by Becca Van
“Did you mean it?” Dawson asked.
Bella glanced over at Kent when he came back from the bathroom. She spied the damp washcloth in his hand, and though she was a little uncomfortable about him and Dawson cleaning her up after they’d made love, she also liked it. They seemed to want to care for her, and that only made her fall in love with them even more.
“Did I mean what?” Bella asked. She held her breath when Kent stroked a hand up from her ankle to her knee before he lifted her top leg out of the way and then proceeded to gently wipe hers and Dawson’s mixed cream from her pussy, ass, and inner thighs.
Kent discarded the cloth by flinging it to the floor, and then he crawled back up onto the bed, spooning her from behind. “Did you mean it when you said you loved us?”
Bella tensed, her breath hitching in her lungs and her heart slamming painfully in her chest before beating rapidly. She didn’t remember telling them she loved them, but then she was so caught up in the magic of their lovemaking that she could have said anything. Then she remembered she’d been chanting something even if she didn’t know what it had been at the time. Her cheeks heated and she pressed her forehead against Dawson’s chest, wishing there was somewhere she could hide.
“Look at me, baby,” Dawson demanded.
She shook her head, but when Dawson grabbed hold of her braid and tugged her head up, without hurting her, she didn’t have a choice but to meet his gaze.
“What are you embarrassed about, Bella? You don’t think you’re the only one feeling the love, do you?”
She gnawed on her lower lip and gave a slight nod.
Kent leaned over her so she could see his face. “Darlin’, if my heart was any fuller, I’d probably burst out into song.”
Bella’s lips twitched with humor, and though she tried to swallow her mirth back down, she was fighting a losing battle. She giggled and then the laughter burst out of her. The tension she’d been holding in her muscles, in her body, eased as she laughed loudly. Kent always seemed to know what to do or say to ease her worry, and he didn’t fail her now.
He and Dawson shifted and nudged her onto her back. They braced their weight on their elbows as they leaned their heads on their hands. Kent cupped one cheek with his palm and stared into her gaze. There was so much emotion, love, in his blue eyes that her own ended up stinging with unshed tears.
“I love you, Isabella Fuller. I knew the instant I saw you that you were special.” Kent leaned down and kissed her so lightly, yet so reverently, poignantly, on the lips that the tears burning her eyes formed and trickled down her cheeks.
Dawson clasped her chin between his finger and thumb, bringing her gaze around to his again. “I love you so much, baby. You’re everything I ever dreamed of and never expected to find. You complete me in ways I would never be able to explain.” He kissed her just as sweetly, just as softly as Kent had, and she knew that they both meant every word they’d said to her.
Bella sucked in a deep breath and went for broke.
“I love you, Dawson.” She turned to meet Kent’s gaze. “I love you, Kent.”
Both of her men shifted until they were lying on their sides with their arms slung over her waist and hips.
“Thank you for trusting us with your heart, Bella,” Kent said.
“Thank you for trusting us with your body and soul,” Dawson said.
“Thank you for trusting me to bring me into your life.” Bella swallowed around the emotional lump constricting her throat as the tears of happiness rolled down her face.
She’d given up on her dreams of finding a man to love and one to love her in return without changing who she was. To have two men declare their love for her was a dream come true. Bella was going to be the best girlfriend they’d ever had.
She planned to tell them each and every day just how much they meant to her and hoped they did the same. She would never get tired of being told she was loved by Kent and Dawson.
They’d somehow managed to conquer her trepidation of getting close to the opposite sex. They’d stormed into her life and targeted her for a takedown. Bella hadn’t stood a chance against them, and she was glad they’d won the battle. Now that she had them in her life and she was in theirs, she didn’t want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else. The thought of having another man touch her was so repugnant her stomach roiled.
They were her conquering lovers because they’d smashed down the wall she had up around her heart, and she’d never been happier.
Bella just hoped that nothing and no one was able to destroy what they had, because she wasn’t sure she could survive without Kent and Dawson in her life.
Chapter Sixteen
He thought back over how it felt to take another life, but it hadn’t done anything for him. The craving to have the sheriffs’ woman wouldn’t leave, and he knew he wasn’t going to be satisfied until she was dead.
He didn’t need to follow the sheriffs or their woman to find out where they lived, because it was a small town and most of the locals knew everyone’s business. He endured making love to his wife and after she’d fallen asleep had showered the stench of her from his body before dressing and heading out. He was careful as he scouted the land close to the sheriffs’ ranch, looking for the optimal position where he could hide and watch the place from afar, without being spotted. His reconnaissance paid off. The sun had just started to rise when he found a mature plains cottonwood tree that had been standing for a long time. The trunk was thick, as were the branches, and the green foliage would conceal him as long as he dressed in his military camouflage.
He wouldn’t be able to get to her from where he was, but he might be able to figure a way to lure her out into the open, and then she would be his. It didn’t matter how much he was clamoring inside to make his move. He wasn’t about to let the yearning free, because if he made a mistake and moved too soon, he’d end up getting caught. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to finish what he’d started and his life’s work would be messed up until the order of things had been put to rights. It wouldn’t matter how many other sluts he killed in her place. He wasn’t going to be satisfied until she drew her last breath and died at his hands.
