by Kadie Scott
Sarah gave a dramatic pout. “My sex life has been as dry as West Texas in a drought. A girl sometimes has to live vicariously. Just one little detail?”
Ashley snorted a laugh. Up until a few days ago, she’d been in the same boat. Maybe a breadcrumb wouldn’t hurt. “He’s very good at pushing buttons.” Secretly, she had a private laugh about the double meaning.
Sarah and Lucy both groaned. “I knew it,” Sarah crowed.
Trying to shove thoughts of Jennings aside, Ashley focused on this last dress fitting for the wedding. “You look gorgeous, Tay.”
Her sister had gone for a unique look for her Christmas wedding. One that would knock Eric’s socks off.
“Need help with your zipper?” Taylor asked.
She stepped off the little podium and worked the zipper of Ashley’s dress up. Together, they turned back to the mirror, arms around each other. The mirror reflected their twin likenesses in both their fancy dresses. A crystal chandelier cast sparkling light over them from above. Occasions like this were when Ashley loved being a twin. They beamed at each other in the mirror.
“Ohhhhh. You should get a picture like that on the day,” Lucy enthused.
“Yes. We should,” Ashley agreed, giving Taylor’s arm a squeeze. Then remembered a suggestion Jennings had made earlier today in one of their many exchanged texts. “I promised I’d send Jennings a picture of me in the dress.”
Taylor’s eyes lit up. “I bet he’ll wrap up his work for the day early to come peel this off you.”
Ashley tried not to picture that, or she’d never stay sensible. She’d promised herself. She posed as Taylor snapped the picture with her phone, then took her device back and texted the image to Jennings.
*
Jennings and Will were just starting to wrap up repairing the fences along the southern border, while Autry and Dad worked on the northern border, when his cell phone buzzed in his back pocket, alerting him to an incoming text.
Ashley probably. He was lucky he had service out here to get it. She was at a last fitting for dresses for the wedding, and he had insisted she send a picture of her in the dress as part of their pretense at dating.
After Will secured the barbed wire around the t-post, Jennings put the coil down, yanked off his thick leather gloves, and fished his phone out. “Give me a second.”
Will tipped his chin at the phone. “Ashley?”
Jennings shrugged.
“Is it about the fraud stuff?”
“No. Our lawyer’s dealing with it for now. I haven’t heard much back since it’s the holidays.”
“Makes sense. I hear you’re dating now?”
Jennings pretended to misunderstand. “Our lawyer? Mr. Reisen is a fifty-five-year-old man and happily married.”
Will snorted. “You know I meant Ashley.”
Another shrug. “It’s still early.”
“Don’t let her break your heart.”
Jennings hitched up onto the tailgate of the truck. “First you practically push me into bidding on her, insisting I should get her out of my system, and now I’m supposed to be careful?”
Will hopped up beside him. “I meant sleep with her to get her out of your system, not turn her into your girlfriend. She’s always managed to get you twisted up.”
His older brother had always been an observant schmuck. No one, including Ashley, realized that about Jennings, but Will did.
“That said, if you can figure it out, go for it.”
“I’m working on it,” Jennings muttered.
Will nodded and took a swig of strong, black coffee from his insulated travel mug. Jennings huddled in his jacket as wind whipped across the pasture, and turned to his phone. Sure enough, he found a picture of Ashley wearing a fancy white dress. Her expression could only be described as less than thrilled. Knowing Hughes, trying on bridesmaids’ dresses wasn’t the problem.
“White? Isn’t that the bride’s color?”
“Taylor’s doing a Christmas theme. Different, but cool. You’ll see.”
“Okay. You look beautiful, Hughes. Why the long face?”
“Unending questions about you.” She included an eye-rolling emoji.
“Really? Like what?”
“The girl equivalent of locker room talk.”
“I hope you’re being kind to me.”
“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell. I’m letting their imaginations do the work. Told them you know how to press my buttons.”
