Her Alpha Cowboys Page 9

  I snorted and Becca laughed outright. But then her expression turned serious again as she told us what she’d discovered about the thirty-year-old scandal that Abe had mentioned. The more we learned, the less I liked it. I had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing—and judging from the look on Cordell’s face, I could tell he felt the same way.

  “I don’t like the idea of you going over there by yourself tomorrow,” I said. “Sorry, but I feel like I have to say it.”

  “Can you maybe let Prescott and Cole know?” Cordell asked, seeming to go for the more tactful approach. Which was probably smart in this case. Damn him. “This is starting to sound more and more like something for law enforcement to deal with.”

  “Maybe it is something for the sheriff to look at,” she admitted. “But I want to at least be able to hand over some facts when I take it to him. All I have right now is hearsay.” She paused, looking from Cordell to me and then back again as her expression hardened a little. “I’m going. Please don’t try to talk me out of it.”

  Damn Cordell for always being right, and damn her for being so stubborn. It was almost like talking to the same person sometimes.

  Maybe that was why I wanted to keep both of them in my life—just in different ways, of course.

  “Okay,” I said, earning a surprised look from Cordell. “I promise that we won’t try anymore to talk you out of going.”

  “Good.” She eased back in her chair. “Thank you.”

  Cordell kicked me under the table, but I held up a hand for him to wait as I turned my attention back to her. “We won’t try to stop you because we won’t need to.” I gave her a half-shrug and a little sigh. “We’re just going to go with you.”

  “I’m not happy with your decision to go with me tomorrow,” Becca pouted as we pulled up into the long driveway of the Triple J Ranch. “I really will be fine.”

  “We know.” Cordell nodded. “And we’ll stay out of the way.”

  “We’ll just be there if any old people decide to get rowdy,” I joked, earning an eye-roll from Becca.

  “Anyway, thank you for tonight.” She actually smiled again as she spoke this time. “Dinner was really nice. I might have to try and talk you guys into taking me there again sometime soon.”

  “Anytime,” Cordell said. “You just let us know.”

  I hated that the night was already over. I hated even more that we’d had a little bit of a disagreement even though I was pretty sure Becca wasn’t too upset about it. I didn’t doubt that she would have put her foot down if she really had been adamant about going alone.

  One thing I’d learned about Becca was that she definitely was her own person with her own opinions and her own way of doing things.

  And I respected that about her even though it also frustrated me sometimes.

  She reached for the door handle, but I shook my head. “Wait… please.”

  Becca and Cordell both turned to look at me. Shit. I hadn’t really planned this out in my head, I just knew I wasn’t ready for her to leave yet.

  “It’s still sort of early. We, uh… don’t have to call it a night already, do we?”

  She arched a brow as a small smile crept across her lips. “I guess it’s not too late, and we are all young. Relatively young, I mean. Why? What did you have in mind?”

  “Yeah,” Cordell added. “What did you have in mind?”

  The biggest thought in the front of my mind was that tonight was supposed to be about proving that Cordell and I could respect her boundaries, so whatever we did needed to be pretty innocent.

  Innocent-ish.

  Which was fine. I wasn’t trying to get her into bed or anything, I just wanted to hang out a little longer.

  “I don’t know,” I confessed. “Maybe we can watch a movie or something? There isn’t a ton of room in the trailer, but we do have popcorn, so…” I shrugged. “Yeah? Maybe?”

  She laughed. “Not the best sales pitch I’ve ever heard, but sure. I could stay and watch a movie.”

  “Perfect.” I grinned as I drove the truck past the ranch house so we could park next to the trailer.

  Within a couple of minutes, we were showing Becca around the tiny, cramped space we’d been calling home while our place was being renovated.

  “It’s not much,” Cordell said, after the two-minute tour. “But it’s handy in times like this, when we have to be away from home.”

  “And it’s not like we need that much room anyway,” I added. “Just a place to sleep and shower, mostly. Not that I’ll mind having a full-sized couch and a big-screen TV again…”

  “Yeah, and a bed where I don’t have to hear you snoring from five feet away,” Cordell muttered.

  “Hey, I don’t snore. You’re just… a sensitive sleeper.”

  Becca laughed. “At least you guys get along pretty well. I couldn’t imagine sharing a space this small otherwise.”

  “No.” Cordell shook his head. “There’s no way we could do this if we weren’t friends.”

  “Yeah…” Becca looked from Cordell to me. “It’s good to have friends.”

  She held my gaze for what felt like hours but was probably only a few seconds of actual time. I didn’t even try to look away. I wanted to know what she was thinking, what was going on behind those deep, intelligent eyes.

  Cordell cleared his throat. “Maybe I should get that movie…”

  Becca’s cheeks turned that delicious shade of pink again, but she still didn’t look away. “I was thinking maybe we could do something else,” she whispered, her voice low as her fingers played along the hem of her shirt. “Something a little more fun than a movie.”

  Holy.

  Shit.

  My cock was instantly hard just from the sexy smile she was giving me and Cordell. I didn’t know exactly what she had in mind, but I was one thousand percent on board.

  “Something like…” Cordell cleared his throat. “Something like what, exactly?”

