And when did you designate yourself the moral compass for the whole damn house?”
“When I realized we’re all headed the wrong damn direction, Kane.”
Kane blinked with confusion. “You seem to be the only one who feels that way.”
They finished the pot of coffee in silence.
Colt’s bedroom door was still closed as they headed out. “Think we oughta wake up Sleeping Beauty?” Kane asked.
“Nah. He deserves to get his ass chewed by Uncle Carson if he shows up late.”
“Or by Colby.”
Kade grinned. “Or worse yet, by Cord.”
“Ooh, that’s just plain f**kin’ mean, bro.”
“Not as mean as me callin’ Aunt Carolyn and tellin’ her what an animal her son’s become. If she sees this place she’ll blow a gasket.”
“Yeah, but then she’ll tell Ma.”
“Almost be worth it not to live in a pigsty.”
“True.”
“So which one of us is gonna talk to him about all this crap?”
Kane clapped his hat on his head. “I’ll do it, but you’ll owe me.”
“Deal. What do you want?”
“Don’t know. Let me think on it and get back to you.”
Kade scowled. “I hate it when you say that.”
He laughed. “Why do you think I do it?”
Chapter Five
“You wanna dance?”
AJ smiled at the hunky cowboy. “Thanks, but no. I’m sitting this one out.”
A hopeful gleam lit his eyes. “Maybe later then?”
“Maybe.” If things didn’t go her way.
She crossed her legs and tugged her white mini-skirt. Pulled her lacy shirt down.
Damn thing kept riding up and exposing her lower back. Her boot tapped on the metal rung of the barstool in time to the music. She tried not to look anxious, but Lord, she’d been waiting for this night her whole life.
Take a deep breath. He’ll show.
What if he didn’t? What if Cord McKay spent the day over-analyzing her offer like he over-analyzed everything else? She imagined him tooling around in his truck, doing chores, a look of concentration on his handsome face as he convinced himself he was too old for her. He had a kid to raise, a ranch to run and no time to be messing with his little sister’s best friend.
But then AJ remembered how hot Cord’s eyes burned every time he’d looked at her last night. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to want her.
Too bad. If he did show up, she’d pull out all the stops and make herself impossible to resist.
She scanned the bar. Decent crowd tonight, lots of folks she knew. Then again, she’d lived in Sundance, Wyoming since birth; there were few people she didn’t know. She waved at Bebe shooting pool at one of the back tables. Smiled at her buddy Liza and her fiancé Noah cozied up in a corner booth. When AJ spun back around, her pulse leapt. Her sexy fantasy man was chatting up the bouncers as he paid the cover charge.
Cord glanced up. Their eyes met. He moseyed along, checking things out.
She drained her beer, hoping he’d come to check her out.
Cord stopped in front of her. “I’m here.”
“I see that.” Her heart thumped wildly as his big frame practically cast her in shadow.
“Buy you another?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t go nowhere.”
“I’ll be right here.”
He ambled away, gifting her with a glimpse of his tight buns and muscular legs encased in dark blue Wranglers. A denim shirt stretched across his wide shoulders. Oh man. Just looking at him made her melt. What would it be like to touch him? Feel that rough skin all over hers?
Barely a minute passed before Cord was back. Maybe he was anxious too. He handed her a bottle and offered a toast. “To a new attitude.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
He rested his elbow on the table and studied her face as if he’d never seen her before.
“You look different.”
AJ resisted the urge to smooth her hair or wet her lips. “Bad different? Or good different?”
Cord’s forceful gaze traveled from her mouth to her br**sts and back to her eyes.
“Oh, definitely good. Very very good.”
Her belly quivered.
“So, AJ…you weren’t pullin’ my leg last night?”
She shook her head.
“You up for some fun and games?”
Her mouth was so dry she just nodded.
“Flattered as I am… Why me? You gotta know any one of the young guys in here would kill to have a shot at you.”
AJ broke eye contact and scraped at the label on her beer bottle. Shoot. How was she supposed to answer that without giving herself away?
Cord’s rough hand curled over her wrist and he idly stroked her knuckles. Her stomach jumped again. She glanced up, overwhelmed by the lust in his eyes.
“Jesus. You have the sexiest mouth I’ve ever seen. I can’t think beyond tastin’ that mole by the corner of your lips. Runnin’ my tongue over it. Kissin’ every inch of it on the way back to kissin’ every inch of your mouth.”
Warning. Don’t let him sweet-talk you until you get a chance to speak your piece.
She blurted, “Do you wanna dance?”
“Not to this.”
“Why not?”
“Because the first time I put my hands on you, I want you close. Real close. Close as we can get with our clothes on without getting kicked out for lewd behavior.”
The silence between them grew. AJ felt her confidence slipping. This was not the way she’d envisioned her night of seduction.
Then take charge.
She finished the beer and hopped off the barstool. “I want your hands on me now, Cord.” She hooked her finger in his belt loop and towed him on the dance floor to the corner farthest away from the stage.
He placed his hot palm on the small of her back, urging her lower body against his, threading the fingers of his left hand through the fingers on her right.
AJ slowly dragged her palm up Cord’s arm just to feel his muscles before she rested her hand on his shoulder. “Isn’t this better? We can make the music fit our mood, not the other way around.”
“Seems you’re in a reckless mood.” Cord stared at her, no hint of a smile. “Why’re you flirtin’ with me like this?”
“Besides that you are one hot, sexy cowboy?”
“Bullshit. Are you playin’ some kind of game with me? Seein’ if you can get the old man hot and bothered and then flit away to laugh about it with your girlfriends?”