meeting you, ma’am. I hope I’ll be seeing more of you.” He winked at her and slapped Clint on the back. “I’ll be sure to ask David if he’ll loan you those cuffs.”
Tricia took a drink of her beer as she watched Jack walk to the stage. “He seems like a nice guy, real friendly.”
“Yeah, he’s a saint,” Clint muttered, unable to mask the sarcasm in his tone.
When the band began playing again, Clint tugged on Tricia’s hand. “Let’s dance.”
She shook her head. “It’s been so long since I’ve danced I doubt I remember how.”
“Sure you do. You used to love to dance. You’re great at it.”
“No.”
“Well, since I want to dance, and you don’t, the only fair thing to do—” Releasing her hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter. “—is to flip for it. If I win, you dance with me.”
“And if I win?”
“Then I won’t ask you again for the rest of the night.” At her skeptical expression, he added, “You’ve got a fifty-fifty chance of winning. That’s not bad odds.”
She considered it for a few seconds and nodded.
“Heads I win, tails you lose.” He flipped the coin, snatched it in mid-air, and turned it over on the table. He looked up at her with a smile. “Tails...you lose.”
He grabbed her hand, tugged her up, and led her to the middle of the dance floor. Both of his hands circled her waist, and she placed hers very lightly on his shoulders. Other than that their bodies didn’t touch. There was at least a foot of space between them...until he pulled her closer. When their bodies slammed up against each other, she drew in a sharp breath.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes. You just startled me.”
It had been a long time, an eternity it seemed, since he’d held her. As they swayed to the music, he lost himself in the glorious sensation of her warm, soft body pressed against his.
When the song ended, Tricia pushed against his shoulders and tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip and held her in place.
“The song’s over,” she pointed out.
“Another one will start any second.”
“The deal was you won, you got one dance.”
“No, it wasn’t,” he whispered against her ear. “The deal was I won, you dance with me. There was no mention of how many dances.”
She pulled back and glared at him. “You are sneaky.”
He wondered when, or if, she’d figure out there was no way he would have lost that coin toss. “Besides, by the time we got out here the song was half over, so actually, we haven’t even had one full dance.”
“One more. That’s it.”
“Uh-huh.” He slid his hands over her back. “You’re so tense. Relax.” He nuzzled her neck, his lips almost touching her skin, and smiled at the scent of roses. “You still wear the same perfume.”
“I’m surprised you remember my perfume.”
“I remember everything about you. For example, I remember all the places you spray that perfume. Here.” He trailed a finger across a spot right beneath her ear. “Here.” He rubbed his thumb over her wrist. “And…” He separated their bodies a few inches and glanced down at her cleavage.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned.
With a chuckle he pulled her against his body again. “I remember it all. I know all the places you like to be touched, and I know how you like to be touched in each of those places. There’s a spot right behind your knee, and if I lick it, your whole body starts to quiver.”
“You need to stop.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Just trying to make conversation, honey.”
“There’s no need to talk. We’re supposed to be dancing. And don’t call me honey.”
“All right, darlin’. You know, I’m perfectly capable of dancing and talking at the same time. Now, let’s see, where was I? Oh yeah, things that make Tricia quiver.”
“Don’t do this,” she whispered.
“Well now, darlin’, I’m sure it’s not affecting you. After all, you hate me. You told me so yourself. There’s nothing I can ever do or say that’s going to penetrate that brick wall you’ve built between us.”
“That’s right.”
“So, back to the conversation at hand. I remember how you loved it when I—”
She huffed out a breath of air. “Is there anything you remember about me that’s not sexual?”
He smiled. “Sure. You hate snobby people.”
“And people who are sneaky,” she interjected.
“Yeah, that too. Your biggest dream was to get out of Lexington. You practically counted down the days until you could leave.”
“I left all right,” she muttered. “And ended up right back there.”
Not only had college, a career, and a life outside of a town so small it didn’t even have a stoplight been Tricia’s dream, it had been her parents’ dream for her too. One they were determined to protect. One they were convinced Clint would destroy.
