Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (22 page)

“Hey,
lady,” Beau greeted V, tipping his hat as he looked down at her. The blush that
infused V’s face made Zane’s body harden. All of him. Including his dick. Just
the thought of what was going to happen later had Zane wanting to push up her
skirt, shove into her from behind and try and sate the lust pooling in his
groin.
Fuck.
The woman drove him absolutely crazy.

“Hey,”
she smiled back, but then turned her attention to the table.

When
it was apparent V wasn’t going to take one of the bar stools, Zane sat back
down and pulled her back against him, her ass nestling between his legs.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, he picked up his beer and finished it off.
Maybe tonight he’d have more than his occasional one beer when he was out in
public. Since he wasn’t about to let go of V, he knew he’d have to wait until
one of the waitresses made her rounds. While he waited, he listened to the
conversations going on around him.

“When’s
Gage coming home,” Zoey asked Kaleb, sitting on the stool next to Zane.

“Tonight,
I think,” he confirmed, downing the rest of his beer.

Zane
fought the urge to laugh. Ok, so apparently there was going to be some interesting
things happening in Coyote Ridge tonight.

A
few minutes later, the group had gotten so engrossed in watching Brendon hustle
another fool at the pool table that no one noticed when Gage Matthews walked
in. He approached the group, carrying a beer bottle and wearing his cowboy hat
low over his eyes.

Travis
was the first to acknowledge him, and if Zane wasn’t mistaken, there was some
sort of silent communication going on between the two men. Gage looked a tad
bit nervous while Travis appeared a little pissed off. What the hell was that
about?

The
subtle nudge that V sent Zoey made Zane smile. So, it would appear that V was
in on what was happening between Zoey and Gage and Kaleb. Based on the fact
that Zoey wasn’t giving V the same hard time, he would have to assume that V
hadn’t shared the details of her little trysts with him and Beau. Not that he
expected her to.

As
far as he was concerned, that was between the three of them and for the most
part, Zane never mentioned what happened behind closed doors. There had been a
couple of women in his past who thought it was funny to try and goad a reaction
from him, or one of his brothers about their various threesomes, but most of
the time, they just ignored the rumors and comments. And, if a woman did dare
to bring it up, she could pretty well consider herself old news as far as the
brothers were concerned.

Well,
except for the twins. As far as Zane knew, Braydon and Brendon had never been
with a woman solo – why that was, he had no idea. They didn’t talk about their
sexual exploits either, but for some reason, women liked to brag about being
sandwiched between the twins. Probably because they were twins no less. Zane
didn’t know for sure.

No
matter what, Zane wasn’t one to kiss and tell. And as far as V was concerned,
he didn’t want to share what happened between them with anyone else. He damn
sure didn’t mind sharing her with Beau, but only because he knew from the get
go that she was into it.

Thinking
back on that last night still made him crazy with the need to have her again.
Just like that.

♀♂

V
listened to the chatter surrounding her, but she didn’t participate much in
what was going on. Zoey seemed elated that Gage was back, and V only could imagine
why. Seeing the way Gage reacted to Kaleb’s soon-to-be wife made V smile. He
was just as smitten with the woman as Kaleb it seemed. However, there was a
definite possessiveness in Kaleb’s reaction to Zoey that wasn’t evident in Gage’s.

Even
more fascinating was Travis’ response to Gage and vice versa. V wasn’t sure how
close the two men were because she had always known Gage to be Kaleb’s best
friend, but Travis seemed to be interested in what the other man had to say. Or
maybe he was interested in what Gage wasn’t saying. Either way, V wasn’t sure.
But the way the oldest Walker brother glared at Gage told her there was
something going on.

“Want
to play me?” The voice came out of nowhere and made V turn around to see
Brendon standing just a foot on her other side. She looked around, wondering who
he was talking to, but she didn’t see anyone else.

“Come
on, girl. Play me,” Brendon encouraged. And that’s when V realized he was
talking to her.

“Me?”
she questioned the obvious.

“Yes,
you.” Brendon offered her his hand, pulling her toward the table where he
shoved a pool stick at her.

V
glanced at it, then back at Brendon. Was he serious? With a knowing look, she
peered over at Zane. He was grinning from ear to ear. His involvement in this
little set up was obvious.

“What
should we play for?” Brendon stared at her, grinning like a man with a secret.

“The
winner buys the loser a drink,” she suggested. “But, you can’t go easy on me.”
V knew Brendon was the king of pool hustling, but she also knew he was going to
underestimate her. Most people did. Truth be told, not even Zoey knew about her
pool playing abilities. Up until the other night, no one else had either.

“I
wouldn’t dream of it.” Grinning from ear to ear, Brendon went around the table,
gathering all of the balls and putting them in the rack. With one agile slide
back, then forward, he settled them in their appropriate position, lifted the
black plastic triangle and then nodded in her direction. “Ladies first.”

V
smiled back, chalked up the end of her pool cue and then moved to the other end
of the table. The men around them went silent, and for the first time in a long
time, V managed to slip into another realm.

Playing
pool was a diversion she had resorted to in order to drown out all of the
excess chaos around her. She started playing when she was eleven years old. One
of the many men her mother dated had a pool table in his gameroom and she would
make herself busy while her mother did the same thing, although Regina’s type
of busy was something V did not want to think about.

V
had fond memories of Jerry Tanner, although she couldn’t remember what number
he was in her mother’s long list of boyfriends. She did remember that he was
one of the nicer ones. Of course that relationship hadn’t lasted long because,
after six months, Jerry had asked V’s mother to marry him and seemingly the idea
of marriage to a man who didn’t have a seven figure net worth wasn’t attractive
enough for her mother.

