by Myla Jackson
Five days since she'd had sex and Charli was forced to watch Audrey and Jackson nearly having an orgasm in front of her. The logistics of putting Audrey's bra on under her T-shirt, plus the frustration of the two getting some while she wasn't made anger replace desire. Charli ripped her shirt up over her head and flung it on a box, grabbed Audrey's bra, hooked it around her waist and pulled the straps up.
Jackson whistled. "Nice breasts. Now, see? That's all it took. She gets a little naked, I get a lot horny."
Audrey slapped him, playfully. "Keep it in your pants until we're alone, will you?"
Jackson looked all innocent. "Just saying."
With a glance downward, Charli had to admit the bra pushed her up, with just enough coverage the cups barely hid her nipples, and displayed a whole lot of cleavage. Anxious to get outside, she grabbed her T-shirt and pulled it over her head.
"Are you trying to attract a man or a lesbian?" Jackson asked with a wave of his hand at her body. "Either way, you're missing the point."
"Oh, no, no, no. Jackson's right." Audrey yanked the shirt back over Charli’s head and tossed it behind a stack of boxes. "Covers far too much." She marched to the rack of costumes the male dancers used on Ladies' Night Out at the saloon and selected a cowboy vest that had only one snap at the center. She slipped the vest over Charli's arms and pulled the lapels together in the front, securing the snap on level with Charli's bellybutton.
Charli glanced down at her exposed chest and sucked in a breath. "You're kidding, right?"
Audrey stood back and tapped a finger on her chin. "Still needs something."
"I can't go out there like this." Charli tugged up the vest, in an attempt to cover more of her boobs.
"Why not?"Audrey pulled Charli's hands down to her sides. "You wanted to attract his attention, didn't you?"
"Yes." Charli pushed away Audrey's hands. "But not everyone else's attention in the joint."
"Well, you gotta let him know what he's missing." Audrey smiled. "The more men who sit up and take notice, the more Connor will notice. You might even kick in a twinge of jealousy."
Jackson studied Charli. "You're right, Charli. It's not quite right." He reached out and grabbed the sides of Charli's jeans and tugged them downward.
"What the hell!" Charli smacked his hands, but before she could pull her jeans back up, Audrey brushed Charli's fingers aside.
"That's it." Audrey nodded. "How about one better?" She slipped her fingers between Charli's belly and the waistband of her low-slung jeans and flipped open the top rivet. "Maybe tease him with a little pubic hair?" Charli's boss laughed, delightedly.
"You'll have me stripping before I walk out of this storeroom." Charli held up her finger. "I'm not doing a striptease out there. I told you when I hired on, I can't dance, nor do I want to in front of that bunch of rednecks."
"What about in front of Connor?" Audrey drew a line down the center of Charli's cleavage while her hand dipped into the opening of Charli's jeans. "Bet you'd dance for him. Naked."
Tingles ran across her abdomen. Charli couldn't breathe, her pussy tightening to a point she almost came. "Don't do that, unless you want to share your man," she warned Audrey. "I'm in no mood to be teased and left dry."
"I could be convinced.” Audrey's brows rose and she tipped her head to the side. “What about you, Jackson?"
"Ready.” He reached for the buttons on his jeans. “Just say the word."
Charli's heart stuttered at the thought of a threesome with Audrey and Jackson, but what would they say to each other afterward? It would all be too weird. She planted her hands on her hips. "Before you get too hot and bothered, what are the other four steps in the hunt?"
"Step two. You have to dangle the bait where the poor slob...er...prey will practically stumble across it." Jackson nuzzled Audrey's neck, moving his mouth up and down her skin. "Um, you smell good."
Still naked from the waist up, Audrey leaned back against Jackson. "Go on."
"And you have beautiful tits," Jackson continued.
Audrey's elbow in his gut set him straight, and he gave Charli a sheepish grin. "Three, Set the Trap." Jackson nipped Audrey's earlobe.
"What do you mean, set the trap?" For a second, she watched her friend’s eyelids drift closed then she snapped her fingers in Jackson's face to make him focus.
