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EXCERPT
Cady entered Maverick’s, still not sure why she’d chosen to come to the bar. She’d find no genuine relief from her emotions in the bottom of a pint of beer, but damned if she could think of a better idea right then. At least the place was quiet on a Wednesday night. It was still weird to be in the small bar by herself. The few times per year she ventured out to drink, she was always with her best friend. Since Ella was two thousand miles away, meeting Mr. Right in person after a three-month online relationship, she couldn’t just call her up and invite her to come along while Cady drowned her sorrows.
She took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer from the bartender. Sam set a frosty mug in front of her within seconds, and she drained half the contents in one swallow. With a small cough, she returned the mug to the bar and blinked as her head started feeling fuzzy. Yeah, smart move to down the drink like a sorority girl when she hadn’t cracked a bottle in months. Not since she’d started dating that worthless bum. She snorted, thinking how she’d entirely given up drinking to support his sobriety. He’d sure abandoned being sober fast enough—almost as fast as he’d deserted her.
“Cady?”
She looked up from the amber liquid at the sound of a familiar voice, one that instantly recalled forbidden fantasies of the panty-dampening variety. A lump settled briefly in her throat, forcing her to swallow it down before she could reply. “Hello, Jace.” A glance over her shoulder revealed Brody sitting at a table across the room. No surprise there. The best friends rarely went anywhere alone.
“How’s it going?”
Ah, tell the truth or pretend to be just hunky dory? She settled for a shrug. “How’re you?”
“Just having a drink. Wouldn’t have expected to see you here.”
Cady shrugged again. “Not without Ella, anyway.”
“Or without Garrett.” Jace quickly lifted a work-roughened palm. “Not that he spends any time at Maverick’s these days.”
She tossed back the rest of her beer, this time not choking, though the swimmy-headed feeling persisted. “I don’t much care where he spends his time, Jace.”
Jace frowned. “Why don’t you join us, Cady?”
She contemplated the idea for a second. Yeah, why not? Jace was the older brother of her best friend, and there was no harm sitting with him and Brody. Neither man knew about her secret thoughts and fantasies that featured both of them doing wicked things to her body. Being in the company of two luscious cowboys just might improve her mood anyway. “Sam, another beer for the road,” she said with a smile. “I’m taking my act over there.”
Swaying, she stood still for a minute after gaining her feet, ignoring the hand Jace extended to brace her. A brief image of that same hand moving over her bare skin made her shiver, but she pushed aside the thought. A man like Jace wouldn’t look twice at her. Once steady, she followed him over to the small table, nodding to Brody. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you?”
Brody shook his head as he removed his Stetson to reveal tousled blond curls. “Of course not. How you been, Cady-did?”
She managed a small smile at the old term of endearment. He hadn’t used it for several years. “Peachy.”
Jace pulled out her seat, and she sat down with a murmured, “Thank you,” thinking she must be pretty pathetic in her current state, since they were going out of their way to be so kind. Not that Brody and Jace would ever deliberately hurt anyone, but they generally saved their charm for the fillies they pursued on their free weekends. The slender, confident blondes with big boobs. Cady’s antithesis. She had long ago accepted they would never reciprocate her unspoken desire, but that didn’t keep her from the occasional moment of bitterness. And tonight was a night meant for wallowing in bitterness.
Sam ferried another round to their table, setting her mug and two bottles down on the worn wood before returning to the bar. Cady resisted the urge to chug this one too, knowing getting drunk and making a fool of herself would do absolutely nothing to soothe her erratic emotions.
“Where’s Garrett?” asked Brody.
“Not a good subject,” said Jace just before Cady replied.
She gave Brody a bright smile. “I can’t be sure, but I imagine he’s still fucking the hot little number he had tucked into his bed when I stopped by a while ago. They were halfway through an orgasm and a bottle of wine when I popped in.” Cady’s rage boiled to the surface again, as she relived the shock of it all. At least she’d had the satisfaction of dumping that bottle of red wine all over his pristine white sofa before she’d stormed out. It was small consolation to offset the sickening reality that she had devoted the last seven months of her life to a lying jerk.
Green eyes locked with blue as Jace and Brody traded a look she couldn’t decipher. “You caught him, Cady-did?”
She nodded. “Walked right in. He’d blown off dinner, claiming to have a headache, so I dropped by with his favorite from Soda’s Diner.” With a sigh, she said, “I kind of think he wanted me to find him like that, so he didn’t have to be a man and tell me.”
“Garrett is no kind of man,” said Jace with a grimace.
“Who can blame him?” she said with a note of defeat. “He was offered a hot young body. Who wouldn’t go for it, especially when I’m the alternative?”
