Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch) (24 page)

“We know who’s putting that smile there,” Vicki agreed.

“But…exactly
what
is what we want to know.” Jaxi waggled her brows suggestively before rearranging the baby against her shoulder to burp him.

“You want a play-by-play of our sex life?” Melody hesitated. “Is everyone going to share, because I don’t know that’s fair if it’s only Vicki and I who end up on the hot seat.”

“Sure, we’ll share.” Vicki snorted. “Everyone but Ashley, that is, because if she tells us what goes on at her place on a regular basis? We’ll spend the rest of the evening with our jaws on the floor and a bad case of penis envy.”

“I think that phrase is supposed to mean we wish we had penises,” Allison pointed out.

Vicki shook her head. “You don’t think Ashley has penises at her beck and call? Penees. Penises. Penii? Whatever.”

Once the laughter faded, Ashley gloated. “I’ll admit it, my cup runneth over.”

Vicki only laughed harder, covering her mouth with her hand.

Ashley shook her head and a finger at the young woman. “I swear, you’ve got the dirtiest mind of anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Why? You’re the one who said it.”

Melody sat back, sipping the fruity drink Ashley had put together for them. She popped another one of Vicki’s jalapeno bites into her mouth and chewed happily, soaking in the atmosphere.

Across from her, the baby stared sleepily around the room for a moment, blinking his bright blue eyes hard before an enormous yawn stretched his little mouth. Allison cooed at him, then Jaxi laid him in the bassinet beside the couch, and suddenly four pairs of eyes were turned in Melody’s direction and there was nowhere she could go to hide.

“You were serious? You want me to tell you how things are going?”

Four heads nodded like a dashboard of bobble heads on a bumpy road.

This time it was Melody’s turn to laugh. “Bunch of snoopy old women.”

Allison slid forward on her chair “You don’t have to tell us specifics. But is it getting serious?”

Melody paused and considered. “Maybe? I don’t know. It hasn’t been long enough yet.”

Jaxi was giving her one of those looks. The one that said the woman was older than her years. “It doesn’t take long to figure out whether a guy’s right for you or not.”

“I agree with part of that—I like him a lot, and I’ll say he’s a different man than he was last year when I left. He’s fun to be around, he seems a lot more responsible, and I find that sexy in a guy.”

“Notice she’s still not telling us what else she finds sexy,” Allison said loudly enough to be overheard as she leaned across the couch to pretend to whisper to Ashley.

“I think the only way we’re going to get some real answers is to play a game.” Jaxi looked far too pleased with her own suggestion as she refilled her glass, settling in with a smile.

Ashley’s hand flew up. “I’m game. I mean I’m game for any game.”

Jaxi swirled the liquid in her glass. “All right, then, truth or dare.”

“Good idea. I haven’t played that since I was twelve,” Vicki said.

“So, that means, like last year?” Ashley ducked the pillow Vicki threw at her head.

“I’ll go first. Truth or dare—Jaxi,” Vicki demanded.

Jaxi crooked one blonde eyebrow higher as she accepted the challenge. “Truth.”

Vicki leaned forward. “In which room of your house have you
not
had sex?”

A ripple of laughter started low, progressing to full-out mirth the longer Jaxi hesitated, especially since it was clear she was trying hard to answer the question.

She gave up. “I don’t think we’ve left anywhere untouched, to be honest.”

“This is why you have four children,” Allison said.

Jaxi nodded. “Probably, so it’s a good thing making babies is a lot of fun.”

Jaxi turned on Ashley. “What’s the absolute—?”

“Hey,” Ashley complained as she shot upright. “You’re supposed to ask me to pick between sharing a truth or doing a dare.”

“She figured you’d instantly take the dare. This is more fun,” Vicki teased.

Ashley laid a hand over her chest. “I’m so misunderstood.” But her eyes sparkled as she smiled at Jaxi. “Go on, what’s your question?

“What’s the dirtiest—?”