"Make it your place." Jackson grinned. "Be naked."
"Really?” Audrey frowned. “I'd think a candlelit dinner and a bottle of wine, maybe a sexy negligee that gives a little glimpse of what's beneath without being too revealing."
Jackson chuckled, plumping Audrey's naked breasts. "Simple, honey. Men are simple."
"Four?" Charli's patience had long since thinned. "What about four?"
"Stalk your prey carefully." Jackson's fingers walked up Audrey's arm. "Don't attack right away. Make him sweat."
Be naked when he arrives but don’t attack right away? Charli shook her head. "I don't get it."
"Show him a little leg." Audrey's breath caught as Jackson's hand slipped under her waistband. Eyes wide, she hurried to finish with, "Stand in the light so that your outfit becomes see-through, giving him a peek of the treasures beneath."
Jackson glanced up. "Keep it simple."
The tangy scent of aroused female reached Charli’s nose and her pussy clenched. "Five?" Charli prompted, her breathing ragged, her body on fire, ready for sex and not sure when she'd be getting any.
"Five is when you've got him where you want him and you go in for the kill. In this case, for the big O. Just remember...naked."
Audrey's back arched and she moaned.
Jackson's finger must have hit the right spot. "Oh, for Pete's sake, get a room." Charli marched for the door, every sexual fantasy she'd lived over the past weeks following her into the saloon, laughing at her, while Jackson's and Audrey's advice swirled in her head.
One thing was certain, if she couldn't get Connor interested while wearing nothing but a pushup bra and a vest, then she'd give up and go back to her vibrator.
Before Charli had gone five feet, Audrey hurried around her, tugging her t-shirt in place. She grabbed Libby, the bartender, and whispered into her ear. Then a grinning Audrey disappeared back into the store room.
As she stepped out onto the saloon floor, Charli's gaze panned the room, lighting on Connor Mason. He sat at a table near the dance floor, talking to Mark, Luke Gray Wolf and his high school buddy, Ed Judson.
Crap. Why couldn't he be alone? Vamping in front of a table full of his friends wouldn’t be easy. But damn it, her pussy ached for some action and she needed to know where she stood with the man.
Squaring her shoulders and sparing a last glance at her plumped cleavage, Charli grabbed a tray and started for the table.
The music on the juke box ended and a new song started, the tune Charli knew all too well. The song that gave every woman hope and filled her with the promise of finding that someone who touched her heart.
Charli groaned and turned back to the bar, biting down on her bottom lip. Should she ignore the music or go for it?
Libby held out a microphone in her direction.
"Really? This song?" Charli set the tray on the wooden bar and snatched the mic from Libby, her heartbeat kicking up a notch, knowing the words as if they had been etched in her brain for all of eternity. The song sung by one of country music's most talented artists. How could Charli, a nobody from Temptation, Texas, begin to measure up? And if she fell short? What if Connor was a big fan of the real artist? What if he didn't like Charli's version?
Self-doubt reared its nasty head, and Charli almost ran from the bar. But the music played on and her need to sing the lyrics made her mouth open. The dance floor cleared and a path opened, allowing her through to the center, directly in front of the table where Connor and his friends sat.
The man next to Connor's whistled at Charli and patted his lap.
Connor glared at him and scooted his chair closer to where Charli stood, giv
ing her his complete attention.
Heat spread through Charli's body. Her voice started out soft, the words filling her, so tender, so gentle, swelling to the refrain. In just a few moments, she stood in the middle of the dance floor, her gaze on Connor, music swirling all around her. She sang the song to him, about him, for him. Her gaze captured his and her chest tightened, the words flowing as if from her heart to his.
When the music ended, another song followed on the juke box and couples moved out onto the dance floor.
Charli stood in a trance, her gaze locked on Connor, unable to form a coherent thought except how much she wanted him to take her in his arms and love her like the lyrics in the song. But Jackson said men were simple. Would Connor get that she'd just poured out her feelings for him, and everyone else, to see? Suddenly, she felt exposed, more so than the stupid vest and bra could begin to reveal. She'd laid open her heart and soul. As fear, embarrassment and emotion welled up inside, Charli's muscles bunched to run.
