by Diane Leyne
She had to force herself to slow down and drive the speed limit. If that red car was Lance’s, and she wasn’t one hundred percent certain it was, the last thing she needed was to be pulled over. She wanted to put as much distance between her and Lance as she could, but she couldn’t afford to get stopped by the local cops for speeding. All she needed was for them to run her licence and one of Lance’s cop buddies to tip him off to her location and it would be all over. He’d tell them she was a wanted fugitive and the local cops would probably throw her in jail until Lance could come and take custody of her. She slowed down more.
“We’re going to be model citizens of Satisfaction for the next week, so no chasing the cows or romancing the local dogs, you hear?”
* * * *
Murphy Smith took a long swallow of the cold beer in front of him. When he had drained half the mug, he placed it down and sighed. It had been a long week. Hell, it had been a long year. The weather had been hot and dry, and getting the new irrigation system in place had been hard work, but it was in place now. The crops would grow and the cattle would be watered, and he had five minutes to relax until the next emergency cropped up. Owning and running a ranch was hard work. Even when you had first-class help, which he did.
He drained the rest of the mug and saw that Cole had finished his, so he called Jules over for a refill for them both. Jules and her brother Micah owned Whips and Spurs, his favorite watering hole, as well as the private club in the back. He watched Jules as she pulled two more mugs of beer before setting them in front of him and Cole. She was a beautiful woman, with her long blonde hair and big blue eyes.
She smiled and flirted with him and he flirted back automatically, but the attraction just wasn’t there. Hell, he was pushing forty and it was time he settled down and started on a family. There was just one problem. He looked over at Cole. Cole had been his best friend since their first day of preschool. They’d grown up together in Kinsdale and gone to school together and then college, and when he’d moved to Satisfaction to run the small ranch his grandfathers had left him, Cole, who’d trained as a blacksmith, had moved to Satisfaction as well.
He knew that there were some back in El Paso who believed that he and Cole were lovers, but here in Satisfaction, they weren’t the only men who shared women. He wouldn’t say it was common, but it wasn’t uncommon, either, and generally folks minded their own business. And like most of the men who shared women, they were focused on the woman in their bed. They didn’t freak out if they accidentally touched while naked, but they weren’t into men. Some were, and that wasn’t an issue—it just wasn’t their style.
They’d been sharing for almost twenty years now, and both were ready for something permanent, but it wasn’t easy to find a woman who wanted more than just a sexual adventure with two hot cowboys. Add in the fact that they were Doms in the bedroom and it got even harder. Some subs wanted someone who would dominate them both in and out of bed, but that wasn’t their style. Others wanted more pain than either of them were willing to dish out. They liked giving spankings and even enjoyed using a crop or a flogger upon occasion, but they were both more about taking control and being Dominant in the bedroom.
They’d decided when they were thirty-five that they’d give the search five years. If they hit forty without a prospect of a woman to share permanently, then they’d think about the alternative. They had six months to go, but they hadn’t even gotten close to finding the right woman.
Murphy knew that Cole was ready to throw in the towel, but he’d convinced his friend not to give up even though he himself was also starting to lose hope.
He smiled at Jules. She would be just perfect for them if he didn’t think of her almost as a sister. She was smart and sexy, and did nothing for either of them. Mostly, when they got a night off, they went into El Paso to visit one of the clubs. It wasn’t hard to find a woman who wanted fun for the night with two men, but that was getting old. Even if they did find a woman that one of them wanted to get to know better, they’d never found one they could agree on, hence the deadline.
Murphy sipped this beer slower. Two was his limit. He hadn’t had dinner yet and his stomach was rumbling. He could smell the burger Dace Lowe was eating. Dace’s sister Candy owned the local diner, so he’d probably bought it there and brought it over to Whips and Spurs so he could watch the football game while he ate. He’d been a quarterback in college and had been heavily recruited until he blew out his knee in his senior year. Now he was the sheriff of Kinsdale County.
