“What?”
“I saw Rachel’s car parked down at the Bread Box.”
Adam’s comment didn’t draw any reaction. With a shrug, Killian turned his attention back to the keyboard. Concentrating on it really hard, his finger hovered over one key as he responded. “She’s probably hanging out with Heather. You know, I really want to know who designed all keyboards to be fucked up like this. Seriously, it should be A to Z, but you’ve got your E right between the W and R. What kind of stupidity is that?”
“I don’t know,” Adam answered, referring to the Heather comment, but Killian misunderstood.
“Yeah, nobody does.” Killian snorted, throwing a smirk Adam’s way. “It’s kind of like who the hell came up with the Dewy Decimal System?”
Mouth open to correct Killian’s assumption, Adam got caught on his friend’s last bit. “Dewy.”
“What?”
“Dewy,” Adam repeated, unable not to get distracted. “Some dude named Dewy came up with the Dewy Decimal System.”
Killian gave that way too much consideration before asking. “Was that his first name or last?”
“How the hell do I know?” Adam snapped, more annoyed with himself for letting Killian so thoroughly sidetrack him. “And that’s not the point. The point is that Rachel wasn’t hanging out with Heather. I saw her sitting with the sheriff.”
Killian perked all the way up. “The sheriff?”
“At his table and laughing,” Adam leaned in to whisper.
He knew every dark thought that should have gone through Killian’s mind, but the damn fool grinned instead of getting mad like he should have. “Oh, look at you. You’re all paranoid. Sitting at his table and laughing and what? You think she’s back in his bed moaning right now?”
No. Maybe. Hell, Adam didn’t know. “Well, I certainly don’t think it is anything to laugh at.”
“Actually, your expression is kind of funny.” Killian leaned over his desk, dropping his voice though the only other deputy in the office was Duncan, half asleep at the counter. “Look, I know you haven’t run around with any nice girls before, but trust me—they don’t cheat. So stop worrying. There is nobody else in this world more important to her than us, except maybe her family. Just relax.”
Adam wished he could, but he didn’t come by trust very easily. Still, he gave a five-minute effort while Killian went back to typing. It didn’t last. His concerns couldn’t be contained. “What do you think they have to talk about?”
Killian groaned, turning to bang his head onto his table before lifting a pleading gaze in Adam’s direction. “Please don’t start this. We have our big birthday dinner to cook to show her how domestic we can be and then the party we organized to show that we’re willing to invest our time and energy into making something special for her. Everything just as Ma said to do it, so don’t be fucking nothing up now with your worrying.”
“I still don’t like it.” Adam shook his head. “We need to take steps to make sure this situation doesn’t get out of hand.”
“This situation?” Killian laughed. “That is—”
Killian broke off his argument as the sheriff strutted into the lobby. All smiles and swagger, Alex greeted Duncan, who scrambled to look awake. Alex even managed a happy and all too smug hello for Adam and Killian before he disappeared into his office. The son of a bitch was gloating, and there wasn’t any way Killian could miss it.
Adam waited, glaring at Killian as Killian glared at the sheriff’s door. Finally, Killian turned his scowl back to Adam and conceded defeat. “I guess we better come up with a plan.”
“I’ve got an idea.” It was time to show Rachel who they really were.
Chapter 14
Killian relaxed against the bar and considered the party in front of him just didn’t look so right. The pink and yellow girly decorations were spot on, thanks to his mother. The food and sweets were excellent, thanks to Heather. That meant Killian had done his half of the party right.
So the fact that they were standing around Riley’s bar with a three men to one woman ratio was all Adam’s fault. He’d been in charge of location and guest list. Killian had told the putz to go through Rachel’s phone and call everyone in it, but the man had to have his principles about snooping through her stuff.
It wasn’t like Killian had been telling him to look for some secret lover. He’d just wanted to avoid a room full of too many available men. Other than Heather and his mother, every single other woman in the bar had come as a date. Given his mother’s age and Heather’s mother status, that only left Rachel for the pickings.
