His endearment made her cheeks warm. She smiled as she released him and noticed the distinctive tattoos decorating both of his arms as far down as his upper forearms. At a glance, she recognized tribal tattoos and a couple of beautifully detailed floral designs. The desire to stroke his arms and look closer was hard to ignore.
She turned to Heath, who had a devilish twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his sexy lips to match. She couldn’t help but grin back at him.
“Hey, Maizy-honey,” he murmured before he stroked her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her cheek. His lips were warm and sent a wonderful shiver all over her body. She bit her lip when the sensation even spread to her pussy, which was suddenly copiously wet. Yes, her body already wanted them. All three. And that was just crazy…wasn’t it?
Cody said, “You look beautiful today.” His eyes roamed her body and centered on her jacket for several seconds and he smiled to himself. The long-sleeve jacket was made from off-white gauze and lace in a bohemian style that tied just under her breasts.
“Thank you.”
All three men towered over her but she didn’t feel intimidated. In fact, she kind of liked being in the center of all of them.
Slow down! This is crazy! Her hormones were ignoring the voice of reason because she didn’t feel quite as nervous anymore.
“Your table is ready, sir,” the hostess said as she returned to the lobby for them. “We’ve set the one you asked for.”
“Thank you,” Cody said as he took Maizy by the hand and drew her alongside him, with Heath and Spencer following. Her hand felt tiny wrapped in his much bigger hand. Her entire backside felt warm and she wasn’t sure if that was just residual nerves or if they were staring at her. She looked back at them as they entered one of the smaller dining rooms and the heat in Heath’s gaze told her it wasn’t just nerves. He grinned, as though he was acknowledging that she’d caught him, and she wanted to kiss him.
Kiss him? I barely know him! Her inner vixen wanted to strangle that pesky voice of reason. She smiled back at him and felt like a temptress as she kept walking, more aware than ever of the way her hips swayed with each step. And what a fantastic sensation that was. She just hoped she didn’t get in over her head.
Uh, hello? You’re on a date with three guys all equally interested in you? “Over your head” is a dot on the horizon.
Cody pulled her chair out for her and helped her get seated before any of them sat down. What an odd sensation to be treated to such manners.
“What?” Heath asked as he sat opposite of her at the secluded table in the corner. Since they’d come in at the end of the lunch shift, they had the dining room to themselves.
She watched them remove their silverware from their napkins and place the linen in their laps. “You have nice manners.”
Heath and Spencer grinned at Cody, and then Cody said, “There’s a special lady in our lives that we have to thank for you noticing that fact.”
“Your mom?”
Cody nodded. “Far as we’re concerned, yeah. She’s actually our foster mom. She was a stickler for good table manners.”
She toyed with the edge of her napkin and said, “You don’t have to do that, you know.”
Heath arched an eyebrow. “Why? Have you never dated anyone who had good manners?”
Maizy shrugged, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “I have but it always seems to fall by the wayside. I just mean you don’t have to try to impress me. I’m already impressed.”
“You are? Good,” Cody said as he turned to face her. “But we’re not using good manners to impress you. We were taught good manners by a good teacher. It sounds like you dated guys who saw manners and impressing you as a means to an end.”
After considering it, Maizy said, “Maybe so.”
“We have other ways to impress you. We don’t need to use common courtesy to do that,” Cody said with a smile as he opened the menu.
She took a breather as she consulted her menu until the waiter approached. He greeted the men as if they were regular customers and wrote down their drink orders.
The waiter returned with their beverages and took their orders. Maizy ordered the petite filet with squash casserole and a Caesar salad.
Cody’s order was as straightforward as he was. “I’ll have the sixteen ounce T-bone, medium rare. Baked potato with butter and that’s it. And a salad with ranch dressing.” The waiter nodded and looked at Spencer.
“Give me the chicken fried steak with fries on top and cream gravy on top of that.”
“Any other sides? A salad maybe?”
“No, thanks.” The waiter nodded and then looked at Heath.
Heath said, “I’ll have your filet mignon with a baked sweet potato, and salad with ranch dressing.”
“How would you like that filet cooked, sir?”
“Is Bobby working today?” Heath asked in reply.
At the waiter’s smile and nod, Heath grinned and said, “Tell Bobby I said to clip its horns, wipe its ass, and serve it up.”
The waiter grinned and scribbled on his pad. “Very rare. I’ll let Bobby know you asked for him.”
Once the waiter was gone, the men turned their attention to her. She knew she had a million questions to ask but they all deserted her. Miss Tongue and Miss Lips were suddenly mute.
“How long have you been teaching kindergarten?” Spencer asked.
“Six years. All of them here in Divine.”
Cody looked closely at her. “Is that the only grade you’ve ever taught?”
Maizy nodded. “That’s been my dream all my life, to teach young children. I was offered the position of Elementary Principal a couple of years ago but I didn’t have any interest in it. My dad was very upset I didn’t at least take it.”
“‘At least?’” What did he mean by that?” Cody asked with a frown furrowing his dark, arched eyebrows. He looked fierce when he did that.
