“You okay with that, Lainie?” Kyle asked softly.
“Are we being completely honest here?”
Two nods of agreement.
“I’ll remind you that even though I f**ked Hank a couple of times and slept in his bed that night, I also messed around with Kyle during the day.” She let her gaze move back and forth between them. “Does that mean in order to be fair I have to mess around with Hank at some point today?”
“Have to mess around?” Hank repeated.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I guess I don’t,” he said brusquely.
“Hank—”
“Have to,” he grumbled. Then he snaked his arm around her waist and brought her onto his lap, one hand curving around her neck as he kissed her.
Boy, did he kiss her. Pressing the rough pad of his thumb against her carotid, gauging every increased beat of her pulse. He teased and nibbled, keeping her off balance with the sensual blitz of his mouth.
Have to mess around. Right. If Hank kept it up, there’d be no question how she’d spend the traveling time to Sheridan: on her back.
Lainie lost herself in the immediate punch of need Hank’s drugging kisses delivered. Beneath the surface of passion was a sense of comfort. Hank could rev her up and soothe her, all within the same kiss.
On the periphery of her awareness, she heard Kyle get up, walk to the bathroom, and close the door.
Hank released her mouth reluctantly and buried his face in the curve of her throat. “Will you stay back here with me? Let me love on you a little bit this morning?”
She pushed out of his arms. “No offense, but I’m ready to be out of this camper for a spell.”
“Understood.” He pecked her on the mouth and set her on her feet.
Lainie expected him to cajole her, to attempt to change her mind. But he didn’t.
Aren’t you disappointed he didn’t try harder?
“I’ll scrub up that skillet before I get myself ready.” He squirted dish soap in the pan and poured water in.
She turned and smacked into Kyle’s bare chest. His hard, muscular bare chest. Damn. He smelled tempting. A mix of toothpaste, deodorant, and warm male skin. Without thought, she brushed her lips across the delineated line of his pectorals, letting his chest hair tickle her chin and cheek. She kept nuzzling until a chuckle rumbled beneath her roving lips. Lainie tipped her head back to look at him. “What?”
Kyle hooked a chunk of hair behind her ear. “You constantly surprise me.”
“What surprises you?”
He traced the shell of her ear down to the bottom lobe. “You’ve embraced this threesome business wholeheartedly. No inhibitions. If you want to make out with Hank, you do it. And here you are, just a few minutes later, giving me the sweetest morning kisses. I’ll admit, I didn’t know how you’d react faced with Hank’s and my sexual demands.”
“Have I passed?”
“With an A plus.” He grinned. “But if you’re looking to earn extra credit, I’ll let you blow me right now.”
“Nice try, but I am not a suck-up.”
Hank snorted behind her.
“Well, I’ve planned some good stuff for you and me later tonight anyway, so I can wait.”
Although Lainie was intrigued by his taunt, and she sensed Hank’s curiosity, she waved Kyle off. “Bring it, bull rider. For now, let’s get this rig on the road.”
They topped off the tank and hit the RV dump station. Kyle took the wheel for the relatively short trek from Gillette to Sheridan. The drive was stunning—flat dusty hills, rolling prairie, crested buttes, and the Big Horn Mountains looming west of the interstate. Big, bold, beautiful Wyoming.
She also enjoyed the ease with which the three of them were together. No mindless chattering. No awkward silences. No blathering one-sided cell phone conversations. No fighting over the tunes on the radio. No annoying food consumption. Just peace.
Sheridan was a quaint town with a main-street shopping district that boasted everything from high-end Western clothing boutiques to a bait and tackle shop. Lainie wasn’t much of a shopper on her best day. But she had the strangest compulsion to duck into one of those exclusive stores and buy an outrageously sexy outfit to wear to the rodeo.
Or to wear tonight for Kyle?
Right. She’d be lucky if she kept on whatever she wore for fifteen seconds.
As soon as they’d entered the contestants’ area and found a temporary place to park, Hank’s cell phone rang.
“You have an eagle eye, Arvin; I just pulled in. Uh-huh. Who? No, I don’t. No problem. Thirty minutes? Sure. See you.”
Kyle cranked his head toward him. “What’s up?”
“I’m bein’ summoned. Evidently the rodeo promoter is requesting me. Says he knows Abe—and me by association.”
“What’s his name?” Kyle asked.
“Renner Jackson. Ring a bell?”
“Vaguely.”
“With me too. Guess I’ll get the scoop on him firsthand and report back.” He clapped his hat on. “Lainie, what’ll you be doin’ while Kyle is registering?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it. Why?”
“Just checking. We wouldn’t want you to get . . . bored.”
Heat curled in her abdomen when she recalled how thoroughly they’d dealt with her boredom.
Kyle choked back a laugh.
“Grab your stuff and come to the sponsors’ tent with me. We’ll see if the promoter is also supplying the medical team. Maybe there’s room for you to help out tonight.”