“No. I told you I resigned, but nobody told you that Cole didn’t belong to the club anymore,” Kyle corrected her. “So how did you know that?”
Hailey shrugged, not about to rat Patton out. “I assumed.”
“More like somebody told you,” Kyle retorted.
“Somebody probably named Patton,” Cole tacked on. “Which kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it, Kyle? You been checking up on us, princess? Having your friend paw through the club files to find out all our secrets?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hailey dismissed him and his accusation with a lightness that earned her a growl from the other side of the table.
“I don’t know, Cole. If Hailey had read our files, I don’t think she’d be so relaxed about what’s coming her way in six days.”
The savage hunger in Kyle’s tone matched the wicked intent that curled his lips up. He enjoyed thinking about what she had coming, a change from his attitude for the past three weeks. A change from just that afternoon when he’d been all cajoling with double-dimpled grins.
“Counting your chickens a little early.” No point in playing nice if Kyle didn’t.
Cole burst into laughter, and even Kyle managed to put some true humor in his grin. “After three weeks, you still clinging on to that hope? You know what I think, Cole?”
“Hmm?”
“I think we should take the little princess out to the club.” Kyle’s gaze darkened on her even as his voice dipped into a husky purr. “Show her what consequences are coming her way.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” She could sense Cole’s chin turning in her direction, but Kyle held her gaze trapped with its intensity. He actually looked dangerous. “What do you say, princess? Want to go get a peek at how the other half plays?”
“I’m not that dumb.” It popped out of her more in response to Kyle’s look than Cole’s suggestion but drew laughter from both men. Scowling at them for having so much fun at her expense, Hailey huffed. “Besides, don’t you two have plans?”
“We got about an hour before the games start.”
“Games?” Hailey glared at Cole, reading into his answer all sorts of salacious misdeeds. “What do you mean, games?”
“Poker, why?” Cole shot back, all smug. “What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing.”
“You know, Cole.” Kyle pondered her with the same arrogant smirk. “I think our little princess is jealous.”
“I am not,” Hailey shot at Kyle.
“I do think you’re right.”
Turning her chin, she scowl at Cole. “He is not.”
“Why don’t you just admit it, princess?” Kyle drawled, bringing her frown back to him.
“Just say it, and we’ll respect your wishes and not go to the club,” Cole murmured in her ear, making her feel that much more cornered.
She wanted to give in, but her pride just wouldn’t bend to their smiles. “I am not jealous.”
“Okay then.” Kyle leaned back, seeming to go instantly relaxed as he cast Cole a curious look. “You know I’m thinking I could do with some dessert.”
“Oh, they got some sweet treats out at the club.”
Hailey started growling as Kyle nodded, sliding toward the edge of the bench. “Oh, yeah, I’m thinking the chocolate dipped kind.”
“With a creamy center.” Cole’s arm disappeared as he shoved away from her.
“And some whip cream.” Kyle grinned in anticipation of something that had nothing to do with dessert. “You know how I like to lick things.”
“All right!” Hailey snapped, unable to take it anymore even as she remained firmly convinced they were teasing her. “I’m jealous, now sit back down.”
Cole’s ass hit the seat the same second Kyle’s did across they way. Then she had two grinning idiots on her hands.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it, princess?” Cole looped his arm back around her shoulders and snuggled her in close to his side.
“Maybe we should hold out until she volunteers to be our dessert,” Kyle offered. “That seems more like a fair trade, doesn’t it?”
“That it does.” Cole nuzzled her ear to growl the temptation into her soul. “What you say, princess? Ever been dipped in chocolate?”
“Stop it, Cole.” Hailey shoved him back, giving him a dirty look. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I think you should remember we’re six days away from when you get to be that kind of lewd.”
“Six days?” Cole snorted. “Try twenty-four hours, princess, or don’t you consider our porno-date nights lewd?”
“If I say no, you’ll take it as a challenge, right?” Hailey shot back. “And you think I’m dumb enough to do that and screw myself out of my dinner?”
