by Chloe Lang
Chapter Four
Charly leaned up on the bed’s headboard. Using the remote, she turned on the TV.
She heard Dax turn on the shower in the hotel room’s bathroom. She’d insisted he go first, refusing his offer of a dual shower. She was too spent for anything beyond washing off. Clearly he was ready for more.
Still trying to avoid reality, she clicked around the available stations. The cable service was dismal. Four stations only. What she settled on was surprising to her. Though Wilde was a very tiny town, it actually had its own local channel. The program currently on was some kind of local auction. The voice of the host sounded familiar. He gave great details about the like-new fishing gear on the screen. The current bid for lot eleven was at sixty-five dollars, a small fortune to Charly in her current budget crisis.
The show cut away from the fishing gear, and a face she knew appeared on the screen. It was the minister who had performed Jessie’s wedding—Pete. How many jobs did the guy hold in this town? A bunch, apparently.
“That’s all for this week’s Trading Post. Next week we’ve got some saddles that will come on the block, some antiques from the estate sale of the Hawkins family. But the big news is Mrs. Masters bought herself a new Chevy Silverado, so she is ready to part with her 1972 El Camino. We’ve all seen her driving the red darling to Norma’s. It’s in mint condition, folks. So, you definitely don’t want to miss next week’s auction. That’s all for now.” Pete winked and waved. “See you at the tables.”
Though the production was amateurish, Charly smiled at how sweet it was. Something about this small town’s ways got under her skin in a good way.
The screen changed to white with the following message in black:
“This station is supported by: Wilde Mining Company, The Wilde Family, The Strong Family, The Hawkins Family, The Masters Family, and the Hart Family. Also by the good people at Sneaky Pete’s Casino, Norma’s Diner, The Masters’ Chambers Club, The Ladies Tea Room, The Stanley Funeral Home and Cryogenics Lab, and by grants from the chambers of commerce of Wilde, Vice, and Bandit’s Hideout. And by generous donations from you, our viewers.”
Charly heard the shower cut off but didn’t want to stop watching the TV. Once she left the bed, she would have to start dealing, and right now, she didn’t want to.
When the sponsor’s names faded from the screen, images from the area popped up for her to enjoy. Northern Nevada was beautiful, stunning even. The slideshow ended, and the station’s call letters materialized in front of her eyes. KINK. She giggled at the humorous name the broadcasting gurus of Wilde had chosen. But the name wasn’t the only ironic thing about the station. When the jingle came on at the top of the hour with the melodic harmonies of several studio singers, Charly busted out laughing.
“Every Nevadan knows, yes they know, wherever you are, whatever you need, KINK Is Nevada’s Key to the world. We’re always here for you. K–I–N–K. Channel three.”
“Hey, did you see what the last bid was for Kyle’s fishing gear?” Dax came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and nothing else.
“What? Oh, the auction. Not sure whose it was, but there was some fishing stuff Pete was showing at the end.”
“And the bid?” He let the towel drop and gave her a view of his incredible, now squeaky-clean, male body.
Charly closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, pretending to try to remember. But the real reason was that she needed to get on with facing her demons and not rush back into his arms to pretend her world was just fine as wine.
“Doesn’t matter. Kyle put a reserve on it. Dumb-ass. Our auction is more garage sale than anything of merit, kitten.”
“Kitten.” God, I love when he calls me that.
She opened her eyes and saw he was wearing his jeans and socks. “I think the bid was sixty-five dollars.”
“Hell, that’s my bid from last week. I think I’ll call in a dollar increase. That’ll get Kyle all hot and bothered.”
“You’re a devil, Dax.”
“Don’t you know it?” he asked, jumping on the bed next to her.
“I do. But seriously, I have to get dressed. I’ve got things I have to do today.”
He brushed the hair out of her eyes. “The first thing is to get some food in that pretty middle of yours, kitten.”
She was about to protest when her cell went off. Dax grabbed it from the nightstand and shamelessly looked at the screen.
