LUST: A Bad Boy and Amish Girl Romance (The Brody Bunch Book 2) (3 page)

Wyatt seemed to only be half-listening. He was still checking out the petite blonde, his eyes narrowed as if memorizing every aspect of her. “Wonder what the hell they’re doin’ here.”

“Yeah, thought they were, like… insular, or some shit. Isolationist,” Reid said. That surprised me. I didn’t think he knew a damn thing about anything that existed outside the sphere of things that directly involved him.

“They are,” I replied. “Normally. But here they are.” I tipped back my tumbler, knocking back the remainder of my whiskey. “Why don’t we go ask them?”

Reid snorted at me derisively. “What, just like that? Aren’t they über-religious, or something? They’re not gonna fall for some cheesy pick-up line like ‘What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?’ Do they even speak English?”

Ah, and there it was—Reid’s competitive streak. The one I’d been banking on. I stood up. “Good question. I think I’m gonna find out.”

Wyatt turned to me, his brow furrowed, incredulous. “You’re serious? Reid’s right. Girls like that, they’re…” He paused, regarding his chosen again. “…out of our league. Shit, they’re playing a whole different game.”

Reid’s lip curled. “Speak for yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Wyatt snapped. “But look at ‘em. Except for the tall one, they look like goddamn nuns. We’d be barkin’ up the wrong tree.”

I chuckled, finger-combing my hair. “Maybe you two losers would be. But not me.” I flashed Reid my most shit-eating grin. “I don’t strike out.”

I saw Reid tighten his jaw. “That’s because you don’t swing for the stands,” he sneered, “or the curve balls. You take the low, slow pitch every time.”

I lifted my brows in an infuriating show of mock concern. “What’s wrong, Reid? You afraid of a little competition? Does it piss you off that I could walk over there, right now, and have all three girls eating out of the palm of my hand, just like that?” When I snapped my fingers, I made sure to do it close to Reid’s face. If that didn’t get him, nothing would.

“Fuck off,” he hissed, standing up so fast he damn near knocked over his chair. “There’s a lot of words I’d use to describe you, Ash, but ‘competition’ isn’t one of them.”

Bingo. I had my brother exactly where I wanted him. Part of me almost felt bad for playing him this way—but fuck it, Reid was kind of a douche. He deserved to get knocked down a few pegs.

“Oh, really?” I said as coolly as I could manage. It was hard not to break into a triumphant smile. “Don’t suppose you’d care to bet on it?”

“On what?” Wyatt asked, turning his attention to us again. “On all three of them?”

Finally, I’d picked up the last piece of the puzzle I needed to get us all involved in the arrangement I’d made with Hannah. Sure, this was a shitty way to do it, but it was working spectacularly. And with how easily I’d drawn them into my plans, I was sure I could monitor each of them to ensure nobody got hurt. Least of all those poor girls.

Hey, I never said Reid was the only one who was too damn cocky for his own good.

“Nah, that’d be way too hard for you two,” I answered. “We’ll go for one each. Whoever gets one of those three girls into bed first, wins.” It sounded absurd the moment I said it, and yet Reid leapt at the opportunity.

“Wins what?” he asked.

I shrugged disinterestedly. “Respect. Bragging rights. Shit, if it’s you, Reid, I won’t call you a pussy for a whole year. How’s that sound? If you don’t, though, it’s
all
I’m gonna call you. Same goes for if you don’t take the bet.”

Reid scoffed. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

I looked him dead in his eyes. “I’m dead serious.
Pussy.
”

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at the bar. I could tell he was thinking on it. And I knew what conclusion he’d eventually come to. He’d take me up on this ridiculous wager—his pride wouldn’t have it any other way. It didn’t matter that it was juvenile and stupid and just plain wrong. All that mattered was that there was something in it for him. And I knew that would be enough.

“Whatever,” he grumbled at length. “I call dibs on the one with the freckles.”

“The tall one,” I said quickly—maybe too quickly, in retrospect, but I didn’t want Wyatt getting any ideas, “in normal chick clothes.” I turned to my youngest brother. “What about you, Wyatt? You in?”

“Deck seems kinda stacked, doesn’t it?” he answered warily, but his gaze was locked on the blue-eyed girl. “I mean, we get the nuns, you get the normal one. The fuck’s up with that?”

“I have it on good authority she’s a tough nut to crack,” I replied, and that was entirely true. She was; even though I’d already had sex with her, I had the feeling that getting any further with Hannah than that was going to be an enormous challenge. One that I hoped I was up for. But shit, why did I care? Outside of fulfilling my end of the deal, why should it matter if I ended up figuring her out? My interest in her was unnerving me, but I couldn’t let it show. Not now, when I was just getting these two assholes to come around.

