He pulled Candy up against him and leaned
down to kiss her again, then stood back up and smiled at her. "You
sure are pretty, darlin'." He moved a thumb to her face and wiped
away a smudge of lipstick. "Thanks for coming out to eat with
us."
"Thanks for inviting me..." she said then
purred suggestively, "But I'm wanting to skip to dessert." Then she
leaned up to gave him a quick kiss under his jaw. He growled and
captured her mouth with his, his hands going to her ass to lift her
up.
Someone's shoulder bumped his hard and he
let go of Candy and grabbed onto a post to keep from toppling over
on top of her. He shot a look to his left to see who the rude
asshole was and groaned.
"
Excuse
us. Can't you find a room or
something?" Cassie said snottily, her eyes shooting blue fire at
him. She notched up her chin then the tall blonde guy with her slid
an arm around her waist and opened the door to lead her inside.
Luke stood there frozen in place. Cassie had
on a tight black dress with a ruffle skirt that flirted around the
top of her thighs and five-inch 'come fuck me' heels that put her
almost at eye level with him. He swallowed thickly. She'd curled
her beautiful blonde hair and it floated over her shoulders and
back like a cloud.
He stiffened and looked over at Cole who
wore an expression that must mimic his own.
Stunned...dumbfounded...totally blown away.
Cole lifted an eyebrow then asked, "You want
to go somewhere else?"
"Who was she?" Candy asked and nudged
Luke.
"Nobody you need to worry about
darlin'...let's go eat," he said and leaned around her to open the
door. Luke was not going to let Cassie Bellamy and her fancy pants
fiancé run him off. And besides that, he was curious about the man
she was engaged to....the infamous James. The man she supposedly
loved.
This could be fun, he thought, his buzz
giving him just the right amount of courage he needed to walk
inside the restaurant behind Candy.
Cole was hot on their heels and grabbed
Luke's arm when he walked up to the hostess stand and asked for a
table for three, preferably near the couple that had just been
seated. "Luke," he said a warning tone in his voice. "This isn't a
good idea man. Let's just go to the Bluebird."
"Nope, I feel like a big ole steak. Don't
you darlin'?" Luke smiled down at the woman on his arm and she
nodded, her big dark curls dancing around her shoulders, brushing
the arm he had across her back. Glancing back at the hostess coming
back to seat them, Cole saw her speak to the woman at the stand,
then she grabbed menus and led them across the red-carpeted
restaurant to their table.
Several people spoke to him as he walked
across the restaurant, and he did his best to act sober and avoid
conversation. He was off duty, but he didn't need to stir up gossip
that he drank a lot. He didn't. This was probably a once a year
thing for him...unless Cassie Bellamy came to town.
Candy glanced up at him adoringly when he
pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down. "Thanks,
sugar," she said with a wink.
"You're welcome, darlin'," he said then
scooted his chair closer to hers and sat down. Cole sat down across
from them with a thundercloud in his eyes. It looked like Luke's
luck was running tonight, because the hostess had seated them at a
table directly behind Cassie and her fiancé. The man's back was to
them, but Luke had a clear view of Cassie, and she had a clear view
of him...and Candy.
Luke gave Candy a thousand-watt smile then
ordered a tequila sunrise for her and another beer for himself.
Leaning down he swept her hair aside and whispered in her ear
exactly what he'd like to do to her at sunrise. She blushed and
then giggled when he licked her ear.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cassie
drag her eyes from preppy boy's so she could look over at him and
pin him with a lethal stare. He lifted an eyebrow at her then
turned back to look down into Candy's eyes before he leaned in to
give her a heated kiss, which she participated in enthusiastically.
He heard Cole growl across the table from them, and smiled against
her lips.
When he came up for air, he looked at Cole
and said, "Hey, Cole I think Candy might be into a threesome
tonight. You up for it?" He asked louder than necessary, but not
loud enough for anyone other than the table next to them to
hear.
