Chapter 12
By the time they were sitting down, Devon showed up. It was hard to see him and Dee as twins. He was a bit darker, but they had the same blue eyes. He smiled when he met her.
“Lord, I think we might need to warn the police, Devon just smiled,” Micah said.
“Shut up, old man. And I’m going to smile when I meet the woman Jack raved about.”
“Who’s Jack?” Eli asked, irritated. How had a woman who hadn’t been off the ranch that much know so many men?
“Jack the pilot,” she said with a huff. “Really, Eli, usually you pay more attention.”
He heard a little snicker at the end of the table, but Eli refused to pay attention to it. Right now, all his attention was on the multimillionaire sitting down next to his partner. There was no reason for Stryker to sit next to her, but he ignored Eli’s scowl and did just that.
“I see you’ve got my girl there,” Devon said to Crysta.
“And I understand that both you and Micah are the ones responsible for all the pink.”
He leaned forward and gave his sister the stink eye. “Really, do you ever not tell people that?”
Dee shrugged as she took a sip of water. “It’s the truth. I’m not taking the blame for that mess.”
Her brother rolled his eyes and then leaned closer to Crysta. He used the pretense of kissing his niece on the forehead, but Eli didn’t like it. Crysta looked at him and frowned. When Devon started to talk to May about his latest game release, Crysta leaned toward Eli.
“You need to behave,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She moved closer and lowered her voice. A wisp of her hair tickled his cheek. He wanted to reach up and slip his finger into the curl, but he didn’t have a right. He wanted that right, but he knew he didn’t have it.
“You growled.”
“What?” He couldn’t keep track of what she was saying. Those eyes of hers had every cell in his brain dissolving.
“Eli,” she said from behind clenched teeth.
“Yeah?” God, she smelled better than the food. There was something so intoxicating about her scent that he constantly found himself sniffing the air like a stallion scenting a mare in heat.
“Stop doing that!”
Eli shook his head. “What I am doing?”
“First, you were growling when Devon was talking to me.”
“I did not.”
“Yes, you did. There was a rumble sound and I know it was you. You have no right to get territorial about me.”
“I...”
He broke off when he realized he was about to admit to wanting that right. It was a good thing they were seated because there would be no doubt in her head just what he was thinking.
“Secondly, why are you acting like an idgit?”
He blinked. “A what?”
“Good lord. You’d think you didn’t have a brain in that pretty head of yours.”
“You think my head is pretty?” he asked. “I kind of like that.”
She rolled her eyes and moved away, but he stopped her. The baby stirred between them drawing his attention. Lizzy blinked open her eyes and stared right at him. Lord.
“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Crysta asked.
“Yeah.” He looked up at Crysta. “Probably going to give Micah fits when she starts dating.”
She laughed. “I bet.”
He let her go because seeing her hold a baby had stirred feelings in him he hadn’t had. Ever. Being a foster kid made him his own man. He had no family, save Joe. Now that he was gone, Eli pretty much had no one. And that’s the way he had always liked it.
But now, he thought glancing at Crysta rocking the baby in her arms, he was wondering why starting a family had been something he never thought about before now.
* * *
Crysta triedto enjoy the night even with Eli acting like an ass. Truthfully, since his episode when she first started talking to Devon, he had behaved. It had been fun to just laugh and gossip. It had been so long since she’d had a night out like this; she didn’t realize how much she had missed it.
“So, the ladies say you’re going to Dupree’s tomorrow for lunch,” Micah said as he walked them to the door. Evan popped his head out of the kitchen. “Hey, are y’all already leaving? It’s early.”
Eli chuckled. “For you it is. Crysta and I work on a ranch, so we get up early.”
“Besides, both Dee and May want to show me Rough ‘n Ready tomorrow night. I need some beauty sleep.”
Micah chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll give you the silver dollar tour.”
Evan stepped up, grabbed her and bent her at the waist. “It was very nice meeting you.”
He kissed her on the check as she giggled. He pulled her back up and handed her off to Eli, who did not look happy with the situation.
“Good night,” she said and stepped through the door.
“Give us a call tomorrow,” Micah said to Eli.
They were walking down the path to the rental car when Eli said, “So, you liked them?”
She shrugged. “May and Dee are hard not to like. They really are nice.”
“Well, if they accept you, you have it made.”
She smiled at him as he opened the passenger side door. “They were nice to me because of you, Eli.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They love you like a brother and they want to make sure no one is mean to you.”
It was dark out and only a street lamp lit the area but she was sure he blushed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
When she said nothing, he asked, “Are you going to get in?”
She nodded and said nothing, unable to stop smiling. Seeing Eli St. John blush didn’t happen every day. All in all—a pretty good night.
Now if she could remember that it wasn’t a date and there would be nothing else at the end of the night, she would be fine.