“Dinner?” Cole glanced over at Kyle. “What she talking about?”
“You didn’t tell him?”
Kyle shrugged at both their questions. “It didn’t come up.”
When Kyle didn’t continue, Hailey explained the rest to Cole. “You’re cooking me dinner, and we’re doing the proper date night tomorrow. You know, the one where you pick your underwear off the floor before I come over?”
“You mean I got to clean?” Cole actually managed to sound outraged at the very idea.
“And cook.” Hailey didn’t show any mercy. “Don’t forget I expect to be well fed.”
Cole snorted at her threat, turning to glare at Kyle. “You agreed to this and you didn’t even tell me?”
“What’s wrong, Cole?” Hailey jumped on his question before Kyle could respond. “Got other plans?”
He gave away his answer by the second of stillness that flashed over him before he cocked his head. There was that charm, the old Cole smoothness she hated. “Plans? No plans. Why you ask?”
“I don’t know.” Hailey shrugged, returning his brittle smile. “I guess I figured you for the type that might like to eat dessert before dinner.”
No more laughter swirled in his gaze. It went deadly still as he leaned in, his voice dipping to a rough whisper. “You know, darlin’, after all these weeks, I’d think you know me better by now.”
“Maybe Hailey just needs to be taught the lesson,” Kyle suggested, drawing a quick glance from her. He looked about as pissed as Cole sounded, and she didn’t understand that at all.
“Is that what it’s going to take?” Cole asked. “You want us to prove it to you?”
Hailey didn’t really know what the hell they were talking about then, but she knew her answer. Meeting his gaze dead-on, she nodded. “Yes.”
Just like that Cole relaxed back, shooting a grin over to Kyle. “You hear that, man? I guess we’re going to have to find some way to prove it to our princess.”
Kyle didn’t smile. He just stared hard at her, making Hailey’s muscles tingle with the need to bolt. “I guess we are.”
“Well,” Cole pulled his arm back and shoved out of the booth, “we gotta get to that game.”
“What?” Hailey’s head snapped in his direction. “I thought you said you weren’t going to the club.”
“The club?” Kyle snorted as he shoved up to his feet. “We’re playing poker at our house. Really, Hailey, where do you get these ideas?”
“She’s just paranoid,” Cole commented as the two men started to strut off. “I’m thinking we’ve hitched our wagon to a crazy lady, Kyle.”
“Yeah.” Kyle cast her a look over his shoulder. “But she does look good naked.”
Whatever Cole’s responses, she didn’t catch them over the din of the fading dinner crowd. Glaring at their backs, she watched them disappear through the deli’s door before releasing her breath. Something was up. They couldn’t know about the plan, which meant they started their own game.
Not a good sign.
Chapter 30
Wednesday, May 28th
Kyle stared down at the burgers not even seeing them. He still couldn’t get over it. Yesterday when Cole skipped out on lunch, he hadn’t been
worried about anything. Then Adam had showed up and ripped all of Kyle’s hopes to shreds.
Taking a deep breath, Kyle reminded himself that it would all be all right. They had a plan. They had help. Lots of help because Hailey had gone too far this time. Not just Hailey, the whole damn lot of them.
There is a war at hand, men. A revolution that threatens to overthrow the entire order of things in this town. This is the second offense, and if we don’t step up and put this thing down now, it will only be a matter of time before you all fall.
Devin Davis made that proclamation last night as he governed over the impromptu meeting he called of the Cattlemen. To a man, each ducked out of their night’s previous engagements to huddle around their house and construct a plan.
Pissed off and alarmed, men rallied to Chase’s arguments that they had to pool together and make a statement. They’d put this revolution down and remind the women of just where their place was.
Lust clenched into his anger as Kyle reminded himself of just where he and Cole agreed Hailey’s place was. In their bed, bound, naked, and at their mercy. She’d be offering that up along with all the words Kyle wanted to hear. Then they’d savage her little body all night long, all day long, for days.