Not that Killian worried over the gaggle of men surrounding Rachel. They wouldn’t touch her because she wouldn’t let them. Rachel knew who she belonged to, which was just what he remembered when Adam had started going over his crazy plan to take Rachel out to the club. The man actually wanted to use sex to force her to tell them what she had going on with Alex.
Using sex as a tool didn’t bother Killian, but Rachel wouldn’t appreciate it. There was only so long they could keep her doped up on lust. Eventually, she’d sober up and then have their balls for breakfast. Rachel would need to be a hell of a lot tamer before they started to introduce her to her new role as their woman.
It was kind of like gentling a filly. First, they had to get her used to their touch and having them around all the time. Then, they’d slowly rope her and train her for the riding. If they moved too fast or took her too far now, they risked her bolting.
Then she’d go wild. Killian had seen it happen, women showing up at the club all uncertain and nervous, but once they had a taste of the thrills, they couldn’t get enough. Hell, how many times did I help it along?
Too many for him to risk taking Rachel out to the club anytime soon. Even if she had some kind of friendship with the sheriff going on, pushing her now might be the thing that pushed her right into Alex’s arms. That bastard would love for Killian to shoot himself in the foot.
Besides, Killian didn’t completely buy Alex’s show. So he’d shared a lunch with Rachel. They’d been keeping enough tabs on that girl to know that’s probably all the sheriff had shared with her. A little small talk about the weather and maybe even some conversation about Killian and Adam, that’s all they had in common.
Nothing there to overreact to, no matter how much the sheriff wanted them to believe otherwise. This party, though, that could be a problem.
Killian had to hand it to his mother. She’d done a bang-up job of turning the dark, manly space into a somewhat cheery and almost appropriate area for a woman’s birthday party. It had to have taken her over ten miles worth of streamers and whatever they called those things that looped all around the tables. Killian glared at the pink and white tissue-like paper that dressed every single hard edge in some kind of skirting.
Whatever they were, his mother would know what to call them. Having her handle all the details might have been a brilliant idea, but it also meant that they’d come to the introducing-Rachel-to-his-mother stage of the relationship. By rights, it should have terrified him because there would be no stopping his mother after this night.
His mom had made it clear. She wanted her grandkids, and given his sister preferred the company of women, that left it to Killian to step up to the plate. Or so the reasoning went, but Killian didn’t buy it. Robin could have kids. She didn’t need a man for that. Not that he could say that to his mom.
She’d bent over backwards to accept her children, but she’d drawn the line at grandkids. Somebody would make her a grandmom, and Killian had been chosen for the task. So he’d simply stopped bringing any dates by. It saved him having to endure the endless pressure once the woman disappeared.
His mother knew his game, and Killian could swear that she was more than partly responsible for Adam’s sudden need to settle down. His mom had figured out quickly enough which boy could be pressured and already knew that Killian’s sons might very well be Adam’s as well. Like any good mom, she kne
w which boy was weaker and had started to work her motherly charm on Adam.
It would help if Adam didn’t talk to her about everything. Killian knew he’d already done the stupid thing and asked her for advice about Rachel. Now that they’d actually introduced her to his mother, there would be no stopping her. He’d be lucky not to be wearing a tux and standing in front of a preacher by the end of the summer.
Oh, well. At least as my wife, I won’t have to worry about her running wild. As an added bonus, she’d be obliged to see to all his needs. The very idea of how they’d be spending the honeymoon made Killian grin. It would be lewd and sweaty and all the right kinds of fun.
They wouldn’t even need to waste money on some exotic resort. They could just take her to the club. Killian stiffened right up, both to his full six feet along the bar’s edge and his full ten inches inside his jeans. Now that was a moment of pure inspiration.
He wondered if she’d let him get away with that. Instinctively searching out Rachel in the crowd, Killian made a silent bet with himself that he could get her to agree. Almost as soon as he swore to try, he completely forgot about what he’d been thinking about. Charlie was still talking to Rachel, and he didn’t trust that player for anything.
