“You got that right,” Blane said, then headed out the door. I watched it swing shut behind him.

“So we’re taking a road trip?” I asked. “Just the three of us? To DC?” Talk about epic proportions of awkward.

“Looks like it,” Kade said.

Hmm.

It was just after ten when the place had cleared out, and I thought we’d get to close early tonight, which would be nice. Matt and Steve had left shortly after Blane. Matt hadn’t said much to me, but Steve had given me a friendly smile on his way out.

Carol offered to close and since I was too tired to argue, I took her up on it. Kade followed me home and it felt good to kick off my shoes. I headed up to shower, trying not to think of how Kade had been the last one to stand under the water and how he must’ve looked while doing it . . .

My eyes suddenly popped open. Wait a second. Who said I had to wait for Kade to make the first move? If nothing else, the past few months had shown me that he wasn’t immune to the chemistry between us. If I could manage to get him back into my bed, that should put the kibosh on him shoving me at Blane. Surely not even Kade would think that I would sleep with him one moment, then get back together with Blane the next.

Excited and a little nervous, I hurried to dry my hair. Too impatient to get it fully dry, I settled on damp. Crossing the hall to my room, I dug through my closet. Surely I had some kind of sexy nightgown I could put on.

Okay, well, maybe not. I settled on the skimpiest, laciest black thong I owned. My little bump showed, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about that. I dug an old satin robe from a drawer. It was for looks only and I never wore it. It came just to the top of my thighs and was also black. I belted it around my waist, then for the final touch, I added the champagne-colored stilettos I’d gotten when Kade and I were in Vegas.

Looking in the mirror, I used my fingers to fluff my hair, then added a spray of perfume and a touch of lipstick. My intent was ever so obvious, but I didn’t care. If Kade was going to persist in being a stubborn ass, then it would take drastic measures to make him see the error of his ways.

I turned down the covers on my bed, wondering if I was being too optimistic. Well, I’d find out in a few minutes.

Taking a deep breath, I headed down the hall to the living room. I could hear Kade moving around as he settled into his makeshift bed on the couch. My heels clacked on the floor and I winced, now wishing I hadn’t worn them. Stupid stupid.

My pulse was hammering from nerves and my palms were clammy with sweat. If this didn’t work, I was going to feel like a complete and utter idiot.

I tried not to focus on that.

My steps slowed as I rounded the corner. I stopped, leaning sideways against the wall, which probably looked like I was posing, but really I needed the support so my trembling knees wouldn’t give out.

A lamp was lit, providing a soft glow in the room, and Kade glanced my way from where he lay on the couch. His entire body went still.

“I thought I’d check on you,” I said, my voice a little too high. “See if you needed, or wanted, anything.” I cringed inside. That was the best I could do? Yeah, there went my career as a telephone sex operator.

Deciding that actions spoke louder than words, I fiddled with the tie on my robe. The satin was slippery and it loosened and fell away almost immediately.

Even from the distance between us, I saw Kade’s throat move as he swallowed.

“What’re you doing, princess?” he asked, his voice soft and nearly like a touch.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” I replied. I trailed the tips of my fingers from my throat down between my breasts, the satin robe parting, just catching on my nipples. My palm splayed across my stomach, then down farther to my panties. Kade’s eyes were riveted to the path my hand took, which made my nervousness fade to nothing. When he looked at me like that, I felt beautiful, desirable. Wanted.

I took two slow, sultry steps toward him, watching as he sat up on the couch. His shirt was off and the sight of him made my mouth water. A slight shrug and the robe spilled from my shoulders, sliding down and off my arms to drop to the floor in a soft whisper of silk.

Kade groaned, a low, pained noise coming from deep in his throat.

I couldn’t help my satisfied smile. When I reached him, I didn’t hesitate. Settling my knees on either side of his hips, I straddled him. The tips of my breasts brushed his chest and I swear he ground his teeth. His hands automatically gripped my hips.

I leaned forward and tilted my head, allowing my hair to fall to the side and brush his arm as I whispered in his ear.

“What was it about this that was such a bad idea?” I teased. My lips brushed the shell of his ear and I could feel the shudder that went through him.

“I can’t fucking remember,” he rasped. His hand slid from my hip up to tangle in my hair. He closed his hand into a fist, the long strands wrapped around his fingers, which sent a sharp tug to my scalp, pulling my head back.

My pulse was racing as arousal shivered through my veins. His warm skin was against mine, my fingers tracing the contour of muscles in his shoulders. Our eyes locked, his pupils dark and dilated and surrounded by pure blue. His head bent toward me, his lips millimeters away—

A loud knock on the front door startled a shriek from me.

Kade swiftly and unceremoniously dumped me off his lap and onto the couch. Sliding his hand beneath the pillow, he pulled out his gun.

“It’s me!” called a voice through the door.

Blane.

I was cussing a blue streak inside my head as I scrambled to wrap a sheet around me before Kade pulled open the door.

“I thought you weren’t coming back until morning,” Kade said by way of greeting, and I was gratified by his tone that it wasn’t just me who wanted to scream in frustration at the interruption.

“Had a friend of yours show up at my house,” Blane said, stepping inside. “She insisted on coming along.”

I glanced up from where I was trying to cover my exposed thighs and my jaw fell open.

Branna was there.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Branna launched herself at Kade, throwing her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his.

Blane and I watched as the kiss went on for entirely too long, in my opinion. Branna finally pulled back, then shocked me again by taking a step back and giving Kade a sound slap on his cheek.

“You’re such a bastard,” she groused in her lilting Irish accent. “You fall off the grid and don’t even tell me where you’re going. Bloody hell.”

Kade didn’t seem a bit surprised by her actions. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

“That’s a fine way to greet me,” she retorted. “I’ve been worried sick and here you’ve been”—she glanced around, zeroing in on me sitting on the couch, and it didn’t take a psychic to see the utter contempt in her eyes—“screwing the bartender in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Fucking-Indiana.”

That got my dander up pretty darn quick. “Listen, you—”

“Yeah, we gotta talk,” Kade said, cutting me off. Grabbing Branna’s arm, he hauled her toward the kitchen and out of earshot.

Blane sat down next to me on the couch. “I take it you know her?” he asked.

I glanced at him, noticed his gaze was traveling from where I clutched the sheet to my naked breasts and down to where way too much of my thighs was showing. “Um, yeah. We’ve met,” I replied. My mom had always taught me: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. So that’s where I left it.

“Nice shoes.”

Shit. This had turned from a good idea into a mortifying disaster. I stood, wanting to make a quick exit, but was caught up short by the rest of the sheet trapped underneath Blane.

“Um, you’re on my sheet,” I said, blushing furiously.