Glad for the distraction, Narah winced in sympathy. Charles Hand was a judge known for his harsh sentences and tightly run courtroom. Satisfying him couldn’t have been easy.
Hoping to find a light tone, she looked skyward. More flakes struck her face. There was something caressing about the touch. “No exacting bosses here,” she managed. “It’s nice when an owner—or owners in this case—gives us credit for knowing our jobs.”
“To say nothing of the pay.”
She couldn’t think of anything to add to Briant’s comment, or maybe the truth was his damnable eyes were boring too deep into her for an ordinary conversation. Between that and the way the wind kept plastering Levi’s coat against his solid chest, a dip in the river was starting to look like a good idea.
Maybe, because they needed the same cooling off, they’d accompany her.
Yeah, right.
“Give it up.” She nodded at the tools and lumber on the deck. “You’re not going to be able to accomplish much until this blows over. Besides, I just stoked the fire.”
The men stared at her as if they didn’t know what she was talking about.
“It’s freezing, in case you haven’t noticed. And the snow’s picking up.”
Becoming something amazing.
Frowning, they glanced at each other. Then they went back to studying her. Oh shit! Briant wasn’t the only one with hypnotic eyes. Levi’s hazel ones were just as deep-set and compelling.
Feeling less steady than she cared to admit, Narah swiveled and marched away. Heat down her spine told her they were staring at her. Heat between her legs said she wasn’t immune.
She could and should have gone back to her wiring job. Instead, once she was back inside, she backed up to the warmth of the stove she didn’t need and stared at the front door. Waited. She’d seen Briant and Levi a handful of times since the two had graduated high school but hadn’t said more than a few words to them when she did. Certainly they weren’t still the jock and quiet, good math student they’d been when they were teens. The men hadn’t left the area after graduation, and all three of them were in the same general business, which gave them a lot in common.
Any moment Briant and Levi would come in. After depositing their tools near the stove to dry, everyone would grab a beer. They’d sit on the musty furniture that had been here who knew how long. Maybe she’d tell them what she’d been doing in recent years. Maybe they’d talk about the women and possible children in their lives. They’d catch up. That was all, catch up.
Wait out the storm.
Cold rushed in with the duo. As she’d expected, they dropped their burdens on the old area rug someone had thrown over the soon-to-be-restored hardwood floor. Instead of warming their backsides, however, they stayed where they were. Challenged her to dismiss what they represented. She didn’t even try.
“You’re an electrician,” Levi said as he removed his jacket. “Why?”
“My uncle’s one.” The way his gaze roamed over her decidedly unsexy attire, she wasn’t sure he was listening to her. Besides, now that she was looking at the way his faded flannel shirt caressed his physique, she wasn’t good for giving him more than the short-course explanation. Oh damn, why couldn’t she just jump their bones? “I, ah, loved looking through his work van. He started taking me to his jobs. I was hooked.”
“Just like that?” Briant asked. Thank goodness he hadn’t shed his jacket. She wasn’t sure she could handle two healthy, close-to-naked male chests at the same time.
“No. It took me a while to commit, but I’ve never regretted it.”
“There aren’t many women in your line of work.”
“No.” Damn it, Briant wasn’t going to play the gender role card, was he? She’d gotten enough of that from her mother, sister, and other women in the family. She was 100 percent hetero. She didn’t want anyone jamming her into a stereotype box. “There aren’t.”
Briant ran a large hand over his head. Oh God, what would doing that feel like? “It doesn’t bother you, working out here?” he asked. “It’s pretty isolated.”
What did he care? Maybe he was just making conversation, and maybe he liked the sound of her voice and the way her mouth moved. Yeah, right. Darn it, she
had
to get her mind off sexual thoughts.
And on to what?
“I might ask you the same question. This time of year, there’s only one way in and out.” She pointed at the window.
“I needed the job,” Briant said, his words low and slow.
“So did I,” Levi echoed. “Damn economy.”
“Particularly construction,” she put in. She could have jumped into an explanation of how the electrical company she’d been working for had gone bankrupt. Not only hadn’t she been paid for her last two months’ work, she figured her chance of that happening was less than zero. She’d picked up some small jobs, thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations, but they hadn’t been enough. Going without a steady income for so long had left her with debts upon debts. Thank goodness for this job!
