Of course, that hunkiness applied to all four of the Laramie brothers. Eden figured hearts had broken all over the state when first Callen had gotten married and then Judd had asked Cleo to be his wife. Those broken hearts were now looking to Nico and Kace to fill the sexual void. Kace wouldn’t be game for something like that, and until recently Nico had been doing his best to make up for the shortage of available Laramie men.
“I heard about the kiss,” Cleo said, easing Eden away from the door and next to a table so they’d be out of earshot from the guys at the bar.
“I’m sure you did. It’s all over town.” Eden shrugged. “The good news is that it’s put a stop to some of the pitying looks I’d been getting.”
Cleo stared at her with those exotic amber eyes and took Eden by the shoulders. “So, be honest. Just how friendly have Nico and you gotten?”
For reasons that weren’t exactly clear, Eden had always been up-front with Cleo. Maybe it was the fact that Cleo had a criminal past and owned a bar. Or it could be that with Cleo what you saw was what you got. If Cleo had been writing Naughty Cowgirl Talks Sex, she wouldn’t have felt the need to keep it under wraps. And her advice would have probably been a heck of a lot better than Eden’s.
“It was just a kiss,” Eden explained. “And not even a real one. Nico did that because he was riled at something Damien said about me. It was sort of a kissing pissing contest between former friends.” And Eden had no doubts, none, that the former label was spot-on.
Cleo frowned, her chin tipping down. Obviously, she wasn’t happy about the non-genuineness of that kiss. Well, neither was Eden now that she’d given it some thought.
“Sometimes though, I do think about kissing Nico,” Eden admitted.
“So do half the women in town.” Cleo laughed and let go of her shoulders so she could give her a playful nudge with her elbow. “I would tell you to just go for it, but I know the other things going on.” She paused. “Rayelle has called all the brothers, Buck McCall and me.”
Eden didn’t have to guess what the topic of conversation had been. “Let me guess. Rayelle heard about Nico kissing me or, even if she didn’t, she’s concerned about the influence I’ll have on Piper because I’m a divorced woman.”
“She heard about the kiss,” Cleo verified. “And no, I don’t know how she learned about it. She wouldn’t say. Said it would be gossiping if she mentioned her source.”
That sounded like Rayelle. She preferred to back up her judgmental ways with facts. Such as a divorce. It wouldn’t matter to Rayelle that 50 percent of Americans were divorced because she would still see it as a character flaw. A character flaw that Rayelle had avoided since she’d never married.
“Rayelle thinks both Nico and I will be a bad influence on Piper?” Eden concluded.
“Yep, she does. But I think Rayelle could be a bad influence on her, too.”
“I’m in complete agreement with that.” And it was why she was here. To talk to Nico as she’d promised Piper and see if they could work out a solution. One that probably wouldn’t include kissing or hands in the pants.
“Bottom line is this for me,” Eden said a moment later. “Is Rayelle trying to find a reason not to bring Piper to Coldwater?”
Cleo shook her head. “Nope. As far as I can figure out, she wants to keep that deathbed promise she made to her sister. In fact, it would eat away at her if she didn’t keep it.”
Of course, it was eating away at Nico, too. He was worried that he might agree to bring Piper here only to mess up the girl’s life.
The front door opened, and Eden steeled herself up for the chat with Nico, but it was Beckham Morrelli, one of the three kids Cleo was fostering. He was carrying two large boxes, one stacked on top of the other, and judging from the way his muscles were straining, they were heavy.
“I picked these up from the post office,” he said to Cleo in that mutter-mumble-put-out kind of way that only a teenager could manage.
“Thanks.” Cleo went up on her toes to brush a kiss on the boy’s cheek. One that caused Beckham to make an “awww, Mom” grunt in response. “Just put the boxes in my office,”
“He’s growing like a weed,” Eden commented. It had only been a few weeks since she’d seen him, and it seemed as if Beckham had added a couple more inches to his already-six-foot body.
