Breaking Leather: Lone Star Lovers, Book 4 (3 page)

Josh’s gaze slid away, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there’s gonna be a slight problem with that…”

She swung back. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Ezra removed all the phones from the house.”

“What?”

Josh reached behind him and pulled something from his pocket. When he held up a screwdriver, he gave her a sheepish shrug. “I was in charge of disablin’ your car.”

Her eyes widened, and her heart began to thump hard inside her chest. “And Cade?” she asked, her tightening throat. “What was his part?”

“Oh, Cade was in charge of gettin’ the room ready for you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re kidnappin’ you, kitten.” His grin was wide, joyous even.

She stared at him like he’d grown two heads. “Are you insane?” she shouted. “You’ll be arrested!”

“Only if you press charges. We’re hopin’ you won’t.”

She shook her head, dumbfounded. Her face was hot, her stomach lurching. Hadn’t this been exactly what she’d been afraid of? “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

His grin vanished. “Through here,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the bathroom just off the entrance.

Chrissi accepted the push of his hand at the back of her neck, bending over the bowl to empty her stomach. When she straightened, he handed her a moistened washcloth.

“Not the reaction we expected,” he said quietly as she washed her hot face.

“What the hell did you expect?” she said, embarrassed and aiming a deadly glare his way.

Josh shrugged. “A lot of hollerin’.”

“Ya think? Take me home.”

He drew in a slow breath, all expression draining from his face. In place of his usual, affable smile, his tight features resembled Ezra’s more than she would have believed. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. We made a pact.”

“A pact?” She knew she was echoing him, sounding stupid, but she still couldn’t get her head around what was happening to her.

“All or nothin’,” he said, nodding.

“All of what?”

“Us.”

She didn’t need it spelled out. She got his meaning in one hot second. “Then it’s nothing,” she croaked, her mouth drying instantly.

“We aren’t acceptin’ your answer. Not until Sunday. So don’t even try to talk us out of it.”

“You won’t get away with this. When I don’t show back up at the office—”

“Macy’s in on it. She’s not callin’ the cops. She thinks Ezra’s makin’ a play to get you back. She thinks it’s romantic.”

“Macy doesn’t have a heart. She’d never think a kidnappin’ was romantic.”

Josh’s lips twitched. “They sent me to sweet-talk her.”

“Bastard,” she whispered, knowing exactly how Macy must have reacted. When Josh turned on the charm, there wasn’t a woman who wouldn’t melt. Even hardhearted Macy.

“You always said I had a silver tongue.”

“But I bet it was your smile that did her in.” She could have bit her lip for admitting that because his eyelids drifted down to give her a smoky glance.

“Does my smile bother you?”

“I’m immune.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Yeah, she was a big, fat liar. She needed a little space to shore up those crumbling walls. “I have to pee.”

He gave her a nod. “There’s a new toothbrush in the drawer for you too. I’ll be outside.”

Listening? Like hell
. “You don’t have to hover over me. I’m not gonna throw up again.”

“We aren’t leavin’ you alone this weekend. Not for a minute.”

She shook her head, suddenly weary of thinking and of fighting the inevitable. “Why?”

“Because Ezra seems to think we bother you.”

“Then wouldn’t you want to bother me less?”

“Not that kind of bother. He thinks we still turn you on.”

Chrissi felt ready to scream. Seven years, and they still read her like a book. “Ezra’s an idiot. The only thing you three do is drive me crazy.”

“Oh, I hope so, kitten.”

She slammed the door in his face.

Cade sauntered up to Josh, who leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door. “How’s she?”

“She threw up when I told what we’d done.”

Cade grimaced. “Hell, do you think it’s just food poisonin’?” Or could they really have frightened her so much she’d emptied her stomach? Cade didn’t want to feel sorry for her. They had a plan they’d vowed to stick to no matter how pitiful she acted.

Josh grunted. “Think Ezra’s right? That she makes a big show of avoidin’ us because she never got over what happened?”

Cade glanced away and let out a deep breath. “Ezra knew her best. How about I take over now to reacquaint myself.”

Josh gave him a quick smile. “Sounds like a good idea. She’s a little perturbed with me at the moment. Where’s Ezra?”

