Wade chuckled. “You’re not missing anything, are you?”
She shook her head. “You said they live in town
now
, so I assume it wasn’t always the case.”
“They only moved to town about two years ago. Dad was a foreman on Maverick’s family’s farm, but he decided to retire when he turned seventy. I’m sure he wanted to work until he keeled over, but he was afraid it would look as if Maverick’s dad took advantage of an old man.” He pointed to Maverick. “His dad is running for senator and any whiff of a scandal could be detrimental to his career.” The smile in his voice removed the sting from his words.
That’s why the men knew each other so well. She could picture them growing up together and wreaking havoc on the farm. “It must have been tough on your parents—getting used to city life?”
“I suppose it was, but after my dad’s heart attack, he needed to be closer to the hospitals, so I guess they coped out of necessity.”
Maverick nodded. “The story of our lives in a nutshell. Wade agreed to do this advert because he needs the money to buy his own ranch. I agreed because I thought it would be an adventure and I had to rest my shoulder anyway.”
“What happened to your shoulder?”
Wade chuckled and gone were the permanent frown lines that creased his forehead. Faint cocks’ feet fanned at the corners of his eyes. A small dimple dented his left cheek. This was so unfair. How could a girl remain celibate when confronted with an edible hunk like him? Her imagination had her palms aching to stroke the light stubble on his cheek and trace his delicious mouth with her tongue.
“…only realized it was cracked when I made a grab for the nurse at the hospital and couldn’t.”
Maverick’s voice finally penetrated the lusty fog in her brain. What were they talking about?
“Where were you just now? You haven’t heard a word I said and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn Wade had turned into a chocolate sundae.” Maverick grinned at her over the rim of his glass while slowly swirling the amber liquid inside.
Heat traveled from her neck to her face. Was the couch too low to crawl under? Could she be any ruder? She’d asked them about their life and all she could think about was getting under their clothes.
“I’m sorry, my mind drifted. It was rude of me and I don’t have an excuse except that I must be more tired than I thought.” She glanced at Maverick. “Would you mind repeating the story, please?”
Both men burst out laughing and the mood lightened.
“Relax, Adrian, we’re messing with you. I saw your thoughts drift off and what you heard was basically all Maverick said. What were you thinking about?”
“Nothing in particular.” Oh, how she longed to close her eyes and give herself over to the erotic pleasure she was sure their hands could bring.
Behave yourself, you need to work with them.
She squirmed in her seat and focused her gaze on Maverick. “So, tell me about your shoulder.”
“Nothing much to tell. During our last rodeo, one of the bulls got a bit testy and spooked my horse. I had a minor disagreement with the balusters surrounding the ring.”
She was sure it was much more serious but left it there. “Are your family still staying on the ranch?”
He nodded. “My sisters”—he held up two fingers with a pained expression on his face—“both married doctors and live in town, but my parents still live on the farm.”
“You adore your sisters.”
Maverick smiled. “I do. Both are older than I am and they used to spoil me rotten. Now, they’re more of a pain in the butt.”
“Why?”
“Because the only subject they know to discuss is when I’m going to stop my bachelor ways and find me a good old Texan wife to settle down with.”
Adrian sighed inwardly. She’d gladly volunteer for the job. “Sounds like they love you to pieces.”
Maverick glared at her, but humor twinkled in his eyes. “Only a woman can make such an assessment. You don’t know my sisters.”
“What about your family?
” Wade asked while Adrian’s giggles subsided.
“Not much to tell.” She waited for the familiar pain to stab at her heart. It didn’t and she breathed easier. Everyone had said she would stop hurting someday, but until today, the word family had evoked feelings of intense loneliness and searing sadness. Maybe the time had come to move on.
Wade watched her but didn’t push, and Adrian found herself telling them about the accident that had taken her parents’ lives and changed her own forever. Although she still missed them, it didn’t hurt as much as it used to.
“So you’ve been on your own since high school?” Maverick asked.
“Yes, but it wasn’t as bad as you might think. You get used to relying only on yourself. After I got married it was quite a struggle to defer to another person once again.”
A stunned silence followed her words.
“You’re married?” they chorused.
Wade stood and walked to the window where he closed the drapes on the darkness outside. At Adrian’s admission, the temperature in the room had dropped as if the icy wind howling outside had been let in. Why hadn’t he considered that a woman like Adrian might be married? Stunning women rarely stayed single for long.
Maverick’s silence spoke volumes. They both had an unbreakable rule—they never dated or had sex with married women. Although the lust straining through his veins might convince him in this instance that it would be all right to do so, his conscience would never agree. Her actions today didn’t mirror those of a married woman and bile rose in his throat. How could he have misread her so completely? Did he really think with his dick more than his brain?
Wade cleared his throat. “Where’s your husband now? Doesn’t he mind that you’re here alone for extended periods of time with virtual strangers?”
She shook her head, causing a blonde strand to whisper against her cheek. Wade curled his fingers into his palm to prevent him from reaching out and stroking the hair away from her face.
“We’re divorced.”
Relief flooded his mind. A little of his confidence returned and he ambled to the couch where Adrian sat, leaving only a breath of a space between their bodies when he reclined in the soft folds.
“Why?”
“I was married to a fashion model I had met during a photo-shoot in Mauritius. Although we initially agreed to have an open marriage and other sexual partners were allowed, he walked out on an important shoot after he discovered I had also indulged in a little extra-marital sex for recreation.”
Wade frowned at her. “You cheated on him?”
Her chin lifted an inch. “No, I had sex with another person. In our marriage, cheating implied we saw the other person more than once and had an affair. I had one night of incredible sex with someone I’ve never seen again.”
Wade shook his head in disbelief. If she were his woman, there’d be no way he’d allow another man to touch her in his absence. “So why was it a problem?”