“I have a master’s degree in education. My father had aspirations for me teaching at the college level. He was very disappointed I took a low-level teaching job. He considered the offer for the elementary principal position to be a step up.”
“Low level?”
“He sees kindergarten as glorified daycare. He doesn’t understand that it’s now where the foundational reading and writing skills are taught, at least it is here in Divine.”
“Your dad sounds hard to please.”
Maizy smiled. “He would tell you he has high standards. He thinks all I do is help kids glue pinto beans onto construction paper and watch them play on the playground.”
“Ow,” Heath said. “It doesn’t seem like his opinion bothers you very much.”
“It did at first. But I know my own worth as a teacher. He doesn’t understand that I’m helping them develop muscle memory for writing and keyboarding, and teaching them to be able to break down and read most words. I could teach at whatever level I want to because of my degree but I’m already doing exactly what I was called to do. The master’s degree just gives me more options. If for some reason I left this job, I wouldn’t have to rely on him for anything because I know I could support myself. I had a full scholarship to go to school so I didn’t have to rely on him for much while I was in college, either. I loved learning almost as much as I love teaching so I excelled. I grew up watching him push my older sisters, who are now in high-level positions, but neither of them seems very happy. Conversely, he’s very pleased with them for their choices. Patrick and I seem to be the mavericks in our family.”
“Are you still belly dancing?” Spencer asked and she felt her cheeks go a little warm at his unwavering gaze.
Maizy shook her head negatively. “No. That night at the Dancing Pony was the last time.”
“Why?” Heath asked, sounding surprised. That fact warmed her heart. She wished she’d known them back in October.
“It was your ex, right?” Cody asked with a knowing look in his eyes.
Maizy nodded. “Chaz was worried that peop
le might talk about it. He has aspirations for a seat on the school board. Last month, when word got out about Lucy, Patrick, and Beck, he got wind of it and that was…”
Spencer had been leaning on his elbows, his attention on her, but then he sat up and growled, “You’re kidding.” She shook her head and he continued. “He broke up with you because of the lifestyle your brother chose?”
“I think it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was disappointed I wasn’t planning to work my way up the school district ladder, plus I was belly dancing, and then Patrick’s engagement came up. When you combined all those…He broke up with me shortly after he found out about the engagement.” She was just grateful the breakup had occurred during summer vacation so she had time to grieve the relationship in private.
“Did you love him?” Cody asked softly, stroking the top of her hand with the backs of his fingers.
Maizy watched his hand, cognizant of how gentle and comforting his touch was. Her body responded with a deep, growing ache. She nodded. “For my part I did…or thought I did. It still hurts to think about it but I’m okay with it. I wouldn’t want to be married to him if my brother’s lifestyle made that big a deal to him. Lucy thinks he’s a jackass. Actually, I think she thought that even before we broke up. And I know Patrick never cared for Chaz.”
“Chaz?” Heath asked with a bit of a sneer. “Chaz Edwards?”
“Yes, you know him?”
All three men nodded and then shared a grin. Heath said, “He comes into the Twisted Bull on a semiregular basis. He likes to impress everyone with stories of his glory days as a high school quarterback.”
Cody said, “Yes, evidently he was a big hero and led the team to two state championship playoffs.”
Maizy giggled when all the men rolled their eyes. “Too bad we didn’t win either of them. I’m glad I don’t have to hear that story all the time anymore. Of course, the school board is very impressed with him. Glad to have his name on the sports roster.”
“Do you have to see much of him during the school day?” Spencer asked, suddenly looking as protective as a pit bull.
“No. The primary grades have their own physical education teacher. I see him at staff meetings and functions, and at lunch, if I eat in the cafeteria, which is seldom. My helper supervises the kids so I can get a little quiet time at lunch. She’s wonderful.”
“Good,” Cody said as he put his forearm around the back of her chair. She unconsciously lifted the mass of curls from her back and flicked it over his forearm so it wouldn’t get pulled and she noticed the way all three of them smiled. Cody let out a soft sigh that made her curious.
“What?”
The three men exchanged a look and Spencer was the one who spoke. “That move is how I knew it was you, Maizy. The way you flicked your hair back.”
Maizy giggled. “The way I touch my hair? Really?” The men all chuckled.
“Yes, really,” Cody murmured in his deep, gritty voice. “You’re not just touching it.”
Heath shook his head. “Yeah, the way you use your hands is sensual, like you enjoy touching your hair, or that’s how it seems. If you don’t believe me, look at Cody’s arm. You gave him goose bumps.”
“Really?” she asked in disbelief as she turned her gaze to his bare forearm behind her. The movement brushed her hair over his arm and more gooseflesh sprang up at the movement, and he even shuddered a little. She bit her lip as she looked up at him and whispered, “Wow. That’s how you knew it was me?”
“I can only speak for myself,” Heath said. “But I relived your dance in my mind all the time and that’s exactly how I remembered you touching your hair. It’s very sexy.”
Her cheeks heated again at the mention of him thinking about her dance over the last several months. She wondered if Heath had fantasized—if they all had—and her cheeks went red hot.
Cody seemed to understand as he chuckled, leaned toward her, and kissed her flaming hot cheek. “We’re so glad we finally found you.”
