Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) (2 page)

With a grin that shouldn’t seem so
damn sexy, the woman stepped over to his side of the booth in a dress looking
tighter and shorter than normal.  “Do you still want me to sit on Ben so you
can talk?”

Hell…
“No,” he said, a
little louder than intended. This garnered more snickering from his
deadmeat
brothers. “Just give me the phone.” He thrust his hand up, hoping—praying—she’d
relinquish the device without question, and without expecting him to make
eye-contact, because that was not going to happen anytime soon.

Not until he got his body back
under control.

Thank God she handed him the phone.
He was acting like a high schooler with raging hormones.
Christ.
Back in
high school, his hormones had raged for Lea’s older sister. This was all too
weird for his psyche to handle. So he didn’t.

“Hi, Ben.”

He cleared his mind of everything
surrounding him and concentrated on his sister’s voice.

“You’re a tough guy to get a hold
of,” Brandi stated, smile in her tone.

“Sorry, it was drill weekend. I
didn’t get your messages until last night, but it was too late to call. So,
what’s up?”  He trained his gaze on the table, vaguely aware of
Ms.
Licktober
dropping off a coffee pot and cups before disappearing into the
kitchen, mumbling about getting the usual.

He was never going to associate
that word with Lea ever again.

Damn it.

“I just wanted to ask you to
double-check Dad’s schedule to make sure he’s around next month for the
wedding, and not off at some meeting or exercise. He promised me he was all
clear, but he does tend to book and forget.”

A smile tugged his lips. “True. But
I’m on it. Don’t worry. He’ll be here,” he reassured, pouring coffee into his
cup. The hearty aroma hit his nose and lessened the pounding in his head.

“Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do
without you and Lea.”

Since he was doing his best to stay
off the Lea subject, he decided to change it. “How’s Kade?”

“Wonderful,” she gushed. “Now that
he’s no longer sheriff, he’s concentrating on his horse sanctuary. It’s been
great working with him. He seems so much at peace.”

Ben blew out a breath and smiled.
“I’m glad. He’s a good guy, Brandi. And he makes you happy. I can hear it in
your voice.”

Both Mason and Keiffer murmured in
agreement as they drank their coffees. Their sister had blossomed into a
confident, content woman since moving to Harland County, Texas a year and a
half ago. It had been tough on his family, but she’d been determined to leave,
and adamant she needed to go alone. Now that it was all said and done, Ben was
damn glad she’d gone and rediscovered herself. Brandi was no longer the sullen,
self-depreciator she’d been when she’d left.

“That’s because I am happy.” She
sniffed.

Ah, hell
. Tears. He hated
tears. He didn’t mean to make her cry.

“I just wish you and Mason and
Keiffer and Ethan could be this happy.” Another sniff hit his ear. “And Lea.
She’s always doing for others. It’s time she thought of herself and took care
of her own needs.”

All the control Ben had managed to
muster the past two minutes slipped out the door. The mere mention of Lea and
her
needs
conjured up images that had his groin tightening again.

“I tried to get her to come down
for a visit this past spring. There are a few nice cowboys here who would love
to meet her,” his sister informed.

The news tightened his gut for some
strange reason.

“But she said Ryder and Gwen were
really busy with work. Between you and me, Ben, I don’t think she even asked if
they’d cover for her and help their dad out at the restaurant. She never wants
to impose.”

True. Nothing new there. Lea was
always eager to please. Always put others first. Hell, she’d quit her job in
Philly and came rushing back to the Poconos so her siblings could continue with
their lives. He wasn’t sure if that was responsible or irresponsible. That was
no way to build a career.

“It’s time she found someone who
appreciated her,” Brandi continued. “That’s where you come in.”

“What? How?” His constricted gut
quaked with an invisible blow.

“Relax, Romeo. I’m not asking you
to court her—even though she’s had a crush on you since you and her brother
were on the same little league team—I just want you to help me talk her into
flying back to Harland County with me after the wedding.”

Ben’s mind was still filtering in
the crush news for something he should’ve known, but didn’t. He was having a
tough time with all the eye-openers this morning. It was like a switch had been
flipped the moment he’d sat down in the booth, and he wished to God he could
flip it back.

