Boots and Leather: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 2 (9 page)

Mark hurried ahead of her, taking the steps two at a time up onto the deck, carrying a saddlebag and a rolled-up blanket. “We started it about four months ago, and should finish in another two.”

She climbed the wide wooden steps to the deck that was absent of any wooden railing, adding to the effect of openness and freedom. “It’s beautiful here and…so quiet.”

Luke stood beside her, staring out at the land and sky. “We like to come here to get away from the noise.”

“Really?” She rolled her eyes. “I see you at the Ugly Stick often enough, making some of that noise.”

“See? She does notice us.” Mark grinned at Luke. “We like to make noise when we like to, but when the day is done, we come out here for the peace.”

Luke stared out over the land. “It’s where we do our best thinking.”

“I can see why. It’s remarkable.” Libby gazed at the landscape, one hand resting over her heart, her chest filling with a huge sense of coming home. She tried to push it back, but the sensation wouldn’t abate and it scared her.

“We call it Skyview.” Luke smiled. “We don’t need fancy pictures on the walls, nature is the best artwork we’ve discovered.”

Mark stood on her other side, still holding the blanket, having slung his saddlebag over his shoulder. “Hungry?”

“A little.” Libby was surprised at how hungry she was. Because she’d been so upset by her pending move, she hadn’t been able to eat all day yesterday nor that morning. The ride out, the open air and sunshine must have been doing her some good, resurrecting her appetite.

Having lived in Temptation, Texas for eight months was making her antsy, impatient, fearful, and aware it was about time to move on or be discovered.

For two years, she’d been moving from town to town, never staying more than a few months, just long enough to make a few bucks to pay for gas to get her to the next town. But something about the Ugly Stick Saloon and Audrey had appealed to her, making her want to stay a little longer than usual. Audrey had a way of collecting strays. Not that Libby considered herself a stray. She hadn’t been looking for a home, just a temporary stop on her journey across the country.

“Can I see the inside of the house first?” she asked as she stared through the huge windows.

Luke led the way, room to room. From a gleaming stainless steel kitchen to the living room that took up all of one side of the house, she had a view through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Even the bedrooms had glass windows with a view as stunning as the opposite side of the house.

Besides the living room, Libby counted four spacious rooms that could be bedrooms and a study with two desks. “You two are really planning to live here together?”

Mark nodded. “We’d considered building two houses, but why waste space? We’re together all the time.”

She stared at the twins. “Don’t you get tired of each other?”

Mark and Luke looked at each other and shook their heads.

“No,” Luke answered. “We know how the other thinks and what sets each other off. You could say we’re pretty much in sync.”

“What about curtains for the bedrooms?” She nodded toward the windows.

Mark grinned. “We’ll have shades that can be drawn when the sun is too hot coming through. But frankly, we’re in no hurry. Since there are no neighbors close enough to peek in, it isn’t an issue.”

Luke stared out at the horizon. “We like how open it is.”

Libby nodded and whispered, “Me, too.”

“It’ll be like making love in the open air,” Mark stated. “There’s nothing sexier.”

A flush of heat washed over Libby’s body at the memory of making love with these men under the Texas sky filled with a millions of sparkling stars. The surge of desire was proof, yet again, that her family hadn’t totally killed the exhibitionist inside of her. Her belly tightened and a rush of moisture pooled between her legs.
Oy vey
, the twins were making her hotter than she’d ever imagined possible. She shouldn’t have waited two years to act on her sexual desires. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been tempted in those two years until she’d seen Luke and Mark on the dance floor of the Ugly Stick Saloon. And she probably wouldn’t have acted on those desires had she decided to stay. Sex complicated things.

“You’ll have to come sometime when a storm rolls in.” Mark broke into her steamy thoughts. “It’s incredible.”

Libby pulled her mind out of the bedroom and let out a shaky breath. “I bet.”

The house was different from the high-rise apartment she’d lived in most of her life in Manhattan, surrounded by concrete, steel, a billion people and her father’s bodyguards and security system. In comparison, this place was truly a slice of heaven. She could love living here, if her life was her own. But it wasn’t until she was truly free and she’d never be truly free from her father’s notoriety and the paparazzi.

Her shoulders straightened. “You said you have food?”

Mark laughed. “We do, come on.” He hurried out of the house.

Libby hesitated, enjoying the light coming through the windows and the way the clouds looked close enough to touch.

Luke stood beside her. “He planned this whole picnic just for you.”

Through the window, Libby could see Mark shaking the blanket out on the deck and removing items from the saddlebags, laying them out one at a time. The blanket’s corners flipped up in the breeze.

“Why me?” she asked.

“Seriously?” Luke took her arms and stared down into her eyes. “You’re beautiful, you love to ride and could probably kick our asses if you took a mind to.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Mark and I have wanted you for a very long time.”

Her brows dipped. “Yeah? And dancing with every girl in the bar is your way of showing me that?”

Luke shrugged. “We love music and dancing. What can I say? It makes us happy. But after the other night…we can’t imagine anyone else in our lives but you.”

Libby stared up at him for a moment, the light in his dark eyes making her sway closer, drawing her to him like a snake to a charmer.

“You two coming?” Mark leaned in the doorway, his brows furrowing as he spotted them.

Heat rushed up her throat into her cheeks and Libby pushed away from Luke. “I’m coming.”

“Good. I’d hate for the two of you to start without me.” Mark held the door for her. As she passed through, he swatted her on the fanny.

“Hey! What was that for?” Libby rubbed where he’d touched her, the image of lying with the twins under the stars returning in full force. Between Luke’s deep, serious looks and Mark’s playful pats, she was well on her way to being all hot and bothered again by these men. Perhaps being alone with them hadn’t been such a good idea.

