He didn’t want to fall into the same trap his father had. No matter what anyone said, he believed his father died of a broken heart at the young age of forty-nine. When Colt was a teen and his mother walked out on them, saying she missed the parties and high society, he’d never forgiven her. She had come from old money when she’d married his father, and he knew his dad never felt like he really deserved his mother.

  Walking away from Elise was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And he had suffered for it. The past few days he walked around constantly half-aroused; his body jumping to full arousal at the smell of her seductive, floral perfume, the sound of her slightest laugh, especially the throaty one he would hear when she spoke to Mace—the same voice that was torturing him down the hall, even now, as she and Mace talked about the online advertising and promotion aspects of the Lonestar. It grated on his nerves that his happy-go-lucky brother got all of her attention. It didn’t matter to him that the website she worked on fell under Mace’s PR purview.

  There went that sexy laugh again. His chest contracted in anger and something else he didn’t care to examine too closely. That did it. Colt stood up and walked over to the spare office down the hall. He began moving boxes full of rodeo overflow stuff from the office to his truck. After his third trip past Mace’s door, he looked up to see Mace leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, watching him approach with a box in his hands.

  “Whatcha doin’, bro?” He grinned at Colt.

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m cleaning out this office so Elise can have her own office and you can get some work done,” Colt replied, his tone clipped.

  “Oh, I don’t know, Colt. I think I’m just fine.” He turned his head quickly back to Elise. “How about you, darlin’? You feel like you aren’t getting any work done over there?”

  Elise didn’t even look up from the keyboard; her brow was furrowed in concentration as her fingers flew across the keys. She flipped her hand saying, “Sure, no problem, I’m fine,” before she returned her fingers back to the keyboard.

  Mace turned triumphant eyes back to Colt. “See, we’re fine. You’re going to throw your back out for nothing.”

  “That’s why you’re going to get your lazy butt out here and help me.” Colt said with a meaningful look in his eyes.

  Mace raised his hands. “Fine, I get the picture,” he said grudgingly as he moved to retrieve a box from the back office.

  “You can take Cade’s computer and Elise can take yours since she needs a more powerful PC to do the website stuff,” Colt commented as Mace loaded the last box onto Colt’s truck.

  His little brother turned to him, a knowing grin on his face. “Hey, if you want her, go after her.”

  Colt met Mace’s curious gaze. He knew Mace saw the emptying of the other office for what it really was. A sinking feeling made his stomach fist into a knot. “It’s not that simple, Mace.”

  Mace slammed the door on the back of the truck closed and met his gaze, “Yes, it is.”

  “She’s upper class. Enough said.”

  Understanding dawned on Mace’s face. “Colt, Elise is not Mom.” Then, he shrugged his shoulders. “And hell, even if she is, who said you have to marry her. There’s nothing that says you shouldn’t have a little fun in life, big brother.”

  When Colt didn’t answer, Mace continued, as he rounded to get in the passenger side of the truck, “Hey, she’s a desirable woman and if you don’t take a shot at what’s right before your eyes, there’ll be plenty of men lining up at her door who will.” He flashed Colt his best playboy smile before he hopped into the truck. “Including me.”

  Colt felt as if someone had just kicked him in the gut. The very thought of another man, even his own brother, touching Elise, drove him fuckin’ nuts. He got into the truck and slammed his door harder than necessary. He didn’t say a word to Mace as he drove toward the storage shed.

  * * * * *

  Colt looked up as he heard Mace walk down the hall. Earlier, he had seen Elise pass by his door to go outside, but she had come back in and was now in the bathroom. Colt stood up and stretched. It was the end of the day. Time to go home. He was glad it was the end of the week. He walked over and leaned in the doorway as he watched Mace standing patiently near the front door of the office.

  Colt turned at the sound of Elise exiting the bathroom, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She had changed from her everyday jeans, boots and cotton T-shirt to a thigh high spaghetti-strapped dress that showed off her gorgeous shoulders and flared around her firm thighs. The dress was fire engine red and the contrast with her dark hair fueled his desire like none other. He looked down to see matching strappy high-heeled sandals on her feet and hardened instantly.

