"No, we're stupid adults," Taylor said smiling. "Five minutes until midnight. Hurry girls."
Squealing they ran the final two blocks to the fountain. They arrived, huffing and puffing, and stopped to stare at the sculptured God of Love.
Why in the world did they think for a minute that this sculptured stone of a boy with a diaper and an arrow could bring them love? Especially when she wasn't certain she even wanted to find love.
"Dancing around this statue is going to help us find the man of our dreams?" Kelsey questioned. "Whoever made up this shit is sitting back somewhere laughing at how many fools stripped off their clothes and danced in the moonlight."
"In the middle of freaking winter," Meghan added.
"Come on, girls, we're doing this. We're going to prove this is either the biggest farce in town or it’s going to work for my friends. Just not for me."
"I hope this is worth it," Meghan said as they began to remove clothing.
This little escapade must be kept secret from her family, or she would be in so much trouble. Jim was all hung up on being leaders in their community. Never would he approve of prancing around the statue in her birthday suit.
"Will it look funny if I leave my boots on?" Kelsey asked, wanting to make the best impression, but right now she felt vulnerable. At least with shoes on, she could run if needed.
"Naked. You have to be naked according to the superstition," Taylor said, yanking off her footwear.
Kelsey set her favorite pair of boots beside her clothes. Dang, but the frigid stones were seeping into her feet, reminding her that the temperature was hovering around freezing. The wine and cold must have numbed her brain to consider this stunt.
"As soon as the church bell strikes midnight, we're going to dance around the statue for one minute. Then I'm putting my clothes on and walking home," Meghan said, shivering in the buff. "You girls are going to be the death of me yet. If I come down sick..."
"We'll have a hot looking guy deliver you a box of Kleenex and chicken soup," Taylor replied.
Kelsey started snickering. "Look, girls, I got a boob job while I was in college. Aren't they nice?"
These suckers had set her back a good bit of money. Part of her inheritance after her father had passed. She'd needed the boost in spirit and decided nothing attracted a man more than a great pair of tatas.
She held up her tits for them to see and Meghan turned away groaning. "What am I doing?"
"I'm not looking at your breasts," Taylor said, cackling as she removed her bra.
"Hurry, midnight is almost here," Meghan said her words in a slur from the alcohol. "Let's do this and put our clothes back on before we catch pneumonia."
"We better get some action from this," Kelsey replied, jumping up and down on the sidewalk, nude.
Hardly, the shy type with long legs, great hips, and now breasts that a man took notice. Maybe she should date again. There hadn't been a steady man since college, and even then, he was just a friend with benefits.
"And not legal action," Taylor said with a giggle.
Placing her clothes all neatly folded on the bench, she looked at them. "Okay, I'm ready, let's do this."
Passing the bottle of wine one more time, snickering and chuckling, Kelsey couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.
"We're being so naughty," Meghan said, drunkenly. "Never again."
"Oh, come on, next week we're taking you skinny dipping at the lake," Kelsey said.
"Not during the winter, we're not," Taylor answered.
The church bells started to chime. With a scream, they laughed and began to run and dance, giggling hysterically as the three of them ran around the God of love.
"Oh, Cupid statue, find us our true love," they chanted as they tripped around the fountain in the town square, laughing. Sometime tonight, she'd lost her mind to be out acting like a fool.
"Nuts," Meghan said. "All this is going to do is give us pneumonia."
Kelsey pranced around feeling like a free spirit under the weight of knowing the time had come to grow up and face the world, knowing she'd been privileged. But that had come at such a cost.
All she wanted was to make it on her own in this world. Show her independence and her strength, but that seemed to always be just outside her grasp.
Headlights turned onto the street and they glanced at each other, their eyes wide. Shrieking, their hands trying to cover their female parts, they ran, but their clothes were too far away.
"Oh no," Meghan said.
Red beacons flashed on top of the car. Kelsey had to escape. Her brothers would kill her if she went to jail.
"Run, girls," Taylor yelled. "Run, it's the sheriff. Everyone split up, he can't arrest us all."
Kelsey raced toward an intersecting street, leaving everything behind. How would she explain this to her older brother Jim. Miles from the ranch, with no phone, no clothes, nothing. Running naked and afraid.
* * *
Cody Graham sang to the country ballad on the radio in his truck, trying to stay awake, knowing he was almost home. He'd spent the day at a livestock auction in West Texas and was returning a little poorer, exhausted, but pleased with his purchases. The ranch needed some new bloodlines and he'd found exactly what he'd been looking for. The new heifers would be delivered next week.
Afterward, he'd gone to dinner with some buddies and now the four-hour trip was almost behind him. He could collapse in his own bed and wake up refreshed and ready to clean the barns tomorrow.
A flicker of light reflected off something ahead and he shook his head to clear his eyes staring at what appeared to be a woman hiding behind a tree.
His headlights flashed and he did a double take. Knowing she'd been seen, the naked woman was running down the street her arm stretched across her breast, her hand in front of her vagina. He pulled up beside her and slowed, not certain how to handle this situation, not wanting to frighten her, but thinking something terrible must have happened.