Then Connor stood, his smoky gaze unfathomable, and he stalked toward her like a panther claiming his territory, joining her on the wooden floor. "Can I have this dance?"
Heart racing, she nodded, all words now locked below the lump in her throat. As she moved into his arms, the need to run transformed into a need to get closer to this special man.
"I knew you could sing...but not like that." His arms tightened around her back. "You have a gift."
In a rush of relief, she laid her face against his chest, wanting to tell him that she'd sung the song just for him. But she couldn't, the emotion was too new, too raw.
All too soon, the music of the song faded and their feet came to a standstill.
Audrey waved from across the floor, mouthing the words, Ask him.
Charli's pulse leaped and she remembered why she'd come onto the main room in the ridiculous outfit in the first place. She leaned back so that she could stare up into Connor's face, into his blue eyes. Blood pounded in her ears as she tried to assemble all that Jackson had taught her into coherent thoughts. Step two, or was it three? Her mouth opened and she blurted, "Will you have sex with me?"
Chapter Three
Charli flitted from her bathroom mirror to the front window at least a hundred times as she waited for Connor to arrive. So far, everything was going according to plan. Well, other than asking him outright if he wanted to have sex with her.
Her cheeks burned at the remembered embarrassment and clumsy backpedaling she'd done before she could solicit his commitment for dinner tonight, no pressure to have sex. Though her pussy felt the pressure like nobody's business.
Ever since Charli had danced with Connor on the dance floor, feeling his arms around her as if she was someone precious, she'd been scared.
Scared he'd come, they'd have dinner, and she'd forget how to talk.
Scared he'd find her boring, unattractive and too needy.
Scared the plan would fail, and he'd walk away convinced for the second time that she wasn't worth asking out on another date.
By now, she hadn't gotten a call from her mystery cowboy and she'd gotten to the point she didn't care. Knowing who she was with seemed much more important than living every crazy sexual fantasy she'd ever imagined. Not that the escapades hadn't been hot while they lasted, but, well, the midnight romps weren't something she could build a relationship on. And Charli realized not only did she want sex, she wanted a real, grown-up relationship, with a man who wasn't afraid to show his face.
Still wrapped in a towel, she strode into the bedroom where the pretty figure-hugging deep teal mini-dress lay across her bed. Audrey had loaned it to her for the occasion. Since Charli had blurted out she'd wanted sex, Audrey made the command decision to send a message to Connor that sex wasn't the only thing Charli wanted.
Charli reached for the dress, wondering if the negligee might be the better idea. Jackson had said, keep it simple. No, the dress was gorgeous, she looked gorgeous wearing it and the garment gave her something to strip when the time came. As consolation, she would forgo panties. Knowing how deliciously decadent that would feel as she sat across the table from Connor, eating their intimate dinner. Her body flushed with heat, her pussy dampening.
Maybe he'd run his fingers along her thigh and beneath the dress and discover her secret...
The doorbell rang.
Charli squealed and ran to answer it, realizing as she pulled the door halfway open that she still wore only the towel. A secret smile spread across her face. That was how she'd greeted Connor on their first date.
The sexy Mr. Mason stood there with a broad grin. "Nice."
Her heart pounded. Charli hoped he'd wrap his arms around her like he had the first time, but he didn't.
He winced, his lips twisting. "A buddy of mine from the military was passing through. I hope you don't mind that I brought him along." With a shuffle, he pulled a man with a short haircut into view.
Charli squealed for the second time, slammed the door shut in their faces and leaned against the wooden panel, a wave of disappointment and panic washing over her. Damn. This wasn't going according to plan at all. "I'll be right back," she called through the door. In less than a minute, she was back, with the dress pulled over her hips. She hadn't had time to find a pair of sexy underwear and barely had time to slip her feet into the high-heeled sandals she'd laid out by her bed.
