“Came to see if you’d like to grab a bite to eat,” Justin said, his voice a low rumble.
“She already ate,” Cutter bit out.
Justin cleared his throat, his glare softening when it landed on her again. “How about we head to Lafferty’s? Maybe you’d like to dance.”
He wasn’t really asking; he’d inserted the “maybe” for Cutter’s sake. Dani felt herself easing away from the door under the influence of his rough persuasion.
“Cruz, you and I need to have a little talk,” her brother said, his expression looking as though he’d swallowed something bitter.
“Cutter—” Dani broke in.
“He’s right, Dani,” Justin said, closing his hands around her shoulders and gently pushing her aside. “Your brother’s got a problem with me. Shouldn’t take more than a minute. Get your purse.”
Dani’s nervous glance went to Cutter. He’d stiffened when Justin issued his order. God, what would he think?
“I won’t be a minute,” she said, aiming a warning at Cutter.
Cutter held out his arm, indicating Justin should precede him.
The corners of Justin’s mouth curled, but his eyes remained narrowed. Dani stared as the two men headed to the downstairs office. Once the door clicked closed behind them, she raced for the staircase. Soon as she grabbed her purse, she’d be hammering on the door.
Justin walked into the office and heard the door close behind him. The hair on the back of his neck lifted, but only in the way a male scenting another might. He had no illusions Cutter would kill him where he stood if he thought he could get away with it.
“She doesn’t know we’ve had our run-ins,” Justin said quietly in case Dani had her ear pressed to the door.
Cutter fisted his hands on his hips. “Maybe we should tell her. Might give her insight into your character.”
Justin kept his posture casual, not responding to the unspoken threat rippling through Cutter’s rigid frame. “She knows I haven’t been a choirboy.”
“Probably what attracts her too, dammit.”
Justin gave him a quick, tight-lipped grin. “Maybe.”
“Does she have any idea what a man-whore you really are?”
“Like I said. Dani has no illusions about me.”
“You seein’ anyone else?”
Justin wondered whether Cutter knew, but Cutter’s shuttered expression spoke of personal interest. “I haven’t seen Katie in over a year—if that’s what’s bothering you.”
Cutter’s jaw hardened to granite. “Not what I was asking, but since you mentioned it, did you have to set your sights on her too?”
Justin’s gaze slid away. He wouldn’t admit it in a million years, but Cutter’s condemnation made him feel…ashamed. He shrugged to get rid of the momentary twinge of remorse. “I didn’t do it to spite you. Back then, any woman I hadn’t slept with was a challenge. Katie gave me more of a run than I expected. She didn’t go down easy.”
Cutter’s lips lifted in a snarl. “Whatever you’re doing sniffing around my sister, it’s not gonna get you any part of my spread.”
Justin felt the stab clear to his gut. Cutter might let her roam a bit, but he’d never give his approval. That might matter to Dani. “I don’t need your land. Don’t need what she brings other than her pretty little self.”
Cutter stepped closer, his gaze boring into Justin’s with deadly intent. “This isn’t over. She’s gonna come through that door in a minute, so I’ll make this quick. You’re trash, Cruz. Not because of what you came from, but because of how you use people. My sister deserves a whole lot better than you. You hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
Justin met his glare with one of his own. He believed him.
A sharp knock sounded on the door, but neither man looked back as it shoved open. Footsteps clicked on the floor. Dani’s hand smoothed over Justin’s sleeve. “Ready?” she asked, sounding breathless.
Justin turned to glance down at her. She’d glossed her lips with pink. He wondered what big brother would do if he bent and wiped it off with his mouth. “We done?” he asked Cutter without lifting his glance from Dani’s anxious face.
“Dani,” Cutter bit out, “I wish you’d think about this.”
“It’s just a date,” she said, lifting her chin. A deeper pink than tinted her lips washed over her cheeks, but she didn’t hesitate. “Don’t wait up for me.”
