CHAPTER FIVE
Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell.
They moved to the chair and Brea was still shivering from just the feel of his skin touching hers. The whole thing was just incredible. Her previous nightly fantasies about this became pale visions that poofed to nothing as she hung onto the hot cowboy. Her body had never felt so thoroughly pounded before. She reached for the beer and took a thirsty swig.
Holding her in his naked lap, he watched her drink a huge gulp. “Thirsty, are we?”
She peeked one eye at him and lowered the bottle with a smack of her lips. “You are some kind of man, you know that?”
He chuckled and reached down, tweaking her nipples with his fingers. “I have yet to begin, sweet woman.”
Brea set the bottle down.
“I figure we can now play more, seeing as we couldn’t contain ourselves before?” He gave her one of his blue-eyed winks.
Her throat had swelled up at the feeling from his skilled fingers.
“I am gonna do all the things I’ve been thinking about ever since I first saw you.”
Her head was spinning and her body was throbbing as just the word do whirled around in her foggy mind.
“That day when I first saw you? You know, when I ordered fried chicken at the diner? I had hoped you were single.” He lowered his lips to her neck.
This new information came like a drenching cold rain along her body as Brea froze. “What?”
He raised his head, immediately noticing her stunned expression.
Oh, no. What do I tell him? That I thought all those times it was Jet?
“You sure acted shy then. I really wanted to ask you out too, but you acted like a frightened filly on branding day, you know?” He looked at her face. “What is it?”
How do I do this, she wondered with panic. Don’t tell me that after I finally get something this great that I might just fuck it up? Wait—does it even matter now which one of them was at the diner and when? I mean, I’m not confused now about who is who, right?
The door of the cottage burst open, dispelling Brea’s panic and replacing it with surprise.
A woman stood there.
Gasping, Brea turned to look at her.
She was blonde and very pretty. She was also red-faced and huffing like a mad hen would if someone had snuck into the coop and stole all her eggs. “Dammit, how could you do this?” she asked in a shrill voice.
Cole grew rigid in the chair.
Brea tried to hug his body to hide her boobs.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he yelled. “Get the hell out of here!”
The woman stepped closer and blinked her eyes. “I—”
“I mean it, Vikki. This ain’t none of your dammed business!”
Her face paled. “I thought…?”
“Yeah, I know what you thought and that was the problem in the first dammed place.”
Tears formed in her eyes as she glanced over at Brea. “I’m sorry…” She flipped around and ran through the open doorway.
Cole looked upset as he stood up while carrying Brea. Walking over to the door, he reached out and slammed it.
Brea was stunned by the entire event. “Cole?” she asked.
He shook his head and released a sigh. “I suppose we ought to talk about all this.”
She nodded very slowly, because she wanted to know but was afraid to know too.
Cole kept her in his arms as he explained it all in one short sentence, “It’s been over for a while now and it ended badly.”
Pulling her head back, she looked into his eyes. “And that’s all you’re gonna say about it?”
He shrugged. “What else is there?”
Shaking her head, she thought about how men just didn’t get women sometimes. Plus, this twin thing might become more than just a problem for her. “Seems like you might still have feelings for her.”
Looking into her eyes, he gave her an answer. “Yeah, I do.”
Her body grew stiff in his arms.
“But the feeling isn’t a good one. She couldn’t seem to tell us apart and she fell for Jet instead of me. ”
Watching his face, it was becoming clearer to her.
“I’m not sure if he did it on purpose. But in the end, I found she wasn’t faithful to him neither. She cheated on both of us, and that just wasn’t right.” He shook his head. “It’s just like my Daddy used to say, it was a 3 D relationship. ”
“A what?” Brea shook her head at him. “Like you saw her that way or because there was the three of you—?” Brea shook her head. “What hell does that even mean?”
“It was full of disappointment, disgust, and it ended in disaster.” Cole looked tense. “I mean, I never did understand what my Dad meant until it actually happened to me.”
Brea knew about not understanding something a parent had said only too well, and she smiled at him. “I stand corrected then. That does explain a lot.”
“I really don’t want to think about her though.” He tugged her closer. “I just wanna know all there is to know about Miss Plush.”
His body was so warm. It was like being wrapped in a hot silken blanket of sleek skin and it did make it hard to think clearly at all. She decided that he was right, it was better to leave the subject alone for now. Maybe later, they could talk about it.