Today, watching snowflakes race in all kinds of windblown directions not far from where she stood, she didn’t want to talk about herself. The hell of it was, the unnerving and exciting hell of it was, she was interested in action, not talk. As if agreeing with her, her pussy moistened again.
“What about your husband?” Levi squared off toward her. “Doesn’t he want you home?”
“I’m not married.”
Did Narah know that was exactly what he needed to hear? Briant wondered. Going into the kitchen for some beer gave him time to think about what he wanted to have happen next, or more to the point, a few seconds alone
should
have supplied the answer.
However, all he got out of the short walk were three chilled bottles and an ever-increasing awareness of their isolation and the worsening weather. Hell, let the storm rip! He needed it, needed something. Despite their differences, Levi remained one of his closest friends. He should be comfortable in Levi’s presence, looking forward to sitting and watching it snow while they chewed the fat and argued sports. Instead, he wanted Levi gone.
Either that or on the same page, whatever that was.
“I saw you drink one of these yesterday.” He handed Narah a bottle. “I figured you’d like this.”
“Thanks.”
Watching her long, slim fingers on the glass, he imagined her hand somewhere else, circling and caressing him. Sweat bloomed on his upper lip, and his cock ached. He stabbed another beer in Levi’s direction.
“So.” He took a long, cold swallow. “You aren’t married.”
“Nope. What about you?” Narah asked.
“I haven’t gotten around to that yet.”
“Maybe because you saw the mess I made of my marriage,” Levi said.
No, he amended, he didn’t want Levi gone after all, not when his friend was still dealing with something that hadn’t been his fault.
“We’ve been through this,” he said, facing Levi. “She cheated on you.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.” Narah went from staring at him to doing the same to Levi. “That had to have been hard.”
“It was.” Levi downed a good third of his beer.
Whose turn was it to speak? For the life of him, Briant couldn’t come up with a way of ending the silence. The others must have been feeling the same way, because there was a lot of looking around and shuffling of feet. He should have removed his coat. If he had, he wouldn’t be standing here sweating and wondering what Narah was like in bed.
“You were how many years behind us in school?” he finally came up with.
“Two? I was a sophomore sitting in the stands watching that state championship game when—”
“When we came up short because our kicker’s nerves got to him,” he finished for her. “You like football?”
“Are you kidding?” Her cautious expression disappeared, replaced by delight. Damn, but he liked the look. “I’ve always loved sports. Played basketball and ran track.” She extended a jeans-clad leg toward him. “For a while, I thought I could qualify for the Olympics if I wasn’t so short.”
He hadn’t been thinking about her height. The damn ragbag sweatshirt was so loose he couldn’t tell enough about the woman beneath, but those were breasts all right, and her jeans snugged in all the right places. She wasn’t wearing makeup, making him wonder when he’d last seen a woman without her war paint in place. The natural look went with the setting.
“I know.” She sighed. “It was a crazy adolescent dream. I’m not made out of the same jock material you are. You too.” She nodded at Levi.
Levi chuckled. “You don’t have to cover your tracks. My feelings aren’t hurt.”
Briant had been to enough bars with his friend to know Levi was a woman magnet. It was too bad Levi hadn’t learned the art of seduction, or more to the point, was so straitlaced. If he weren’t, Levi would be notching his bedpost on a nightly basis.
Was Narah picking up sexual vibes from Levi? Or from him? Maybe neither. Damn, he hoped it wasn’t that because
something
should come out of the storm. Something that would change all three of them.
Looking at her with a practiced eye, he soon had his answer about her sexuality. She kept rocking from side to side, and her nostrils were a little flared. She carried herself straight and tall with her mostly hidden breasts reaching for the males in the room.
Males, not singular.
What was with
that
? Maybe, like a cow elk pursued by two bulls in rut, she was trying to make up her mind which one she’d let mount her.
Shit! He was a man, not an elk! What was with the rutting thought, the impulse to mount and penetrate? To command.
