by Jane Jamison
What is with you, cat? I haven’t done a damn thing to you. Leave me the fuck alone.
She barely heard TJ and the woman continuing the discussion.
“The name is Tracy Jo Bowen. And this is my friend, Julia Roberts.”
“You’re Julia Roberts?”
No relation, thought Julia as she always did when someone questioned her name. Why did her parents have to burden her with that name? Yet, since she was stuck with it, she sometimes had a little fun with it, too.
She went into her usual spiel. “I am. But it’s okay. Lots of people mistake me for the other one. After all, we look so much alike. Unfortunately for that other Julia, there’s no relationship, blood or otherwise.” She continued to put on her act, flipping her hair back and sticking out her chest. She adopted the typical starlet pose.
Not that anyone could mistake her for the other Julia Roberts. Julia Roberts was beautiful, talented, and worshipped by millions. Julia, on the other hand, was a short five feet four inches tall, a curvy woman of a prominent size. Most people would’ve called her fat, but Julia hated the term. Yes, she carried a few extra pounds than most, but that made her different, special. She was perfectly happy in her own skin. Confidence was a whole lot more attractive than plain old beauty. After all, beauty faded, but intelligence stayed.
Her stomach flipped and her self-esteem dipped, but she shoved the awful feeling away. She’d learned to fight back those feelings of inadequacy.
Not now. I won’t give in to my insecurities. Not while I’m at the festival. No way is it going to ruin my fun.
The older woman laughed. “I like you.”
And I like you, too. She smiled a thank-you even as her gaze jumped back to the cat. Although I’m not so crazy about your cat.
Thankfully for Julia, the owner, who turned out to be the older woman, liked her enough to include her in TJ’s reservation. The thing was, Julia liked Miss Kitty, too. It was a strange name, but then again, who was she to talk about strange names?
When the discussion came down to whether or not The Dick had paid for the room, Julia was ready to whip out her credit card and forget about letting Dr. Stanley pay for anything. In fact, the idea felt downright creepy. But TJ was insistent, claiming that he owed them for the “emotional distress of seeing him in all his natural glory”, so Julia resisted the urge to argue.
Instead of checking her records—a paper ledger, not a computer—Miss Kitty had instead turned to the cat for an answer. “Clayton, do you know anything about this? Weren’t you on duty this morning?”
Oh, my. We’ve got a strange one here. I know people talk to their pets, but come on!
Julia had a feeling that Miss Kitty was strange even by Lonesome’s standards. Or was the woman pulling their legs, putting on a show for visitors? Surely, she didn’t actually believe the cat had taken the credit card payment over the phone?
She exchanged a look with TJ. Was Miss Kitty in her right mind? For a moment, she would’ve sworn the cat and Miss Kitty were silently talking to each other.
Okay, girl, get hold of yourself. It’s the costumes, the cat, and the weird lady that’s getting to you. Sure, she’s weird, but she’s also nice. As for the damn cat…
She gritted her teeth, determined to not let the feline get to her.
The news that they would be sharing the communal bathroom at the end of the hall with the other guests, however, wasn’t welcomed news. Still, Julia was ready to make the best of it. “Are we sharing the bathroom with any good-looking men?”
Miss Kitty’s gaze locked onto Julia. “Yep. I definitely like you.” Her attention shifted to TJ. “I guess you’re all right, too.” Motioning for them to go, she added, “Go on. Get settled in and then join all the fun. Just be careful, you two.”
“Careful of what?” asked Julia.
“Of the shifters, of course.”
Okay. She’s definitely pulling our legs.
“Are you saying there are real shifters in town?” The answer, of course, was ridiculous, but she’d had to ask the question, hadn’t she?
Miss Kitty’s expression, however, remained serious. “I’m just saying to be careful is all. You haven’t lived long enough to know all the things that are out there in this world. Things most people never realize are real.”
Julia took hold of TJ. Not that she was scared, mind you. But TJ probably was. “If I didn’t know better, Miss Kitty, I’d swear you’re trying to scare us off.”