Waiting for hours wouldn’t bother him, and his woman was too dumb to figure out he hadn’t slept beside her all night long. She would believe what was expected, that he’d spent the night in their bed, sleeping until it was time for him to get up and head to work. She never woke up during the night after falling asleep, so he was safe from her prying and nagging. After he’d spent the day working, he’d call and tell her he was meeting his friends for a drink, but he wouldn’t be consuming any alcohol. No, he was going to come back to his hidden perch and watch the sheriffs’ ranch.
Hopefully by nightfall he’d know what he was going to do and how he was going to do it.
* * * *
Bella had just exited the Chamber of Commerce offices after a busy workday, and as soon as she was outside, the hair at her nape stood on end. She glanced around but couldn’t see anyone watching her. However, she spied Misha walking down the street toward her.
“Bella!” Misha called out and waved.
Bella headed in Misha’s direction, and when she saw the frown on her new friend’s face, she knew there was something wrong. “What’s up?”
“Would you believe I have two flat tires?”
“Shit! Did someone slash them?” Bella was uneasy and glanced about again, but no one was taking any notice of her or Misha.
“No.” Misha sighed. “I must have run over some glass or something. I thought about calling Spence and Clay to come help out, but when I peeked in the windows of the sheriff’s office, they looked as if they were in a meeting. I didn’t want to disturb them.”
“Have you called a tow truck?” Bella asked.
“Yes, and the car was just towed away. Since your office wasn’t that far from where I work, I thought I could hitch a ride with you.”
“Sure,” Bella said and beg
an walking her to the parking lot around the back of the building. “If you hadn’t had your car towed, I could have helped you change the tires.”
Misha smiled as she glanced Bella’s way. “And how would you do that, girlfriend? I only have one spare.”
“Our cars are nearly the same size,” Bella answered. “My spare would have fit your car.”
Misha nodded and stopped at the passenger side of Bella’s car as she unlocked it. They both got in and Bella inserted the key into the ignition. “Do you know how to change a tire?”
“I do.”
“Wow, who taught you how to do that?” Misha grabbed her seat belt and clipped it into the slot.
“Maria did.”
“Your sister knew how to change a tire?” Misha asked incredulously.
“Yes.” Bella giggled. “She got a flat one day and had to call a roadside service. She couldn’t believe how expensive it was just to call someone out to change her tire, so she got on the Internet and found a video that explained and showed how to do it step-by-step. She made me help her.”
“Is it hard?” Misha asked.
Bella shook her head as she glanced at the traffic before pulling out onto the road and heading toward the ranch. “No. It’s a dirty job and using those windup jacks is a pain in the ass because I always end up scraping my knuckles on the road, but it’s pretty straightforward really.”
“Will you teach me how to do that?” Misha covered her mouth when she yawned.
Bella met her glance as she nodded and then checked her mirrors before turning her indicator on and changing lanes so she was in the right lane for the upcoming turn.
“As soon as we get to the ranch and I’ve changed clothes, we’ll get started.”
“Okay. Thanks, Bella.” Misha covered another yawn.
“Hard day?”
Misha nodded. “Why is it that chefs always think they’re above everyone else? They might be able to put together some great meals, but they’re just as human as you and I are.”
“I have no idea. I’ve never met a chef.”
Misha snorted. “Believe me, you aren’t missing out on anything.”
“So what happened?” Bella took the turn on the road leading to the ranch.
“The idiot couldn’t find his favorite knife. You should have heard the carry-on. Anyone would think the world was about to come to an end.”
“You know how to cook.” Bella glanced at Misha. “Why don’t you show this chef you aren’t just the office manager?”
Misha turned her gaze on Bella as she turned onto the long driveway leading toward the ranch houses. She stopped outside the main house since it was before Kent and Dawson’s home. Bella opened her car door but didn’t get out. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. Rick was ranting and raving about how no one could create meals as good as he could while he tore the kitchen apart looking for his damn knife. He actually accused one of the kitchen hands of stealing his precious blade. Apparently, the teenage girl had been eyeing that knife when Rick had been using it. The poor kid was probably terrified he was going to stab her or something. He has a habit of waving his hands in the air even while holding the blasted thing. She was probably imagining the blade flying through the air before sinking into her skin.”
“That poor girl.”
Misha nodded and got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Bella. I’ll be over at your place after I’ve changed.”
“Okay.” Bella waited until Misha closed the passenger car door and then headed toward Kent and Dawson’s place. As she parked her car, she wondered what the next step in their relationship was since they’d all declared their love for one another. She wanted to get married and have kids, but it was way too early to even contemplate those things, let alone talk about them.
She pushed her thoughts aside and got out of her car. As she ascended the front steps, the hair on the back of her neck prickled and rose. She spun around, looking for the source of her discomfort, but didn’t find the reason for her trepidation. She unlocked the door with the key Kent had given her that morning and stepped inside before closing and locking the door. She headed toward the bedroom to change. She was just grabbing a drink from fridge when there was a knock on the door, and she went to let Misha in.
