Because You Love Me (6 page)

Bridget laughed. “You’d have to get in line. Why he thought I could figure this out is beyond me. He must’ve tried to explain how to work sudoku puzzles to me a thousand times, but I never got it.”

“We still have some time. There’s three weeks until the trial. We’ll just keep plugging along until then. At that point, we’re going back to New York—with or without the flash drive. I’m going to grab the keys to Steven’s truck and go check out the cabins.”

“You know, if the cabins don’t work out, we could always just stay here. We have enough money to cover us for most of the three weeks if we’re careful. It feels safe here.”

Rodney gave her a knowing grin. “You can’t kid a kidder, Bridge. Safety has nothing to do with it. There are two fucking gorgeous cowboys here, and you’re hot to get into their sexy-as-shit, too-tight jeans.”

She narrowed her eyes. Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one checking out the James brothers’ Levis. “Yeah, well, just remember they’re my cowboys, hot stuff. You can look, but no touching.”

“Believe me, those two don’t play for my team.”

She laughed. It had become a pass-the-time game on the bus trip from Oklahoma to Saratoga for her and Rodney to decide whose sexual-orientation team their fellow travelers played for. “Maybe not, but their brother does.”

Rodney closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. “Christ, kitten. We’re running for our lives here. We don’t have time to get laid.”

She stuck out her lower lip in playful pout. “All I’m asking for is a few more days. If we really are looking for a woman named Ellen, we’d have a better chance finding her if we’re closer to town. Besides, imagine if their younger brother is as hot as them. You’ve gotta be feeling the effects of this forced abstinence as much as me.”

“Here comes the persuasion again,” Rodney muttered. “Fine, Bridget. I’ll admit it. I’m horny as shit and tired of sharing a room with you. It’s not like I can take care of my own needs with you snoring across the bedroom.”

“I don’t snore.”

“But I’m not about to jeopardize your life or mine for a quick screw with a cowboy I’ll likely never see again after we leave here. We’re so close to end, Bridget. Let’s don’t fuck it up now.”

He was one hundred and twenty percent right. Damn him. “And you say I’m the persuasive one. Fine. I’m focused again. Promise.”

He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. The gesture was meant to comfort her. She wanted to shrug it off, rail at him, but she couldn’t. He understood her frustrations because he shared them. It wasn’t fair for her to blame him for something that was ultimately her fault. Would Lyle still be alive today if she hadn’t suggested he share the information he’d uncovered with her? If she hadn’t planted the seed that they break the news by splashing it all across the front page of the newspaper? If she’d insisted that they call the cops first?

Rodney refolded Lyle’s letter and put it back in his pocket as he stood. “Why don’t you expand on your friendship with Todd? See if you can’t find a way to figure out who this Ellen might be.”

She forced her concern aside at Rodney’s worried glance. She gave him a jaunty salute. “Aye aye, Captain.”

He laughed, fooled by her feigned attempt at lightheartedness. “I won’t be gone long. Don’t get in to any trouble.”

“I won’t.”

She watched him leave but made no move to rise. She was suddenly feeling very tired.

Three more weeks and the running would stop.

Three more weeks and she could return to her normal life. That thought didn’t bring her as much comfort as it used to. She wasn’t the same woman who’d escaped New York in the middle of the night. That woman was driven, obsessed with climbing the ladder of success. That woman let her best friend sacrifice his life simply to provide her with information for a lousy newspaper article.

That woman didn’t exist anymore. Her life had been snuffed out the instant the judge’s bullet pierced Lyle’s flesh.

Three weeks.

Then what?

Chapter Three

Bridget waved her hands madly, trying not to let her frustration with her charades partners show. She’d always been far too competitive for her own good, never quite mastering the idea of losing with grace. As Rodney, Todd and Stephen continued to yell out inane, stupid,
wrong
answers, she could see the James brothers grinning gleefully as the clock continued to tick.

“Disco!” Todd yelled and Bridget rolled her eyes. Losing at charades was not going to make for a fun night.

She looked at Rodney in desperation, but he only gave her a quick, sympathetic grin and shrugged, clueless to even venture a guess at her gestures. She couldn’t be mad at him for sucking at charades. Even though they were only posing at siblings, she couldn’t love him more even if he were her true brother. He’d saved her life countless times, while consoling her through the guilt and anguish associated with Lyle’s death. He got a bye. Her other two partners, however, did not.

“
Saturday Night Fever
!” Stephen added. “John Travolta.”

“Jesus,” she muttered.

“No talking,” Matt chastised as Mark called, “Time.”

“Tidal wave,” she said, gesturing that she clearly thought her actions had made that clear.

“Tidal wave?” Todd asked. “How the hell was all this—” he starting waving his hands around, and she narrowed her eyes at his imitation, “—supposed to be a tidal wave?”

“I guess I could sort of see it,” Stephen conceded. “Now that you say it.”

Bridget collapsed into the nearest chair, throwing her hands up in exasperation, while everyone laughed.

She’d met the youngest James brother, Jacob, at dinner, and Bridget suspected Rodney was now regretting his assertion that they put a leash on their libidos. There was clearly some chemistry between the two men.

Jacob grinned. “Well, that was the tiebreaker, and the James boys have successfully trumped you guys again. That’s three games to your two.”

They’d begun the evening playing a guys-versus-girls match with other guests in the inn, but as more and more people headed up to bed, the teams had shifted.

Bridget grimaced when Mark and Matt rose from the couch in unison.