To her credit, Miss Kitty appeared to be surprised. “Oh, no. I don’t mean to do that at all. In fact, if you happen to run into any good-looking men you want to tussle with, you just asked me about them first to be safe. I know who’s good and who’s not around these parts.”
“Thanks, Miss Kitty. We might just take you up on that. Or, at least, I hope we have a chance to,” said TJ.
Julia was more than ready to make it to the room. Using the distraction of another group of people coming through the door, she pulled TJ along with her.
Yet when Clayton landed in front of TJ, Julia was ready to run the other way. Why couldn’t Miss Kitty control her animal?
“Lead the way, Clayton,” said TJ. She shrugged at Julia and shot her an apologetic look. “When in Rome…”
Julia shot her a stern look in return. Why the hell did she have to invite that damn cat along?
* * * *
Julia loved her friend TJ, but one thing about her annoyed her to death. TJ was a clean freak. Before they could go anywhere and have any fun, TJ had to get their clothes sorted in the closet or placed nicely and neatly in each drawer of the dresser.
“Oh, my God, TJ. Please let’s just go now. By the time you get everything the way you want it, the festival will be over.” Julia flopped on top of her bed. Thankfully, TJ had secured the only bedroom with twin beds. Although they were best friends, Julia didn’t like sharing a bed with anyone. She’d thrash around her bed, tossing and turning, flailing her arms. TJ could wind up with bruises all of her body by the time the sun came up.
Julia was getting better, though. The nightmares hadn’t come as often throughout the years, but they hadn’t gone away, either. She wasn’t sure they ever would. As much as she hated to think about it, she realized that what she’d gone through as a child had gravely affected her. Its awful tendrils snaked into all parts of her life, not only invading her nightmares but tainting her relationships with men. Therapists had tried to help by giving her every coping mechanism in the world, but none of them worked for long. Did they really think deep breathing exercises would help her get over seeing her brother killed by a cougar?
A tremble shook through her as the memory of her brother’s torn and bloodied body hit her, but she shook it away, determined not to let her past darken her present. Even TJ didn’t know what had happened to her brother, and she wanted to keep it that way. She’d learned to hide her fear from everyone, fearing their pity even more. “I need a drink.”
“Just calm down,” urged TJ. “I’m going as fast as I can.”
Sometimes, Julia had to take things into her own hands when it came to TJ. She hopped off the bed, grabbed her friend’s arm, and started tugging her toward the door. “Nope. You can make everything perfect later.”
“But…” TJ made a halfhearted effort to pull her arm out of Julia’s grip. Which meant, of course, that TJ was as anxious and as excited as Julia was to get to the fun.
With a huge grin on her face, Julia pulled her friend along with her down the stairs—is that damn cat around?—and out to the street. Many of the partiers had made their way toward the end of town where the bed and breakfast was. But Julia wanted more than that kind of action. She wanted to take Miss Kitty’s advice and go to the Whiskers and Whiskey Saloon.
Thankfully, with Lonesome being a small town, it didn’t take long to walk from the bed and breakfast to the saloon. If they were going to party—and they were—Julia had no intention of letting either one of them drive. If they got lucky, they wouldn�
��t get back to the bed and breakfast until dawn.
Julia led the way into the saloon. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and her ears to the noise level, but as soon as they did, she moved toward the bar at the back of the room.
Miss Kitty had been right. The Whiskers and Whiskey Saloon was the place to find the action. The bar was large, but every square foot was filled with people. She could tell it was a good mix of locals and visitors, and they were easy to tell apart. The visitors were the ones acting nervous and excited as though they were about to be pounced on at any moment. Pounced on in a good way. At least, that was her hope. Just like earlier, she saw people who wore the best costumes ever made. Their catlike faces, their amber-filled eyes were better than things she’d seen in the movies. In fact, she had to keep telling herself that they were only costumes and not the real deal. Besides, every time she looked at one, she challenged her fear of big cats, right? One day, maybe she’d even start liking cats.
Yeah, right. Keep on dreaming, girl.
