Chapter 3 #2
“Hi!” Sutton grinned as she slid into the booth beside Blaire.
Her brother hung back a second before he finally slid in beside her.
“Hi.” I leaned across the table, my lips curving into a smile. “That top looks killer on you.”
“Thanks,” Sutton said, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
“Let me make introductions.” I gestured around the table. “You know Blaire, and that’s her fiancé Colt. This one,” I nudged McCoy with my elbow, “is trouble, but he goes by McCoy. And this,” I tilted my head toward Hunter without quite meeting his eyes, “is Hunter. Everyone, meet Sutton.”
McCoy flashed her the most devastating grin across the table. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said with his normal charm, but there was a glint of curiosity in his gaze as he looked at her.
Sutton’s brother looked around the table, his gaze sharp and assessing as he took stock of each one of us.
“You must be Sutton’s brother.” I smiled, and his green eyes met mine. “We’re so glad you could come tonight. I’m Maggie.” I leaned forward, offering my hand, and the sheriff took it.
His hand enveloped mine. “Brody Harding,” he said with a voice so deep and smooth that I became acutely aware of Hunter watching me. “It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for giving my sister a job.”
He glanced over at Sutton, and she smiled up at him. “I kind of forced her into it.”
“This is true.” I nodded as I pulled my hand away. “Your sister is persistent.”
“Don’t I know it.” He chuckled, and Sutton rolled her eyes.
“I’m Hunter Calloway.” Hunter held his hand out to Brody, and my body tensed as they shook. “I hear you’re the new sheriff.”
“That’s right,” Brody said as he dragged his palm across the stubble on his jaw. “Just settled in last week.” His eyes narrowed slightly on Hunter, and a flash of recognition crossed his face. “Calloway as in the Calloway Ranch on the east side of the county?”
“That’s the one.” Hunter pointed to McCoy and Colt. “All three of us grew up on that ranch, and we all live there now.”
“I’ve heard so much about it and your family since I got into town,” Brody said. “I hear it’s one hell of a piece of land.”
Before he could answer, a bucket of beer thunked down hard on the table before the waitress sat down a tray full of shots. She smiled at Hunter before sending him a wink. “Anything else for you, dear?”
I might have felt territorial if she wasn’t old enough to be his mother.
“We’re good for now. Thank you.” Hunter reached between us, snagging his wallet out of his back pocket, and he pulled a twenty out before sliding it into her hand. “All right, who wants a shot?” he asked even though he was already handing them out.
I took mine from his hand, my fingers brushing his for just the briefest moment, and just like that, any thoughts I had of Brody were replaced by that familiar fire that only Hunter could ignite.
His other hand went back to my back, and his fingers spread wide where my dress dipped low. It took everything I had not to shiver under his touch.
It was like my whole body was a spark just waiting to catch, every nerve ending tuned to the way he touched me even as he spoke to someone else. I tried to focus on the others as they lifted their shots, but my mind refused to focus on anything except the heat of his skin against mine.
Maybe that was why I flinched when Hunter suddenly lifted his shot, and said, “To new friends, hot sheriffs, and pretty girls who can’t be tamed.”
“Here, here,” McCoy chimed in, and even Colt laughed as the whole table tipped our glasses together.
“To hot sheriffs,” Blaire said with a mischievous glint in her eye as her gaze flicked toward Brody.
Colt’s hand shot up to cover her mouth. “I apologize for my fiancée,” he said, emphasizing the last word while Blaire’s eyes crinkled with laughter above his fingers. “She’s been cooped up too long, and clearly, she needs a reminder about appropriate behavior when we get home.”
“I’ll cheers to that.” I laughed and clinked my shot against Blaire’s. “She’s just misbehaving to make sure Daddy Colt puts her in her place when she gets home.” I winked at my best friend. “To spankings!”
Hunter’s hand tensed on my back, dropping the slightest bit lower.