Before the last match, some competitive trash-talking had started up and she’d foolishly made a side wager with the brothers. Her father had always tried to impart the concept of playing games for sheer enjoyment, but she’d never been able to resist the almighty bet. She rarely played Monopoly, Truth or Dare, or basketball without some sort of extra incentive—typically monetary—to make things interesting. Dad always told her that her “betting ways would bite her in the ass”. Though she hadn’t always come out on top, she could admit with not a small amount of pride that she won far more often than she lost. Problem with this wager was she didn’t regret losing to the James twins at all.

“Well,” Matt said, reaching forward to help her rise from her seat. He pulled her toward him—too close for comfort. He whispered in her ear in a voice only she could hear. “Shall we settle up the terms of our wager?”

Mark slapped Todd on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Great game. Enjoyed trouncing you again.”

“Again?” Bridget asked, taking a step away from the incredible heat of Matt’s body. She was used to being the tallest woman in most rooms and often used her height to her advantage in situations where she wanted to intimidate. Matt and Mark eclipsed her five foot eleven frame by almost half a foot. She suddenly found herself in the overshadowed position.

“How many times have we played charades with you guys?” Matt asked as Todd shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Steven replied. “Maybe ten, twelve times.”

“And how many times have we won?”

Todd groaned. “Every time.”

“Every time?” Bridget asked. Matt shamelessly winked at her and she knew she’d been bamboozled.

“Who wants coffee?” Stephen asked, clearly unaware of the undercurrents flowing between her and the twins she had every intention of kneeing in the balls the second the opportunity presented itself.

“I’ll have some.” Jacob stood up. “In fact, I’ll make it if you copy down the recipe for that stew you made tonight. Jessie loved it, and I was thinking I could make it for her birthday.”

Stephen looked around the room. “Where is Jessie?”

Todd wiggled his eyebrows. “She asked for the key to the guest house. She and Caleb snuck out about forty minutes ago.”

Jacob shook his head. “Jeez. I swear, sometimes I think I’m gonna have to turn the hose on those two before they burn the house down with all those heated looks.”

Mark laughed. “I keep waiting for some of that passion to burn out, but it hasn’t yet.”

“It’s getting worse. Who knows? Maybe tonight will be the night he finally pops the question.” Matt placed a friendly arm around Bridget’s shoulder when she took a step toward the stairs and her room. She’d promised Rodney she’d behave, but that vow was getting pretty damn hard to keep.

She thought she could escape while the men were preoccupied with talk of Jessie and Caleb. She’d met the couple tonight at dinner. Their undeniable love for each other nearly took her breath away. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen such a bond between two people. She had no doubt her parents loved each other, but by the time she was old enough to recognize that emotion, theirs had cooled to the lukewarm companionship evident in most long marriages.

“Goin’ somewhere, darlin’?” Mark drawled.

She was well and truly stuck. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“That’s right,” Matt agreed. “You made a bet, so it looks like you’ll just have to stick around a couple more days to make good on it.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was working with a handicap taking on Todd and Steven as my partners. You cheated.”

Mark chuckled. “Didn’t peg you as the type to renege on a bet.”

“I’m not going back on my word. I’m simply saying you knew the cards were stacked against me and you still pressed for the wager.”

Rodney turned to look at her. “Wager?”

Mark saved her from answering. “Deal was if we won, she’d let us teach her how to ride a horse.”

Matt pulled her closer. “We’ll start first thing in the morning. Takes a while to get the hang of it though, so y’all might have to put off leaving for a couple days.”

She expected Rodney to lose his temper over her foolishness. What she did not expect was for him to shrug as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “That’s fine. No rush.” He glanced at Jacob. “Want some help making that coffee?”

She grinned at her friend’s transparent new attitude, especially when he checked out Jacob’s ass as they followed Steven and Todd to the kitchen.

She turned around to gloat about the hookup, but Mark held up his hand. “Don’t even say it. You were right. A man would have to be blind to miss the sparks flying between those two.”

“And you guys are okay with that?” She was surprised to discover two hardcore alpha cowboys living in the heart of the West who weren’t squicked out about their brother’s homosexuality.

Matt shook his head. “We’ve known about our brother’s sexual preference for a very long time. Had plenty of time to get used to the idea. It’s not a life I’d choose for myself—I like boobies too much—but if he’s happy, I’m happy.”

Bridget laughed. “You like boobies, huh?”

He nodded. “I like your boobies.”

She swatted playfully at Matt’s arm. “You need to keep your eyes pointed at regions directly north of my boobies.” She indicated her face. “There’s nothing down here for you,” she teased as she pointed at her chest.

Matt let his gaze linger on her chest. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. There’s plenty down there for me.”

Mark rolled his eyes. Taking Bridget’s arm, he led her to the sofa, where they sat down together. “Ignore my brother. He’s missing a filter or two and usually says completely inappropriate things as a result.”

She moved closer to Mark on the sofa, enjoying the jealous glare from his twin. “So I wouldn’t have to worry about that with you?”

Mark hopped on board the flirting train, putting his arm along the top of the cushion at her back, gathering her closer. “Absolutely not. I can assure you I’m a complete gentleman.”

Matt plopped down on the couch on her other side, grasping her hand. She was ultrasensitive to every touch, every glance from these men. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been so hot for a man. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one man, but two.

“Get away from my girl.”

“Your girl?” Mark asked.

Though she could tell they were teasing, Bridget decided she’d be wise not to let the game go too far. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not getting in the middle of a pissing contest. Something tells me the two of you take too much pleasure in it.”

Matt shrugged. “We’re brothers. It’s in the sibling rivalry codebook.”

She laughed. “Find something else to fight over. I’m only here for a few days more and I’d like to spend them in relative peace and quiet. I’ve had enough violence to last me a—”

She froze as both men’s faces turned from smiling to scowling in an instant.

Shit. Way to go, big mouth.

“Violence?” Mark asked.