by Amber Kelly
“Is that right? Which hotel is that?” I ask as she slowly slides her hand higher.
“The Armstrong. It’s across the street. I have a big, comfy room all to my lonesome,” she says in invitation as she brings her mouth to my ear.
I place my hand on hers to halt her progression before she has a chance to cup my manhood and cause me to grow painfully uncomfortable in my jeans, and that’s when I feel it.
Without taking my eyes from hers, I lick my lips, which causes her attention to go to my mouth, and I decline her offer.
“Sorry, darlin’. Even a devil like me has his limits, and a wedding band is mine. Go back to your room and call your man and have him finish you off over the phone.”
She turns red instantly, jerks her hand from my grip, and stands abruptly.
I watch as the four of them exit the bar.
“Elle is on fire out there. I can’t keep up,” Dallas says as she returns to our table and sips her juice.
Braxton huffs at that. “It’s because this watered-down country-pop music is what twenty-somethings listen to. Every time she gets in my truck, she has this crap blaring.”
“What’s wrong with this music? I like it. It doesn’t have to be Hank, Willy, or Waylon to qualify as real country music. You redneck elitists,” Charlotte mocks.
“Whatever, City Girl,” I quip.
Charlotte turns to me. “I know you think you’re insulting me when you call me that, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. I own my City Girl title,” she says with attitude.
I lean into her face. “Honey, I’m not insulting you. I happen to like your accent and your haughty attitude. It’s a turn-on,” I say.
“What doesn’t turn you on, Walker Reid?” she asks.
“Wedding rings and mustaches,” I deadpan.
She laughs. “That’s a short list but a good one,” she says as she lifts her glass and clinks it against the neck of my bottle.
“I think Cinderella is turning into a pumpkin,” Myer says as Dallas yawns.
“Yeah. Sorry, babe, but I think I’m going to have to call it a night,” she agrees.
“Lightweight,” I tease.
Dallas throws up her middle finger in my direction as Myer stands, and they say their good-byes.
“Sophie, Elle, and I will catch a ride back with you two,” Braxton says before Dallas and Myer can leave. He tries to get Elle’s attention and wrangle her to the table.
“Ah, let her stay, Brax. She’s having a good time,” Sophie suggests.
“I’d rather her come with us,” he insists.
“We’ve got her,” Charlotte promises.
Braxton cuts his eyes to her, and his lack of faith in her is written all over his face.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Payne and Walker are here. They aren’t going to let anything happen to Elle,” she snaps.
“We’ll keep a close eye on her, man,” Payne volunteers.
Braxton looks back out in the crowd as Elle shimmies with a group of other females, and he sighs. “All right. Just make sure one of you has eyes on her at all times,” he commands.
“Aye, aye, captain,” I say as I give him a mocking salute.
He scowls at me.
“Come on, Mr. Grumpy. Take me to bed and ravage me,” Sophie says as she drags him toward the door.
That puts a pep in his step.
Payne and I move us over to a smaller table tucked back in a nook, away from most of the crowd.
As the night goes on and patrons get drunker, everyone seems to start pairing up. One asshole in particular has set his sights on Elle. He’s been circling her and Charlotte for the last hour, and now, he has Elle on the dance floor, pressing himself all up on her as she tries to move to the music. Charlotte stumbles off toward the restroom, and Payne follows her. So, I stand and head for Elle.
The guy’s hands are firmly planted on her ass. It takes all my willpower not to rip his arms from his body and beat him with them. When I make it to them, I tap him on the shoulder with enough force to leave a bruise.
He winces and looks over his shoulder at me.
“Cutting in,” I inform him.
“I don’t think so,” he says as he grips her closer and tries to move them deeper onto the floor.
I grab the collar of his shirt.
“Walker, what are you doing?” she asks.
“I’m trying to politely cut in, and this asshole isn’t taking the hint,” I say as I stare at the guy’s hands, which have shifted up to her hips to hold on to her. “You mind removing your hands from her?” I demand.
He releases her and turns to sneer at me. “I don’t think the lady wants to dance with you,” he says.
I step into him, so we are chest to chest. I tower over his slight frame.
“Why don’t you let her speak for herself?” I spit in his face.
Elle rounds him and tries to force her way between us.
The music stops, and I continue to stand nose to nose with the drunken asshole as she tries to defuse the situation.
“Calm down, fellas. I’ll dance with you now, Walker,” she says as she nudges my chest to separate us.
He grasps her hand as she and I start to walk away.
“Wait, how about I buy you that drink?” he starts.
I growl. Elle’s eyes go wide, and she jerks her hand from his grip and gives him an apologetic look as she backs toward me.
“Some other time,” she says placatingly.
When he steps forward, I have had enough.
“The lady said no,” I boom, and one of the bouncers standing to the side of the DJ booth moves to us.
“Is there a problem, fellas?” he asks as he reaches us.
“Is there?” I ask the guy as his eyes flit between me and the burly bouncer.
“Nah,” he says as he gives up. Then, he smiles at Elle and adds, “I’ll find you later, sweetheart.”
She waves and pushes her back into my front to keep me from following him as he disappears into the crowd.
