Ride Me Dirty(24)

A little while later, I was going commando as I walked into  Bridgewater's town hall. I was also a good deal more relaxed than I'd  been that morning since they'd made sure to give me two orgasms before  sending me on my way. Jack hadn't stopped fingering my pussy until I  came right there in the doorway. After that they'd ordered me to strip  off my jeans so I could lose the panties. Sam, apparently not content to  let his cousin give me an orgasm without giving me one as well, dropped  to his knees and buried his face between my thighs and started flicking  my clit with his tongue, making me come fast and furious as I leaned  against the kitchen counter.

So much for not using sex as a weapon. A very pleasurable, mind blowing weapon.

I was sure everyone I passed in city hall could see that I was glowing,  but I didn't have time to worry about gossip. The building was only open  for another hour and I needed the legal information so I could make an  informed decision. Buck hadn't pressured me to give him an answer  immediately, but I wanted to figure out what I was doing with Charlie's  property as soon as possible. It was too much of a mess to get it ready  for market in the next few days, so I'd have no time to think about it  if I went back to New York.         

     



 

If I went back. Since when had I started to doubt my return? For a  little while now, if I was being honest. Hell, I'd started to have my  doubts about heading back to New York after that first night with Sam  and Jack. And who wouldn't? There was never any question that being  wanted by two sexy cowboys was a temptation. I wouldn't have been a  badge carrying woman if I didn't at least think about staying.

But being tempted didn't mean it was the right choice. I still had responsibilities and a life to get back to.

The clerk in the records department helped me find all the information I  needed in about five minutes. I took the next half hour to read through  it all at a small counter and then read it all again. After I was done,  I called Sally and asked her some questions to make sure I'd understood  the details. Real estate law was fascinating, especially since I had  such a personal case.

As I hung up from Sally, I knew any hope of being an overnight  millionaire vanished before my eyes. No fancy apartment in New York.  Turned out Charlie's water rights were not only senior, but affected  most of the ranches in the county. What was done to Charlie's land had  long term, lasting impacts. Basically, by taking Buck's offer, I'd be  screwing over all the properties downstream of Charlie-and that was most  of the land west of Bridgewater.

I left city hall just before closing and headed straight toward Sam's  place downtown. I'd been warned about being late, but that wasn't why I  rushed. I had my answers. While I didn't know what to do with the land,  it didn't matter. Not right this second. Truth was, I couldn't wait to  see them again. God, I couldn't be away from them for an hour without  missing them.

About halfway to his place, my cell rang and I answered it on speaker  without looking to see who it was. The streets were straight and I only  passed a few cars, but I still didn't want to take my eyes from the  road. I should have looked. I really should have checked.

"Just called to say thank you, Catherine."

Roberts. Crap.

A call from the case stealing lawyer was exactly what my day did not  need. But it was his nasally New York accent that filled my car and had  my hands clenching the steering wheel in annoyance. "What do you want,  Roberts?"

"No need to bite my head off."

There was no way I'd give him the satisfaction of asking what he was  talking about. His smug tone said enough. I didn't cut him off quickly  enough, because he continued uninterrupted. "I guess you heard that I  settled the Marsden case. Farber was pleased with the outcome, as I'm  sure he told you."

Fuck. I slammed a fist against the steering wheel. "That's my case."

"Was your case." There was no denying the laughter in his voice. "Thanks  again for taking a vacation. Please, feel free to stay as long as you'd  like. Where are you? Bumfuck, Montana? I hear cow tipping's tons of  fun. I've got your cases handled, so just-"

I hung up on the prick before he could finish. My fingers gripped the  steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, my blood pressure  probably on its way to stroke level. I had to get back. Now. The sooner  the better. I couldn't waste any more time in the middle of nowhere  while my cases were being stolen out from under me. Panic made my heart  race. Every minute I was here was another chance for Roberts to take  credit for my work. If I didn't get back now, I'd lose out on the  partnership for good.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Goddammit, breathing exercises were a useless  waste of time when I was seething with anger. No amount of controlled  breaths would give me the release I needed.

