Forks clinked on plates and the conversation was loud and rowdy as dinner progressed. Before dessert was brought out, Lane stood and tapped his water glass for attention.
“Looking down this table at our family brings more joy to me than I can express, especially since we all know cowboys are too tough to cry.”
That brought chuckles from the women and a loud, “Amen,” from all the men.
“However,” he continued, “tonight’s dinner is for my son, Cash, and his beautiful wife. Paige, Jackie and I couldn’t be happier to welcome you into our family. We wish you both a lifetime of happiness.”
“And a bunch of kids,” Jackie added. Everyone laughed, but Darren suspected his aunt wasn’t kidding.
Lane lifted his wine glass. “Here’s to Cash and Paige. Congratulations.”
Glasses were hefted into the air as the people around the table gave their well wishes to the couple.
Cash stood. “Thank you, Dad. And Mom. Don’t know about the kids yet. Can we be married a week before we decide?”
“Fair enough,” Jackie replied. “I’ll check with you next weekend.”
Laughing, Paige stood. “We’ll work on that.”
“I have some more news,” Cash said. He took Paige’s hand. “I know I originally planned to go into the cattle business with Mitch, but sometimes life throws a curve ball and you have to adjust. Marc has offered me a deputy position in the sheriff’s department and I have accepted. Thank you, Marc, for dating my wife…while she was still single,” he added in haste.
Another round of shouted congratulations rang out in the dining room.
Lane stood and shook Cash’s hand. “That’s wonderful, son.” He looked at the group. “Any more good news that needs to be shared tonight?”
Heads turned as individuals looked around to see who would stand next.
“Do you want to tell them about your prior marriage?” he whispered to Porchia, which sent her into a fit of shaking giggles.
“Ah hum.”
The room quieted and KC and Drake stood.
“We’re pregnant,” KC yelled.
“Oh, darling,” her mother cried. “My first grandchild.” Nadine shoved back her chair and hurried around the table. She grabbed KC and Drake in a hug. Clint joined them, slapping Drake on the back and then hugging his daughter.
Olivia began to clap. “Way to go, Drake. I know what a great father you’ll be.”
Drake and Olivia had been married when Olivia had been pregnant with Adam. Even though Adam hadn’t been Drake’s biological child, Darren had heard that Drake had loved the boy as his own. When Olivia and Drake had divorced and Olivia had finally married Adam’s father, Mitch Landry, the relationship between Olivia and Drake had remained close. It’d been Olivia who’d encouraged the relationship between KC and Drake.
“You do realize that means your sister is having sex, right?” Porchia joked in a whisper.
“La-la-la,” Darren whispered back. “I can’t hear anything you’re saying.” As far as he was concerned, he’d just as soon not think about his sister and sex in the same sentence.
As the group settled back down into their chairs, Lane said, “I guess that’s all the good news tonight.”
“Not so fast, big brother,” Clint said. “Nadine and I have a little news.”
“Oh, God. If you’re pregnant, I’ll kill myself,” Reno shouted, which brought grins and chuckles.
“Your mother and I are long out of the baby business. We’re looking to you three for the next round of babies,” Clint said. “No, ours is more of a business announcement, I guess you could say, right, honey?”
Nadine stood, nodding. “Right.” She looked at Darren, then Reno and then KC. “Your dad and I decided we were just too far away from you and all those grandkids you’ll all be giving us…we hope,” she added with a smile. “So…” She looked toward Clint.
“We sold the Florida ranch and we’re moving to Whispering Springs,” Clint said.
“Oh my God,” Darren said, the news hitting him with a solid blow. He’d been raised on the Florida ranch. He’d never given a minute’s thought that his parents would sell the place. He stood. “Surely y’all are kidding?” His heart hammered, with excitement or confusion, he wasn’t sure.
“Not kidding. And don’t call me Shirley,” his dad joked, quoting the line from the old Airplane movie.
Reno rolled his eyes at their father’s joke. “I’m shocked. Totally waylaid.”
“Me too,” KC said, “but I am so happy.” She hurried around the table to hug her mom. “I am so glad you guys are going to be closer. Drake and I have been talking about how we wished you were closer to us. I am so excited.”
“We are too, right, Reno?” Darren said. He leaned across the table to shake his dad’s hand.
“Thrilled,” Reno said. “Um, you’re not moving in with us, right?”
His dad laughed. “I think your mother and I can afford our own place now.”
“Excuse me,” Porchia said and rose. “I’ll be right back.”
She and Magda headed for the kitchen. In a minute, they were back with an elaborately decorated cake. Congratulations had been written in icing.
“We didn’t realize there would be so many things to celebrate this evening,” Porchia said.
“Really,” Magda agreed. “But Porchia and I thought no good celebration dinner should end without cake.”
Porchia held Darren’s hand later as they walked from the lodge back to their cabin. She’d always thought she had big hands until now. Wrapped in Darren’s thick, long fingers, hers felt positively tiny. She had a very nice buzz going from the wine at dinner.
“So you happy about your parents?” she asked.
