My cheeks heated as my gaze met Steed’s. We both looked at Amelia.
“What? She asked me if y’all liked each other still. Do you deny it?”
Pushing his fingers through his hair, Steed groaned. “Amelia. You’ve got to learn to keep some things to yourself around Chloe.”
“Really? Is that how things are going to be? How long are the two of you going to lie to each other. To yourselves?”
Chloe gasped. “Daddy! It’s not nice to lie!”
Steed looked exasperated. “I didn’t lie, pumpkin. I’m not lying.”
Amelia’s hands went to her hips as she flashed Steed a doubting smirk. My head was spinning. I wasn’t ready to admit anything to anyone, let alone myself. We’d barely just scratched the surface last night. There were so many things we needed to work out.
“Paxton, do you like my daddy?”
The air caught in my throat and burned, unsure of what to say or do.
Steed gazed at me with pleading eyes, just like last night. “Um, excuse me. I really need to go check on a few things.”
I spun on the heel of my cowboy boots and walked away. Covering my mouth with my hand, I attempted to keep myself in check. It appeared I was not only good at pushing people away, but I was great at running away as well.
“Do you know what we need?” Corina asked.
Looking up from my book, I asked, “What do we need, Corina?”
“A night out. Like a night out dancing and having fun. Let’s go to Cord’s Place.”
I chewed my lip. I doubted Steed would be there.
“Come on, Paxton. I need to rub up against a dick or two.”
My mouth dropped in shock. “Oh my gosh! Corina!”
She giggled. “I just want to do some silly flirting. Feel a guy’s hands on me. Please. It’s been forever.”
Her puppy dog eyes made me laugh. “Fine. I could use going out.”
We were soon ready. Our hair and make-up was done to perfection. I chose a mid-thigh, black, curve hugging dress, my favorite pair of black cowboy boots finishing out the look. Corina was wearing a light purple dress she had found in my closet. It was slightly low cut and showed the perfect amount of cleavage. Luckily, we wore the same size both in clothes and shoes. She rounded out the sexy look with a pair of teal cowboy boots. As we walked into Cord’s Place I felt eyes on us. I scanned the room and couldn’t believe how packed it was.
“Ohmygawd!” Corina said as she elbowed me ten times in excitement.
“What?” I asked.
“They’re here. Well, a few of them are. The Parker brothers.”
My breath stilled. “Who? Where?”
She laughed. “Don’t worry. I don’t see Steed. I only see Cord, Trevor, and Mitchell.”
I panicked. “How do you know it’s Mitchell and not Steed?”
She laughed. “Please. Yes they’re twins, but they wear their hair different and Mitchell is hot as hell.”
I huffed. “They’re all hot as hell.”
“Touché.”
We walked over to the bar, and it didn’t take long for the three of them to notice us. I got a polite smile from each, and Corina got heated stares. The kind that said they wanted to see her naked and bent over. Damn men.
“Hey, Paxton, Corina. How you ladies doing this evening?” Trevor asked while sliding two Bud Lights in front of us.
“Could be better,” I stated as Corina grinned.
“We are doing great! Totally in the mood for dancing,” she said as she drank her liquid courage.
Mitchell took that as his cue. “Then let’s go cut a rug.”
Corina’s eyes narrowed in confusion. It was cute how she was thrown off by some of the things folks said and did down here. Being from Chicago she was used to a fast and crazy lifestyle. Here in small town Texas things moved slower.
“Cut a rug?” she asked, her nose crinkled up. I couldn’t help but notice the way Mitchell smiled at her. Dear lord, don’t tell me he is attracted to her. I may not have been around the family much the last ten years, but there was one thing I knew for a fact. Every Parker brother was a player. None of them were the least bit interested in settling down with one woman. I’d heard the rumors and even found myself listening to a few conversations in the coffee shop of some of the Parker men’s one night stands. They usually hooked up with tourists, but a few of the local women had been the flavor of the week a time or two.
But the way Mitchell was laughing with Corina had me second-guessing that stereotype. Maybe Mitchell was ready to set down his wild ways.
Mitchell took Corina’s hand. “It means let’s go dance, Corina from Chicago.”
Tipping my beer back, I watched them make their way to the dance floor, almost choking on my beer when I noticed how close Corina let Mitchell get. His knee was damn near in her vagina!