Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Tenor
I rubbed my temples while sitting in the lower level’s family room. There was now a big-screen TV on one wall, thanks to Lane and Cruz. A pile of Coke cans heaped over the garbage. If I checked under the cans, I’d find a few bottles of bourbon and Foster House whiskey. The downstairs had become a bachelor pad, but the guys were respectful about having the basement mostly to themselves.
Mostly. Except for when I brought pretty little employees home.
I worked hard to ignore her appearance. Those short skirts that showed off her curvy legs. The way she sometimes tied shirts at the waist or wore cropped tops so I’d catch a glimpse of her stomach. She was good at her job and didn’t need me leering at her. Staring at her would be easy to do. That round ass of hers. The way it wiggled when she walked?—
Fuck me.
I had to pretend to date one of the youngest employees we had. It’d been hard enough to act like I wasn’t attracted to her, to steer clear of her and the company’s social media accounts. Now I also had to act as if a girl like her would be happy with a guy like me. Lane didn’t call me old man just because of my age.
I was content with my life. When my empty house bothered me, I came here and traded shit with the guys.
And I’d dived in to help Ruby because I was so damn content with my single life.
I checked my watch. It was almost nine. Should I wake her up?
The door of the room she’d been in creaked open. She stumbled out, yawning and rubbing her face. Dark smudges rimmed under her eyes. Her dark hair swirled wild around her head and the white shirt she’d had on hung half unbuttoned. Her skirt hitched higher on her thighs than it had been last night, baring even more of her creamy legs. She was barefoot.
Fuck me.
When I had agreed to go all in, I’d become her distiller in shining armor. The way she had looked at me—damn. A stronger guy might’ve resisted and let her down gently, done damage control instead of making more, but I’d convinced myself that helping her was getting one over on someone who punched down in life. Someone had to teach those people a lesson in humility.
I’d told myself that getting closer to her had nothing to do with those curvy legs and that ripe ass.
She sighed and knocked on the bathroom door. Looking up, she saw me staring at her like a fucking perv.
Her cheeks flamed the color of her name and she tugged her skirt down. “I slept too long.”
“Not at all.” I should be a gentleman and drop my gaze. I didn’t. I had to be comfortable looking at my girlfriend . “Take your time.”
She smiled and ducked into the bathroom. The guys had already been up and were in the shop repairing the main bar on the sickle mower. I’d found a few extra things to do to keep them busy and out of the house. Ruby didn’t need more bare chests or guys in nothing but underwear.
They were her age. I wasn’t.
But it was my job to protect her, and I didn’t know if she wanted to get hit on by Lane or Cruz. Admittedly, they’d be decent around her, if a little flirty.
The skin under my collar grew hot. I tugged at my T-shirt. I would not let her down. I was a man of my word. Besides, my deal with her might stop those looks from my brothers and sisters. The ones that worried I wasn’t getting out enough. Like I was no longer properly socialized and would just stay in more and more rather than facing the world and the judgment it could offer.
I might have to wait for that benefit until after they berated me for dating an employee.
Several minutes went by and she stepped out. Her hair was secured in a band. A puffy ponytail blossomed behind her head. She’d buttoned her white top but had left it hanging over her skirt. “I have to grab my purse.”
She scurried to her bedroom and a punch of lust hit my gut. The back of her skirt rode up higher, something I had noticed last night. When we’d been cleaning the front part of the bar, I had put myself between her ass and any pairs of eyes in the place.
She emerged. “Sorry.”
“No problem,” I said as if I hadn’t ever thought how easy it’d be to bend her over in that skirt. To flip it up and run my hand— Christ. Where was my control this morning? I indicated the covered plate on the table in front of me. “Hungry?”
Her eyes flared wide. “You brought me food?”
“I heated up a breakfast sandwich.” I’d made them—after she’d gone to bed—to heat up this morning. There’d been no way I could sleep after that evening. I’d had to think about this fake dating scenario, to tell myself it was nothing like before. I’d intentionally be a fake boyfriend.
She peeled the aluminum foil off the sandwich. Her pink lips parted. “That’s huge.”
“The egg is farm fresh.” I took the thermos I’d set on the end table and put it by her plate. “Here’s some OJ.”
“Oh my god, you think of everything.” She balanced the plate on her lap, her legs tightly closed, and took a bite. Her eyelids fluttered shut. And there was that goddamn moan.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away. I leaned closer. Would she moan again? That noise was indecent in all the best ways. She made it over food, but when the sound reached my ears, the what-ifs circled in my head.
