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“You used to sleep with him,” Jack blurted out, making her jaw drop.
She snapped her mouth closed and glared at her brother.”Are we listing all the people we’ve slept with, because if we are, I can count thelong-termrelationships I’ve had on two fingers, while I’m sure we’ll need all our fingers and toes to count up the numerous women you’ve slept with and left in your dust.” She planted her hands on the table and leaned forward, right in her brother’s face. “Who I sleep with is none of your business.”
“It is when he’s a drunken jerk.”
“I am not interested in Charlie. The man I want is good and kind and makes me laugh when he puts his mind to it. He’s strong and resilient. Although he’s been through a rough couple of years, he wants the same thing I want for his future. A simple ranch life, living as husband and wife with our children, making a good life and growing old together, happy and in love.”
She felt the tension roll off Caleb beside her. Gaze on the beer bottle in his hand on the table, he gripped it so tightly his knuckles went white. Maybe she’d gone too far, pushed too hard for what she wanted, and he resisted. Usually she was not this bold, but he had to know how much she wanted him and the picture she’d painted for Jack. If he knew for sure that’s what she wanted with him, maybe he’d stop fighting against her and fight for her.
“Are you seeing someone?” Jack asked.
“I see him for the man he used to be, the man he is now, and the man he wants to be for me.”
“Who is this guy?” Jack asked.
“He’s honorable and loyal to a fault.”
“Why haven’t I met him?”
“If he sat beside you, you wouldn’t see him, you’re so wrapped up in your own warped world.”
“What does that mean?”
Oblivious as usual; it made her sad. “Jack, I wish you could open yourself to the people around you again.”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, taking a deep swallow of his beer.
Time to retreat. He didn’t want to open up to her. For reasons she didn’t fully understand, he needed to defend himself against everything in order to cope with the dark world in his mind.
The tension in Caleb eased when she didn’t out their non-relationship to Jack.
“Let’s play.” She held out her hand to Caleb. He stared at it like some rattlesnake about to strike. Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” played on the jukebox. Everyone formed lines and danced, smiling and laughing. Just what these two needed.
“Come on, cowboy,” Teri coaxed Jack.
Neither of them moved. Frustrated, Summer spun and fell onto Caleb’s thigh, straddling it. She leaned back against his chest and crossed her arms.
“Summer,” Caleb croaked, surprised by her daring action.
“I’m not moving until you say you’ll play with me.” The innuendo wasn’t intentional, but made her smile all the same.
Caleb grunted. His hand clamped on to the side of her thigh and he turned his head, his lips to her ear. “Get off me.”
She turned and glared, their faces an inch apart, his breath hot on her face as he breathed hard. He smelled of beer and peanuts, horses and leather and him. God, she could get used to being this close to him. Close enough to smell and touch and fall into his hungry gaze and arms.
His hand slid up the side of her thigh to her hip, blazing a trail of heat. He squeezed and kneaded. His words told her to go away, but his hand said stay.
“No.”
“Honey, if you want to ride a cowboy, I’m all yours,” Charlie called from two tables over where yet another girl turned down his drunken advances. He weaved toward their table. “Come dance with me, pretty lady.”
Caleb growled an expletive and wrapped his arm around her middle, stood up, and took three steps toward the dance floor before her feet hit the ground again.
“You’re dancing with me,” Caleb ordered.
“Surrender, Jack,” Teri said.
Her brother grunted, but stood and escorted Teri to the dance floor, too. “Don’t you have a husband to harass?”
