7
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The only thing that could’ve possibly made the Labor Day barbecue any better would’ve been if Reagan had been there to join him. Lynx had spent the entire day downing ribs and beer while chatting it up with family and friends. At one point, he’d even sent Reagan a text, inviting her to come join him, but he’d gotten a polite no in response.
The woman was nothing if not stubborn.
However, that didn’t mean that Lynx couldn’t go to her.
And that was exactly what he and Copenhagen were doing. The small cooler on the passenger seat held two beers, two brisket sandwiches, and some chips. He figured she couldn’t possibly say no to dinner at her place. He was even willing to eat it out on the front porch if she didn’t want to invite him in.
As he pulled up to the little white farmhouse, Lynx noticed Reagan sitting on the porch. Her eyes swung over to his truck and a frown settled between her eyebrows.
Damn woman.
Plastering a smile on his face, Lynx climbed out of the truck, then walked around to the passenger side and grabbed the cooler, letting Copenhagen out in the process.
The dog trotted directly over to Reagan, who proceeded to pet the animal. Lynx couldn’t help but be slightly jealous of his own damn dog.
“Hey,” he greeted, lifting the cooler for her to see. “Brought dinner.”
A strange look appeared on her face, but Reagan didn’t say anything.
“Have you eaten?” he asked, stopping directly in front of her.
Reagan shook her head.
“Good. Then I came just in time.”
Taking a seat on the top step beside her, Lynx set the cooler between them, then lifted the lid.
“Nothin’ fancy,” he told her. “However, it’s good, if that’s any consolation.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” she said, a teasing smirk on her face.
“That’s my goal in life,” he admitted. “Glad to know I’m living my dream.”
Reagan chuckled as he passed her a beer.
“So, how’re things? We missed you at the barbecue today.”
“No you didn’t,” she quipped. “You probably didn’t even notice that I wasn’t there.”
Oh, he’d noticed. Every few minutes, in fact. But he decided not to tell her that, figuring the fastest way to get booted off the porch would be by turning on the charm.
“People asked about you,” he said. And that was the truth.
“Did they now?”
“Yep.” He passed her one of the brisket sandwiches wrapped in foil.
“They did, actually.”
“Like who?”
“Amy, for one.”
Reagan frowned, then turned her attention to the food in her hand. “How’s she doin’?”
“She was smilin’. Does that count?”
“I can’t imagine what she’s goin’ through,” Reagan said softly, taking the bag of chips he handed her.
Lynx moved the cooler out of the way.
“I think she’s doin’ better now.” And he really did think that. After hearing her story, after wanting to strangle the asshole who treated her the way that he had, Lynx had managed to suppress the violent rage. He still didn’t understand how a man could hurt a woman like that. And to find out from Travis that Amy wasn’t his first victim… Lynx hated even thinking about it.
“She’s happy with my brother and Wolfe,” Reagan said thoughtfully.
“That she is.”
Reagan glanced over at him. “How does that work anyway?”
Lynx lifted an eyebrow, needing her to elaborate.
“That whole ménage thing. You know, two guys and one girl.”
Chuckling, Lynx took a swallow of beer. “You got me. Not my thing. But as they say, the heart wants what it wants.”
“I guess so.”
Lynx took a bite of his sandwich when Reagan took a bite of hers. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, eating their dinner and staring out into the twilight.
“Do you think people plan for that to happen?” Reagan asked.
“What?” He was lost.
“The threesome thing. Do you think people set out knowing that they want to be with two people?”
Lynx shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I guess if someone likes men and women, they probably would, huh?”
Chuckling, he took a sip of his beer. “Best of both worlds, maybe.”
“But how does Amy end up with two men?”
Lynx turned to look at Reagan. “Is that what you were out here doin’? Pondering the wonders of the universe?”
Reagan chuckled. “I guess it is deep, huh?”
“Maybe you should read those books Amy reads.”
That seemed to catch Reagan’s attention. “What books?”
“Some romance shit,” Lynx told her, opening his chips. “She mentioned some author… Can’t remember who. Anyway, I guess people write about that shit.”
“Really?”
The way she said that sounded oddly curious.
“You into that sort of thing?” Lynx wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that.
“God, no. One man would be more than enough for me.”
Especially if that man was him, Lynx thought.
Thankfully, he managed to keep that inside his head.
Reagan was surprised to see Lynx pull up to her house before dark. However, she wasn’t even a little disappointed.
The man confused her in so many ways.
And oddly enough, before he had arrived, she’d been thinking about him. Wondering how today would’ve gone if she had accepted his invitation to the barbecue. It probably would’ve been a better day, that was for sure.
“So, what’d you do today?” he asked, his tone casual.
“I was supposed to go see my mother,” she admitted.
“Yeah?” Lynx’s dark brow lifted. “That didn’t happen?”
She shook her head, nibbling on the sandwich. “I actually got in my truck and drove over there,” she admitted. “But when I saw Billy’s truck in my grandfather’s driveway, I turned around and came home.”
The dark scowl that descended over Lynx’s features didn’t really shock her.
“Then the asshole had the audacity to show up here.” She sighed. “I spent the better part of twenty minutes waiting for him to leave. I didn’t answer the door.” Reagan smiled to herself. “But the front door was unlocked and I prayed he didn’t simply invite himself in.”
Lynx’s gaze was focused on her.
“He didn’t,” she assured him, although she wasn’t sure why she was divulging quite so much information. “He finally left.”
She didn’t bother to tell Lynx that Billy had then pretty much blown up her phone for the two hours that followed. She finally had to turn the ringer off and he had successfully filled up her voice mail during that time. Reagan was pretty sure she just needed to block his number and avoid the hassle altogether.
“Not like I didn’t need an excuse not to see my mother,” she said after a few seconds of silence. “We aren’t gettin’ along much right now anyway.”
“Why not?”
Reagan shrugged. She knew exactly why, however, she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.
Instead, she took another bite of her sandwich. When she was finished chewing, she turned toward Lynx.
“Thanks, you know, for bringin’ this.” She smiled. “I was wonderin’ what I was gonna have for dinner. Peanut butter and jelly was my original choice, but this is so much better.”
His gaze held hers for several seconds, his smile both sexy and sweet at the same time.
Reagan had no idea what she was going to do with this man. She couldn’t get him off her mind, and now that she seemed to be spending more and more time with him, she knew which direction this was going to go.
Unfortunately, she just wasn’t sure if she was ready for it to go that way.
Not yet.