Monroe, Melody Snow - Leather and Lace [The Callens 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

Together they got her pants off. That wasn’t so bad. She stepped out of them. The next part would be harder.

“Now what?”

“I need to put on my jeans. Can you get on your knees?” When he did, she swore her pussy got moist imagining what it would be like for him to have his mouth on her.

Stop it.
Getting involved with either man would ruin everything she’d worked so hard for.

His lips lifted. Damn him. She dropped the jeans and they hit his hands. “Can you thread them over my feet?” She lightly tapped his knee with her toe so he knew where she was.

He looked like he was fighting to keep from smiling. “I can do that.”

As if by magic, he aligned her leg with the jean opening. He did the same for the other leg. Now the jeans pooled at her feet. “I can pull up one side if you do the other.”

She hadn’t thought the maneuver through, because when she bent over to lift the pants, her lips were inches from his. She bet he could sense she was close.
Kiss me
. She jerked her head back. What had she been thinking?

In tandem, they got her jeans up and over her hips, but she’d had to jump up and down to get them on. Without asking, he zipped her up and snapped the jeans together. His fingers seared her skin where they made contact.

“Can I open my eyes yet?”

Since she was dressed, she was fine with that. “Yes.”

His gaze ran the length of her body. He was only four inches taller than her, but he seemed to tower above her. At five feet nine inches, it wasn’t often she had to look up at a man.

“Shoes?” he said with a lift to his brow.

“What about them?”

He chuckled and quickly drew a hand down his chin. “You plan on wearing them?”

“Oh!” Now she felt like a fool. “Yes. The socks are in the second dresser drawer. I’ll get my boots.”

How had a simple act of dressing turned into her wishing she was no longer a ranch owner, but a carefree woman who could get naked with him? She needed to get a grip as her senses had overloaded.

She remembered one May a few years back when Wade and Heath had come home from college and were over visiting her brothers. She’d just graduated from high school, and the Watson brothers suddenly announced they were going to marry her someday. She laughed, as did her brothers, but those words always stayed with her.

Then two years ago, both Wade and Heath asked her out. They went to a few parties together, but when they put the moves on her, she’d freaked. They were sophisticated college graduates who owned a huge ranch. These two always seemed to know what they wanted. They’d hinted they were the kind of brothers who liked to share, but she wasn’t ready for that and refused to go out with them anymore. They kept trying for a few months, but eventually gave up.

Is that why they were here? To try again?

“I don’t do ménages,” she blurted out.

Oh, shit
. What if Wade and Heath really weren’t interested in her anymore. Now he was going to think she was conceited or at best presumptuous.

Heath’s eyes darkened, and he closed the gap between them.
Oh, shit
.

Chapter Four

Samantha must have felt the sexual tension between them or she wouldn’t have spoken her mind. A ménage required all parties to drop their protective shields, and at the moment, she didn’t seem willing to do that. Heath understood full well that all three of them would have to connect on a level of who they really were. There was no place for pretenses.

Sam had told him she always believed she needed to compete with men because it was a man’s world. Too bad she had no idea how beautiful her inner being really was. If only she could understand that he and Wade saw the whole woman underneath the façade, she might be willing to let them into her life.

When they first met her, she wore sexy clothes and makeup. Not that they cared what she wore or how she dressed, but Sam seemed more herself when she let her femininity show.

“Don’t worry. We’re only here to help you heal.” The seduction would come later.

She stepped back, and a bit of hurt cut him deep inside.

“Right.” She glanced down at the floor as if her outburst embarrassed her. “I really appreciate you two being here, but I’ll be able to figure out this dressing stuff in a couple of days.”

“I know you will. In the meantime, we’ll be here for you.” He took hold of her good elbow. “Come on. It’s time for some shopping.”

He wondered when was the last time Sam had relaxed enough to be herself. He’d asked around to see if she’d dated anyone, but no one owned up to going out with her. One guy said he was intimidated by a woman ranch owner. Tough luck for him.

He and Wade had both driven over to her place because they agreed it would enable them to come and go. He’d brought his five-year-old Cadillac convertible in case he needed to drive Sam someplace. He held open the door for her. “You okay with the top down?”

She hesitated for a minute. “I’ll need to pull my hair back.” She picked up her purse and pulled out a hair tie.

He wondered how long it would take her to realize that two hands were needed for that chore. To save her from having to ask, he held out his hand. “Let me.”

Another hesitation, but she finally gave in. “You know how?”

He’d tied a ton of horses’ tails and watched his sisters do it enough times. “How hard can it be?”

She turned her back, and he lifted her flowing mane. “Your hair’s really thick.” His cock got hard touching her.

“I know. It’s a pain sometimes, especially now that I have to wash it with one hand.”