Then why was she anticipating their next move, hoping to recreate the magic of a starry Texas night?

Mark laid the saddlebags on the corners of the blanket to hold them down and set a bottle of wine in the middle, complete with three plastic wineglasses, which he promptly filled.

He handed one to Libby, one to Luke and took the third for himself. “Here’s to getting to know all about you.”

Libby hesitated, her hand trembling for a second before she steadied it. “You know how I am about questions. How about toasting to freedom?”

“Fair enough.” Mark threw back his head, swallowing the wine in his glass in one gulp. “But Luke and I do want to get to know you better.”

“Maybe after lunch.” Libby reached for a sandwich wrapped in cellophane. “I’m starving.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see Luke frowning at his brother, giving him a slight shake of his head, using their silent twin communication.

They sat on the blanket, their long legs stretching out on both sides of her, broad shoulders filling the space around her. If not for the open sky and the view from the hilltop, she might have felt hemmed in, trapped. But the setting couldn’t have been more perfect.

When they’d finished the sandwiches, Mark moved the glasses, bottle and wrappers to the side, unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off. He tossed it to the side, then laid back on the blanket.

Libby’s heart sputtered as she stared at Mark’s smooth chest, her core clenching at all the lovely naked, dark skin covering thick, well-defined muscles she’d seen only in the moonlight. “What are you doing?”

Mark blinked. “I’m sorry, I should have asked. Luke and I always take off our shirts when we’re out here. Especially when it gets warm like it is today.” He reached for his shirt. “I can put it back on if you like.”

“No, no, that’s fine.” Heat filled her cheeks and parts farther south. “Only seems natural out here.”

“In that case…” Luke stripped his shirt and tossed it to the side, lying back on the blanket just like his brother. “Mark and I like to come out here after dark. Just like the place we took you to the other night, there are so few lights around, you can see all the stars in the sky.”

Libby lay on the blanket between them, her pulse beating faster than it should for someone in a resting position, unless that someone was being made love to.

The thought slipped in before Libby could block it and her core bloomed with warmth. What would it hurt to make love to these men one more time? She was free, wasn’t she? Capable of making her own decisions, not accountable to anyone but herself.

Why was she holding back, when all she wanted was to toss off her clothes and go at it like a rabbit in heat? She moaned.

“Are you all right?” Luke propped up on an elbow, his brows furrowing.

Mark did the same. “Did lunch not agree with you?”

“No, I’m fine,” she lied. Fine by whose standards? Except for the night before last, the only sex she’d had for the past two years had been with her trusty vibrator. “What is it you two treated Audrey to that she saw fit to tease me about without telling?”

Mark smiled. “She was the one who treated the three of us.”

Libby’s brows rose. “I didn’t get that impression.”

Luke traced a finger along her side. “Did she tell you that she danced for all three of us?”

“Yeah. And she was hot in those red boots and the chaps.” Mark whistled. “Jackson’s one lucky son of a gun.”

Libby’s brows furrowed, her gut tightening with a touch of jealousy. “Is that what it takes to turn you guys on, boots and chaps?”

Mark’s brows rose into the dark black hair hanging down into his eyes. “You know better than that. Didn’t the night before last prove it?”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Luke chuckled, the sound spreading over Libby like melted chocolate. “It only takes a smile to turn on my brother.”

“What about you?” Libby asked Luke.

His smile straightened. “A smart woman, a little skin and encouragement.”

“Is that all?” Her insides flamed at the way Luke’s gaze ran down her fully clothed length. Her heart galloping in her chest, Libby made up her mind. With a deep breath, she sat up, pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside with Mark and Luke’s shirts and lay down with a smile, closing her eyes to the brightness of the sun. She waited for her invitation to be accepted.

And waited…and waited.

Finally she opened her eyes and stared up at Mark and Luke. They were grinning down at her.

Luke spoke first. “Why did you come out here today, Libby?”

Libby frowned, her face burning. “Sorry, I thought you two were interested in sex. My mistake.” She sat up and leaned across Mark, reaching for her shirt.

As her bare skin connected with his, her pussy creamed and she fought to drag air into her lungs. How embarrassing to be so brazen with these two men and them not want any part of her.

Mark’s arms wrapped around her, dragging her up his body to face him. “I don’t make it a habit to pounce on a woman, unless I know for certain that’s what she wants. Up until the point you took off your shirt, I wasn’t hedging my bets.”

“And he wanted to pounce.” Luke laughed. “My brother isn’t known for his willpower when it comes to a beautiful woman.”

Still stinging from their lack of response, Libby pushed against Mark’s chest, her fingers meeting with the hard muscles. “I took off my shirt. Good grief, what did you think I meant?”

“After the other night, we’re not sure what
you
want, but we know what we want. We want you.” Luke shook his head, a smile lifting the corners of his lips. “Still, considering your decision to leave town after what we’d shared the other night, we weren’t going to risk making any assumptions. If you want to make love with us, say so.”

Oh, man, she wanted to really bad, her entire body tensed with frustration. “That’s what I
wanted
.” She stretched her arm farther, her fingers grasping for the shirt she hoped to hide behind. “Now, I’m just embarrassed.”

Luke moved closer, his hand smoothing across her back, scraping over her bra. “Just so you know, ever since we made this arrangement, I for one, haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and what you might look like beneath the biker-chick outfit in broad daylight.”

Libby’s breath caught and her struggle to grab her shirt ceased. “And?”

“And I like the leather and attitude, and I like making love in the starlight, but I like this better.” Luke’s fingers spread wide across her lower back, smoothing over her black jeans and pulling at the straps to loosen her black leather chaps. “You are beautiful.”