“Hey.” Hailey’s head popped out of the kitchen door to snatch him back into the moment.
He forced a smile as she stepped out on to the patio, but the gesture did little to actually ease the tension in his body. All day, he’d been working hard on being his normal, relaxed self. Hailey still seemed hesitant around him, not appearing to buy into his act.
As much as she might doubt his performance, hers didn’t come off too well. For all the smiles and pointless chatter, she remained tense, edgy. Kyle knew why, but he left it alone.
“I set the table. How long until we eat?” Hailey rubbed her belly in a pointed statement, but he could hear the uncertainty in her voice. It had been there all evening. “I’m starved, and you know how I get when I get hungry.”
It took all his effort to actually make his body relax and slouch back into a not so battle-ready stance. “Yeah, I know, princess, but you’re just going to have to survive a few minutes more.”
“Don’t you mean you’ll have to survive me for a few minutes more?” Hailey offered with a desperate tint of humor. “And don’t even think of suggesting we wait for Cole. I take it that was him on the phone, and he’s just started on his way home.”
Home. Kyle wondered if she realized how often she used that word anymore. He knew she didn’t mean it terms of any house or street address. She said the same kind of things about her own place because home had slowly come to mean where the three of them were together.
Only Cole wasn’t coming home, and he knew Cole’s absence put the worry in her gaze. It had been there since lunch yesterday. “No. Uh, something came up with a car. He said he’d probably be pretty late.”
“Oh.” All the joy drained out of her voice with that one simple word. “I guess he’s chosen to eat dessert first, after all.”
The bitter anger in her comment pleased Kyle as much as it pained him. Neither emotion made it into his response. “He’s looking at a car, Hailey, not a woman. You know, I think Cole’s right about you. You’re getting paranoid.”
“I’m not paranoid,” she snapped instantly.
Ignoring her objection, Kyle continued on, talking as much to himself as her. “Of course, it kind of makes me wonder why you care. I mean, you bet the man he couldn’t be faithful. Sort of takes away your right to be mad if he isn’t. Doesn’t it?”
“You’re really trying to piss me off, aren’t you?”
“No.” But she was doing a good job with him. “I’m just trying to figure this out. If you’re jealous, that means you care. So do you care?”
“I care about getting fed because this is not exactly turning into the pleasant dinner you promised.” With that, she stormed back into the house. Kyle took that as a yes.
* * * *
Kitty Anne’s picture hadn’t done her justice. As beautiful as she looked in the image, the blonde was downright mesmerizing in person. Even the way her lips kissed out to embrace the butt of her cigarette lured a man in, and Cole didn’t care for smokers.
Nor did he get into the film noir scene, and this woman definitely came from that genre. Folded gracefully into a darkened corner, she exuded a mysterious air. Her hair shinning, her long legs glowing, those sky-lit eyes shifting, everything about her read “on the make,” but this wasn’t a two-bit bar hussy. No, she had the grace and elegance to pull off the old movie star look and not end up being cheap and tacky for it.
“Jacob said you might share an interest in some of my…hobbies.” Smoke slowly slipped out with each husky note as her full lips slid back into a seductive smile.
That smile, that body, her whole act, even knowing it was one, should have triggered the battle cry of a worthy challenge in his body on any given day of the week. Cole always wondered how his dad resisted all those women who had been so quick to flirt with him.
It seemed to him a hard challenge. One that he always feared he failed. Even finding out that Hailey set him up hadn’t triggered any sour feelings because he figured she had some right to worry. God’s truth, he’d never be the type of man who didn’t notice a pretty woman, and flirting just sort of came as second nature to him.
Now, though, he knew what his father meant when he said it would all just be skin deep if it wasn’t with the right woman. That’s all he felt for Kitty Anne. A little awareness, a certain appreciation, but definitely wishing he was with Hailey instead.
