“Who’s the asshole? You’re Callie’s friend. I’m Callie’s man. I’ll beat him up for you.” He would get in good with Callie’s friends. That seemed like a good thing to do. He might not be here for too long. Callie deserved far better than him, but he could certainly help her and her friends out in the short term.
“Stefan Talbot.” Jen gave up the guy who hurt her really easily.
“Consider him broken.” Zane sighed. Life was looking up. He’d wanted to kick that pompous rich boy’s ass for years. Even more after the Bigfoot incident.
Callie poked her index finger at him like an enraged schoolteacher. “You most certainly will not, Zane Derek Hollister. You are going to behave yourself.” She turned that judgmental finger on her friend. “And you are not going to put a hit on the man you love. He needs time. Give it to him. Pushing him will only make things worse. Now, we’ll take the bacon cheeseburger loaded with fries and the special.”
Jen nodded, and with a sigh of resignation, flounced off.
“I thought you said to avoid the special.”
“Everyone avoids the special. It hurts Hal’s feelings,” she explained.
He reached for her hand. He loved how small it was in his. Small but solid. That was his girl. “You need a keeper.”
Just like that, he was wondering if he wasn’t exactly what she needed. Some douchebag rich boy would let everyone take advantage of her. Maybe she needed a guy who didn’t care what people thought.
She grinned. “I kind of thought I had one.”
Before Zane could reply, a sarcastic voice interrupted. “Well, damn, Cal. I thought I had to come rescue you, but it looks like you hired some muscle.”
Zane glared up at the man who had walked into the diner and made a beeline for his woman. He looked like he’d ridden in off the range. A Stetson sat on his head. He wore jeans and boots and a shirt with pearl snaps. He stared at Zane for a moment and finally whistled.
“Damn, man, what does the other guy look like?”
“Max!” Callie turned to the newcomer, a startled look on her face.
He actually didn’t mind. The cowboy was the first person he’d met in a long time to simply ask him about the scars. It should have made him self-conscious, but he found forthrightness put him at ease. “The other guy was actually ten guys, and they look pretty bad themselves. They drugged me and tied me down. They’re mostly in prison.”
The cowboy’s eyebrows climbed into his Stetson. “Mostly?”
“I wasn’t happy when I came to. Unfortunately for them, the only people in a position to help them were DEA agents. They were indisposed, and I managed a good ten minutes with a couple of them.”
“Damn.” The cowboy named Max slid into the booth beside Callie. His hand ran across the back of the booth. “That is impressive.”
His arm went around Callie’s shoulders, and Zane’s blood pressure ticked up slightly, but Reasonable Guy was there, coming through for him with some sweet logic.
Everyone in the town is friends with Callie. Keep it cool. Keep the caveman buried.
Zane shook his head. “Nah, it was really just painful.”
“So you with the DEA? What’s drugs got to do with my girl Callie here?” Max squeezed her shoulders in a familiar way that had the caveman in Zane clawing to get out. Inner Asshole made an appearance.
If you break his arm, he won’t be able to touch your woman with it.
When he thought about it, Inner Asshole was pretty logical, too.
He took a deep breath. His fingers tightened on the tabletop. He saw the way Callie playfully elbowed the cowboy. It did nothing to make him comfortable. It was past obvious that this Max fellow knew Callie really well. Max. That name triggered something in him. “It doesn’t have anything to do with her. I’m not an agent anymore. And she isn’t your girl.”
“Really? You left a job like that?” Max completely ignored the important part. “Is that how you ended up as a bodyguard?” The cowboy reached over and grabbed Callie’s coffee like he had a right to steal a sip.
He’s being playful. They’ve been friends for a while and they’re comfortable with each other. Explain who you are and he might back off. Reasonable Guy was still giving it a go.
“I’m not a bodyguard. I’m her boyfriend.” That damn Max was riding an awfully thin line, but he had to think about more than his own possessive nature. Reasonable Guy was right. He should put the truth out there. “I’m one of her boyfriends, anyway.”