“Not Drake.”
“You’re too much. Give me that.” She held out her hand.
Her cell buzzed again.
“I will, but only because I want to,” he stated, obviously to make a point. “No secrets, kitten. Not with me.”
Buzz. One more and the caller would hear her voice mail.
“Okay. Fine.” Charly couldn’t help herself, responding to his over-the-top alpha bravado more than she should. “May I have my phone?”
He smiled and handed it to her.
The caller ID on screen read “Mom.”
Buzz.
She clicked the green button but was too late. “Damn it.”
“Sorry, sweetheart.”
Panic exploded inside her, followed by growing irritation. “Time for you to go, cowboy.”
“Chill, kitten. You can call your mom back.”
“Yes, I can. Please. I want to talk to her in private.”
He narrowed his eyes but finally nodded. “Okay. I’m headed over to Norma’s. Be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll order for us.”
She knew there was no sense arguing with him. Unlike his twin, Dax had a stubborn streak a mile wide. “Yes, but I’ll need an hour.”
“Women. Fine. An hour. Gives me time to check in with my dads and see what’s going on at the ranches.” He finished dressing just as her cell phone chimed, indicating her mother had finished her message.
“Thank you, Dax. Really. For everything.”
“More to come, kitten. Much more.” He opened the hotel room’s door to the hallway and glanced back at her. “One hour. Don’t be late. You don’t want to make me angry, right?”
She smiled and saluted. “Yes, Sir.”
“That’s my girl.” He exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Rather than check the message, Charly called her mother right back.
“Charly? I just left you a message.” Her mother’s voice sounded weak, which crushed her.
“Mom, is everything okay?”
“Yes, honey. I’m fine. I just wanted to check on you. Any word from the center?”
Like a knife to her gut, that question sliced her in two. “Not yet,” she lied. Her mother didn’t need to worry about anything but staying well. “How are you feeling today?”
“Better than normal. Mr. Leukemia seems to be slumbering the past few days.”
Her mother had personified her illness long ago, likely as a way of coping with the constant pain. “And Kim is coming by to check on you?”
“Every day, honey. She told me to tell you she’s got all her fingers and toes crossed for you to get that job.”
“Tell her ‘thanks’ for me.”
“I sure will, honey. She’s a treasure.”
“She sure is.” Kim had moved in six months before Charly left for college. Her own mother had died from cancer, and she’d kind of adopted Charly’s mom, thankfully.
“I guess Jessie isn’t back from her honeymoon yet?”
“Not yet.” Charly longed for her cousin’s ear. She needed someone to talk to about the lost job and much more.
“I bet you hear from Malibu before she gets back. Kim told me that she’ll help you pack us up for the move, Charly. If Mr. Leukemia behaves, I might be able to help, too.”
Charly’s throat tightened up. “Let’s wait until we know, Mom. Okay?”
“Sure thing, honey. I can’t wait for you to come home, though. I miss you, baby.”
“I miss you, too, Mom.” Charly felt the tears well up in her eyes. “I need
to go. I’m meeting someone for breakfast this morning.”
Her mother sighed. “Sweetheart, be careful out there. You don’t need to fall into the same trap as your cousin did. Not that I’m saying five men is a bad thing for her. But for you? Well, that would never work out, honey.”
Images of Drake, Heath, and Dax swirled in her head. “Don’t worry about me, Mom. Love isn’t in the cards for me.”
“Not yet, but someday, honey.”
“We’ll see. I really have to go, though. I’ll call you later.”
“Charly, you sound upset. Is everything okay?”
“Mom, I’m fine.” She was about to start sobbing and couldn’t let her mom hear that. “I promise to call you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.” It was clear by her mother’s tone that Charly hadn’t fooled her one bit.
Charly hit the disconnect button and fell into her pillow, sobbing violently.