“I can see this being impossible for her to answer,” Vicki muttered.

Jaxi put on her most innocent face. “What’s the dirtiest…you’ve ever gotten…while painting?”

They laughed again, and Ashley stuck out her tongue in response before confessing, “I’ve done body painting.”

Melody tried to picture it. “How did that get you dirty, painting a body?”

“Well, you use your body to
do
the painting,” Ashley explained. “It tends to involve accidentally getting paint stuck places that take a long time to clean.”

Ashley turned to Melody, her smile twisting as she posed the question, “Truth or dare?”

It was time to mix it up. “Dare.”

Ashley clapped her hands with excitement, lifting her chin in challenge. “You’re gonna make a prank phone call.”

Oops
.

“Don’t get her into much trouble,” Vicki warned.

Ashley shook her head. “I know, I know. We’re models of discretion and pillars of the community. Yada, yada, yada.”

Four gazes pinned Melody in place. “Be nice,” she warned.

“Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to phone the mayor or something.”

Melody could guess where this was going. “I’m supposed to call who?”

As if they’d rehearsed it ahead of time, four voices went off in unison. “Steve.”

“And you’ve gotta talk dirty to him,” Ashley added. “Not just some ‘hi honey how was your day?’ bullshit.”

Melody rolled her eyes. “You’re so bad.”

The longer she hesitated, the more expectation rose on the faces of her friends.

Fine
. Like Vicki had said, this was just good clean fun.

Or maybe not
quite
so clean. There was a challenge in her friends’ eyes as she grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket and hit Steve’s number. Maybe they thought she couldn’t talk dirty?

Time to rise to the occasion.

Only she sat back in her chair and focused on a spot near the ceiling as the call went through, because no way she could do this if she was watching their faces.

Since Melody had declined his date, heading out to spend time with the girls, Steve sucked up his disappointment and drove over to the rental house to visit with Lee instead.

What he found was the semimonthly dishwashing expedition about to take place.

Lee held an armful of plates and bowls as he paused in the front hall. “Perfect timing,” he said in greeting.

“If you think I’m washing anything, you’ve got another think coming. You made the mess, you clean up.” Steve kicked off his boots, though, and grabbed the dishes teetering on the edge of the coffee table.

“You don’t need to wash,” Lee assured him. “But you do want to see this.”

He tilted his head toward the kitchen, his grin widening, and Steve followed, curious to see what was going on.

The small room was filled with broad-shouldered men. Stacks of dirty pots, pans, glasses and everything else covered the side counter and spilled onto the table.

Jesse, Rafe and Lee were there, but so was Trevor, his sleeves rolled up and a look of disgust on his face as he eyed the sink full of soapy water.

Perfect.

“Dishpan hands look good on you,” Steve taunted.

“Fuck off. They threatened to block my dinner privileges if I don’t help.” Trevor stuck his hands into the water to begin the herculean task, adjusting his expression to look like a long-suffering hero. “But, really, I agreed to help because I know it’s the right thing to do.”

Jesse snorted in disbelief. “Bullshit. It’s because you heard my mom gave me a pile of steaks for us to barbeque tonight, and you can’t stand the thought of missing out and having to eat ramen instead.”

“Same thing.”

“We should give up and buy paper plates,” Lee grumbled as Rafe left the room.

Jesse shrugged. “Fine by me, but you know Rafe would give you hell. It’s not environmentally friendly or some crap.”

A call went out from the living room. “Hey, Steve? While you’re here, can I get your help?”

“Hey, assholes,” Trevor complained when they all turned to leave. “Someone needs to dry. Or at least make room for me to put the clean stuff.”

Lee rolled his eyes as he picked up a hand towel. “Yes, Mom.”

The joy of living with other guys. Steve was so glad those days were behind him, but they were entertaining to watch. He was still chuckling when he entered the living room. “What’s up?”

