Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch (Gold Valley #13)(57)

He also didn’t care if they kissed other men.

But if Callie—his Callie—had kissed that fool at the bar, he couldn’t have been held responsible for what happened to the poor son of a bitch.

“Better cool it,” he said. “Two times in one night is not going to work for you.”

She frowned. “Don’t tell me what I want. You know I don’t like it.”

“I know you don’t,” he said, kissing her again. Just for him. Just because he wanted to. And he enjoyed that kiss. He enjoyed it a hell of a lot.

“Then why are you?”

“Just trust me, Cal.”

“So...we get to do it again?”

He hesitated. He was... He needed to get his head on straight because this was something he’d told himself he’d never do.

Ever.

“Don’t worry about it. Sleep.”

She fitted her body against his, and he held on to her tightly. And a strange sensation bloomed in his chest. But he pushed it away. He focused instead on how soft she was. On the curves of her ass against his dick, because that was something he was familiar with. It might be more intense than what he was typically accustomed to, but he knew sexual arousal. He knew sexual desire. Because it was safer than acknowledging anything else.

Jake wasn’t a man given to deep thought, and he wasn’t going to start now.

The most important thing was their friendship. In the end, that was the thing that mattered.

He was a man who rode bulls for a living, but the thing about that was, there was a time limit. The time it would end. And that was why the danger was acceptable. Because it was fleeting.

This wasn’t any different.

He waited until her breathing was even, and then he pulled himself out of her arms, and put a pair of jeans on. He didn’t want to sleep. He’d never slept with another person.

He wandered out into the living room, discomfort settling over his skin.

He’d made love with Callie.

Cal.

Regret rolled over him in a wave. Now that she was sleeping and he had distance from the pleasure, he was clearheaded enough to know it was wrong. That it couldn’t happen again.

Because things were too messy between the two of them.

He sat down on the edge of the couch and closed his eyes, doing his best to banish images of what had just happened.

Because if he knew one thing, it was that it couldn’t happen again.

And it wasn’t because she wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was because he couldn’t.



* * *



WHEN HE WOKE UP he was freezing. Lying on his back on the couch with nothing covering him but a pair of jeans. But it wasn’t the cold that woke him. It was the pounding on the front door.

He jackknifed into a sitting position and stumbled to the front door, spotting Boone through the window.

Guilt just about sliced him in two, but he opened the door, anyway. “Can I help you?”

“As a matter fact, you can.” Boone’s eyes glittered with the kind of anticipation he’d seen in the other man’s eyes just before igniting some C-4. That...did not bode well. “You’re just the man I was hoping to see.”

Well, he didn’t like that at all.

“Yes?” It was cold outside, but it was either invite Boone in, and potentially wake Callie up—who was naked in his room—or step out into the cold shirtless. He opted for the cold.

He might be married to Callie, but he still felt caught, and he didn’t particularly like it.

Because you are caught, you dick.

You slept with her and you never should have. You can’t even handle round two, much less anything deeper.

“What the hell is going on with you and my sister?”

And now he felt really caught. Except he was married to Callie as far as Boone was concerned. And they were legally married, anyway.

“I’m her husband.”

“Don’t give me that shit. What’s going on?” Boone looked like he’d have no trouble getting neighborly with violence right at that point. “You never acted interested in her at all. And suddenly you’re here and married to her? You. Married.”

He rocked back on his heels. “Plus, I saw her down at the Thirsty Mule last night. I saw the both of you. She was chatting up some other guy. And you were pretty pissed off about it, I’ll give you that. But if you’re married to my sister, why is she chatting up some other guy? Either you’re up to something or the little brat is trying to teach you a lesson for some reason. And if my sister is legitimately married to you, and hitting on another guy, you must’ve done something really stupid. And if you did something really stupid while married to my sister, let’s just make it very clear that I am willing and ready to emasculate you.”

“Calm the hell down, Boone,” he said. “We had a fight, that’s all.”

“Again, my sister wouldn’t be chatting up some other guy unless it was a real serious fight.”

The door opened behind him, and Callie, who looked rough after a night of doing... Well, exactly what they’d been doing, stepped out wearing his T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Her hair was sticking out in every which angle because he’d taken her braid out, and he knew that they unambiguously looked like they’d been at it.

“What are you doing here, Boone?”