“Well, I like it.”

She might have blushed, but with her back to him, he couldn’t tell. His sisters did some twisting maneuver first. He pulled her hair back with one hand and placed it on the tie. Then in one quick move, he pulled the tie around and over. He let go and the ponytail fell.

She laughed. “You have to twist the tie two or three times.”

“I guess I’m a bad judge.”

On the second try he got it. Then he separated the tail into two parts like he’d seen his sisters do and tugged. Looked good to him.

She spun around and touched his handiwork. “It’s perfect. Thanks.”

Actually, it was a bit lopsided. He couldn’t expect to get it right on his first try. Since she wouldn’t be getting her cast off for a while, he figured he’d be an expert by then.

“Hold on a sec.” He threaded his hands around her face to straighten it. He was pleased she didn’t flinch. To him, that represented progress. “All set.”

She pulled down the visor and glanced in the mirror. “You are good.” Her praise meant a lot to him.

They arrived in Intrigue fifteen minutes later. The courthouse sat at one end of town. On the front lawn, a band had set up and was playing country music. Some families were wandering about while others had their lawn chairs and picnic baskets all ready to go.
Maybe after they purchased the vegetables, Sam might like to listen to the music.

He parked down Third Street, one block past the blocked-off street where the vendors sold their goods. “Ready for some shopping?”

“Absolutely.”

Her color improved as soon as she stepped outside. She lifted her head to the sun, and when the light fell on her face, she never looked prettier. Because it was crowded, Heath took her hand. They wended their way to Second Street where the booths went for four blocks. Some sold vegetables, but others sold nonperishable items.

Sam pointed to the booth two from the front. “Look, there are two kids selling lemonade.”

“You want some?”

“Sure.”

He’d never seen this side of her. She seemed relaxed and happy for the first time since her accident. He paid for two lemonades and continued down the row. Across the road he spotted his foreman’s son, dressed in a Boy Scout uniform, selling homemade chili. The twelve-year-old was with four others.

“Let me say hi to Tommy. He’s my foreman’s son.”

They made their way through the crowd over to the stand.

“Hey, Mr. Watson.”

He looked around for Wilt, his foreman, but there didn’t appear to be any adult supervision. “Where’s your dad?” Wilt was a single father who was as dedicated to the job as he was to raising his son.

“He’s buying more meat. We never thought we’d have so many sales.”

Heath smelled something burning. “You forget to stir the pot?” He nodded to the big pan on the portable gas stove at the back of the booth.

Tommy’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap.” He rushed back to take care of it.

He expected one of the other Boy Scouts to shoot up to the seller’s table, but Tommy’s friends seemed more interested in throwing beans at each other and goofing around than helping out.

“You need a hand, sport?”

Two more people came up to the table wanting to buy a bowlful. “Sure.”

He leaned over to Sam. “You know anything about chili?”

She smiled. “I’m no great cook, but chili is my specialty if you like it hot.”

He had to grin. “I love hot.” Especially if it came in the female variety.

Sam stepped over to the stove. “Can you find me a plastic spoon?”

There was a whole container of them next to Tommy. He picked up two and returned to her side. “
Here.
”

She tasted the mix, licked her lips, and glanced to the sky. What he wouldn’t give if she licked his cock that way. His balls tightened. He was helping the Boy Scouts, for God’s sake. He didn’t need to be thinking about having sex. That was almost sacrilegious.

“It needs more onion, salt, and some cayenne pepper.”

“You’re in charge.” He had to ask one of the
helpers
where to find the pepper. Only Wilt’s son was taking the selling seriously.

Sam added the spices. “Can you chop up the onion?” She held up her hand. “I’m kind of handicapped.”

“Happy to.”

It took about three different tries, but eventually she seemed pleased with the result. Tommy came over and got three more bowlfuls.

A red bean hit Heath in the head. He looked over at a wide-eyed kid.

“I’m sorry. I was aiming at Sara.”

That seemed to be a sister of one of the boys. Heath picked up two uncooked beans and lobbed them at each of the kids. They giggled. The food fight started. Heath ran after one of the kids who shrieked.

Behind his back, Sam’s laughter reached him. It was a beautiful, light tone that sent his heart soaring. She was having fun.

The kids must have taken a whole pack of beans, for all of a sudden, the bean missiles started flying everywhere. He ducked and dodged. Only a few actually hit him.

“
Ow
.”

His body froze for a second. He turned around and Sam was rubbing her face. He held up a hand. “That’s it, kids. Fun’s over.”

He raced to her side. “You get nailed?”

“On the cheek, but it didn’t hurt. The bean took me by surprise.”

With a hand around her waist he led her outside the booth. Wilt rounded the corner and was jogging toward them when he waved.