Tyler

by C. H. Admirand

  Jeez.

  Sprinting toward the stairs, she hollered. “Keep your shirt on, Jolene. I’m coming.”

  Chapter 6

  Tyler breathed a sigh of relief when Emily answered the summons from downstairs. The combination of her amazing breasts threatening to spill out of her black leather bustier and her honey-sweet lips made his skin itch to haul her back into his arms, kiss her senseless, flip her around so she was bent over the vanity, and sink into her lush, warm body.

  Oh man. He’d definitely gone too long without a woman. He didn’t think Emily was the one-night stand type, and even if she had been in the past with someone else, that’s not what he wanted from her. He wanted more… was afraid he wanted close to all. Shrugging out of his shirt, he toed off his boots and shucked his jeans over his raging erection. Naked, he stared at his reflection and grimaced. “Son, you are in desperate need of soap and hot water before you can even think about getting busy with that amber-eyed filly.”

  He reached out and flicked on the spigot, turning it to just shy of scalding. Instead of dreading what he had to go downstairs to do, his mind was filled with the taste of a sweet little redhead who had a body made for sin and mouth made for pleasure.

  Groaning, he ignored the worst of the aches and pains he’d acquired during the day. Pushing past them, he concentrated on getting through the next few hours. Then, he planned to sweet-talk Emily Langley into bed.

  Showered but shirtless, Tyler made his way back downstairs. The song playing in the background had him cringing, but the sight of the two guys on stage bumping and grinding to Big and Rich’s tune about saving a horse had his stomach roiling. Please don’t ask me. Lord above, please don’t let them ask me—

  “So, big guy.” Jolene walked toward him. “Feeling better?”

  His gaze shot from the stage to his boss’s whiskey-colored eyes. Remembering the way she’d made him feel, like he was a piece of meat, had the words sticking in his throat, but better there than said. Once said, he’d probably be fired, because what he wanted to say wasn’t fit for anyone to hear.

  When she merely arched her brow at him in question, he nodded. The line of tension in her shoulders eased just a bit, and she turned back to the dancers on the stage.

  “That’s fine, boys. Now,” she said, turning back toward him, “since Tyler’s here, Jennifer is going to run through the new routine she’s come up with.”

  “But I thought—”

  Jolene looked over her shoulder at him and smiled a sugary sweet smile that made the roiling in his gut churn harder. She and Emily might look alike, but their personalities were entirely different. He’d work for Jolene, but he didn’t have to like it.

  “What?” she asked. When he didn’t answer, she shrugged and turned back to the group of people waiting for them.

  I thought all I had to do was strip. The words burned in his mind, but he’d be damned before saying them aloud. Hell. He could do a decent two-step, especially if he’d been drinking and one of his brothers dared him to, but what these guys were doing? No way!

  Jennifer got up on stage and started to go over a few of the moves and his heart plummeted. Double hell. He stared down at his feet: they’d never be able to follow along the intricate pattern she’d worked out and his tired brain would never be able to remember half of what she was saying.

  “Problem, Tyler?” Jolene asked, laying a hand on his forearm.

  Unease swamped him, and before he could call the words back he’d uttered the painful truth. “I can’t dance like that.”

  Her hand clenched his arm, and he could have sworn she drew in a sharp breath, but it could have been the music blaring all around them. His gaze met hers and for a heartbeat, he saw something close to fear flash in her eyes. He hadn’t meant to say anything.

  “I’m sorry,” he began, shaking his head, “but I need this job and can handle a simple two-step, but—” It had been hard enough to reconcile himself to the fact that he’d be taking his clothes off in exchange for the cold hard cash to dig the Garahan brothers out of debt. His mind still reeled at the prospect of his brothers finding out.

  Natalie walked over and looked up at him. “I could work with you,” she offered.

  “Nat—” Jennifer began.

  Natalie shook her head, cutting Jennifer off with a look. “We worked on the routine together, and I have a few ideas where it could be simplified.”

  “But Nat—” Jennifer looked fit to be tied, but the little brunette standing in front of him didn’t budge. Was she defending him?