Chapter Five
Dax walked into Norma’s Cafe, bustling with locals. Seth sat at the booth farthest from the entrance. He looked to be in one of his foul moods. Didn’t matter. He needed Seth to go back and check on the trespasser issue at the ranch. He’d left that bit of unfinished business after Drake had put him on the task of being Charly’s sidekick and bodyguard.
“Sit anywhere you like, sir.” He didn’t recognize the new waitress carrying the coffeepot.
She was definitely an outsider, which wouldn’t have set well with the former owner of the diner. But Norma was long gone, having left Wilde after Samantha, her crazy, homicidal daughter, died in the Old Wilde Mine. Carlotta had changed very little about the diner, save hiring outsiders to run the place. Thankfully, the cooks were still local and knew how to make King Cakes. The waitress’s nametag read “Mackenzie.”
Normally, he would’ve chatted up the good-looking woman, but his thoughts remained fixed on the curvy beauty he’d left back at the Cactus Hotel.
“I’ll sit with him.” Dax pointed at Seth. “Just a cup of coffee for now.”
“No breakfast?” Mackenzie asked.
“A lady will be joining me here later. I’ll eat with her then.”
“Sure thing.” The woman nodded, walking through the crowd, filling empty cups.
Dax noticed several of the local men gaze at her ass. Mackenzie was new meat and, if she stayed in Wilde, she would get quite an education in the next several weeks.
He headed to Seth’s booth, but was stopped by the Masters twins.
“Hey, buddy. We haven’t seen you at our club in a while,” Wade said.
“First, it isn’t your club just because your last name is the same as The Masters’ Chambers. It’s Austin’s club. Second, I think he’s considering changing the name of it.”
“He wouldn’t,” Wyatt barked.
“He’s joking, bro. Aren’t you?” his twin asked.
Dax liked the Masters brothers. They were four years older than Drake and him, but the four of them had bonded despite the age difference, likely because of sharing the twin kinship.
“Maybe. I’ll keep my ears open for any clue from my cousin once he gets back from his honeymoon.”
“Thanks, buddy. Seriously, why don’t you join us tonight at the club? We’ve got our eye on the new waitress. Wouldn’t you like a piece of that?”
“Not tonight, fellows. Besides, I don’t think either of you are her type.”
“Asshole.” Wade laughed. “Wait and see.”
“Have fun.” He walked up to Seth, who didn’t acknowledge his arrival. “Mind if I join you, bro?”
“Sure. I bet you’re starving after your night with Charly.” Seth sounded a bit envious, which was a good thing.
“Who knows?”
“It’s Wilde. Everyone knows, Dax.”
“Don’t tell me that mom has gotten out her Cupid bow and arrow already?”
“She wants grandchildren. Can’t blame her.” He lowered his voice and smirked. “Our other brothers won’t ever settle down.”
The acrimony toward their older brothers was ever present in Seth. Sure, the six of them worked the livestock together and took care of things on the ranch, but whatever brotherly love Seth had felt for Tobias, Nate, and especially Heath was long gone.
“Where is mom?”
“She’s over at the Stanleys’ getting the contracts signed.”
“Crap. It’s that time already.”
The Stanley cousins—Ezra, Reuben, and Barnaby—and their wife, Josephina, weren’t native to Wilde, but had lived there long before Dax had been born. Like so many, they’d discovered the town years ago, after leaving Alabama behind, and had set down roots. Their family structure worked perfectly here. Though, according to stories Dax had been told, it took a little time for the locals to warm up to their unique business services, everyone did eventually come around.
“Yes it is, bro. Every room at the Cactus is going to be filled with eccentrics, crazies, and the curious, looking for a chance at immortality.”
The Cryogenics Convention’s sweepstakes’s grand prize of a free whole-body freezing did attract quite a crowd. Four bodies of previous winners were stored at the facility with five others, who’d also won the prize at past cons, still on their feet with hot blood in their veins.
“And this is the tenth year. I overheard mom on the phone with Josephina a month ago. They’re planning to blow the top off of the event to celebrate.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “How many stiffs are at the Stanleys’ cooler? You took the tour, didn’t you?”
