12-Alarm Cowboys (122 page)

S
kye hoped shopping
would get her mind off Jax and her body’s insane sexual attraction to him. It didn’t.

The moment they got to the mall, she had to go straight to the Victoria’s Secret store because she couldn’t get any other clothes until she had a bra and a fresh pair of panties. She was stripping off the workout pants and T-shirt when it struck her that she was separated from Jax by nothing more than a few feet of distance and a half-door he could easily peek over. Not that he ever would, she was sure. But it was still a turn-on to be standing there naked so close to him.

Her clit tingled as she wiggled into the first pair of panties she’d picked out—hipsters with a cute lacy border. She wasn’t as in love with the color now that she was wearing them, but she couldn’t put them back. They would be a wet mess. She left them on, telling herself she’d grab a few more in other colors. Ignoring the urge to caress her clit, she slipped into the bra and gasped as the silky material came into contact with her nipples. They were so sensitive they hurt.

“You okay in there?” Jax asked from just outside the door, making her jump. “You didn’t stick yourself with a needle of anything did you?”

“No, I’m good,” she called back. “Just about done.”

Fortunately, the bra fit fine, so she didn’t have to try on a bunch of different ones. She took off the tags from both the bra and the panties so she could give them to cashier, then did the same with the pair of Victoria Secret’s signature Pink boyfriend lounge pants and tee before pulling those on, too. Shoving her feet into the new flip-flops she’d grabbed, she picked up Jax’s clothes and the recent additions to her wardrobe and slipped out of the dressing room.

Jax turned to face her, his eyes caressing her in that same way they had last night when she’d walked into his kitchen in nothing but his dress shirt. She stared back, clutching her new undies in one arm and his borrowed clothes in the other, heat pooling between her thighs.

Jax was the first to recover, stepping forward to relieve her of his clothes. “Let me get those. You ready?”

“I just need a few more things,” she said.

As he followed her through the store, Skye resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to see if Jax was checking out her ass, which was currently sporting the word
PINK
across it in bright blue letters. She picked out two more bras and half a dozen panties, then headed up to the counter to pay.

Skye thought the cashier would take issue with her wearing half the clothes she was buying, but producing the price tags was good enough for the woman behind the counter. That didn’t keep the woman from eyeing them curiously as she rang up Skye’s purchases. No doubt trying to figure out what the heck the story was between Skye and the hot cowboy firefighter at her side.

The remainder of the shopping trip wasn’t quite so eventful. Skye shopped as quickly as she could, but it still took a few hours to get everything she needed, including a conservative skirt suit set and matching pumps for her meeting at the bank. Jax didn’t say anything as he added yet another shopping bag to the bunch in his hand when they walked out of the last store, but she could tell he wasn’t a fan of marathon shopping.

Skye spent a good portion of the drive back to Jax’s ranch trying to understand why she was so hot for Jax. Having a teenage crush on him might have been part of it. That and the fact that he’d grown into one of the hunkiest guys she’d ever met. It was possible it was also because he was being so nice to her just when she needed it. But seriously, getting wet in the dressing room just because he was on the other side of the door? That was crazy. Even now, sitting in his truck with him, she had to resist the urge to squirm in the seat to ease the throbbing between her legs. She was going to need a cold shower—or two—before having dinner with him tonight or she might jump him before they even finished eating.

But when they pulled up in front of his house, Skye found the perfect thing to crush any arousing thoughts she might be having—Dane. Her brother was leaning back against his truck with a pissed off look on his face.

Jax cut the engine and reached for the door handle. “I’ll handle this.”

“No,” she said quickly. “I appreciate it, I really do, but I have to deal with him at some point. It might as well be now.”

Grabbing as many bags as she could carry from the seat beside her, Skye climbed out of the truck and stomped around the front to face her brother. Behind her, she heard Jax’s door slam shut.

“Your boyfriend called me,” Dane said without preamble, not even bothering to look at Jax. “He said you gave him my phone number for emergencies, and since your number is out of service, he called me. He thinks you’ve had a nervous breakdown or something—quitting your job and dumping him so you could move back to Dallas to make cupcakes.” He swore. “Cupcakes, Skye. Are you fucking serious?”

She tightened her grip on the bags, fighting the urge to smack her brother with them. God, she was so tired of his crap. “Yes, I’m very serious about making cupcakes. And Jordan isn’t my boyfriend anymore. The only reason he’s upset about me dumping him and moving back here is that he’ll finally have to pay someone to manage his investment portfolio instead of having me do it.”

Dane snorted. “I wouldn’t bet on that. He seemed pretty upset when I told him you were staying with a friend at his ranch. He asked me if you two were an item before you went to New York. He was worried that’s why you left him. I told him that was crazy, that there was nothing going on between you and Jax, but after I got off the phone with him, I started thinking maybe he was on to something.”

Skye gaped at him. “What the hell is wrong with you? You know Jax and I were never together before I moved to New York.”

He shrugged. “Do I? You were crushing on Jax like crazy back when we were in high school. Maybe you two hung out together without me knowing about it. Maybe you came back in between semesters in college to see him. Hell, maybe you two have been sleeping together on and off for the past ten years.”

