Good Enough to Share (Good Enough, Book 1 - Christmas) (2 page)

“Can he surf?”

“What?” Sophie
gave me her ‘
you’ve grown two heads
’ look. Shit I’d done that speaking
out loud thing when it was supposed to be in my head.

“I was just
wondering. He just looks like he should be on a surf board in the sun
somewhere.”

“Oh yeah, sure.
The sun kissed beaches of Anglesey.” Sophie did sarcasm well, very well.

“They don’t get
breakers there do they? I was thinking more sun-drenched Australia.”

“Is there
something in your wine that I’ve missed out on?” She was right, it was a bit
random, but I have this thing with people where I tend to imagine what they
really should be doing, and I’d just had this startling image of Charlie with
his hair slightly longer, and his body slightly more toned. He’d make a good
surfer dude.

“Anyway, forget
Charlie, I’ve just spotted something much better.”

The evil glint in
her eye, and the instant switch-on of her sultry smile should have warned me,
but being one drink up and a bit slow on the uptake I swung round to follow the
line of her sight. And really wished I had kept my head turned and my nose
buried in my wine glass.

“You two out on
the pull then?” You know how some deep male voices have that perfect resonance
to vibrate right down to the bottom of your stomach and beyond? Yeah, that. I
was blushing from the inside out and I had completely and utterly forgotten
about Charlie, with or without a surfboard.

Christ, why was it
that every time Dane Stephens popped up I was dressed in something that either
said ‘shag me, I’m a complete tart’ or ‘I’m a complete saddo’? Or in this case
a mixture of both. The fact that Sophie and I were propping up the bar, both
with a goblet of wine in hand each didn’t help with the image much either.

“We’ve been
working.” I tried to keep my face straight and stop my nipples making a break
for freedom as the gorgeous guy who seemed to feature in every one of my
current run of dirty dreams rested his hand on my shoulder and sent a warm
thrill straight between my thighs. Along with a very strong urge to grab hold
of him and give him the type of kiss that would leave a lasting impression.
Gee, life would be so much easier if that kind of full frontal attack was one
of my special skills. It wasn’t. Best mates with a bit of flirting thrown in as
a side order was a better description of my capabilities.

I’d been having
dirty dreams about Dane for as long as I can remember. Well, probably since the
first time all six foot something of him had swaggered into this bar and given
me the type of smile that gave me an almost, emphasis on
almost
here,
uncontrollable urge to strip every last inch of his clothing off in slow
motion. But I hadn’t, because nice girls don’t, do they?

“Been out
hammering shoes on?” I tweaked a bit of straw out of his thick dark hair and
resisted the urge to tangle my fingers in deeper, just in case I’d missed a
bit. And then rub a hand over that broad, strong chest just for good measure.
He was buff underneath that shirt, I just knew it. Well, I did actually. I’d
seen him strip to the waist the odd time at the tail end of the summer when
we’d actually seen a bit of that golden orb in the sky they call the sun, and
he’d built up a sweat manhandling horses. And along with every other girl on
the yard I’d gone weak-kneed and tried not to stare as I’d watched his muscles
ripple and a trickle of sweat bead its way down his back. A bead of sweat that
needed licking off.

I’d had a thing
about cowboys, well, since I was fifteen when my boy friend, as in two separate
words, had dragged me along to watch a western in the local cinema. His idea
had been to get his tongue down my throat, but he’d faded into insignificance
when the hero of the piece had got off his horse. This had been no normal
cowboy, he’d been naked down to the low slung jeans that barely scraped his
hips and when he’d slipped one hand under the waistband, just as he tugged the
girl in for a kiss the rush of dampness to my knickers had shocked me. And left
me squirming, and meant that the boy friend got an end of show, tongue twisting
snog that shocked me more than as it did him.

And as I grew up I
realized men like that just didn’t exist. I just never met a man who’d had the
same effect on me, not even the man I’d married had done that. Until Dane had
walked in four long months ago and been the nearest thing to a cowboy that the
English counties had to offer. He’d probably never had a Stetson on his head,
or a rifle in his hand, but I bet he’d look good on a horse and even if he
didn’t, in my mind it just didn’t matter. Dane was just hot, and made me hot,
and wet.

