Matt’s thigh bunched and flexed beneath her palm as she loved him with her mouth. Her nails lightly traced his balls as they pulled tight against his body. He made a small sound at the back of his throat and then said her name as he came.
Sometime right after, he pulled her up and encircled her with his arms. “Condoms. Next time there’ll be condoms.”
She laughed, totally happy.
Until her phone rang. She picked up the receiver and looked at the caller ID window. “I’m sorry, it’s one of my sisters.” She hit the on button. “Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“Beth, I’m busy. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m fine.”
“You know, you can’t run off after these dinners, the twins blame themselves.”
“Beth, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” She sat up and grabbed a robe from the nearby chair and pulled it on as she stood and headed for the hall.
“Tate, you take the brunt of dealing with them and then you run away. We all feel guilty about that. Why don’t you let us help?”
“Beth! For fuck’s sake! Let it go. You can’t have everything. I give you all ninety-nine percent but I’m allowed to have my own feelings about dealing with them. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t want to. I’ll see you in the morning but I’m warning you, don’t bring it up again.”
“Tate…”
“Good night, Beth. I’m hanging up now. I love you.” She hit the off button and turned off the ringer. When she turned, Matt stood there in the doorway to her bedroom and yep, he looked better naked than in clothes.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Family.” She shrugged. “I expect you know what I mean.”
He moved to her, pulling her into his arms. “I do indeed. Can I help?”
She laughed, tossing the phone on the couch. “I think you’ve done your part in my stress relief.”
“Well, come back to bed, I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve.”
“Sweet talker.”
He’d stayed until nearly two but as both of them needed to be up early, she talked him into going home. Not that it stopped her from sleeping on the side of the bed he’d been in, loving his scent.
Not only that, but he’d asked her out on a real date for the following Saturday night and she’d agreed.
She headed into town to the Honey Bear where her siblings were all meeting for breakfast before the twins headed back to Atlanta. They were taking summer classes to finish school early.
Ignoring Beth’s frown, she kissed everyone and took the seat they’d been saving. A full house, so full they’d had to push two tables together to fit all eight siblings, two spouses and four children.
They had coffee and talked around the dinner the night before. Things had eased up by the time they’d all eaten and headed their separate ways. Anne, Beth and Tate all walked to the shop to open up.
“I had sex with Matt Chase last night.”
Anne, who’d been cleaning her scissors, looked up, surprised. “You did?” Plopping into Tate’s chair, she put her hands on her lap. “Do tell. And don’t dream of skipping a single detail.”
“What’s going on?” Beth wandered past.
“Tate was just going to give me all the details of her sexual encounter with Matt Chase last night.”
“What? That’s what busy meant? Shit, I’d have hung up on me too. Tell us.”
“I didn’t hang up on you. I told you I was hanging up.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “Details I don’t care about. Matt Chase, naked, in your bed? That I care about.”
Tate made sure the place was empty and told them all the details, including their plans for a date that Saturday.
“It’s about time. He’s only been looking at you like a hungry puppy for the last month.”
Tate looked to Anne. “What do you mean?”
“Tate, you’re so clueless. He shows up where you’re going to be as many days a week as he can. You two have lunch together what? Three days a week? He calls here just to say hey. You make enough food for two when you bring your lunch. He likes you. And that’s no surprise to me.”
“He’s out of my league, Anne. So far out of my league I’ve made a pact not to think about it overmuch until it comes crashing down around my ears.”
Anne looked angry. “Damn you, Tate. Why do you have such a low opinion of yourself? Why do you let Dad make you feel this way?”
“Okay, we’re done now. I have a client in about five minutes.” Tate shooed them all away from her station and looked out the window at the fire station across the street, wondering if Matt was inside.
Chapter Six
“Beth, I’m throwing myself on your mercy. Please go shopping with me.” Tate showed up at the front desk at closing time on Thursday night.
“Come to my parlor said the spider to the fly.” Beth chuckled. “You’re in luck. You don’t even have to go shopping. I know how much you hate it so I went shopping last night and picked up a few things for your date. Come to my apartment and try them on.”
They drove over to Beth’s place and Tate sucked it up and tried on the outfit, undergarments and shoes her sister had bought.
“Since you’re going to the Tonk, I thought this might suit best.” Beth held up a black dress with a full skirt, covered in red roses. The bodice was tight, with three-quarter sleeves. “I think it’ll give you lots of movement when you’re dancing. And let’s face it, Tate, no one dances like you.”
Tate liked the dress immediately and even got over feeling exposed by the deep vee of the neckline. It didn’t make her look like a super model or anything, but it showcased her better features and camouflaged her not so good ones—namely her thighs. With a pair of pretty heels and her hair done just right, she’d do in a pinch. Okay, more than that, she looked pretty and what woman didn’t like to look pretty?
“Thank you, Beth. It’s perfect.”
Beth grinned. “It does look really lovely on you. By the way, we’re going to the Tonk Saturday night too.”
“We?”
“Me, Nathan, Anne and Royal. What? You think we’d just throw you to the wolves over there?”
