Because You Love Me (9 page)

“Well,” Rodney hedged. She could see he was torn between his duty to protect her and his desire to find the flash drive.

“If the guys don’t mind, I’ll just hang out here with them until you and Jacob return.” She knew Rodney would feel safer if she was in the care of the twins. Over the past few days, Rodney admitted he’d loosened his guard a bit because of how closely Matt and Mark watched her—even without knowing the danger she was in.

“We can all eat dinner together. Then you guys can hit the bowling alley and we’ll hang around here and watch a movie until you get back,” Matt offered. “Got a couple new ones from Netflix. If we’re lucky, they won’t be any of the crap ones Jake picks.”

Jake threw a punch at his older brother’s arm. “I guarantee you Bridget would rather watch a movie I picked than one of your stupid horror flicks.”

“Horror?” Bridget asked. Back in New York, horror had been her favorite genre after romantic comedy. However, since Lyle’s death, she’s lost her enthusiasm for it. She had enough fodder for her nightmares without adding someone else’s fictional fears to the pile.

Mark grinned. “Don’t worry. I think we got the new
True Grit
in this pile. That was my pick. Nothing like a good old-fashioned western.”

She laughed. “Great. More examples of why the country beats the city. Can’t wait.” She looked at Rodney, hoping she’d convinced him to go. “Sounds like a fun night. What do you say, Rodney?”

He was quiet for a moment, then he sighed. “I say what’s for dinner? I’m going to need some nourishment before I make an ass of myself at the lanes.”

Jacob laughed. “I took out some chicken. Thought I’d make curry.”

“Damn,” Rodney said, rubbing his stomach. “That sounds good.”

Jacob looked at his brothers. “Why don’t the three of you clean up while Rodney and I get supper going? Bridget, you can use the bathroom in the guest bedroom if you want. I bet you’re itchy after spending all that time in the barn.”

He wrinkled his nose as he said the word barn. Bridget laughed. “The ranching gene sure missed you, didn’t it?”

Jacob didn’t take offense. “I figure it hit two of the four of us. Caleb’s no fonder of the ranch than I am. Fifty-fifty’s not so bad, although my dad might have disagreed.”

Jacob’s comment about his father sent a string of questions running through her mind. There was so much she didn’t know about Matt and Mark that she was curious about. Hell, she sighed. She wanted to know everything about them—their histories, their dreams, their desires, their bodies.

She pushed the image of her two cowboys away. It was an illogical, impractical dream. She couldn’t have both of them and she couldn’t choose. Better to keep things light and easy. “I’d love a shower.”

Jacob started down the hallway, leading her to the guest room. “I’ll grab a pair of sweats and T-shirt from Jessie’s dresser. She won’t mind you wearing them. It’ll save you having to put your dirty clothes back on.”

After popping the question the night of their Valentine’s Day feast at the inn, Caleb had whisked Jessie off to Colorado for an impromptu vacation to celebrate. According to Jacob, they weren’t due back to the ranch for three more days.

“Thanks, Jacob.”

“Sure thing. Hey, is your brother seeing anyone in New York?”

She grinned. “Wow. That was pretty direct.”

“I learned a long time ago that the best way to get an answer is to ask the question.”

“Spoken like a true journalism major.” She’d had to stop herself several times from talking shop with Jacob whenever he mentioned some article he was writing or something one of his online professors had said. She missed her writing terribly. Watching Jacob tap away at the keys on his laptop had left her more homesick than anything else these past few weeks.

“I’m not going to lie, Bridget. I like Rodney. A lot. But I get the sense there’s something holding him back. Keeping him from taking a chance with me. I figure there must be someone else.”

There was someone else, she wanted to say. Her. He was holding true to his promise to protect her, to keep her safe. “There’s no one else, Jacob.”

Jacob looked relieved and confused by her response. Then she watched both reactions replaced by sadness. “Oh, well, I guess maybe it’s just me he’s not interested in.”