Justin felt like growling his approval. The woman made him feel that way. Primal, possessive. Already his cock filled, pressing against the front of his jeans.
He turned, crooking his arm for her to settle her small hand along his forearm. “Those shoes comfortable?” he asked, glancing down at the high-heeled sandals peeking under the hem of her crisp blue jeans.
“Don’t you worry about my feet,” she tossed back. “I think you’re a better dancer than to stomp all over my toes.”
Justin glanced over his shoulder one last time at Cutter, whose expression had turned bleak. He felt a moment’s pity for the man, but quickly squelched it. Sure, he knew how it felt to worry about some scumbag taking advantage of his little sister, but Dani knew what she was getting into. If she thought she could handle everything he’d bring—so be it.
Inside the truck, Dani fidgeted on the bench seat of his pickup. “So did Cutter lay into you about the other night?”
“He never mentioned it.”
“I’m sorry if he gave you a rough time.”
“He’s your brother. It’s his job to worry about you.”
Dani drew in a deep breath and nodded. “You look great by the way.”
Justin glanced down at his clean jeans and crisply ironed blue shirt. “Thanks.” Then he realized what she really wanted to know was that he appreciated the effort she’d gone to over her own appearance. “You look pretty tonight,” he murmured.
Her head swiveled his way. Her green eyes flashed. “And I didn’t every other time we saw each other?”
Justin wondered where the hell his ease with women had gone. Right out the window apparently. Or maybe they were both wound a little tight after the fuss her brother had made. “You’re beautiful—makeup or no. Pretty blouse or naked,” he said, smiling because he knew exactly how she’d react to that little comment. Let the game begin.
“You’re an ass,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and settling back in her seat with a scowl.
“Just bein’ honest. You have pretty skin—milky white where the sun never gets, pretty pink nipples, pretty pink—”
“Justin!”
He chuckled. “I love it when you get fired up.”
“Why would you want me angry with you?”
“Because you forget about being scared and embarrassed when you’re blowin’ hot.”
“You know, I’m not exactly scared of you.” Dani pulled her lower lip between her teeth then released it. “I thought all week about what we talked about. I think I’m scared because you make me feel out of control.”
“But you love me taking control,” he said, his voice sliding into a low purr.
“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare me. Guess I worry about what will happen afterward…with us.”
Justin silently cursed his own past. “Think I’ll be in a hurry to move on?”
She shrugged. “Cutter’s right. You do have a certain reputation. Love ’em and leave ’em.”
“I never loved any of ’em,” he said quickly.
“That makes me feel so much better. Damn, I sound just like Cutter now,” she said under her breath.
“Dani,” he said softly. “Just ’cause I never have, doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn how.”
Her head turned slowly toward him, and he met her gaze for a charged moment before staring through the windshield.
Dani unclipped her belt and scooted closer.
Justin’s chest swelled around a deep, relieved breath. “I think I’m sitting on the other belt,” he said, lifting up in the seat while she rooted.
&
nbsp; “Got it.” She sounded breathless. When she was safe again, he stretched his arm behind her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Justin liked the way it felt, her snuggled close, her body heating his side, her sweet floral scent wafting over him.
When he pulled up in front of Lafferty’s, he cut off the engine. The perennial Christmas lights tracing the line of the roof and the door of the little bar sparkled. Music blared through the windows.
“Let me get your door.”
Dani smiled and waited while he circled the front of his truck. He opened her door but didn’t step back. “Don’t think I can wait for a kiss.”
“I was wondering when you would get around to it.” Dani scooted toward the edge of the seat, opened her legs to cradle his hips, and he leaned in.
Justin tilted back his cowboy hat, bent to press his lips against hers and was lost.
Her lips opened beneath his, her sweet breath seeping into his mouth. Her tongue touched the tip of his then retreated, inviting him to follow. He slanted his mouth over hers, rubbing lips together, stroking his tongue over hers, spearing rhythmically while he rocked his hips against the juncture of her thighs.