There was a reason the Murphys did their drinking and dancing at Reba’s over in Riverton instead of The Tonk. The Tonk wasn’t their place, was generally filled with people who had made fun of them when they were younger.
“Well, I could pretend to be annoyed but you’d see through me. Thank you.” Tate hugged Beth. “I appreciate the back-up.”
“Tate, I don’t say this enough, but I’ve always got your back. It’s not that I feel like I owe you for raising me. You’re my sister and my best friend and I love you. We’re family and that’s what family does. If anyone says one wrong thing I’m planting a boot in their ass.”
Tate laughed. “Well, I’d pay to see that one.”
“You ready for your date tomorrow?” Marc took his shot as he spoke to his brother.
“It’s not like I’ve never been on a date before.”
“Not with the one you haven’t. Liv’s all worked up.” Marc grinned and his eyes gravitated to his wife who sat at the front of The Pumphouse at her usual table.
“You shouldn’t bring her. It’s smoky in there. It’s not like you have to protect me from Tate Murphy. She’s barely five feet tall.” Matt chuckled.
“You say that as if I have a choice in what my beautiful wife does. She assures me we’ll get a table near the back doors which are open during the summer.”
“They’re all planning on something,” Shane rumbled as he looked at the table.
“Count on it. Maggie’s the ringleader no doubt. She wants to be sure we get there early so we can welcome Tate properly. And she warned me about those stuck up bitches I used to date and how I’d better be sure to make Tate feel more welcome than she felt.” Kyle grinned.
“For a little thing, your woman is scary.”
Kyle laughed. “And now yours is even smaller.
What’s Tate? Like five-one?”
“She claims five-two but I think she’s fudging a half an inch. There’s a lot to her.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to getting to know her better. I have to say I heartily approve from my time with her at your place a few weeks back. When are you going to tell Momma and Daddy?” Kyle asked.
“I’m trying to get her to come to dinner on Sunday. I figured I’d talk to Momma tomorrow afternoon. I need to pick up some stuff they’re donating to the firefighter’s auction. I’m sure adding another plate won’t be a big deal.”
Marc laughed. “No big deal? Yeah, you keep thinking that.”
Matt couldn’t believe his eyes when Tate opened her door. She stood there in a black dress covered in big red roses. Bright red lips, silver hoops in her ears. She’d done something to her hair so that it hung in smooth, pale waves around her face. She looked like a fifties movie star.
“Holy shit. Tate, you look gorgeous.”
She blushed and he couldn’t help but kiss her on her neck.
“Thank you. It’s Beth’s doing. She picked it out. You look very nice too. I haven’t seen you dressed for dancing.”
He kept an arm around her waist and pressed another kiss just beneath her ear, up the side of her face and over her brow. “You taste good.”
“My, you’re very fancy with the compliments. By the way, a few of my siblings are going to be at The Tonk tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”
He escorted her to his truck and helped her in.
“Of course I don’t. My brothers and sisters-in-law will be there too. They’re all anxious to get to know you.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that won’t make me nervous or anything.”
“They’re all very nice people. You already know Liv and Maggie.”
“Sort of. It’s not the same, working for someone. It’s not like I’m friends with them or anything.”
He nodded, chewing over that mentally as he drove. “Well, okay, if you say so. It’s hard for me to know and all, they’re part of my life so I just think of them as friends.”
“Liv was your girlfriend too, right? For awhile a few years back?”
He laughed. “Yes. Odd isn’t it? She married my little brother and she’s going to have his baby in September.”
“Odd, yeah that’s a word for it.”
“Does it weird you out?” Admittedly, he hadn’t thought of that, of how the woman he’d want to be with would feel about Liv.
“Well, I don’t really have a place to be weirded out. It’s just a date.”
“Tate, it’s not just anything. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable being with me when we’re out. There’s nothing between me and Liv, hasn’t been for years now. She’s one of my best friends and my brother’s wife, that’s it.”
“This conversation is making me uncomfortable.”
He laughed. He liked it when she got prim and sort of prickly. They pulled into the parking lot of The Tonk and he hopped out, heading around to her door to open it.
“What is it with the men in this town and these damned trucks? Can’t you all have cars that aren’t fifty feet off the ground?”
He helped her get down and tried not to smile. “You’re just a bitty thing, I’ll have to get a ladder for your side. Not that I don’t like helping you in and out but…”
“My God you talk a lot.”
He looked at her, surprised but her grin brought a matching one back to his lips. “You’re kinda spunky for someone so small.”
She took his arm and hmpfed.
Tate was nervous as hell. She’d never been to The Tonk but was thankful that through the sea of people she sighted her sisters and brother across the room. They appeared to be sitting with a bunch of Chases. God, they all looked so pretty. There she was, a dumpling in a dress and everyone else was pretty. Figured.
Still, the music caught her within moments. The way it always did. And she didn’t feel so much like a dumpling anymore. She felt graceful and a little bit sexy.
