3. 3
Deacon found himself shaking his head as he followed Lisa out of the clubhouse. How the hell she managed to get just what she wanted; he had no idea. Including the fact that he followed her watching the sweet sway of her perky little ass as she walked in those heels.
Without bidding, an image of her bent over a kitchen counter wearing nothing but those heels flashed in his mind. He clenched his jaw and pushed the image away.
It couldn’t happen.
There was no point in thinking about it.
She was off limits.
Deacon waited until they’d gone to either side of Cowboy’s pickup to adjust his jeans where they’d gotten tight in the crotch. Then he climbed in to wait for Cowboy and Lisa to decide where they were going.
It didn’t take long for a decision to be made, then Cowboy got in and started the truck.
“I don’t know why I let her get to me, but Lisa knows how to step on my every nerve. I swear she dances on them just to watch me explode.”
Deacon didn’t say anything because he sometimes felt the same way. Only he knew the nerve she danced on for him wasn’t the same as the one for Cowboy. Sometimes he found the way his best friend’s little sister did her best to get under her brother’s skin amusing. It ceased being funny when she turned her attention on him.
“When you figure out how to get her to stop, let me know.” He had never told Cowboy how he felt about Lisa, or how she’d been coming onto him. He’d just shut her down and walked away.
But she wasn’t seventeen anymore and he didn’t know how long he could keep walking away. Especially if she was back in town to stay. Maybe helping move her furniture was a bad idea. It would be easier to keep his distance if he never saw where she lived. Never knew where to find her during his weaker moments. Never knew where she slid between the sheets and slept.
“I don’t know what will stop it. I’ve tried to ignore her, but it only makes whatever she pulls worse. She escalates until she gets the reaction she’s after.” Cowboy shook his head. “Mom and Terry spoiled her and acted like she could do no wrong until she believes it too. I swear it’s going to get her in trouble, if it hasn’t already.”
Deacon frowned. “What do you mean if it hasn’t already? What makes you think maybe it has?” He hated the idea of anyone hurting Lisa, even her feelings. Just the thought made him want to growl and rip someone to pieces for even thinking of hurting her.
“I don’t know.” Cowboy glanced over at him then back at the road where he was following the little SUV Lisa drove. “Something’s changed with her in the last several months. She always talked about coming back here someday, but in the last three or four months it’s been a mission. She’s talked about little else. She’s been driven to come home, and I get the feeling it’s because she feels safe here.” He shook his head. “Maybe I’m imagining it. Hell, I probably am. It’s that protective older brother gene kicking in.”
Deacon wondered what was up or if there was something there that she didn’t want to tell Cowboy. He knew Cowboy was protective of her, so did she. She’d complained several times as a teenager that between Cowboy and Terry, they’d run off every boyfriend she’d ever brought home.
Unbidden, the thought popped into his head that they wouldn’t have been able to run off any man worthy of her and he sure as hell wouldn’t be run off if she was someone he’d decided to pursue. But he hadn’t. Because he respected his friendship with Cowboy.
He wondered what Lisa wasn’t telling her brothers and if he could get her to confide in him, if only to settle Cowboy’s mind that everything was okay with her.
Deacon looked around the room, then to Cowboy.
“I’m not sure they could have gotten more furniture in this room if they’d stacked it like cordwood.”
“Someone was sure good at Tetris.” Cowboy shook his head. “I think we need to move some of it back out on the porch, so we have more room to maneuver and move what doesn’t belong in here out before we bring stuff back in.”
“I’m going to need more than one meal for moving all this with just the two of us.”
Cowboy turned to look again at the room nearly jam packed with furniture and boxes.
“You’re right.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and started typing on the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Sending for help. What’s the point in having a club full of men if you can’t get help when you need it.” He lifted is head and called out, “Hey, Lisa?”
“Yes?” Her head appeared from around a large pile of boxes.
“Do you have a drill to put some of this back together?”
“I have a screwdriver and wrenches. That’s what I used to take it apart.”
Cowboy rolled his eyes and went back to typing. “They need to bring tools too.”
Deacon had to admit, if only to himself, that Cowboy was right. Though he’d be damned if he’d let any of the men but himself and Cowboy into her bedroom. If they had to put together her bed themselves, he’d do it.
He didn’t wait for the rest of the guys to get there to get busy, but went to the stack of boxes where Lisa stood, took one from the top and checked it for a label.
“Did you mark where these go?”
“On the top. That’s a kitchen box. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.” She led him through the house, and he couldn’t help but watch the way her ass swayed. The heels she’d been wearing were still on her feet. Damn. This was going to kill him.
“Why don’t you show me each room, I’ll get started on putting boxes where they go, and you change into something more comfortable. Unpacking in those shoes can’t be easy.” He gave her feet a pointed glance. He didn’t want to say it, but he didn’t want the brothers who were going to come to help to see her like this, even if she’d walked into the clubhouse wearing it.
They’d start making disrespectful comments and flirting with her, then he’d have to rip off a few heads. That wasn’t the way to keep people from knowing how he felt about her.
She watched him with narrowed eyes for a moment then nodded. “All right.”
She waited until Cowboy was ready, then gave them both a tour of the house.
“This room will just be storage, so anything we’re not sure of yet we can stack in here,” she said as she showed them the third bedroom.
“Why didn’t you get the movers to put things in here to begin with?” Cowboy asked.
“I tried. They refused. They wouldn’t take it any further than they had to.”
“Cheap ass moving companies. For what you paid them they should have come in, put things where you wanted and assembled them too.”
“If it had been the guys who loaded me up, I would have pushed for that, but the ones who showed up here to unload were different men. These men gave me the creeps. I wanted them gone as quickly as possible.”
“So we end up doing the lion’s share of the work. I get it. I don’t blame you, but I wish they’d done their jobs right to begin with. What was the name of the company you used again?” Cowboy asked.
Lisa shook her head. “I’ve already reached out to a supervisor. I’ve got it handled. I don’t need my big brother to take care of everything for me.”
“Just to lift and tote for you.”
“Of course, isn’t that what big strong men are for?” She gave her brother a big grin then turned away. “Not that I can’t think of a few other things they’re good for, but not for my brother,” she muttered.
Deacon wondered if maybe she’d meant it for him… but he ignored it just the same. The last thing he needed was to give into temptation.