Jennings tossed his head back and laughed. She meant her annoyance buttons, but he hoped she meant the other too. All the sounds she’d made and how she melted in his arms when he kissed her told him she did.
Damn. Now he was hard. Again.
“Shall we mess with them?”
“Already on it.”
Of course she was already messing with them. He’d love to be a fly on the wall in that dress shop about now. “How?”
“I just told them you wanted to try a threesome.”
Jennings dropped his phone. It hit the rocky ground with an unfortunate clatter. “Shoot.” He hopped down and grabbed it, checking that it had survived the fall. He got lucky, no cracks.
“Dropped the phone. You can’t spring something like that on a guy.”
“LOL. Where’s the fun in that?”
“Tease. Any takers?”
“You wish.”
“Actually, you’re the only woman I want in my bed.”
If she could play with him, he could use the truth to do the same.
“No one is reading over my shoulder, Hill.”
He was supposed to be wooing her, but he just couldn’t resist the urge to be a little bad.
“Good. Then I can tell you I wouldn’t mind hearing your sexy moans again.” He paused and sent another text. “Or watch your face as I make you…”
“STOP!”
He chuckled, able to picture her exactly. Ashley Hughes needed more fun in her life. He intended to bring it to her. People pegged Autry as the fun-loving Hill sibling, but Jennings had learned everything he knew from his older brother. “What?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Finally, you figured it out.”
“And impossible.”
“You know you love it, Hughes. BTW. What time should I pick you up tonight?”
“Huh?”
“Your mom told me you don’t have anything planned. I figured an official date might be a good idea.”
“I’m going to have an early night and wake up when it’s next year.”
“Come on, Hughes. We’ll do something low-key. Dinner? Rent a movie, maybe?”
A long pause greeted his suggestion, and he waited, impatient. What was taking so long?
“This is Taylor. She’ll be ready by 6 p.m. Can Eric and I come? Make it a double date?”
Jennings scowled because how could he say no without looking like a dick. Blocked again. Then he barked a laugh, unable to help himself, because this was just his luck. “Sure. Put Ashley back on.”
“It’s me again. I’ve been ambushed.”
“We’ll have fun. I promise.”
“Get back to work, Hill. See you at 6.”
*
After a long day, and an even longer afternoon at home by himself, watching the clock tick slowly by, he finally pulled up the Hughes’ gravel drive to their home. Night had already fallen, the clouds that had obscured the sky all afternoon finally blowing away to reveal a perfect, starry sky.
Showered and dressed in casual jeans, boots, and a red button-down shirt with a thick leather jacket—he’d been doing a lot of dressing up lately—Jennings knocked at the Hughes’ door.
An Ashley look-alike opened it almost immediately.
“Hey, Taylor.”
She cocked her head. “How’d you know I wasn’t Ashley?” she asked.
“Seems pretty obvious to me.” He’d heard rumors of their changing places in school. Most people couldn’t tell them apart, though the difference to him w
as as obvious as chocolate and vanilla. He’d always been able to tell who was who. Ashley’s voice was a little lower, with a sexy rasp to it, her grey eyes a tad lighter. And his body didn’t respond to Taylor as it did Ashley.
Taylor smiled and reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Only, Taylor’s touch felt nothing like her sister’s. No zing to his heart. Or other parts. “She’ll be right out. Eric and I are going in his truck, so we’ll meet you there.”
“Sounds good.”
“Do you want to come in?”
“No need. I’m here,” Ashley called out from behind her sister.
Taylor sent him another smile and went inside, presumably to go with Eric to their truck.
A second later, Ashley appeared and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. His heart kicked up a gear. She, too, was dressed casually in jeans, though her boots were the fancy girly kind that went over her pants and up to her knees. She wore a black jacket over the top.
Wow, she looked amazing.
He was on a date with Ashley Hughes, even though they had company. Giddy wasn’t a manly emotion he’d ever cop to, but Jennings couldn’t deny his excitement. Granted, she was under the impression this was a simple ruse for her family. However, he was determined she’d enjoy it.