What if I could make her sound like that?
What if she did it while I was in her?—
Shit . I could not think about her that way. She’d been vulnerable last night. She still was. I had her reputation in my hands, and I’d make sure to do right by her. She was too young, too innocent. I would not take advantage.
She peeled the top bun back. “Is this sausage from the farm?”
“Yeah, it’s deer meat Teller and I got last year mixed with pork.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had deer meat.” She did a little wiggle, and I had to look away.
Gawking at her would be taking advantage.
I propped my elbows on my knees. “You eat and I’ll tell you what I was thinking.”
“Okay,” she said around a mouthful.
“I don’t want to lie to my family, but I know you don’t want them to know.” Ordinarily, I’d never mislead my mom and siblings, but when it came to my personal life, I wasn’t the most transparent. This would make them talk. It’d make everyone talk.
The skin under my collar itched. It was for Ruby. It was to save face for Ruby, and we might get an event booked with the wedding. I’d deal with the rest as it came.
“No.” She set her sandwich on the plate. “That’s not fair to you. Your siblings and your mom won’t hold what happened against me, and I’d be asking them to lie.” She sighed. “I made a mess.”
“You didn’t.” She had, but I absolutely understood why. If my tormentor in high school came back to taunt me, my first instinct would be to protect myself too. “They don’t need to know. We’ll date. We can say we’ve kept it to ourselves until we knew we were serious about each other.”
“Will your brothers believe it? Lane and Cruz?”
I swallowed hard. Did she mean that they wouldn’t believe a girl like her would go for someone like me?
“You’re with them all the time, aren’t you?” she asked.
If she meant I was working all the time, then yes. “I have a fair amount of free time.” I had a lot of off time that my family wasn’t a part of. My interests weren’t always theirs and that had been part of my issue growing up.
“Between the distillery and the ranch, you work a lot though.”
I waited for defensiveness to rise, but her tone lacked the judgment I usually heard. “Have you been watching me, Ruby?” I liked the idea too much.
“No!” She covered her mouth, her gaze horrified. “I sounded like a total stalker, didn’t I?”
“No, you didn’t.” I chuckled, but pleasure rippled through me, along with shock. I could not flirt with this girl. I was not a guy who flirted. Long ago, I’d vowed to only be myself, and since no woman had been interested in that, then I wasn’t interested in dating.
A guy could only put himself through so much suffering. “We’ll tell everyone we started talking when you picked up shifts in the tasting room. Then we started talking on the phone after hours.”
She nodded. “Because I wanted to hear your voice.”
I pressed my fingertips together. She liked my voice? No, that was part of the ruse. “I don’t think they’ll ask, but sure. We can say we’ve been on a few dates but not in Bourbon Canyon.”
“Right. Because it’s too small a town.”
“Wednesdays.”
“Wednesdays what?”
“That’s when we went out. I’m usually out of town Wednesday nights.”
Doubt filled her expression. “That’s the other shift I work.”
Shit, it was. “After you get back to Bozeman, I meet you somewhere.”
“Yeah. That works out really well and doesn’t have to involve elaborate stories.”
The next part was the hardest. I’d turned all the possibilities over in my head, but there was no getting around it. “Which means we’ll have to do the very real things people do when they date.”
Her eyes went wide as saucers.
Dammit. “No, not that.” Wasn’t that reaction what all guys wanted when a woman thought she’d have to sleep with them?
The flush in her cheeks darkened. “No— I didn’t think— I mean—” She took a drink, tipping the thermos all the way back like it was the hard stuff. She swallowed and exhaled. “What exactly do you mean? You made it sound serious.”
“Holding hands. Touching.” My voice dropped on the last word.
“Kissing?” She giggled like it was an absurd joke.
The idea of kissing Ruby should be appalling. I’d worked at Copper Summit since I was sixteen. Unofficially for years before that. There had not been one employee I’d wanted to kiss. Ever.
But as soon as I’d agreed to fake dating, the door had been flung wide open. What exactly would we have to do to sell this relationship? How far did she want to go? How often could I feel that satiny skin?
Her poleaxed expression knocked each question out of my brain. I needed to fix this. “Of course I don’t think we’ll have to kiss. Much. I’m just saying?—”
“I didn’t like Brock’s kisses,” she blurted.
Good. “Okay.”
