Chapter 14 #2
I roll my eyes at her. “Their mascot was a llama and it did not want to be rescued. When I got its pen open, instead of enjoying its newfound freedom, the llama thought getting a piece of my flesh was a more enticing option. I had no idea llamas were so mean. Or so fast. It chased me all around the track field. I ended up being the one who needed rescuing.”
Jo’s shoulders are shaking with suppressed laughter. “It was me who called the cops. I thought she was getting murdered in there based off her screams. The cops only arrested her because one of them got bit trying to re-wrangle the llama.”
“You’re an outlaw, Banshee. I’m surprised they didn’t run you out of town after a stunt like that.” Shayne says, his lips curving into a smile.
“Hold on. Banshee? You two already have pet names for each other?” Jo asks, folding her hands up near her face and batting her eyes. “That’s so sweet. Paige, what’s your nickname for him? Let me guess—Butternut?”
“Ew, no. But he is in my phone as ‘Cowboy Hat Demon Horse,’” I say, and Shayne laughs. The sound of it fills me like wine pouring into my empty cup. Jo catches my eye and mouths, ‘He’s so into you,’ and I roll my eyes at her.
All three of us have finished eating, so I stand to clear our plates but Jo puts her hand on my arm, pushing me back into my seat. “Sit. Chat. I’ve got to put Kody to bed, and then we can have dessert,” she says, then clears the table herself before exiting the kitchen.
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question earlier,” I say, keeping my voice low. “But I will help you. How could I live with myself if I didn’t make sure Jo didn’t marry a lying, cheating, parking-lot-sex fiend?”
“Thank you, Banshee,” Shayne says, and I feel his thumb lightly rub against my thigh under the table.
“But what is that?” I say, looking down at the table as if I could see his hand thought it. “I thought we were hands off.”
“I don’t know where you got the impression I didn’t want to put my hands on you,” Shayne says, continuing to stroke my thigh.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe when you said it to my face about five days ago.” I push his hand away so I can think clearly.
“I never said that. I said that starting a relationship with you would be a stupid choice given the circumstances. I admit the timing of that statement wasn’t great, but I certainly never said I didn’t want to touch you. You would’ve seen through that lie pretty quick, anyway,”
Shayne says, taking a sip of wine. The look he’s giving me is pure fire as his eyes travel from my face down to my chest and back again.
“So, what is the end goal here, Shayne? I just want a simple answer for once,” I don’t even try to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
Shayne moves his chair closer and then shifts so my legs are between his thighs.
He then braces his arms on either side of me, gripping my chair back, effectively trapping me.
His gaze is heavy with desire as his eyes travel over my face.
“The end goal, Paige?” Shayne says, his voice a deep rumble that I can feel in my bones.
He then says, his voice even lower, so I can feel the vibrations of his words more than I can hear them, “The end goal is that I have you naked, begging me for my cock before tonight is over. And then as often as possible while I’m still in town. Simple enough?”
My mouth instantly waters, and I swallow.
He may as well have shot an arrow of pure lust straight into my core.
My mind fills with images from our night together: Shayne’s muscular arms lifting me like I was made of candy floss, the expression of feral lust on his face as he pounded into me, the feel of his skin sliding over mine.
I’m already wet, my desire for him a pulsing ache between my thighs.
His face is inches away from mine, our breath mingling in the space between us. Kiss me, you idiot.
The sound of Jo’s boot heels clicking on the wood floor of the hallway knocks me back into my surroundings. Shayne gives me one last meaningful look before straightening up and releasing me from the cage of his arms. Jo rounds the corner just as he’s scooting his chair back into place.
“Anyone up for dessert?” Jo asks, a rhetorical question, obviously. “Paige, mind helping me for a sec?”
I walk over on shaky legs to join her in front of the fridge.
“If I’d been gone two minutes more, I think I would have walked in to find the two of you naked on my dining room table,” she whispers while handing me the bowl of whipped cream.
“I had no idea your chemistry was so off-the-charts. Why didn’t you say anything? ”
“We hooked up the other night, and with Andy being in the hospital, it didn’t feel right to bother you with it just then.
And I thought it was just a one-time thing.
Then, when you seemed so excited about getting us together, I didn’t want to disappoint you that I’d already taken a swing and a miss,” I answer, lamely miming a baseball swing.