Maizy grew so warm she felt sweat break out on her skin as she fumbled for something to say. “Can you tell me about your work?”
“We provide security for the Twisted Bull, you know that much. We handle the door duties as well as in the club and the outside areas, and the steakhouse. We watch out for the single ladies and the waitresses and the bartenders.”
“It sounds like you have your hands full.”
“We do,” Cody replied. “But we were living like bachelors so working at the club consumed a lot of our nights and we never really felt it. We’ve been planning some changes lately. We adjusted our schedules so that we were able to work on the house during the day and the change has gone all right so far. The weekends are more challenging because at least one or two of us would need to be there most Fridays and Saturdays.”
“Do you like working there?”
“Love it, most of the time.”
“But not always?”
“Not when it comes to dealing with certain elements, but it’s part of the job.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Sometimes,” Cody replied, meeting her eyes. His dark eyes held secrets. “But we’re well-equipped for that.”
“Good,” she replied. “You told me you owed your good manners to your foster mom. Do you not have any family at all?”
Cody shook his head as the waiter arrived, carrying a huge tray. “No, none of us have any family left…that we know of. The three of us were raised together in the foster care system, mostly in San Antonio and Morehead.”
She was barely aware of the waiter placing her plate in front of her. She cut a bite from her steak to test it for him at his request and she told him it was perfect even though she barely tasted it.
“You’re not originally from Divine?”
All three shook their heads and Heath said, “We’re from San Antonio. At least that’s where we were born.”
“Oh.” Maizy wasn’t sure what else she should say. “I’m glad you live here now.”
Spencer gave her a slight smile and his golden-brown eyes held her gaze. “We are, too.”
They sat enjoying their meal for a few minutes, commenting on the food and making small talk. Curiosity finally overrode her concerns and she said, “Will you tell me about the house?”
Cody described the inside of the house to her, at least until he got to the kitchen and then Heath took over, telling her about his plans for feeding her the best meal she’d ever eaten now that the kitchen was mostly finished. She giggled and then turned to Spencer who had sat so quietly for most of the exchange.
“Did you finish painting this week?”
“Most of it. We still need to paint the den and do a little touch up in the master bathroom once the new tub is installed.”
“New tub, huh?”
Spencer chuckled deeply, making that rumbly sound she’d enjoyed before, and his eyes twinkled as he said, “And once we finish with that, then we start on my project.”
“What’s your project?”
“We’re adding a deck onto the covered back porch, with a special water feature, all beside the pool.”
“You have a pool?” She knew she did a poor job of hiding her enthusiasm because the men all smiled.
“Yes,” Cody said. “Spencer is planning on working our asses off turning the backyard into an oasis.”
“Awesome. Chicks dig pools.” She could hardly even say it with a straight face.
Cody touched her chin when she turned to look at him and he said, “We only have interest in what one particular chick thinks of our pool or anything else we have.” His tone was serious and the levity deserted her.
“I understand.”
The tension grew between them but it wasn’t a negative sensation and didn’t make her nervous. Nonetheless, it was there.
“How is your filet, Maizy?” Heath asked. “That was a tiny cut of meat. Was that enough to fill you up?”
“It was very good. Medium r
are, just the way I like it. And I’m getting stuffed. How was yours?”
Heath grinned. “Cold in the center. Perfect.” He looked like he was waiting for her to comment.
“Yum. I don’t like overcooked steak, especially not a nice cut of beef like that.”
Spencer looked askance at the red juice left on Heath’s plate. “I think the vampire here takes it to the extreme though.”
“Nah,” Heath said, “I just like how tender it is and the way it melts in my mouth. That’s how it should be,” he murmured as he looked at her and Maizy nearly gasped as her pussy responded to the desire in his gaze. It was obvious that his mind had skipped to another more carnal pleasure than just eating.
He could get my panties off in no time if he was determined.
Heath plied her with questions about her family and they explained how they knew her brother, Beck, and Lucy. Eventually, it was time for her to leave for Morehead. She was to meet Lucy, Grace, and Jayne at the bridal boutique for a fitting before they went shopping.
They walked her out to her car after paying the bill. She saw three really nice Harleys parked side by side in the parking lot and Spencer must’ve taken notice. “Those are ours. Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?”
Maizy shook her head, making her curls bounce. “Nope.”
Spencer gave her a smile and said, “If we can see you again, I’d like to give you a ride sometime.”
She couldn’t imagine how it would be to fly down the road on one of those. She’d always imagined that she’d feel terribly vulnerable and unsafe but the three of them wouldn’t have invested that kind of money without knowing how to handle one. She could picture herself behind Spencer, or any of them, feeling totally safe.
“I’d like that.”
She hadn’t realized the men were tense until all three of them suddenly relaxed and let out long breaths. They weren’t taking anything for granted. The fact that they’d had their hopes up like that and masked it made her feel special. They’d have let her turn them down, let her walk away at this point, and she never would’ve known.
She smiled up at them after Cody opened her car door for her. “I’ll see you tonight after supper. I’m not sure what time we’ll get there, though.”
Maizy the Bear Charmer [Divine Creek Ranch 16] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6