by Starla Kaye
Carson fisted his hands at his sides in frustration. One damn lover had declared Shane useless as husband material and it had stuck in his mind. Why had Shane mentioned his problem to her? The man had been pretty drunk at the time. Few people knew about his physical problem: he and Shane’s doctor, and now that bitch. She’d done a real job on his buddy and nothing he said would change his mind. Shane only bedded women who weren’t interested in more than a night or two, who didn’t want a gold band on her finger. He stuck with the flighty rodeo groupies who followed the circuit and chased after every cowboy in tight jeans.
Shane should spend time with a different kind of gal—gentle and sweet, not particularly interested in a rodeo cowboy. Someone able to make him laugh, not think about the ranch, his problem, or anything other than being together. She didn’t even need to be interested in bedding him, although Shane was a hell of a lover.
The man wouldn’t bother searching for someone like that. And Carson didn’t have a clue where to look for such a woman. Most of the women around here were married, old as dirt, or sex-crazy divorcees on the hunt for another man to satisfy their needs. They were all right for an occasional night of mutual relief…but not what he had in mind for Shane.
Chapter Two
Kendra and Alexis plopped down on the purple velvet Victorian loveseat in the small lounge area in the corner of their shop. It had become a place for them to catch their breath at the end of the day and discuss things.
Kendra heaved a sigh of relief, leaned back and closed her eyes. “This has been a wild week.” She opened her eyes and added, “If only I could go home and crash. Sleep a solid eight hours, better yet, twenty-four.”
Alexis gave her the sad look she seemed to save for her. “The girls were right the other day, Kendra. You need a vacation, or at least a weekend away from your nutty schedule.”
“We both know that can’t happen.” Yet Kendra would almost sell her soul to the Devil for a weekend of fun. Even better, she’d like to include a sexy man who knew his way around kissing and making a woman blissfully happy. Of course, she’d do her part and make him happy, too.
“The shop has been busier than ever. I’m worn out.” Kendra stretched her legs out and rolled her ankles. She needed another shave, too. “I’ve got six special orders of my Hawaiian sculptures to finish. We’ve agreed to two more Tahitian dance events here in a couple of weeks. And—”
“We need to get better control over all of this,” Alexis interrupted. She waved her left hand in Kendra’s face. “I’ve got a husband who wants to spend a lot more time with me than we’ve managed this last month.”
Kendra experienced a twinge of envy. Tyler McKay had been the island’s most elusive and most sought after bachelor until he’d met Alexis last year. Midas rich, super smart, and pretty damn hot…he had it all. But he had faults too. He detested being in the paparazzi’s limelight even to promote his computer safety business, not that that had kept it from being successful. He had the worst taste in picking out clothes, but now he had Alexis for that. And he got goofy when they were together, silly because he loved her more than life.
“Okay, we could both use time away from the shop and everything else.” Kendra’s thoughts turned to the weekend ahead. If she got up early Saturday morning, she might be able to finish the sculpture for the O’Donnels. Then after working at the shop, and after the late afternoon dance show, maybe she could make serious headway on another couple of pieces. Sunday….
Alexis snapped her fingers in front of Kendra’s face. “Tyler still thinks you should consider using Madame Evangeline’s matchmaking service. He even wants to pay for it.” She met her eyes. “You—”
Kendra shook her head and thrust out her chin. Alexis stopped talking, but she assumed her best, I’m-not-giving-up look. One of these days Kendra might weaken and agree, to get her friends to stop bugging her. Besides, the deal was only about setting up a special one-night date. Her life outside of work was pretty pitiful. She could use a special evening where someone she had things in common with focused on sharing time with her. If a bit of romance were involved, too…. Yes, the idea had definite appeal.
“I know you and Tyler found each other that way. I’m so happy it worked out for you both, but….” It had been a Cinderella story for Alexis, and her friend had deserved to find love. Alexis wouldn’t have cared if Tyler had been a beach bum without a nickel to call his own. She had fallen hard for the soft-spoken, gentle man who had treated her like a princess for one magical night. And then for the next week, the next month…and still did.