Rolling down the window, he called, "Ma'am, are you in some kind of trouble?"
Kelsey Lawrence turned and glared at him, her eyes widening with recognition and fright.
He hit the brake and put the truck in park. Yanking open the truck door, he strode around the back of the truck to her. Damn, she was a good-looking woman with all those curves and soft, tempting skin just beckoning him. But he remembered the promise he'd made to her brothers, his best friends back in high school.
Stay away from our sister. She's off limits.
If she was hurt, he'd help her brothers find and injure the guy who did this to her.
All their friends were held to the same code. Kelsey was off limits. Yet, here she was naked as the day she was born, her womanly curves, a mouthwatering temptation to even this tired cowboy.
"Cody," she said, stopping.
He slipped off his coat and wrapped it around her. "Get in the truck. Then you can tell me what happened."
He didn't offer her an option. Her brothers were going to have a fit and while he didn't know what sent her fleeing down the street, naked, there would be hell to pay somewhere.
"Are you certain?" she asked.
"Get in the truck before you freeze to death," he said. "Then we can talk."
Opening the truck door, he stood beside it waiting for her to crawl in, wanting to help her, but uncertain as to where to put his hands without appearing a pervert.
She glanced back behind her and then crawled inside.
Cody stalked around to the driver's door and climbed in. When he got inside, he turned up the heater in the cab.
"Oh goodness, I don't think I will ever take heat for granted again."
"What happened? Do I need to call the police?"
Shaking her head, she gazed at him, her big brown eyes pleading. "Please don't. We were dancing naked around the Cupid statue when they showed up."
Stunned, he stared at her, all the fright he'd kept at bay changed to laughter. A warm feeling spread throu
ghout his chest. He wanted to throw back his head and laugh out loud, yet he remembered Kyle and Drew telling him they had just moved Kelsey back to Cupid. But still, who believed that Cupid nonsense?
Managing to keep the laughter inside, he grinned at her. "You that desperate for love? I'd think a fine woman like you would be beating them off with a stick."
She threw her hands up. "It was a dare. A drunken dare until the sheriff arrived."
"Do we need to go back and get your clothes? Your brothers are not going to be happy if I bring you home naked."
While he respected his friends wishes in high school, he'd always thought that Kelsey was a beautiful, whimsical girl. Overprotected all her life, it was like she had no real idea of what hard work and sacrifice meant. Something Cody was all too familiar with.
"No. I think Taylor was getting arrested. If you take me back, they'll arrest me as well. And you know how Jim would react to me calling him from jail."
Her brother Jim was all about family image and doing right and staying out of trouble. He probably believed his sister was still a virgin, but even Cody could tell she was comfortable in her woman's body, even if she was trying to cover up all her beautiful female bits. Bits he really was enjoying glimpses of.
"Okay, can you get in the house if I take you home?"
A sigh escaped her lips. "I don't have a phone, my keys, my car keys, my house key, my clothes. I can't go back to the ranch naked."
Cody stared at her, wondering what she expected? He couldn't leave her out on the streets.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked thinking he was really tired, though the sight of Kelsey had warmed his blood and awakened thoughts and desires he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since his wife walked out the door two years ago. Some people were just not meant for country living and Sarah had been one of those women.
Biting her lip, she stared at him, her eyes wide. "Take me to your house. Let me spend the night. I'll tell Jim I stayed with Taylor and then in the morning when they've all gone out to work the ranch or into town, I'll sneak home." She glanced at him shyly. "If you don't mind taking me to the ranch tomorrow morning."
What could he say. He'd had plans on getting to work preparing the barn for the new calves arriving, but sometimes your plans had to change. And it looked like his had taken a turn. Yet, he didn't want to get caught by her brothers. That would kick up a ruckus if ever there was one. Especially if she didn't have her clothes on.
"All right," he said and pulled the truck back onto the road. If the sheriff was looking for her, he didn't want his truck sitting on the shoulder idling.
For the last five minutes, he'd tried to be a gentleman and not stare at her long bare legs, her firm butt or the occasional glimpse of a rounded breast. She was keeping his leather jacket close to her, but it barely went past her waist, leaving parts of her exposed. Really nice parts.
Swallowing the need that seemed to engulf him, he said, "There's a blanket in the back seat you can use to cover up with.
"Oh, thanks," she said and reached behind him.
It wasn't that he wanted her to cover up, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do. He could have stared at her curves all night long. Those puckered nipples of hers were just begging to be kissed.
"So how did you end up dancing naked around the statue?" he asked. "I thought only girls in high school believed in that superstition."
Shaking her head, she sighed and told him about her reunion with her girlfriends and how too much wine had encouraged them to shed their clothes and test the Cupid superstition.
As they pulled through the gates of his spread, he glanced around and suddenly worried how she would see his place. It wasn't as fancy as she was used to living, but it had a nice homey atmosphere he loved.
His Labs came bounding out to greet him, making him feel relieved they were okay. They stayed in the barn and when he left town, he had a friend check on the place while he was gone. But still there was always that sense of relief that everything was as he left it.