Also, I thought he was blackmailing your husband, so there’s that little complication…
Jo knocks me on my shoulder, shaking her head in mock disgust.
“I know that sounds ridiculous—I just wanted you to have a distraction from—well, everything.” I set the whipped cream on the counter and grab stack of bowls from the cabinet.
“Paige, even when my life is falling apart, I’ll never be too busy to hear what’s going on with you.
Although I do appreciate the sentiment. And I’m confused why you think it was miss?
He’s obviously into you. Grab the gelato?
” she says, pointing to the freezer. I open it, grab the gelato, and turn back to the table but notice that Shayne is now gone.
“He snuck out to the bathroom,” Jo explains, placing the bowls and spoons on the table.
“Dish before he gets back. Was it good?”
“Words won’t suffice,” I tell her, sitting heavily down in my chair.
Jo claps her hands like a kid about to face-plant into a pile of cake. “After the year you had, you deserve an earth-shattering orgasm more than anyone.”
“It was pretty damn earth-shattering.” I say, my stomach fluttering at the promise of Shayne’s words earlier. My goal is to have you naked and begging…
Jo scoops us each some gelato and then tops it with the fresh whipped cream and berries.
By the time she’s finished, Shayne has returned to the table.
I sneak a glance at him and notice his brows are furrowed.
I shoot him a questioning look, but he just shakes his head slightly.
Jo clocks the sudden tension and raises her eyebrows at me.
I shrug, just as confused as she is by the sudden change in him.
Jo launches into a funny story about the first time her dad let her ride by herself and how the horse got spooked and took off.
Her dad tried to stop the runaway but ended up accidentally roping Jo off the horse instead.
She flew through the air and then rolled head-over-feet like a tumbleweed across the arena.
Jo’s dad, Eli, was convinced he’d accidentally killed her, but when he got to her side, tears already falling down his face she looked up at him, smiled, and said “Again, Daddy.” I’ve heard this story so many times—it was one of Eli’s favorite stories to whip out whenever we gathered for dinners and the pride he so evidently felt for his daughter always made it sweeter—but it still makes me laugh to imagine little badass Jo flying through the air, loving every minute.
Eli was the only man who made me feel sorry I didn’t have a dad.
He was a tough acorn on the outside and pure marshmallow on the inside.
Shayne laughs when he’s supposed to and asks Jo more questions about growing up on the ranch, but it’s obvious his head is somewhere else. “Your dad sounds like he was a good man,” he says.
“He was the best. My best friend. Until I met Paige, of course, then Pops had to take a back seat,” Jo says, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “But he loved Paige, too, so he understood why he had been demoted.”
“The first time I met Eli, he looked me up and down and said ‘She’s got the city stink on her but I can see cowboy blood runs in her veins,’” I say in a low cowboy drawl, laughing.
“Ah, that city stink. Eli loved getting riled up about ‘city stink,’” Jo says, her eyes going misty, as they always do when she talks about her dad for too long.
“I still can’t get over how supportive he was when I told him I was going to move to San Francisco, which for him was basically me saying I was moving to hell.
He never once questioned my decision. He just told me to follow my heart, even though I knew it upset him.
In his heart of hearts, he wanted me here, but only if it was what I truly wanted, too.
And look what happened! Here I am. Living the dream,” Jo says, then drains the wine left in her glass.
“Wow, it has been a long-ass week. I was going to ask you two to stay late and get hammered but I think I’m beat,” she says, standing.
I follow Jo’s lead and wrap her in the tightest hug I can manage. She groans in protest but hugs me back just as tightly. “Thank you for a delicious meal,” I say. “And just for being you in general. I love you.”
“I love you,” she says, her voice muffled by my hair. “I hope my little foray into memory lane didn’t put a damper on your sex fest,” she adds in a whisper.
Shayne and I lock eyes over Jo’s shoulder. He smiles at me, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Whatever is bothering him has sunk its teeth in deep. “It’s pretty incredible you two found each other, cut from the same cloth, despite coming from such different places,” he says.
“You’re not wrong. You find your platonic soulmate yet, Shayne?” Jo asks, bumping my hip subtly with her own.
“That I have. Duke is the best friend a guy like me could ask for. I’ve always been drawn to the strong, silent types,” Shayne says, following us down the hallway to the front door.