They chatted more about their day as they sipped their unsweetened iced tea and then headed outside to start the tire-changing lesson.
Bella popped the trunk and retrieved the jack and lug wrench.
“How do you get those bolts undone?” Misha asked as she crouched down next to Bella.
“The easiest way is to try and loosen the lug nuts before lifting the tire from the ground. They’re usually secured by power drills by mechanics at a workshop. The more resistance to your pulling and tugging the better, but we don’t want to loosen them too much or the wheel could fall off.”
“Uh, okay.”
Bella grabbed the lug wrench, using the end to cover the lug nut, and stood bent over. She tugged and tugged, but the nut wouldn’t budge, so after making sure the wrench was secure, she placed one hand on the car to keep her balance and used her foot and the strength in her leg to push the lug wrench down.
“This looks like more trouble than it’s worth,” Misha murmured.
“It might take a bit of time, but this is the hardest part.” Bella huffed out a breath and then put all of her weight on the star-shaped lug wrench. She nearly shouted with elation when the nut loosened. She moved to the next nut, pleased that it wasn’t on as tight as the first one had been. When she had all the nuts semi loosened, she placed the jack under the car and turned to meet Misha’s gaze. “You need to make sure you position the jack in the right spot, because you don’t want the car falling down on top of you.”
“So you put it here because…?” Misha asked.
“This part of the body will sit in the notch on top of the jack.” Bella pointed to the notch.
Misha nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Good.” Bella smiled as she reached for the jack handle. “Place the handle here, and then you start winding. You don’t have to wind the jack all the way up. Just enough that the tire is off the ground with room to maneuver it a little.”
“Okay.”
Bella wound the jack until the tire was a couple of inches off the ground and then grasped the lug wrench from the ground. “Loosen the lugs until you can turn them with your fingers and put them aside,” she explained as she did as she said. “Now we can remove the tire.”
“Let me do it,” Misha said just as Bella was reaching for the tire. She nodded and moved out of the way and let Misha take the wheel off and set it aside. “That’s heavier than it looks.” Misha brushed a hand over her face, leaving dirt on her cheek. Bella giggled and quickly glanced away when Misha turned her gaze toward her. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay, now what?” Misha asked.
“If the tire was flat or damaged, you’d need to get the spare from the trunk, but since there’s nothing wrong with this one, we can just put it back on.”
Misha gave Bella an exasperated look but did as she’d said. “So now we put the nuts back on?”
“Yes.” Bella picked up a lug nut, but Misha snatched it from her.
“I’m ruling this show now, sister.”
Bella hid her smirk at the determined look in Misha’s eyes, but didn’t say anything as she passed over each of the lug nuts one at a time. “So I tighten them with that, now?”
“Yep.” Bella handed over the lug wrench and watched Misha tighten the lug nuts. “Okay, that’s good. Now we need to lower the tire back to the ground.”
The first couple of turns Misha gave the jack handle looked awkward, and she hissed when she scraped her knuckles on the concrete Bella had parked her car on, but she didn’t give up until the tire was back on the ground. “I did it.”
Bella smiled. “Yes, you did, but you aren’t finished yet.”
Misha groaned when she overbalanced from her
crouched position and landed on her ass.
“You need to make sure those nuts are really tight. Remember what I told you about resistance helping when loosening them.”
“Yes.” Misha held up her finger when Bella started to speak. “The same would apply to tightening them.”
“Yes,” Bella answered.
“Okay.” Misha scrambled onto her hands and knees and then balanced on the balls of her feet as she applied the wrench over the first nut. She tugged and pulled on each nut until they wouldn’t move another millimeter.
“Is that it?” Misha asked.
“It certainly is.” Bella stood and then offered a helping hand to Misha. The other woman took it and stood. “Now you know how to change a tire.”
“I’m glad.” Misha arched her back, groaning as she stretched out her aching muscles. “Everyone who drives should know how to do that, and now I will if I ever get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no one else around to help. However, if the guys are around or there’s a roadside service or tow truck close by, I’ll still be calling them.”
“Fair enough.” Bella collected the jack and lug wrench, carried them toward the trunk, and, after putting them back where they belonged, closed the lid.
“Do you want another drink?”
“Hell yes.” Misha grinned and then frowned at her dirty hands and bleeding knuckles before meeting Bella’s gaze again. “I worked up a bit of a sweat. I’m going to need a shower.”
“You can wash up inside,” Bella said as they headed toward the house.
They’d just finished cleaning up and sat down to enjoy their drinks when Kent, Dawson, Clay, and Spence entered the kitchen. Bella covered her mouth to stifle her giggle when she noticed Spence and Clay looking at the dirt on Misha’s face.
Clay rushed over to Misha, crouched down beside her, and grasped her chin between his finger and thumb. “What happened, baby?”
“Nothing.”
“Who the fuck hit you?” Spence rushed across the room, scooped Misha out of the chair, and then sat with her in his lap. He studied her face and brushed his thumb over the streak of dirt before looking at his thumb. Spence’s gaze zeroed in on her when Bella giggled. “What have you two been up to?”
