The woman knew how to make an outfit look good, and that short jean skirt paired with those cowboy boots damn near knocked him off of his stool. He was used to seeing her in heels, but right now, she looked like a country angel and he was ready to sneak her into the bathroom one more time just for the hell of it.

All of the Walker brothers stood simultaneously, a response that was as natural as breathing. Zoey walked up to Kaleb, pulling his head down to hers while she planted a scorching kiss on him that was steamy enough to have Beau blushing and turning away. V was a little more reluctant, but Zane solved that problem when he pulled her close, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

“Damn you look good.” He breathed against her ear. “Awww, hell, you smell good too.”

V pulled back and looked at him, smiling from ear to ear. It was nice to see a smile on her face. Most of the time, he didn’t know whether she would be smiling or snarling. He’d take her either way, but when she smiled, the woman glowed. And the way she grinned at him now was enough to drive a shock directly to his heart. Zane had no idea what it was V had over him, but it was damn sure something. Something he wasn’t willing to fight, and from the looks of it, she wasn’t fighting it either.

When V’s eyes darted to Beau, Zane noticed the heat burning in her gaze. It mirrored the blush that tinted her cheeks a pretty pink. His best friend grinned back, and Zane was pretty sure V knew what was going to go down in the very near future. At least Zane hoped like hell it would be. Even though he’d been a little nervous after the last time and what had happened, Zane was willing to give it another shot.

“Hey, lady,” Beau greeted V, tipping his hat as he looked down at her. The blush that infused V’s face made Zane’s body harden. All of him. Including his dick. Just the thought of what was going to happen later had Zane wanting to push up her skirt, shove into her from behind and try and sate the lust pooling in his groin. Fuck. The woman drove him absolutely crazy.

“Hey,” she smiled back, but then turned her attention to the table.

When it was apparent V wasn’t going to take one of the bar stools, Zane sat back down and pulled her back against him, her ass nestling between his legs. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he picked up his beer and finished it off. Maybe tonight he’d have more than his occasional one beer when he was out in public. Since he wasn’t about to let go of V, he knew he’d have to wait until one of the waitresses made her rounds. While he waited, he listened to the conversations going on around him.

“When’s Gage coming home,” Zoey asked Kaleb, sitting on the stool next to Zane.

“Tonight, I think,” he confirmed, downing the rest of his beer.

Zane fought the urge to laugh. Ok, so apparently there was going to be some interesting things happening in Coyote Ridge tonight.

A few minutes later, the group had gotten so engrossed in watching Brendon hustle another fool at the pool table that no one noticed when Gage Matthews walked in. He approached the group, carrying a beer bottle and wearing his cowboy hat low over his eyes.

Travis was the first to acknowledge him, and if Zane wasn’t mistaken, there was some sort of silent communication going on between the two men. Gage looked a tad bit nervous while Travis appeared a little pissed off. What the hell was that about?

The subtle nudge that V sent Zoey made Zane smile. So, it would appear that V was in on what was happening between Zoey and Gage and Kaleb. Based on the fact that Zoey wasn’t giving V the same hard time, he would have to assume that V hadn’t shared the details of her little trysts with him and Beau. Not that he expected her to.

As far as he was concerned, that was between the three of them and for the most part, Zane never mentioned what happened behind closed doors. There had been a couple of women in his past who thought it was funny to try and goad a reaction from him, or one of his brothers about their various threesomes, but most of the time, they just ignored the rumors and comments. And, if a woman did dare to bring it up, she could pretty well consider herself old news as far as the brothers were concerned.

Well, except for the twins. As far as Zane knew, Braydon and Brendon had never been with a woman solo – why that was, he had no idea. They didn’t talk about their sexual exploits either, but for some reason, women liked to brag about being sandwiched between the twins. Probably because they were twins no less. Zane didn’t know for sure.

No matter what, Zane wasn’t one to kiss and tell. And as far as V was concerned, he didn’t want to share what happened between them with anyone else. He damn sure didn’t mind sharing her with Beau, but only because he knew from the get go that she was into it.

Thinking back on that last night still made him crazy with the need to have her again. Just like that.


♀♂


V listened to the chatter surrounding her, but she didn’t participate much in what was going on. Zoey seemed elated that Gage was back, and V only could imagine why. Seeing the way Gage reacted to Kaleb’s soon-to-be wife made V smile. He was just as smitten with the woman as Kaleb it seemed. However, there was a definite possessiveness in Kaleb’s reaction to Zoey that wasn’t evident in Gage’s.

Even more fascinating was Travis’ response to Gage and vice versa. V wasn’t sure how close the two men were because she had always known Gage to be Kaleb’s best friend, but Travis seemed to be interested in what the other man had to say. Or maybe he was interested in what Gage wasn’t saying. Either way, V wasn’t sure. But the way the oldest Walker brother glared at Gage told her there was something going on.

“Want to play me?” The voice came out of nowhere and made V turn around to see Brendon standing just a foot on her other side. She looked around, wondering who he was talking to, but she didn’t see anyone else.

“Come on, girl. Play me,” Brendon encouraged. And that’s when V realized he was talking to her.

“Me?” she questioned the obvious.

“Yes, you.” Brendon offered her his hand, pulling her toward the table where he shoved a pool stick at her.