Ashley raised her eyebrows. “Something wrong?”
He held back a laugh at the simple and yet utterly complicated question. Rather than answer, he leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her lips. Lips which clung to his as he pulled back, parting in a soft gasp. Her gardenia shampoo scent surrounded him, and Jennings suddenly needed to adjust the bulge in his jeans.
“We shouldn’t,” she insisted in a voice gone all husky.
“All part of the plan, Hughes.”
A frown pleated her brow, and he reached up to smooth it away for her. “Stop worrying so much. You might find you enjoy tonight.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, right. You’re sure you don’t mind? About Eric and Taylor? I figured we could put on a bit of a show. I think Eric suspects we’re lying.”
Interesting and annoying…but not insurmountable. “No problem.”
She bit her lip. “You’re the best—”
He threw up his hands. “Finally, she gets it.”
She crooked a smile. “But I meant what I said this morning.”
“So did I.” He didn’t give her a chance to protest, sweeping her off the porch and into his truck.
This was about to get interesting.
Chapter Thirteen
Ashley gritted her teeth as she hid behind her menu and contemplated murder. After all, she was a smart woman. She was fairly sure she could make Eric and Taylor permanently disappear and cover her tracks. Jennings might even agree to help.
Here they were, surrounded by romantic lighting, soft music, and the mouthwatering scents of Italian food that they’d driven two towns over to sample, and all she could think about was how long they had to stay for politeness sake before they could ditch her family.
They’d driven separately from Eric and Taylor and had been here twenty minutes, having encountered a wait at the door. In that short amount of time, Eric, who she was now convinced didn’t believe Jennings’s and her story, managed to slip in some kind of comment about how Jennings had treated Ashley in high school at least three times. Taylor, meantime, practically had them married off, if her questions about their future dating plans were any barometer.
“Pssst.” Jennings scooted over on the bench seat they shared at the table and joined his raised menu to hers, putting a wall between them and her annoying family members. He placed his lips at her ear and whispered. “Houston, we have a problem.”
“Ya think?” she hissed back.
He laid his arm along the back of the booth behind her, and Ashley suddenly felt protected, as though they were on the same team.
“Taylor’s on board,” Jennings said. “But Eric doesn’t believe we’re into each other. That’s why he’s acting like this.”
He didn’t sound offended or frustrated, more amused. Ashley turned her head only to become entangled in Jennings’s blue gaze. Up close, the man was truly attractive in a breath-stealing way, to which her starved lungs could attest on a regular basis, but what she liked best, while she was making an observation, were all the indications of his fun-loving personality. Especially the laugh lines set into the deeply tanned skin around his eyes, a hallmark of outdoor work and lots of smiles.
“Hey…you have flecks of gold in your eyes.” Had her thoughts popped out of her mouth? What happened to her filters?
Those sexy-as-sin laugh lines deepened as he grinned in response. “Maybe I’m good as gold, and it’s showing.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Ashley shocked herself as a giggle escaped her.
“What are you two talking about behind there?” Taylor asked from across the table.
Before Ashley responded, Jennings moved the hand resting on the bench behind her to lift a strand of her hair, baring her neck. He leaned forward and trailed a series of soft kisses over her shoulder, now exposed by the wide neckline of her tunic top, and up her neck. “You smell so amazing, Hughes,” he murmured in her ear, his warm breath sending a shudder of delight through her.
“It’s my shampoo,” she mumbled, unable and unwilling to pull away from his touch.
He shook his head and nuzzled some more. “It’s you.”
A hand snagged the top of Ashley’s menu and lowered it. Jennings looked over, but didn’t pull away, his hand at her neck now playing through her hair.
“Hey.” Taylor’s grin said she noticed Ashley’s flushed cheeks and the intimate way Jennings touched her. “Don’t forget we’re here, you two.”