  “Hi, Colt.” She smiled and walked over to stand next to Mace. “Ready to go?”

  Mace let out a low, appreciative whistle, took her hand and twirled her around in circle. “Gee wiz, Elise. I don’t know about taking you to Rockin’ Joe’s tonight. Maybe I’ll just keep you all to myself.”

  Elise elbowed him in the stomach. “Hey, you’ve been promising me all week you would show me how to do the two-step. No backing out.”

  Elise glanced at him. “Wanna come, Colt?”

  Hell yeah! Colt pushed himself off of the doorjamb of his office. “Sure. Why not? I haven’t been out in a while. Let me get my hat.” He may not plan on touching Elise, but there was no way he’d to let Mace take her out alone. No fuckin’ way!

  When he came back out of his office, they were gone. Colt walked outside to see Elise getting into Mace’s red convertible Mustang.

  Mace pulled up beside him. “We’ll meet you there, bro.”

  Before he could insist on riding with them, Mace took off in his car.

  Colt grumbled to himself about sibling rivalry as he made his way to his truck.

  * * * * *

  Rockin’ Joe’s was just as he remembered it, a good-time bar with lots of drinking and dancing. As he walked through the dim, smoke-filled room, country music playing in the background, he spotted Mace and Elise sitting in a secluded corner booth. He’d bet his last dollar Mace had brought many dates to that very booth. Colt set his teeth and headed for the table, his boot heels making a dull thud on the wood floor as he walked.

  When he slid into the bench seat beside Elise, she was now sandwiched between both Tanner brothers. Just as he’d settled in his seat, Mace grabbed Elise’s hand as “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” started up in the background.

  “Come on, Elise, they’re playin’ our song,” he drawled as he pulled her out of the other side of the booth.

  “See you in a few, Colt.” Elise turned and smiled back at him as Mace led her to the dance floor.

  Colt watched his brother swing Elise in his arms. His chest tightened as she laughed up into Mace’s face when she missed a step and tripped. Mace caught her and pulled her closer. Colt fisted his hands beneath the table and set his jaw. He wanted to punch Mace square into the middle of next week.

  Thankfully the song ended and Mace escorted a breathless, rosy-cheeked Elise back to the table.

  She fanned herself and smiled. “Can you get me something to drink, Mace? It’s hot in here.”

  Mace slid back out of the booth. “Anything in particular?”

  “How about Sex on the Beach?” She grinned at him and gave Colt a sideways look. “I haven’t had that in a while.”

  Colt groaned inwardly. The woman was way too sassy for her own good.

  Mace gave him a suggestive smirk before he swaggered away. Colt turned his gaze to Elise and chose a neutral subject. “Looks like you had a good time out there.”

  Her sparkling green eyes met his. “Yes, I did. I’ve never danced the two-step before. It was fun to learn.”

  “How’s the website going?”

  “Great.” Her face became more animated as she talked. “It’s been a while for me, so I had to pull out my textbooks. The code was a little trickier than I had initially thought.” She noticed his raised eyebrow and rushed to assure him, “But I think I have it all figured out.”

  Colt looked at her sincere face. “Something about you tells me you wouldn’t let it go until you got it right, Elise.”

  As she gave him an appreciative smile, Mace returned with a whisky for himself, Sex on the Beach, complete with a cherry on top, for Elise, and a beer for Colt.

  “Thought you could use one, bro,” Mace said as he handed Colt a longneck.

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  As soon as Mace sat down, a redhead slid into the booth beside him, her arm going around his shoulders.

  Her arrival made Mace scoot over and Elise in turn was forced to move closer, pressing her thigh against Colt’s. A jolt of electricity shot through him as the heat of her leg touched his. With blood rushing straight to his erection, he had to focus to concentrate on what the redhead was saying to Mace.

  “Where have you been, darlin’?” she drawled as she cut her eyes over to Elise, sizing her up.