“No,” she said hastily. “That’s not it at all. Rodney really likes you. I can tell. It’s just we’re on vacation. I’m sure he’s hesitant to start something because of the distance. I mean, what if you guys hooked up and it was truly wonderful? It would make leaving that much harder.” Her words were spoken on her behalf as much as Rodney’s. She could easily let herself fall into Mark or Matt’s arms, but where would that leave her when the time came to return to New York?

Jacob shrugged. “Seems like a poor excuse.”

“What?”

“We only get one shot at this life, Bridget. I’m definitely not letting geography dictate where I’m allowed to find my happiness. Might have to explain that concept to your brother tonight over root beer floats.”

“Love at the bowling alley?” she teased.

“Nothing classier. I’ll go grab you those clothes.”

Jacob left her alone. Rodney wasn’t the only one depriving himself a shot at true happiness. If there was one lesson she should have learned in the past year, it was that life is precious. Fate was handing her a chance for something better, something richer, and she was throwing it away by blaming timing and distance and a crooked judge for her loneliness. There was only one person holding her back and that was herself.

Walking to the guest bath, she started tugging off her shirt. What if her destiny, her happiness was here, on this ranch in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming? Her problems were still going to be here in the morning, but what happened in a month—after she’d testified?

Where would she be then?

She turned on the water, letting it heat up. Stepping beneath the steaming jets, she let the water soothe her sore muscles.

She was too tired to think anymore. Tonight, she just wanted to be. To feel.

Tonight, she wanted to take a chance.

The only question was…with who?

Chapter Five

Mark stretched out, leaning back on the couch. Bridget was nestled between him and Matt. They’d eaten far too much at dinner, in addition to polishing off an entire bottle of wine and most of another. He was completely relaxed and thoroughly happy.

They’d opted to watch
True Grit
—a movie he’d wanted to see for months. For some reason, it couldn’t hold his attention. It wasn’t a bad movie. The problem was every fiber of his being was focused on the slim, tall beauty lounging by his side.

So much for their grand seduction schemes. He and Matt had thought they’d plead their own cases, make their own moves and then let her choose. Instead, she’d blown their plan out of the water, asking to spend the day with both of them. Ridiculous as it seemed, her choice pleased him. He’d enjoyed today much more than his day alone with Bridget—which had been great. For some weird reason, it seemed more natural when they were all together. Crap. He needed to lay off the wine.

Bridget sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Mark savored her closeness and decided to expand on it. He lifted his right arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. He glanced over at his brother. He expected to receive a dirty look. Instead, Matt gave him a friendly grin, before his brother reached down to lift Bridget’s feet on to his lap. She didn’t resist, turning to her side slightly and moving into the new position with ease. Mark shifted sideways as well, opening his legs so that Bridget could settle between them, reclining against his chest. He watched his brother pull off the clean socks Matt had loaned her when she complained that her feet were cold. Matt began rubbing her feet and Bridget released a pleased groan.

“That feels so good,” she whispered.

Mark took advantage of her complacency, wrapping both arms around her waist, loving the feel of her weight against him. He and Matt were tall men. It was unusual to find a woman who fit them so well. Bridget’s height was perfect—the top of her head coming to his chin. He wouldn’t have to bend over far to find her sweet lips.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Mark wanted to act on it. Instead, he simply cuddled her, soaking in the soft scent of shampoo in her hair. None of them even pretended to watch the movie. The dim lighting, the comfortable couch, the wine—all of it worked together to wrap them up in a cocoon of warmth. Time passed slowly as Matt continued his gentle rubbing of Bridget’s feet.

She sighed blissfully, playing absentmindedly with Mark’s hands where they lay on her stomach. Slowly, Matt moved his massage upward, his hands creeping along her shins and then higher, to her thighs.

Bridget’s breathing grew shallower, more labored. Mark could feel the desire growing in her body as she began to gyrate slowly, her hips tantalizing the now-apparent erection in his pants. There was no way she could mistake what she was rubbing against with her slight movements.

