Chapter Three
Shane watched the party as they started to break up.
He and Bay had moved to a booth when it became apparent
Brooke was staying for a while.
“It’s her and Cleo and three others left. The drunk girl who
sang karaoke without a machine, one guy, and another I suspect is his
boyfriend.” Shane had made a study of the people around Brooke tonight. She’d
been hit on more than once by random dudes, but she’d given them polite but
firm nos. Surprisingly enough, he and Bay had been left alone all night. At one
point a couple of women had walked in and looked Shane and his brother over
like they were an all-you-can-eat sex buffet and they had some excellent
coupons. He’d prepared several excuses, including he was married and he didn’t
like women. The last thing he’d needed was to have Brooke think they were open
to anyone but her.
Then they’d come back from the bathroom, looked him over
like he was dirty, and walked out.
He didn’t smell or anything. He looked good. It didn’t
matter. He knew why he was here, and he was close to meeting that goal.
He also knew something else. “I’m fairly certain they came
in Cleo’s car. It’s tiny. I don’t think they’ll all fit.”
It was late, almost closing time. The last time he’d gone to
the restroom, he’d taken a tour of the parking lot and the only cars remaining
were Sawyer’s Jeep, their truck, and that tiny Fiat that wouldn’t fit more than
four people.
The Farley brothers weren’t allowed out after ten, since
apparently that was when the devil showed up, so Brooke was going to need a
ride.
Was she thinking she would get one from Cleo? Or was she
planning to call her brothers at almost two in the morning? Did she think they
were so bad for her she wouldn’t even accept a ride from them?
He intended to correct that impression tonight. By being a
gentleman. He intended to show her how good they could be for her.
And how are you going to do that? His inner voice
kept creeping in. What good are you going to do her? You got no real money.
You don’t have a house. You barely have a car, and you can’t even consider
going after her yourself because you learned long ago that you’re half a man
and always will be.
He took the last sip of beer, the one he’d been saving. He
wasn’t listening to that crap tonight.
“Hey, guys. It’s last call,” Sawyer announced from the bar
in a booming voice. “I close in twenty, and I mean to be up that mountain about
two minutes after. You don’t have to go home but you…”
Shane knew the next words. “Can’t stay here.”
How many nights had he and Bay stayed at the bar until they
heard those words because it was better than wherever they happened to be
staying? His rodeo days had definitely been spent that way. Cheap motel room.
Closest dive bar. Rinse. Repeat.
How many women had they gone home with? Oh, he’d told
himself it was for sex, but it was also to stay out of that room they shared.
Whether it was a motel or a bunkhouse, he was constantly reminded that there
was no home for him.
No one wants you. Your father only took you in because
his pastor knew about you and it would make us look bad if we let you go into
the system.
Sometimes he wished she had.
But then that would have left Bay alone with her. He
suspected if he hadn’t been his stepmother’s whipping boy, she would have
turned all that anger and regret on her son. In some ways, he thought having
him around had spared Bay a lot of pain.
Sawyer walked up and grabbed their empty glasses with a
frown. “You two are disappointments.”
Not anything he hadn’t heard before. “Yeah, we get that a
lot.”
“You’ve been here for hours and you’ve nursed two whole
beers. I don’t do this for my health. I need serious drinkers, and that’s not
the two of you.” Sawyer glanced back at the only other table left. “You stay
for her?”
Was this the moment when Sawyer took away their big chance
with her? “We thought we should hang around. She’s going to need a ride. Unless
you think they can strap one of them to the top of a Fiat. I suppose she could
call someone, but I thought we should make sure she gets home okay.”
“So you kept the drinking to a minimum.” Sawyer stared at
him as though he could see through to his damn soul. Or he was deciding how to
kill him in the cleanest fashion. He’d heard the big guy didn’t like a mess. He
finally nodded. “Okay. I need you to know that I’m watching you. If she doesn’t
get home all right or if you take advantage of her, I’ll kill you. Deal?”
“Could we talk about the word advantage?” Bay asked. “It
could mean different things to different people.”
“How much has she had to drink?” Shane got right to the
point. “I saw her drink two glasses of wine and some water.”
“She had a glass of champagne about an hour ago, but since
she’s been drinking club soda, and she split a BLT with Cleo, who is also
sober,” Sawyer explained. “I can’t say the same for the rest. They look wasted,
but then they’re actors, so I’m not surprised. I think the only class of
employed people who can drink actors under the table are teachers, but I
totally don’t blame them. I’ve seen what those kids can do.” He looked over and
Cleo and the group were walking up. “Can you handle them okay? I can get Wyatt
to come down and drive some of you home while I close.”