Dani wound herself around him like she did when they screwed, arms and legs hugging him close.
He rutted between her legs, making them both groan. When they came up for air, her mouth was blurred, and he suspected he wore as much of the pale pink lip gloss as she did.
Her pleased little smirk told him it was true. And because he enjoyed the sparkle of humor in her eyes, he didn’t bother wiping it away. He stepped back with her still wound around him.
She slowly dropped her legs and sagged against his chest. “Sure we have to go inside?”
Justin nuzzled her fragrant blonde hair. “I’ve been looking forward to dancing with you all day.”
“You asked me to dinner first.”
“Exactly.”
She leaned away and wrinkled her nose. “That didn’t make a bit of sense.”
Justin grinned and readjusted his hat. He reached behind her for her purse, placed it in her hands, and then crooked his elbow again.
Every glance swung their way when they pushed through the doors, and he knew what everyone was thinking.
Justin had himself a fresh conquest. This time he didn’t enjoy the little charge of triumph. He didn’t like the men eyeing Dani and wondering if they’d have a shot at her when he dropped her. He’d be damned if he let a single one of them near enough to ask for a dance to put the idea into her head.
This snarling possessiveness was new for him, and he knew he had to pull back a bit or Dani would wonder what the hell had gotten into him. Then he spotted Rowe sitting alone at a table in the back and he sighed. Damn, he knew what the name of this game was, but he didn’t want to share her quite so soon. However, he couldn’t alter the plan now.
He bent toward Dani. “Rowe’s here, sweetheart.”
Something flashed in her eyes. Was it a moment of disappointment? Then color flooded her cheeks. Excitement shortened her breaths.
And just as quickly, Justin forgot the twinge of jealousy because he couldn’t wait to see how the night unfolded. He might have a reputation for his wild sexual exploits, but he’d never shared a woman with another man. He’d always been too damn selfish. Tonight was different. These two people drew him. Individually, he’d desired them both.
But would he be left to feel like a third wheel as they loved each other, or would they welcome him between them? He was eager to find out. Hopeful like he’d never been before that, for once, he wouldn’t be left on the outside looking in at an elusive happiness.
Rowe watched Dani and Justin weave their way through the tables to join him. He didn’t miss Justin’s momentary grimace when he spotted him. Too bad.
Rowe had big plans for tonight. And there was no time like now to start the wheels in motion. Justin wouldn’t be the one in charge and he wasn’t likely to embrace the change. Rowe admitted a twinge of disappointment that he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of Justin’s attentions, but this new start was too important.
To further complicate matters he had to enlist Dani’s help. And she might hesitate because she was enamored of the idea of sensual enslavement.
He understood the feeling. Craved it himself. But Justin couldn’t be allowed to think that he controlled them beyond the bedroom.
Rowe laid his hat on the table and stood when they drew near to hold out a chair for Dani. She slid silently into it, giving him a small, tight smile, her eyes glittering in the pale light shining from behind the gleaming, wooden bar.
Justin hovered for a second, but Rowe held the back of her chair for another unnecessary moment, offering the other man a silent challenge.
Justin’s head tilted, his eyelids fell halfway. Then he grunted and took the chair opposite Dani’s, sliding it toward her so that he could sit close.
Rowe suppressed a smile as the music changed. A waltz. His hand cupped Dani’s shoulder, drawing her gaze upward.
He lifted his chin, and her smile broadened. She rose immediately, sparing Justin a quick wink, then taking Rowe’s hand. “People are gonna talk,” she said under her breath.
Rowe leaned close, knowing the picture they presented, bent toward each other as they escaped Justin’s frowning presence. “That scare you?”
“Not a bit,” she whispered. “But Justin’s not gonna be happy. I just abandoned him.”
“Want to see how much it takes to break him?”
“Break him?” Her head tilted back and she eyed him with suspicion.