Parking the truck, he turned off the engine and turned to her. "You can spend the night in the spare bedroom."
"Thanks," she said opening the door. He hurried around and when she stepped onto the ground, she winced.
There was no telling what was in the grass between here and the house. There could be stickers, rocks, you name it. It would just be better if he carried her.
He scooped her up into his arms, her bare flesh covered by the woolen cover. She weighed next to nothing.
"I can walk," she protested.
"No, you can't. I'm not taking a chance of you getting spider bit, ant bit, or even worse, snake bit. I can carry you."
The scent of soft woman, a light floral fragrance, and wine tickled his nose. The thought of carrying her into his bedroom and depositing her on his bed flashed through his mind and he quickly squelched that idea.
Not good. It would definitely cross the brother code of friendship.
Leave Kelsey alone.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed at him. "Thank you. I feel like you're my knight in shining armor. Rescuing me from the big bad wolf."
If she knew what his thoughts really were, she wouldn't think he was rescuing her. If anything, he was carrying her into the lion's den and he was trying to keep the animal caged.
"Yeah, you owe me one. Especially, if your brothers ever learn that you spent the night at my house."
She giggled. "You worry too much."
"No, you don't understand. They made it very clear to stay away from little sister many years ago."
She laid her head on his shoulder. "And you did until I needed your help."
Not that he really wanted to keep away, but he had because that's what friends did. They respected each other’s wishes. Just like he would take her into the house and show her the room she would be sleeping in--separate from him.
Setting her on the porch, he pulled out his keys.
"I'll get you a T-shirt you can sleep in," he said. "And I think I have an extra toothbrush you can use."
"Thanks," she said as he opened the door and they walked inside.
The blanket was wrapped around her waist like a sarong and his jacket covered her top. She was covered from top to bottom and he regretted telling her about the damn piece of cloth that covered all those luscious curves.
Opening the door, he called, "The bedroom is back here," he said and showed her where she would be sleeping. "There's a bathroom right across the hall. I'll get you a shirt."
He walked to his own bedroom and quickly found her something she could sleep in. The thought of her soft skin wrapped up in his pull-over was enough to make him think that T-shirt would soon find its way onto his own body. Snug up against him, smelling of sweet woman.
When he returned, he handed her the shirt and toothbrush. "What time does everyone leave the ranch in the mornings?"
"We need to arrive around seven thirty. They're usually gone by seven, so that would give me some extra time. By that time, Maria is there and she'll let me in."
He shook his head. The girl was way too pampered, but then that was the way her family had let her live her life. They protected, coddled, and cherished her. She was the only girl, the youngest, and she was the little princess. Only, tonight, he had rescued the damsel in distress.
"Okay, we'll leave around seven in the morning," he said. "You need anything else tonight?"
For some reason a gleam appeared in her eyes. A gleam that he knew was trouble with a capital T. He'd better run to his side of the house if he was going to escape that look. No matter he'd picked her up naked. Her brothers would not understand if he slept with their sister.
"Thanks," she said. "You've done so much. Do you mind if I take a shower?"
"No, go right ahead. Everything you need is in that bathroom," he replied thinking of her naked and wet in the shower, wanting to go in there and join her, knowing the thought was ludicrous.
After tonight,
he was going to start dating again. It was time to get back in the action so he wouldn't be thinking about Kelsey Lawrence this way.
"Great. Sleep well and I'll try to be quiet," she said.
"No problem. Goodnight."
Cody all but ran down the hall trying to escape the fervent looks from Kelsey. He'd grown up playing with her brothers. He'd spent many nights at her house as a kid. And her brothers had always been overprotective of her. He had to honor their wishes. He had to stay away, yet right now, he felt like he was wearing lead boots as he walked down the hall.
One night. She would be gone in the morning and then later they would laugh about what happened tonight. But damn, she was a tempting sight. One he hadn't thought about in years.
Chapter 2
Kelsey stepped into the hot water of the shower, feeling the need to scrub the night's events from her body. The Cupid god must have smiled down on her, letting her escape the clutches of the sheriff.
Cody coming along had been lucky and she worried about Meghan and Taylor. Were they both sitting in jail, right now, while she was here at Cody's luxuriating in hot water and preparing for bed?
Years had passed since she'd seen Cody. Long enough to have forgotten how tall and muscular the man had become. When he picked her up, the muscles rippled in his chest and arms. Carrying her from the truck, he hadn't even broken a sweat. A sense of security and protection overwhelmed her when he carried her across the yard.
The man was a hunk a dunk cowboy, the real deal living on a ranch.
The hot water felt cleansing and as she went to grab the towel, the lights went out. The house became silent and the bathroom pitch black. Reaching for the cloth, she found it hanging over the top of the bar.
"Kelsey, you okay?" Cody asked, knocking on the door.
"I'm wet, but I'm fine."
A chuckle, the sound a deep rumble. "I'm going to find a flashlight. I'll be back."
His footsteps moved down the hall and soon he knocked on the door again. "I brought you a light."
Cupid's Dance: Western Small Town Contemporary Romance (Return to Cupid, Texas Book 3) Page 2