  Mace laughed and said, “It’s good to see you, too, Lana,” before he turned and introduced her to Elise and Colt.

  Lana turned pouty lips to Mace as a slow song started to play. “Come dance with me, Mace honey.”

  Mace glanced at Elise as if asking for permission.

  She laughed and shooed him on. “How could you possibly turn her down?”

  As Mace slid back out of the booth, this time to be led away by the lady, Colt and Elise watched the well-endowed redhead wrap her arms around Mace and pull him flush against her body.

  After a few minutes, Elise must have realized she was still pressed against him because she breathed out an embarrassed, “Oh,” and moved over a few inches in the booth.

  Colt wanted to tell her to stay but knew better. He didn’t say anything even though he missed her soft heat already.

  They drank their drinks in silence. He felt her inquisitive gaze on him as if she were probing him and wondering about his thoughts.

  He refused to look at her. He didn’t want to look down into those gorgeous emerald eyes, the kind of eyes a man could lose himself in if he wasn’t careful.

  Mace and Lana came back to the table laughing, arms wrapped around each other. They sat back down, on the other side of Elise, forcing her to move back over against him once more.

  Colt swallowed hard. He didn’t know how much more he could take. He and Elise listened as Mace and Lana exchanged all kinds of sex innuendos. His own libido had kicked into overdrive with the first brush against Elise, he didn’t need any more stimulation. He felt like yelling, “Will you two get a room, already?”

  He chanced a glance at Elise. Big mistake. She had finished her drink and proceeded to suck the last of the drink out of the cherry. She met his gaze and popped the whole cherry, stem and all, past her luscious lips into her mouth.

  He went rock-hard instantly but resisted the urge to growl out his sexual frustration.

  Lana slid out of the booth and said to Mace, “Come on, sexy.”

  “Sorry, Lana, but I brought Elise tonight.”

  Lana frowned and Elise cut in, “It’s okay, Mace, Colt can take me home.”

  And straight to bed, Colt thought without really thinking. He was thinking with one part of his body, that’s for damn sure. He wanted her so bad his balls throbbed. Why was wanting her such a bad idea again? he argued with himself as the seductive pull Elise seemed to have over him reached out, grabbed hold of his gut and squeezed. Tight.

  When Lana licked her ruby red lips in a suggestive manner, Mace turned to Elise and Colt, saying as Lana pulled him away, “I love it when a woman knows how to use her tongue for more than just talkin’.” He saluted them both as he walked in the direction of the exit with Lana.

  Colt looked back at Elise, his body literally aching. Aw hell, he could keep his emotions out of the mix. The truth was, physically he’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted this one. One way or the other, he’d convince her to make their unplanned date tonight a real one.

  “Don’t worry, Colt. I’ll get a cab. I just didn’t want Mace to worry about having to take me home.”

  When she finished speaking, she smiled at him. With a secret look in her eyes, she touched her lips, then put something in front of him on the table. “Night, Cowboy,” she said in a sexy Virginian accent as she started to slide out of the booth.

  Colt looked down at the table in front of him. Sitting on the table was the cherry stem tied in a nice, tight knot. And damn, she had done it all with that delectable tongue of hers.

  “Not so fast, Princess.” He put a staying hand on her thigh.

  Elise turned questioning eyes his way.

  He continued in his best Texan drawl, “You’re going to have to learn you can’t tease a cowboy like that and leave him hangin’, darlin’.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I don’t know… I think turnabout is fair play.”

  Colt stared intensely into her eyes and let his tone turn serious. “I’ve thought about nothing else for days. How much I regretted walking away from you instead of doing what I really wanted to do,” he paused, and swept his heated gaze down her gorgeous body then met her gaze once more. “I want to make it up to you,” he finished as he trailed his hand higher up her leg, then firmly gripped her inner thigh.

  When her pupils dilated, he smiled, letting his touch grow bolder as he continued his hand’s ascent until his fingers teased the edge of her panties.

