by Unknown
At the end of the hour, Beau pulled both tip jars and took them up on the stage to be counted.
"Any last bits of change or bills anyone wants to add to either jar? They look pretty close, and I know every little bit will go to help Charlene get better."
The crowd groaned, and one guy yelled, "Hell, I'm already flat damn broke, but all the touches and kisses I got from Emma was worth every dime."
"Chill out, John," she shouted from her spot at the taps. She nervously watched while Beau and Becky counted the money, not sure if she wanted to win or lose.
"This unbelievable, folks. I think someone was keeping count while the whole thing went on. The totals are so close, it's amazing. The grand total of both jars together comes out to four hundred twenty-three dollars and fourteen cents."
The crowd erupted in shouts, high-fives, and wild hugs.
"Now for the winner. Brandon and Emma, you two need to come up here for this."
"Come on, honey. Take your punishment like a lady," Brandon said with a wicked grin.
Emma let Brandon take her hand as they made their way to the stage. When they stood side-by-side in front of the crowd, butterflies erupted in her stomach, and she silently prayed she'd lose. The thought of being at their mercy for the entire time they were in town tied her insides into knots.
Beau stood between her and Brandon and worked the crowd into a frenzy before he calmed them with a raised hand. "All right, all right. We have a winner. Drum roll, please." After several moments and complete silence from the crowd, he said, "The winner is…" He shifted his glance from her to Brandon and back. "Brandon! By thirty-five cents."
"It was my thirty-five cents!" a blonde in the front shouted. "I should get an extra kiss."
"Come on up here, sweet thing," Brandon said, and the blonde jumped up on stage. It took him all of two seconds to plant a wet kiss on her painted lips and her to stick her tongue down his throat, much to the delight of the crowd around them.
Emma couldn't stand to watch it.
As she jumped down from the stage and headed back to the beer taps, she could feel the tears behind her eyes. I will not cry. I will not cry. What do I care if he kisses someone else?
"Whoa, honey. Where are you runnin' off to?" Brandon asked, grabbing her hand before she reached the back of the tent.
"I need some air," she whispered, pulling her hand out of his grasp and dashing outside.
"Emma!"
She rounded the back of the stock barn and slipped into the shadows, hoping he wouldn't find her until she'd had a chance to come to terms with the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head. Neither Brandon nor Beau belonged to her, so why these crazy thoughts and feelings bombarded her heart, she didn't know.
"Come on, baby. I know you're back here."
Refusing to let him comfort her, she stayed silent, hoping he would give up and go back to the tent. The thought of giving herself to the two of them made her pussy ache and throb with need so strong, it almost brought her to her knees, but she had to keep her heart out of the fray, otherwise she'd never survive.
"I'll leave you alone for a bit, Emma, but don't stay out here long. If you aren't back inside the tent in ten minutes, I'm coming out here looking for you."
His silhouette disappeared back around the front of the barn, and she sighed in relief. She couldn't get involved with these two past the few days they'd be in Red Rock. If she did, she'd be left brokenhearted and alone.
Shoring up her pride and building the wall back up around her heart, she headed for the tent, knowing if she didn't make an appearance shortly, he would come after her. She reached it only to find him and Beau both standing just inside the flap.
"You okay, darlin'?" Beau asked, wiping a lingering tear from her cheek.
"I'm fine. I needed a minute. That's all." She glanced at Brandon and then back to Beau. "Did he tell you the contents of our side bet?"
"Yeah, but don't worry, Emma. You don't have to do anythin' you don't want to."
"I made the bet. I'll live up to it," she answered, pulling back her shoulders. "But we still have a few hours left here. Everyone will wander home about midnight."
"Will you dance with me?" Brandon asked, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. "I want to feel your body pressed to mine."
She took a deep breath and nodded. Moments later, she found herself held tightly to his broad chest, his palm at the small of her back scorching the bare skin above her waistband and his hot breath on her ear.
"Why did you run off?"
"I told you. I needed some air."