“Oh yeah,” Cleo confirmed, “he’s sixteen, going on thirty, and that pretty face complicates things. Judd’s lectured him about turning into another Nico.”
So, Nico was now a cautionary tale. One who at that exact moment stepped into the bar. He glanced at Cleo and her, his forehead creasing as if he’d known he was the topic of discussion. If so, he didn’t address it. Nico gave his soon-to-be sister-in-law a gentle arm squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
“Whiskey,” Nico told Cleo.
Eden only sighed, ordered a glass of wine and led Nico to the booth all the way at the back of the bar. It wouldn’t ensure them absolute privacy, but it was the best she could manage. Besides, if Nico had wanted a privacy guarantee, he would have gone to her place. The fact that he hadn’t told her loads.
That he didn’t want to risk kissing her again.
They sat across from each other in the booth, and even though Nico didn’t dodge her gaze, he didn’t exactly jump into an apology, rationalization or whatever else was on his mind.
“Piper called me and wants me to convince you to allow her to stay here this summer,” Eden volunteered, even though that clearly wasn’t a news flash. “I just heard from Cleo that Rayelle doesn’t want to renege on the promise she made to Brenda. That means there probably isn’t a way around Piper and Rayelle coming here for the summer.”
Nothing, other than a grunt that could have meant anything. Or nothing.
“You’ll just have to make Rayelle believe that we won’t psychologically damage Piper,” she went on. “That won’t be easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s you. Remember, you’re the charming Laramie brother.”
She’d added that last bit as a little tongue-in-cheek, but Nico didn’t bite. He stayed under that dark and dismal cloud that he’d walked in with. Obviously, she just needed to go for a good air clearing, one that could flick that cloud away.
Eden slid her hand over his. “Look, I’ve been honest with you for twenty years, mostly, and I’m not going to fudge things now. I’m glad you kissed me. Glad you put Damien in his place. But I’m sure this has probably caused you some troubling moments...”
There. It was a spelled-out start for him, leaving her words hanging for him to pick up where she’d left off. All he had to do was pipe in and either confirm or deny the trouble. On a scale of one to infinity, Eden was just one eyelash short of infinity that it would be a confirmation. But he still didn’t speak. His silence went on so long that Cleo had time to deliver their drinks and then slink away.
“When we were kids and I first noticed that you were a girl,” he finally said, “a girl interested in my best friend, I put on blinders. Stupid ones.”
Now it was Eden’s turn to grow silent. This was the first she was hearing about Nico ever noticing her, much less the blinders.
“Stupid blinders?” she asked.
“I imagined you as a rodeo clown.” He paused to have a sip of his drink. “Big red nose, floppy shoes. Once you got breasts, I pretended they were coconuts.”
Eden continued her silence, but that’s because she was stunned. “Huh?” she managed.
“Coconuts,” he said with disgust. “And don’t ask about what blinders I used for other parts of you, but I had to come up with something that time we all went swimming and your right butt cheek slipped out of your bikini.”
Color her clueless. Eden would have been less surprised if he’d just confessed to being a serial killer. Obviously, this wasn’t putting Nico at ease, either, because he muttered some really bad curse words, shook his head
and looked ready to throw himself under a stampede of longhorns.
“Now you have proof I’m a dick,” he grumbled.
Stop! she wanted to yell. He was beating himself up for having normal teenage responses. Though the way he’d handled it was, well, unique. Coconuts, huh? Well, that did put an odd image in her head.
“I’m not blind or stupid,” he went on. “I know you’re attractive, but I’m also your friend, and I crossed a big line when I kissed you. Now, I’m afraid I’ve screwed up things with you—”
“I got hot once when I saw you put your hand in your jeans,” she blurted out. In hindsight, Eden should have given him some of the backstory on that because it caused Nico to give her first a blank stare, then a confused shake of his head.
