A Little Harmless Ride (13 page)

“
I still can’t believe he told you to go away. Where are you going to go? You own that ranch together and, from what Micah said, you have to stay there for him to be able to keep it. He just smacked ya on the lips and ordered you gone?”

She hesitated then nodded. “We were in the barn, he was irritated, then he told me we couldn’t do it and I left. I understand why. We own the ranch together and getting involved would be sticky.”

“
Then he got jealous of Danny, and now the kiss here?” Dee asked.

May shrugged. “Not for Eli. For as great of a Dom as he is, and I have seen him in public play so I know he is, he has a tendency to be impatient. He never waits for a woman.”

“
But he’s not doing that with me.”

May disagreed. “So he freaks out when he thinks Danny, my brother who thinks he’s a big bad Dom like Evan, is coming onto you. I think someone is hot for his partner.”

Her heart gave a little jerk. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“
Apparently our Delicious Dom is hung up on someone,” May said to Dee. “This is fantastic.”

“
Delicious Dom?”

May shrugged. “They say that because everyone’s had a taste.”

Dee snorted. “Well, everyone but the women in this room. But I think that’s going to change soon.”

Crysta could feel her face getting hotter by the second. “I think I would know if he hit on me. Something tells me when Eli hits on a woman, she knows. And before you say anything, I do not count kissing as hitting on me.”

“
See. You just proved my case,” May said.

Crysta glanced at Dee, who was trying hard not to laugh. “Listen, we argued. Both times. Some men just do stuff like that to prove a point. I’m not sure he’s that attracted to me.”

“
Oh, no, he is,” May said nodding. “Listen, if I went that way, I’d do you.”

Dee laughed and patted Crysta on the shoulder. “You look shell-shocked, but just know, May does this with people she likes.”

May was not the least bit disturbed by the comment. “You should see what I do with people I don’t like.”

“
I really wouldn’t want to see that. Bloodshed isn’t my thing.”

May smiled and opened her mouth, but Micah’s shout stopped her.

“
Woman, I want to eat.”

“
If he calls me woman one more time, I’m going beat him over the head with one of his stupid boots,” Dee muttered. The idea that the little slip of a woman in front of her would be able to hit Micah Ross and actually hurt him was funny.

“
You’d have to stand on a chair,” May said.

Dee shot her a nasty look.

May laughed. “Let’s go.”

Crysta moved to hand the baby back to Dee, but she said, “If you want to keep holding her, we’re taking her outside with us, so go ahead. Micah set up the bassinet out there so she could come with us.”

“
Just make sure I don’t steal her.”

Dee laughed. “You used to teach?”

She nodded as they walked down the hall. “Yeah. High school and some community college classes. I was part of a program that offered work skills.”

“
What do you mean? Like shop?”

“
In a way. I got them ready for food services though.”

“
You’re skilled at cooking?” May asked.

“
I kick ass at cooking,” she said.

“
May is the supervisor for Dupree’s in Honolulu. We’ll need to take you there for lunch. Can you go tomorrow?”

“
I don’t see why not. I have nothing really planned.”

“
Great. And tomorrow night you need to hit Rough ‘n Ready,” May said.

They turned the corner and ran into Eli, who was frowning at them.

“
Lurking around corners, St. John?” Dee said.

“
It was just taking you awhile, that’s all.”

Both women gave her a smile and slipped around him. It gave him the room to move closer.

“
So, how much did those women tell you?”

She snuggled Lizzy closer, mainly because she liked it, but also as a barrier. She had to think about things, get her head wrapped around the insanity of May Chambers.

“
Nothing. They want to have lunch tomorrow at Dupree’s.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

“
Eli, come on and quit hoarding our guest of honor,” May yelled out.

“
I wouldn’t make her mad if I were you,” Crysta said.

He cracked a smile and stepped back to give her passage. “I always aim to please the ladies.”

She slipped past him then smiled back over her shoulder. “That’s what I’ve heard, Delicious Dom.”

“
I swear to God, I’m going to kill those two,” he said following her out to the lanai.

Chapter Twelve

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 of course 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.”

“
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.”

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, he 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 tried to 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 rode up 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.