Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) (15 page)

“Smart man,” Kevin said, then
shuttered. “Wish I had known that back when Jen was dating Brock.”

Kade chuckled. “You paid for it big
time. I thought it was funny.”

“You would. You weren’t the one
pimped out to the nursing home.”

“Ah, quit your whining,” Connor
said with a shake of his head, and Ben was happy to have the heat taken off him
for a change. “Those little old ladies were harmless.”

“Harmless? They wanted to play
strip bingo.”

“So?” Cole frowned at his friend.
“It’s not like you don’t know how to strip.”

“Not me, you idiot.
Them
.
They were taking their clothes off, and growing hands faster than I could run.
Damn women pinched hard, too. No mercy, I tell ya. No mercy.”

By the time Kevin was done telling
his tale, the whole room was laughing, and Ben had to admit, he’d even felt a
bit better.

“Speaking of striping…” Kevin held
a finger to his mouth to quiet the room, then opened the door to listen to the
music down the hall. “Yep, I’d say it was time for
Magic Cowboy
.” He set
his Stetson on his head and nodded to the door. “Time to crash the party. Who’s
with me?”

Without waiting for a reply, the
crazy man left the room, and everyone glanced at each other.

“Is he really going to do a
striptease in there?” Mason asked.

Cole nodded. “Yep.”

“I’m in.” Keiffer jumped to his
feet and disappeared through the door.

Ethan shot to his feet. “Oh, this
I’ve got to see.”

“Me, too.” Mason surprised him by
following.

And before Ben knew it, he was
heading down the hall with all the guys about to crash his sister’s
bachelorette party.

Mason held the door open for him,
so he snuck in with the rest of the bachelor party attendees and stood in the
back of the darkened room, watching eight very beautiful women laughing and
clapping as some guy gyrated on a makeshift stage, in what was left of a police
uniform.

It wasn’t Kevin. Or Keiffer.

Not yet, at least.

His stomach soured. The only good
thing was the classic rock song blaring out of the speakers.

When a Maroon Five song came on,
the stripper looked puzzled…until the cowboy came dancing out, along with his
idiot of a brother. The
cop
had the good sense to leave the stage to his
brother and the cowboy, who was receiving hoots and shouts from the girls
jumping to their feet.

Now that the women were standing,
he could see they all wore skimpy black dresses, a few of them with a white
sash with
Bridesmaid
on them. Lea’s had
Maid-of-honor,
and his
sister’s said
Bride-to-be.
Ah, hell, she had a crown on her head, too,
with some sort of frilly pink stuff sticking out. Yet, instead of looking
ridiculous, Brandi managed to look cute.

And even though it should’ve been
weird to watch his brother and the cowboy shaking their junk in front of a
bunch of screaming women, Ben found it vaguely amusing, as did the rest of the
guys who all leaned against the wall and snickered.

On stage, Kevin and Keiffer slowly
unbuttoned their shirts then tossed them to Shayla and Caitlin. All the girls
whistled and hooted some more.

How the hell did his brother know
to dance that like?

Kevin continued to shake it, and
when his hands when to his belt buckle, Shayla got up on stage and stopped him.

“Okay, cowboy. Enough,” she told
him with a grin. “The rest of you is all mine, and you know I don’t share very
well.”

An unfamiliar tug pulled at Ben’s
gut. He didn’t recognize the emotion, but he did recognize the shaft of envy
that followed. In all his years, no woman had ever treated him like he mattered
more than what he could provide—whether it was sex or help or safety.

The shared respect and affection he
saw pass between Kevin and Shayla was something Ben hadn’t ever realized
existed anymore. The one and only time he’d seen it was with his dad and
Brandi’s mom, who was an exception. He suspected all four cowboys had found
exceptional women, and wondered if they knew how damn lucky they had it.

Hopefully, for their sakes, it
would last more than a few years, because it would inevitably end.

It always did.

“Well now, darlin’.” Kevin grinned,
pulling Shayla close. “You know you’re the only one for me.”