“Any man who had you would be a fool to ‘go for it’.” Brody looked disgusted.
Cady arched a brow. “Yeah, sure. What’s not to love?” She snorted. “Who couldn’t resist my mousy-brown hair? Or maybe my fat rolls are enticing.” Shaking her head, she said, “It was inevitable that he’d move on, just like every other man I’ve ever been with.” Maybe she was being too hard on herself, but it felt more like she was being honest with herself for the first time in a long time. What man would want a thirty-year-old woman wearing a size twenty-two, with lanky brown hair, when he could have a chick still in her early twenties, with pert breasts, a tiny waist, and what had appeared to be a mouth that rivaled the sucking capacity of a Hoover?
“Garrett Long is a fucking moron,” said Jace, slamming his bottle onto the table with such force that the uneven legs wobbled. “He was lucky enough to have you and threw it away.”
Cady sipped her beer, finding her eyes tearing over from his words more than what she’d been through earlier tonight. “I appreciate the effort.”
“You make him sound like he’s just talking to hear his own voice,” said Brody.
She blinked. “Nothing like that, but I know platitudes when I hear ‘em. I truly do appreciate the effort, guys, but there’s no need. I’m being realistic here.”
“You’re being an idiot,” said Brody.
Cady gasped. “What?”
“You’re letting that bastard off the hook for his behavior by blaming yourself. He was a damned fool to hurt you, and to choose some piece of ass over substance.” He leaned across the table, until their faces were inches apart. “Any man would be a fool to pass up a chance to be with you, Cady-did.”
Eyes wide, she distracted herself from the sudden tension by taking another drink of the beer. “Um, okay.”
Jace sighed. “She doesn’t believe you, Brody.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
Cady didn’t protest. How could she? They were being sweet, but she knew they were lying through their teeth, just like every man she’d known. At least their lies came from a place of concern.
She glanced up to see them sharing another look. This one was also difficult to decipher. They’d been friends practically since birth, so it was no surprise they were so good at nonverbal communication. She watched them trade a nod before they both turned back to her, eyeing her with an intensity that made her squirm.
“We’re going to prove it to you. So, pick one.”
In the midst of another sip, she choked. Once the burning sensation cleared her throat, she swiped at her watering eyes. “What?”
“Pick one,” said Jace again. “Me or Brody. Who’s it going to be?”
“Which one of us is the lucky son of a bitch who gets to show you just how pleased either of us would be to have a shot with you, Cady-did?” said Brody.
Cady’s mind raced as she mentally reviewed the last few minutes, frantically searching for a way to let them off the hook. “Seriously, you guys are taking this chivalry stuff too far. It’s nice of you—”
“Fuck nice,” said Brody. “There’re a lot of things I want to do to that luscious body of yours, Cady, and none of them are what you’d call nice.”
She swallowed audibly. “There’s no need for this. Honestly.”
“Honestly, we want to fuck you ‘til you can’t move, Cady,” said Jace in a sensual purr. “We’ve wanted to for a long time.”
“I don’t know how many times we’ve talked about it,” added Brody.
Jace shook his head. “But you’re Ella’s best friend. She’s my sister—”
“And Ella’s like my sis,” inserted Brody.
“So that made you off limits.”
“What’s changed?” she managed to ask through her dry throat.
“I’m suddenly not too concerned about limits,” said Jace. “I’m too preoccupied with the idea of snapping you up, now that you’re free again, before some other loser comes along and steals my girl. Again.”
“Hold up, buddy. She could end up being my girl.”
Jace nodded. “That’s possible. If it happens, I’ll withdraw the loser part, but I still won’t be too happy if she picks you over me.”
Cady evaluated them as they bantered back and forth, judging their sincerity, and finding she didn’t doubt them. Not much anyway. Could they really be serious? Could these two hotties really want a tumble with her between the sheets? It seemed fantastical, though she’d never known either man to be less than honest in his dealings.
Maybe it was the second beer, or perhaps it was just a desire to shock them as much as they’d shocked her, but Cady decided to call their bluff. “Okay, let’s say I believe you.”
“You’d damned well better,” said Brody.
“Let’s just say I believe you’ve secretly lusted after my chubby body for years,” she said, ignoring his interruption. “How’s a girl supposed to choose between you?”
Jace and Brody both shrugged, a motion so similar it made them look more like brothers than friends. “That’s your problem, Cady-did.”
“If it’s really my choice, I pick both of you.” Cady giggled at the way their mouths gaped open, waiting for them to backpedal now, to say they’d had too much to drink, or whatever.