Charlie was young. He had only been a deputy out in Cladsine for four years and a member of the Cattlemen for two. That kind of youth made him cocky and eager to make a name for himself, or so Killian reasoned, given that’s what he’d been like at Charlie’s age.
As a randy buck, Killian certainly hadn’t wasted time flirting with older wallflowers, which meant Charlie shouldn’t, either. Then again, he would have if he could have stolen the uncollared filly from a much older Cattleman because that would impress the ranks out at the club.
Over my dead body. Actually, more like Charlie’s if he didn’t stop making Rachel laugh. Not about to sit back and play the fool while some other man made his move, Killian slapped his beer down onto the bar and went to put a kibosh on ol’ Charlie’s plans.
It was fitting that she interrupted Charlie to greet him with a big smile and quick kiss. After all, he was her man. “Hey, baby.”
“What’s up, man?” Charlie nodded at him.
“Not much. Just wondering what you’re saying to my girl that has her all smiling?” Killian shot back without any heat, looping an arm over Rachel’s shoulders to tuck her into his side.
The possessive gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Charlie, who smirked at him. He could laugh all he wanted as long as he understood just who Rachel belonged to.
“I was just telling her about the boat Duncan and I are buying.” Charlie grinned wolfishly, and Killian knew what that pervert was thinking. The boat was a pleasure craft, and those two deputies intended to make the title a reality.
“He was saying he’d love to take us out sometime this summer.”
Rachel explained what Killian already knew. Well, if he wanted to get Rachel into a bikini and out on the water, Charlie should be talking to Killian first. “I guess we’ll see how it works out. Now—”
“Rachel?”
Killian’s blood froze in his veins. Not just because a man had dared to interrupt him but because Rachel tolerated it. Turning toward the sheriff and offering him a big smile, she greeted the bastard like a welcome friend, which he knew he could not possibly be. The dirty bastard works faster than I thought.
“Alex?”
By his first fucking name! That didn’t go over well with Killian. Neither did the slight alarm in her too happy surprise. It put Killian right on edge because it made him think Rachel wanted to hide this association from him. The rest of her greeting didn’t put that worry to rest.
“I didn’t expect you to show.”
“Well, I can’t stay long, but I did want to stop by and say ‘happy birthday.’ Hey, Killian, Charlie.”
“What’s up, sheriff?” Charlie greeted him while Killian just glared over Rachel’s head.
“Nothing much. I just wanted to give this to the birthday girl.”
Alex held an envelope out toward Rachel. Killian smirked to see it unaccompanied by a gift. The idiot wouldn’t be wooing Killian’s lady away with just a card. Not when Killian and Adam had gone all out and gotten her just what she always talked about buying—a new, big-screen monitor for her computer.
“I didn’t have a chance to get to the store.”
Rachel accepted that weak excuse with a gracious smile. “Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
Killian barely paid the too-cute animal card any notice as she pulled it out. Instead, he met Alex’s smirk with his own. “I didn’t know you and Rachel were such good—”
“Oh, my God!” Rachel squealed before throwing her arms around Alex and swallowing him in a big hug. That bastard’s grin went from smug to victorious.
Son of a bitch! Killian knew this game, every step, because he’d played it before. Alex was making a play for Rachel. A subtle one, because the whole point was for the woman to not recognize the come on.
The move stuck the lover, Killian, with only two choices. He could take it silently or pick a fight. If Killian started the fight, his stock would go down with Rachel. Alex, as the injured man, would have his in. Well, fuck that.
He wouldn’t give the bastard the pleasure of falling for his tricks. Killian would figure a way out of this…Correction, Adam will figure a way to keep Rachel protected. Only Adam wasn’t exactly thinking straight these days. God help him if he actually had to talk to his mom, but it might come to that.