“He looked tired during a shoot and when I reprimanded him, he lashed out and flaunted his conquests—which included all three female models on the assignment—in my face.” She shrugged. “I told him he wasn’t the only one getting some, but I could still do my job afterwards.”
Maverick’s laughter bellowed through the room and he came to sit on the armrest of the couch next to her. “I bet that went over well. What did he do?”
Adrian closed her eyes as if the question elicited painful memories. “He caused a scene, calling me names, and then he walked out on the shoot—left me with no male model and no means to fulfill my contract.”
Wade moved closer to her and draped his arm around her shoulders, gently massaging the exposed skin of her neck. To his relief, she didn’t shrug off his arm.
“I’m guessing that’s not the end of the story?”
“No. The advertiser sued and my reputation went up in flames along with most of my financial security.” She glanced at them. “That’s why nothing can go wrong on this assignment. There won’t be any third chances if I blow this.”
He received the message loud and clear. No frolicking to endanger her livelihood on this trip. If he could just get his hands on her ex-husband…
A polite knock sounded at the door and the men moved away from her. After her little revelation, they wouldn’t want to touch her with a bargepole. Which was a good thing, right? So why did she feel like she’d lost a chance at something good when Wade and Maverick jumped at the knock?
Marie poked her head around the doorframe and smiled at Adrian. She barely spared the men a glance. “Dinner is served, if you’re ready.”
They nodded their thanks and followed Marie down the hall. Dinner was a quiet affair with everyone lost in their own thoughts. After the meal, she arranged to meet the men at dawn, bade them goodnight and hurried to her room. Although it was barely eight in the evening, the day had taken its toll and for the first time in ages, she was deliciously tired.
Once she slipped between the warm sheets, her mind refused to still. Wade’s questions had her re-evaluating her marriage to Rory. She turned onto her other side. They’d been happy in the beginning. Rory was an attractive man who’d appeared to have all the answers to life’s questions. During the early stages of their marriage, they’d laughed a lot and had such great fun. What had changed?
Adrian plumped up the pillow and pulled the blankets to under her chin. After the newness of being together had worn off, they’d just seemed to drift apart. Each had their own life and they were seldom home at the same time. She had been physically attracted to Rory—with his great physique it was hard not to be—and they’d had great sex. But even the sex had petered out in last couple of months prior to the divorce. Maybe she hadn’t really loved him and only felt physically attracted to him.
She shook her head in the darkness. It was water under the bridge and flogging herself now could do her no good. It just proved that she shouldn’t try to build a relationship with a man.
Images of the men sleeping in the adjacent rooms flooded her mind and her body heated. Her attraction to Rory paled in comparison to the raging inferno of lust she had for these men.
Dammit, Adrian, you have to pull the reins on your libido. Any relationship with those two could only end in disaster.
She turned again and clamped her eyes shut. Nobody said anything about a relationship. What she felt for the men was lust, nothing more. Forcing her body to relax, she drifted to sleep.
Chapter Five
Adrian stared over the veld from her seat on the porch, a steaming mug of coffee resting on the low wall in front of her. It was still dark and the stars twinkled in the sky. In the east, the sky gradually lightened, creating a fairy-world in the pre-dawn minutes.
Shuffling sounded from inside the house as the men prepared to face the day. Heaven help her, but she couldn’t wait to see them again. Her body tingled at the mere thought of the ecstasy the cowboys offered. She rested her elbows on her knees and cradled her chin in her palms. She had to get over this unholy attraction she had toward them.
The screen door banged shut behind her and Wade’s woodsy cologne drifted on the early morning breeze. His scent and the way he slightly dragged his right leg was enough to identify the man coming through the door.
“Did you sleep well, Wade?”
He sank into the chair next to her. “How’d you know it was me?”
She smiled. “A woman must have her secrets.”
“Fair enough, but a man can’t wake up with only coffee.” He leaned over and pulled her head toward him. “Morning, gorgeous.” He brushed his lips across hers. His feathery touch whirled sharp pinpricks of awareness through her body. She shouldn’t do this, her mind screamed.
But it’s only a kiss.
“Morning,” she whispered then she kissed him right back, losing herself in his tenderness.
“I hope there’s some left for me as well.”
Maverick’s voice startled Adrian out of the daze Wade’s kiss had induced. She grabbed her coffee from the wall and cupped the mug in her hands.
She shook her head. “Huh-uh. I told you I can’t do this.” At their sighs, she risked a glance at them. Damn, they were hot. Freshly shaven and full of energy, the cowboys would test the resolve of a nun.
“We’re not your ex, Adrian.” Maverick lugged an empty chair closer. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re as attracted to us as we are to you?”
With her heart fluttering, Adrian nodded. “It makes no difference. We can’t act on those attractions.”
“Why?” Wade grumbled.
“Because I think the company employed a chaperone to make sure I don’t repeat past mistakes.”
Both men frowned. “I didn’t see anyone else besides the chef, so how…” Wade slapped his knee. “The chef?”
“Maybe she’s just that, a chef?” Maverick queried.
Adrian shook her head. “Nope, from what she told me yesterday, I suspect the company sent her along as chaperone.”
Maverick sipped his coffee and stared into the darkness. “How could she be a chaperone when she doesn’t live on the premises?”
“According to her, she tried sleeping here on her first night, but couldn’t manage. Why would she try to stay at such an isolated location when she knew she wouldn’t be able to cope unless the company expected more of her than mere cooking duties?”
“Maybe you misunderstood?” Maverick questioned.
“Possibly,” Adrian nodded, “but it still doesn’t change the fact that we can’t indulge. The risk is just too great.”
Wade turned his empty cup in his hands. “You didn’t contract us—the company did. If we walk out, the company will sue us directly.”