But Sam and Jack could. They knew how to make me forget, make me let go  of all the shit in my life and just …  be. Just come again and again. Yes,  I needed to fuck. I needed orgasms. Thank God I was headed to them now  or I might combust. And when I was back in New York? What would I do  then? Book a flight to Montana every time the stress got to be too much?  It was a long way for a booty call.

I could quit. The thought resonated like a gong. I could say goodbye to  the stress and the competition and live life like the people of  Bridgewater-surrounded by friends, enjoying life. Being loved.

I could be a lawyer in Montana. Sam did it. Why couldn't I? But would I?  It would mean giving up everything I'd been working toward, everything  I'd thought I'd wanted for so long. Was I ready to make that sacrifice  for the Kanes?

As I pulled into Sam's driveway, I still didn't have an answer.







SAM



Jack and I hauled a truckload of boxes out of Charlie's house and took  them to the dump before coming back to my place to wait on Katie. Manual  labor had been a great distraction from the elephant in the room but  now we had nothing to do but sit and wait.         

     



 

"You don't look nervous," I said. Not that Jack typically looked  nervous; he was easygoing by nature. But this was hardly a normal  situation. It wasn't every day we asked a woman to be ours. We hadn't  used the word wife, not yet at least, but it was implied. It was what we  meant and what we wanted. Katie as our wife, mother of our children.

I couldn't remember the last time I wanted something more. This was  nothing like Samantha Connors, my high school sweetheart. I could see  now that Jack had been right to turn away from that. She hadn't been the  one for us.

Katie was.

"That's because I'm not nervous," Jack said. He sank into the couch and  sprawled out, stretched his long legs out in front of him. "Katie loves  it here in Bridgewater. She'll stay."

I kicked his boots off the couch so I could sit too. "I wish I had your confidence."

He arched an eyebrow at me. "You don't think she loves it here?"

"I know she does. But deciding to stay means getting out of her own head for more than two seconds and listening to her gut."

Jack gave a little grunt of agreement. He knew I was right. Did Katie  love Bridgewater? Hell, yes. Did she enjoy spending time with us?  Absolutely. That woman couldn't doubt that she was our perfect match in  bed-and out-at least. We'd made our point there …  we'd showed her just  how good it could be. But just because she enjoyed hot sex didn't mean  she was ready to admit that she belonged with us. It sure as hell didn't  mean she was ready to commit to being with us for the rest of her life.

Jack seemed to read my mind. He shifted so he could lean forward, his  gaze unusually intense. "Look, Sam, we don't need her to agree to marry  us-not today, at least. We just need her to stay. If she does that … ."

He had a point. If she stayed, we would win her in the end. If she  wanted courting, we'd do it. Roses, candlelight, horseback rides.  Whatever. This had been fast and that damn lightning wasn't something  she believed in. That was okay. If she stayed, we'd have all the time in  the world to have her fall in love with us.

"You're right," I said.

He grinned. "Of course, I am."

I kept thinking of the way her eyes had lit up during dinner at Cara's  the other night. She'd been luminous and in her element. Laughing and  talking, she'd been relaxed and content-a far cry from the tightly wound  ball of stress I'd met that first day at the bar. She deserved to be  like that all the time, not just when she was on vacation.

That right there was what I was afraid of. She saw all of this as a  vacation from life. A hot fling, a leisurely pace, fun with friends-I  had a horrible feeling that in her mind this was all just a break from  "real" life. Perhaps even a distraction, something keeping her from the  fast lane, the corner office. Maybe I was wrong and Jack was right.  Maybe she was coming around to the idea of staying. There had definitely  been moments when I'd thought she had, but then there were times when I  could see her mind drifting back to New York and all the bullshit that  waited for her there. It was hard to fight against a cell phone, instant  messaging, emails and a type-A personality.