Unwilling to remain a casual observer, Mark began his own gentle caresses. Lifting the edge of Bridget’s T-shirt, he dragged his fingers over the soft skin of her stomach and waist. Bridget sucked in a deep breath, but didn’t reject either of their stroking explorations. After a moment, she sighed, laying her head on his shoulder and releasing a soft moan.

Mark was more turned on then he’d ever been in his life. He wondered what his brother was thinking of this. He watched Matt’s hands as they traveled closer to the juncture of Bridget’s thighs. Christ. This was quickly reaching a point of no return.

He looked up at Matt’s face, captured his glance. Mark tried to convey his concerns. They were traveling down an uncharted path.

Matt gave him an easygoing grin that in most circumstances would have annoyed the shit out of Mark. Tonight, right now, the smile felt right, comforting, encouraging.

Even so, there was a small part of him that couldn’t let things go any further without asking permission. He knew Bridget wasn’t drunk, but she’d definitely had enough wine to take the edge off.

“Bridget,” he whispered in her ear.

“Hmmm.” She was completely relaxed. He’d never seen her so peaceful or at ease. While the past three days had cemented in his mind that something was definitely wrong in Bridget’s world—she still jumped at shadows and she’d visibly begun to shake after their old ranch truck backfired—she’d yet to confide in them.

“Are you okay with this, darlin’?”

She turned her head to the side, glancing at him over her shoulder. She nodded once. “Yeah, I am. Are you?”

Leave it to Bridget to worry about his response to the unconventional dilemma they were currently in. “Yeah. I’m good. How about you, Matt?” he asked, looking up at his brother.

Matt leaned forward, shrinking the distance until all three of them breathed the same air. Mark had shared a room with this man for his most of his younger life, the two of them only opting for separate bedrooms a few years earlier. There were no secrets between them, but this.…

This moment was changing something, altering some solidly accepted norms in Mark’s life.

Matt kept moving until his lips were a fraction of an inch away from Bridget’s. “I’m good,” his brother whispered. “But I’m not finished. I want more.”

Mark wasn’t sure if his brother’s words were meant as a warning or if he was simply stating the facts.

“I want more too,” Bridget confessed. “But this is, I’ve never, I don’t know how—”

Mark chuckled. “It’s new to us too, Bridge. We’ll find our way together.”

Matt placed a quick, soft kiss on her lips. Then he moved away once more. As he drifted back to his spot on the couch, Matt grasped the waistband of Bridget’s sweatpants, pulling them and her panties off in one fell swoop. Bridget stiffened slightly as Matt lifted one of her legs, pulling it to the opposite side of his waist. Then, she opened them even further, throwing her other leg over Mark’s. It gave Matt enough room to kneel between her open thighs.

Mark lifted his hands, rubbing her tense shoulders to relax her. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured in her ear.

The words and caresses seemed to soothe her. Her body went soft once more.

Matt’s hands stroked the inside of her thighs and Bridget shivered. Her body was heating up and she was definitely becoming more aroused with each pass of Matt’s hands on her skin.

Bridget and Mark both stilled as Matt’s fingers advanced on her pussy. They barely took a breath when Matt ran a single finger along the slit between her legs. Then Bridget gasped, her hips thrusting slightly, seeking more.

Matt looked at their girl and winked. “She’s soaking wet, Mark.”

Mark chuckled. “I trust you know what you’re doing down there.”

His brother’s gaze drifted to Mark’s face rather than Bridget’s. Mark had never seen such pure, genuine happiness there. Then he realized he felt the same way.

“Tell you what, bro. You let me worry about the
below the waist
regions. By the way, are you going to sit there all night or were you planning on hopping in?”

Bridget giggled at Matt’s joke. “I love being with you two. I’m sure there’s something wrong with that, but I’ll be damned if I can make myself care.”