Let that sink in. Maybe if he shocked backwoods Max, he would go away.
A big grin spread across the cowboy’s face. He turned to Callie. “I hope the other one is a little smaller, darlin’.” He took a long drink from Callie’s mug. “This one looks like he could do some damage.”
She flushed prettily and didn’t seem to care that the jerk was drinking her coffee. “Max, you hush, and don’t you say a word to Rye.”
Just like that, it clicked. Max and Rye Harper were the twins she’d been in love with. They’d been the reason she wanted a ménage in the first place. This jerk with the perfect face was Callie’s ideal man. He wasn’t ridiculously oversized, and he didn’t have a face full of scars. He probably didn’t come with enough baggage to strangle an elephant, either. Old pretty-boy Max didn’t have a past filled with regret. Max leaned over to Callie. He invaded her space.
“You know I gotta tell Rye, sweet thing. He’s going to think it’s real damn funny that you’ve taken to the lifestyle.”
Max put a hand on Callie’s head.
Zane listened for Reasonable Guy.
I got nothing. You should kill him.
And Inner Asshole took the reins.
He didn’t even think about what he was doing. It was like watching a movie. He felt a bit outside of himself. He moved quickly, exiting his side of the booth, reaching for the asshole cowboy who dared to put a hand on his woman. He neatly picked him up by the throat and slammed him onto a nearby table. It was mere chance that it was empty.
“Zane!”
He heard Callie’s outraged shout, but it seemed a far-off thing. There was only him and Max in that moment, and Zane needed to clear up a few issues before they could proceed. As for Callie, well, she’d made her choice the night before when she’d accepted him into her body. When she’d offered up that sweet pussy of hers, he’d taken more. She fucking belonged to him, and no goddamn cowboy was going to drink her coffee and touch her hair.
“Now, maybe we should talk about this, big guy.” Max stared up at him, a slightly rueful expression on his face as though this wasn’t his first time in this position. “You know, I think of her as my sister.”
“You touch your sister’s hair as often as you touch Callie’s?” Zane wasn’t letting him get off with that excuse. At least Talbot had taken a step back when he understood Zane and Nate had made their intentions plain.
“Yeah, but I’ll be honest, Brooke is more like my daughter than my sister. I had to raise her after my mom died and my dad left town. I’m an affectionate guy. I swear on my unborn child’s life that I have zero interest in Callie on a sexual level.”
“Gee, thanks, Max,” Callie said, sarcasm dripping as she stood beside him. Zane’s hand was still wrapped around Max’s throat, but he wasn’t squeezing. Callie rolled those gorgeous dark eyes and sighed. “Do you mind, Zane? You’re causing a scene.”
He looked around the diner. Sure enough, every eye in the place was on them. Some were horrified at the scene and had cell phones in hand. Most, though, had big grins on their faces, including Stella, who was walking toward their table. She seemed completely unfazed by the potential ass kicking that was taking place in her establishment.
“Go rough on him,” Stella said as she neatly placed their food on the table. “He deserves it.” She looked at Callie. “I like your man, hon. He makes up for the other one. You gotta talk to the sheriff, girl. He keeps ticketing the tourists. I need the tourists in a good mood.” She frowned as she looked
down at Max. “You know, I’ve been around enough of these crazy threesomes to know that there’s a hardass and a sweet one.” She patted Zane’s scarred face. “You’re the sweet one, hon. You get free fries.”
She walked off, her boots ringing across the floor.
“Damn,” Max said, turning his head to watch Stella. “I don’t get free fries. Cal, I think Stella thinks I’m the hardass. She doesn’t know Rye at all, damn it. I am completely misunderstood.”
A few things fell into place, and Zane let his hand drift to his side. “You’re in a threesome?”
Max sat up and felt his neck for damage. “I don’t consider it a threesome. It’s a marriage. My brother and I are married to a lovely woman named Rachel. We have a baby on the way.” A sly grin crossed his face. “Did you think you were shocking me, city boy?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer that. He had thought it would shock him.