Once he is out of sight, she slowly turns to face me with one eyebrow raised in question.
“What was that?” she asks as she folds her arms over her chest.
I grab her hand and maneuver us back to our table. “I didn’t like the way that guy was pawing all over you,” I say as I pull a chair out for her to sit.
“He wasn’t pawing on me,” she says as she plops in the seat.
“You must have drunk so much that your ass went numb because he had a handful of it,” I bark.
“Maybe I liked having his hands on me,” she snaps.
I see red. “Really? You like having some drunk stranger’s hands on you?”
She leans into my face and retorts, “What, it’s okay for you to enjoy some woman you don’t know all over you, but it’s wrong if I enjoy someone’s attention? Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?”
It is, and the fact that she points it out and I have no way to refute the accusation just pisses me off more.
“Exactly,” she huffs when I say nothing.
“Whatever, sweetheart. You want him? Go get him. I won’t stop you,” I say, finally giving in.
She finishes her drink in one gulp and doesn’t move. She doesn’t want him; she just doesn’t want to be told what to do like a child. Fine, I can treat her like a grown-up.
I wave the waitress down and order us two more drinks, and I make them a double.
Walker
We close the cheesy bar down.
After last call, Payne and I finally corral both Charlotte and Elle and all their belongings to my truck. I toss the keys to Payne since he stopped drinking hours ago, and I load the girls in the passenger side as he hops behind the wheel.
Charlotte has one eye open and is concentrating hard on her phone.
“Who are you trying to call at three in the morning?” Payne asks her.
“I’m looking up food places around here. Or at least, I’m trying to, but the screen keeps blurring on me,” s
he whines.
“Food places at this hour?” I ask from the backseat.
She looks back at me. “Yes, we have to find a dive that’s open. If I don’t get some greasy food in my stomach to soak up all this alcohol before I pass out tonight, I will be hurting tomorrow,” she says, followed by a loud hiccup.
All of a sudden, she shouts, “There! Fat Shack is open. Pull in.”
Payne does as she requested, and I sit with the girls while he goes in to order cheeseburgers, chili dogs, and fries. He returns fifteen minutes later with two bags and passes one back to me. I pull an order of fries out and try to pass them to Elle.
“Here, eat these,” I say.
She shakes her head and refuses them. “I don’t want any,” she slurs.
“Charlotte is right, woman. You need to get something in your stomach and take a couple ibuprofens before you go to bed. Now, open up,” I command gently as I hold a fry out to her.
She sits up and takes the fry from me with her mouth.
I watch her chew and swallow before her tongue darts out and licks the excess salt from her lips.
Then, she opens her mouth again and waits for me to feed her another.
I know she isn’t consciously trying to tease me, but she is doing a damn fine job of it all the same.
One by one, I feed her the entire bag of fries before we make it to the front of the hotel.
I get out with the girls and wait in the lobby as Payne parks the truck.
I hand him Charlotte’s purse and phone as we walk to the elevator. We’re all on the second floor, so we ride up together.
When Payne stops at his door right past the elevator, Charlotte stops with him.
He looks at me. “You got Elle?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’ll make sure she gets in her room before I go to mine,” I assure him.
“Wait,” Charlotte calls as she takes her purse from Payne and opens it, digging inside for a moment. “Here you go,” she says as she passes a key card to me. Then, she hugs Elle. “I’ll just knock in the morning when I need to get in. Sleep tight.”
“You too,” Elle says before walking down the hall, and I follow. She stops in front of what must be her and Charlotte’s room door.
I fumble with the key card and get it in the slot to release the door. Elle’s and Charlotte’s things are scattered across the two beds. Damn, it looks like their suitcases exploded before they left the room.
Elle slips past me and stumbles into the bathroom. I walk over to the desk in the corner and set her purse and key down where she can find them easily. Then, I clear all the things off one of the queen beds and toss them on the chair tucked in the corner of the room, so she’ll have a place to lie down.
I’m finishing my task when her arms wrap around me from behind.
“I left your things on the desk, so you’ll know where they are in the morning,” I say as I feel her lay her cheek against my back.
“Stay with me,” she whispers.
I must have heard that wrong.
I turn in her arms to ask her to clarify what she said, and I find her standing in nothing but her black bra and a matching pair of silky lace-trimmed panties. I almost swallow my tongue at the sight. I take three quick steps back.
My cock grows painful as my eyes drink in every inch of her skin.
She pauses for a moment and then timidly walks forward. I catch her at arm’s length, being careful where I place my hands.
“Elle, baby, what are you doing?”
“Charlotte is staying in Payne’s room, and I just thought …”
She leans into me, and I step back once more. My legs hit the end of the bed, and I sit down, trying to keep my body under my control.
She sits in my lap, facing me, and her arms go around my neck.
I have one hand planted on the bed at my side and let the other come up and rest on her hip. I can feel her heat against my legs, and the thought that only that tiny slip of silk and lace separate her from me is almost more than I can stand.
Fuck, I’m just a man.
She pulls herself in closer and brings her mouth to mine.
“Do you want to kiss me, Walker?” she asks softly.