“To spankings,” she murmured from behind his hand as she raised her glass, and Colt looked so exasperated with the two of us as he rolled his eyes that I couldn’t help but laugh as I brought the tequila to my lips.
I threw the shot back, the liquor burning the back of my throat, but it barely made a dent compared to the heat crawling across my skin as Hunter’s thumb pressed hard against my skin. As I set the empty glass on the table, Hunter leaned in, and the scrape of his stubble grazed the shell of my ear.
He inhaled deeply before his breath rushed out against me. “Careful, darlin’,” he murmured, his lips barely brushing my ear. “Do you need someone to bend you over their knee and make you beg for it?”
Heat ripped through me with his words, and I pressed my thighs together as my pulse pounded recklessly. He lingered there with his thumb stroking the bare skin of my back.
His hand slipped lower, fingers tightening around my hip, and for a second, I imagined just turning and climbing into his lap in front of God and all of Willow Grove.
“Is that what you need, Mags?” He was baiting me, and every inch of me was aware of the thin fabric that separated his palm from my bare flesh.
“Maybe it is,” I whispered as I blinked up at him. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and I watched as he ran his tongue over his lower lip. “Do you think the new sheriff would be up for it?”
His jaw clenched, and his knee shoved harder into the outside of my thigh. I could feel heat rolling off him as his whole body tensed, but he just stared down at me with storm clouds in his eyes. He was so close I could see every fleck of gold in his brown eyes and the tic of the muscle in his jaw.
“If that’s what you want.” His words were gravel, and they made me want to crawl out of my skin.
“It doesn’t really matter what I want, does it?” I hadn’t meant to say the words, and they came out so faint and splintered I almost didn’t recognize them as my own. It was humiliating, the way my voice betrayed me, and I hated how he knew it.
Hunter’s eyes bore into mine, something raw and possessive flickering across his face, but neither of us looked away. I waited for his usual cocky retort or for the teasing that usually came next, but Hunter just let his gaze linger on me.
I tore my gaze away, my heart hammering against my ribs, because I knew if I looked at him for even a moment longer, I’d do something reckless and stupid.
But that was the problem with Hunter Calloway, he made me forget exactly why I shouldn’t want that.
I blinked across the table at Blaire, and her eyes met mine for a long moment before they flicked to Hunter then back to me.
“All right.” Blaire rubbed her hands together before pointing at me. “Boy time is over. Me, you, and Sutton on the dance floor, now.”
The words had barely left Blaire’s lips before Brody stood and let Sutton and Blaire out of the booth.
“Excuse me,” I said to Hunter, nudging him with my knee, and he took a long sip of his beer before he finally stood.
I slowly climbed out of the booth. He gave me the tiniest amount of room, just enough that my body had to drag against his as I moved.
His jeans caught against my thigh, rough denim scraping bare flesh, and he reached for my hand, his calloused thumb brushing over my pulse point as he helped me stand.
I stood, unsteady, my knees brushing against his, and for a heartbeat we were chest to chest.
His lips brushed against my ear, his breath hot on my skin as he whispered, “Don’t have too much fun without me out there.”
His fingers trailed down my arm as he pulled back just enough to lock eyes with me, and there was so much danger lurking in his gaze. It pissed me off, this game he was playing with me, and there was a part of me that wanted to call him on his shit.
But there was another part that didn’t want this to stop, that would take whatever scraps he was willing to give me, the scraps I was allowed to take, and that only made me angrier.
“I didn’t know you had fun anymore, Calloway.”
“You don’t think I’m fun?” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I narrowed my eyes, looking him over playfully.
“I mean, I’m sure you are. You’re just not very fun with me.” I let my gaze linger on his mouth.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He bracketed his hands on his hips, and it drew my eyes down to where his T-shirt stretched across his abs.
“You know exactly what it means.” I stepped closer, tilting my head up.