Eric, meanwhile, watched closely, expression serious. “Ashley never did like public displays of affection,” he lectured, missing Taylor’s questioning glance. Beside her, Jennings tensed. She only caught it because of the way he was up against her, but her cowboy had not appreciated the advice.
Eric’s claim wasn’t true, anyway. He didn’t like it, not her.
Not wanting to start a he said/she said argument, Ashley didn’t address Eric.
Instead, she turned to Jennings and gave him a slow, soft kiss. “I could get used to it,” she murmured, in a voice supposedly for his ears only, but which she deliberately pitched to carry across the table to her annoying ex-boyfriend-soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Looked like she’d have to put on more of a show than she’d thought tonight, with Jennings’s help, of course. The problem was, she wanted all of it to be true, and she wasn’t supposed to want that. Another shiver shimmied through her as he stroked a finger down the side of her face, his focus solely on her, as though they were the only two people in the room.
Taylor cleared her throat. “I think I’m going to have the spaghetti and meatballs. What about you, Ash?”
She and Jennings pulled apart, the action appearing reluctant on his side as he left his arm draped across the back of the bench behind her. For her part, she needed the breathing space. Otherwise she might put the theory of spontaneous combustion to a field test right here in this booth.
“The Fettuccine Alfredo here is excellent,” Jennings said.
She flicked him a surprised glance. “That’s my favorite dish.”
“I remember.”
The waiter finally appeared beside her, snagging her attention. “Can I start anyone off with a glass of wine, or, perhaps, a Bellini?”
“Wine sounds good,” Taylor said, with a sweet look for the waiter. “I like white. What would you recommend?”
“The Napa Pinot Grigio is particularly nice.”
“I’ll take that.”
“So will I,” Ashley tacked on. She could use some alcohol if she was to survive the night. Just one glass though. She didn’t intend to put Jennings through another bout of puking, passed-out Ashley.
Eric’s face pinched. He waited to speak until the waiter left. “Is wine such a good idea?”
he asked Ashley. “You know how much of a lightweight you are.” He gave Jennings a commiserating grin. “I mean, after Friday night, you agree, don’t you?”
What had gotten into him? He wasn’t usually such a mother hen. Across the table, Taylor’s eyebrows flew up. If she didn’t hit Eric soon, Ashley might dump her wine over his head.
Jennings reached under the table and squeezed her thigh, but unlike at breakfast with her family, the show of support relaxed her.
“Friday involved a large amount of tequila and a good reason to party,” she said, proud of her calm, steady tones.
“One glass of wine won’t hurt,” Jennings added. “I’m sure Ashley knows what she can handle. She’s a big girl.”
Ashley’s anger seeped away in the face of Jennings’s show of solidarity. That, plus she found his large, warm hand on her thigh, which he’d left there, much more interesting than whatever Eric had to say.
“Besides,” Jennings turned his head to grin at her. “I’ll take care of her if she decides to let loose.”
She tried not to quiver at both the sweet image those words created and a burgeoning sense of wanting as he inched his hand higher. Doubtful Eric or Taylor could see exactly where he touched her, which told her this was him trying to…what? Not be friends? A fog of awareness-induced need took over her brain as his hand slipped higher.
Jennings chatted amiably with Taylor and Eric, but she had difficulty focusing on the conversation. Mostly stuff about the wedding. Her burning question was, would he take his hand away? Or go higher?
Jennings leaned back in his seat, ostensibly to get more comfortable, and his tormenting hand strayed further up her thigh. Part of Ashley couldn’t believe he was teasing her like this. At the same time, a secret part of her yearned for his hand to continue the torment—the part of her that hadn’t been able to forget their night together all dang day.
Holy smokes, his hand inched higher, while at the same time, his long fingers brushed the inside of her thigh. Just shy of the sweet spot which now throbbed in anticipation.
Only he didn’t continue.
Instead, their waiter placed their salads in front of them. Jennings removed his hand and sat forward to eat.
