Bind Me Close: 3 (Knights in Black Leather) (12 page)

* * * * *

She got back to the B&B with only enough time to hop
into the shower once more, dry off and blow-dry her hair. Just as she opened
the door to leave her room to join Cara and Sam in the shop, the house phone
rang.

“Hi, Willow. This is Giles. How are you?”

It took her a minute to focus on who her caller was. Wade
was the one she had expected at the other end of the line. “Giles. Hi! Thanks
for calling. I’m good.”

“No more side effects from the cortisone shot?”

“No. I slept well.” Laughing, she marveled that she felt
rested after all the hijinks in Wade’s bed last night.

“Good to know. I came by earlier and knocked on the door.
The receptionist called but no one answered so I got worried. I called the
hospital to see if you had checked into the ER.”

“Oh. I…I’m sorry.” He knew she had been with Wade. “I was
out.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see your car. Or rather Wade’s.” The
bitterness in his voice definitely sounded like jealousy.

Gratifying as that was, Willow didn’t have to explain
herself to him. “True.”

“Okay, so…” Giles reverted to the caring doctor. “No hives?
No rash? No quickness of breath?”

Only when I’m screaming my head off as I come umpty-ump
times.
“Are those the usual signs to look for?”

“Some folks are very allergic to our Texas bugs. No wonder.
We breed ’em bigger and nastier than any other place. Long stingers too.”

Wasn’t that the truth. “Ugly. I’ll be sure to watch where I
land from now on.”

“I’d recommend that.”

“I’ll be careful. Promise.”

“I wonder if I could educate you on other local critters?”

“You mean how Texas men cut a rug?”

“Yeah. Me, namely.”

“I’d love it.” Giles was attractive and easy to be with. The
only raw edge she saw to his personality was the jealous competition that
seemed to exist between him and Wade. She wouldn’t go out with him to feed that
but she would do it to feed herself a strong dose of independence. Being with
Wade had watered that down—and it frightened her. She was no naive young thing
and didn’t want to appear to be. Not even with Wade, who seemed to like to
bring her to that point. She’d go with Giles to prove to herself she’d maintain
her autonomy. After all, why shouldn’t she go? Wade and she had a physical
connection, maybe even an emotional one. But no strings. And she could use a
break from him if only to check up on her feelings for him. Couldn’t cement a
relationship based solely on sex, could she? That kind of thinking was for
starry-eyed coeds. And that, she had never been. “When did you have in mind?”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Tuesday?”

A silence crept into the discussion as he thought about her
suggestion. “Good. It’s a date then. Six?”

“Six it is.”

“Fine. Pick you up at your B&B. Wear jeans and a
t-shirt. We’ll go dancing.”

“You’re on.”

* * * * *

“Willow, you better finish that last crème brûlée, darlin’,”
Cara MacRae said as she tipped her head toward the remaining portion of
dessert. “Cuz if you don’t I may have to.”

“She will, you realize,” Samantha Turner said, deadpan.
Staring at Willow across the table in the staff room behind Knickers Lingerie
Shop, she waved a hand. “Cara’s eating for five.”

Willow gaped at Cara. “You’re kidding. You’re not having—”

“God, no!” Cara patted her tummy. “Sam is being funny. She
admires what I can eat now that I am so far along.”

Sam sniffed. “What woman wouldn’t want to eat anything she
sees and call it whim or just plain old pregger’s cravings, hmm?”

Cara wiggled her brows at Willow. “Sam is working on getting
in the family way herself.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Sam replied. “I tell you I look at that
dessert and I say now is the time!”

Willow shook her head. “The way Case looks at you I would
say you could be any size and he’d love you.”

Cara pointed at Willow. “One point to the lady in red.”

Sam leaned both elbows on the table. “I do believe you’re
right, Willow. And frankly I can’t believe my good luck to have him.”

Carrying a bank deposit moneybag, Cara’s Aunt Bree sailed in
from the back-room access to her own shop next door. “Sam is modest.”

Cara agreed.

Willow sat back in her chair. “Frankly if all those men I
saw night before last are any indication, the men in this town are plentiful.”

Bree chuckled as she swung open the safe. “And hot.”

“You can say that again.” Willow smiled at each of the women
in turn. She had to know more about the town’s female population. “Why didn’t
they bring their wives?”