Eden leaned in and hoped she wasn’t blushing as much as she thought she was. It felt as if her face was on fire. “You know how you asked me not to question your choice of blinders for my butt cheek, then please don’t question what I just said.”
He’d already opened his mouth, no doubt to do just that, but he closed it a moment later. Reopened it. Closed it again. Then, he went with more cursing and another hit of whiskey.
“Clearly, we’re aware of the attributes of each other’s gender,” Eden continued. “But that’s not what the kiss was about. That was about Damien—I know that. Still—”
“What sexual problem do you have?” he asked. “Or was Damien just making up shit?”
Eden hadn’t thought her face could flame up any more than it already was, but she’d been wrong. Now she did some mental reopening and closing of her mouth, trying to figure out if she should snap the lid shut on her secret. Especially since she’d already blurted out his hand in the jeans thing.
“No fudging,” he reminded her.
It wasn’t easy to hear her own words used against her. But she’d told him the truth when she said she’d been mostly up-front with him, and she’d be up-front with him now.
She just wouldn’t give him many details.
“I have problems with orgasms,” she said.
He let out what seemed to be a breath of relief. “Heck, lots of women do. Sometimes, it takes a while to find the right way for things to work out.”
“Uh, not that kind of problem.” Though she was intrigued by how Nico worked out that sort of thing. She imagined hours and hours of foreplay. “It’s the opposite for me. I sort of jump the gun on things. I don’t last long,” she added when he gave her the blank stare again.
“For real?” he finally asked, and she nodded to confirm it. “Well, most men wouldn’t see that as a problem.”
“Exactly!” Eden said that a little louder than she’d planned, causing the hands at the bar and Cleo to glance in her direction. “Exactly,” she repeated in a much softer voice.
The fact that Nico agreed with her made her feel vindicated and pleased. It didn’t last, though. Not when she realized she’d been discussing a very intimate part of her sex life with the king of sex lives.
Nico cleared his throat and tossed back the rest of his drink. “I’m sorry.”
There was the apology Eden had been expecting. The one she didn’t want. “I know. We’re friends, and I’ve only been divorced six months.”
“And let’s not forget what happened could possibly be a rebound because of your busted self-esteem,” he added.
“Yes, let’s not forget that,” she mumbled in agreement.
Too bad she couldn’t deny it, either, but this heat was possibly rebound-ish. After all, she’d had some lusty feelings for Nico for years. Judging from the coconuts and clown blinders, he’d had some for her, as well.
But they hadn’t acted on them.
Not before Damien and she had become a couple and not in the six months after the divorce.
“So, a truce,” he went on. “Some thinking time.”
That sounded more mature of him than she wanted. That’s because Eden was still buzzing from the sex-heat vibes that Nico threw off just by breathing.
“And what about Piper and Rayelle?” she asked.
The sigh he made was long and dripping with weariness. “They’ll come here. God help me, they’ll come.”
Yes, they would. And at that moment Eden realized something else. This heat she was feeling for Nico wasn’t going away. He had now become an itch that she was just going to have to scratch.
CHAPTER FIVE
NICO TOOK ONE look at his brother Callen and realized he wouldn’t be making as quick an exit from his office as he’d hoped. Callen, who owned and also shared the building with him, rarely made trips up the stairs to Laramie’s Bucking Bulls, but there was no doubt he was headed here now. And Callen was sporting a big brother/are you ready for a lecture? look.
Hell.
Nico didn’t have time for this. He needed to head to the cabin and make sure it was all cleaned and ready for Rayelle and Piper. But he doubted he was going to be able to put off Callen with some of his usual joking and charm. Nope. Callen was bullheaded and focused, not a good combination when it was aimed at him. Nico knew for a fact that he was the target. And he knew why.
Rayelle and Piper, with a side dish of Eden.
“Let me guess,” Nico said to him. “There was a family meeting about me, and you drew the short straw to tell me the outcome.”