  She shrugged a little, somehow managing to look cute and innocent and sexy as fuck all at the same time. “I don’t know. I thought maybe we could pick up where we left off last night. With the kissing and… other stuff.”

  Again, I didn’t know what kind of other stuff she might have had in mind, but I wasn’t about to stop and ask a bunch of questions. That was Cordell’s department.

  Like I’d told him last night, when a girl tells you she wants a kiss, you’d better kiss her.

  I moved closer to her, taking her into my arms and kissing her deeply—just like I’d done the night before. Her lips were so sweet and full, and when she moaned into my mouth it was all I could do to keep my cock from bursting through my fucking jeans.

  She seriously had me so hard from just a single kiss that it took my brain a few seconds to register that Cordell was already there on the other side of her, leaning in to kiss her neck as I captured her mouth.

  I reached up to cup her breast through her silky shirt, and fuck if it didn’t feel just as perfect—even through too many layers of fabric—as it looked. And when she reached down to palm my cock through my jeans?

  Oh, fuck.

  Not gonna lie, I moaned like a porn star.

  “I want to… to try something more,” she whispered as she broke away from my kiss. She was touching both of us now, lightly stroking us through our clothes. Cordell swallowed hard and shook his head, slowly backing away.

  “Just… just a second,” Cordell the Fun Police said. “I know we, uh… we sort of talked about this before, but I need to ask you a question, Becca.”

  Oh, damn. What? Seriously? He really wanted to talk? Now?

  I shot him a look that said I might smother him with a pillow while he slept, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “You don’t want to do more?” she implored, a look of confusion crossing her face as she dropped her hands away from us. “But I thought… I thought this was what you would both want.”

  “It is,” I insisted, cutting in before Cordell could say any
thing crazy. “It really is. I want whatever you want.”

  “I do, too,” Cordell said, shooting me an irritated look. “But we don’t have to rush into anything just because you think it’s what we might want. So, I need to ask, Becca… are you a virgin?”

  My eyes went back and forth between them as if I was watching a high-speed tennis match. I couldn’t believe he had actually come right out and asked—but I also really wanted to hear her answer.

  This night had been full of surprises already, but this… this little question-and-answer session definitely hadn’t been part of the original plan.

  Her cheeks turned from pink to bright red as she slowly nodded. “I am. But… that doesn’t mean we can’t do some other things, right?”

  Right.

  Agreed.

  Totally agreed.

  I looked at Cordell, waiting to make sure we were on the same page before opening my mouth again.

  “We can,” he said, thank God. “But not tonight.” God, I seriously hated him sometimes. “We can do whatever you want to do, Becca. But we don’t have to be in a hurry. We’re going to take things slowly, at whatever pace you’re comfortable with.”

  She looked over to me and I nodded.

  Grudgingly.

  But even though I wanted to punch Cordell and keep making out with Becca, I could sort of see where he’d been coming from. I didn’t want to rush things, either, tempting as it had been in the heat of the moment.

  And really, that was what tonight had been all about, right? Taking things slowly?

  “Okay,” she exhaled slowly as a faint smile appeared on her lips again. “Thank you for saying all of that. I guess… I know some guys get tired of waiting after a while—not that I was going to give up my virginity tonight or anything, but… you know.”

  “I do know,” Cordell said. “But we aren’t those guys.”

  “That’s right.” I nodded. “We’re not going to get tired of waiting. And we’re not going to pressure you to do anything you don’t want. Not tonight. Not ever.”

  “Okay.” She took another deep breath. “I appreciate both of you. Maybe we can go ahead and watch that movie now. But… maybe one more kiss first?”

  Cordell and I both laughed. “We can definitely do that,” he said.

  Thank God.

  And fine, once I’d had time to think past the tip of my raging dick, I could admit that Cordell had been right.

  Again.

  Damn him.

  Chapter 12

  Becca

  It felt a little like overkill to be walking across the retirement home parking lot with my two muscular Marines in tow, but honestly?

  I was glad they’d decided to come with me.

  Not that I would’ve ever admitted it out loud, of course. The last thing I needed was to give them any more reasons to think I couldn’t take care of myself. Still, it was nice to have them close by even if I wouldn’t need their help.

  “Does this Murray guy know you’re coming?” Cordell asked as we approached the door.

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I called earlier to make sure he could have visitors and to let the staff know, but I don’t know whether or not they told him to expect me.”

  We walked in and the receptionist greeted us with a friendly smile. At least most of the people in Bliss had been polite and friendly so far, even when I was asking questions that seemed to make them uncomfortable.

  “Hi there.” I returned her smile and tried to sound upbeat. “I’m here to see Murray Hofstadter, please. I called earlier.”

  “Oh, right.” She nodded. “I remember talking to you on the phone. Let me page an orderly to see if he’s awake.” She pointed toward some comfortable-looking chairs in the lobby. “Someone will be with you shortly if you’d like to have a seat over there.”

  I walked over to a sunny spot by the big front window while Dade and Cordell took the chairs on either side of me. It really did feel like they were my own personal security team—though again, it definitely seemed to be a little too much. I wasn’t too worried about getting overpowered by the two guys playing dominoes in the corner who each looked to be about a hundred years old.