For
a few months after her mother broke up with Jerry, he continued to come around.
He was the closest thing to a father figure V had ever had and even though
Regina Carmichael didn’t want to have anything more to do with him, Jerry
hadn’t been able to let go that easy.

V
focused on the white cue ball in front of her, lined her pool stick up perfectly,
drowned out the rest of the noise in the dimly lit bar and took her shot. With
skilled precision, the balls shot out in all directions. From an amateur’s
perspective, it would’ve looked casual, but V took stock of what went where.
She briefly glanced up at Brendon and the question was there on his face.

This
was where people made mistakes. She knew if she had any chance at all of
beating Brendon, simply the best pool player she knew, she had to get her shots
lined up and sink them as accurately as possible. V was solids, and she lined
up to drop the one ball in the corner pocket.

For
the next few minutes, V was in the zone, completely oblivious to the rest of
the people around her, including Brendon. She worked diligently to deliver the respective
ball into the pocket she called, and before she even knew it, she was sinking
the eight ball.

Never
once did Brendon get to play.

“What
the fuck?”

Sawyer’s
terse comment broke V from her reverie and had her standing up straight. To her
surprise, Brendon was smiling at her although she had just done what everyone
considered impossible. Had she given him a chance, Brendon would’ve swept her
just as quickly, which was another thing V knew never to let happen if at all
possible. Granted, she normally didn’t get nearly as fortunate.

“Rematch,”
Braydon chimed in, laughing. “Give the boy a chance, V. Let him go first, this
time.”

V
smiled at the other twin, and then glanced back at Brendon. “Sure,” she agreed.
“After he buys me that drink.”

For
the next hour and a half, Brendon and V competed back and forth, both of them
damn near equally matched at every shot. Before this game started, they agreed
that it was the last one. Her legs and her back were beginning to hurt, and to
be honest, those heated looks she was receiving from Zane were making it damn
near impossible to concentrate.

Just
when she thought Brendon would take the game, he missed a relatively difficult
shot, leaving her with one more ball, then the eight ball. V lined up her shot,
drowned out the rest of the room and ended the game, successfully beating
Brendon yet again.

When
he walked around the table, moving very slowly toward her, she tried to hide
her smile. And failed. He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her against his
body and hugged her tightly. “Zane’s a damn lucky guy, lady. If I had my way,
I’d steal you right away from him,” he whispered in her ear.

V
blushed, and swatted him on the back as he put her back on her feet. “You’re a
sly devil, Brendon Walker.”

Before
she knew what happened, Zane had her in his arms, his mouth slamming down on
hers in a kiss hot enough to alert the fire department. When he pulled back,
she saw the intent in his eyes and her body reacted instantly.

Zane
looked up at his brother and grinned. “You just remember she’s mine.”

Brendon
laughed, and the brothers bumped fists. Zoey came over, hugging her like she
was some sort of celebrity. “I can’t believe it. How in the world did I not
know you could play pool like that? You’ve been my secret weapon all this time,
and I had no idea.”

V
laughed, brushing her hair back from her face. Not many people knew her talent,
nor did she try and flaunt it. Today was an exception. These were her friends.

The
thought nearly leveled her. Never had she actually taken the time to think about
how close she had become to the Walker brothers over the years. She went to
school with Braydon and Brendon, but they always seemed so overprotective of
Zoey, she often felt like the outsider. But then again, V hadn’t needed anyone
to stand up for her. She’d managed to do a good job all on her own. Based on
the way most of the other kids had treated her, she hadn’t had much of a
choice.

It
wasn’t a secret that the town had painted her mother as a slut only out for
monetary gain, and no matter how painful the thought was, it was what it was.
Regina liked men; there was no doubt about that. She also had one agenda –
finding the richest, most successful man to shack up with and marry. Never had
it worked out for her, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. V couldn’t even
remember the number of men who came and went from their house when she was
growing up. There were times she never even knew their names, which as she got
older, she actually preferred.

“You
ready?” Zane asked, interrupting her thoughts. V smiled, thankful for the
distraction. It was a fact, thoughts of her mother and her sordid past never
did much good for V’s mood.

She
nodded her head and accepted the hand that Zane held out to her. Within
minutes, their goodbyes were said, and they were leaving. Zane held her hand as
they followed Gage, Zoey and Kaleb out to the parking lot. The threesome didn’t
seem to notice anything going on around them, and for that V was grateful,
especially since Beau was trailing not far behind.

V
had a sneaking suspicion that Zane was up to something, but she’d tried to
ignore it, knowing her nerves would get the best of her if she allowed them to.
She was more than a little excited about the possibilities that this night had
in store for her, but she wasn’t willing to admit it just yet. After the last
night at Zane’s, V had developed some sort of shameless fascination for the two
men. Although she still preferred just the two of them together if she had a say,
V was willing to enjoy the distraction. She seemed to need it now more than
ever.

Zane
had awoken a part of her that she hadn’t even known existed. Beau played a big
part in that before the assault and truth be told, she had been anticipating a replay,
even while Zane had been in the hospital. On those lonely nights when she
assured herself that staying away from Zane was the best for him, she still
allowed herself those few sexual fantasies to fill the void that Zane had left
in her life.

The
other night had been a surprise. Although, most of her anticipation occurred in
the dark of night while she was lying in her bed doing her best to ignore those
creaks and groans of her house, she found that indulging in a little mental
foreplay with two hot, sexy cowboys was an easy way to forget her more pressing
thoughts and fears.

This
time she wouldn’t be imagining it. Her body was completely onboard with that,
especially with the adrenaline still coursing through her system. Beating
Brendon Walker at pool wasn’t an easy feat and V knew, based on the way the
game played out, he hadn’t let her win. Then again, Brendon wasn’t like that,
so the excitement was still sizzling inside of her.