He wished Whips and Spurs served more than just finger food. Once upon a time, they’d done a full menu. It had all been bar-type food, burgers, pizza, and such, but it had been good. They’d lost their cook when Lucy had gotten married and moved to Dallas with her new husband. Jules had many talents, but cooking was not one of them, and Micah was even worse, so now they just served things like nachos and salsa and nuts and other food out of jars that neither Jules nor Micah could ruin.
Murphy turned to Cole. “It’s almost seven. What do you say we head over to Candy’s for the meatloaf special? I know we had talked about going to the club tonight, but I’m tired and I’ll probably head home early tonight.”
“Works for me. Let me make a quick pit stop and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Murphy felt the same way. He took a swallow as he watched his best friend walk towards the restroom, and then he watched all the female eyes follow him. Cole was a blacksmith, which meant he had muscles on his muscles, and he showed them off in a tight white T-shirt. Murphy was a shade taller than his friend, and well-muscled from working on the ranch, but he wasn’t in Cole’s league.
He was reaching for his wallet when the saloon door opened and someone he didn’t recognize walked in. At first, she was silhouetted by the setting sun behind her and he could only see her outline, which was both petite and curvy. When she stepped further in and let the traditional swinging saloon doors close behind her, he could finally see her face.
She had long sandy-brown, almost but not quite blonde, hair pulled back into a careless ponytail, with strands coming free and framing her face. She had huge eyes that, even from where he sat, he could tell were a vivid blue.
He had told Cole that when they met the right woman, they’d know it. He had grown up on the story of how his grandfathers had fallen in love with grandma Rose at first sight. Cole thought he was crazy, but he knew that it would happen someday. Murphy had always prayed that when it did, Cole would fall hard, too.
He got down off the barstool and stood looking at the vision in jeans facing him. She was beautiful, to him. Maybe some might call her cute or call her plump, but he just wanted to call her his.
He started to move towards her when he saw the big dog slink in under the saloon door. It wasn’t one he recognized, but it walked right over to Dace and sat politely beside him for a moment before placing a paw on his knee.
Murphy laughed out loud as Dace jumped and dropped his burger and the dog calmly wolfed it down.
“What the—” Dace thundered, but then another voice interrupted.
“What do you think you are doing?” She hurried over to Dace. “I am so sorry, officer. I’d be happy to pay for your dinner and buy you a replacement. He didn’t mean any harm. I came in here to ask for directions and…I’m sorry.”
Murphy could hear the misery and pleading in her voice, which confused him. Sure, her dog had stolen a burger, but the level of her agitation seemed to exceed the offence. He felt a presence and turned to see Cole also staring at the scene. He hadn’t noticed that his friend had returned from the restroom. Hell, he hadn’t noticed much of anything since she walked in, except for the burger theft.
He decided it was time to head over to the table, but Micah got there first. He saw the three of them talking and he watched as she opened her purse. Dace laughed and then Micah said something and they all laughed. Then she was shaking hands with the two men, presumably having introduced herself. Dammit, they were touchi
ng her. It was just her hand, but they were touching her!
He hurried over, determined to make sure Dace and Micah didn’t steal her away. Like him and Cole, Dace and Micah shared women and were looking for the one, but he was going to warn them away from… He realized that he didn’t even know her name. He strode forward, determined to rectify that. He could see that Cole was walking with him and paused.
“It’s her. Isn’t it? She’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”
“Yes she is, buddy. Yes she is.”
Just as he got close, he noticed that the dog had taken opportunity of everyone’s distraction to climb up onto the seat of the bench and was finishing Dace’s fries. He had to laugh. The dog was wily, and clearly loved by the woman.
“Again, I’m so sorry, Sheriff. Murphy’s usually such a good dog, but he’s developed a taste for burgers and… Murphy!”
Chapter 2
Jess was mortified. “Murphy, what are you doing! Sheriff, I don’t know what to say.”
