“The guy standing with you and Alex before you came over to me with your tired lines?” she asked, teasing him.
“Tired lines? Shelby, those are some of the best lines in the rodeo circuit. Ask anyone.”
“You mean ask the women, right?”
Justin shrugged. “Straight as an arrow, darlin’.”
The man oozed of sexuality, hot male sexuality. “Ditto here, cowboy.”
It was time to change the subject. This was her home, not his, not Alex’s, not their brother Brandon’s. Sure, Alex had moved here, but he was still an outsider. She could see it in his face whenever he looked at the families in Wilde—not quite a look of judgment but definitely not understanding. She loved Wilde, but realized for most it was too much to take in.
“All done.” She stood. Time to end this now before my heart suffers again. “Thank you so much for your help.”
Alex had more than piqued her interest, and she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Now, she was in her office with his brother, a sexy beast. She’d grown up in a poly family. Two dads and one mom. It made sense on every level to her. Alex and Justin? They were from Elko. And they had another brother, too. Three dreamy men for a Wilde girl like her, but most certainly a nightmare for anyone from Elko like them.
Justin got to his feet and moved right in front of her. On the floor, he didn’t seem like such a…a giant. Now, he towered over her.
“I’d like to collect my pay, sweetheart,” he said seductively.
“Pay? There’s no pay, cowboy.”
“Yes, there is.” Without warning, he pulled her into his muscled frame and captured her lips with his. Instinctively, she melted into his dominance. Her toes curled as she felt one of his big hands on the back of her neck and the other on the curve of her waist.
Idiot. This will never work. You’ve tried this before. Why go down this path again?
She brought her hands up to his chest and pushed slightly.
He released her mouth. “What, darlin’?”
“I can’t do this,” she confessed and tried to twist free from his hold.
His dark eyes narrowed. “Do what? Kiss me?”
Why had she said yes to Justin coming to help her? Because deep down she dreamed of it leading to Alex and a life, a future, she hoped for.
“Any of it, Justin. You’re from Elko. I’m from Wilde. You and I both know what that means, don’t we?”
He took a step back. “Fuck the old ways, baby. Today, you and I will broker a new path for our hometowns to get along. What do you say? How about we discuss this over a meal at the diner?”
“Yes,” she said, unable to help herself. “When?”
“Now,” Justin said like he’d been a Dom his entire life. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”
Justin certainly wasn’t a Dom, but he sure did have the DNA to be one.
Chapter Three
Shelby watched Justin devour his meal of King Cakes, the diner’s name for pancakes honoring Elvis Presley. “You were starving, cowboy.”
“Uh-huh,” he said with his mouth full.
“Wouldn’t you much rather have the ribs at the ground breaking?” she asked.
Justin drank the rest of his coffee and set the cup down. “Nope. Most folks are there.” He motioned to the empty diner. Save them and Carlotta, the new owner of the place, they were the only ones here. “This way we can have some alone time.”
She smiled. “Didn’t we just have over an hour of that already back in my office?”
“We did, but we were working on your gift bag deconstruct. Now, we can really talk and get to know each other.”