Feeling scared and elated at the same time, she knew she needed time to figure it all out. As this sweet, towering man held her to his hips, she suddenly wondered if he ought to sit down again. “Um, maybe you should have a seat. I mean, carrying me can’t be all that easy to do.”
His eyes narrowed at her. “I could carry you all dammed day and night, and it would be easy as all hell.”
The answer surprised her and she was just beginning to realize that she might have found the true man of her dreams all right. “Well, Mister Kincade. There’s not much to tell about me.”
He tilted his head at her. “Oh, I think there may be a whole lot to tell.” Grinning, he carried her over to the table. He sat down on the chair with her body still wrapped up in his arms. “And I wanna hear all about it.”
“It?”
“Yeah, a girl like you, who can cook like ya do. With that wonderful smile of yours, while being all sweet and without any guile? Looking like you’re good enough to eat? I wondered right off, how could you still be single!”
Sucking her breath in, Brea realized that she’d never received a compliment so completely wonderful from a man as she had just now. Sometimes in life, there’s a perfect moment and Brea knew that she was having one, right this very minute. Her throat literally closed up as she fought back tears.
He grew still and set her back a little to look at her face. “What?” He studied her face. “What I’d say wrong?”
Closing her eyes, she wanted to prevent the embarrassing tears, but to her disgust, she felt one roll down along her cheek.
Reaching out, he plucked it up with his finger. “Dammit!” he swore. “Why can’t I just keep my big mouth shut? I mean, I wouldn’t wanna hurt you for all the—”
Brea grabbed his cheeks and lowered her lips to his in hopes of giving him the best kiss of his entire life. She smothered that yummy mouth and forced her tongue in. She laced his tongue for all she was worth and kept kissing him while swishing his mouth with her tongue. The kiss lasted for a couple of minutes, as she took his and her own breath away. Then, she licked his sweet lips, gave him a nibble and let go.
Looking stunned while he panted heavily, he gazed into her eyes. “Whoo. I ain’t never been kissed like that before!”
Giggling, she was surprised too; she never knew she had that kind of passion inside her. Sighing in satisfied pleasure, she started to climb out of his lap.
Grabbing her, he pulled her tightly to his chest. “Whoa, where ya goin?”
“I thought maybe we could move our conversation to the bedroom?”
As though the idea seemed abhorrent to him, he stilled while wearing a troubled expression. “No, I want to have you in a place that is just for us. I mean, those sheets probably aren’t exactly clean…if you’ll remember?”
Brea thought back to when he first showed her the cottage with Jet using that same bed in ways that had made her stare like an idiot. “Oh, yeah. Well…?”
He stood up and set her down to the floor. “I’m thinking straight now.” He grabbed her blouse and handed it to her. “I should’ve went about this the right way in the first place.”
Entirely confused, Brea looked down at the blouse.
“I’m a man that should learn better.”
Wondering what he was going on about, Brea felt disappointed now. He was just gonna brush her off, probably. Well, I’m not gonna act like a ninny about it. “Okay, well I guess if you have to leave that’s—”
“Leave?’”
She nodded.
“No, I meant that I rushed you and tore your clothes off, while not using my other brain.” He laughed.
Looking at his face, she just couldn’t get ahead of this man’s thinking. The tearing off of her clothes was the best dammed thing that ever happened to her!
“All I meant was, it was inconsiderate as all hell. I mean, you just got here and you don’t have any of yer belongings and only a dirty bed to sleep in?” He looked into her eyes. “And I shoulda dated you right, you know? Like I should have taken more care with a girl like you?”
As he spoke, she realized what he was saying. Okay, there was no way he was gallant and considerate too, on top of all the things he had already topped! Her body seemed to lose the capacity to move and she knew she couldn’t get her mouth to work either.
Grinning hugely at her, he raised her up and slipped her jeans over her legs. Setting her down, he tugged them up, buttoned them and set her feet back onto the floor. “There!” he chuckled and lowered his lips to her breast. “Just one last yummy taste though.” He took her nipple into his hot mouth.
Her body did move then, as she almost fell backward while it arched with a warm, electric pleasure all by itself.
Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled his lips away. He put her blouse on her and buttoned it up. “I do have to apologize for the knife on the bra thing though.”
Panting, she was almost dizzy, as he didn’t even give her a chance to reply. She’d never met a man who could strip her and dress her before she even had a chance to think.