“Where do you think?”

“I might join him for a lap or two. Might relax me.”

Cade watched Josh stride away to the pool, then leaned an ear against the door. He heard harsh mutters, a couple “dammits” and a “bastard”. He felt a smile stretch his mouth. She couldn’t be too scared if she was cussing rather than crying. The doorknob turned and he backed away, wiping his expression clear.

She glanced up, giving him a quick once-over before she met his gaze. “You the next shift?”

“I am,” he said agreeably. “Thought I’d ask if you wanted a drink?”

“So you can loosen me up?”

“If you’re afraid that’s possible, I’ll give you a soda.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Only if I get to open the can.”

“Are you afraid I’ll slip something in your drink?” His lips twitched. “I think I’m almost insulted.”

“You kidnapped me. I don’t think there’s much you wouldn’t dare.”

“Only when it comes to you, sugar.”

Chrissi rolled her eyes. “Don’t ‘sugar’ me. You are not gonna wear me down. I don’t want to be here.”

Cade ignored that last statement, taking heart from the fact her grumbling sounded halfhearted. “Would you like a drink? I’m havin’ a beer. It’s hot out there.”

She let out a deep sigh, and he noticed the lines of tension around her lips. She looked tired.

“How about I promise that we won’t make any moves. That we’ll spend the evening just havin’ a nice relaxing time. It’ll be like old times, before…”

“Even if we wanted to, we can’t go back.” Her glance slid away, and her mouth twisted. “I missed us, you know. We were friends.”

Cade barely resisted the urge to slide his hands around her and draw her close. If anyone needed a hug more, he’d never seen it. “You trusted us. We let you down.”

“Yes, you did. But I should have had better sense too.”

“See? We were young and stupid. We don’t have to be enemies.” When her expression eased, he gave her a small, coaxing half-smile. “Want a beer?” He held out his hand, holding his breath until she tentatively slid her palm inside his.

He’d always known he was attracted to her, that he’d yearned for her for years, but he hadn’t really known how much he missed her until that precise moment. Her hand felt just right—small, slender, warm. He tightened his grip and gave her a guarded smile. Not enough to make her worry, he hoped.

He turned and pulled her behind him, like old times, drawing her deeper into the living room to the bar at the far wall. He opened the fridge and grabbed two Shiner Bocks, uncapped them and handed her a bottle. He held his up until she klinked her glass against it.

They both took a long draw from their bottles.

Her sigh when she set it down was louder than his. A faint smile tugged up one corner of her mouth. “It’s been a long day. I needed that.”

“Heard you were up at the Dunstan place,” he said. “How’s Lettie doin’?”

Her smile was tight, but it was a start. “Fine. She’s eager to move in with her sister in town. They plan to go to bingo on Tuesdays and have pedicures every Friday.” She gave a little laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, I know she misses her husband, but she seems ready to move on.”

“She deserves a little fun. Couldn’t have been easy livin’ out there, the two of them, for so long. Gets lonesome.”

“Do you get lonesome?” Her lips pressed together. “Scratch that. It’s none of my concern.”

Cade leaned back against the bar, resting on his elbows, then gave her a waggle of his eyebrows. “Admit it. I’m gettin’ to you.”

She shook her head ruefully. “All three of you are
getting on my nerves
. I want to go home.”

“And you will,” he said, nodding. “Come Sunday—if you still want to.”

Her face grew serious as she eyed him. “I don’t believe you of all people went along with this.”

“Because I’m so boring?”

“No, because you’re the most honorable.”

He remembered the biggest test of that honor—she did too by the shadow that crept across her face. He’d failed her, going along with his brothers. “There’s not a day we don’t regret what went down. The way it happened anyway. It was the wrong place.”

“It was just plain wrong. Every part of it.” She set her beer on the bar.

“I won’t ever believe that.”

“Why don’t you all find some other girl to tag team,” she bit out, an underlying tremor in her voice. “I’m sure there’s a whore or two in town who’d be only too happy to oblige.”

“That’s what you think we made you?”

Her mouth trembled, the corners turning down, and she wrapped her own arms around herself. Giving herself the comfort he wished she’d let him offer.