She grabbed Murphy by the collar and pulled him off the bench seat. He went willingly as he’d already finished all the fries and was just licking the plate clean.
“Murphy! I ought to tan your no-good, flea-bitten ass. Go back to the Jeep now and wait for me there! I’ll deal with you in a few minutes.” She watched him leave, closely followed by two cowboys in tight jeans and Stetsons. For a second, she allowed herself to be distracted by the way the tight jeans clung to their taut butts. She’d noticed them when she’d entered before Murphy had distracted her with his burger theft.
“Don’t worry about it. And keep your money. Do you need some extra dog food for him? Doc Adams always has some at his clinic. I’m sure he could give you a good price.”
“Oh, thank you, Sheriff, but we’ve got dog food in the car. It’s just that he’s decided he likes people food better. But speaking of food, maybe I could get a couple of those burgers to go. It smelled great.”
“It tasted good, too. But they don’t have anything but snacks here since they lost their cook, and Micah here is useless at cooking. So’s his sister Jules. I brought this from Candy’s Diner. It’s just a few blocks from here down on Main. Tell Candy I sent you.”
“I will. Thank you again, Sheriff. And if I could trouble you again for one more thing, I’m in Texas to visit my brother who lives west of here, but he’s out of the country for a week on business and I thought I might stick around Satisfaction. Perhaps you can recommend a motel or guest house that’s not too expensive and maybe someone who’s looking for some part-time help? I’m a hard worker. Once my brother’s back, I can go stay with him, but for now…”
“You are in luck. Candy has an apartment up over the diner that she rents out. The last tenant left a few weeks ago, and she hasn’t rented it out again. It’s got some basic furniture, and I’m sure she could let you have it for a few days. And she’s always looking for help at the diner. She claims it’s hard to get people to help out with the morning shift. You can probably work off the room and board.”
Jess smiled and thanked the lawman. She wasn’t sure if getting close to a cop was a good idea, but it could be disarming, too. Who’d think to look at her staying with a cop’s friends? Besides, she was getting low on funds, except for the stolen money tucked under her clothes in her duffel, and no way was she spending that. It would be like sending up a flare. Here I am, come get me!
After getting directions, she walked out of the saloon and across the parking lot to the Jeep. She’d backed into a parking spot that was hidden from the road so no one passing by could see it, but positioned for a quick getaway if one were required.
Frowning, she realized that the two cowboys who had left while she was apologizing were standing beside her Jeep, or to be accurate, hunkered down beside it, playing with her dog.
She paused to observe them for a second before approaching. They’d both removed their cowboy hats, and she could get a good look at them now. They both seemed to be half a decade older than she was, maybe closing in on forty, with short hair and slightly weathered countenances, as if they spent a lot of time outside. The dark-haired one was tall, at least six foot two, taller with the cowboy boots he was wearing. He was lean and muscled, his arms corded with what she thought of as working muscles. They were the muscles of a man who did hard physical labor. The blond was a shade shorter, but was much more heavily muscled than his friend, his bulging biceps almost as big around as her thigh. He, too, looked like he came by his muscles through hard work rather than by being a gym rat who spent hours staring at himself in the mirror as he did rep after rep like Lance.
Even their haircuts seemed more about function than style. And she’d bet that neither of them owned mousse or gel. She could feel a fluttering in her stomach and places lower as she watched their strong hands caressing Murphy, and she automatically wondered what it would be like to feel those hands on her body.
She gave herself a mental shake. Now was not the time to get involved with a man or men. Hell, she realized that she was attracted to both of them, but it was superficial, of course. She hadn’t even exchanged a word with either of them. Maybe, maybe once they did speak, she’d realize that her attraction to them was purely physical and she had no feelings except a desire to get naked with them, one at a time, of course, unless… She gave herself another mental shake. Damn. This was becoming a habit. She’d never been with two men at the same time. That was something that the characters in her favorite books did. Oh, but it would be nice to be the center of a cowboy sandwich, and why not, a wicked little voice in her head whispered. You are only here for a few days, it said. Why not have some fun?