Max gave him a good-natured punch in the arm. “Nothing shocks a Bliss boy.” His face suddenly went cold and dark, and Zane decided he’d completely underestimated the cowboy. “But we take our relationships serious, you understand? I wasn’t joking. Callie’s like my sister. You play around with her, and you deal with me and Rye.”
“I’m not playing,” Zane said automatically.
Max seemed to take his measure. Callie’s arm wound around Zane’s waist, and he pulled her close, waiting for the judgment of her childhood friend.
“All right then,” Max said, scooting back into the booth. “As long as we understand each other.”
This time Zane pulled Callie along and pushed her gently toward his side of the booth. Her sardonic look let him know she didn’t miss his reasons for changing the seating arrangement. He slung an arm around her possessively but decided to play the white knight as well. She needed someone who looked out for her. He passed the amazing-looking cheeseburger over to her.
Callie looked up at him. “But I ordered the burger for you.”
He winked at her and picked up the fork that went with the ceviche. “I’d like to try the special, babe. You take the burger.”
He was surprised to find he really liked ceviche de hongos with black beans and lemon, and he was starting to like Bliss.
Chapter Nine
Nate hung up the phone and felt his stomach drop. It was worse than he could imagine. There really was a bounty on Zane’s head, or rather on his chest, and there was next to nothing the authorities could do about it. It was all rumors. No one undercover was willing to risk his or her assignment for an agent who had gone down in a blaze of questionable behavior. He knew Zane hadn’t done anything wrong, but his cover had been blown and no one had an explanation for how Ellis had come to find out Zane was a cop. Zane had left the agency without trying to fight for his job, but then he’d never really tried to fit in there in the first place. He wasn’t a “climb the ladder” kind of guy.
Luckily, Nate was. Nate understood how important contacts were. Special Agents Ben Leander and Marcus Worthington were on their way to Bliss. He’d had to call in a couple of favors, but now they had some backup. Ben and Marcus were two of the best-connected men the agency had.
Nate sat back in his chair. His head was starting to pound. He’d had to promise his old boss that he would give serious consideration to coming back in three months. It meant breaking the deal he had with Stefan. Stef might understand, but he had to consider Callie and Zane. He always meant to return to the DEA once Zane was back on his feet. He’d been on the fast track there, and he’d been told what happened with Zane hadn’t touched him. He would move up in the DEA and then look for a job in Washington. He might never get back the money his father had lost, but he could support Callie in the way she should be supported. He could give her a good life. He would find something for Zane. They would work it out.
He would buy a place with a guest house, and Zane could “live” there. Nate would marry Callie, and no one needed to know what their arrangement was.
That could work, right?
Of course, before they could figure out their living arrangements, he needed to deal with the problem at hand. Why were the Barbarians coming after Zane and not him? The question nagged at Nate. They had both testified in the trial that sent Ellis to jail. They had him locked up good and tight. The arrests and the trials were all solid. Years and years of information gathering had led to numerous arrests and the end of the largest drug operation in the southwest. Some of the group had gotten away, but given how large the operation had been, that wasn’t so surprising. The fact that any of them would risk getting caught meant Ellis was damn serious about hurting Zane. They hadn’t found all the money, but otherwise it had been a highly successful operation.
Those years with the Barbarians played in his mind. Zane had fit in there better than he had at the DEA. There was no bureaucratic bullshit to deal with or cocktail parties to attend. There was beer to drink. There were women to fuck and drugs to move. Zane had been damn good with the women and not at all bad with being the muscle Ellis needed to keep his business working. Nate had taken on the “guy who would do anything” role. It didn’t get him close to Ellis, but it kept him and Zane safe. No one wanted to mess with Nate Rush.
If only his reputation could keep them safe now.