Callen’s jaw tightened. “I think Judd and Kace cheat. And it wasn’t a short straw. It was a coin toss.”
Yeah, the pair cheated all right. Kace was levelheaded and, as the oldest brother, firmly on the top rung on the family ladder, but he was good at delegating—and cheating—when it came to touchy subjects. Judd, the second oldest, wasn’t levelheaded, but he wouldn’t have wanted to get in the middle of whatever was going on in Nico’s personal life.
Nico checked the time. “Can you make the lecture short? I need to get out to the cabin.”
Callen nodded but didn’t say anything until he was inside Nico’s office and had the door shut. “You need to quit dicking around. It won’t do Piper any good, and it’ll just cause Rayelle to keep calling the rest of us to ‘voice’ her concerns.”
Voice went in air quotes, letting Nico know there’d been a whole lot of complaining during those phone conversations. Considering that Rayelle hardly knew his brothers, that was a surprise. Not really, though. Rayelle wasn’t shy about sharing her opinions with others, and she knew Nico was close to his brothers. She likely figured they had plenty of influence over him.
Nico nodded. “I’m giving up sex while Piper’s here.”
The flat look Callen gave him let him know he was skeptical about the outcome of that. “For two months.” Callen waved off any response Nico might have been about to offer. “Celibacy won’t clean up your reputation. You’ll need to give Rayelle some kind of a game plan for when word of your reputation gets back to Piper.”
Nico nodded again. “I was going to sit down and talk to Piper, to tell her that my life’s on a different path.”
There was no way Callen’s look could flatten out any more. “And that’s why you kissed Eden, because of a different path?”
“No, that was because Damien was being an asshole.” At least that’s how it’d started, but the kiss hadn’t exactly stayed on Eden’s front doorstep. The effects were still lingering in all the wrong places. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to mess up things with Eden.”
“Good.” His brother said it so quickly that Nico didn’t have to guess that it had been on Callen’s mind. “She’s been through a tough time.”
Yes, thanks to the prick she married. Nico had to mentally shake his head and wonder if Damien had always been that way or if the divorce had brought out the worst in him.
“What kind of man talks about his ex-wife’s sex problems?” Nico grumbled to exactly no one. He certainly hadn’t intended to grumble it loud enough for Callen to hea
r, but that’s what happened.
“Sex problems?” Of course, Callen latched right on to that.
Nico waved it off. No way would he fess up to anything Eden had told him, but it wasn’t exactly something he could just shove aside. Hard to believe that it was something Damien actually found to bitch about, but then Nico had never been with a “quick draw” kind of woman. About the only downside he could see to something like that was Eden would never make it as a porn star.
Which obviously wasn’t a negative at all since Eden would have never considered something like that.
In his way of seeing things, if a woman had a quick orgasm, then he would just give her another one as things moved along. Nothing wrong with a twofer, though Damien clearly hadn’t seen it that way.
Callen snapped his fingers in front of Nico’s face. “Sorry to bore you with this talk.”
Nico wasn’t exactly bored with thinking of orgasms, but he put his focus back on Callen so that he didn’t have to explain his lapse in attention. “Consider your duty done here. You can go back to our brothers and report that you’ve lectured and that I listened to every word you had to say.”
Callen was just as good at glares as he was at flat looks. And huffs. He could have blown out birthday candles on a senior citizen’s cake with that snorting huff of air. “Look, just be on your best behavior. It’s not a good time for family drama right now.”
That caused everything inside Nico to go still. It hadn’t been that long since Buck had battled cancer, and while the doctors were confident they’d gotten all of the tumor, Nico knew there was always a chance it could return.
“Buck?” Nico managed to say.
Callen shook his head. “Buck’s fine.” He paused again and rubbed his fingers against his temple for a second. “It’s Shelby.”
That didn’t ease the sudden tension in Nico’s gut. Shelby was Callen’s wife and, like Piper, Nico also thought of her as a sister.
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