“That was a long time ago, Seth. I did graduate, you know.” Mrs. Stanley taught high school biology. To pass her class, every student had to go on the tour of the funeral home and lab.
“You’re good at numbers. Estimate. Besides, didn’t you go to Mr. Blackwood’s freezing service?”
Dax was ready to change topics. Seth could often be so morose that it got creepy. “There has to be at least sixteen locals who have taken the big chill. I’d guess another fifty or so stored in the outsiders’ section of the facility. Time to plan our getaway now during the con, bro.”
“For sure.”
Carrying a fresh pot of coffee and a cup, Mackenzie stepped up to their booth. “Here you go.” She placed the cup in front of Dax and poured the hot liquid into it. “Cream?”
“No. Black.”
“How about you? Refill?” she asked Seth.
“No thanks.”
“I’ll bring you two menus when your lady shows up.”
“That’ll work. Thanks, Mackenzie.”
She didn’t acknowledge him at first, then touched her nametag. “Ah. Right. That’s my name. And you are?”
“Dax Strong. This is my brother Seth.”
“Nice to meet you guys.” She left them, filling cups along the way back to the kitchen.
Seth leered at the girl as she walked away. “I think we should get to know her, bro. Don’t you?”
Dax looked at his watch, noting how much time Charly had left before he fetched her. “Not interested.”
His brother’s eyebrows shot up. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“Well, it is. I’m watching over Charly while Drake is out of town checking on cattle in Texas. That’s all I’m focused on at the moment.”
“More than that, I bet. She’s gotten to you just like she did with Drake.”
“I don’t know about that,” he lied, not ready to confess anything until he sealed the deal with Charly for good.
“Fuck.”
“What’s your problem?”
“Not one goddamn thing.”
“I care about her, yes. Marriage? Who knows?” But Dax was already imagining a life with Charly by his side. Sure, Drake was on board, but Seth? Could he ever be?
“Bro, I’m happy for you and Drake. I really am.”
Dax bristled. “That sounds like you’ve already made up your mind to split. Hasn’t the plan always been for the three of us to share?”
“Plans change. I’m not ready to settle down, bro.”
“Seth, give Charly a chance. She’s incredible. Smart. Sexy. She’s no pushover but has a submissive heart. And more. She’s perfect for us.”
“You’re fucking in love.” Seth smiled.
Despite his grin, Dax sensed the familiar sadness and loss inside his brother. “Maybe. I just don’t know. Besides, if she is the one, you should be happy for us.”
“I’m happy for you. But like I told you earlier, I’m not ready to commit to anyone right now.”
Same old tune from him. I wish he could let go of the past. “Settling down is still a long way off, Seth. Even for me. A long courtship may be how we move forward with Charly. She is an outsider.”
“We’ll see.” Seth slid out of the booth and stood. “No promises. Keep an eye on her, Dax. No matter what, don’t let the other three get to her.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Dax looked at his watch again. It wouldn’t be much longer before Charly was sitting in front of him. “I found some tracks over by the middle stream. I’m betting it’s another driver who got turned around.”
“I’ll check it out. You take care of your girl.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“Later.” Seth nodded, heading out of the diner.
Though Dax hadn’t spoken the words aloud, just thinking about Charly drove him wild. His need to possess her, the woman of his dreams, was all consuming. He’d never been in love, not even with Gabby, so he wasn’t certain that his feelings constituted the big L.
Still, he wasn’t sure what else it could be if not love. The best way to find out if what he was feeling might be the big L would be to spend more time with Charly, which he would gladly do.
Chapter Six
Knowing Dax was waiting on her at Norma’s, Charly descended the hotel’s stairs in a dash with still twenty minutes to spare from his cutoff time.
When she hit the bottom step, she saw his mother, Maude Strong, entering the front door. The lady held on to her purse with one hand and several folders with the other.
“Hello, Mrs. Strong.”