Clint remembered very vividly the last conversation he’d had with Tricia’s father. The man had shown up at his apartment one day and proceeded to explain to Clint exactly how he was going to wreck Tricia’s life. By the end of the conversation, Clint had been so angry he wanted to punch the man. But through it all, Tricia’s father had remained calm, rational, logical, and infuriatingly polite.
Clint shook his head to dislodge the memory. He didn’t want to dwell on that, because it had been the beginning of the end, and in the end he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Right now, all he wanted to remember were the good times, and there were plenty of those to choose from.
“Let’s see, what else do I remember? You hate mustard, and you love strawberries. And grape suckers. It seemed like every time I saw you you had a grape sucker stuck in your mouth. You always smelled like roses and tasted like grapes.” He looked into her eyes and wished he could taste her right then. “I used to watch you suck on one of those things, and it was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen. The way you’d slide it in and out of your mouth, it put all kinds of naughty images in a man’s mind.” He brushed his thumb over her lips. “You have an incredible pair of lips, Tricia.”
Just then she swiped her tongue over them, and he struggled to hold back his groan.
“And we’re right back to sex again,” she pointed out.
“Sorry.” The word was apologetic, but the tone wasn’t.
Tricia’s gaze left his eyes. “Is this song ever going to end?”
He saw no reason to tell her that the song had already ended. They were dancing to another one now.
“I hope not.” At his declaration, her gaze returned to his. “I like you right where you are.”
He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. Her body went as stiff as a slab of concrete.
“Now, now, Tricia. Remember, we’re trying to give the impression of the happy couple, aren’t we?”
“I don’t want you to kiss me.” Her protest was a whisper.
He lowered his mouth to hers again. “Pretend like you do.”
Chapter 7
A tiny voice in the back of Tricia’s mind urged her to resist. But the voice was so distant it was barely audible, and therefore easy to ignore. She waited, motionlessly, as Clint’s mouth descended on hers. When his lips touched hers, her eyes drifted closed.
The kiss was slow, gentle, easy. She allowed it, enjoyed it even, but didn’t respond to it. When he licked her top lip, the breath backed up in her lungs. Next, he tasted her lower lip, then nipped it ever so gently with his teeth.
With a quick intake of air, her lips parted of their own accord. Without permission from her brain, her body pressed more firmly against his, and her fingers curled into the soft cotton of his shirt.
His lips, still pressed against hers, curved upward into a smi
le. That self-satisfied gesture of his had her careening back to reality.
What are you doing? This time the voice was most definitely audible—it screamed inside her head.
Tricia’s eyes popped open, and she pushed against Clint’s shoulders to separate their mouths. She stared at him silently for several seconds as she tried to gather her muddled thoughts.
“Don’t do that again,” she finally whispered. “I don’t want you to ever do that again.”
“Now, darlin’, your response leads me to believe that you do want me to do it. I think the problem is you wish you didn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You are incredibly arrogant.”
“No, I’m just honest. But you have my promise that I won’t kiss you again…unless you ask me to.”
“There’s no way I’ll ever do that.”
There was no denying she was still physically attracted to him. Even though she loathed the fact, it was there nevertheless. But damned if she’d admit it to him.
The important thing now was ensuring her hormones didn’t overrule her sense of reason. Those hormones were a dangerous thing. This encounter had proved that point. If her sanity hadn’t returned, and if they hadn’t been in the middle of a crowd of people, in another five minutes she would have been tearing his clothes off and pleading with him to make love to her. And wouldn’t he just love that?
Yes, he would. As a matter of fact, she knew only too well how much he’d love it, because there had been a night when she’d done exactly that. And, good God, what intense pleasure she had experienced that night.
It was almost as intense as the pain you experienced a few months later. Remember that? And that pain lasted a whole lot longer than the orgasm did.
Thankfully, her trip down memory lane was cut short by the return of logic and reason. A fact which pleased her immensely since it confirmed her brain was in fact in control.
“Can we go now?” she asked. “You’ve seen David and Jack.” She paused long enough to tilt her head to the side and smile sweetly before mentioning the next name. “And Candy. Is there anyone else you needed to see tonight?”