“All righty then.” Jana’s eyes twitching from the effort of holding in her mirth, she rang up the sale.
Bram tried to pass his share of the moolah to Jana, but Ry scooped up the cash and tucked it back in Bram’s palm. Ry’s mouth curled at one corner. “I believe an arsenal of vibrators trumps your turtle charm. Better luck next Christmas.”
Bram chuckled. “Well played, you crafty bastard.”
While Jana swiped Ry’s credit card she gave Bram an odd look. She glanced briefly at Lacey, who was whispering something in a heated undertone to Ry. No doubt Lace was demanding to know what the batteries were for.
Jana returned her focus to him. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”
“Okay. You have my cell phone number. But we’re leaving now to go get a tree. Probably better to call me later tonight.”
“No. Now. It’ll only take a minute.”
Shrugging, he gestured for Lacey and Ry to head out to the truck without him. Once they were gone, Jana got right to the point. One that he hadn’t been expecting. Certainly not from his hell-on-wheels sister. “I hope you know what you’re doing, playing these sex games with Lacey.”
“What do you mean?”
She folded her arms over her Betty Boop T-shirt. “You and I both know how vulnerable she is to getting hurt.”
Anger sliced through him. “You think that’s what Ry and I want to do? Hurt her? That’s the most fucking stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I know you wouldn’t mean to. But it’s almost inevitable, don’t you think? For God’s sake, she’s in love with you guys.”
He stared at her, and Jana clamped a hand over her mouth, only to drop it a second later with an, “Oh shit.”
His heart began beating in triple time. “Did she tell you that?”
“No, but I always figured. She’s in major denial over it though.” She winced. “Why can’t I shut up? It’s like I have Tourette’s.” She sent him a pleading look. “Let’s pretend we never had this conversation, okay?”
Yeah, not fucking likely. “No problem.” He shoved his wallet into his rear pocket. “You gonna be at Ma and Pop’s Christmas Eve?”
“Of course.”
He started to back away from the register, but Jana’s pointed cough stalled him short. Her expression was more worried than ever. “Be careful with her heart.”
He didn’t bother to answer. Like there was any need. He’d sooner saw off his own leg than hurt Lacey. Zipping his jacket, he pivoted and exited the store. As he strode to the truck his chaotic thoughts spun like an endless reel.
Could it be true? Was Lacey in love with them? The possibility made his heart soar. Until he remembered Jana’s claim about Lacey being in denial over it. If so, that hinted at the possibility that Lacey was deliberately ignoring what her heart was telling her.
Why?
Everything inside him hungered to corner Lacey and demand if Jana’s suspicions were true, after which he’d reassure Lacey that she didn’t have to worry about him loving her back. The exact opposite. He loved her so damn much he was ready to explode from the force of his feelings.
But he was also petrified of moving too fast with Lacey. Or worse, scaring her off completely. Dragging his hands down his face, he tugged open the truck’s rear passenger door and climbed onto the backseat. Other than Lacey’s labored breaths, the front of the vehicle was quiet. He opened his mouth, intending to ask what was going on, but then he noticed the way she was squirming in place, her nails digging into her seat’s leather armrests. A gasp broke from her lips, and she squeezed her legs together.
Holy fuck. Ry must be using the remote on her. Bram glanced toward Ry and noticed his ghost of a smile. Ry’s hand came out of his pocket, and Lacey let out a relieved breath, her posture immediately relaxing.
Ry shifted out of park. “Who’s ready to go tree hunting?”
Bram smothered a groan. Something told him this was going to be a long afternoon.
But damn if it wasn’t gonna be fun.
Chapter Thirteen
“What about this one?” Trying to keep her balance, Lacey hiked through the ankle-deep fresh powder dusting the thicker crust of old snow. She reached the good-sized evergreen just as a flurry of vibrations kicked through the silver bullet lodged in her pussy. Gritting her teeth, she rode out the tantalizing waves, hoping against hope that they’d last long enough this time to do something more than add to the already-soaked conditions of her crotch.
She panted, swaying. Despite the cold, a trickle of sweat slid toward her cleavage. The vibrations stopped. Damn them.
Her two tormenters came into view, and she glared them down. “Which one of you bastards did that?”
They both offered her innocent smiles. Bram’s attention drifted to the tree she’d called them over to see. “That’s a Fraser fir.”
She tossed her arms out. “What freaking difference does it make?”
“I always get a blue spruce.”
It was tempting to weep. Honest to God. Instead she resorted to more crankiness. “You suck.”
“Not yet. But we’re going to, baby.” Ry’s gaze smoldered. “I bet your clit’s swollen and juicy for us, isn’t it?”
Just him asking sent another series of throbbing pulses through the aching bundle of nerves. Who needed a vibrator when she had Ry’s smoky voice talking dirty sweet nothings to her?
She stalked forward and wrenched the handsaw from Bram’s grasp. “You’re getting a fucking Fraser fir.” She swiveled toward the tree but managed no more than one step before the bullet went off again. “Ahhh.” Her legs wobbling, she dropped the saw. Bram retrieved it and the vibrations stopped. She glared at his broad back. “Sneaky, Colton. You do realize I’m going to make you suffer unbearably for this.”
“Trust me, darlin’. I already am.”
They spent another fifteen minutes searching for Bram’s nonexistent perfect tree. By the time he settled on a six-foot spruce with a mostly asymmetrical shape, she was ready to rip her clothes off and beg them to fuck her. In the snow. Yeah, she’d probably freeze her ass off—literally—but at this rate she wasn’t going to quibble. While Bram and Ry took turns sawing through the evergreen’s thick trunk, she jogged in place, both out of patience and in the pathetic hope that maybe she’d somehow accidentally trigger the bullet into going off again and giving her the orgasm she so desperately needed.
Finally the tree toppled over, and Ry and Bram each grabbed an end with their gloved hands and carried it toward the path where the tractor-powered wagon would pick them up and take them back to the main lot. The second they dropped the heavy spruce onto the ground, Bram grimaced. “I’ve got to take a leak.”
While Bram tromped back in the direction they just came from, she hurried in front of Ry, her hands clasped together in supplication. “Give me ten seconds with the remote. That’s all I’m asking.”
He chuckled. “Only ten seconds, huh?”
“I probably don’t even need that long.”
He seemed to mull it over for a moment. “I’ve got a counteroffer for you. I’ll keep the remote, but I promise I’ll leave it on long enough that you’ll come.”
She was past the point of caring who pushed the button that would ultimately get her off. “Deal.”
Ry leaned down until his warm breath puffed a scant inch away from her lips. “Shall we seal it with a kiss?”
She flung her arms around his neck and crushed her mouth over his. Their tongues collided before dancing together in a seductive glide. She wiggled against him, trying to devour him whole, her entire body primed for the lusty, uninhibited loving she so desperately craved. Her teeth scraped his bottom lip as he pulled back with a ragged exhale. He stared at her with a somebody’s-gonna-get-fucked-hard glint in his eyes.