Life had been perfectly fine when
he’d thought of Lea as his sister’s safe, reliable, sweet best friend. Not the
sexy seductress, smelling all flowery with mouthwatering cleavage winking at
him as she leaned across the table to hand out their food.

What the hell?
Now she had
mouthwatering cleavage? What was next? A delectable ass?

A clanking sound had her
straightening upright as she glanced over him and shook her head. “Oh, hang on,
Mr. Tierney. Let me get your cane.”

Don’t turn.

Do not turn around
.

Shit.
He turned in time to
see the woman bend down to retrieve a cane from the floor.

Damn
. She did have a
delectable ass.

Swallowing a curse, Ben twisted
around to find his younger brother grinning across the table at him.

“See something you like, bro?”

“What’s Keiffer laughing at?” his
sister asked, reminding him he still had the phone pressed to his ear…in a
killer death grip.

“Nothing,” he replied, loosening
his hold before the cell cracked in half. “The goof still thinks he’s actually
funny.”

“Well, give chucklehead and Mason
my love. And tell Lea I’ll call her later. I can’t wait to see her with Kevin.
Wait ‘til you see how great those two are going to look standing up together
with their dark hair and blue eyes. Those pictures are going to rock. Love ya.
Bye, Ben.”

And just like that, the line went
dead.

But he had questions.
Damn.
Like, who the hell was this Kevin dude? Some Casanova cowboy ready to put the
moves on sweet, innocent girls? The clanking of the phone echoed when he set it
on the table a little harder than necessary.

“What the hell did Brandi say to
make you look like you bit into a lemon?”

He ignored his gawking brothers and
stabbed at his eggs, scrambled just like he liked them. Lea always did know
what to serve him without asking. The woman deserved better than a Casanova.

By the time half his plate was
gone, his missing common-sense returned. Brandi would never set her friend up
with someone unworthy. And, as he’d just recently realized, Lea wasn’t an innocent
girl, she was a twenty-six-year old woman capable of doing who and what she
wanted.

His stomach knotted on that one,
but he refused to examine the reason.

Somewhere in the recesses of his
fogged mind, he had data on a cowboy named Kevin, and he aimed to find it. A
few more forkfuls of delicious bacon did the trick. Bacon always cured what
ailed him. The smokey goodness was his go-to fix. Ben began to relax and the
fog continued to lift. Kevin was Kade’s cousin and his best man. And most
importantly,
engaged
to be married in October.

Funny how the food suddenly didn’t
taste like cardboard anymore.

“You know, Mason, I think our
brother’s look had something to do with Lea talking about giving a—”

“Enough,” he barked at Keiffer just
in time to stop the words his newly under control body couldn’t handle. “Don’t
the two of you have clients to take hiking today?”

Not only were he and his brothers
in the National Guard together, they also owned a resort that catered to the
outdoorsman year round. Since it was still summer, the place was booked for
hiking, fishing, boating, and white water rafting, of which his three brothers
happily obliged. Ben was more of a silent partner, working full time in supply
in the guard. Keiffer, Mason, and Ethan were part time guardsman while they ran
the place their sister had redesigned and renovated three years ago.

Lea appeared to replace their empty
pot of coffee with another. “Can I get you guys anything else?”

“Chocolate,” his idiot younger
brother replied with a grin.

The guy was a dead man.

She smiled and leaned her hip
against the booth near Mason. “I love chocolate.”

“We know,” Keiffer said, scratching
the bridge of his nose with his thumb, still smiling that stupid smile.

Ben was ready to scratch his
brother’s nose with his fist. Why the hell was the idiot bringing that up?

“I’ll put it on just about
anything, but even I won’t put it on eggs. Pancakes, sure, but not eggs.”

Keiffer cocked his head.
“So…eggs—no, men—yes.”

“Men?” She straightened with a
frown, color tinting her cheeks. “What do you mean?”

Mason cleared his throat and spoke
for the first time. “We kind of overheard your conversation with Brandi.”