The beautiful redhead stood on
tiptoe and kissed the cowboy.

“Smooth.” Ryder grinned, shaking
his head.

Cole nodded. “He wasn’t dubbed the
Casanova cowboy for nothing.”

“I’d say the Japanese triplets
helped him gain that fame,” Connor added.

Jesus…

“Trip-whats?” Ethan blinked at the
tall cowboy.

“Three women at the same time?”
Even Mason got in on the conversation.

“Yep, and the same night.” Cole
nodded. “It was a few years back when we went to Japan for a tradeshow.”

“Your cousin’s crazy,” he told
Kade, who stood there, shaking his head, a small smile tugging his lips.

“So’s your brother,” his
soon-to-be-brother-in-law replied, nodding toward a shirtless Keiffer before
taking a pull of his beer.

Ben laughed. “Yeah, sorry.”

The man turned to him and frowned.
“Why?”

“Because in two days time, you’ll
be related to them both.”

The Texan threw his head back and
laughed, which caught the attention of the bride-to-be…and the rest of the
women.

Ah, hell.

Ben would’ve been happy to remain
anonymous in the back, but now he had no choice but to join the others by the
make-shift stage. So much for his comfort zone. The cowgirls claimed their men
with rather heated kisses, which left the rest of the guys to congregate around
Lea, Caitlin, Jill from the chocolate place, and Gwen.

The latter he’d already greeted
when he’d bumped into her in the hall before the parties had started. He no
longer felt the punch to his gut whenever he was in the presence of the
beautiful, long-legged blonde. That sensation had disappeared along with his teenage
years. Although they couldn’t exactly be classified as friends, they’d both
gotten over their past and had no issues tolerating each other.

As he drew closer, he held back,
letting the others go ahead of him. He noted interesting shaped chocolate candy
and an assortment of suggestive party favors on the table.
Damn
. He’d
wager the girls were a bit more rowdy than the guys, which surprised him
considering he knew they’d spent the day traipsing around New York City. All
that walking and shopping and stuff should’ve made them tired.

Wishing he could sneak out as
quietly as he’d snuck in, Ben swallowed his groan down with the rest of his
beer, then quickly glanced around for another. That’s when he caught sight of
Lea laughing at something one of the cowboys had said. It wasn’t a forced
laugh, or little giggle. It was a real, honest laugh that only Lea could
deliver with a combination of grace and effervescence.

Jace and Tanner sandwiched her,
looking like they’d…well, like they’d be happy to sample some of her
effervescence. His empty hand curled into a fist. If they tried anything, he’d…

What?

These feelings of possessiveness
and protectiveness over her were not new, and he was beginning to realize that
maybe there was a reason. But he had no hold on her. No claim. And it was his
own damn fault.

Feeling as if he’d gotten run over
by that damn tank again, he set his empty bottle on the table and blew out a
breath.

She
meant
something to him.

That’s what the tight feeling was
in his chest, the one that knocked him on his ass.

How had that happened?

Lea glanced to him, smile still
lingering on her very kissable lips. And instead of her guard coming up and
smile fading, her grin increased and gaze warmed until it was hot, blazing hot,
and aimed directly at him.

The tanked reversed and rolled back
over him. Twice.

Then she hit him with a look that
said,
I’ve had sex with you, and I’d be happy to have sex with you again.

Shit.

“H
ey, Ben.” Brandi
stopped in front of him and stood on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. “I was coming
over here to thank you for keeping Kade out of trouble, but it looks like
you’ve found some of your own.” She motioned toward Lea with her head.
“Although, I’m not sure exactly what the trouble is, Lea looks quite interested
in you.”

“That’s the trouble,” he said,
trying not to notice how the cowboys were back to sandwiching the woman again.

By her relaxed posture and genuine
smile, she didn’t appear to mind at all. He glanced at the half-empty glass in
her hand. How much wine did she have?

“You don’t want her to be
interested in you?”