With a neat precision, he then slipped her sandals onto her feet.
Next, she got to watch him put his own clothes on. And if there was anything as fun as when he took them off? This was definitely it. She stifled a giggle as he tugged up his jeans and swiftly buttoned them.
He slipped into his shirt and she watched those lovely fingers slipping the buttons into each slot. It was like poetry in motion. This warm cowboy just made her feel like every moment was so well defined and perfect. Mesmerized, she watched that sweet ass, as he bent over and grabbed a boot.
Pausing, he slowly gazed up at her.
“Did you just do that on purpose?” she teased. “I may just have to grab some of that hot behind, if you’re not careful!”
A smile tugged at his lips, as he stood up slowly. “I’m not just a sex object, you know?”
Brea burst out laughing and she felt more jubilant than she had in a very long time. “Well, that remains to be seen, Mister sweet butt. Seeing how you give the best dammed sex in the whole wide world.”
He shook his head at her as he tugged on his boots. “That? I could have done better.” He looked into her eyes “The next time, I’m gonna take my sweet time and it will last a whole lot longer.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, no!” She was almost panicked. “I‘m not sure you should try that.”
He looked perplexed.
“I mean—I might even pass out.”
Chuckling, he took her hand. “Well, that would be an ultimate compliment, all right. Come on, I’m gonna give you a ride back to town.” Leading her out of the cottage, he held her hand tightly while walking along the path.
His rushing of before seemed to slow down, as they leisurely strolled down the flowered walk.
In fact, to Brea, the world slowed to a charmed storybook existence. Time slowed too, as everything suddenly looked brighter. The world now seemed like a whole new place to her as she looked all around, and she felt like she was actually floating on a cloud. The grass looked greener, the sky seemed bluer and the air was sweeter. Oh! This is what I always heard about and read about! The feel of his hand holding hers, the way her body sang notes it hadn’t ever played before? She was dreamy-eyed and fit for heaven.
He took a path off the walk and went around a different way. They came to a huge garage and he pulled her through a side door. Letting go of her hand, he fished around in his pocket. Pulling up a ring of keys, he smiled at her. “Wanna ride in my truck?” he teased with a super heavy Texas twang.
Brea stood staring beyond him at a big Ford truck. The F-150. The mighty Texas truck! It too, gleamed too brightly in front of her befuddled sight and the charmed state she’d been in was immediately replaced with an, oh shit panicked state. This was the very vehicle she’d seen him in when she was stalking— holdup! Stalking him or Jet? She watched nervously as he went over to it and unlocked the passenger door.
Halting, he looked over at her, as she hadn’t moved. “What? You thought I was gonna ride you all the way to town by horseback?” he teased.
Brea shook her head and tried to smile. “Um, is this your truck?”
“Yep.”
How could she ask if his brother drove it too, and not let him know why she was asking? Dammit, she had never been good at this kind of thing. Like being sophisticated enough to word things, so people wouldn’t know what the hell you were really up to?
“Come on, it’s getting later and we need to go and get your stuff, okay?”
Nodding, Brea decided to wait till the right time to find out if the brothers shared the truck or… There I go again, trying to go around my elbow to get to my— She then straightened her shoulders and decided she would just come out with it.
“Hey, Cole!” Someone called from the doorway.
Brea sucked in her breath again.
It was Jet and he looked furious.
The panicked state now became, ‘ I think I need oxygen’ state. Could the world spin any faster out here at the ranch?
Cole looked troubled by his brother’s shouting as he walked over and gently took Brea’s hand. “I’ll be with ya in a sec,” he called to his brother as he steered Brea to the truck, helped her up the high step and into the seat. “This’ll only take a minute.” He shut the door and strode back over to where his brother waited.
Jet’s face appeared red and angry looking, as he raised his hands to accentuate whatever it was he was saying.
Cole stood facing him and was shaking his head, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he stood.
Brea released the shaky breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, as she sat still and waited. The ‘twin quagmire’ was hip deep and she was becoming afraid that she might never climb out.
Attempting to calm herself and get a hold of the reins, she focused in on the identical cowboys through the truck widow. She actually had wanted to see them side by side to further add to her list of how different they were.
Okay, let’s see? Brea studied them both. Jet looked handsome all right, but she noticed his posture was a little slumped as compared to the way Cole held his back straight and his shoulders high. Cole’s hair was as black as Jet’s, but it was curlier.