“He was sloppy. I don’t think kissing should be sloppy. I guess sometimes when things really get going, but—” She shook her head and blinked. “I haven’t had a good kiss, come to think of it.” Her expression changed to offended. “I don’t date much, so I don’t have a ton of experience. But between paper dry and careless drool...” She set her plate on the coffee table. Her sandwich was half eaten. “Wow. I’m the common denominator. It’s me. No one wanted to go out with me, and when they did, it was me that was the problem. You must think?—”
“It’s not you.” I would bet my job on it. Both of them. “And I can prove it. Besides, if we can kiss once or twice at the wedding, it’ll look more real. Like we’ve done it before.” Was I making a valid excuse or a selfish one? I wouldn’t answer.
“Practice, you mean?” She sounded breathy.
“Sure.”
She licked her lips. That tongue of hers was a few shades redder than her lips. Would it taste richer? “Now?”
She didn’t need the practice. Still didn’t stop me. I took my glasses off and shoved the coffee table across the carpet. I was on my knees in front of her before I knew it. “The first thing I’m going to show you is that you’re not the problem.”
She tipped her head back to meet my gaze. The chair was so low that I was still taller than her on my knees. “How do you know?”
I propped my hands on the armrests. “I saw your ex’s messy kiss.”
“Maybe it was me?—”
I claimed her mouth. Ripe, plump lips parted in surprise but I didn’t take the kiss further. Not yet.
I added pressure and she kissed back. No. Definitely not her. She was sweet from the orange juice, savory from the breakfast sandwich, and soft. So damn soft.
I pulled back only enough to murmur, “How’s that?”
“It’s the Goldilocks kiss.” Her breath whispered over my mouth. “Not too dry. Not too wet. Just right.”
“There are some circumstances when nothing is too wet.” I tipped her chin up. “Open for me, Goldilocks.”
As soon as her lips parted, I dove in. I licked into her warmth, and her flavor deepened. Sweet and savory. My growl resonated between us. I plundered and sucked, forgetting about the technique I had once studied so intently.
Something about Ruby made me throw all my good sense out the window.
I curled a hand around the back of her neck to bring her closer. She let me. Her head tipped back and she was clutching my shirt like she was afraid one of us would drift away.
A needy moan left her.
Yes . The sound was different than her delicious food moan, but it burrowed into my consciousness just the same.
There was nothing wrong with this woman. In fact, I’d make it my mission to fake date the hell out of her. After me, she’d know when any other man didn’t measure up.
At the thought of another guy dating her, I deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arm around my neck before I flattened her into the back of the chair. When I licked, she met me stroke for stroke, that plump mouth working under mine.
Finally, I could nibble that pouty bottom lip of hers.
A whimper left her and she dug her hands in my hair. All my blood rerouted until a nearly painful erection started behind my zipper.
I had a hand around her waist. It’d be easy enough to sweep up her shirt, but this was just supposed to be a kiss. I didn’t want it to quit being a kiss.
“Whoa!” Cruz’s voice broke through my haze of arousal. “Mae! Tenor’s making out in the basement!”
I ripped my mouth off Ruby, but I didn’t rear back. I kept her covered in case her skirt had ridden up or her blouse unbuttoned during our make-out session. She drew her knees up, grazing my erection. Another reason I wasn’t pulling away. “Jesus, Cruz.”
He held his hands up like I had a gun trained on him. “Hey now. Don’t shoot the messenger. Mae’s outside anyway.” His grin was unrepentant.
“What do you need?” I asked through clenched teeth.
Lane was behind him, shit-eating grin in place. “We just came back for a catnap. Cruz is throwing tantrums left and right.”
Cruz shot a glare over his shoulder. “You know how I get when I don’t get my beauty sleep.”
“With your face, I can’t tell.” Lane snickered.
Cruz elbowed him, then they both settled down and grinned at us. Two grown men acting like goddamn boys. I usually didn’t mind. They’d had a rough upbringing. But they were the reason I wasn’t kissing Ruby right now.
“Go to your room,” I growled.
Lane barked out a laugh. “Nice to see you again, Ruby. Can you make sure the old man doesn’t take his crankiness out on us?”
Ruby’s hands were no longer around my neck. She gripped the armrests. “I’ll tell him to be nice.”
In case I thought I couldn’t get any harder, I did.
They finally moved, going to their rooms.
I tipped my forehead against hers. “Sorry about that.”
“What part?”
“They’re basically my obnoxious little brothers.”
“They listen to you.” She ran a finger down my cheek, bumping over the stubble I’d left on my jaw.
“Sometimes.” I was still crowding her. I pulled back. “My study was thorough. The guys you kissed were frogs.”