Alarmed by something he couldn’t or wouldn’t put into words, Briant whirled and took aim for the front door. He was through it and smack in the middle of the storm before he knew what he was doing. He’d noted Narah’s flared nostrils, but they were nothing compared to the way he figured his looked.
Flakes stung his face and the top of his head. When getting a professional haircut had become an extravagance he couldn’t afford, he’d started taking his electric razor to it. Now, with his dome getting colder by the moment, he wished he’d at least put on a cap. He should go back inside before the others started thinking he was an idiot, but damn it, his blood hadn’t felt this hot since his teen years.
When had he last had sex? Facing the river mostly hidden beneath the thickening white curtain, he struggled to go deep enough inside for the answer. Today everything was crystal clear, especially the last few minutes. Everything before that—hell, he couldn’t care less.
A woman was inside, waiting for him, needing to see him naked, waiting for the feel of his fingers on her skin and his cock inside her. The sooner he rejoined her…then what?
Eyes wide open and snow pushing past his lashes, Briant mentally went where his blood demanded. Narah’s clothes no longer existed. Hell, maybe he’d thrown them in the fire. Considerate soul that he was, he’d drawn her away from the stove so she wouldn’t burn her lovely skin. Looking up at him, she’d extend her arms in unspoken invitation.
Touch me wherever you want
, she’d say with her actions.
Claim and control me.
He would, starting with her face. His rough fingertips would roam over her forehead, nose, cheeks, and eyelids. He’d move on to her throat and the silken flesh there. Despite his growing need, he wouldn’t rush the first brush of male fingers on female breasts, but when the contact was made—
Where was Levi? What was his role in this—whatever the hell
this
was?
Confounded by the question and his out-of-control thoughts, he finished the beer and stepped to the edge of the porch. Even with his mind messed up, he knew better than to lean against the rickety railing. At least he could rest his hands on the top and watch as snow piled on and between his fingers.
He’d never been in this place before. Oh yes, he was familiar with Wolverine Lodge. Just this summer, he’d taken several fishing clients past the stately but neglected structure. He’d explained that the recession had been responsible for its derelict look. Fortunately its closure would soon end.
Damn it, his mental state had nothing to do with log walls and metal roof!
Barely aware of what he was doing, he ran his free hand down his front. His jacket ended just south of his waist. Which meant only denim and cotton lay between his fingers and his erection. He didn’t trust himself to touch there.
Today, surrounded by winter weather, he no longer understood himself.
“Come back in.”
I’m not sure I dare.
“In a minute,” he told Levi.
“Then I’ll join you.” Putting action to his words, the jacketless man joined him. Together they stared at the whitening world. Levi wasn’t shivering.
“What’s she going to think?” Briant asked.
“I don’t know.”
Something in Levi’s tone told him he wasn’t the only one caught in the storm’s message. Levi had always been the more studious and conservative one, more aware of what was going on in the world. He’d never walk bareheaded into a freezing afternoon.
However, maybe for the first time in his life, Levi wasn’t dressed for the conditions.
“I feel different today,” Levi said, not looking at him.
Me too.
“In what way?”
“I’m not sure. Disconnected from myself. At the same time, hyperaware.”
That pretty much summed up how he felt. “It can’t be the beer. It’s only been one apiece.”
Shrugging, Levi absently wiped snowflakes off his forearm. “I’ve been so tense lately. Between learning what I did about Angela, the divorce, not having enough work—right now, I don’t give a damn about any of that.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, good.” He sighed. “You know what I’d love to do right now? This is going to sound crazy, and I probably don’t really mean it, but I’d give a lot to get my hands on a big-ass speedboat and tear up and down this river. Go faster than I’ve ever gone in my life, challenge class-five rapids.”
“Shit.”
“Shit what? You’re thinking I’m crazy?”
“No.” Briant gave his friend his full attention. “I don’t, because I want the same thing.” Hearing his words, he plowed ahead. Where was Narah? She needed to be out here, listening and contributing, part of whatever the hell this was. “But not just the Wolverine. We’ll take that big-ass speedboat all over the world, maybe end up on the Amazon.”