Peaches 'n' Cream

PEACHES ’N’ CREAM

Loving in Silver 1

Lynn Stark

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Copyright © 2012

Chapter One

Peaches stared into the laughing green eyes staring back at her from a handsome, sun-tanned face. “Did your mama drop you on your head?” she asked breathlessly, peeking around him to the furious cream-colored bull heading determinedly in his direction on the rail.

“Once or twice.” He laughed, seeming unconcerned about the two thousand pounds of angry, unprocessed beef patties heading in his direction.

That was, until Peaches and her girlfriend leapt up from their seats in the stadium. The crowd roared. “Shit! Move!” she cried, horrified eyes fixed on the enraged bull.

He glanced back, then yanked his hard body up and over the rail as the bull tried to slam him with his massive head and the thick, stumpy horns sprouting from it. The bullfighters were there, baiting him, trying to get him to head into the direction of the gate out of the arena. The blond curls between the furious brown eyes were soft compared to the thick skull viciously slammed into the rails.

Bull snot went flying. The cowboy laughed, leaned over to slap the animal with his hat, and then sat down in Peaches’s abandoned seat. He pulled her down onto his lap, and then kissed her hard on the mouth. There was another cheer from the crowd to reward him for his charming audacity.

“You doing anything later, hot thing?”

Peaches looked over the laughing face. Her lips were burning. She could hear her friend’s wistful sighs. “Yes, washing my hair.” She tried and failed to ignore the hard thighs beneath hers. As well as the male flesh beginning to stir beneath her jean-clad bottom.

“I could come over to help.”

There was a note of hot promise in his deep voice. It shivered all the way down her spine, somehow ending in her pussy. Her panties were drenched in an instant. Her nipples peaked, pressing tellingly against the sweater she wore. The cowboy did not fail to notice. Darn him!

The grin, which slid over his handsome face, was filled with devilry.

“No thanks. I think I can handle it,” she drawled, trying to think of something other than the reaction of her body to his.

The crowd erupted when his score was announced. Then he was kissing her once more and lifting her to her feet so he could leap over the railing. She watched his fine ass, displayed in jeans and chaps, as his long legs carried him away.

“That’s one fine piece of ass,” Darla drawled in her charmingly bold manner. “Wish he’d scooped me up. I’d let him wash anything he wanted on me.” 9

“Yeah, well, a cowboy who looks like that has to be trouble. He probably has a girlfriend in every town he’s been in.” Peaches laughed as she looked at her friend. “You do remember you have a husband, don’t you?”

Darla laughed and waved a careless hand. “Yeah. Yeah. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt me. Now then, how can you blame the breed for the sins of one? Cowboys are the spirit of this country. They represent hard work and freedom. They embody the American spirit.” Turning her head to stare at her friend with laughing brown eyes, she shook her head.

“Jeez, what are you? His PR?”

“No, I just think you haven’t gotten laid lately. Why not go for it? Then you can let me know if he’s as hot in the places we can’t see at the moment.”

“You’re nuts.” Peaches laughed. Rising from the seat, she gathered up her jacket and said, “I’ve got to get to work. This was fun. Thanks for making me come with you.” Darla followed with a shake of her head. “You could call off. What do you need that crappy job for anyway? We could go find your cowboy. The two of you could hook up, have some hot, steamy sex, and make some memories for your old age.”

“I’m supplementing my income. It’s all going into retirement. Money is what I need for my old age. A memory won’t pay my bills.”

“No, but it will fill out your life’s quilt. It’s made of all kinds of experiences. What could it hurt to add a hot cowboy to it?”

Peaches wanted to agree. The man had been all sorts of tempting. She could still feel the burn of his hard thighs and hardening cock beneath her ass. When she compared that to the realities of her life, she had to think of how much working a second job really sucked. Especially when working two jobs wasn’t as necessary as it had been.

She worked in a lawyer’s office during the day and a convenience store at night. Usually she worked a short shift from six in the afternoon until midnight. For the sake of going to the rodeo with her friend, she had switched with another woman. Usually she had a few hours in between she could call her own, when she tried to rest. Tonight would not be the night. On her days off, she slept. It wasn’t much of a life, but it was hers to do with as she saw fit. She had seen too many of her friends marry men who just sucked everything fine right out of them.