“I’ll tone down my game to give you two a better chance,” I added. “How’s that?”

“Bullshit,” said Reid. “Bullshit, is what it is.”

“Does that mean you don’t want in, then?” I asked him, leering at all three women in a way I knew would drive Reid up the wall. “’Cause if you don’t, a two-for-one special would suit me just fine.”

Sure enough, he clenched his fists. “I said the one with the freckles.”

Now things were getting serious. Reid was getting worked up past the point of usefulness; when he growled, it was like someone sucked all the warmth out of the room. I was overplaying my hand, and I knew it. I dropped my gaze and turned to Wyatt, clapping him on the shoulder with a shadow of my former grin.

“Well, guess that leaves you with blondie,” I told him. Usually he’d gripe about going last, but tonight, maybe he sensed Reid’s top was about to blow, because he just nodded, shrugged, and drained the last of his god-awful “beer.”

“Now that it’s all settled,” I said, “I’d say all that’s left to do is for us to meet our marks.” For good measure, I threw in one last jab—just to make sure Wyatt and Reid both had plenty of incentive to show me up and give it their all. “You two sure you’re ready for this? I’d hate to throw you to the wolves…”

Reid chuckled. It was a dark, mirthless sound. “Those aren’t wolves, Ash,” he said. “They’re sheep. Lost little lambs come in from the cold. And I’m going in for the kill.” He pushed away from the table. “Whenever you two ladies wanna join me…”

And that was that. The beginning of an ill-fated bet. The start of a journey that, had you told me I’d embark on it just a few weeks earlier, I would’ve laughed in your face.

As I trailed behind my brothers and approached the bar, I caught Hannah’s eye and offered her a slight nod, just enough of a gesture to know that our mission had been accomplished. In return, she smiled and winked. The way it hardened my cock once more inside my jeans, I knew I was in trouble.

At the time, I had no idea how true that was.

“
J
esus
,” I whispered once Ash had sidled up beside me, “why didn’t you tell me you had such sexy brothers?”

I had to keep my voice down. Sarah, the eldest of my two younger sisters, was at the table just a few feet away with Ash’s middle brother, Reid, and I didn’t want her to overhear. As far as she and Beth—the youngest of us—knew, these handsome gentlemen had come to talk to them apropos of nothing. And that was how I wanted it to stay. I wasn’t ready for them to know the truth of their situation yet. I needed to ease them into English life. If their first encounter with English men went awry, it would definitely throw a wrench in my plans to keep my sisters in town.

Ash grunted softly as I surveyed his siblings. It was not a happy sound. “Because I don’t,” he answered petulantly.

I shot him a sly grin. “So these muscled, alpha males aren’t your brothers, then? ‘Cause I distinctly remember asking for them. You can’t just go changing the terms of our deal now that you’ve got what you wanted.”

He rolled his eyes, but in that irreverent, young Marlon Brando way, his lips quirked in a smile. “Fine. We’re related. Whatever. It’s just the rest of that sentence I’m having trouble with.”

“The part where they’re sexy?”

Ash shook his head at me as I poured him another glass of whiskey from the bottle on the bar next to us. “That’s the one,” he confirmed.

I tried not to stare too hard as Reid made an effort to be charming in front of Sarah, the most nervous of my two sisters. She’d always been something of a mouse, from as far back as I could remember. She was the one who wanted praise, who wanted the pride of our parents, who strove to maintain peace between the three of us and who often went unappreciated for it. I’d been away from her for too long—I could see that now. Where Sarah had been reserved prior to my leaving, she was now downright anxious. Hypervigilant. Wringing her hands beneath the bar, her cheeks in a constant state of flushing. It was more than just shyness—she was obviously uncomfortable. It wasn’t because of Reid, though—or at least, not just because of him. She’d been that way since she and Beth stepped into the bar.

Christ, both the girls stood out like sore thumbs. I had assumed they would’ve changed into the more modern clothes I’d left for them at the drop point where we’d secretly been exchanging letters ever since I failed to return home from my own Rumspringa a couple years ago, but nope—here they were, dressed in traditional Amish garb, bonnets and all. I could tell Beth wanted to get out of hers, and I hazarded a guess that she’d tried to convince Sarah to change before they came here, but Sarah had probably been the one to balk—and in a show of solidarity with her sister, Beth had likely given in, albeit with some complaint.