Alexis beamed and her eyes took on the familiar dreamy daze she had whenever she thought about her husband. She reached over and touched Kendra’s leg. “There is a special man out there just waiting to find you, too. I know it. I do.”
“Maybe.” Kendra touched Alexis’ hand and then moved it away so she could stand. “In the future. Right now I’m too busy to do more than fantasize.”
“About a cowboy.” Alexis sighed in annoyance. “There are a lot of wonderful men out there, and they don’t all wear tight-fitting jeans and sexily tipped Stetsons.”
Kendra smiled. “True enough. But since I’m only dreaming about hot men right now, I’m sticking to a darn sexy cowboy.”
If she had one date with a cowboy, she might get them all out of her system. She could focus on other men, much more suitable husband material for her.
“How about we put in a request for a ‘darn sexy cowboy’ with Madame Evangeline?” Alexis pressed. “You’d get your special night and your cowboy fix.” She shot to her feet and did a quick little boot-scooting two-step in her flip-flops.
Kendra giggled. “I’ll think about it.”
Alexis tripped as one flip-flop caught the other, blinking, her eyes big with surprise
Kendra frowned and reached out to stop her friend before she fell and hurt herself. “I repeat. I’ll consider it. That’s all I will promise for now.”
She walked off, headed for the back room. Behind her, Alexis hissed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
She’d have to search the Western channel tonight, maybe find an old spaghetti Western starring Clint Eastwood. Or maybe dig out one of her DVDs of The Big Valley that her dad had given her. Heath and Nick Barkley had been serious eye candy back in their day. And cozy up to that big new woman-pleaser she’d bought the week before. Pretend she was being well loved by one of the Barkley brothers. Either one.
***
Shane limped his way from the shower into his bedroom. Lord a’mighty, he hurt. What Demoneater hadn’t done to abuse his body, driving for seven hours had accomplished. His knee had swollen so much he could barely walk. He drew a breath and winced, another cracked rib? He’d glanced in the bathroom mirror and saw the fading bruises and healing scrapes he’d suffered at the last rodeo. Hell, he needed to give up bull riding.
He started toward the triple dresser for a pair of boxers, then let the towel fall from around his waist swerved toward the bed. “Damn, those are wicked looking bruises,” Carson said, worry mixed with irritation in his voice. He carried a plate laden with a piled-high sandwich and two bottles of beer. “And your knee…. We’ve got to get that wrapped up.”
Shane’s stomach growled at the thick ham and cheese sandwich. “That looks good. I didn’t stop to eat on the drive here.” Even bone-tired he was still hungry. He could use the beer, too.
“You never do.” Carson’s gaze lingered on him, brown eyes darkened. It had been a while since they’d been together and need sparked between them. His shoulders slumped and he continued on to the bed. “As much as a certain part of me is interested—”
“Another time, buddy.” Carson set the plate on the nightstand and then the beer bottles. “That knee is a mess. Tomorrow I’m taking you—”
“No doctor,” Shane cut him off, scooting gingerly back to lean against the headboard. The doctor would tell him his season was over with. He’d tell Shane he needed a knee replacement, but he didn’t wa
nt that, not yet. “I’ll take a couple weeks to heal up. That’s good enough for now.”
Carson’s mouth thinned and he walked away, shoulders stiff. After a few seconds he heaved a sigh, faced Shane again, and slid a hand through his neatly trimmed black hair. “You’re one stubborn sumabitch.”
Then he walked into the bathroom and came back with an elastic bandage and a tube of Deep Heat. “Let’s get that knee wrapped.”
Dreading that even as careful as Carson would be, it was going to hurt like the devil, Shane reached for the sandwich to distract himself. “Thanks.” Simple word, but it encompassed a lot: Carson’s patience with him, making him the sandwich, taking care of his knee and worrying about him.