His jeans were
slung just the same, so I just knew I’d be able to see his hip bones if I
unbuttoned that thick cotton shirt. And boy did I want to, and I was just
itching to slip my own hand tight in there. I just needed an excuse and
September through December had left me too tongue-tied to find one. Even if my
horse seemed to be throwing a shoe on a weekly basis and he’d been out an
embarrassing number of times.

“Yeah, lots of thrown shoes, darling, you know ‘tis the season.” He
winked and my mouth watered. Literally. Much more and I’d be drooling, a
drooling elf who would have thought? Bugger, I really did need a plan or I’d be
spending another Christmas morning just wishing I’d asked Santa for the type of
toy box that had long life batteries and lube in it. But was quiet enough not
to disturb Charlie.

 “Hi Dane, boy. We—”
Sophie was practically licking her lips, he had that effect on every female old
enough to have hormones, as she drew herself up to her full five-foot one and a
half inches and put a hand on his arm “—have been doing our good Samaritan
bit.” She knew him? I didn’t know which bit made the feeling of empty spread in
my stomach, the fact that she knew him, or she
knew him.
Because from
the way she was grinning in a slightly flirty, slightly too cosy way meant she
definitely
knew
him. Every bit of him. I gulped down the lump in my
throat and tried to breathe normally.

“You two know each
other?”

“Oh, way back.” Of
course they did. I was the one who was new on the scene. This was Sophie’s
territory, her home before the University days, the place she’d come back to
when I’d disappeared down South and got married. Strange how the two people I
got to know best at University lived within a stone’s throw of each other.
Charlie persuaded me to come visit for some TLC and Sophie, well Sophie got me
to stay.

My two best
friends had brought me to this place like it was my destiny. The place they’d
told me to come to when I’d told my cocksucking, whip-loving husband to shove
it. Bitter? Me? Well, maybe not bitter but angry, confused and more fucking
alone than I’d been in my whole life.

 Come here, crash
at my place Charlie had said. Stay here, I know the perfect place for you to
work, said Sophie, we’ll be fine. So I had. And we were. I think.

I gave her a look—she
must have known when I was going on about my eye-candy just exactly who I was
talking about, and she’d never let on. Although to be fair I had been keen to
point out that as horny as he made me feel, I was keeping my distance. And my
clothes on.

I gave an inward
sigh, anyhow why was I surprised? Not many guys in this place had the drool
factor, and not many girls were quite as come-to-me sexy as Soph, so it figured
they’d know each other, didn’t it? But we normally had different taste in just
about everything from shoes, to bags, to men so that was why it had never
actually lodged in my brain that she and Dane would even know each other.

 “Is this buy one,
get one free?” He flashed a look back at me and took the one step it needed to
squeeze between us and reach the bar.

“And what if we
say yes?” Sophie’s voice was just loud enough for me to hear and I could feel
the heat spreading right to my scalp as he half-paused, turning back toward
her, and much as I hated myself for it I would have loved to have seen the look
on his face.

“Hey, I’m not for
sale, whatever you two have going.”

He turned back my
way and his eyes were as dark as I’d ever seen them, sending a little spasm of
need to my pussy. Then he grinned, and the look vanished as though he needed to
get back onto surer ground. “I could murder a pint, so how’s about I buy you
both a drink then?” He slipped a hand round my near-naked waist and I could
tell from the way Sophie eased her hips forward until they were rubbing the
brushed denim of his jeans that he’d got a hold of her as well. Any second now
and she’d be purring.

I love Sophie, I
really do, we’ve been good mates, best mates, ever since Charlie introduced us,
but sometimes the girl needs a stop button. Especially when she’s rubbing her
tits against the only man I’ve truly lusted over. Which is stupid, because hey,
what do I care? A man like Dane is the last thing I need right now.