“And you’re a prince?” Was that a note of hope in her voice?
“No, Goldilocks. I’m just a bear who’ll show you how to know when the porridge is just right.” I rose and adjusted my fly. My dick must have the outline of my zipper imprinted on it.
She tipped her head at my action, bewildered. Did she not think she could get me as hard as stone?
“It doesn’t matter if this is real or not. I’ll treat you right.” I held my hand out. “Time to go talk to my mom.”
Ruby
My lips were puffy from that kiss.
Perfect .
The Goldilocks kiss. I had wanted more. I hadn’t wanted him to stop. I had been consumed.
From a kiss.
That kiss had been more than just right. And he’d been aroused. The bulge behind his jeans—huge. When my knee had brushed against it—hard. The way he’d hulked over me—hot.
My hand shook as I pushed stray strands of my curly hair out of my face. I was climbing the stairs in front of him, clutching my purse. He was behind me. A wall of heat.
How long would he have kept kissing me if Cruz hadn’t interrupted?
I would’ve been fine for the whole weekend.
When we reached the top, Tenor took my dishes to the sink. At least one of us had our wits about us.
How was I going to face Mae when I’d just had her son’s tongue in my mouth? We were both adults, but I had been a guest yesterday. Today, I’d been tonsil diving with Tenor and loving it.
Tenor braced himself on the counter. “I need a minute.”
I snorted. “I need like an hour.” I pressed my hands to my cheeks. “My face is burning hot.”
“After following you up the stairs, I don’t think an hour is enough.”
“Ha. Right.”
He pinned me with a hard gaze over his shoulder. “Christ, Ruby. You really don’t know?”
Had I done something wrong? “Know what?”
“How sexy you are.”
A nervous laugh escaped me. “You don’t have to?—”
He spun and strode across the room. I squeaked and backed up until my back smacked the wall.
He ran his thumb across my lower lip. “This mouth makes a guy think of nothing but long kisses.” He dragged his forefinger down my neck to my chest. “Don’t get me started about these.” Farther down. He stopped at my waist, but his burning gaze was on my legs. “If I wasn’t a better man, I’d ban tights from the dress code at work.”
He noticed when I wore tights? I did on cooler nights, but the days were growing warmer.
His face was inches from mine. I had the strongest urge to rip off his glasses and smash my mouth against his.
He straightened and stepped back. Cool air flooded between us. “That’ll be my goal for the next month. You worry about keeping Cara and your ex off your back, and I’ll prove the problem in your relationships was never you.”
No one had ever said anything so sweet to me.
He turned, giving me his broad back. Before I could recover from the abrupt withdrawal of his attention, he went for the door and opened it. “Ready?”
Time to face the kindest woman I’d ever met and lie to her face.
Timidly, I stepped out. Goose bumps that had more to do with the loss of his heat than cool air dotted my skin. The breeze carried a warm kiss that promised a nice day.
Mae was walking up the hill from a shed that had a bunch of red and white chickens darting around it. She beamed. “Good morning. I hope you slept well and that the boys didn’t disturb you when they charged inside.”
Tenor fell in step beside me. His jaw was tight. I almost felt bad for Cruz and Lane and the retaliation they’d face. Almost . I could’ve still been kissing Tenor.
“Thank you so much for letting me crash last night.” I twined my fingers together. Just be casual.
I didn’t do well getting introduced to parents. Brock’s mom and dad had asked so many questions about my job in a way that had made me feel two inches tall. They had kept referring to me as an influencer. It hadn’t been the term, it had been the tone. The judgment. The lack of interest. But Mae knew my job. Half the battle was done already.
“You’re welcome anytime.” She hitched a basket full of eggs on her arm.
“Hey, Mama. We’re dating. Just so you know.” Tenor put his hand on the small of my back. Some of my stress drained out of me as if he was absorbing it.
Mae’s brows lifted, but she smiled. “That’s good to hear.”
He stroked his thumb along my spine. “We didn’t, uh... I slept in my old room.”
Mae chuckled. “Well, it wouldn’t have been the first time you kids were up to shenanigans in the house.” She turned her fond gaze toward me. “Darin used to live for catching Junie and Rhys getting up to something.”
I smiled, her humor infectious. She’d lost her husband a few years ago. I’d never met him, but the things I’d heard only made me envious. My dad could be... a lot.
“Are you two heading to town?” she asked.
“I’ve gotta get back to Bozeman.” Other than needing a change of clothes and a shower, all I had waiting for me was my books, but I’d intruded enough. “But soon.”