Carson gave a curt nod and went about wrapping his knee.
Carson rubbed the strong-scented liniment into Shane’s muscled thighs. Shane grimaced but didn’t complain, despite the calloused hands digging into his flesh. The deep massage would loosen the knots created by too many accumulated hours spent pressing his legs around a bucking bull. Carson had experienced much the same thing riding broncs for years on the circuit. He didn’t miss the sport anymore, and he didn’t miss the abuse his body had taken.
His gaze moved higher, noted Shane’s eyes squeezed shut and the fact that he needed a haircut. His wavy blond hair fell to his shoulders. Broad shoulders, strong ones. Carson longed to run his hands over them, to….
Shane winced and shook him from his wandering thoughts. He glanced lower and frowned at the bruises on Shane’s chest. God, he hated to see them. He continued massaging the tight thigh muscles, trying not to think about how Shane had gotten so injured. Instead he focused on the body he admired. Focused too hard and his cock swelled with interest. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d seen Shane even half-naked and hadn’t gotten a hard-on. Naked now. It took every bit of his inner strength not to strip down and slide into Shane. Or have Shane drive into him.
He swallowed hard and his knuckles rubbed against Shane’s balls, making the man’s breath catch. Carson cursed to himself at his carelessness.
“I know it’s near killing you.” Shane opened his blue eyes, his expression sad as he shook his head. “I would like to, but I don’t think I can handle it at the moment.”
Carson heard the disappointment and the need in those words. He felt them, too. But the heat in Shane’s gaze about did him in. Frustration filled him. Maybe they couldn’t get to the hot and heavy, but….
He straightened and wiped the medicated lubricant off his fingers on a washrag he’d carried in with him. Looking down at his wounded friend, Carson pushed off his jeans but kept on his briefs and socks. Then, their gazes locked, he eased down on the bed. Shane gave a sharp intake of breath with the slight movement of the mattress. Yet Carson kept shifting until he lay stretched on his side. He inhaled the other man’s scent, musk mixed with the spicy soap he used in the shower. His heart raced and every nerve in his body tingled. He ached and his cock shoved against the front of his undershorts.
Shane gripped Carson’s pulsing rod. When Shane touched him, he tightened his jaw and he moaned. He wasn’t sure he could….
“I might not be up to the real thing,” Shane said through gritted teeth, “but I can manage this.” He stroked up and down Carson’s shaft, making it swell even more. Carson groaned louder as he pushed his lower body forward, squeezing his eyes shut when the powerful moment came on fast.
“Wish I could have this pounding into me.” Shane kept up a steady rhythm. “Or I could manage to give you a blow job.”
Damn he’s close to the edge. Carson sucked in a breath. “We’ll give your body a week to heal. Then….” He couldn’t manage to say anymore. He went stiff and exploded, spurting his release all over Shane’s hand.
Carson collapsed on his back, struggling to gather the energy to change his shorts. At the thought, he snagged the rag again and gave it to Shane. “Clean up.” He found the sanity to ask, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Shane’s response came out as an exasperated mumble.
Carson didn’t want to linger on how they’d had to compromise this round or on how he’d been the only one to benefit from the experience. They’d been through this before. Sometimes it had been Shane doing the soothing, getting off from a hand job. Carson didn’t mind, but a part of him wouldn’t mind a woman’s tender loving care in this situation. And he thought Shane would like it, too, but the stubborn man would never admit that out loud.
He’d brought the subject up a few days ago with a newlywed ranching neighbor. Normally he didn’t talk about personal stuff with outsiders. But Tanner believed every man should have someone special in his life, someone who could “light the fires” and all but burn the house down with hot loving. He’d sensed for a while that Carson and Shane had a “special” relationship, an admission that had bothered Carson for a second. But Tanner had told him with a shrug that it didn’t matter to him if they were lovers. He wanted them to be as happy as he and Cheryl were.
