“Isn’t there enough to share?”
Harold straightened up, crossing his arms over his barrel chest. “After he gets his barnacle-plucking ol’ hands on the stuff, he’ll leave slim pickins. That be what you want?”
“I’d feel better if Tabby made the selections.”
Harold shrugged. “’Tis up to you, but I’ll just be saying…” He shook his head. “Slim pickins. Poor lassie. She wanted the sultan’s tent to be the best.”
Harold was right. It would break Tabby’s heart if those curtains were spoken for. “Could you let Devon know where I’ve gone?”
“Sure thing, laddie. Best be hurrying.”
Wasting no time, he climbed into his truck. Since the key was already in the ignition, he turned it over. In no time he was down the road. His thoughts wandering toward a dark-haired, feisty woman and how he could keep her out of her muscle-bound friends’ arms tonight.
Chapter Three
When Reece maneuvered his truck around a curve in the road, the two-story, redbrick gymnasium came into view. Surprise registered when he saw Tabby’s black Jeep in front. As he pulled up beside the vehicle, relief filtered through him. At least now he knew where she was. He sat behind the wheel of his vehicle for a moment, wondering whether he should let her be or go in and help. The thought came and went when he reached for the door handle and got out. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as he trod purposely to the door, finding it unlocked. As he entered the auditorium, he heard Tabby’s sweet voice.
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Standing center stage, she gazed longingly over the rows and rows of empty seats. Houselights beaming upon her, she made a quarter turn and the long, flowing, red velvet Renaissance gown she wore brushed the polished floor.
He smiled. Silently he closed the door to not disturb her.
“Deny thy father and refuse thy name.” She breathed deeply, her features belaying a tortured woman in love.
Acting appeared to come naturally to Tabby. Of course, she had always been good at theatrics—the brat. With those puppy-dog eyes she could wind her father, Devon and even him around her little finger at will.
“Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,” she spoke softly. “And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
Padding down the aisle, he opened his arms. “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?” he quoted, remembering the line from his high school years when they had been forced to read the play.
Tabby shrieked, her head swinging side to side in search of the one who had invaded her privacy. Regaining her composure, she leaned forward and squinted, peering into the darkness against the brilliance.
Licking her lips betrayed her nervousness. “Who’s there?” she growled.
“’Tis me, Romeo. Your fairest of princes.” He barely held back a stream of laughter.
He knew the moment she recognized him. She pinched her lips against a grin begging to be released.
“Fairest of princes? You’ve got to be kidding.”
He may not be Romeo, but she definitely was Juliet. With her long black hair and that gown a little too tight so it raised her breasts invitingly, she looked as if she had taken a step back in time.
“So what is this? A movie montage?” He slid into a front row aisle seat, kicking his feet up on the bar before it. “I want to see more.” And surprisingly he did. He had never seen this side of her. She was an amazing woman with many facets to her even he didn’t know about. For some damn reason he wanted to know all those things about her he missed out on while he was at college and on job sites.
A devilish glint sparked in her eyes. “You do, do you?”
“Yeah. Show me what you have.”
Gathering a wad of material in each hand, she raised the hem of her gown and disappeared behind the heavy velveteen curtains. In seconds she returned adorned in her own boots along with a golden full-circled skirt draped by a black overlay, but it was the bodice that made his jaw drop. The damn woman didn’t have a shirt or a tunic beneath it. The leather lacings spanned wide enough to send his gaze down her bare cleavage, setting his pulse racing.
When he didn’t say anything, her palms went to her shapely hips. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what I am.”
Sexy. Gorgeous. A couple more words bounced around in his head, but that’s not exactly what stirred his blood and made his cock twitch with excitement. An image of her came to his mind… Tabby sprawled naked and prone across a blanket atop a sandy beach, her graceful spine arching as his mouth traced a path along its curve.
“Really, Reece? I’ll give you hint. ‘Argggg… Ye matey.’”