"You know the girl meant nothin'. It was just a kiss."
"With her tongue down your throat."
"Ah. I see."
"You see what, Brandon?" she asked, moving back far enough she could look into his eyes. "You don't belong to me, so I can't tell you what to do with other women. You can kiss or fondle whoever you want."
"But Beau and I belong to you like you belong to us…for now."
"For now is all I want. I don't need any kind of relationship. I've got school, my horse, and my family. Men come and go."
"You sound pretty hard-hearted, honey."
"I've seen my share of heartbreak, Brandon, and I refuse to let anyone get that close to me again. Short-term affairs, one-night stands, and no commitment is the way to go." Her heart cracked at the lie. She knew the life-style Brandon and Beau led, with the constant touring and driving from one side of the country to the other, left no time for any kind of real relationship.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
"No."
"Maybe after some time you'll trust me enough to tell me," he whispered, his hot lips against the side of her neck.
"It's over and done with, and it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not goin' into this thing with you and Beau with my heart on my sleeve. It's gonna be a few days of raunchy sex, good times, and hard lovin'. Nothing more. You're a fantasy come to life for me, times two, but that's it."
It sounded all good and strong, but her heart wasn't swayed, especially when Brandon slid his lips to the spot right below her ear and sucked on it. Her knees wobbled and blood rushed in her ears, but she convinced herself it was all a physical reaction to his nearness.
"Mind if I cut in?" Beau asked from behind her.
"Of course I mind," Brandon growled. "But since we're bound to share her, we might as well start now." He stepped back, brushed his lips over hers, and then headed for the bar.
"What's up, darlin'?"
"Nothin', why?"
"You seemed in an awful big hurry to get out of here a little bit ago."
"Not you too," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "It's nothin'. I told Brandon the same thing. It's nothin'."
"Then why the tears when you came back in?"
"All right. You want the truth? I'll give it to you. It bothered me when he kissed that girl, and it shouldn't have. Neither of you mean anythin' to me except some fun sex for the next several days, so it shouldn't bug me."
Beau ran a finger down her cheek and across her bottom lip. "You don't sound so convinced, Emma."
"Well I am." She saw Becky, waved to her, and said, "Sorry. I have to go finish manning the beer taps until everyone goes home."
"Okay," he replied, letting her go.
She could feel both sets of brown eyes watching her every step as she made her way back to the bar, never letting up until things wound down and everyone started going home. Beau and Brandon helped Seth, Becky, and her clean up the area and put everything away while the band cleared out.
Seth got up on the stage and whistled to get everyone's attention. "Let's call it a night, folks. Beau. Brandon. Thank you both for all your help tonight and I'm sure the extra money we raised will be very much appreciated by Charlene's family. We'll get the word out about tomorrow's acoustic set, and hopefully we can rake is a lot more."
"Let's hope so," Brandon replied, tucking both hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I can only
imagine what Charlene and her family are going through."
"How long are you guys going to be in town?" Seth asked, stepping off the stage.
"We aren't sure. The mechanic couldn't tell us how long it would be before the parts got here. Could be a few days or a couple of weeks."
"Weeks?" Emma squeaked and then cleared her throat. Weeks? This isn't good. How in the hell am I going to be at their beck and call for weeks and still keep my heart intact?
Beau's sexy smile had her squeezing her thighs together to ease the ache in her pussy. Soon. She just had to get away from Becky and Seth.
"Can you give me a ride home, Emma?" Becky asked.
"Um, no. I have an errand to run. Seth can run you home, can't he?"
"Sure. No problem," Seth replied and Becky gave her a nasty look.
She'd been so wrapped up in everything going on between her, Brandon, and Beau, she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Becky about what had happened earlier when Seth followed her outside. Unfortunately, when the two of them had returned, nothing appeared to have changed. They still managed to avoid being close together, but Emma thought there might be subtle changes no one else noticed. She knew her friends, and it seemed Becky spent a little more time close to Seth, touching his sleeve when they talked and smiling a little more. She really hoped the two of them could work things out.