“I can’t believe you took the time to do this. That’s just so sweet.” Rachel settled back on her heels to gaze up at Alex with the googly-eyed look she should only be turning on Adam and him.
“Well…” Alex shrugged with a bashful look. “I wanted to be of some help for the famous author. Maybe you can name your sheriff after me when you write your book. Make me all smooth and good looking, you know?”
“Book?” Killian snatched the card that had led his woman astray out of Rachel’s hand. Even as he began scanning to see what had gotten her all excited, he started demanding answers. “What book?”
“Oh.” The sudden tension in Rachel’s voice flattened out the excitement. In that instant, as she rushed to answer him, Killian knew she was lying. “It’s nothing, just a little daydream kind of project I had floating in my head.”
“I don’t think it’s nothing,” Alex disagreed. “You’re a great reporter with a smart enough head to be the next big name.”
Whatever the hell they were talking about, it pissed Killian off. He should know about a book if she was writing one. It sure as hell wasn’t “nothing” given Rachel’s disproportionate response to the long list of reference books and websites Alex had given her as a gift. It was even handwritten to make it look like he’d spent a lot of time on his “thoughtful” present.
“Prostitution?” Killian lifted his glare from the notes to Rachel’s too wide, too innocent gaze. “You’re writing a book on prostitution?”
“Not exactly…it’s just…you know, an idea.” Rachel was hedging, which triggered all of Killian’s instincts. Something was wrong here.
Very, very wrong. The itch to hit Alex ate at Killian, but he held back, trying for the higher ground in front of Rachel. He could hit Alex later, when her back was turned.
“If you want to write a book, that’s really cool.” Killian forced a smile as he handed the card back to Rachel. “I think the sheriff’s quite right. You could easily be the next biggest thing.”
“Yeah.” Rachel stared at him for a solid second before turning to cast a big smile at the other two men. “Thank you very much for the gift, sheriff, and it was wonderful to meet you, Charlie, but you’ll have to excuse me. I need to ask Heather about…the food.”
* * * *
“I told you to stay away from that man.”
“No, you didn’t,” Rachel snapped back as she turned away from Killian’s glare. “And could you at least pretend to loo
k like you’re fussing over the food.”
“Well, I would have if you’d told me that you were going to be messing with the sheriff,” Heather groused as she surveyed the long line of food laid out before her. “And I’m not working tonight, so consider the fact that I’m even standing by the buffet a birthday gift.”
Rachel knew that stubborn tone and didn’t have time to try and fight it. “Well, then can we at least stand in the kitchen?”
“Why?” Heather glanced up, finally looking ready to smile. “You’ve lowered yourself to hiding now?”
“I’m not hiding,” she said, but she really wanted to. “I just need a moment to figure out what I’m going to say to Killian and Adam.”
“Ah, got to get your story straight.” Heather nodded. “You should talk to Taylor. He’s a master at making up stories.”
“Ha. Ha.” Rachel rolled her eyes at Heather’s obnoxiousness. She already knew she was acting like a juvenile. She didn’t need Heather to remind her. What Rachel needed was help. “Come on, Heather, I’m in a jam here.”
“Yeah, and I’m still not clear on the details.” Casting her another smirky look, Heather taunted her. “You want to tell me a story?”
She shot Heather a dirty look for having fun at her expense, but Rachel didn’t bother with thinking of a lie. There was no point to it, and Heather might actually have something useful to say at some point. “It’s not that bad. I bumped into Alex and Konor when I was leaving the Bread Box and, you know, one thing led to another with Konor mentioning he’d heard about the party and Alex not knowing.
“So I kind of invited them.” Rachel shrugged it off despite the snicker Heather so visibly held back. Heather might not be buying it and she had glossed over something, but the line sounded pretty good to her. One well worth using on Killian and Adam when that moment came.
“You invited Konor and Alex,” Heather repeated it as if she needed to hear the words one more time to believe them. “I never thought you could be so dumb.”
Penn, Jenny - Rachel's Seduction [Cattleman's Club] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 16