“No.”

“So, it’s okay then if Jace asks
her to be his date for the wedding?”

That got his attention. “No. Yes.
Why? Did he say he was going to ask her?”

Damn Texans worked fast.

Brandi laughed and set her palm on
his chest. “Relax, Ben. No, he didn’t say a word. I was just curious.”

Jesus
, she nearly gave him a
heart attack. His chest continued to feel the weight of that damn tank.

“Are you still going to help me
convince her to come to Harland County with me when I get back from my
honeymoon?”

He opened his mouth, ready to say,
Sure,
of course
…but the words wouldn’t form. There were more cowboys there. What
if one…

Brandi smiled, placing her finger
under his jaw to close his mouth. “It’s okay. You’re smart. I know you’ll get
it sooner or later.”

He was glad she was convinced,
because he sure as shit was not. All he knew was he didn’t want to hurt Lea. He
promised himself he’d leave her alone. He’d let her enjoy her stay in the
Poconos with her dad without taking advantage of her.

But watching her laugh and joke
with Jill, her brother and sister and Brandi’s friends from Texas, he realized
he enjoyed being around the unpretentious woman. She didn’t put on any airs,
didn’t made demands. She just made him feel good. And when her gaze met his
again and turned just a little bit naughty, he was hard in an instant, and he
had to fight the urge to go to her, pull her close and extract one of her hot
kisses.

“Well, because I love you, and I
love her, too, I’m going to do you a favor and help you out,” Brandi said,
slapping her palm against his chest again.

Ah, hell.
“What does that
mean?”

“Nothing.”

Nothing my ass.
That
determined gaze glinting in her brown eyes always managed to scare the shit out
of him.

Before he knew it, his sister
hooked her arm through his, but instead of pulling him toward Lea, she led him
out of the room.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she
guided him back to the deserted bachelor party.

Once inside, she let him go and
headed to the food. “Just a little hungry. It’s time for my snack, and, boy,
the smell of this food was killing me.”

It did smell good.

Brandi cut a slice of pizza in half
and placed one part on her plate and handed him the other. Since being
diagnosed with Hashimoto thyroiditus a few years ago, Brandi had adjusted her
eating habits to several small meals and snacks throughout the day, plus, she
didn’t go over a certain calorie count since she had absolutely no metabolism
left. Before the diagnosis, this had caused her to gain over fifty pounds.  He
was proud of her and her determination to lose the unwanted weight and drop
down to where she didn’t have trouble breathing walking up the steps.

Ben was used to being his sister’s
garbage disposal. A twinge of sadness rocked through his chest. He’d actually
missed it the past year and a half. As he ate all the
halves
she placed
on his plate, he wondered if Kade was her disposal now.

“Here she is. I found her,” Lea
called, walking into the room, followed by Kade. “Kind of thought it might be
snack time.” She walked to the table and grabbed a plate without missing a
beat. “The smell of these wings were tempting me all dang night.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Brandi nodded.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy my chocolate snack a few hours ago.” His sister waggled
her brows at her friend. “That was quite a mouthful.”

Lea snorted, and had to place a
hand over her mouth to keep the chicken from flying the coop.

God, she was adorable.

After a few swallows, she wiped her
hand on a napkin then drank the water he handed her. “Thanks,” she said, then
smacked Brandi. “Next time, wait until I don’t have a mouthful.”

“Sorry.” His sister’s eyes sparkled
too much for him to believe her words. She finished her food, then tossed her
plate and walked over to Lea and hugged her. “Thanks for taking me and the
others to the city today, and for the party. It was a ton of fun.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you
enjoyed it. The girls asked me to get the dancer, but they should’ve just told
me to ask Kevin instead.”

Brandi drew back and laughed.
“Yeah, and my brother Keiffer. Who knew? Did you, Ben?”

He shook his head. “Hell no. And I
don’t think I want to know.”

Kade chuckled, then thrust out his
hand. “Thanks for keeping my party ‘dancer’ free.”