After Seth and Becky drove off, Emma stood next to her mother's old car. With her truck in the shop, she had to have something to drive, and her dad had insisted she use the old car since it just sat at the house, unused. It felt kind of weird driving it, though, since her mother's death two years earlier.
Silence enveloped the three of them as they stood there looking at each other, each waiting for someone else to make the first move.
"So. What exactly is this bet going to entail?" she asked, her stomach knotting up nervously like a wad of tissue.
"You'll see. Do you want to follow us back to the hotel so you have your car there?" Brandon asked, wrapping a lock of her hair around his finger.
"I guess," she replied, pulling her hair out of his grasp and opening the door to the car. "Lead the way, gentlemen."
Beau flashed her a wicked grin and opened the rental car. "Let's go, Brandon. I got me a hard-on screaming for a sweet pussy."
Emma shook her head, wondering if she was losing her mind, letting these two anywhere near her. How she would be able to come out of this without losing her heart, she didn't know.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the nicest hotel in Red Rock—which really wasn't saying much, but Cade had money invested in it, so she knew the inside could rival some of the nicest hotels in the big cities like Los Angeles and New York. Cade and his big money investors had converted a large old stone building in town and renovated it to the hilt. They could charge an arm and a leg for rooms, since Red Rock wasn't far from the interstate and the huge recreation lake sat mere feet from the back of the building. She figured Brandon could afford one of the suites if he wanted to. It would be interesting to see what room they'd chosen.
Gilded mirrors lined the lobby. Soft deep red brocade covered all the chairs, and marble slabs made up the floor. Crystal chandeliers hung every so many feet along the ceiling, bouncing multi-colored shards of light around the room. Large ferns graced the corners, and a huge black marble counter separated the check-in people from the guests.
Hopefully she wouldn't run into anyone she knew going through the lobby. If word got back to her dad, he'd kill her. It didn't matter that she had passed the age of consent at least six years ago. At the age of twenty-four, she knew what she wanted, and right now it came in the very enticing package of Beau and Brandon Tucker.
"Miss Emma, to what do we owe this surprise visit?"
Emma froze at the voice and slowly turned to face Aiden, the night manager of the hotel and a long-time friend of Cade's, walking toward where she stood in the middle of the lobby. Lucky for her, Beau and Brandon hadn't made an appearance behind her—yet.
"Hey Aiden. How's business?"
"Not bad. I'm sure the rodeo will be bringing in a ton of people starting tomorrow. We're already almost full. Are you meeting someone here?"
"Um…yeah. A friend."
"Ah," he replied, nodding. "Are they coming in for the rodeo?"
"No. Not necessarily." She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and tried to think of the easiest explanation for her appearance at the hotel without giving away her plans for a threesome rendezvous.
"There are you, darlin'," Beau said, coming up behind her and putting his arm around her waist. "We thought we'd lost you."
"I'm right here," she replied, her overly bright tone grating on her nerves. Damn it! Do I have to sound so high-schoolish?
"Evening, sir." Aiden stuck out his hand for Beau to shake. "I'm Aiden Moss. Night manager."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Moss."
"Um, we should go, Beau."
"We need to wait for Brandon. He's parkin' the rental car."
Aiden's eyebrow shot up as he glanced at her and then back to Beau. "Brandon Tucker? I saw his name on the guest roster. It's nice to have you and your brother with us, Mr. Tucker."
"You know, there is one thing you can do for me." Beau tapped his finger to his lip and narrowed his eyes.
"Just name it, sir."
"Send up a bottle of champagne, some strawberries, and whipped cream from the kitchen."
Emma's whole body hummed when she heard Beau's request. Did they plan to eat off her? Or eat her, period? God, I hope so.
"Certainly, sir. I'll take care of it right now. Any particular brand of champagne?"
"No. Just somethin' nice and smooth. Brandon and I don't want our lady friend here to think we're some backwoods country boys."