After his parents’ announcement, she’d asked herself if she would be happy about her parents moving to Texas. The surprising answer was, she didn’t know. It’d been a long time since she’d lived with them, and while they spoke from time to time, the warmth she’d experienced among the various Montgomery family members was missing from her own family. Was that because of her? Had her actions caused the facture of her family?
“Yep. I’m glad Mom will be here for KC’s baby.” He glanced over at her. “And it’ll help keep her off mine and Reno’s backs.”
“So no kids for you?” The minute the question was out of her mouth, she wanted to suck it back in. It wasn’t any of her business one way or the other.
“Sure, I want kids. With the right woman.” He squeezed her hand.
“Hmm.”
The night air was markedly cooler than the day. The light sweater she’d thrown over her sleeveless shell was doing little to keep her warm.
“Get a move on,” she said. “I’m cold.”
“I’ve got something we could do about that.”
“Me too. Let’s start a fire in the fireplace. I love those.”
“Fireplaces?” he asked with a frown, but the twinkle in his eye gave away his joke.
She bumped her shoulder against his. “Goose. Come on.”
She picked up her pace and he followed suit. Within minutes, they were climbing the stairs to their cabin.
“Why don’t I bring in some wood and we’ll have a fire before bed?”
“I’ll grab some too,” Porchia said.
“No. You’ll ruin your sweater. The wood will pull it. Go on in. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He hurried back down the stairs and she let herself into the cabin. It wasn’t cold in there, but the air was cool. And really? Was there anything better than a nice fire on a cool night? Not if you asked her.
Porchia was in the bedroom changing into a pair of lounging pants and shirt when she heard the front door kicked shut and then the thud of logs being dropped on the hearth. She hurried to the living room to give Darren a hand with the wood and skidded to a stop at the door.
Darren was bent over the hearth, placing logs on a grate in the fireplace. She might have gasped a little at the delectab
le vision, because he looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile.
“There you are. Almost done. With a gas starter, there’s no challenge here.” He straightened. “You want to do the honors or shall I?” He held up a box of long matches.
“Go ahead. I’ll just grab a seat on the couch and watch the show.”
If his growing smile was any indication, he liked her answer.
As he moved around the fireplace making sure the flue was open and the logs positioned just so, muscles shifted and bulged under the T-shirt he now sported. His flannel shirt from dinner was tossed over the back of the living room chair. She settled on the couch to enjoy the display of delicious male playing out in front of her.
He flipped open the gas valve and held a lit match to the gas bar running along the floor of the fireplace. Quickly, blue flames appeared and spread down the starter bar like a chain of dominoes falling.
“There.” He turned and looked at her as though waiting for her to indicate if he should join her on the couch or take the chair.
She patted the cushion next to her. “Better view from here.”
He took an end seat, putting the armrest on his left and Porchia on his right. As soon as he was settled, he draped an arm along the back of the sofa behind her.
“Dinner was nice,” she said as she wedged herself closer, fitting her shoulder into his arm pit.
In response, he dropped his arm from the furniture to her. “It was.”
She let out a relaxing sigh. “Montgomery dinners are…loud.”
He laughed. “Always have been. Usually there’s at least a couple of siblings or a couple of cousins fussing about something. I remember that when I was growing up, coming to Texas and staying with Uncle Lane and Aunt Jackie was always the highlight of any vacation.”
She shifted so she could look up at him. “Did you come here a lot?”
“At least a couple of times a year.” He pulled her closer, which pumped her heart rate up. “That’s another reason I’m so happy my parents are moving here. I know Dad missed his brother, and Mom and Jackie get along like sisters.” A little chuckle shook his chest. “Those four are going to be hard to manage.” He shook his head. “Look out, Whispering Springs. The original Montgomery boys are back together.”
“You really love your family. I see that blush on your face. It’s okay that you do. No, it’s fantastic that you do. Too many families are getting farther apart these days. I love that yours is getting closer and closer.” She shifted again, this time rolling onto her hip so she could arch up and kiss him. His lips were warm and full. “Thank you for bringing me. I know I bought the date and used it as an excuse to avoid someone from high school, but it’s been more than I expected.”
His face grew serious and he stroked his fingers along her cheek. “Thank you for buying the date and coming. There’s no one else I’d want here with me.”
“Even Sarah Jane?” she joked.
“Especially her.”
She pushed up again and kissed him, this time running the tip of her tongue along the seam of his mouth. He spread his lips and she thrust her tongue inside. He tasted too good to slow her exploration. Teeth. Gums. The inside of his cheek. She touched and savored the flavors she found.
He welcomed her intrusion into his mouth, a deep-chested groan rattling against her. At first, he stroked her tongue with his, and finally he closed his mouth on her, sucked on her tongue, sent shock waves of desire arcing between her thighs.
Both of his arms were wrapped around her. She was pulled so tight against him that she could feel his heart thudding.
Abruptly, the kiss stopped and he pulled back. “What’s going on, Porchia? You’ve held me at arm’s length for months, and now this sudden reversal?”
