“Good.” I perch on the edge of the desk. “So, the emotional connection of it all didn’t get to you?” I say lightly.
He sighs. “I understand what she was getting at. But that’s not a true emotional anything and you and I both know it.”
“I get what she was saying too. And she’s right. If I wanted to watch people screwin’, that’s the part I’d be more interested in too, I guess. She’s a smart cookie. Got good instincts for the business she’s in.” I pause, considering if I should say this next part. “Speaking of, Anya mentioned how you talked to her about alternate careers.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I probably overstepped there. I don’t know—”
I touch his arm to draw his attention to me. “No, I think that was sweet of you.”
“Sweet, huh?”
I stare at the ceiling for a second, trying to figure out the best words to convey my feelings. “You treat me like gold. No question. But I’ve always thought it’s the way a man treats the other women in his life—even the ones he doesn’t want to bang—that reveal his true character. And you tellin’ her something like that, even though your club probably wouldn’t appreciate it…well, not many men would probably bother.”
“I didn’t say it because I want to bang her,” he confirms.
“That was kinda my whole point.” I lift one shoulder. “I can’t lie and say I’m super excited you watch beautiful, naked women gettin’ plowed on a regular basis…”
“Honestly, I’ve told you this before, I upload the files and look at the back end numbers more than anything.”
I snicker at back end and Rooster shakes his head.
“Anyway.” He holds my gaze for a few seconds before continuing. “Anya wants control over the uploading and all of that stuff. I’ll be more like tech support.”
I run my fingers through his hair and he rolls the chair closer to me, resting his hands on my thighs.
“Watching that really did nothing for you?” I ask, tilting my head toward the computer.
“That? No.”
“What does?”
He squeezes my hips. “Right now? I can’t stop thinking about peeling these jeans off, spreading you out on this desk and licking your pussy until my beard’s dripping—”
A knock at the door stops Rooster’s hypnotizing words. Probably a good thing since I was about five seconds away from letting him do exactly what he described. Which would be kinda rude to do on another man’s desk.
Whoever it is, doesn’t wait for an invitation. The door swings open and I turn my head. Ice steps in, amusement flickering over his intense face. “Sorry, thought you were done when I saw Anya out there.”
“We are.” Rooster stands smoothly, completely confident, while I’m off-balance from almost getting caught with my jeans around my ankles.
Shoot. Ice. Rooster said this was the president’s office.
I scoot my butt off his desk so fast my boots hit the floor with a hard clackety-thump.
“Shelby, hon, you mind giving us a few minutes?” While Ice phrases it as a question, the way he’s standing by the door doesn’t give me the impression no is an acceptable answer.
“Sure. Thank you for letting me borrow your office.”
“No problem, sweetheart.” For a guy named Ice, his tone’s awfully warm and affectionate. “The girls are all out in the main room.”
I glance at Rooster and he nods.
Off I go.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Shelby
I follow the music back to the main room. Someone’s cranked it way up. The lights have been dimmed but Ice was right, the girls are where I left them. Anya’s engaged in animated conversation with Heidi. Trinity’s relocated to her husband’s lap and seems quite content to stay there.
As soon as she spots me, Anya pops up and waves me over. The chair I’d been occupying earlier is taken. One stern look from Anya and the girl skedaddles like her butt’s on fire.
“Where’s Rooster?” Anya asks, glancing over my shoulder.
“I guess Ice needed to talk to him.”
She grabs my arm, staring intently at me. “Thanks for being so cool.”
I assume she’s talking about what happened back there in the office. “Yeah, sure.”
The music changes to something a little more in my neighborhood and I can’t help tapping my feet.
“I love this song!” Anya screams and claps her hands together. “Do you two-step, Shelby?”
Now we’re talking. “Is a frog’s ass water-tight?”
She frowns and blinks at me.
“Yes.” I jump up and she grabs my hand, dragging me out to the middle of the room where a few couples are dancing to their own beat that has nothing to do with the Texan twang spilling out of the speakers.
Shrill whistles rise above the music as Anya and I break into a simple Texas two-step. I think the noise is directed at us but I’m having too much fun following Anya’s shuffle-steps, twirling, and just being silly in time to the music to care. At the line about the rooster having twenty gals, guys shout and more whistles split the air.
While I’m spinning I catch Rooster and Ice standing near the meeting room watching us.
Anya laughs and shakes her head. “The only gal our Rooster has his eye on is you,” she shouts in my ear, referencing the lyrics.
“Ice seems to be watching you too.”
Her steps falter as they stare each other down for a few seconds. She shakes it off and hooks her arm around my waist, spinning us away.
“Nah, he was best friends with my daddy. Thinks he’s lookin’ out for me now. That’s all.”
While I digest that bit of information, we continue to spin and twist together as if we’ve done this dance dozens of times.
“You’re good!” I yell over the music.
She answers by wiggling her eyebrows and shaking her hips.
As the music fades someone throws on another, slower country song. Remy prowls over, panther-slow, and leans in to whisper something in Anya’s ear. She nods and throws a quick glance over her shoulder before dancing away with him.
Actually, dancing isn’t what I’d call their movements.
I’m not alone for long. Heidi taps my shoulder and holds out her hands. “Teach me a little?”
Bless her sweet soul, now I don’t look like a dipstick out here all by myself.
I show her a few steps and she picks up the moves quickly. By the next song we’re turning, spinning and twirling like crazy. Not the smoothest performance but we’re having fun.
ROOSTER
By the time Ice and I return to the party, the lights have dimmed another few notches. From the look of things, brothers have already decided to start working on earning their pussy patches.
Fuck me. I should warn Shelby. After her reaction to Anya’s scene, the whole pussy patch challenge might be one degenerate event too many for her to handle.
“Glad they’re gettin’ along,” Ice shouts to me over the upbeat, fiddle-laced music.
I follow his line of sight to Shelby and Anya tearing up the dance floor. Damn, even after Anya made her so uncomfortable, Shelby’s not snubbing her. She has more class and kindness than most women I’ve known. I haven’t stopped thinking about what she said before Ice interrupted us either.