“What’re you thinking so hard about?” Shane broke the awkward silence, struggled to find the right wording. “I had an interesting discussion with Tanner Howell the other day.”
“So he and Cheryl are back from Florida.”
Shane’s tone held envy and it gave him the determination to continue. “The man is blinded by love.”
Shane snorted. “Some of us aren’t that lucky.”
Carson forged ahead, knowing Shane wouldn’t like what he said. He didn’t care. “Tanner admitted to me he’d planned to remain a bachelor his whole life. In a roundabout way, he got hooked up with a matchmaking service.”
Shane grunted. “Most people get ripped off with those, or—”
“Not everyone has a bad experience with them.” Carson scooted until he leaned against the headboard. “He met Cheryl at the Castillo Resort in Las Vegas, didn’t think it would be more than a night of talking…maybe a bit more.”
Shane frowned. “I’m damn glad it worked out for them. Tanner is a decent man. She got a good husband.”
“But that could never work for you? Isn’t that what you mean?” Carson scowled back, exasperated to his soul with the man’s grim acceptance he could never be happily married. That damn woman.
“I don’t want to go over this again,” Shane snarled, grimacing. He put a hand over his ribs.
His friend hurt, bad. But his pride kept him from showing too much. It took away Carson’s anger. Arguing over this matter wouldn’t help. But….
“I contacted Madame Evangeline.”
“Who?” Shane asked on a growl. “Never mind. I know who and what she is. And I damn well don’t want—”
Carson sucked up his mettle and cut him off. “She’s not your typical matchmaker, so Tanner told me. She sets up one-night arrangements and she’s real picky about who she takes on as clients.”
Expensive, too. But he had money tucked away—that Shane didn’t want him using for the ranch. Well, he could use it any way he wanted, including giving his best friend in the world one special night. Of course, he hoped it might work into more, like it had for Tanner. But he’d be okay with the expenditure if it didn’t.
“I didn’t think you were interested in—”
Carson met and held Shane’s gaze, steeled himself for the fury he expected, and snapped, “This is for you.”
“Hell no!” Shane shifted off the other side of the bed. He stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door. “I repeat, hell no!”
Chapter Three
Where had the last week gone? Time moved so fast and yet nothing ever seemed to change in Kendra’s life. Work, work some more. Dance a little. And then work some more.
She sat on the sand near her beach cottage. The sky had darkened to navy with hints of silvery light threading down from the full moon. The water glistened; occasional swells rolled in and surged up the shoreline. A few feet to her left, a pair of birds chattered in competition over something they’d found. And a group of eight te
enagers were having a beach get-together around a small bonfire another hundred or so feet in the other direction.
Fun, they were having fun. She’d forgotten what the word meant.
Even a bit depressed, she still tapped her bare feet to the music blaring from an iPod. But they were tired from another day spent in the shop and then doing a late afternoon dance show. Every muscle in her body ached. She should have gone to bed already, but her brain refused to quiet down and let her rest.
Alexis had taken Kendra’s I’ll think about it and forged ahead with her matchmaker plan. Meaning she had contacted Madame Evangeline on Kendra’s behalf. Alexis had shared that wonderful piece of news right after the show ended. She’d beamed in delight and handed Kendra a print out of an e-mail she’d received back that morning.
Kendra blew out a deep, frustrated breath and dug her toes into the cool sand. The message played through her mind again.
I have read over the information you provided on your friend, Kendra Barlow. Normally I prefer dealing directly with potential clients. But I have decided to make an exception. I am intrigued by her. She sounds like a special person.
She heaved another sigh. Her life would have been so much easier if the woman had said no. Why did she have to be the exception?
A cool breeze fluttered over her and she pulled the windbreaker she wore closer. Madame Evangeline’s additional words made her stomach spasm in anticipation. As it happens, I have been contacted by two men who I believe might meet Ms. Barlow’s interest in spending time with a cowboy.
