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It didn’t help that her nights were disturbed with dreams of her bent over a padded bench with Brett Kincaid standing behind her, caressing her reddened butt. She awoke sweaty, horny, and cranky, swearing she could feel his hand on her skin, the sting of his palm, the erotic flush of humiliating arousal. Instead of laying to rest her months’ long fixation with the man, her visit to Casey’s and encounters with Brett seemed to have added fuel to the fire of her fantasies.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered, standing under the shower spray. “He’s a guy like every other man I’ve met.” Only he wasn’t just another guy whose self-gratification was their first priority. Brett had proven that by first caving to her flirting and dancing with her when he clearly didn’t want to, and then by sending her away last night without banning her from Casey’s after she’d intruded on his private time with someone else. He could have been much harder on her both times.
So, it will be his fault if I can’t stay away this weekend, either from his club, or from him.Allie liked that reasoning and finished bathing, satisfied with that conclusion.
After dressing in navy slacks, a pin-striped blouse, and matching blazer, she padded into the kitchen where two cups of coffee were already brewed. She drank the first while eating a granola bar then poured the second into a to-go cup. Checking the time, she remembered it was her day to leave a bowl of food and water for the stray cat several of the tenants had adopted. The large tabby was mean as a snake but had somehow endeared himself to her and a few of the neighbors. During the last month, he’d come around to letting her scratch behind his ears, which was a huge concession on his part.
After filling the two bowls, she stepped outside and set them next to her door, scanning the grounds for a glimpse of his black face. Not seeing him, she turned to go back in for her purse and coffee but caught sight of a black, furry body lying still behind a parked car. Her throat clogging with tears, she walked over and could see right away the poor thing had been hit and wasn’t breathing. She heard another door open and footsteps coming her way. Looking up, she almost groaned aloud when Ricky, her nearest neighbor and the last guy she’d broken up with, walked over.
“Hey, what’s up? Oh.” He reached out and squeezed her arm. “Poor thing. I’ll take care of this, Allie. You go on.”
Go on?That was a first. Since their split, every time they bumped into each other, he would grasp at any excuse to linger and press close to her, insisting she give him another chance. Maybe he was finally ready to move on from their short relationship. She hoped so; Ricky was a nice enough guy, just too possessive and not the right one for her. Brett Kincaid’s tanned face, complete with his sexy five-o’clock shadowed jawline and emerald-green penetrating gaze, popped into her head. She really needed to do something about her unrequited infatuation.
“Thanks, Ricky. He didn’t deserve to be struck down and left like that. Some people can be so thoughtless and cruel.” She loved all animals and despised those who could walk away after injuring one.
Ricky shook his head, looking from her to the dead cat. “Yeah, it’s too bad, even if he was a nasty critter. I can bag him and take him to the county shelter to dispose.”
“If you’re sure you don’t mind taking care of him, I’ll be on my way.” Allie felt like she owed him an excuse for not staying to help. “I’m late for work.”
“Go ahead.” He waved his hand toward her VW. “I’ll see you later.”
Putting Ricky and the cat out of her mind proved easier than forgetting about Brett Kincaid and her long-lasting obsession with the well-known rancher. Maybe if she hadn’t caught that glimpse of interest in his eyes, the flash of lust that mirrored the heat infusing her body when they’d danced, she could have eventually set their encounter aside and moved on. But after waking each morning exhausted from a lack of sleep and an escalating longing for a taste of the forbidden and a walk on the wild side, there was only one way to end this infatuation – return to Casey’s and go after who she wanted. Once she worked him out of her system, she was confident life would get back to normal, and she would move on as easily as she had with others.
Allie almost changed her mind about going out that night after none of her friends could go with her. Casper and the surrounding towns were safe places to live, especially compared to the rising crime waves going on in the big cities, but she would be foolish to think nothing could happen to a young person clubbing alone. After discarding the plan left her down and disappointed, she decided to put an end to her gripping preoccupation. She sent a group text, letting each of them know where she was going and promising to send another text when she got home.
As luck would have it, Ricky was leaving his apartment at the same time as Allie, and she braced herself for a return of his pushy urging for them to get back together. Instead, he lifted a hand in greeting but kept walking to his car parked next to hers.
“Have a good night, neighbor,” he called out over the hood.
Surprised but pleased and relieved at this change, she smiled. “You, too. Thanks again for taking care of the cat.”
“No problem. Next time, we shouldn’t get so attached to a stray. They always end up roadkill or taking off without returning. Take care.”