While she would like a husband and children, she was still in no rush. She wanted just the right man. Then her priorities would change.

“Hey, I don’t have to work anywhere tomorrow. Why don’t I call you when I get up? We’ll go for brunch or something.”

Darla stared at her for a moment before she nodded. Peaches could tell she was disappointed that she hadn’t made a grab for the brass ring. “Sounds good to me. Have fun at work tonight.”

“I’ll try.” She grimaced. “It’ll be another night of totally shock-me-awake boring.” Two hours later Peaches stared through the bulletproof glass, wishing she could doze off.

Or, maybe, hoping she wouldn’t. There hadn’t been a customer in nearly half an hour. Glancing at the clock, something she knew she shouldn’t do, but did it anyway, she wished she had brought a magazine from home. A book. Puzzles. Anything to keep from dying of boredom as the night dragged by. When the delivery person got there, she would be able to put away stock.

Until then she could only sit and wait. Count cars going by. Separate cars and trucks. White 10

trucks. White cars. Cars with loud mufflers. Trucks with headlights out. Semi trucks. The cat-egories were practically endless.

After restocking the cigarette display, she wiped down the counter, cleaned the shelves under the counters, and then found the putty knife to scrape the crud from around the edges of the linoleum. She was about to sweep it up when she heard a vehicle pulling up to the pumps.

“Nice rig,” Peaches said to herself, admiring the new dual-wheel pickup and the fifth-wheel trailer behind it. “I could go places in that.” She hadn’t been on a vacation in two years.

She and Darla had invaded the Caribbean for two weeks, having more fun than she could ever dream of having again. “I need to get the hell out of here. Spend some of my hard-earned money. What fun is this? Working myself to death for what? Damn, I could have been having some really hot sex right now!”

Work wasn’t fun, but it was necessary if she wanted any kind of comfortable retirement.

She wasn’t going to worry about whether she should get her prescriptions or groceries, or if she should pay the electric bill or buy her grandkids a Christmas present.

Pushing the button to allow the truck to be filled by the driver, Peaches thought about the grandkids. A smile curved her mouth. She would have to have kids first. Though getting married wasn’t very high on her “to do” list, she knew she would marry in a heartbeat if she found the right man.

“Hey there, sweetheart, are you awake?”

Had she fallen asleep? Peaches blinked and turned from the front window to the man now standing at the counter, laughing at her through the bulletproof glass. It was the kissing cowboy. What were the odds of him showing up where she worked? With her heart skittering around in her chest, she moved toward him in a daze.

“Hey.”

He dropped a credit card in the drawer. “That’s to pay for the fuel,” he told her when she failed to react and pull the drawer in to collect his card. “You okay in there?”

“Yes. I was just thinking about the grandkids.”

That got him. Peaches smiled and pulled her scattered thoughts together. She swiped his credit card. Now she was glad the thing on the pump was broken. If nothing else, a racing pulse and a wet pussy made the night a little less boring.

“Grandkids?” He looked her over. “You can’t be over twenty-five.”

“Thirty-two, actually,” she confessed ruefully, but glad he thought she was younger. How old was he? Younger than she was, she guessed.

“Where did the grandkids come from? You married to some old man and have step kids?”

Laughing, Peaches shook her head. “No. I was thinking about my future grandkids and the reason why I’m working this job when I really don’t have to at the moment.”

“Then why are you? It’s kind of dangerous.”

Her eyes widened. “Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?” The tall cowboy joined her in her laughter. A beautiful white smile spread across his handsome face. “Yeah, I guess it is,” he admitted ruefully. “Thanks for rescuing me tonight.

That bull hates my guts. He’s stomped on me more times than I can remember.” 11

The charm was full on again. Peaches hated herself for being susceptible to it, but hey, she was just a horny woman. She was weak. And Darla’s voice was yelling in her head “go for it, sister!” Did the woman never leave her alone?

“What’s that laugh for?” he asked curiously, leaning on the narrow counter to peer at her through the scratched and cloudy glass. “You see something funny over here?”

