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She lifted her hips into his thrusts and he kept on pumping, slid his hand between them to finger her clit and bring her off with him. He couldn’t contemplate sharing Julia with any other man but Luke, and, to be fair, she’d never expressed an interest in fucking anyone else. And, as far as anyone knew, they’d been a couple since high school. The least he could do was give them all a chance to explore every aspect of their old relationship. That was only fair. He groaned as his come exploded into Julia. Sex with Julia was always excellent; with Luke involved, it might be awesome.
* * *
Julia sippedher second cup of coffee and squinted into the sunlight filtering through the blinds of her small kitchen. Paul had gotten up early and gone home to his ranch. Since his parents had decided to retire to Florida, he never had the luxury of walking away from it completely. Despite having some staff to help out, something always required attention, even if it was as dull as repairing fence line or doing the accounts.
When it got really busy out there, during cattle drives, birthing, or branding, Julia often went out and stayed with him. She half smiled. Otherwise, she would never see him. And she liked seeing him. Liked the way he used his big, strong, body too...
With a sigh, she got off the stool and picked up her briefcase. Time to get to work and face another day of exciting fiscal challenges at the one and only bank in Gulch Town. Not that much ever happened. The most exciting thing this year was when Mr. Murphy’s crazy sheepdog had gotten loose and chewed up a load of paperwork and a couple of chairs.
She’d been beyond excited to become assistant manager because it meant she could stay in her hometown, but it also meant she had to deal with Mr. Glynn, the complete asshole who ran the bank and who was slowly driving her nuts. Unfortunately, he had at least four years before he was due to retire, so unless she wanted to change jobs, or be sent to prison for murder, she was stuck with him. And she’d never wanted to leave, had she? With an ever-changing cast of stepfathers, her only security had come from Paul, Luke, and Gulch Town.
As she walked to her car, she wondered how Luke was doing. How on earth was he going to survive in that wrecked old store his family had abandoned years ago? She knew that several offers had been made to the family to buy up the prime retail space, but they’d all been refused. Had Luke intended to come back all along? Had he been the one behind the family decision not to sell?
On that tantalizing thought, Julia got into her car and drove the five minutes to work. If Luke was moving back, surely he’d need funds? And, as Mr. Glynn preferred golf to sitting behind his desk, she was nominally in charge of the only bank in town. It looked like she might be seeing Luke even sooner than she had anticipated.
CHAPTER TWO
“Is anyone home?”
“Yeah, in here.” Luke leaned the broom up against the counter and turned around slowly. He knew that voice almost as well as his own. Standing in the doorway that opened out onto the street was Paul, his onetime best friend, and one of the reasons why Luke had left Gulch Town in such a hurry.
Paul touched the brim of his white Stetson and smiled. “What’s up?”
Luke found himself smiling back. “Nothing much.” He waited as Paul shut the door behind him and came closer. His buddy had sure filled out in the last ten years. At six-three, he had always been tall, but now he was all lean, hard, muscle, his blond hair cut close to his head, the skin around his blue eyes crinkled as if he laughed a lot or constantly stared into the sun.
Luke wiped his hand on his jeans and held it out. “It’s good to see you, Paul.”
Paul returned the handshake, his palm calloused from hard work. Luke wished he had some of those calluses; his hands were already blistered and bruised from just cleaning up the place.
“It’s good to see you, too, Luke.” Paul’s gaze swept the dilapidated store. “Not sure what you’re doing here, though. Did you lose a family contest or something, or are you just down on your luck and need a roof over your head?”
“I’ve wanted to fix this place up for ages and it just seemed like a good time to start.”
“You’re sure about that? It looks like a fucking mess to me.”
Luke’s smile deepened. God, it was good to hear Paul’s leisurely self-deprecating drawl and dry wit again. Some folks thought he was slow on the uptake because he didn’t shoot his mouth off. Luke had learned long ago to listen when Paul did speak, because he generally had something useful to say.
“I’m going to restore it and open it as an old-fashioned soda shop and ice cream parlor. You know, kind of like it used to be in my granddad’s day after he stopped doing the pharmacy part of it.”
“Yeah?” Paul looked around again. “And you’re going to do all the work yourself?”
Luke shrugged. “Most of it.”
“Good for you.” Something beeped in Paul’s pocket and he pulled out his cell phone. “Excuse me.” He read something and texted back, his big fingers surprisingly nimble on the tiny keypad. He looked up at Luke, his blue eyes considering. “Julia’s going to be here in a moment. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”
Needing something to do with his hands, Luke picked up the broom and continued to sweep the floor. “She is?”
Paul put his cell phone away and studied his brown scuffed cowboy boots. “Yeah. Although, being a female, she’ll probably want a few answers out of you.”
Luke stopped sweeping. “And you don’t? I walked away from you too, buddy. Didn’t it bother you?”
“What do you fucking think?” Paul met Luke’s challenging stare with one of his own and then looked away again, but not before Luke had seen the hurt in his eyes. “I’ll go see whether Julia’s here yet. She works just up the street.”
Luke stayed where he was, still clutching the broom like a talisman. Paul had as much right to be angry with him as Julia did, but he’d always been good at hiding his feelings, far better than Luke and Julia anyway. Inwardly, Luke groaned. Why had he needled Paul? He suspected it was because Paul seemed so accepting of the situation, so disinterested in rehashing the past. Luke needed to face what he’d done, and would almost have preferred it if Paul had walked in, and punched him in the face. At least then, it would all be out in the open.
He stiffened as he heard voices in the street and deliberately turned his back on the door and carried on with his chore. Paul had looked even better than Luke had imagined him—would Julia be the same?
“Hey.”