He needed to find a place to stash Zane and Callie until he’d figured out how to get the Barbarians off their backs. Their place was a no-go. The front room was a wreck. He didn’t want to risk going to Callie’s. It would be too easy to figure out who the woman from the bar was and where she lived.
He heard the door to the station open. Zane and Callie were talking as they walked in, joking about something that had happened at the diner. Nate’s cock responded almost immediately as she laughed. He hardened painfully at the sound of her voice. The night before played through his head. She’d been so sweet. She’d opened herself to them and never made a complaint when they took her over and over, trading places, giving her not a second to catch her breath before one of them was on top of her again.
Callie smiled as she opened the door to his office and held out a white bag emblazoned with red lettering stating proudly it came from Stella’s Diner, established 1970. “Brought you some lunch.”
Zane crowded behind her, his hands skimming her hips. “I tried to get you the special, but Callie insisted on a boring old cheeseburger.”
Her face lit up as she passed Nate the bag. “Zane made a friend. Hal, the cook at Stella’s, now thinks he hung the moon. Seriously, he’s half in love with Zane because he ate the special.”
Zane shrugged and threw his big body into the chair across from Nate’s desk. It was the first time Nate had seen his best friend look comfortable in months, maybe in years. Zane’s face was open for once. Callie had done that. One more thing to be grateful to her for. He reached out and ignored the burger, preferring to pull her into his lap. It might make him a bastard, but he had to have her. Right here. Right now.
“Oh!” Callie gasped. Nate circled her waist and planted his face in the nape of her neck. It had only been a couple of hours, but he’d missed her. Callie wiggled, and her ass was right across Nate’s erection.
“Should I lock the door?” Zane had one eyebrow elevated. He looked ready to join in on the fun Nate had planned.
“No,” Callie protested.
“Yes.” Nate moved a hand up to her thigh. He thought about the stuff he’d saved from the cabin. It was sitting in his bag at Zane’s feet. It contained everything they needed. They’d used Zane’s stash the night before, but Nate had always been better prepared than his friend.
Zane moved quickly, locking the door to his office with a click.
“Sheriff, this is incredibly unprofessional.” Callie sounded breathless, but she attempted to sit up.
He wasn’t about to let that happen. “No, Ms. Sheppard. You will mind me. I’m your boss. You’re my secretary.”
She went still in his arms. He worried for a moment, but then he felt a littl
e shaking in her chest. She was giggling.
“Seriously? You want to play right here, right now?”
He didn’t want to play. He needed to play. He had a few hours before those DEA agents would show up and he would be confronted with his old life. He needed to be here with her, in the moment.
“I think we need to go over a few of your new duties, Ms. Sheppard.”
She turned her head and grinned at him. “New duties, huh? I take it you’re talking about something other than filing and sorting.”
“You better believe it.” He gave her a tiny shove, and she was on her feet. The small office suddenly seemed overly full with all three of them inside, but it felt perfectly intimate to him. “Slide your skirt off and hand it to Zane. He knows what to do with it.”
Her mouth crooked up, but she seemed to be game. Sweet Callie was a dirty girl underneath all that sugar. His heart skipped as he thought about it. She was a dirty girl for them and only them. She’d never been down and filthy with anyone else because she’d never really wanted anyone else. It made Nate feel ten feet tall.
Her hands went to the back of her skirt. She fumbled with it, the gracelessness of the act endearing to his mind. He looked at Zane, expecting hot anticipation on his face, but there was a smile there instead. It was the goofy smile of a man insanely into a girl who was hot for him, too. It was probably a lot like the smile on his own face.
She managed to undo the button on her skirt. He heard the sweet sound of the zipper sliding down and then she pushed the skirt off, revealing inch after inch of skin. She was lightly tan without a single tan line. He got hard as hell thinking about how Callie had managed that. He could see her sitting by the river in nothing but her own perfect skin. He would love to lie next to her, feeling the warmth of the sun caressing him.
Of course, professional men with a mind toward a big-time career didn’t sunbathe naked.
He shoved the thought aside as she handed Zane her skirt.
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