My eyes flit to her lips.
My breath quickens, and I tighten my grip on her hip.
She darts her tongue out and runs it across my bottom lip, and I open to let her glide it against mine.
She tastes like whiskey and honey, and I move my hand to the middle of her back and pull her closer as I take over the kiss, drawing her in deeper and deeper.
Her chest is pressed against mine, and I feel the rise and fall as she laps clumsily at my mouth.
When she starts to circle her hips against me, I tear my mouth from hers and groan. I take my hand from the bed and bring it around to unclasp her bra and she lowers her arms to let it fall from her shoulders. I palm one sweet mound that fits perfectly in my hand as I kiss my way from her jaw to her collarbone. She rears back to give me better access and I take one taut pink nipple into my mouth and bite down gently. She begins to writhe against me again more urgently. I slide my free hand between us and find her panties soaked through. I circle the damp spot with my finger as I suck firmly on her breast.
She whimpers, and I freeze.
What the hell am I doing?
I take both my hands and bring them to her sides as I remove my mouth from her body. I pick her up and set her to the side before I stand.
She is thrown off guard for a moment but then follows me and wraps her arms around my waist.
“No,” I choke out as I close my eyes and take deep breaths to calm my libido.
“But I thought …” she starts.
I open my eyes again, and I can’t talk to her in her current state of undress.
“For God’s sake, Elle, put your clothes back on,” I manage to strangle out.
A sound of hurt escapes her as she backs up. Embarrassment tinges her face.
“I’m sorry. I thought … I thought … oh God,” she sputters as she frantically looks around.
“Elle,” I begin as I reach for her.
“No, it’s okay,” she blurts out as she grabs the comforter at the end of the bed and jerks it loose to wrap around herself. “God, I’m so embarrassed. You aren’t interested in me in that way. Of course you aren’t.”
“Elle, listen to me,” I try again, but she continues to ignore me.
“You don’t have to explain. I get it,” she says as her bottom lip begins to tremble.
She starts to gather her discarded garments, which are scattered across the carpet leading from the bathroom, while avoiding my eyes, but I can see the tears she is trying to hide.
I take her arm and pull her to face me.
“You think I don’t want you like that? Dammit, woman, you could melt the halo off an angel,” I tell her as I frame her face with my hands.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that everything in me wants to strip you the rest of the way and spend all night showing you just how much I want you. Like that,” I bite out the last two words.
She gasps.
“But for once in my pathetic life, I’m not going to act on my urges because it’s you.”
A tear escapes and runs a slow trail down her cheek.
She lowers her head and presses her forehead against my chest.
I hold her for a couple more minutes before I kiss the back of her head and step away. She stumbles forward, still unsteady on her legs, and I grasp her shoulders.
She says, “I’m okay. I’m good.”
She takes a few steps backward and sits on the bed.
I grab the handle to the door behind me.
“Good night, sweetheart,” I say.
“Good night, Walker.” She sniffles, and I walk out into the hallway.
“Fuck!” I cry as I fight the urge to bust back in there.
Payne appears from behind his door down the hall with an ice bucket in his hand. His head
snaps to me at the sound of my curse.
“Everything okay, man?” he asks as he looks from me to Elle’s door.
“Yeah. I’m just worried she might get sick. I hate leaving her,” I say as a cover.
“You want me to send Charlotte to her?” he asks, a little deflated.
No need for both of us to end our nights with a cold shower.
“Nah. She finally crawled in bed. Hopefully, she is out for the night,” I reassure him.
“I’ll have Charlotte text her in a bit to check on her, just in case,” he offers.
“That should be good enough, brother,” I say as I turn the other direction and head down to my room and that frigid shower that awaits me.
Elle
I jolt awake at the sound of knocking and sit straight up in bed.
“Ouch.” I raise my hand to my head.
I blink the sleep from my eyes and look around. I’m in my and Charlotte’s hotel room.
“Elle, let me in. We have to get ready for breakfast, and I’m in my walk-of-shame clothes from last night,” Charlotte shouts through the door.
I throw the covers from me and stand. I look down, and I’m in nothing but my underwear. I run into the bathroom and grab the plush robe from the hook on the back of the door and pull it on before I let her in.
She comes in, drops on the bed, and covers her face.
“You look like you feel about as good as I do,” I say as I shuffle back to the other bed.
“Ugh, why do you people insist on getting up so early and eating breakfast together every morning? Don’t any of you get hangovers in Colorado?” she whines.
“Not usually, but even I could use a couple more hours of sleep this morning,” I grumble.
She sits up in a huff and grabs the remote off the nightstand between our beds. “Well, forget about it. Sophie made reservations for all of us at The Emporium downstairs, and we have about twenty minutes to make ourselves presentable. You hop in the shower first, and don’t dally. Just splash all the important bits and get out,” she orders as she lies back against the pillows and clicks the television on.
I crawl back out of the bed and head into the bathroom.
As I stand under the hot spray, I close my eyes, and small fragments of the night begin to prick at my mind. Walker running off my dance partner. Walker feeding me in the truck. Me naked in Walker’s lap.