  “No one is going to be looking at his feet, Jen.”

  Tyler’s breath whooshed out as her words hit him right between the eyes. “And just where the hell do you think they’ll be looking?” he demanded.

  Natalie didn’t seem to mind that he’d nearly shouted the question. She tilted her head to one side and said, “Your shoulders.”

  “Your abs,” Jolene rasped at the same time Jennifer blurted out, “Your ass.”

  Damned if the three of them weren’t grinning at him like it was Christmas and he had an armful of presents… or was he the present? Shit. Words were beyond him. He’d had his fair share of women, but he hadn’t been surrounded by them or the focus of such attention before. It would definitely take some getting used to.

  “Girls,” Emily said, walking toward the group, “give the poor man room to breathe.” She handed him a white cotton shirt.

  Grateful, he slipped his arms in the sleeves and pulled it on. Working the buttons through the buttonholes, he didn’t feel as exposed; he felt better.

  “Now what’s the problem?” she asked, folding her arms beneath her breasts. “I thought you needed Tyler to go over the new routine.”

  The movement plumped up her leather-encased breasts, and his brain shouted, Grab the woman and run! Every fiber of his being strained to move toward her, but he fought against the razor-sharp need and what he wanted to do with this woman.

  Get a grip! Needing to get control of the situation, he repeated, “I can handle a simple two-step, but I can’t do that fancy footwork.”

  Natalie moved to stand beside Emily. “I’m going to work with Tyler on his routine.” She nodded to her sister. “Jen’s got a great one worked out, but I think I know a way to simplify it so Tyler’s comfortable with it.”

  Emily nodded. “Good idea, Nat.” Her gaze met his. “Are you willing to let Natalie teach you?”

  Watching him way too closely for comfort, Emily’s gaze swept from his feet to the top of his head. His body reacted to her perusal. But instead of bringing up the kiss they’d shared and their plans for later, she asked, “How’s the cut?”

  Not what he expected her to ask, given the way she’d given him the once over. He’d seen the lust reflected in her eyes and, from the way she’d rubbed against him and kissed him back, knew they’d likely burn up a set of sheets before too long.

  But last night they’d shared something special. Her caring about him was a bonus he hadn’t expected. Something warm unfurled inside of him.

  He looked at her, not just the creamy exposed skin he longed to sample in a few unexposed places, but at her as a person, and was secretly pleased she was worried. “I’m fine.”

  “Did you put something on it? Clean it out good?”

  He couldn’t help but smile; the lady was all business right now, focused like before, but not on the passion raging inside of them waiting to be set free. She’d flip-flopped to the caring side of her that drew him in like a man dying of thirst. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled up at him, and his gut clenched.

  Jolene interrupted. “If y’all are done jawing over there, Nat and Jen have work to do.”

  “So, Tyler,” Natalie began, “how about I show you a few steps? I’ve got this great idea for your finale… by the way, how’s your back?”

  With a heavy sigh, he walked over to the stage. He was going have to work hard to earn his keep tonight.

  ***
<
br />   Jolene and Emily walked down the mirrored hallway toward the front of the club. “What do you think of our cowboy?”

  Emily sighed. “He has a name.”

  Her cousin shrugged. “I can’t seem to get past his gorgeous exterior… sue me.”

  Emily snorted with laughter. “Come on outside for a minute. I want to see if Ronnie and Mavis are here yet. They promised they would be here early.”

  An engine picking up speed had Emily looking up as they stepped through the door. A car was heading in their direction, a little too fast for comfort. “Kids,” she mumbled. “Did we push the speed limit all the time when we were that age?”

  Jolene shook her head. “I can’t remember that far back.”

  They laughed. It felt good to stand in the evening air, sharing a little quiet time with her best friend. Emily thought she heard the engine cut back like it was slowing down. “It was a long time ago.”

  The sound of a shotgun blast had them both freezing a heartbeat before Emily yanked Jolene down to the sidewalk. The five-pointed star hanging above their door tilted precariously but didn’t shake loose, even though it was now peppered with holes.