“Only two of them are married,” Bree told her. “Bill
Verhoff’s wife is out of town at an insurance conference. And Damian Martin’s
just left town a few days ago and she’s gone because she’s starting divorce
proceedings.”

“Oh. That’s a shame. I liked him.”

“We do too. And his wife, poor baby, loves him.”

“She does? I don’t understand. I mean why would she—sorry.
None of my business.”

“No, that’s all right, sweetie,” Bree said as she deposited
the cash in the safe and shut it up. “We tend to know each other’s business
whether we like it or not. Mostly it’s because we’re related.” And at that she
snapped her fingers as if she’d forgotten something then turned on her heel to
go back to her store.

“I understand small towns. The one I teach school in has a
population of three thousand,” Willow said, trying to be diplomatic. “Has
Bravado always been this size?”

“Now we total six thousand plus a few,” Cara said. “In the
fifties I think it was bigger. But many people moved away the past few decades.
The economy went downhill. Not until ranching became more automated and we had
a handle on artificial insemination for cattle and goats was there any boom.
And it doesn’t take many people to run an artificial insemination program.”

“Just good data and programming skills,” Sam added. “Oh, and
a website to take orders.”

“So then you aren’t plagued with building more and more
schools like the suburbs of Dallas and San Antonio?”

“No. In the county we tend to have about one hundred babies
each year.” Cara patted her tummy. “Not enough to replace our population.”

But she and Sam exchanged glances.

Willow straightened in her chair, wondering what the meaning
of those looks might be. “Is there a problem with that number?”

“The town leaders wish we had more children,” Cara told her.
“And we try to attract new residents.”

“The truth is,” Sam added, “that the land here tends to stay
in the old established families. The Turners and MacRaes. The Benedicts. The
Saxons. Few of the old families sell out or parcel out their land to second or
third sons.”

“So your families are rich enough to keep the land and the
money all together.”

“We are.” Cara nodded. “We just need more babies to ensure
that those who want to stay here can.”

“Now I am really in the dark!”

“To be blunt, we need more women.” Cara smiled at Willow’s
frown. “The ones who are born here tend to either get married out of high
school to their longtime boyfriends or leave town and never return.”

Sam leaned forward. “If the young women go off to college
they get jobs or find new beaus at school. The small-town life is suddenly
unappealing.”

“I see.”

Cara reached across the table and caught her hand. “But we
are a great little town. We have a good community theater that brings in good
directors from summer stock. Our rodeo attracts statewide events. Our children
have good schools. We get the best teachers and pay them above statewide
average wages. Five thousand more for each achievement level.” She wiggled her
brows. “Way above other counties’ teacher salaries.”

“Wow.” Willow was flabbergasted. “That is a lot.”

Sam laughed. “Case is on the school board and he’s told me
that we have a few openings for the fall. Just in case you’re interested.” She
grinned at Willow. “Are you?”

“My salary is not terrific, that’s for sure. And I’ve been
pinching pennies to send my sister through college. No fun, frankly. But I
couldn’t just pick up and move here. It would look odd, feel odd, especially
after—”

“After?” Sam led her to continue.

After making love to Wade Saxon like a sex-starved broad.
She never wanted anyone to think she was one of those crazy women who stalked
men and trapped them into relationships. “Well, I don’t want you to think I’m
taking advantage of you.”

“You’re not and we’re sorry,” Cara said. “I didn’t mean to
be forward or make you feel like we’re hustling you. But we are a town in need
of women. Bright, smart, savvy women. And if you are at all interested, well
then, we’d love to have you.”

Willow took a spoonful of dessert. “I’ll think about it,”
she said, knowing she would certainly be attracted by the money…and one
demanding man.

Sam nodded. “In some ways we don’t really want to grow too
big. We guard our way of life because it works so well for us.”

Willow smiled. “That makes you sound like you are a secret
cult or something.”

Cara and Samantha laughed.

“Never!” Cara told her. “Now let’s make a few plans for you.
Okay? Why not come visit me tomorrow? Come early so you can work all day.”

“You have that much?” Willow was shocked.

“I do. Be there at nine. I’ll have the coffeepot on. Then
I’ll dig out the old family pictures.”

“I’m so excited. Wade showed me the family Bible this
morning and I saw how many offspring there are of the Turners and the MacRaes.
I have a better idea of who’s who now and I’m dying to see the pictures. Do you
have any of Francine Turner?”