I have to stop letting my imagination run away with me. Why on earth would these two smoking-hot cowboys want to share one short and dumpy city girl, or rather woman? Why would they even want her one-on-one, let alone to share? Hunks like that probably had more than their share of hot young things chasing them. She was thirty-one and too old and too tired for men like that.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked over to her Jeep and cleared her throat. Two pairs of blazingly blue eyes stared up at her. The blond had eyes so blue that they almost glowed against his tanned skin. The brunette’s eyes were a light gray-blue and ringed by such long, thick, dark lashes that she was immediately jealous.
Both cowboys smiled as she approached. “Hey, there!” The blond had a nice voice, deep, with just a touch of a Texan accent. “Beautiful animal you have. What is he, about three or four?”
Determined not to let her attraction to them override her common sense, Jess went on the offensive. “Almost five, actually. Why are you two cowboys hanging around my Jeep and trying to win over my dog? Don’t you have some horses to look after or cows to wrangle?” She was annoyed with herself for wanting to give in to her attraction and flirt with them. Now was definitely not the time for romance. She found herself snapping at them, instead.
“But, ma’am, you told me to leave the bar and go out your Jeep.” The brunette looked at her, sincerity shining from his lying or maybe delusional eyes. “I was just trying to be obliging.” His accent was so slow and thick she could almost cut it with a knife.
“What?”
“You did, ma’am. I heard you with my own ears.” The blond was agreeing, his accent now as thick as his buddy’s, and she felt a bit worried. She could barely understand them. She started to back away.
“Maybe I should go and get the sheriff and we can get this straightened out. Murphy!”
The brunette stranger’s deep voice was almost, but not quite, drowned out by Murphy’s bark in reply.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“What? I was calling my dog.”
“You said Murphy.”
“Yes I did. That’s his name.”
“I didn’t know that back in the bar. As far as I knew, you ordered me outside by name, in a very insulting way, if I recall, calling me no-account and referring to my butt as flea-bitten. I have to say that my butt has no flea
s, and I’d be happy to drop my shorts and let you see for yourself.”
“I did not order you out. I, wait. Wait! Your name is Murphy?” Comprehension finally dawned.
“Yes, ma’am. Murphy Smith, owner of the Double S Ranch, and this is Cole Reacher, best friend, blacksmith, and all-around good guy.”
Murphy reached out to shake her hand. Automatically she met him halfway and found herself answering without thinking. “Jess. Just passing through.” She tried to hide her smile when Cole shouldered Murphy aside so he could shake her hand, too.
“Seriously, guys. You didn’t really think I was speaking like that to Mr. Smith. I would never speak like that to a stranger.”
“It’s Murphy, not Mr. Smith. That was my daddy. Although, I must admit that I might have had an inkling that you weren’t actually talking to me, but I wasn’t about to disobey a beautiful woman who wanted to meet me out at her car.”
“And I went along to protect him. You seemed pretty mad.” Cole smiled, and Jess couldn’t take offense. “If you still feel the need to tan his flea-bitten hide, I could help you. I can hold him down while you take your belt to him.”
He grinned, and she grinned back.
“I’ll pass for now, but thank you for the offer. I would, however, appreciate directions to Candy’s. I’m starving, and I expect Murphy is probably still hungry if he’s taken up thieving.”
“As it happens, we were on our way there.”
Jess turned to study human-Murphy’s face, her eyes full of suspicion.
“Seriously. Murphy is a terrible liar,” Cole interjected, “but this time he is telling the absolute truth. We were just talking about getting a bite to eat when you arrived, and all thoughts of food fled when you started ordering Murphy around. He’s usually very bossy and the one giving the orders. It was a nice change.”