  Time stood still for a heartbeat, then snapped back into motion.

  Heart racing, pulse pounding, Emily looked at Jolene. Her cousin’s eyes were wide with shock. “What the hell just happened?”

  Emily shook her head. “Someone’s just having themselves a time at the expense of our sign.” They both looked up, and Jolene sighed. “That wasn’t cheap, damn it.”

  It was Emily’s turn to sigh. “Isn’t that the point?”

  “I know,” Jolene said, “but we don’t have enough money to buy another one right now.”

  Emily stared up at the swaying sign. “I think it gives it an old-time look, maybe just what Frank Emerson had in mind when he told us we needed to keep things historically accurate.”

  When Jolene chuckled, Emily knew they’d be all right, now that the moment of sheer terror had passed. It wasn’t every day she and Jolene got shot at… well, were in the way while their sign got shot at. Thinking back to one of Emerson’s visits, she wondered out loud, “Wasn’t there a rumor that someone was always shooting up the sign outside of this place when it was Donovan’s?”

  Jolene shook her head. “Leave it to you, Em.” She waited a few minutes and then asked, “Are they gone?”

  Emily nodded, struggling to her feet. “Long gone by now.” Before she could process the fact that her knee wasn’t working properly because it had gone numb, the feeling came back with a vengeance, giving way to sharp pain. “Damn it!”

  “What?” Jolene reached out to help her up, but then stopped.

  Emily saw surprise flicker in Jolene’s gaze a moment before Jolene’s brow wrinkled and her cousin groaned. “I can’t bend my arm.”

  Emily looked at the arm Jolene held out and asked, “Is it your elbow?”

  Jolene winced. “Yeah.”

  “It must have happened when you hit the sidewalk.”

  “I wouldn’t have hit the sidewalk at all if you didn’t yank me down.”

  Emily stood and was sorry she had. Her knee ached.

  Jolene nodded and Emily asked, “Did you recognize that car?”

  Emily shook her head, then remembered one of their customers talking about someone in town turning sixteen and getting a brand new shotgun for his birthday. She wished she could remember who it was. She’d have to ask Mavis.

  Jolene shrugged. “I heard the Baxter twins have been causing trouble lately, maybe they decided to bring it into town for a change of pace.”

  “That’s who the birthday boys were,” Em said. “The Baxter boys.”

  She tried to take a step and sucked in a sharp breath as pain tore through the joint when she put her weight on it.

  “Can you walk?” Jolene asked at the same time Emily asked, “Can you move your arm?”

  “Lord, aren’t we a sorry pair. Our biggest night so far and we’re outside acting like a couple of old women.” Jolene shook her head. “I like my idea of those twin shotgun toting hoodlums riding around town with one of them in the back of their daddy’s pickup truck picking off signs, streetlights, and the occasional scarecrow.”

  Emily couldn’t help it: she giggled. “I like your idea too, but last I saw there weren’t any scarecrows in the center of town.”

  “Omigod!” Natalie and Jennifer rushed toward them.

  Suddenly they were surrounded and everyone began to talk at once, asking questions and demanding answers.

  “Did you see who shot at you?” Dave asked at the same time the other male dancer demanded, “What kind of car was the shooter driving?”

  Jolene and Emily looked at each other and then back at the men. “No,” Jolene answered the first question.

  “I didn’t notice,” Emily said, answering the second. “Besides,” she said, looking up, “they were aiming for our sign, damn it.” Anger sprinted through her. They’d had it special ordered and paid over two hundred dollars for it. She needed to walk off some of her mad. Not thinking, rolling with her temper, she put her full weight on her injured knee and ended up on her hands and knees.

  “Em!” Jolene cried out, but Emily couldn’t answer her. She was too busy trying to catch her breath, controlling the need to hyperventilate to counteract the shards of pain slicing through her aching knee.

  Biting back the need to let go, struggling to keep everything inside, she closed her eyes. She didn’t sense the movement or the man who scooped her up and cradled her against his warm, broad, muscled chest.