"Of course not," Aiden replied. "Nice to see you again, Emma. I'll mention it to Cade when I see him."
"No!" Emma yelled as Aiden turned to head toward the desk.
He spun back to face her with a quizzical look.
"I mean, I'll tell him I saw you, Aiden. I'm sure he'll be pleased at how well you're running your shift here at the hotel, but don't bother calling him. I'm sure I'll see him tomorrow."
"All right. Enjoy your evening."
As she watched Aiden disappear toward the kitchen, Brandon came through the doors and joined them.
"I figured you two would have already gone upstairs and gotten started strippin'," Brandon said, taking her hand and kissing the palm. "Not changin' your mind, are you, Emma?"
"Uh, no."
"We ran into someone who knows Cade and Emma. The night manager here. I have him sending up some fun items to try."
"Wonderful. Shall we?" Brandon asked, pulling her along toward the elevators. "I can't wait to get you alone." He glanced at his brother and grinned. "Or should I say I can't wait to get you between us?"
Shivers raced down her spine, and goose bumps pimpled her skin as a picture of her sandwiched between Beau and Brandon raced across her mind. Heat spread through her body, centered low in her belly, and her pussy throbbed with need.
Within moments, they stood outside of a suite on the upper floor of the hotel. Even though Cade was a partner in the hotel, she'd never seen the inside of one of these rooms. They were expensive and luxurious. After Brandon opened the door, she caught her breath in a gasp. The room screamed money. Gold and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and smaller versions hung as sconces on the walls. A kitchen big enough to put her mom's to shame sat to her left, and a doorway to the right revealed two of the biggest beds she'd ever seen.
"Wow," she whispered.
"You've never been up here?" Beau asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
"No. Cade invests in this place, but I've never seen the suites. This is amazing. I wonder what the bathroom looks like."
"Come on. I'll show you," Brandon said, taking her hands and pulling her out of Beau's embrace.
The bathroom took her breath away. A huge showe
r took up one whole wall, with adjustable heads to make water spray in several directions at once. The tile squares were black with gold swirled through each one. The vanity had two sinks and ran almost the entire length of the opposite wall, and she couldn't stop staring at the bathtub.
"Oh my God! Look at the size of the tub!"
"I know. Cool, huh," Brandon replied, slipping in behind her. "I would love to put tons of bubbles in there and slide under the water with you, caressing every inch of your skin with my hands and sliding my palms over your breasts until your nipples turn to diamond-hard points just begging for my mouth."
She leaned back against his chest and let his words float to her ears as her eyes closed.
"I'd lift you up on the side of the tub there and bury my face in your pussy. I can't wait to see how you taste, Emma. Salty goodness or sweet like candy? I bet you're so sweet, I'll be hard pressed not to gorge myself on you."
The moment his palm touched bare skin, her pussy flooded with need so strong, blood seemed to hum through her veins. Within seconds, he had her bare breast in his hand, caressing the flesh, but avoiding her aching nipple.
"That's it, baby, relax."
The hand not already occupied flicked open the button on her jeans, and she heard the low rasp of the zipper as he pulled it down.
"God, you're so hot, Emma," he whispered as his free hand slipped down under the elastic of her thong to dive between her thighs. "You're wet for me—for us. So slick and blistering hot. Your pussy is on fire."
Her whole body trembled with each pass of his fingers.
"Hey bro, save some for me," Beau said from the doorway.
"Just gettin' her warmed up," Brandon replied, pulling his hands away and stepping back.
When she opened her eyes, the drop-dead gorgeous come-kiss-me smile on Brandon's lips reminded her of some of the pictures she'd seen of him on the web and in magazines. He'd always had a pretty blonde on his arm, and suddenly she felt a bit self-conscious. Although she considered herself fairly pretty, she knew she couldn't hold a candle to some of the model-thin and big-boobed women she'd seen him with. "Um. I'll be right out, guys. I need to use the facilities."