Sam smiled. “Cara and I both do. Wait ’til you see how
beautiful Fancy was.”

Cara beamed. “And Wyatt and Cole look so much like my three
men, it’s astonishing the resemblance. You believe in the power of genes after
you look at those old pictures.”

“Come see all of them, Willow. There’s quite a collection of
them. But I have to say I’m frankly concerned you might not be able to go
through them all in the time you’ve got.”

Cara nodded. “What holds you back from staying longer?”

“To be honest? Money.”

“Well, we can help that,” Cara said, slapping hands on her
knees.

Willow gaped at her. “Cara. No. That is not necessary.
Charity is not—”

“Oh, come on, Willow, this is kissing cousin hospitality,”
Sam said. “Case and I can offer you our guestroom. And if you think you’re
imposing on us then Cara can offer you hers too.”

“I hardly know either of you and I can’t accept such favors.
Really. And you are about to have a baby, Cara. You don’t need a guest in your
home.”

“I have three husbands, Willow. And they do all the
housework lately. They insist on it, to my everlasting dismay. So you would be
no bother for me. But you would be good company. You’re very welcome to come
stay with us.”

Sam sat back and put down her teacup. “Well, I’m not having
a baby and I have a guesthouse off the pool.”

Willow was speechless for a minute as the two women waited
with smiles. “That is kind of you but no.”

“Wait, there’s more. Think of all your research. You could
get more done if you weren’t riding back and forth all the time to the B&B.
We could lay out all our resources for you and you could have at that, morning
noon and night, not a soul to bother you.”

“Us too!” Cara agreed as she slid around, with some
difficulty, in her chair.

“Are you okay?” Willow and Sam asked in chorus.

“Fine. Sure. Just those false contractions. I like them
really.” Cara examined their faces. “It ‘s like having a giant…”

“What?” Sam asked.

Cara paused then grinned like a fool. “Like having a giant
orgasm. You know the kind I mean, a G-spot and a clitoral and an anal all at
once!”

Sam chuckled, clapping her hands. “Oh, now I really want to
be pregnant!”

Willow sat, delighted and envious of the two women’s
camaraderie. It made her think of her own sister and how she missed her being
around.

“Honey,” Cara said, looking at Willow as though she had just
lost her best friend, “did I horrify you?”

“Not at all!” She broke into a hearty chuckle to think that
she had found women who would actually talk about sex as though it was a valued
commodity. “I find it refreshing that you don’t hide your joys—ahem, all of them—under
the table.”

Another one of those meaningful looks passed between the two
women, leaving Willow stumped.

“Now just what is that?” Willow pointed a finger from one to
the other. “That look there means something and I have to know what it is.”

“What if we show her,” Sam said to Cara like a conspirator,
“instead of tell her?”

“Mmm.” Cara licked her lips. “More fun that way.”

“What are you two cooking here?”

“More fun than Duke’s crème brûlée,” Sam teased her. “Want
to see?”

“I do.”

“We’ll take her, but…um…when?” Cara asked Sam. “Thursday is
shibari. Friday would be better? General play dates.”

“What is shibari? And play dates sounds like you’re taking
me to kindergarten!”

“Oh, it’s fun!” Sam clapped her hands. “You’ll see. Then
you’ll want to stay longer.”

“Much longer,” Cara agreed. “Sam, she’ll need clothes.”

“Clothes? No, ladies, please. I have clothes.”

“Not this kind, you don’t.” Sam’s beautiful eyes danced.
“These are different. I have my old butterfly outfit.”

“Butterfly?” Willow felt the little creatures fluttering in
her tummy.

“Yep. She even has the mask, don’t you, Sam?”

“I do. I know it’ll fit. The bustier is a lace-up.”

“Bustier? Oh, no. I’ve never worn one.”

Cara grinned. “I think you’ll die to wear this one. Say
you’re adventurous.”

What she had done with Wade was more adventure than she’d
ever planned. The memories that crept into her waking hours sent shivers of
delight up her spine. Could she stand any more adventures? She licked her lips,
willing to indulge herself in more. After all, she was with friends who didn’t
criticize or ridicule. She could take a chance, live a little bit more. “Okay.
Butterflies for me. What is your plan, ladies?”