Hoping to distract her from unpleasant memories, he pushed from the bar. “Day’s nice. Let’s head out to the patio and rest a spell.”

She gave a vague nod, and followed him as he headed toward the French doors and the sounds of water lapping against the sides of the pool. Ezra would know how to reach her. She’d always trusted in his strength. No matter how bad things were now, he had to hope that deep down she knew she could lean on at least one of them.

Chrissi dragged her feet as she followed Cade to the pool. Another of those places that she’d just as soon forget. She remembered the time after Mr. Kinzie’s heart attack, when the boys’ parents had taken a vacation to reaffirm their gratitude to both be alive and together. Ezra had had a tough time, stepping into his dad’s shoes, when the ranch hands and his brothers hadn’t learned to respect an eighteen-year-old, no matter how big and smart he was.

She’d lived for the hours when he’d finished up working for the day. They’d escape to the pool, take a leisurely swim then lay naked in each other’s arms on one of the loungers. It had been an unspoken thing between his brothers and him that those hours were his time, that no one was to interrupt.

She’d savored the attention and loved even better that he’d turned to her for comfort and escape from all his worries. She’d been deeply in love with him for years, but even though she’d been the only girl he dated, she hadn’t been sure he returned the feelings, at least not to the degree she felt them.

Cade leaned against the boulder next to the pool, watching his brother skim below the surface, then turned his head to watch her.

Chrissi ignored him, glancing into the pool. Then she couldn’t take her gaze from Ezra’s honed body. She felt a moment’s satisfaction knowing that he was bothered by what had passed between them on the road and inside his truck—that she’d driven him to this. Swimming was his release valve.

She wasn’t surprised that he was nude. And right now, despite what she knew he wanted to have happen this weekend, it didn’t feel like a gratuitous peep show. His powerful arms and thighs cut through the water, his face breaking the surface now and then for him to gulp for air. At the far end of the pool, he curled like the competitive swimmer he’d been and shot toward the opposite side again.

Chrissi watched him, her skin getting hotter, her belly cramping, not from any nausea but from desire so strong she knew she was past resisting.

She heard a scrape beside her, felt hands cup the notches of her hips and pull.

For all of a second, she resisted, and then she melted against Cade, her breath leaving in a long sigh. She didn’t want to be this easy. But what was the point? “Cade?” she whispered, giving a little moan as he kissed her cheek, her temple.

“Yes, baby?” he said, gliding his hands over her belly, then up to cup her breasts through her clothing.

“Go away.”

Chapter Three

As soon as Cade withdrew, she swayed, dizzying need swamping her. She caught herself, shivering, and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort as she watched Ezra turn and push off the side of the pool to return.

She couldn’t help herself, she stared, her gaze roaming his tall frame, her mouth drying as his arms cut through the water, his powerful shoulders rippling with each slice.

The patio, partially shaded by trees and enclosed by a tall rock wall, had always seemed so cozy and safe. She inhaled the scent of chlorine, felt the slight breeze whispering through the oak trees waft against her hot face, and couldn’t maintain her anger beneath the assault on all her senses.

This moment was inevitable. An itch that had to be scratched one last time before she could let go of the disappointment and yearning she’d harbored for all these years.

She slipped off her shoes and tugged her blouse from her trousers. She’d known where the day was leading from the first hiss of her radiator. Hell, she’d known she’d have to face up to this ever since she’d given Ezra the slip when he’d left her in the girls’ bathroom after that fateful hook-up. She’d been running scared for a long, long time.

Ezra swam to the steps and stood at the bottom, water sluicing down his body. He wiped more water from his face and held her stare. “Baby, you sure about this? Are you really ready?”

The banked heat in his eyes, the tension revealed in the flex of his arms and chest muscles, set her heart fluttering. “Of course not,” she rasped. “But I’m hot and bothered—by you, by your damn brothers. And I’ve had enough. We end this.”

His ice-chip eyes darkened to a stormy gray. “That what you think this weekend is about? Ending it?”

“I don’t care what you three think is supposed to happen.” Not a lie, because she couldn’t think of anything beyond the expanse of bronze skin, the crest of the cock rising from the water. “Right now, all I can think about is how much I ache,” she said, her voice hoarse.