Still, professionals had to be doing their costumes. If she had a chance, she’d asked for their makeup artists’ names and use them the next time they came for the Shifter Days Festival. They hadn’t had time to get costumes before leaving town, but she vowed they’d make up for it from then on out.
For a moment, she saw a flash of blond hair. Was it the man from the crowd outside? Yet, as hard as she searched, trying to peer past all the people, she couldn’t find him.
Stop it. If he was interested, he would’ve come to you by now and introduced himself.
She’d be better off forgetting about him and concentrating on the men around her. And there were so many men! Wonderful, hard-bodied, tall, strong-looking men.
Most of the barstools were taken, but Julia didn’t mind. She’d simply belly up to the bar. Her hand was already in the air, summoning a bartender, when she saw the gorgeous piece of man flesh behind the counter.
Holy crap. If ever there was a man who was a MAN, it’s this guy.
He had to be almost seven feet tall. She doubted a shorter man could’ve handled the width of his shoulders. The black tank top he wore highlighted every wonderful muscle, every flex and movement he made. Suddenly, she felt her mouth fill with the desire for a different kind of taste than mere alcohol. Her gaze dropped lower, scanning over his long black hair past his lean waist to his rounded ass. Her hands itched to swat that ass. She doubted it would jiggle when she did.
She hadn’t finished looking at his wonderful physique from the back when he turned around and matched his gaze to hers. Somehow, she’d known he’d have black eyes. Yet she hadn’t imagined the depth of his penetrating gaze. Was he searching her soul? It sure felt as though he was. But if so, would he find her lacking in some basic quality? Could he see the pain that lingered deep inside? Could he see that she was broken? No, she kept her flaws carefully hidden.
She forced away the questions and concentrated on his face. On any other man, the hard angles would’ve seemed harsh, too severe to be attractive. But on him, they were perfect, coming together to form a masculine yet expressive face. Her breathing was shallow by the time she managed to pull her gaze away from his disturbing, yet sexy haunted eyes and slip lower to his broad chest. She could see the outline of his nipples against the tight fabric and wanted so much to tweak one. Just a little. Just enough to tell him she meant business. Instead, she ventured lower.
She’d always hated men who looked as though their package was always erect. Had, in fact, always found out that what they showed was not what they had. Yet when he moved, she could see that he was lacking in nothing. Entranced, she watched him as he drew closer, her gaze fixed to his crotch.
“Can I get you ladies anything?”
Julia suddenly found it even harder to breathe. Especially when he stuck out his hand.
“Name’s Samuel Conway. And you’re…”
Say something. Anything.
She’d never been tongue-tied with a man before, but there was always a first. TJ nudged her in the arm, breaking the spell she was under. “I’m Julia Roberts—no relation—and this is my friend, Tracy Jo Bowen. She goes by TJ.”
At that moment, she experienced her first bout of jealousy toward TJ. She’d never been jealous of her friend before, but as Samuel’s gaze swept over her, she wanted to push TJ away and step in front of her to block his view. Ashamed of her reaction, she shoved the jealousy away.
Yet when he took her hand then didn’t turn it loose, Julia almost let out a cry of joy. If she had it her way, he’d never turn her hand free.
“It’s nice to meet you, ladies. Welcome to Lonesome. And I’ll ask again. Can I get you anything?”
Julia couldn’t help herself. She often used flirtation to cover her shyness as well as the occasional bout with low self-esteem. What was the saying? She’d fake it until she could make it? “You sure can,” answered Julia. Although he wasn’t paying much attention to TJ any longer, she’d make sure he didn’t. “You can get me anything you want me to have.”
Although others might’ve thought her brazen, what she’d said was tame by her usual standards. As far as she was concerned, the only way to fight shyness was to act bold, even aggressive at times.
“Try to ignore her. And I’ll take the cosmopolitan, if you can make one,” said TJ.
Julia ignored TJ’s request for a sophisticated drink. After all, this was small-town Texas. Did she really think they’d be able to make a cosmopolitan? More than likely, all they’d have would be beer in bottles or pitchers, and hard liquor served up in shot glasses.
“Baby, I can make you anything you want.”