Beth was the spitfire among us. She was wide-eyed and curious and talked a mile a minute, once you got her going. She wanted to know everything, do everything,
be
everything. No matter how much counseling from our community’s elders she received, Beth remained—and I hoped she always would—completely defiant in the faces of those who would restrain her.

She was not suited for Amish life. Not in the slightest. I knew she’d need the least convincing. But Sarah… Sarah was going to be a problem.

“Reid’s kind of a prick,” Ash said as I eyed his brother—the one with the beard and dangerously warm, cognac eyes. The one who Sarah had thought was married when he first approached her, because of his facial hair. The idea still made me have to fight to suppress a giggle. In our culture, that kind of thing was common, but I’d forgotten about it until she made mention. The poor girl would have a lot to adjust to. “But he’ll be good to Sarah. Definitely won’t let anyone put their hands on her. He doesn’t like people touching his things.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “His things, huh? My sister’s not a toy, Ash.”

Ash waved a hand. “You know that. I know that. But Reid’s gonna need time to figure that out.” That didn’t give me any more confidence, and at my look, Ash sighed. “I’ll watch him. Anyway, Wyatt’s the baby.” He jutted his chin at his youngest sibling, who kept running his fingers through his dirty-blond hair and grinning at Beth. “He’s got a temper, but not with women or anything. Sit him down next to a pretty girl and he’s practically mush. Harmless. He’s a pain in the ass, but I think he’ll be a good man someday. I hope,” he added darkly.

I scrunched my nose at that, but Ash didn’t elaborate, so I didn’t press him. Doing so would open a door I wasn’t sure I could close again, one that would lead him to think it was okay to ask me about aspects of my life I wasn’t ready to reveal—not now, and maybe not ever. “You’re not exactly giving them a sterling seal of approval,” I noted.

“You’re asking me to talk up the guys who constantly annoy the shit out of me,” Ash replied, his eyes flashing over the rim of his glass. “Ain’t gonna happen. But if it soothes that pretty mind of yours, they’re decent dudes. Just… make sure your sisters don’t fall for their every trick. They seem so innocent. It worries me.”

I narrowed my eyes at his backhanded compliment—my “pretty” mind?—but nostalgia crept in, steadily overwhelming me. I gazed at my sisters, a soft smile replacing my frown. “I used to be, too. All of us were, once upon a time.”

Ash snorted. I thought he was going to choke on his whiskey. “
You
were
innocent
? What the hell happened to you, Miller?”

I wanted to smack him. But the way he used my surname like that… it was… strangely endearing. Cute, even. There was a camaraderie to it, a closeness I hadn’t expected. I ducked my head and shrugged. “Everyone grows up.”

It wasn’t a great explanation, or even an explanation at all. But I wasn’t ready to trust Ash with that information. It’d have to do.

Though he looked for a moment like he might protest, Ash chose to let it go. We lapsed into silence for a time, both of us just watching the dynamics between our siblings. Beth looked so excited to be talking with Wyatt. Her pretty face was lit up like the Fourth of July. She even followed him, without hesitation, to a table at the far end of the bar so that they could talk more privately.

Sarah, on the other hand, was red as a beet. But she was smiling, and I could tell she was slowly warming up to Reid. Despite her best attempts to remain wary, I could see a glint of intrigue in her eyes.

“I think it’s going well,” Ash said. Before I could stop him, he swept his thumb over my knuckles. I looked down to see he’d covered my hand with his.

The second our skin met, my heart leapt and my stomach dropped. Static currents wriggled across my skin, and to my chagrin, the dampness between my legs returned with a vengeance.

I cast a sideways glance at him. When he felt my stare, he looked up and smirked. Gingerly, I maneuvered my fingers out from under his hand but left them to lightly graze his. An almost childish thrill ensued, bringing some color to my cheeks.

Dammit, Hannah. You’re gonna blow your cover.

As Ash moved to twine our fingers again, I withdrew, standing up from the table and grabbing a rag and a glass from the bar so he wouldn’t see me tremble. “Chill out,” I muttered. “They’ll see…”

“They’re not even paying attention to us,” Ash started, but I had already tuned into Sarah’s conversation with Reid, and to keep Ash from tempting me into another public display I moved back behind the bar and busied myself under the pretense of fetching him another drink.

“You’re so easily impressed,” Reid was saying to her, his words partially slurred by the beer bottle he was tipping back. “I feel like I could take you anywhere—shit, Walmart, even—and your mind would be blown.”

Sarah frowned at him. “I’ve been to Walmart. Where do you think we get our toilet paper from?”