Cole's mouth flopped open and closed a
couple of times then he saw Cassie's eyes widen then narrow, before
she picked up her water glass and took a big gulp, her hand
shaking.
It looked like Candy might protest, so he
covered her mouth with his again, and moved his hand under the
table to stroke her thigh. He swallowed her protest with another
kiss, then leaned near her ear and said not quietly, "I can't seem
to keep my hands off of you, sugar. You don't mind do you?"
She shook her head looking slightly
uncomfortable, and he felt bad for using her, but he was having fun
torturing Cassie. "That's good, sugar, because I'm going to spend
all night long showing you how hot you make me."
Cole slapped his hand against his forehead
then rested it in his palm on the table mumbling under his breath.
Luke grinned. It looked like he was getting a twofer. He was
torturing Cole too. He chuckled under his breath and kissed the top
of Candy's head.
The waitress came back with their drinks and
put them down to take their dinner order. "I'd like the biggest
steak you have, medium rare, with all the fixings. I think I'm
going to need my strength for later." He said suggestively and
winked at Candy. "What'll you have, sugar?"
"Petite Sirloin and a salad," she said then
pushed back from the table. "I'll be right back, sugar. I need to
go to the powder room." Candy leaned down and gave him a brief kiss
then walked toward the bathroom, her heart-shaped ass drawing the
attention of every man in the room...and Cassie. He watched Candy
until she disappeared in the ladies room, then he looked back at
Cassie to find her studying him with glacial eyes.
"Puttin it on a little thick aren't you,
Luke?" Cole asked through gritted teeth in a voice a little above a
whisper.
"Nah, needs a few more coats for sure," he
said and lifted his beer to take a long draw. He licked a drop from
his top lip, and he saw that Cassie's eyes followed the motion,
then she took a deep shuddering breath.
"You could at least wipe the lipstick off,
dude." Cole laughed dryly, then took a drink of his beer, gesturing
with the bottle. "It's not your shade at all. Clashes with the
green-eyed monster sitting on your shoulder."
Luke saw the preppy boy get up from the
table then walk over and drop a kiss on Cassie's cheek before he
walked toward the bathroom. Luke pushed back his chair and stood
starting around the table, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to have
a bathroom conversation with the asshole with his fists, or if he
wanted to go pull Cassie up and kiss her senseless, so he just
stood there and wobbled around a little.
As it turned out he didn't do either,
because Cole stood up quickly and got right up in his face. "Ut
uh--no way, buddy. You're not going anywhere," he grated then
pushed him back to his seat, before going back around to his
seat.
"You're no fucking fun, man. When did you
get so fucking boring?" Luke asked and plopped back down in his
chair.
"About the time I dragged your sorry ass out
of jail ten years ago."
"What are you my fucking guardian
angel?"
"Not nearly. Your keeper maybe...but it's
getting real old, real fast." Cole drummed his fingers on the
table, then said seriously. "Luke you're gonna fuck up your career.
You worked too damned hard to let that happen."
Luke took a deep shuddering breath then
looked into his friends eyes. "Thanks for being here for me, man.
You know this isn't me," he said and worked at peeling the label
off of the half-empty bottle.
"I know. That's the only reason I'm putting
up with your sorry ass."
A few minutes later the waitress delivered
their food, and Luke dug in even though he wasn't hungry at all. He
needed something to dilute the beer he'd drank and get him sobered
up. After he'd devoured half of his meal, he looked over at Cole
and asked, "Hey you think Candy gave us the old bathroom
ditch?"
"Looks like it. Unless she's passed out in
there, she's gone."
Luke was glad she'd left. It saved him the
embarrassment and hassle of having to cut her loose when they left
the restaurant. There was no way he would have been able to go
through with having sex with her. He wasn't in the mood. And she
didn't do a damned thing for him.