“No, I was just wondering if you had to be anywhere tomorrow.” That got his interest faster than lighting his fine-looking ass on fire. His whole body, the big, gorgeous length of him, went on high alert. Green eyes glittered. “Actually, I don’t. You have something in mind?”

“Well, I had thought to take you up on your invitation. If it’s still good, that is.”

“For you, baby, there’s no expiration date. What’s your name?”

“Peaches Malloy.”

“I’m Damien Nicholson.”

“Yeah, I know. I heard it blasted over the PA tonight.”

“Well, Peaches. Would you care to spend some quality time with me tonight? Or rather, tomorrow when you get off work?”

“I’d like nothing better.” Darla would forgive her for breaking their brunch date, as long as she gave up some juicy details.

Damien straightened up and nodded. “I’ll have to go do some housekeeping. I’ll just pull the rig around to the side lot. I see there are already a couple of trucks in there. I’ll wait. Then we can make plans after you get off work.”

Nodding, she thought how slow the rest of the night was going to go. “No need to fuss.

We can go to my apartment.” She’d have a lot of time to fuss about that.

The door opened again, the annoying beeper going off to announce the arrival of another cowboy. He was almost as tall as Damien was, but fair and had a slighter build. Not skinny, just not as muscled. “Hey, why didn’t you wake me up? I need coffee.” His laser-blue eyes fixed on her. “Hey, now I know why you didn’t wake me up. Hi there, sweetness. Got time for a cowboy?”

“Shut the fuck up. She’s mine.”

“If she’s yours, she’s ours,” the newcomer corrected. To Peaches, he said huskily, “We share, baby. Did he tell you?”

Oh, now there was a piece of news that went straight to her pussy. It struck like a bolt of lightning to a lone oak in a field. An explosion of white-hot sparks went shooting in every direction as she imagined herself pressed between the two handsome cowboys.

With her brown eyes going to Damien for confirmation, she crossed her fingers behind her back. He seemed to nod reluctantly. “No, he didn’t tell me. Do you share women often?”

“We do. It’s more fun to share. You do know we can see your fingers crossed in the mirror, don’t you?”

Blushing, she undid them, and then stuffed her hands into the pockets of her tight jeans.

“Did you say something about wanting coffee? I’ll brew fresh.” Looking for any excuse to get out of the “cube,” she unlocked the door. She moved past the men to go to the counter where more than a half dozen coffee, iced coffee, and cappuccino machines were located. She had already cleaned them all, which was another thing off her list for the night. After putting in fresh coffee, she pressed the button to start the brewing process. The two men crowded 12

around her as the door opened again. When she looked toward the door, she only saw one thing.

“Gun! Get down!”

They went down as she reached into the rear waistband of her jeans. When the man fired, she returned it, the 9mm making short work of the man in the doorway. The two men who had been following him in fired as well. The bullets struck the coffee machines as she ducked and darted behind the display rack for a new vantage point. Another shot told her they had not left yet. Determined bastards, she thought. She knew who they were. Their friend had tried to rob the place days before. She had seen these three in the car outside. The police had caught the robber but had not found these men, his accomplices. Obviously they had thought to come back to pay a little retribution.

“Stay down.” Damien’s voice was a growl as he reached for her.

Four more shots were fired. The front windows shattered as one dirtbag backed out, but continued firing as he went toward the car. She concentrated on the guy still inside the store.

Potato chips exploded from a bag. Cooler doors provided no protection for the lite beer displayed behind them.

When she came up, a bullet just missed her head. She could feel its passing as she pulled the trigger again. Her next shot took the man down. Blood flowered from the center of his chest as he dropped to the floor. Damn, she was so fired.

The silence, if it could be called that with her ears ringing, was quite deafening. The men jumped up as she went to hit the alarm. She then went to check on the condition of the two downed men.

“They’re still breathing,” Peaches announced.

“That was so fucking hot,” the nameless man declared as he flanked her. She toed the weapons away from the men on the floor, though neither appeared as if they were capable of moving at that moment. Sighing, she supposed she should at least attempt to perform some sort of first aid. She went for a roll of paper towels and the latex gloves. She pulled them on then pressed the folded towels to their wounds as sirens sounded in the distance. A moment later three cruisers pulled into the parking lot.