She waited until he drove off before leaving, still reluctant to completely trust his about-face. For the last six months, he had hounded her every chance he got about resuming their relationship, disregarding her gentle letdowns as much as her stern rebukes. The last time, just days before the cat incident, he’d backed her against the wall in the complex’s gaming room as she was leaving, getting in her face, sneering as he accused her of playing hard to get. He backed off when someone else came in, and she’d left after threatening to get a restraining order.
Maybe that warning accounted for Ricky’s sudden change in pursuing her; at least it was a legitimate explanation for the abrupt turnaround she was seeing. With another issue plaguing her life remedied, Allie drove out to Casey’s with a hum of anticipation. If one more encounter with Brett Kincaid didn’t stifle her interest, she worried she would turn into an annoying pursuer like Ricky. How ironic would that be?
Allie wasn’t the nervous type, but her palms grew damp as she gripped the steering wheel and turned into the parking lot of Casey’s. Once she figured out what it was about the eldest Kincaid that had drawn and held her interest for so long, she could get over him. Meeting him, pressing close to that ripped body, being on the receiving end of those potent looks, and witnessing his sexual dominant side had only reinforced a tug that refused to relinquish its hold until she unknotted it. That meant working him out of her system, one way or another.
Boot-stomping music poured out of the renovated dive as a laughing couple came stumbling out the door. Allie slid out of her car, closed the door, and leaned against it to watch them with their arms wrapped around each other’s waist, their lips clinging as they meandered to their vehicle. Breaking away with a giggle, the woman either didn’t see her or didn’t care she had an audience as she skipped around to the passenger side, flicking open the top buttons on her blouse. She dove into the car, her top flying open to reveal pale bare bouncing breasts the man eyed with appreciation. He joined her on the driver’s side, and Allie grew warm watching him lean over and suckle one nipple while lowering the seat back. Both of them disappeared below the window for a moment, and then a bare foot lifted to press against the dash as a cheek-clenching male butt rose and fell in a quick thrusting motion that brought about a tight clutch of envy in Allie’s stomach.
Turning away from the spontaneous scene, she realized nothing in her past experiences could compare to such an unconstrained adventure. And here she’d always thought her sex life satisfying. Was that why she couldn’t stay away tonight, couldn’t keep from looking for Brett as soon as she stepped inside Casey’s, and couldn’t quell the letdown when she didn’t see his towering height in the crowd? Because eying the other couple reinforced her desire to take that walk on the wild side with the only man she couldn’t put out of her mind as soon as he was out of sight?
She started to pivot and leave, having lost her enthusiasm for coming out here tonight, but running away from a disappointment, or anything else, wasn’t in her nature. Squaring her shoulders, she came up with Plan B on the cusp, ignoring the interested stares and a few crude comments when she veered toward the bar. Allie’s only hope to appease her interest in the goings-on upstairs and see if Brett might be up there was to convince Reed Kincaid to grant her a guest pass. She slid onto a barstool and sent him a beaming smile when he turned her way and cocked his head, amusement dancing in his bright hazel gaze. He finished wiping the bar top in front of him before slinging the small towel over his shoulder and sauntering toward her, nudging his black Stetson back with a thumb.
“Hello again, darlin’. The same as last week?” he asked, reaching under the counter for three glasses.
Why couldn’t she respond to Reed’s slow drawl and friendly gleam in his eyes the same as she had to his not-so-friendly brother? Fate truly wasn’t kind, or on her side lately. “No, it’s just me tonight, so I’ll stick with iced tea, please.”
“That’s a smart choice, even if clubbing alone isn’t.” He reached for a taller glass, turned to fill it with ice and tea, and then handed it to her with a knowing tilt to his lips. “Brett isn’t here, at least not yet. And, before you ask, he’s running late, so I’m not sure when he’ll show up.”
Allie’s shoulders slumped, and she sighed in disappointment. She should give up on this ridiculous quest to get to know the eldest Kincaid and move on. “I’m that obvious, huh?”
He chuckled and patted her shoulder. “Not to everyone. Observing patrons is part of running a bar. You didn’t exactly hide your interest last week. I heard you ventured upstairs.”
Reed didn’t look mad, not like Brett had, but Allie caught the censure underlying his light tone with no problem. She shrugged, sipped her tea then replied, “I only went up for a quick peek, but he spotted me before I could make my escape.” Her teasing grin widened. “The glimpse I got tweaked my interest, so if you will let me check the place out, that might be enough to curb my curiosity. I promise not to be a bother after that.” At least, she hoped that was all it took to get over fantasizing about his brother.
Bracing his hands on the bar top, Reed cocked his head with a crooked smile and drawled, “Now, why don’t I believe you, darlin’?”