“Okay.” The groves in her forehead
deepened as her gaze bounced to each of them. “So?”

His brothers transferred their
gazes to him.

Ah, hell no
.
Not gonna
happen
. He sat back in his seat, folded his arms across his chest and
stared them down. No way in hell was he going to further the conversation.

“I’m confused. I wasn’t talking to
Brandi about a guy. I was talking about a banana split.”

Right
. Ben snickered. “Since
when did you start naming your dessert, Clark?”
Damn
. So much for
staying out of the conversation.

“Clark?” She blinked. “I…oh my
God.” She laughed, then laughed some more. So much so she sank down in the
booth next to him, her warmth vibrating, stirring parts of his anatomy that
shouldn’t be stirred as she silently shook. When the woman finally sobered, she
took one look at their faces and start laughing again.

Ben exchanged glances with his
brothers, hoping they had a clue as to the cause of Lea’s laughing fit. He
wasn’t sure his aroused body could take much more of the sweet torture. But
given their shaking heads and shrugging shoulders, he guessed they were just as
clueless as him.

“I’m sorry,” she said a minute
later, wiping her eyes. “That was just too funny.”

“What was?” he asked.

“The three of you thinking my
conversation had to do with licking chocolate off of Clark’s…
banana
.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No.”

Thank God.

“Then what was it?”

“I told you. I was talking about
eating one of Jill’s banana splits.”

Mason grunted into his coffee while
Keiffer nodded. “Oh, Jill. That explains it,” his younger brother exclaimed,
grin consuming his face. “That woman sure knows her way around chocolate.”

Now, Lea was nodding while she
tossed her hands up. “Amen.”

“So, let me get this straight.” He
turned to the great smelling woman smiling next to him and nearly forgot what
he’d wanted to stay. “You were talking about a banana, not a…” Ah hell, he
couldn’t do it. Couldn’t utter the name of the very thing throbbing for her
touch. A new ache he’d never experienced before, at least, not with Lea.

She glanced around the now vacant
restaurant, then settled her amused gaze back on him. “It’s okay to say penis,
Ben. I know what one is. I’ve seen one. Heck, I’ve even
touched
one.”
She sucked in a breath and slapped a hand over her mouth, faking a shocked
expression.

“Very funny.” He did not like where
this conversation was heading.

Her smile turned positively sinful.
“Trust me, there wasn’t anything funny about it.”

Shit.

“Enough,” he ground out again.
“We’re not having this conversation.”

Neither one of his heads could take
it.

She shrugged, not in the least put
out by his tone. A tone that had many supply sergeants quaking in their boots.

“You all started it, although, I
wish I had known you mistook my conversation with Brandi.”

“Why?” Keiffer grinned. “So you
could’ve played it up?”

“Hell yeah.” The exasperating
woman’s head dipped in quick affirmation. “I would’ve mentioned my sticky—”

That’s it.
“Let me out.”
Shoving the laughing woman from the booth, he swallowed a curse as he shot to
his feet. “Since my brothers seem to be in a jolly mood, they can pay the bill.
I have work to do.”

With one last, stern glare at the
three of them, he pivoted around then strode from the restaurant.  What the
hell had gotten into her?

Once outside, he jammed his hat on
his head and crossed the street. The woman in there smiling and spouting the
word ‘penis’ was a far cry from the sweet, innocent blue-eyed girl who used to
follow him around.

T
wo days later, as Ben
was leaving work, he realized he had been mistaken about Lea.

She
still
followed him
around.

He couldn’t get the damn woman off
his mind. Just when he thought he had a handle on things, he’d hear her voice
in his head, talking about chocolate and his favorite body part, or see her
mouth curve into a seductive smile.

It was damned annoying.

She was his best friend’s baby
sister, and his baby sister’s best friend. He had no business thinking of her
in that context. And she sure as hell had no right to invade his dreams, with
her lush lips and generous cleavage, turning them into fantasies that even made
him blush.

He took the stairs inside the
armory at a hurried pace; the muffled sound of his boots clapping off the steps
followed him to the ground floor. So did his irritation.