Margot's Hunger [Divine Creek Ranch] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  Oh, good lord, woman. What are you gonna do next? Stick out your pouty lip? Pull up your big-girl panties. You can’t help what he does or doesn’t do, but you can control how you react.

  “What’s got you frowning?” Grace looked at her with mild concern in her eyes.

  Margot shrugged and bit her lip. “Just a crappy day, I guess.”

  “Everything okay with Jake? You seemed in good spirits when you got here tonight.”

  “I guess it’s just stress from work and my usual moody crap.”

  Grace shook her head. “You know, you don’t normally strike me as the moody type. We get along fabulously, and customers love you. The moodiness seems to come out when you’re around that big hunk of man over there.”

  Margot sighed wearily. “Jake brings out the bitch in me, doesn’t he? I’ve been worried lately.”

  Emma tilted her head a little. “About what?”

  Margot looked away for a few seconds, but then met Emma eye to eye. “Worried that he’s going to get tired of our relationship dynamic. No man wants a woman who is ‘up in the air harping’ over something all the time.”

  And Jake wouldn’t want a woman who asked for a ménage, so just forget about it.

  Grace chuckled gently and gestured at Rosemary and Evan Garner, who were on the dance floor, about as close to each other as they could get. Evan’s brother, Wes, Rosemary’s other husband, wasn’t there that evening and must’ve been giving them some alone time. “I beg to differ. Evan adores Rosemary. I promise you she keeps him on his toes. Some men like a woman with a fiery spirit.”

  “Is that code for bitch?” Margot asked with a snort.

  Grace leaned closer. “Could it be that you’re using your temper as a means to keep him at arm’s distance?”

  Was she? Most of the time, Jake seemed amused by her moodiness and need to be in control of her world. But she knew there was a point where he might grow tired of her anal-retentiveness and seek a woman who was easier to get along with. The thought made her heart ache.

  “Or that he picks at you because he enjoys being with a woman who has a temper?” Emma pointed out, but her reasoning was too simplistic, and Margot wasn’t that lucky. No, they were a ticking time bomb that would one day explode and leave behind a big, painful mess to clean up. Despite the volatility of their relationship, she loved him very much and couldn’t stand the thought of him not being a part of her life.

  Emma’s eyes shifted to over Margot’s shoulder, alerting her to Jake’s presence behind her. Somehow she’d overlooked it when Jake had risen from the other table and come to theirs. His warm arms wrapped around her shoulders and he kissed the sensitive spot under her ear. The tickle of his light beard sent shivers tingling over her flesh. “Ready for a dance, sugar britches?”

  Gil joined them at the table, and smiled at her, most likely because he knew how she felt about the kooky pet names Jake used. Normally, that so-called endearment pissed her off, but tonight all it did was increase the weight in her heart. She’d even miss him calling her sugar britches if he ever left her for a less cantankerous woman.

  She held his arms in place for a second, schooled her features, and quelled the tears that stung behind her eyelids. He leaned in and gazed at her with those sexy, light-brown eyes and she let him help her from the chair. Gil caught her eyes before she turned away, and she knew he could tell something was bothering her. Gil was pretty intuitive at times.

  Jake drew her close on the dance floor as “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” by Brantley Gilbert began to play. Biting her lip, Margot tried to tune the lyrics out so she didn’t become a blubbering idiot on the dance floor. She was unsuccessful as the vocalist lamented the loss of the woman he counted as his best friend.

  Fucking Hell! She and Jake were volatile as a couple, but besides her sister, Jake was her best friend. She had lots of great girlfriends, but no one else knew her like he did. He knew she hated almonds and coconut, but for some strange reason loved Almond Joy candy bars. He knew that her favorite color was purple, that her favorite flowers were white roses, and what kind of bra she preferred. The bra preference he knew because he’d had to replace one that he’d cut off of her in the heat of passion.

  Why can’t I just be easy to get along with like Grace, Emma, or Maya?

  She caught a glimpse of Rosemary and Evan who were still on the dance floor. Evan gazed down at Rosemary as though his whole world was wrapped up in his arms. Was Grace right? Was she keeping him at arm’s length with her temper?

  Jake turned on the dance floor, and Ethan Grant made eye contact with her and nodded with a smile. Grace had told Margot once that she sometimes felt like Ethan read her mind. The understanding look in his eyes just then made Margot wonder if he was reading her mind as well.

  * * * *

  Margot was tense in Jake’s arms, but he couldn’t pinpoint the cause. She’d been more cantankerous lately, and he’d worried that she was trying to find a way out of their relationship. What relationship they had, anyway. He’d never slept all night at her house, and she’d never slept at his. The sex was very satisfying, but it had proven impossible to burrow under the wall she always put up the moment it was over.

  He’d also wondered if she felt unfulfilled, especially since she was always around her sister, Summer, and her men, Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier. The idea that had been germinating in his mind came to the forefront again. He glanced at Gil and wondered if he could prevail on him. Was it worth the risk to their friendship?

  She’d seemed out of sorts when he’d approached the table and put his arms around her. Uncharacteristically, she missed a step in the dance.

  “Sugar britches?”

  “Hmm?” Her reply sounded distracted as she gazed across the dance floor.

  To test the theory, he said, “Guess what I’m going to do when I get you home tonight.”

  “Hmm?” A statement like that always got her attention, but she just kept her eyes focused across the nightclub.

  “I’m going to tie you up and drizzle honey all over you and then lick it off.”

  Margot sighed distractedly. “Uh-huh.”

  Jake stopped dancing and looked in the direction she was staring, which seemed to startle her. On the other side of the room was a table full of familiar, single cowboys, several of whom he knew worked at The Divine Creek Ranch. Two of them nodded when he made eye contact. Jake had heard Buck Turnsell and Chad Jordan were in the market for a ménage but not the permanent type.

  Margot looked befuddled. “Why did we stop?”

  “Is there someone here who you’d rather dance with than me?”

  At first, her face registered shock, and then her blonde eyebrows drew together and the hurt in her eyes was like a punch to his gut.

  Way to be insecure, Redman.

  The hurt quickly changed to anger.

  “If I wanted to dance with someone else, Jake Redman, rest assured I would. I’ve had plenty of opportunity while the four of you were gabbing like a bunch of old spinsters. Let go of me.” She tried to yank her hand from his and turned to leave. “Fucking asshat.”

  He refused to let go and pulled her back against his chest. “I’m sorry. You were distracted and I thought you were eyeing someone else.”

  Or more than one “someone else.”

  Margot’s shoulders sagged as he started the steps with her again. “Jake, I can barely keep up with you. Where would I get the energy for dealing with someone else?”

  Jake scoffed softly. Margot might profess to not have the energy for dealing with another man, but Jake had seen otherwise. Her stamina was unbelievable, and he loved being on the receiving end of it.

  If she was just overworked and needed to relax, a massage might help. He recalled Ethan’s words about the squirting orgasm. He’d said that a massage beforehand would help the woman to relax enough to allow it to happen. Jake sighed, recalling the rest of the instruction, thinking that he liked his balls right where they were.