Yanking open the door, she forced a smile to her face and waved the two men inside her little cottage. "I'm sorry. I wasn't quite ready."
"No apologies necessary. You're beautiful no matter what you wear." Connor lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips.
Tingles of awareness rippled across Charli's senses and she almost forgot the other man standing by.
His friend chuckled. "Or don't wear."
Connor jabbed him in the ribs. "Forgive my friend. He's been too long in all-male company. He's forgotten his manners."
The tall, broad-shouldered man stuck out a hand. "Grant Bradley. If this is inconvenient, I can leave Connor here and find my own dinner."
"No, no. I made plenty of food. Come in." Charli could have cried. Her plan would have to go on hold while Connor's friend had dinner with them. Maybe having sex with Connor wasn't meant to be. The best she could hope for was getting through the dinner without bursting into tears, or dying of sexual withdrawals.
The men entered the dining room where Charli had the table set for two, with candles, rose petals and her best dishes.
"I'm really sorry. This was obviously a date. I'll just bow out quietly.” Grant backed toward the door. “You two have a nice dinner."
"No, really. I'd love for you to stay." Charli reached into her hutch for another plate and laid it on the table.
Dinner passed with laughter and a lot of story swapping, the two men holding up the bulk of the conversation, Charli listening and learning more about Connor than she would, had they been alone. He'd loved the military, had brother-love for the men of his unit and missed it. He came alive when he talked about the missions they'd been on and the danger inherent in a war-torn country. Connor and Grant had shared so much.
Charli couldn't begin to compete with them in a full-blown conversation. She fed them, made sure their glasses were full, and let their voices fill her with a gentle warmth, if not the passionate heat she'd set the "trap" for. Many times she struggled to concentrate when she remembered she wasn't wearing panties beneath the dress, a garment whose skirt was so short it rode up to where a panty-line should have been revealed.
Her heart fluttered as she sat between the two men, her desire growing, despite the conversation all about war.
When she rose to clear the last dish, Connor joined her, carrying his plate into the kitchen. "The chicken cordon bleu was great."
"Yes, it was. Thanks for the home-cooked meal." Grant called out. "Beats the chow hall any day."
As the kitchen door closed between them and Grant, Charli's pulse pounded against the base of her throat. She'd
done everything right according to Jackson and Audrey—establishing a pretty trap with the right setting, the right clothing, or lack thereof. With Grant in the other room, Charli could move on to Step Three and stalk her prey. Maybe give him a hint of what he just might be missing.
"Do you think Grant would like coffee?" Charli asked.
"Probably."
When Connor reached around her to rinse his plate in the sink, Charli made her first move. She turned so fast, they stood almost nose-to-nose, her breasts pressing against his chest, her mouth so close to his lips, she could almost taste them. Her heart hammering, she gave a little giggle. "Oops, sorry." Then she ducked under his arm. She'd given him a taste, just a little taste, of what it felt like to get close.
After stowing the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, she busied herself pulling clean spoons from the drawer. When she thought he might be looking her way, Charli leaned up on her toes, stretching an arm high over her head and reaching up into the cabinet where she kept her coffee. She banked on the dress rising up enough to display a healthy portion of her naked ass.
"Look, I appreciate your being so—" Connor's words choked off mid-sentence.
Bingo. Charli cast a glance over her shoulder as she lowered her arm and her dress hem. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"
Connor cleared his throat and continued, his eyes wide and still resting on her hem, now clearly covering her bottom. "—accommodating. Thank you for being so accommodating. Grant would have had to eat by himself."
She turned back to the cabinet for a second time, reaching for the sugar. "He seems nice. Good-looking too." Rising slowly on her toes, she lifted an arm again, her dress inching upward with the movement...
Connor was behind her in an instant, plucking the sugar from the top shelf. "On second thought, I think Grant isn't into coffee. It's probably time we left."
Charli spun, knocking a coffee mug to the floor where it crashed along with all her hopes of seducing Connor Mason. Ducking her head to hide her shock, she bent to pick up the broken pieces. "Are you sure?"