Kyle, that son of a bitch, got the fun part of the equation. While Cole had to go plaster on a fake smile and make sure he didn’t cross any line, Kyle would be dicking it up with their woman all night long, laying it on nice and thick until the little princess purred.
God, but I love to hear her purr.
“Am I boring you, Mr. Jackson?”
Cole blinked and then threw up a quick smirk to cover his slip in attention. Focus on the now, dumbass. “Sorry, darlin’, I just got lost in the moment.”
Her gaze narrowed on the “darlin’,” and he could see her jaw tighten ever so slightly despite the smile that forced her lips up. “Not a problem, Mr. Jackson, but you still haven’t answered my question.”
Shrugging, Cole knew how to work the game. “I might, but then again, I might not be.”
“If not, then there’s the door.”
Cole didn’t even look in the direction Kitty Anne nodded. Instead, he leaned in to drop his own voice in the range of a lover. “I guess it all depends on whether or not I’ve heard right about you.”
Kitty met him over the table, her lips fluttering very close to his. “And what have you heard?”
“That you have a very big fiancé who might take objection to your hobbies.”
“Scared?” She offered him a slow smile that followed with a soft brush of her lips over his as she purred on. “You don’t need to worry about him.”
Cole snapped back when she bit his lower lip. Instinctively his hand when to his lip, looking for blood as he growled out. “Damn it, woman, that hurt.”
Kitty chuckled as she settled back into her seat. “Can’t take it, but you can dish it out. Is that it, Mr. Jackson?”
That had Cole’s eyes narrowing on the woman. She might look like a goddess, but she was clearly a bitch. “Maybe you should ask yourself that, Miss Kitty, or are you not willing to try something new?”
One perfectly arched eyebrow lifted. “Is that a challenge, Mr. Jackson?”
“Only if you take it as such.” Cole ducked a second direct answer, not about to be hemmed in by this one. For all the theatrics, the woman had her own agenda. “You might consider it a chance to explore a little more of life’s pleasures.”
“Maybe I’ve already been down that road.”
“Not with me,” Cole assured her with his best grin. “Trust me, darlin’, I can show you scenery
you never dreamed of.”
Instead of retreating, Kitty Anne’s smile took on a true touch of emotion. “That’s what they all say, Mr. Jackson.”
“I can do more than say.” Cole leaned back in, daring another damn bite and promising it would come out of Hailey’s hide if her friend pulled the rude stunt again. “I can show you. I’m even willing to pay for the trip.”
No bite, just a smooth retreat and a slow consideration. “Perhaps this is a conversation that would go better in private.”
Shit. He didn’t want to have a private conversation with the crazy lady. Private meant she might push for things he didn’t intend on delivering. Cole knew he walked a fine line here because whatever he did would be getting back to Hailey. He needed to be clean enough to command the guilt he wanted.
Kitty didn’t leave him any choice in the matter. Apparently they had a date, and he had better hope Hailey hadn’t required actual fooling around to make this show go down. If she had, then it would be her ass and he’d tan it good.
Pressing the napkin on which she scrawled out an address in his direction, Kitty gave him another one of those sultry smiles. “Fifteen minutes and then follow.”
* * * *
It became harder and harder as the night ticked by for Hailey to fake being even slightly happy. She thought she did a good job through dinner, despite her earlier outburst. Kyle must have sensed he pushed too hard because he returned back to her sweet, understanding lover.
It left her believing that he knew. He knew what Cole was up to, and that’s why he’d been so mad this past day. Knowing Cole would be crashing their relationship, Kyle must have become desperate to try and save it.
As desperate as Hailey became to hear the sound of Cole’s truck in the drive, the only thing that filled the air was the movie. She’d been able to stare more at the screen than at the little clock keeping time on the DVD player through the first movie. The second movie became her downfall.
Hailey couldn’t even concentrate on the plot. All she could do was watch those little digital numbers turn over until they fell squarely over the eleven o’clock line—well past the time when Cole could legitimately claim to be working on a car deal in Dothan.
Hailey's Game Page 31
