Tiny Dancer(Divine Creek Ranch 13)(6)

The thought of Camilla in nothing but a G-string, high heels, strawberry-blonde ringlets, and a smile was enough to get his cock hard.

Damn it.

Ben nodded. “Sorry, now I’m thinking about it too.”

“I can’t wait for winter. It’ll be too cold for that little lacy-fringy-bra-thing with…” Quinten made twirly circles with his fingers as he pointed at his pecs. “With those little red cherries all over it.” Ben chuckled in amusement when Quinten unconsciously licked his lips.

“You go ahead and do what you need to do. I’ll keep an eye on things around here and check in with her in a bit.”

“Should we talk to her tonight? At least tell her how we feel?”

Ben mulled the question over for a few seconds. “She’s levelheaded, Quinten. She’s not the type to go off with guys on a whim, even ones she knows. You go do your thing. If I get the feeling something is up, I’ll talk to her. Let’s get the house finished before we drop this bomb on her.”

“Do you think maybe we’re putting the cart before the horse with all this renovation work?”

“The house was in dire need of remodeling anyway. You and I are both interested in sharing a woman. I think she’s the one. It’ll be time to sit her down and have a talk…once this work is finished.” Ben liked having all his ducks in a row.

Quinten sighed unhappily. “It’s getting more difficult to not tell her how I feel.” It was like trying to plug a hole in a dam with a piece of chewing gum when the whole thing was about to burst.

Quinten left the club not feeling any better about the situation, but at least he could take action at home. Ben could play Mr. Calm-and-Cool only because he hadn’t seen the adoration in three pairs of eyes, directed at the woman he loved.

Pain centered in his chest at the thought of losing her because they hadn’t acted soon enough. He hated the thought that they’d observed her boundaries about not dating coworkers so well that she really had no idea how they both felt about her. He’d dated other women while he’d lived in Dallas, before moving to Divine, and knew Camilla was different. Knew she was the one.

His last long-term relationship had ended in painful disaster when he’d discovered that he’d gotten the woman he thought he loved pregnant. He hadn’t known that until after she’d already ended the pregnancy. A fact that she’d shared with him only to hurt him in the midst of an argument. His life had changed that day. He didn’t know if she was telling the truth or not, but she’d even thrown in his face that it’d been a girl. He didn’t know if that was true or not, but it had hurt just the same.

His child would’ve started kindergarten that fall. Even though he’d never laid eyes on her, he’d mourned her just the same. He’d grown up in a family that placed a priority on relationships, and on never giving up just because life was tough.

Camilla wasn’t the type to give up either, of that he was certain. All the time she’d been working, she’d been saving her tips so she could pursue her dream of running her own club. He’d encouraged her but had never considered it would mean moving so far away. At night, he’d dreamed of her in his arms and in their lives. Camilla was the right woman for him—for them—and he was anxious to not waste any more time.

He entered the house and looked around objectively. How would she view their home? Quinten looked out the sliding glass door to the deck outside. French doors leaned against the wall nearby, which they planned to install after the painting was done. The old sliding glass doors were unwieldy, and Ben had worried they weren’t as secure as the new doors would be. They wanted her to feel safe.

When they’d decided to become roommates, the obvious choice had been for Quinten to leave his rental in town and move in with Ben, who had fifteen acres and a large ranch house ten minutes outside of Divine. Quinten had wanted to talk with Camilla right then and there, but Ben had wanted to make the house nice for her first.

Quinten had moved into one of the smaller bedrooms a couple of weeks before, and Ben had moved out of the master bedroom so the work could be done. They’d enlisted Grace Warner’s help, along with her numerous contacts, in planning the new master suite. She’d suggested that they leave the room available for Camilla to move into first, if it met with her approval—if they met with her approval.

Quinten hoped—and Grace had seemed uncannily certain—that Camilla would love the big tub and shower that had been installed. The tile work was starting the following day. He knew they might make a mess of his painting, but he didn’t care. He had to do something.