For the short moment that he looked at TJ, Julia experienced another pang of jealousy. She’d never been jealous before. Then again, she’d never wanted any man as much as she did right now.
At last, he shifted his gaze back to her. “As for your friend, I don’t think any man could ignore her. And I’m damn sure I don’t even want to try.”
The need inside Julia shot skyward. She wanted him. Oh, how she wanted him.
TJ said something, but Julia was so intent on memorizing every line, every bit of sexy scruff on Samuel’s face, that she didn’t really hear it. Then, when Samuel leaned closer, she forgot all about TJ.
“And what’s your pleasure?”
His voice alone could make her cream. She did her best to try to act casual, supposedly unaffected by his charm. “My pleasure? I can think of a lot of things that I’d like. But my pleasure…” She leaned forward as he’d done, putting them inches apart. “Well, that’s a lot harder to say. Got any suggestions?”
Samuel narrowed the gap. “Baby, I’ve got all kinds of ideas. If you’re sure you really want to hear some, that is.”
She, too, had a ton of ideas, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. Partially because her mind was too muddled with sudden lust and partially because she caught a whiff of his breath. The scent was unlike anything she’d ever smelled. It was musky, yet sweet. Light, yet with a formidable edge to it.
Whose breath smells like that?
Without trying to seem obvious, she drew in a long, slow breath. The aroma wafted over her and inside her, tingling her from her head to her toes.
Holy shit. This is amazing.
If she could’ve put her face closer to his without actually climbing over the counter, she would have. As it was, she seriously considered going over the counter anyway.
Vaguely, she heard TJ speaking to her. Something about remembering the men she was going to go with? Already? Yet Julia couldn’t pull her attention away from Samuel long enough to ask. Besides, she could understand why TJ was hooking up with a man—men—already. If Samuel asked her to leave, she’d willingly go.
“Okay,” she murmured both to TJ and to whatever Samuel might suggest.
Besides, TJ and she would keep in touch and had a system in place to confirm that their texts were valid. They’d chosen each specific emoji to use with t
heir texts. The specific emoji would change after a number of messages, thus keeping anyone, including possible abductors, from sending texts.
She sensed TJ moving away from the counter. Taking a glance over her shoulder, she saw TJ moving away, three very large men closing around her. They weren’t dressed in costumes, but in the faded jeans and T-shirts most of the local men wore.
“She’ll be all right.”
Damn. His voice is as mesmerizing as his breath.
“She will? Do you know them?”
His gaze flicked over her shoulder then settled on her again. “Yeah. They’re the Rogen brothers, Walker, Maitland, and Hagan. You won’t find better men around these parts.”
Oh, something tells me I just did.
“That’s good to know.”
“They’ll take good care of her. Trust me.”
She did. Although she had no real reason to do so other than a gut feeling, she trusted him as much as she trusted herself. “Where do you think they’re taking her?” She didn’t really want to be talking about TJ, but whatever kept him with her and not waiting on other customers was good with her.
He shrugged then nodded at one of the other three bartenders. Ignoring several people clamoring for drinks, he leaned on his forearms, his attention centered on her. “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“You don’t?” She could hear her pulse in her ears. Could feel the beat of her heart against her chest. If she’d thought she’d been alive before, she’d been wrong. She hadn’t started living until she’d met him.
It was a fanciful idea, one she would’ve laughed at a day earlier, but at that moment, it was the honest truth.
“I don’t.” His hand covered hers. Calluses grazed her skin. “The only thing I care about right now is you.”
It was a line. It had to be. And she’d never fallen for lines. Until now. “Oh.” What more could she say? Unless, of course, she begged him to take her. She considered the idea.
* * * *
Samuel loved the way Julia’s eyes widened. They’d widened earlier when he’d given her a whiff of The Allure. Who cared if he shouldn’t have done so? He and his brothers had made a vow that none of them would give their allure to a woman until they’d all decided she was the one for them. But he hadn’t been able to resist. Julia Roberts—“no relation”—was beyond sexy. He’d felt an immediate connection to her, as though he’d known her his entire life.