Her eyes dropped to their hands. She knew what those looked like up close. Cole had calluses and his hands had a few small scars on them, like maybe from working with barbed wire or something. She’d noticed this in the cottage and thought it was sexy as all hell and she made a mental note to kiss each scar when she got the chance.
His twin, Jet, had smoother hands, like they’d never been put to much hard labor, and now that she saw them together? Cole was in far better shape than his twin.
Yeah, I think I could tell the difference if the need ever arose again. She felt better now than ever before about it, while knowing exactly what to look for. Although Brea was engrossed in her research, she could now seem to hear some of what they were saying, seeing as how loud they were yelling.
“You are not to ever talk to Vikki, you hear?” Jet shouted.
“Well, that ain’t easy when she burst in and accused me of being you!”
Jet said something that Brea couldn’t catch.
It seemed to be significant and she gazed at Cole’s face.
He laughed in Jet’s face, and then glanced over at Brea. His smile suddenly dropped, as Jet seemed to be saying something more to him.
Oh, no. It was something about her! She knew it had to be, when both cowboys swung their blue-eyed gazes over at her.
If Brea ever before wanted to be small and invisible, it was right then. All this time of wanting those eyes to look at her and now, she wanted to avoid being seen altogether. Besides, she never thought she’d ever be looking at double blue gazes.
Cole flipped around and stalked away, leaving his angry looking brother standing there. He went around and got into the truck. He looked around on the seat and spotted a metal box about the size of a cell phone, picked it up and hit a button. The garage doors opened in front of the truck and he drove out.
Brea remained silent. She didn’t know what was going on, but hell, that wasn’t anything new, was it? This whole thing between these twins seemed way out of control.
Cole was quiet too, as he drove out along Triple K drive and turned out onto Lockhart road.
She finally asked, “Okay, so what did Jet say?”
“Nothing, as usual; just a whole lot of nothin’.”
Brea sighed. “It sure looked like he said something.”
Cole shook his head. “I’m pretty tired of the games he’s always pulling and I’m sorry if I was being an ass to you again.”
She laughed. “You aren’t an ass and it’s your right if’n you don’t feel like talking.”
Glancing over at her, he gave her a penetrating stare.
“What?” she asked.
He looked elated suddenly while he drove up the road to her apartment building. “You are just some kind of wonderful…” he halted and stared straight ahead as though something had just dawned on him.
Brea looked from him to where he’d parked the truck. Stunned, she stared at her apartment building and just realized that he hadn’t ever asked where she lived. Her startled gaze swept back over to him.
He looked chagrined. “Okay, well the truth is that I sort of—well… Maybe, I stalked you for a bit?”
Well, if this didn’t beat all, she thought with a shock. I was stalking him and possibly his brother and he was stalking me? Her brain just whirled around in a dead heat for any sense to the wild situation.
His admittance to a previous interest in her that was above a passing one may have been the best news she’d had during this hectic day of her new challenging life. However, as her momma always put it? Life was full of big butts and you never knew when one was gonna show itself. The big butt here was—that his admission didn’t let her off the hook, either.
She had been silent for about two long, tense minutes now and she finally knew how to handle this big butt! Head straight on into it, Brea. Don’t hide nothing that you will live to regret later. “Okay, so you’ve been caught and now I gotta ask you an odd question.”
Still looking embarrassed, he sighed and took the keys from the ignition. “All right, that sounds fair, I guess.”
“Is this just your truck? I mean, are you the only one who ever drives it?”
Wrinkling his brow at a question that must have seemed like it came from nowhere, he shrugged. “Yeah, why? You wanna see my license and registration now?” he joked.
“No, but I need to know if Jet ever drives it.”
At the mention of his brother, his whole demeanor seemed to change. “No, he has his own vehicle and he can drive it to hell for all I—” He shook his head.
Brea let out a big breath. “Okay, well I have my own confession to tell then.”
At the announcement, he looked pained.
“I sort of, maybe…like—? Well, I stalked you too, I guess?”
Looking stunned, he tilted his hat back.
“Sometimes, when you left the diner, I would sneak out just to watch you get into this truck.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “But well…you can see why I’m having a tough time here, don’t you?”
Cole nodded and looked out through the windshield. “You mean you couldn’t figure out just who you may have been stalking?”