Sure, no problem at all.
* * *
They rodeup in the elevator together. Being on one of the top floors, they ended up alone for the last couple. Eli was itchy, from the inside out. The woman had him beyond hot. He just needed to make sure that he controlled himself. Tomorrow night they would be at Rough ‘n Ready. If he could get the ladies to keep an eye on Crysta, he could get one of the private rooms.
That didn’t even sound good. Not like it usually did. He hadn’t been this intrigued by a woman. All he wanted to do was strip her down and fuck her. As they stepped out of the elevator, her phone chimed. She frowned over the number.
“Hello.”
They walked down the hall as she talked on the phone.
“Uh, yeah, but how did you get my number.” She was quiet for a second then laughed. “Okay. I’ll accept your sister gave you my number.”
Then, more silence on her part. “Oh, I’m having lunch with the ladies tomorrow.”
She glanced in his direction.
“I’m going out tomorrow night.”
She waited for Stryker to speak. It irritated Eli he couldn’t hear what the ass was saying to her.
“Yeah. I take it you don’t play?”
She was quiet for a few moments. “Well, I guess if you want to come to the Big Island, that’s cool. I assumed you’d been there before. I don’t know much about?—”
Silence again. “Oh, okay, sure. I’d show you around the ranch.”
He tried not to get pissed that she was making a date with the bastard. Granted, he had been just thinking of taking on a sub tomorrow night, but he wasn’t planning it right in front of her. Well, okay, not on the phone.
Shit.
He slid the card into the slot and opened the door. He was lucky to get two rooms that had an outer area that connected. They both had their own rooms, but they had another door, which locked to the outside. It was the easiest thing he could think of for security.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She clicked off her phone and offered him a smile. “That was Devon.”
He grunted.
“He wants to find out more about the ranch.”
“Is that so?”
She nodded and turned in the direction of her room. He followed her. They both had locking doors inside, but she had left hers open.
“So, that should be fun. I’d like to talk to him about his work.”
“Is that what you call it?” Eli asked.
She turned and frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”
“It was obvious he was interested in you.”
She sighed. “Eli, we’ve been through this. I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating men’s interest in me. I got game, but I didn’t put out a freaking mating call. You don’t have any say in who I date and, since you were pretty happy to use his jet on the way over here, I’m assuming you trust him.”
He did. He actually liked the man. Devon Stryker had many secrets, but Eli had always been sure that Micah would never allow him to be around Dee if he were dangerous.
“He doesn’t play.”
She shrugged. Her nonchalance aggravated him on some level he couldn’t seem to grasp. “I told you that I wasn’t sure I was made out for that either.”
“But you’re going to Rough ‘n Ready tomorrow night.”
“Yeah. Both Dee and May said I should go and I know Micah wants to show me around.”
He didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to argue more about it, but he was running out of reasons she shouldn’t talk to Devon…other than he didn’t want her to. And that smacked of jealousy.
Eli St. John, jealous? He had thought it before, but he thought it would fade. It had been years, probably since his teens. He’d learned right off how to control that, though. Being jealous over a woman was stupid and it lead to situations.
But he was. That had to be the only reason he was trying to figure out a way to make sure Devon never made it over to the island. He was pretty sure the man was lethal.
“I don’t like it.”
Her brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t like the idea of Devon being at the ranch.”
“And?”
“That’s it. I don’t like it.”
She was looking at him as if he was crazy and he didn’t blame her. He did sound crazy. She had made him that way. He was walking around half aroused most days. He had wanted to hit Rough ‘n Ready up tomorrow night, but the thought of taking on a sub…well he didn’t want one if it wasn’t Crysta.
Shit.
“I’m sorry but I’m pretty sure you’ve lost it. Devon just wants to be shown around.”
“He wants in your bed.”
She rolled her eyes. “I swear to God, St. John, you’re the only one who has kissed me. You have some kind of idea that men are all drooling over me, and I can assure you that isn’t true.”
Just her mentioning the kisses had his blood heating. The memory of the way she sighed, the taste of her passion…the feel of her pressed up against him had his cock twitching.
“Are you telling me that no one has tried to kiss you before?”
She must have detected the change in his voice. The glance she gave him told him she heard the change in his tone.
“No. Only you have manhandled me.”
He stepped toward her. He knew it was stupid, it was a huge mistake, but there was a bit of challenge in her voice he couldn’t resist.
“I wouldn’t say I handled you just like a man, yet.”
She settled her hands on her hips. “Eli, I can’t deal with this. Either you let the innuendos go, or just…”
She broke off as he stepped forward. He grabbed her by the hand and tugged her forward. She came easily, willingly.
Crysta opened her mouth, probably to argue with him, but he was sick of that. He did the one thing he could do.
He damned them both and slammed his mouth down on hers.