Rowe’s hand slid along her lower back, turning her toward him, and he brought her slender body flush with his. Her breasts softened against his chest. Her hands clutched his upper arms before sliding slowly over the tops of his shoulders.
“Justin’s a bit bossy,” he drawled, shuffling his feet in a semblance of dance and pulling her along. “Do you want him to think you’re a doormat?”
“You think he doesn’t respect me because he can get to me so easily?”
“What do you think?”
A frown bisected her smooth forehead. “I haven’t really had time to think…about what his expectations are. About what mine should be. This is all new to me.”
“Begin the way you mean to proceed,” he replied in a glib tone.
Dani shook back her pale hair and lifted her chin. “But what if I like how he is…what he does.”
The wicked sparkle in her eyes told him she was thinking about all the possibilities. “Baby, you’re not giving that up,” he said, lowering his voice. “You’re defining yourself. Impressing on him that he’s not the only one whose needs should be addressed.”
Dani’s gaze slid toward the cowboy at the lonely table. “He’s not selfish. Not in his heart. He works too hard at pleasing a lover.”
“You don’t think ego might have something to do with that?” he drawled.
She turned a pensive glance his way. “You’ve been with him longer than I have. Is that what you think?”
Rowe sighed and turned her on the floor, glancing at the table where Justin had tilted back his chair and was staring at them from beneath the brim of his hat. “I don’t know for sure. Justin doesn’t share what he’s thinking or feeling. I don’t think he knows how to love. But we do. Don’t we, Dani?”
Her expression softened. She placed her head against his chest and snuggled closer. “We do know how. We’ve been lovin’ each other since we first exchanged notes in middle school.”
“Let’s show him how it works.” Rowe’s lips slid down the side of her face.
A soft, sexy chuckle gusted against his neck. “You tryin’ to make us the talk of the town?”
“It won’t do you any harm—two handsome cowboys makin’ moves on you.”
“Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?” She shivered when his tongue glided along the curve of her ear.
“Don’t you think I’m handsome?”
Dani laughed
and pulled back her head. “Think he’ll just sit back and watch you flirt with his date? He has a big bad reputation to uphold.”
“Relax, he’s not gonna start a fight in front of everyone.”
Dani’s gaze darted back to the table. “I don’t know about that. He’s giving us that dirty squint of his.”
Rowe’s mouth curved. “Let him. We can’t worry about the fact he might be angry.”
“Why not? I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Dani, this isn’t just about tonight. We want him to be ours, don’t we?”
Rowe’s hand pressed against her lower back as he guided her around the floor. Dani had a hard time keeping her mind on the conversation because she’d gotten a look at the bar—every gaze followed them as they danced then darted back to check Justin’s reaction.
For his part, Justin nonchalantly rocked his chair on its back legs, sipping a beer. Acting as though there wasn’t anything unusual about his date cozying up close to another man.
But Dani saw the banked heat in his narrowed eyes. He wasn’t happy at all. “Do you really think he can share? That he’d want more than just a night with us? He’s never kept a girlfriend for long.”
“Maybe he’s ready for a change. But if we want this to work, we can’t let him have everything his way. He can’t lead us around with a bit in our teeth while he cracks a damn whip.”
Dani wrinkled her nose. “What if that’s what I like about being with him…him taking charge?”
“Baby, before he can master us he has to love us. Both of us.”
And because that’s exactly what she hoped, she gave in, snuggling closer still, drawing on Rowe’s strength and warmth. “You think he really can?”
“I think Justin’s ready for it, dyin’ for it. Up until we started…meeting, he ran through women like he was still the high school quarterback, but he wasn’t happy.”
“You think he can be happy with us?”
“I happen to think we have a lot to offer.”
Dani ducked her head. “Cutter thinks he’s after a piece of the ranch.”
Rowe snorted. “That thought has probably crossed Justin’s mind, but do you really think he’s greedy?”
Unbridled: Lone Star Lovers, Book 1 Page 7