Cleo held a hand up. “I am a director, Sawyer. I am used to
corralling a bunch of artists and getting them where they need to be. Besides,
we’re all staying out at the Movie Motel. Val is in my room, and the boys have
the one next to us.”
Brooke winced. “Are you still driving the Fiat?”
Cleo nodded. “Yeah, but Val can sit on Dave’s lap. We can
squeeze in.”
Bay held up a hand. “Uhm, be careful about that. The sheriff
is on a rampage, and by rampage I mean he’s writing tickets right and left
because he needs a new chair and he wants one of those massagers. The last one
broke, and I do not want to know how. I got a ticket for jaywalking, which
apparently is a real thing, and I got a lecture on protecting my vertebrae
because they go bad or something.”
Shane had never been happier to report a sighting of a law
enforcement professional. “One of the deputies is parked at the base of the
mountain.”
Cleo sighed. “Maybe we’re going to need that ride, Sawyer.”
“I am not making Wyatt come down here and drive me home.
He’s probably already in bed.” Brooke looked to Sawyer. “Can they drive safely
or should I take their truck and run?”
And that was why they’d sat here nursing beers when they
should have been getting drunk off their asses and proving what cowboys they
were.
He didn’t want to be a cowboy tonight. He wanted to serve
her in some way.
He was making himself nauseous. If his brother said those
words to him, he would punch him and ask him if Doc took his dick like he’d
taken Max Harper’s balls.
But it was still true. He wanted to take her home and make
sure she got in okay, and he would ask if she wanted to have lunch with them.
He would be polite. He would take it slow.
“They’ve been nursing two whole beers all night,” Sawyer
confirmed. “They’ve done nothing but stare at you like the creepers they are.”
Asshole. He felt his skin flush and hoped he hadn’t gone
totally red.
Brooke’s lips curled up as if she had them right where she
wanted them. Not a hint of fear or disgust in her eyes. Nope. She looked like a
cat who knew she was going to get all the cream she wanted.
And didn’t that make his cock tighten.
“But then you spent most of the night telling the two single
women in here that they have chlamydia,” Sawyer continued. “Think I didn’t hear
that? So like get a room. You’re all capable of consent and to drive. Spare the
rest of us and get it out of your systems.”
Cleo laughed. “I missed you, Sawyer. You are every bit the
asshole you were in high school. Never change, my friend. Let’s go. Brooke,
I’ll see you at the theater tomorrow.” She looked Shane and Bay over before
turning back to Brooke. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. But you should know I
would do a lot.”
She winked and gave Brooke a hug.
“I don’t have chlamydia.” Bay leaned over and whispered as
though there weren’t a bunch of people watching him. “Do you? You didn’t say
anything.”
Shane slid out of the booth. “No one has chlamydia. She’s
being a territorial chick. She didn’t want those women hitting on us. She
wanted to keep her options open.”
“Did not,” Brooke protested. “I was being mean. You’re not
nice to my brother.”
Sawyer snorted. “Then everyone has chlamydia, Brooke. Girl,
don’t do this. Say what you want, take it, and get it out of your system. No
one will think less of you.”
Shane didn’t like how that sounded. He didn’t want to be out
of her system. He hadn’t known he was in it. Shouldn’t he have enjoyed that
more?
Brooke frowned and crossed her arms under her breasts, which
only made them more prominent. “Well, let’s go then. We need to take the back
way onto the property. The lights could wake the kids up, and I don’t want to
be the reason three kids climb into my brothers’ bed tonight.”
She started walking for the door.
Bay looked at him as he slid out of the booth. “It’s a good
thing she thinks we have an STI?”
His brother could miss the point from time to time. It was
the whole genius-artist thing. Sometimes he checked to make sure Bay still had
both his ears. He’d decided if he had one job in life it was to ensure Bay went
to his grave with both ears intact. “No. She didn’t want those women hitting on
us. Now we need to treat her like a lady. Go and open the door for her. We
should have some interesting conversation because I’m fairly certain she views
us as two himbo cowpokes without a brain to share between us. Show her we’re
smarter than she thinks.”
Bay nodded and rushed to get to the door.
“This is going to be fun,” Sawyer said with a grin that lit
up his usually grim expression.