  The heat and solid feel of him surrounded her. Relaxing in his arms, she leaned on his physical strength, wondering if he’d loan her a bit of what she sensed went bone deep in him: Strength. Courage.

  “Hang on, Emily.”

  The clean, spicy scent of Tyler combined with the muscled mass of his powerful body went to her head like a double shot of tequila.

  “Let’s get you two inside before whoever took potshots at you decides to try a second time.”

  ***

  Tyler couldn’t decide which bothered him more: the echoing sound of shots being fired knowing Emily and her cousin were somewhere outside and in the middle of it, or the sight of a bruised and battered Emily.

  Her silence unnerved him.

  Hell, so did the last few days. Grandpa had always told him to take the good with the bad. How else how will you know to recognize the good?

  Fitting her more snugly against him, trying not to inhale her soft scent or notice the way she melted against him, he stepped inside The Lucky Star.

  Funny how the long, mirrored hallway didn’t seem odd anymore. His life was definitely going down a path he’d never imagined. He busted his ass all day long at the Circle G, same as always. Only now he scrubbed off the evidence of the day’s hard work, got dressed, and then drove nearly an hour only to get undressed again.

  Go figure.

  Perverse, that’s what Grandpa always said life was. Like the beauty of a wild horse, begging you to climb on and take it for a ride, only to get on its back to be bucked off. But any man worth his salt, or his grandfather’s good opinion, ignored the lumps and bruises and got right back on that wild horse hanging on for what could be the ride of a lifetime.

  Something told him the little woman he held against his heart would be worth the ride. Walking over toward the front of the stage, he bent and carefully set Emily on the nearest table. It was a struggle to ignore the way her snug black leather skirt inched higher. A good long look at her first-class legs reminded him that they’d agreed to meet later. Now that’d have to wait. “Let’s have a look.”

  She squirmed as if trying to find a comfortable spot on the hard surface before trying to straighten her leg. Having taken his share of spills and life’s hard knocks, her sharp intake of breath and way she swayed told him just as much as looking would.

  He squatted in front of her and rested his hands on his thighs. “Take a de
ep breath.” He knew it hurt like a sonofabitch but didn’t offer her any sympathy, afraid she’d break down; and anyway, as his brothers liked to remind him, he was useless as tits on a bull once a woman started crying.

  Emily swore and he was impressed; he’d never thought to string cocksuckingsonofabitch together in one breath. He couldn’t help himself; the snort of laughter escaped before he could hold it in.

  Jolene narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. “You think this is funny, cowboy?”

  He cleared his throat and inclined his head toward where Emily sat, her eyes suspiciously glassy. Damn. He decided to go with the truth. “No, ma’am.” He paused then added, “Ain’t never heard anyone think to use those particular, ah…” He flicked his gaze back to Jolene. “Adjectives together before.”

  The sound of her hissing out a breath didn’t bode well for him, but her anger didn’t worry him right now; Emily’s knee did.

  “Verbs.”

  Not recognizing the deep voice, he looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see a man standing there. Dave and Joe were still outside waiting for the law to arrive—he’d called them as soon as he’d heard the shotgun blast—so it was up to Tyler to protect the women. He drew in a deep breath, straightened to his full height, and turned to face the stranger. “Not unless you use the word bitch first. Bar’s closed.”

  “Not because of any violations I’ve written them up for this time.” The light-haired stranger turned his attention to Jolene.

  “Jake,” she rasped. “What are you doing here?”

  Tyler stopped and unclenched his fists. “You know this guy?”

  Jolene nodded, and the man looked from one woman to the other demanding, “What the hell happened?”

  The look Jake and Jolene shared told Tyler they were acquainted, so he answered, “We didn’t get that far yet.” Sliding his gaze toward Jolene and back to the man standing beside him, who was obviously as frustrated as Tyler, he nodded. “First we’re going to clean up Emily’s knee and then we’re going to see if I can convince her to go on over to the emergency room to have it looked at.”