His eyes moved over to the beautiful blonde
talking chattily with preppy boy, and the steak he was chewing
turned to dust. Pushing back his plate, he pulled out his wallet
and tossed down a few bills on the table. "Let's get out of here,"
he told Cole and got up.
Cole quickly wiped his mouth and threw the
napkin on his plate. "Good idea. You feelin' better?"
"Yeah, but I'll need a ride home." He'd pick
up his truck from the station tomorrow. He'd parked there earlier
to walk to the bar. Forcing himself to ignore Cassie and her
fiancé, he put his arm on Cole's shoulder and headed for the front
door. "Thanks for not letting me do something stupid, man."
"That's what friends are for and I'm sure
you'll be returning the favor one day."
***
Cassie wanted to vomit. Watching Luke
kissing and petting that floozy had made her physically ill. Seeing
that had brought back memories of the night he'd crushed her ten
years ago. And he'd done it on purpose. He looked to be drunk and
he was trying to hurt her. If he'd wanted a pound of flesh from his
performance, he'd gotten ten from her.
"James, I'm not feeling well, can we go?"
Tears burned at the back of her eyes and her stomach was a burning
cauldron of acid.
He looked up from his cell phone and replied
distractedly, "Sure, sweetheart." He didn't even notice how upset
she was.
He'd done nothing but check for text
messages all night, and fiddle with that damned phone. It was like
he was making up for the lack of reception at the ranch, by
cramming in as much texting as he could while they were in town.
She wondered what was so damned interesting that he' practically
ignored her all night. "Work trouble?"
He looked up at her again, "Yeah, working on
a big deal over in Mesa."
"At nine thirty at night?" She couldn't help
the edge that crept into her voice.
"Yeah, it's really big. I'll tell you all
about it when you get home."
Cassie twisted her lips to stop from saying
what she felt like saying. "
If
I come home." Now that she'd
decided that she was going to break things off with James, there
wasn't really anything to keep her in Phoenix. She could sell him,
or someone else, her part of the business and move. She'd enjoyed
the physical work on the ranch, since she'd been here--realized how
much she missed working with the animals. Once, her horses had been
her life. Maybe she could expand the farm to breed quarter horses
and scale back the cattle operation.
James sighed then stood up and reached in
his pocket and pulled out his wallet opening it up then frowning.
"Aw, nuts. I forgot to stop at the bank machine earlier. Can you
get the tab, honey?"
Cassie ground her teeth in frustration and
reached inside her purse for her wallet. James always did this to
her, and it really pissed her off. She grabbed the black folder off
the table and shoved her credit card inside then waved it at the
waitress.
"We're kind of in a hurry...sorry." The girl
nodded and was back quickly with their ticket. Cassie angrily
signed it, put her credit card back in her wallet and tossed the
ticket down on the table. "You ready?"
"You're not mad are you, sweetie?" he asked
in a patronizing sing-song voice.
She replied in the same tone, "Why in the
world would I be mad,
sweetie
?"
Cassie's laugh was brittle and insincere,
but James didn't notice. She brushed past him and walked ahead so
he didn't put his arm around her. The thought of him touching her
made her skin crawl. The way he'd acted at dinner made her realize
she was right, it was time to put a fork in this relationship. She
was going to break up with him tonight. While she had a full head
of steam going.
He'd driven
her
fucking car to Bowie,
so she'd have to buy him a one way ticket to Phoenix tomorrow
morning and drop him off at the airport in Dallas.
"So who was that guy you were staring at all
night?" James asked glancing over at her after they'd driven a few
minutes and had just turned on the Old Farm Market Road.
She couldn't believe he'd noticed anything
other than what was on the screen of his cell phone. "Old friend,"
she said shortly and looked out the window.
"How friendly and how old?" He asked
suspiciously glancing at her again.
Cassie sucked in an exasperated breath then
blew it out and said, "Why do you care James? Really? I'm surprised
you even noticed you were so caught up in your text
conversation."