“Jolene.”
She followed him out to the dance floor, which was crowded as hell, but fortunately, it was time for a slow dance. Which meant cowboy Luke jerked her into his arms and became an immediate octopus, his hands all over her as they twirled slow and easy around the floor.
Jolene made sure to give him her undivided attention—or at least 95 percent of her attention. The other 5 percent was spent on Walker, who glanced up toward the bar and tracked his gaze to the dance floor, giving Jolene and her dance partner a decided scowl.
And wasn’t it perfect that Luke chose just the moment Walker was watching them to slide his hand down her back and grab a nice handful of both her ass cheeks.
Judging from the murderous glare on his face, if Walker had a six-shooter in his hand, Luke would be a dead man about now.
Yeee haw!
who the hell was the son of a bitch with his hands all over Jolene?
Gage elbowed Mason. “You know that guy?”
Mason frowned. “What guy?”
“I’m pretty sure he means the one with his hands on Jolene’s ass. Out on the dance floor,” Valerie said.
“Oh.” Mason searched the dance floor. “Don’t recognize him.” Mason turned to his wife. “He is kind of grabby, though. Want me to kill him?”
“Maybe Walker should do that instead,” Valerie suggested with a sly smile.
Walker shrugged and grabbed his pool cue. “She’s not my woman. No reason for me to get involved. If she wants some strange guy’s hands roaming all over her, that’s her business.”
Though he couldn’t concentrate on his shot and he blew it, scratching and losing the game. Shit. That’s what he got for paying more attention to Jolene’s ass than playing pool.
He let the next set of guys play and grabbed his beer, deciding not to look at the dance floor. But despite his resolve, his gaze drifted in that direction every few seconds, and for some reason he could easily spot Jolene in the thick crowd of dancers. Maybe it was her hair, loose tonight instead of in her usual pigtails, blond and wavy and trailing down her back, making him wish he could slide his hand down the length of it to see if it felt as soft as it looked.
Or maybe it was the turquoise halter top with silver studs that bared her back and the tiny tattoo barely visible above the waist of her jeans. He didn’t know what kind of tattoo it was, only that it was colorful and small enough that a man would have to be . . .
Fuck. Getting a hard-on in the middle of a crowded bar would be the worst thing that could ever happen to him.
“You know, if you don’t want another guy touching her, you should go in there and stake your claim.”
Walker shrugged and sipped his beer, determined not to let anyone know, especially Mason, of his attraction to Jolene. “There’s nothing to claim. Nothing going on between us.”
Mason laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not blind, idiot. You two have been dancing around each other for a couple years now. And Jolene doesn’t exactly make a secret of the fact that she’d like to wrangle you into her bed.”
Shit. He turned to Mason. “She tell you that?”
“Me? Oh, hell no. We don’t talk about sex. But she tells her sister things, and Valerie tells me.”
“I’ve never touched Jolene.”
Mason laughed. “I’m not stopping you.”
“She’s the boss. And you don’t dip into the well where you work.”
“Hey, that’s up to you. All I’m saying is that the two of you are distracted because of this attraction. The last thing I want to do is talk about your sex life, man. Handle it how you see fit.”
“Thanks, I will.” And standing around watching Jolene dirty dance with some stranger was more torture than he cared to deal with. “I’m heading back to the ranch.”
jolene caught walker’s exit out of the corner of her eye and sighed.
Damn man.
Okay, so this plan had crashed and burned.
She turned her attention to Luke-of-the-wandering-hands, tilted her head back and smiled sweetly at him. “Honey, you have about two seconds to get your hands off my ass, or you’ll be wearing your balls as earrings.”
Time for Plan B.
around two in the morning, as jolene was checking cattle in one of the pastures, she still hadn’t quite come up with what Plan B was going to be. Walker was proving to be more stubborn than she’d anticipated. She figured he’d see Luke-of-the-wandering-hands pawing her on the dance floor, his possessive cave-man instincts would kick in and he’d stomp over, jerk her away from Luke and kiss her senseless right on the spot.
Ha! And she’d had the nerve to accuse Brea of living in fantasy-land with her books. Obviously it was Jolene who needed a good hard dose of reality, because she’d been way off base with that flight of imagination. Walker had looked all right, and then done . . . nothing.
Maybe he wasn’t as interested in her as she’d originally thought. Or maybe he was, but figured she wasn’t worth fighting over.
Dammit. Why were men so hard to figure out? If he wanted her, what was so difficult about saying so, and then doing something about it? She was always straightforward about what she wanted. Was that a bad thing?
Her horse spooked as another rider approached. She pulled up on the reins and calmed Paradise down, then turned in the direction of the approaching rider. Who the hell was out this time of night, especially this far from the main houses?
She was surprised to see Walker coming up alongside her. And he was angry.
“What the hell are you doing riding out here by yourself this late?”
She arched a brow. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I couldn’t sleep so thought I’d take a ride.”
“This is one hell of a ride. What if you’d gotten bucked off and hurt?”
She patted Paradise. “My horse never bucks.”
“She would if a snake slithered in front of her. Come on, Jolene, you were born and raised out here. You know it’s not safe to ride alone at night, even on your own property.”
She lifted her chin. “Exactly. My own property. I can do whatever the hell I want, when I want. Besides, why do you even care, Walker?”
He went silent then, the brim of his hat and the dark of the moonless night hiding his expression. “You shouldn’t ride alone.”
“You said that already. And you’re riding alone.”
“I saw your horse was gone and came out to find you. It’s late. Thought something might have happened to you.”
“Awww, didn’t know you cared.”
“I figure someone has to look out for you since you suck at taking care of yourself.”
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I’m a big girl and I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Is that why you let some guy you don’t know put his hands all over you at the bar last night?”
So he did notice. And from the sound of his voice and the narrowing of his eyes, he wasn’t at all happy about it. Perfect. “I haven’t needed a father in years. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a grown woman capable of making my own decisions.”