Eli looked over to where he knew Ace sat at Jack and Ethan’s table, involved in a conversation with Jack. Ace looked up and gazed momentarily at Rachel before he looked over at him across the club. Ace raised his beer bottle and nodded at Eli. Eli nodded in reply and, satisfied, resumed watching Rachel as she moved gracefully to the music, laughing with Grace.
The dress Rachel had on hugged her curves and revealed just enough of her generous cleavage to leave him wanting more. He glanced around, noticed other men in the club watched her and Grace, and instinctively moved closer to the dance floor.
Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” played next, and the tempo on the dance floor slowed down. Eli could tell that Rachel had held back on the dance floor tonight, probably more conscious than she wanted to be that Ace might be watching, but she must have liked the song because she let the worry go.
When the song ended, Eli was at the edge of the dance floor where he waited to escort them both. He noticed Ethan standing beside him, same as the night before.
“They’re like spontaneous combustion on the dance floor, aren’t they, Eli?”
“Damn good analogy, boss.”
“We’d better escort them. Otherwise, every randy stud in here is going to be all over them. It sure is good to watch them have fun, ain’t it?”
“Absolute torture,” Eli replied, trying for reasonably straight face.
Ethan laughed out loud, clapping Eli on the back. “That, too!”
Grace slipped into Ethan’s embrace as he leaned down to kiss her.
Rachel joined Eli as a young man stepped up to Rachel and opened his mouth to ask her for a dance. He took one look in Eli’s eyes, slammed his mouth shut, and backed away to go in search of another dance partner.
Rachel looked after him apologetically and smiled up at Eli as he walked away with her.
134
Heather Rainier
* * * *
Rachel noticed Wesley and Evan sitting at a corner table, both of them facing the club. They made a handsome pair in their Wranglers, dress cowboy boots, and Stetsons. They didn’t look like tourist cowboys who dressed in full cowboy regalia they’d bought at Cheaver’s Western Store for an evening out at a cowboy nightclub. They looked like they might have been on the back of a horse or hefting a hay bale before getting cleaned up to go dancing and drinking. They were the real deal sitting there, looking slap-your-grandma gorgeous.
Wes was dressed in a starched white western dress shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, leaving his tanned throat visible. Evan was dressed in a jet-black dress shirt also unbuttoned so that a bit of his chest hair was visible. His usual brooding bad-boy stare was there, but the set of his shoulders and hands would lead any observer to believe that it was more than an act. Evan looked decidedly pissed off, while Wesley looked heart-broken.
She turned to watch the object of their sad perusal. Rosemary Piper and her friend Kathleen walked with Grace and Ethan to their table. Rosemary looked adorable in bright red Wranglers and a silky white shirt that barely hinted at the thin lace camisole beneath it. Her black boots were polished to a gloss, and she wore a belt that glittered brightly with rhinestones. Her long, curly coal-black hair was pulled back in a jeweled headband that echoed the sparkle in her belt. The image of a happy cowgirl out with friends having a good time would have been complete until Rachel saw her eyes. The hint of a broken heart lingered in the poignant sadness there.
Kathleen looked like her usual sophisticated self, dressed in a sleeveless black mesh sheath dress with a hint of sheerness to it and a black lace slip beneath. The neckline dipped into a deep V in the front and back, revealing her generous, ivory-toned cleavage and the curve of her spine. She wore a delicate crystal necklace that dipped between her breasts and also dangled halfway down her back, swaying with her every movement. Her stockings had seams up the back, hinting, for those astute enough to observe, at the garter belt that rested around her hips. Her high heels were a mass of glittering crisscrossing straps covering the insteps. Kathleen was tall and had stunning dark red hair. She carried her shapely curves with confidence and grace, moving across the room as though she were aware half the men in the
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club were watching her, and she didn’t mind a bit. Her elegant but not haughty air practically invited their gaze as she moved.
Rachel observed as Jack and Ace got up when the ladies arrived at the table with Ethan. Grace introduced Rosemary and Kathleen to Ace, who greeted them graciously, his appreciative gaze moving over both of them.
Ace offered Rosemary his seat, as Ethan pulled up another chair for Kathleen. Grace contentedly resumed her perch in Jack’s lap, his large hands coming to rest on her thigh and lower back.