Rafe pointed at the ceiling. “The light is out. We’ve changed the bulb, but the damned thing won’t work. Did I remember right, and you fixed that before?”

“Yeah, the wiring is old and needs to be jimmied every now and then.” Steve shoved the sturdy coffee table under the light then emptied his pockets looking for his knife. “Jesse? Turn off the power at the breaker.”

Jesse spun on his heel and left for the basement. “Got it.”

Steve gestured to Rafe. “You’ll have to help hold the cover while I deal with the wiring. It’s one of those stupid setups where the wires are too short to let you put things down.”

They waited until Jesse’s shout rang from the basement. “It’s off. You’re safe.”

The two of them crawled on the table, arms extended awkwardly overhead as Steve removed the central screw that held the glass in place. “Hold this, but keep it close to the ceiling,” he ordered.

Rafe shifted his weight to one side, balancing the large glass globe on his fingertips. No matter how much he tried, the cover created an obstacle for Steve to work around.

He’d disconnected the wires from the base and had the protective plastic covers between his fingers and three wires held in order when his phone went off on the table below him.

Melody’s ringtone. He breathed out a low curse, but figured he’d call her back when he was done.

Jesse proved far too helpful. “Don’t worry. I got it.” His cousin not only answered the phone, he switched it to speaker and laid it back on the table.

Jeez. He supposed Jesse meant well.

“Hi, Melody,” Steve spoke loudly as he worked to line up the wires. “I thought you were partying with the girls.”

He’d expected laughter. What he got instead was a throaty rumble that set every nerve in his body tingling. “Hey, baby,” she purred. “I couldn’t wait to talk to you again.”

Shit
. He eyed his phone and the other guys in the room, both of whom had perked up to full attention at her sultry voice. “Melody, have you been drinking?”

“No. Well, not that much. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about you. Thinking about you and your big, strong hands. It’s got me real wet.”

A noise clattered from the kitchen, and Steve glanced over to see Trevor standing in the doorframe, Lee just behind him, the two of them grinning at him like fools.

Screw this. He dropped the wires and reached for his phone to shut off the speaker.

Jesse beat him to it, snatching it off the table and ducking behind the couch while Trevor blocked Steve’s path.

Another throaty purr. “I’m so ready for you to do wicked things to me.”

He was going to kill them, but first he had to stop her before it went any further. Steve called out a warning. “Melody, as incredible as this is, you’re on speakerphone. Stop, sweetheart.”

There was a beat before she swore, her sexy come-hither vanishing as her voice changed to a far more embarrassed tone. “Tell me you’re kidding.”

“Hi, Melody,” Jesse called. “Hi, girls.”

“
Fuck
.” She must’ve covered the phone because her voice was muffled, but all the guys heard her complain. “I hope you shits are happy. He had me on speakerphone, and I don’t know how many people just heard me make a fool of myself.”

Steve finally cornered Jesse and held out his hand. “Give it to me now, or I’ll break your fingers as well as your pretty face.”

“So testy,” Jesse muttered as he passed the phone back to Steve with a wink. “Sounds like there’s some fun in store for you for later, though.”

Steve ignored the urge to throttle him and stabbed the phone controls. “Melody, you there? We’re private again.”

She cleared her throat. “Well, that didn’t work out the way I hoped.”

“It’s okay. No one who heard you will survive the night,” he promised.

That got a small laugh in response. “Hey, Steve. I just called to say hello.”

“And quite the hello it was,” he said as he made his way out the front door for a moment of privacy. “I take it you’re having fun with the girls?”

“Well, if fun means I’m embarrassed half to death, and we’re laughing far too much, and in a couple hours I’ll need a designated driver—I’m having a blast,” she confessed.

“I like the sound of that.” Steve closed the door and lowered his voice. “And are you wet?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“I like the sound of that, as well.” He pictured her for a moment, the way her lashes fluttered when she was on the edge of coming. “You have fun with the girls tonight, and I’ll see what I can do about your other little problem later.”