  “I hate places like this,” Dade grumbled, looking back over his shoulder toward the window. “My grandpa was in one of these homes. They took good care of him and everything, don’t get me wrong. The staff was great there. But he just went downhill so fast after we moved him out of his house.” He shook his head. “These places always make me think of him.”

  I reached over and put a hand on his leg. Under all those muscles and all of that bravado, it was obvious that Dade was the more sensitive and impulsive of the two men. And while that definitely wasn’t my personality, I could still appreciate it. It reminded me of all the things I loved about Janessa and Daisy Lynn.

  Headstrong. Stubborn. Funny. Loyal. I could see all of those same qualities in Dade, and those qualities only made him more attractive to me.

  “Don’t worry,” Cordell said, looking past me toward his friend. “When your time comes, I won’t put you in a retirement home.”

  He grinned. “I’d just make sure you were right here with me. That might not be so bad, now that I think about it.”

  “Young lady!” A high-pitched female voice made all three of us look toward the door at the other end of the lobby. An old woman was leaning heavily on a cane as she pointed at me. “Keep your nose out of other people’s business!”

  I was too surprised to answer, and even Cordell and Dade seemed to be in shock momentarily. “I’m… sorry?” I didn’t know what else to say. Was she even really talking to me? Did she have me confused with someone else?

  She was still ambling toward us, though, and there was no mistaking the anger in her eyes and in her voice. “Leave the past alone! You don’t have any business here.” She paused a few feet away, then pointed toward the exit. “Get out! Get out right now! All of you!”

  By now, she had drawn the attention of the receptionist and several nurses who were all approaching cautiously, trying to calm her.

  She didn’t seem to notice any of them, though. She was fixated on me, still moving closer as she shouted. “I mean it!” She drew herself up and raised her cane in the air. “Get out right now!”

  I flinched away and screamed as she brought her cane down at me with a whoosh. But the impact I’d braced for never came. I looked to see Cordell on one side of her, holding her back while Dade took the cane and handed it to a nearby nurse.

  The receptionist helped me up from my chair and ushered me to the other side of the lobby. “Just stay right here, hon,” she said. “The sheriff is on his way. I don’t know what came over Mavis, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you to stay and give a statement.”

  Oh, God.

  The last thing I’d expected when I walked through the door just a few minutes ago was that I’d be fending off an actual physical attack by one of the residents.

  Well… not that I had done much of the fending. It turned out to be a good thing that Cordell and Dade had insisted on coming with me. Otherwise, I would’ve had a heck of a bruise from that cane.

  “Are you okay?” Cordell asked, hurrying over to put an arm around me after he’d handed Mavis off to the nurses.

  I nodded. “Yeah, thanks to you and Dade.”

  Dade was right behind him. “That was some crazy shit. Do you know that old lady?”

  “No, I swear I’ve never seen her before in my life. I don’t even know what she was talking about.”

  Cordell frowned. “She said to leave the past alone. Do you think she might know why we’re here?”

  “I… guess it’s possible?” I shrugged. “I don’t know who would’ve told her, though. Maybe Murray knew after all. I just don’t know.”

  Before we could say or do anything else, Prescott and Cole pulled up in their patrol car just outside the door and rushed inside. Prescott’s eyes immediately found mine, and I could see the look of
confusion cross his face.

  “Becca?” Prescott asked. “What are you doing here? Is Daisy Lynn with you?”

  “No, I think she’s back at home,” I answered. “I’m here with—”

  “With us,” Dade said, stepping up next to me. “And we’ll be happy to give a statement about what happened, Sheriff.”

  Cole had already gone to talk to the nurses and deal with Mavis, but Prescott was still standing there in front of me and looking more confused than ever. “Dade? Cordell?” He shook his head. “Okay, I give up. What’s going on here? Do you all have… a relative here?”

  It would’ve been almost comical if it hadn’t been so traumatic. None of us were actually from Bliss, so it was no surprise that Prescott couldn’t figure out why Dade, Cordell, and I were just hanging out at the retirement home.

  And then to get accosted by one of the residents… you really couldn’t make something like that up.

  Cole stepped over and had a few words with Prescott, then turned to me. “Becca, did you want to press charges?”

  “No,” I answered without hesitating. “She didn’t actually hit me, and…” I lowered my voice a little. “I don’t think she even knows who I am.”

  Cole nodded and went back to speak with the nurses, who quickly ushered Mavis out of the lobby. Thankfully, she left much more quietly than she had entered.

  Once things had settled down a little, Prescott turned his attention back to me. “Now, can you please tell me what’s going on? Who are you here to see?”

  Dade and Cordell looked at me, and I felt a sudden wave of nerves hit me. Would Prescott get angry that I was here trying to dig up information about a scandal that technically didn’t have anything to do with me? Especially since Cole’s grandfather might have been implicated in the cover-up?

  I wasn’t sure, but I also wasn’t going to lie to a sheriff. Especially when the sheriff in question was one of my best friend’s boyfriends.

  “We’re here to see Murray Hofstadter,” I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering. “I want to ask him some questions about an incident that his daughter was involved in.”