She slumped and allowed her weight to be supported in his arms. “It’s your sister’s fault.”
He arched an eyebrow and then drew both eyebrows down into a frown. “Her pregnancy?”
She chuckled. “Lord, no. Something she said yesterday made me think.”
“And what did she say?”
“I can’t give up all my secrets,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s against the women’s code of gossip.”
“Fair enough. I won’t break the bro code either,” he said with a grin. “But this…” He gestured to her in his lap. “What is this?”
She paused, trying to find the right words. “We’ve been friends for a while now. Good friends.” She stopped, again searching for the words. “You have to have known how attracted to you I am.”
“Well, no. I didn’t. You’ve shut me down so much I’d pretty much given up. But…” The smile that curved his full lips set her heart racing. “I’m glad to hear it. So you’re attracted to me. You like me. We’re friends. So why the arm’s-length treatment, and why the change?”
She closed her eyes in embarrassment. “I’m older than you.” She waited for him to laugh or agree or just say something. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes. A quizzical expression covered his facial features.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m older than you.”
“I know.” He shrugged, his brows still furrowed. “So?”
She sighed. “I didn’t want others teasing us. You know. You dating an older woman. Me being a cougar, or jokes about robbing the cradle.”
“That’s ridiculous. The only thing that worries me is that you’ll get bored with me, or some other guy will recognize what a prize you are and steal you away. Age…well, hell, Porchia. Age is a number. It’s not a personality trait or really much of a defining factor when it comes to people.”
She rested her forehead on his chest. “I know. I’m even embarrassed that I feel this way. I don’t want it to be but the age thing is there, and I’m worried that it might be one of the ideas that crawls in my brain and eats me up.”
Two of his callused fingers under her chin lifted her head until their gazes met. “All I can say is that I want you so bad my teeth ache. I’m more than a little attracted to you.”
“I want to give us a try. That’s what I promised myself. We’re here, sorta alone.”
He chuckled. “Sorta is about right. But we have our own place. There are hundreds of acres around us. There’s nothing stopping us from being alone.”
“But here’s the downside. If we don’t work as a couple, we’ll probably not be friends at the end, and I hate the idea of totally losing you out of my life.”
“It’s a risk, but hell, life’s a risk. You can’t live in a glass bubble protected from anything and everything. Aren’t we worth the chance?”
“Yes and that’s why…” she indicated their position, her lying on her side facing him, wrapped in his arms, their mouths only inches apart, “…this.”
He nodded. “So we give this…us…a chance? That’s what you want?”
“That’s what I want.”
Chapter Thirteen
The only sound was the crackle coming from the fireplace logs. Porchia flexed and re-flexed her abdominal muscles in nervous tension as she waited for Darren to say something.
He didn’t. Instead, he pushed her shoulder away until he could stand. Then he picked her up off the couch and cradled her in his arms. Through her thin lounging pants, his thick forearms pressed into the sides of her thighs as he held her snugly against his well-developed chest. He turned and started walking toward their bedroom.
“Wait. I’m too heavy. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Hush, woman. You’ve agreed to give us a chance. Now we’re going to do this my way.”
His voice was rough and harsh. The guttural tone excited her, sent a sexual hunger through her like she’d never experienced. The man carrying her wasn’t the good-old boy she’d been friends with. This was a highly sensual man who was going to get what he wanted. The realization made her vagina throb and her panties much, much damper.
When they got to the bedside, he slowly lowered her legs to the floor, allowing her to
slide down his brick-hard body until she was standing.
He stepped away and flipped on the lights. “I’ve waited to see you naked for a long time. I plan to enjoy every second of my viewing pleasure.”
The raw desire on his face jolted her heart and her lungs. She’d never been shy or bashful with previous lovers, but it’d been a while since she’d been naked in front of a man, or make that naked in the presence of a man. Anxious tension made her arms and legs quake. What if his idea of how she looked and the reality were far enough apart to make him regret this?
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Take off your shirt.”
With shaking fingers, she caught the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it slowly up her body and over her head. She had to fight the impulse to cover herself with the now loose material.
“Throw it over there.” He indicated the dresser with a tilt of his head.
When she hesitated, he lifted an eyebrow questioningly, as though asking if she was really sure this was what she wanted. She had no reservations about the sex. Only about him seeing her naked, exposed.
With a deep breath of resolution, she tossed the yellow shirt to the dresser, which left her standing in her bra and lounging pants. She swallowed, but it was damn hard to push down the lump her throat.
“Now the pants,” he said, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs as though studying a prize.
She straightened. Fine. If he wanted to play seduction games, she’d play too.
She caught the end of the tie string with her fingers and slowly, as slowly as she could manage, pulled the material to untie the bow holding up her pants. His gaze fell to her fingers and stayed there. Even though he wasn’t physically touching her, his stare was a hot wash over her. As though being stroked, her nipples hardened and poked at the thin silk of her bra.
As the bow became a string, the waist loosened and she released her hold, letting the soft material glide down her legs and pool about her feet.
Darren’s nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath.
Texas Hustle Page 12