“Yes!” she answered. “I also don’t want to drive you away because of that selfish brother of yours.”
“Well, truth be told, he said something selfish about you, back at the garage just now.”
Brea gulped and stared at him.
“He said you had the hots for him first and…”
Brea gasped, as his voice faded away. “Well, seeing how I was stalking you in this very truck more than once? I’m not so sure that it wasn’t you I had the hots for all along anyhow, but I dang well know who it is I want now!”
“Are you sure?”
Nodding her head, she grabbed his hands. “See this?” She looked down at his large warm palm.
Gazing down at her grip, Cole looked puzzled.
“You have hands that show how hard you’ve worked all your life.”
He shook his head at her while looking bewildered.
Brea turned his hand over. “There are tiny scars all along your fingers here on your left hand.” She lowered her lips and kissed his scarred knuckles just like she’d promised herself. “And see this here?” She pointed at the long scar on his right palm. “I’ll just bet this came from a rope burn when you were wrangling calves at brandin’ time.”
Sitting still, he looked stunned.
“Now, just to be clear, I’ve never held your brother’s hands like this, but I noticed he has smooth, soft looking hands.”
He remained mute as he stared hard at her face.
“Also?” She reached up, threading her fingers under his hat and through his silky dark hair. “You have curly, wavy hair and he has straight hair.”
Cole did look surprised.
“One other thing and you gotta promise not to get a big ego.”
He tugged his hat back down and gave her one of those teasing winks. “With you around, it’s already getting so huge that I may just pop!”
Brea laughed as she continued, “Well, you’re more built than him, like he slumps when he is standing, while you stand with your back straight. He seems to have muscles, but they seem to be superficial and not as refined as yours.”
Cole stared hard at her as she spoke.
“Now, I don’t know what the heck happened between you, him and that Vikki person, but I want you to know that I’ll never get confused again!” There, she did it! She gave him both barrels and she laid her cards out for him to see.
He nodded, though he still looked a little dazed at her succinct knowledge of so many small details.
Feeling good now that she cleared the air about mixing the two men up, she gave him one of her wickedest winks. “So, why don’t ya come on up to my apartment with me, big boy…” she added in her best Mae West voice.
Grinning, he gave her a salute. “Well, you won’t have to ask me twice, Miss Plush!” He got out of the truck and rushed around the front. Opening the heavy truck door for her, he grabbed her up and swung her out. He swiveled around and slammed it shut with a kick of his cowboy boot.
Giggling, she was startled when he didn’t put her down right away. “Um, Cole?”
“Yes?” He was still smiling as he made his way through the entrance.
“You do realize that it’s two flights up to my apartment, right?”
“So?” He gazed down at her face. “It’s also a million miles to heaven and yet I’m there!”
At his sweet romantic words, Brea’s heart hammered in her chest while she wondered what her neighbors would think about some hunky man carrying her all the way to her door. Ah hell, it’s about time I finally gave them something naughty to talk about. “Well, then I do have another odd question,” she added, as he was already halfway up the second flight.
Halting his jaunty steps, he stared down at her face, and he looked a little anxious. “Yeah?”
Biting her lip, a hundred good, wild momma lines danced in her head, begging to be said, but she figured she’d now make up some of her own. “Um, do you like to take your rose scented bubble baths with or without wearing your cowboy hat?”
Cole lifted his head, as he seemed to think about the answer very carefully. “Well, Miss Plush, I don’t know if we should be taking a bubble bath on our first date and all.”
This answer wasn’t what she expected or what she’d hoped to hear and she felt that tilting downhill feeling again.
“Seeing as to how I’ve never even brought you roses or fed you M&M’s yet.” He gazed down at her while his cobalt eyes sparkled from beneath that dusty cowboy hat.
A very big lump formed in her throat as she gazed up at the cowboy who she now knew for sure would star in more than just her dreams.
“But maybe, I could just owe you a mighty truckload of roses and I do have a possibly melted pack of M&M’s in my pocket?”
Brea suddenly knew for sure that she’d been mightily mistaken before. This? Right here—right now? Was the finest breathless moment of her life, like none other before. “Well, Mister Sweet Cheeks, we’d best hurry up. If they’re in your hot pockets? They might all just melt without me!”
At her comical answer, Cole let out a huge laugh as he rushed up the rest of the steps to her apartment door.