Her face flamed scarlet. She couldn’t believe Dane would say something like that in front of Jax. “You’re a complete ass, Dane, you know that? I never slept with Jax, not that it’s any of your business.”

Unable to even look at him anymore, she turned and stomped toward the house, her flip-flops slapping loudly against her feet.

“You are not staying here tonight, Skye!” Dane shouted.

She whirled around to tell him to go to hell, but Jax beat her to it.

“That’s enough, Dane,” he said. “Skye wanted me to stay out of this, but I’m not going to stand here and let you treat her like this. Skye can stay wherever the hell she wants. And if she wants to stay here, she’s more than welcome.”

Skye bit her lip. Dammit. She appreciated that Jax was standing up for her, but she hated coming between them. They’d been friends since they were kids.

“Dane, please—” she began, but her brother cut her off.

“Get the hell out of my way, Jax!” Dane ordered. “This is between my sister and me. It’s time she grew up and dealt with life instead of running away from it like she did when she left Dallas. And if I find out I was right about you sleeping with her, I’ll kill you!”

Skye might have gasped, but she wasn’t sure. Because before the sound left her lips, Dane drew back his fist and threw a punch at Jax. It clipped Jax on the jaw, but he shook it off and gave as good as he got, his fist snapping out in a jab and catching Dane right on the chin, stunning him and sending him stumbling backward. But her brother was almost as big as Jax, and didn’t go down. Instead, Dane snarled in rage and slammed into Jax, driving him to the ground. Jax immediately flipped him, sending Dane rolling across the gravel.

Skye thought that would be the end of it, but Jax and Dane were both on their feet in a flash, looking like they wanted to tear each other to pieces.
Crap
, they weren’t going to stop until somebody got hurt. Skye dropped her shopping bags and ran over to them, shoving herself between Jax and her brother, even though that was a damn dangerous place to be at the moment.

“Stop it right now!” she shouted, putting a hand on each of their chests. “Both of you!”

Giving Jax a little shove, she turned to face her brother. Dane looked mad enough to bite through a horseshoe, but that didn’t stop her from glaring at him.

“I never ran away from anything, Dane,” she said before he could open his mouth. “And I left Dallas because you wanted me to. When Mom and Dad died, you couldn’t get me bundled up and out of your hair fast enough. It was like you couldn’t stand to look at me.”

Dane reeled back as if she’d smacked him, but now that the words were finally coming out, Skye couldn’t stop them. “All I wanted to do was stay home and be with the only family I had left. But you decided you knew what was best for me, without ever considering what I might want.” She thumped him in the chest, not even trying to hold back the tears or the anger. “I dumped Jordan the moment I realized he was just like you—deciding what kind of life was right for me, telling me where I should go and who to associate with. Well, I wasn’t going to put up with that crap from him, and I sure as hell am not going to put up with it from you anymore, either. I’m staying with Jax because he’s never once tried to tell me what to do. He supports me and wants what’s best for me, as any good friend would, something I never got from you, my own frigging brother!”

Tear running down her face, she turned and marched back to where she’d dropped the shopping bags. It took some doing to get all of them situated on her fingers, but when she did, she turned to glower at her brother.

“And let’s get something else straight. When Jax and I sleep together, it sure as hell won’t be any of your damn business!”

Tightening her grip on the bags, she dragged them up the steps and into the house, slamming the door behind her as hard as she could. She wanted her brother to know she was done—with the argument and with him. And if that meant she was closing the door on him forever, then so be it.

*

“I think it’s
time for you to leave, Dane,” Jax said softly.

He’d managed to avoid another run-in with Dane on his way out of the fire station that afternoon, but he should have known his friend would show up sooner or later. His jaw was smarting a little from the glancing blow Dane landed, but he knew Dane had to be hurting worse. And not just from that solid jab to the chin Jax had given him, either. The pain in his friend’s blue eyes had nothing to do with Jax’s punch and everything to do with what Skye had said.

Dane cleared his throat. “Maybe I should try and…”

Jax shook his head. “Not now, Dane. It’s too soon. You both need to let some time pass. You can’t just talk this out.”

Dane hesitated, his gaze going to the house. After a moment, he nodded. “I never wanted to do anything but help Skye. She took Mom and Dad’s death really hard. I thought getting her into a good college was the right thing to do.”

“I know,” Jax said. “And I probably would have done the same thing if I’d been in your place. But Skye wasn’t the only one who took your parents’ death hard. You did, too. You dealt with it by burying yourself in work spending every minute of the day trying to make enough money so Skye could go to college.” He put a hand on Dane’s shoulder, giving him a rough shake. “But burying yourself in work is the way guys deal with things, not women. The way Skye saw it, shipping her off to college was the same as flat out ignoring her.”

Dane’s shoulders sagged. “That’s not what I intended.”

“I know, but it’s not anything you can fix with a simple apology, at least not right now. It’s going to take some time. Look, just go home, okay? I’ll call you in a couple days.”

Dane looked like Jax had kicked him in the balls instead of punching him in the face. But he nodded and walked back over to his truck. After another quick glance toward the house, he got in and drove away.

Jax watched him go, wondering if the rift between Skye and Dane could ever be fixed. For both their sakes, he hoped so.

‡