“My pleasure.” Ben shook his
soon-to-be-brother-in-law’s hand then released him. “But like I said, Kevin
really was the one who planned it. I just put in the orders.”

“Well, in any case, thanks for
helping with this, and the whole wedding. You, too, Lea. Both of you have made
things so much easier for Brandi.”

Lea smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Thanks, Ben.” His sister stepped
close and hugged him tight.

“Any time,” he said, hugging her
back.

God, he’d missed her, and until
that moment, locked in one of her special Brandi hugs, the kind that was sure,
and tight, and warm, Ben hadn’t realized how much.

“Well, what do you say, hun?” She
released him and turned to Kade. “Ready?”

“Yes.” The cowboy nodded, gaze
affectionate as he stole a kiss. “Any chance we can call it a night?”

His sister’s smile grew. “I’d say
there was a great chance of that. Why do you think I snuck out?”

“Beautiful and smart. I knew there
was a reason I was marrying you.”

“You mean it’s not for my
endearing, clutzy nature?”

“Well, there’s that, too.”

The happy couple disappeared into
the hall, which left him alone with Lea and his attraction for the misty-eyed
woman. His gut twisted at the look of deep envy darkening her watery gaze. She
brushed at her face. Then sniffed. Then brushed her face again.

“Dammit. There’s something wrong with
my eyes,” she said, groping for a napkin.

Losing the inner battle to keep his
distance, Ben grabbed a napkin and proceeded to gently wipe her face. “Better?”

“Yes.” She nodded, but more tears
spilled over. “Shoot. I’m sorry. It’s just so dang good to see Brandi happy and
loved by a man who actually appreciates her, faults and all. God, who does that
anymore? You know what I mean?”

He nodded, not trusting his mouth
to keep things uncomplicated. But he should’ve been worried about more than
speech, because his mouth took over for the napkin and carefully, and with
great precision, kissed the wetness from her cheeks.

Nothing complicated about that.

Or the fact he thrust his hands
into her hair and held her head while his mouth finally found hers, and he kissed
her long and deep. All the tension coiled inside him ready to snap. The anxiety
and heaviness in his chest dissipated from his body as they held onto each
other, and he reacquainted himself with her taste.

Damn, he loved her taste, was
addicted to her taste, couldn’t get enough of her taste or the feel of her. He
ran his hand over her sexy little black dress that had been driving him nuts
since they’d crashed the bachelorette party, cupped her breast and brushed his
thumb over her tight peak.

She moaned, and the low, hungry
noises she made in the back of her throat had him, hard and hot, and, oh hell
yeah, bothered.

Her hands were everywhere, too. In
his hair, brushing his collarbone, down his chest, slowly stroking his
abs…driving him crazy with need.

She drew back, ragged breaths
puffing into his face. “Thanks.”

He stared into her hazy gaze,
flushed cheeks, puffy lips still wet from his kiss, and he blanked again.
Damn
it.

“For…taking care of me.”

He’d like to take care of her.
Right into his damn bed. And would’ve told her…or showed her, but Keiffer
choose that moment to call for him from down the hall.

They broke apart, and he twisted
around to face the door, using his body as a shield to block her from view
while she readjusted her dress.

“Ben? There you are,” his brother
said, waltzing into the room. “You missed it, bro. Kevin was teaching me and
some of the guys how to bust a move. It was classic. We—” Keiffer grabbed a
piece of pizza, then stopped dead when he spotted Lea standing behind him. “Oh,
hi, Lea. Sorry, my bad. Carry on. I was never here.” He set his pizza down and
began to back out of the room, his gaze colliding with Ben’s. “Maybe you didn’t
blow it.”

Running a smirking gaze over him
one last time, his brother disappeared into the hall with a big ass smile on
his face. Ben was pretty sure he knew the reason for the grin. Because of the
huge boner straining the zipper in his jeans.

“What was that all about?”

He twisted around to face her and
shrugged. “Who knows with Kief.”

