So Tough to Tame (Jackson Hole 3)

“Horrible,” Jenny agreed. “No one wants to see that.”

“I was more worried about the scent.”

Charlie leaned closer and breathed him in. There was a hint of hide about him, but mostly it was crisp air and...sweaty Walker. “You’ll do,” she said softly. “Have a margarita and stay awhile. At least we’ll keep you out of trouble.”

Trouble with married women was what she meant, and he seemed to understand because he cleared his throat and accepted a glass without another word. If he’d been planning a quick escape, he changed his mind when the pizza arrived. Soon enough they were all stuffed and tipsy and laughing about sex stories over their cake. There really wasn’t any other reason to have a girls’ night, in Charlie’s opinion. She didn’t know if anyone had kids, but she damn sure didn’t want to talk about them.

She’d missed this. She’d had girlfriends in Vegas, but she hadn’t seemed to assemble many in Tahoe. Her idea of a good time by then had been curling up on the couch with a bottle of wine to watch a scary movie by herself. Her boyfriend had been a workaholic, or so she’d thought. What he’d actually been was married and spending time with his family.

But Vegas... Yeah, that had been good for a few years. Of course, Vegas had set a very high bar for girls’ nights, but you couldn’t go watch male strippers every weekend. Even that had gotten old. Or Charlie had gotten bored. But this...this was nice. And immediately comfortable, despite the fact that she hadn’t known any of these women more than a week.

A few minutes later, Merry was telling a hilarious story about a dirty talker that had half of them in tears.

“But come on!” Charlie protested. “Dirty talk is fun!”

“Oh, I know. But this wasn’t the right kind of dirty talk.”

Walker leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “What’s the right kind?”

“You know.” Merry blushed and waved him away, but she couldn’t resist. “It’s supposed to be interactive. And hopefully have something to do with the person you’re with. Not just some weird running monologue you trot out every time.”

Charlie screeched, “Like what?”

“Well... It was like a pep talk. ‘Oh, yeah, you like that, don’t you, you dirty whore? Oh, God, yes, you love it. You always love it. You love it just like this.’ He never paused for a response or anything. It was just the same thing every time.”

“Oh, no!”

“He never even opened his eyes. It was like he had to turn me into a bad girl in his mind.”

Charlie wiped tears from her eyes. “Really? Did he spank you, too?”

“Oh, God, no!”

“What?” Charlie protested with a giggle. “There’s nothing wrong with a good spanking every now and then.”

Walker leaned even farther forward. “There’s not?”

Charlie turned to grin at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes. I really, truly would.”

“Aw!” Jenny interrupted. “Don’t tease Walker!”

“If he can’t handle girls’ night, then he should leave.” Charlie aimed a sly smile in his direction.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he countered, crossing his arms and leaning back into the couch.

“Maybe he can learn something,” Grace said as she cut herself another piece of cake. “So many men seem to be under the impression that we want to be treasured in bed.”

Merry stuck her lip out. “There’s nothing wrong with being treasured.”

Charlie nodded. “True. But when you meet a very special man, and you have very special feelings for him...sometimes it’s okay if he wants to use you like a little whore.” They all erupted in screams of laughter. Grace shoved Merry so hard that Merry nearly fell out of her chair.

Charlie’s eyes were too full of tears to see Walker clearly for a moment, but when she finally looked at him, he was staring intently at her. Her amusement suddenly flamed into hot awareness. Thank God her cheeks were red from the margaritas, or everyone would think she was blushing.

“Fine,” Merry said. “That might be true. Sometimes. But Shane’s the only one who knows for sure.”

“And me,” Grace said. “You did tell me about that one time he made you get on your knees and—”