Sophie wasn’t
bothered that she was dressed up as Santa’s little helper, with a green tunic
that barely covered her thighs, a black belt that was cinching her waist to
break point and a top that was only just this side of decent. At least we’d
ditched the naff hats. Maybe I just needed to lighten up a bit, unless I want
to spend the rest of my days admiring my handsome farrier and watching him use
his capable hands on everyone but me.

But lightening up
wasn’t easy when I’d got a draft up my skirt and felt like some sacrificial
lamb. When Soph had talked me into helping out at the firm’s Christmas grotto
I’d thought it was for the kids—and not that we’d be there to keep the dads
happy as well. Santa had ho ho hoed one time too many as he’d rubbed his
polyester beard against my cheek and pinched my bum. ‘Got to have something to
keep the staff happy too.’ He’d chuckled, just before I used my pointy little
boot on him. Trouble was I just knew he was leery Steve from accounts and this
was his one opportunity of the year to do some groping, but not up my tunic,
matey.

Dane’s fingers
tightened slightly, reminding me he was there—as if I needed it. And the
movement sent a tingle straight to my barely covered breasts. “Where exactly
are you off to? I take it the fancy dress isn’t just to turn me on.” He freed
his right hand from around Sophie and took a long swig of his beer. That
rippling throat needed my mouth on it, right here, right now, his Adam’s apple
bobbing against my tongue. Shit, I had to stop this before the mind police came
and took me away, just before I turned into a melting pleading mess.

“It turns you on?”
The slate eyes shimmered back at me and the corner of his mouth twitched, his
eyes opened a bit wider as he raised a brow. I swallowed hard and tried to
exert some control over my wayward body. “Sophie agreed to help with the grotto
at work and somehow I was stupid enough to let her drag me along.” I should
have left her to it, common sense had told me to stay out of it. But we are
mates aren’t we, share and share alike the good bits and the bad bits. Except
now from the look in Sophie’s eye we could be on collision course.

He gave a deep
throaty laugh and sent a shiver of goose bumps down my arms. “Oh, the annual
grab and grotto at Grove and Grove.”

“No one warned me
about the grab bit.” I’d just been happy that it was the last day before the
office closed for the holiday period, and in the spirit of Christmas had agreed
to let my normal defenses down a bit.

“So which bit
turns you on, Dane?” His attention swung back to Sophie, but his fingers did a
gentle squeeze on my waist that made me want to squirm, and his other hand
stayed wrapped around his pint.

“Ah, now you’ve
got me there, Sophie.” That rough, gruff voice was low and confidential so that
we tipped our heads in closer together and the fresh herbal scent of his
shampoo mingled with the sharp tang of burned hoof. Okay, not everyone’s cup of
tea but for me that smell meant man, all man. Rough, strong male and it woke up
every tingling nerve in my body.

“It could be those
sexy tops that almost cover your bums.” I tried to give mine a surreptitious
tug on the back with my free hand. “Or it could be the way they don’t quite
fasten at the top so that I can almost see your lacy bra.” Shit, no way could I
pull the top any tighter it was stretched to its limits and I was beginning to
feel like I was doing a weird contortionist act. These outfits were obviously
made for real life elves…or kids, or girls who didn’t care. Sophie was leaning
in closer, so that he had a better chance of seeing exactly what she had down
hers, my guess was boobs and not much else. “Or it could be those sexy green stockings.
I think you girls need some protection though, not safe to be out and about
dressed like that.”

“Are you
offering?” Sophie was tracing a fingernail slowly down his muscled forearm and
I didn’t need to glance down, just from the way his fingers tightened on his
pint I could tell he was tempted.

“You know me, I
aim to please.” He drained his glass. “Back in five, just gotta talk to a man
about a - ”

“Dog?”

“Horse.” He nodded across the bar towards a stocky figure I recognized
from the local riding school, gave my waist a last squeeze and strode off with
his easy ground-swallowing gait. Yes, cowboy. Charlie might or might not be a
surfer dude, but Dane was definitely all cowboy.