“You do. You know how everyone is.”

“He shoots his mouth off without
thinking sometimes.”

She just stared at him, waiting for
him to continue.

“He thinks he knows what’s good for
everyone but himself.”

“Sounds like another Wyne.”

“Yeah, Mason should really work on
that, too.”

“You know that’s not who I meant,”
she said quietly. “You don’t want to talk about
you
. I’m getting too
close again. You need your distance.”

When he didn’t confirm or deny,
couldn’t
confirm or deny because he had no damn idea, she sighed softly, sadly, and walk
out of the room.

L
ea spent the day
working at the restaurant, happy for the steady flow of customers to keep her
too busy to think about Ben or her lack of restraint when he was around. Darn
man had made it clear, numerous times, he didn’t want anything more from her.
But whenever she got too close to the man, all her brain cells took flight, and
she made the mistake of giving into her attraction.

Well, no more. Nope. She wasn’t
going to let herself fall into that trap of desire again. It wasn’t his fault,
either. She knew this. The guy did try to keep his distance, but something
would happen to throw them together then…
Bam
. They were lip-locked and
ready to explode.

“Heard Gwen was in town,” Mr.
Tierney said, buttering his bread. “That true?”

“Yep.” Lea nodded, grabbing the pot
of coffee. “She came back with us yesterday when the girls and I went into the
city.”

“Must’ve been awkward for Ben to be
at the same party with the two of you.”

How in the world had Mr. Tierney
heard about the guys crashing the bachelorette party?

“He managed.” She refilled his
coffee before escaping into the kitchen only to stop dead when Gwen entered
through the back door.

“I figured you were here,” her
sister said, reaching for an apron hooked on the wall.

Lea frowned. “What are you doing?”

“I’m relieving you. It’s already
going for three. You should be at the lodge getting ready for the rehearsal and
dinner.”

She blinked. “Who are you, and what
have you done with my sister?”

Gwen laughed. “I know, I’m usually
the last person to be considerate or responsible, but I’m trying to change
that.”

Lea nodded. “Okay, but are you
sure? It’s been a few years since you’ve worked here, and it can get nuts on a
Friday.”

“No worries. I remember. Now, go
and have a good time, and don’t worry about coming home tonight after the
dinner. You should stay at the lodge like the others so you’re there bright and
early for Brandi in the morning.”

Lea’s heart rocked in her chest.
She grabbed her sister’s hands and peered into her eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you
sure you’re okay? You can tell me anything. You know that.”

Gwen’s gaze grew watery, but she
blinked the tears away and squeezed Lea’s hands. “I’m fine, and so sorry that
my trying to help is so out of character that you think I’m sick or in trouble.
I promise you, I’m neither.” Her sister pulled her into a hug and some kind of
emotion akin to guilt fluttered in Lea’s stomach.

She should probably tell Gwen about
Ben before she heard it from someone else, if she hadn’t already. Clearing her
throat, she drew back and blurted it out. “I slept with Ben.”

The clattering of pots reminded her
they weren’t alone. She glanced at the cook who tried to look busy, even
thought he’d heard all this last week when Ryder was here with the Wynes.

“I know,” her sister said,
regaining Lea’s attention.

“You do?”

“Yeah, at least, I suspected. Man,
the way he looked at you last night, devouring you with his gaze, he never did
that with me.”

She didn’t even know how to respond
to that.

“Maybe it’s because we never had
sex.”

The sound of a ladle hitting the
floor echoed through the kitchen, but Lea was too busy reeling to care. She
ushered her sister into the storage room, flicked on the light and closed the
door.

“You and Ben never had sex? I find
that really hard to believe, Gwen. I walked in on you two making out
downstairs, remember?”

“Of course I remember, but that’s
all you walked in on. Me and Ben making out. We never took it any further.” Her
sister began to pace. “In hindsight, I wish we had, I’m sure it would’ve been a
hell of a lot better to lose my virginity to him than that bastard
photographer.”