Reid laughed. “I didn’t know you had toilet paper,” he said, shaking his head. “Damn. Guess everybody’s been to Walmart. Well, that just means I’ll have to take you someplace else. Someplace a little nicer.”

I rolled my eyes as I slid Ash his drink. “Don’t set the bar too high there, Reid,” I muttered. When Sarah looked at me, her pretty red brows knitted in confusion, I told her, “
Anywhere’s
nicer than Walmart.”

She nodded, then turned back to Reid. “You… actually want to take me somewhere?” The idea seemed to have given her pause. “Like… just the two of us?” She looked at me, as if hoping for my approval, or otherwise that I would deny her the opportunity. I wasn’t sure which. “I don’t think…”

But this was exactly what I wanted for her. Exactly what I needed to happen so that Sarah would see how wonderful life could be outside of all the restrictions our community had placed on us. I knew it was her instinct to bury her head in the sand, but she couldn’t go through life like that. I wouldn’t let her. She had to understand she had options.

Yes!
I mouthed at her, waving my hand in a gesture of encouragement.
Tell him yes!

Despite this, Sarah still looked so unsure. It was all I could do not to slam my head into the bar in frustration. “I don’t think I’d be comfortable in a place like this,” she said, wringing her hands. “Someplace so…
city.
So, if you
were
going to take me somewhere, I’d like it to be less… urban.”

I watched as Reid sat up straighter, looking thoughtful. I don’t think he expected her to agree, as tentative as that agreement was. He wore the whole “pensive” look well, and I turned over my shoulder to look at Ash, who I could sense hadn’t taken his eyes off me. When I glanced his way, however, he avoided my gaze. I shook my head. Typical.

“I think I know just the place, actually,” Reid was saying. “There’s a county fair being set up out in the country—shit, probably not far from where your community sits. It’s got a lot of stuff I bet you’re familiar with. Hay rides, a petting zoo, shit like that. How’s that for comfortable?”

I gauged the look on Sarah’s face. Still so much hesitance. Someone was going to have to step in and make the decision for her. I could see now that she’d never do it on her own.

“Hey,” I said, “that’s a great idea! You’ll love it, Sarah. Those petting zoos are all full of baby animals. You get to feed them and cuddle them and stuff.”

“I used to do that back on the farm,” she muttered, unconvinced. “Besides, that sounds like something Beth would prefer, anyway.”

“Then we’ll make it a triple-date,” Ash chimed in—finally. I shot him a glare that said
where the hell were you five minutes ago?
He took it in stride, adding, “All your sisters will be there, and I’m sure we’ll all find something we want to do.”

“Yeah,” Reid continued in what I was sure was his best sexy voice. It wasn’t half-bad, but I preferred Ash’s. “I’m sure we will.”

“Then it’s settled,” I said quickly, waving at Ash to go tell Sarah and Wyatt at the other end of the bar. “We’ll go tomorrow.” Sarah eyed me uncertainly and I lowered my voice, offering her my warmest smile. “Seriously, Sarah, this is going to be great. You’ll love it. I promise.”

I felt a little bad, not giving her the whole truth. But something the world doesn’t teach you—especially when you’re Amish—is that the key to honesty is timing. If you’re too closed off to the idea of change, nothing is going to change your mind. If I had any hope of changing Sarah’s, she’d have to be more open. Less inhibited. She’d have to see that the English world wasn’t as bad as we’d been taught. In fact, some aspects were downright amazing.

My surety must have calmed her, because after a fashion, Sarah looked at Reid and smiled a little. “Okay, then,” she told him. “It’s a date.”

I left Sarah and Reid to go to Beth, but I caught Ash frowning along the way. I stopped. “What’s with the face?” I asked him.

“Déjà vu,” he said, and when I cocked my head, he smiled and shrugged. “Sorry. I feel like I was talking to someone about this carnival the other day. I just can’t remember who.”

“Wouldn’t have happened to have been a carnie, would it?” I asked him, leaning across the bar so he could see down the plunging neckline of my shirt. The girls were occupied with his brothers, busy making plans for the following evening—I could allow myself a little teasing. “Someone who might know the best place to duck into for a quick fuck?”

Ash’s grin was a slow burn. The end result was completely worth it. He drew closer to me in an inconspicuous way, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “Don’t worry about that, love. If there is one, trust me when I say we’ll find it.”

I bit my lip to contain my smile. Everything was going so well, and there was no doubt in my mind that I’d soon see my plans for Sarah and Beth work out.

Looking back on it now, I should have knocked on wood. I should have realized that my hubris was tempting the gods.