V glanced at it, then back at Brendon. Was he serious? With a knowing look, she peered over at Zane. He was grinning from ear to ear. His involvement in this little set up was obvious.

“What should we play for?” Brendon stared at her, grinning like a man with a secret.

“The winner buys the loser a drink,” she suggested. “But, you can’t go easy on me.” V knew Brendon was the king of pool hustling, but she also knew he was going to underestimate her. Most people did. Truth be told, not even Zoey knew about her pool playing abilities. Up until the other night, no one else had either.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Grinning from ear to ear, Brendon went around the table, gathering all of the balls and putting them in the rack. With one agile slide back, then forward, he settled them in their appropriate position, lifted the black plastic triangle and then nodded in her direction. “Ladies first.”

V smiled back, chalked up the end of her pool cue and then moved to the other end of the table. The men around them went silent, and for the first time in a long time, V managed to slip into another realm.

Playing pool was a diversion she had resorted to in order to drown out all of the excess chaos around her. She started playing when she was eleven years old. One of the many men her mother dated had a pool table in his gameroom and she would make herself busy while her mother did the same thing, although Regina’s type of busy was something V did not want to think about.

V had fond memories of Jerry Tanner, although she couldn’t remember what number he was in her mother’s long list of boyfriends. She did remember that he was one of the nicer ones. Of course that relationship hadn’t lasted long because, after six months, Jerry had asked V’s mother to marry him and seemingly the idea of marriage to a man who didn’t have a seven figure net worth wasn’t attractive enough for her mother.

For a few months after her mother broke up with Jerry, he continued to come around. He was the closest thing to a father figure V had ever had and even though Regina Carmichael didn’t want to have anything more to do with him, Jerry hadn’t been able to let go that easy.

V focused on the white cue ball in front of her, lined her pool stick up perfectly, drowned out the rest of the noise in the dimly lit bar and took her shot. With skilled precision, the balls shot out in all directions. From an amateur’s perspective, it would’ve looked casual, but V took stock of what went where. She briefly glanced up at Brendon and the question was there on his face.

This was where people made mistakes. She knew if she had any chance at all of beating Brendon, simply the best pool player she knew, she had to get her shots lined up and sink them as accurately as possible. V was solids, and she lined up to drop the one ball in the corner pocket.

For the next few minutes, V was in the zone, completely oblivious to the rest of the people around her, including Brendon. She worked diligently to deliver the respective ball into the pocket she called, and before she even knew it, she was sinking the eight ball.

Never once did Brendon get to play.

“What the fuck?”

Sawyer’s terse comment broke V from her reverie and had her standing up straight. To her surprise, Brendon was smiling at her although she had just done what everyone considered impossible. Had she given him a chance, Brendon would’ve swept her just as quickly, which was another thing V knew never to let happen if at all possible. Granted, she normally didn’t get nearly as fortunate.

“Rematch,” Braydon chimed in, laughing. “Give the boy a chance, V. Let him go first, this time.”

V smiled at the other twin, and then glanced back at Brendon. “Sure,” she agreed. “After he buys me that drink.”

For the next hour and a half, Brendon and V competed back and forth, both of them damn near equally matched at every shot. Before this game started, they agreed that it was the last one. Her legs and her back were beginning to hurt, and to be honest, those heated looks she was receiving from Zane were making it damn near impossible to concentrate.

Just when she thought Brendon would take the game, he missed a relatively difficult shot, leaving her with one more ball, then the eight ball. V lined up her shot, drowned out the rest of the room and ended the game, successfully beating Brendon yet again.

When he walked around the table, moving very slowly toward her, she tried to hide her smile. And failed. He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her against his body and hugged her tightly. “Zane’s a damn lucky guy, lady. If I had my way, I’d steal you right away from him,” he whispered in her ear.

V blushed, and swatted him on the back as he put her back on her feet. “You’re a sly devil, Brendon Walker.”

Before she knew what happened, Zane had her in his arms, his mouth slamming down on hers in a kiss hot enough to alert the fire department. When he pulled back, she saw the intent in his eyes and her body reacted instantly.

Zane looked up at his brother and grinned. “You just remember she’s mine.”

Brendon laughed, and the brothers bumped fists. Zoey came over, hugging her like she was some sort of celebrity. “I can’t believe it. How in the world did I not know you could play pool like that? You’ve been my secret weapon all this time, and I had no idea.”

V laughed, brushing her hair back from her face. Not many people knew her talent, nor did she try and flaunt it. Today was an exception. These were her friends.

The thought nearly leveled her. Never had she actually taken the time to think about how close she had become to the Walker brothers over the years. She went to school with Braydon and Brendon, but they always seemed so overprotective of Zoey, she often felt like the outsider. But then again, V hadn’t needed anyone to stand up for her. She’d managed to do a good job all on her own. Based on the way most of the other kids had treated her, she hadn’t had much of a choice.

It wasn’t a secret that the town had painted her mother as a slut only out for monetary gain, and no matter how painful the thought was, it was what it was. Regina liked men; there was no doubt about that. She also had one agenda – finding the richest, most successful man to shack up with and marry. Never had it worked out for her, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying. V couldn’t even remember the number of men who came and went from their house when she was growing up. There were times she never even knew their names, which as she got older, she actually preferred.