“The room’s always open if you need a place to stay,” Mae said.
“She might.” The heat of his hand chased away the last bit of chill from the morning air. “She closes the bar Wednesday and Friday nights.”
“Oh, it’s fine.” I’d been driving back and forth for months. “It’s not open that late.” Especially on Wednesdays.
She wandered past us with a pleasant smile that was almost a smirk. She shifted her gaze to Tenor. “Between your place and mine, she always has a bed.”
Tenor stiffened and I sucked in a breath. Tenor’s place?
He didn’t drop his hand from my back. “Do you close next weekend?”
“Yes. I don’t have an end date.” My chest grew tight. An overnight at Mae’s with Tenor next door had been bad enough. I’d been awake the whole night, my brain insisting that Tenor was close enough. I’d imagined him next to me, heating the bed as he slumbered. “Since Autumn and Wynter backed off on their hours for their babies and I have nothing going on...” Didn’t that sound like he’d won the fake dating lottery? “But seriously. It’s not a long drive at all.”
He led me to my car. I’d go anywhere that strong hand steered me. I was lucky my legs worked after the kiss. We stopped at the driver’s door.
“Can you stay the next weekend and we’ll go out Saturday?” His gaze skated away. “I can’t do Wednesday nights.”
“Next Saturday is fine. I can stay here Friday if that’s okay with your mom.”
“You can stay with me.”
Oh . My pulse started to climb as excitement rose to a record high tide, but his offer was only for show. Could I do that and still tell myself this was fake?
“I have a spare room,” he clarified.
My nervous laugh carried away on the light breeze. Of course he did. “Right. Yes. That’ll work. It’d probably look weirder if I stayed with your mom. Like I was saving myself for marriage.” His brow furrowed, and I realized my error. “I’m not! I haven’t... waited.” I exhaled, but my chest was so tight it ended in a squeak. That was awkward.
The ghost of a smile played over his lips. “Was Brock sloppy at that too?”
“When you said that there are times when there’s no such thing as being too wet, that’d be news to Brock.”
He laughed, his head tipping back and his Adam’s apple bobbing. My breath ceased and I was helpless to watch. His laughter also saved me from being embarrassed by what I had said.
He sobered, but the smile was still in place, wide and open in a way I’d never gotten to witness before. “We can get them an instruction manual for a wedding present.”
I grinned. “If only I was brave and vengeful enough.”
His smile faded. “My place is...” He swallowed and looked away again. “It’s a bachelor pad.”
From what I’d heard, he’d built a cabin in the hills like his brothers. I hadn’t seen their places, but the log house behind me was impressive. What would his home look like? “If you don’t want me?—”
“It’s not that.” He pushed his glasses up and shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. “It’ll be fine. You can stay with me. And I promise to keep my hands to myself when we’re not trying to sell this to anyone.”
He didn’t have to. Not at all. But it’d muddy the waters more than my brain was already trying to do. I had to be comfortable with his touch, but that didn’t mean he wanted to crawl into bed with me.
He was slouching again. What didn’t he want me to see? Did he have an especially eclectic porn collection? Was he a hoarder? Just plain messy? A bachelor pad could look like a lot of things.
“Okay. It’s a...” Date wasn’t the right word. “Sleepover.”
His smile returned. “I’ll have movies and popcorn.”
“Whoa. Don’t get too wild,” I joked and his expression went somber. I’d said something wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what. My nerves were going to send that breakfast sandwich back up. I needed to leave. “See you then!”
I dove into the driver’s seat.
He put his hands on the frame and leaned in. “Everything okay?”
I scrambled for a way to keep things from getting more uncomfortable. “Just wondering if you’re a boxers guy too.”
Astonishment lifted his brows. Mission accomplished?
His chuckle was soft. “I’ll keep my shirt on. Don’t worry.”
“Then shirtless Fridays will be up to me.”
His pupils dilated and he leaned in closer. “Jesus, Goldilocks, don’t tease me like that. I’m only a man,” he said in a low voice and pressed a kiss to my lips.
Just as he was pulling back, an engine sounded behind us and tires crunched on gravel.
Alarm filled his eyes, but like before, he didn’t jerk away. His jaw flexed when his gaze landed on Teller’s pickup.
“Busted,” I said, not at all guilty. Surprise kisses from Tenor were now my favorite thing. So was making him break that calm composure.
He took a step back, and I pulled away. He never stopped watching me as I wound down the long drive to the main gravel road that led to the highway.