  Elise’s eyes widened in surprise and she inhaled deeply before she slowly exhaled and said, “Where? Here?”

  Colt raised a challenging eyebrow. “Where better?”

  “But we’re in a public place.” She looked around, her gaze wary.

  “Then you’ll have to keep your screaming down,” he said as his grin turned lascivious.

  Elise laughed outright at his arrogance. “You’re pretty damn sure you’ll succeed, aren’t you?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” he countered as he removed his hand and placed his arm on the back of the booth’s seat behind her. Aligning his body with hers, he reached for her thigh once again with his other hand.

  Elise looked up into his eyes. The rapid pulse beating at her throat told him how much the idea aroused her. It made him hot knowing the thought excited her. He wanted to damn well make sure the reality was equally as fulfilling.

  Chapter Five

  Elise couldn’t believe she was actually considering his offer. Her heart racing, she looked around one more time. Well, their booth was secluded and there was a tablecloth on the table. Her stomach tightened and her nipples hardened as she looked up into Colt’s deep blue eyes, now full of blatant desire.

  “More power to you, Cowboy,” she said in a nonchalant tone.

  Colt gave her another sexy grin as he slid his hand up the smooth flesh of her inner thigh, slowly massaging the muscles.

  She held her breath in anticipation and almost let out a whimper of pleasure when his knuckles brushed against her mound through her panties.

  “You’re wet for me already,” he chuckled, sounding pleased. “Or was it all that talk about getting-it-on in a public place that got you all hot and bothered?”

  Embarrassed, Elise looked away and lied, “It was the second part.”

  “We’ll just see if we can’t remedy that then,” he said as he rubbed his fingers against her clitoris through the material.

  Elise’s blood pressure roared in her ears and she drew in her breath at his touch. Colt applied more pressure, this time in a circular motion, making her want to rock her hips with his movements. She closed her eyes at the sensations his knowing touched elicited.

  “Keep your eyes open, or people may wonder what we’re doing over here,” he said. Her eyes snapped open as he slid a finger past the edge of her underwear and rubbed her own moisture against her throbbing nub. “It might help if you look at me, else people will wonder why I’m so close to you, darlin’.”

  His deep, baritone voice, coupled with that sexy, seductive, Texan drawl, sent chills up and down her spine. Elise looked up into his eyes. As she did so, he pushed his finger deep inside her, causing her to gasp and involuntarily rock her hips forward. The sensations she experienced felt so good and so naughty at the same time. She knew she wouldn’t take long.

  “Like that, do you?” he teased, his blue eyes smoldering as he watched her.

  Elise looked away, her cheeks flaming with heat.

  “Don’t look away, Lise. I want to see the passion in your eyes.”

  His voice was so sincere, so compelling. She turned her gaze back to his.

  “I’m so close,” she whispered, then bit her lip, arching her back as she pressed against his hand.

  “Not yet,” he said while he slowly slid another finger inside her channel, his touch intimate and thorough.

  She groaned at the added thickness rubbing against her. “But I can’t wait,” she panted and grasped the table for support.

  “Yes, you can, Lise,” he whispered into her ear before he trailed his lips down her neck to place a hot kiss on the bare skin along the sensitive curve of her shoulder. Goose bumps formed on her arms at the brief brush of his lips against her.

  Colt removed his fingers from her body, causing her to glance up at him sharply. His look was intense as he started to pull her thin wisp of panties down her hips. “I don’t want anything in my way,” he rasped, his expression determined, aroused. She lifted her hips to help him as he slid her underwear down her legs and over her heels.

  Colt shoved her underwear in his back pocket and slowly trailed his fingers back up her leg, driving her insane with his unhurried movements. Just when she decided to grab his hand and put it where she wanted it, he surprised her by grasping the inside of her thigh in a firm grip and lifting her leg up and across his muscular one. With her leg draped over his jean-clad thigh, she felt open and wanton, exposed to his every whim. Elise held her breathing in check, because it had suddenly gone very shallow as she awaited his next move.