He huffed and looked over at Blaire where she and Sutton stood waiting for me. “Sorry, ladies,” he called over to them. “I’m going to have to interrupt you all and take Maggie here for a spin around the floor to remind her exactly who I am.”
He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he hooked his hand around my waist and hauled me right into his side. He tugged me through the crowded bar, and I followed helplessly.
“Boo! Hiss!” Blaire’s voice carried over the music. “Traitor!” she shouted with her thumbs down in mock disapproval, though her wide grin betrayed her as Hunter pulled me away.
With each step, his fingers tightened against my waist, sending tiny shock waves up my spine. I caught stares following us through the bar, probably wondering what the hell the two of us were doing, but Hunter paid them no attention.
He stopped once we got to the dance floor and turned to face me.
His eyes never left mine as he slid one hand around my back, fingers grazing over my ass, before he tugged my body flush with his.
He took my other hand in his as he smiled down at me with the kind of charm that made my stomach flip despite myself.
I nodded toward the bar. “Don’t you have some girls you ought to be charming right now? Your fan club looks ready to claw my eyes out.”
“They’ll be fine.” His thumb traced circles on my lower back. “Who would be charming you if not me?”
“I can think of a few options.” I glanced pointedly over my shoulder toward our table.
Hunter’s fingers dug into my skin. “You can’t be fucking serious.”
“Why not?” I arched an eyebrow, enjoying the jealousy I saw brewing in his eyes a little too much. “It’s not like I have prospects beating down my door, and the ones I am interested in, aren’t interested in me.”
“Who the hell are you so hung up on that isn’t falling at your feet?” His eyes dropped to my lips for the briefest moment before meeting my gaze again. “Because they’re a damn idiot.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s been called worse things.” I ran my tongue along my bottom lip, watching as his eyes tracked the movement. “But it’s not like I have many choices in this town. I could always test the waters with one of those cowboys who can’t seem to get enough of my cinnamon rolls, or…”
“Or you could dance with me without thinking about any of them.” He spun me out before I realized what he was doing and reeled me back in.
The suddenness of it made me laugh, my head thrown back as my body went flush with his again. He grinned, a genuine smile that nearly made me forget I was supposed to be keeping my defenses up.
“Hunter Calloway, are you jealous?” I teased as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“I don’t get jealous.” His words fell from his lips easily, but his fingers gripped me with just enough possessiveness I knew the lie for what it was.
A slow song drifted through the speakers, and I reached up without thinking and brushed a stray piece of hair from his forehead. “You letting your hair grow out?” I asked, because if I didn’t steer this conversation somewhere safe, I was going to do something foolish.
He shrugged as he moved me across the floor. “Haven’t had time to get it cut.”
I smiled, unable to help myself. “It suits you. It makes you look more like your dad.”
He made a face, like I’d told him he had a venereal disease. “Well, now I’m definitely scheduling a haircut tomorrow.”
I laughed and shook my head at him. “Oh, please. Your dad is a good-looking man.”
“Are you trying to wound my ego?” He leaned down slightly so we were eye to eye. “First you’re talking about the sheriff, and now my dad.”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “I can’t help it. He’s so handsome. I’d say your mom is one lucky woman, but let’s be honest. He’s the lucky one. I don’t know how she put up with you all.”
“I’ll have you know, I was a perfect angel. I’m her baby, remember?”
“Oh, I remember.” I let him spin me again. “But your poor mother had her hands full with you three. I can’t imagine what you were like as teenagers. You were probably dumber but just as handsome.”
He smirked down at me. “Wait, you think I’m handsome?”
“Please, Calloway.” I rolled my eyes again, but my lips twitched. “You’re more than aware of how handsome you are.”
He leaned in close. “Yeah, but I didn’t know you thought I was handsome.”
“Is there a difference?” I whispered, and my hands trailed over the back of his neck.
His steps faltered for a moment, and he searched my face. “There’s a hell of a difference, Mags.”