“Looks like you’re a girl who loves to dance. Which is lucky for me, ‘cause I’m a guy who loves girls who love to dance. Fate is a beautiful thing.” He spun her into his arms and swayed a bit. “I like the way you feel against me.”
“My word you’re quite the flatterer.” So much so it made her all giddy and weak-kneed. “I love to dance. Always have. We go to Reba’s every other Saturday.”
He kissed her and spun her again, leading her through the crowd toward the other side of the club where their family awaited. Only the disbelieving stares directed toward them made Tate uncomfortable and pissed off.
“Hi, honey, you look beautiful.” Nathan stood to kiss Tate’s cheeks, sensing her distress.
“Thank you. You all look fetching as well.” She grinned at her sisters and Anne’s boyfriend Royal before turning to the Chases assembled there. “Hi, everyone.”
“I think you know most everyone. Kyle and Maggie, Liv and Marc were at my place a couple of weeks back. The big lunk there is my oldest brother Shane, his wife Cassie. Guys, this is Tate.” Matt pulled a chair out for her and she sat down, feeling very grateful for her family there.
“Nice to meet those of you I haven’t met before. While we’re introducing folks, this is my brother Nathan, he teaches at the high school with Maggie. My sisters Beth and Anne and Anne’s boyfriend Royal Watson.”
“We’ve all introduced ourselves but we hadn’t met Matt yet.” Nathan squeezed her hand briefly.
“Tate and I have an appointment with the dance floor. When our waitress comes by can you order me a beer? Tate, sweetness, what would you like?”
“Oh, beer is fine.”
Matt stood and escorted her through the crowd down to the dance floor just as the music changed to something slow. He pulled her close against his body and eased her into the dance. Right off they matched. Their rhythm was the same, and everything else but the music and his pale green eyes on her fell away. She studied his face in the low light. He was the kind of handsome that was nearly pretty but not quite. His nose was just a little bit crooked but it’s what took him straight into masculine handsome. High cheekbones defined his face and a light beard covered his chin and edged the line of his jaw. All in all, it made everything inside her go gooey.
Dangerous to let him make her feel that way but she couldn’t seem to grasp her caution with him so close. Swaying there, their bodies moving as one she might almost believe he could love her. And even if he didn’t, it didn’t matter. He treated her with respect, made her feel sexy and funny, there was simply no reason she could see to not enjoy him.
“You’re so beautiful, Tate. Have I told you that lately?” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss her temple and then her lips.
But that bugged her. It was like he said it just to say it or something. Beautiful was Cassie Chase or Liv. He’d run through his share of beautiful in his lifetime and his flattery, comparing her to them just made her mad.
“I don’t need that stuff.”
“What stuff? And why are you so pissy?”
“Pissy?”
“Yeah, you’re cute with your chin jutted out and all but I like it when you’re snuggled up to me even better.”
“Look, I don’t need compliments. Other women you’re with may expect it, but I’m not them. I don’t want empty flattery.”
He stopped and pulled her out onto the back deck, past their families. Once outside she yanked her arm away from him and took a step back. “Don’t ever manhandle me again.”
Matt felt like she’d punched him in the stomach. What a fool he’d been. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel unsafe with me. I just wanted to talk to you out here.”
“Just ask me. I’m not a pet. Don’t just yank me around like I’ve got no will of my own.”
He couldn’t help but be charmed, touched and really turned-on by the spark in her eyes.
“Of course. I didn’t think.”
She relaxed and
he did as well.
“Now, repeat this bullshit about empty flattery, please. Because it sounded to me like you called me shallow.”
“What? I’d never say that.” She reached out and touched his cheek and he saw the sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry. Did I make you feel that way?”
“We’re both kinda touchy, huh?” He grinned. “Yeah, I felt that way. Why are you upset that I complimented you?”
“Look, I don’t need that, okay? I’m all right that I’m not all supermodel gorgeous. I have eyes. You have eyes. I’m not Liv, I can’t even knock on the door of the kind of beauty your brothers’ wives have. Don’t shit me because it insults me. We’re here, I’m fine. I’m not some bimbo who needs to be massaged. You’re totally in, right? You know you’re getting some, so spare me the lubrication with the flattery.”
Did she not know? He backed her against the railing and caged her with his arms. “Yes, my sisters-in-law are lovely women. But there’s more than one kind of beautiful and none of them can hold a candle to you. You are beautiful. I’m not making that up. Although, it’s nice to know I’m in later.” He chuckled. “Tate, when I look at you, I see a beautiful woman. Curves in the right places, beautiful eyes, lips that call to me, your smile melts me. I don’t say things I don’t mean. Especially not to someone I care about and respect.”
Because he couldn’t resist, he leaned down and kissed her. It started slow but built until he was on fire for her.
“Well, now. Did you hit your head or can a real woman get in on this action?”
Stunned, Matt broke the kiss and looked up to see Melanie standing there, wearing a smirk.
“Slumming on the wrong side of town, Matt? Trust me, I’m better than she is in bed and my dad isn’t an alkie and my mom’s not a slut.”
Not quite comprehending that anyone could be so cruel, Matt stepped in front of Tate to shield her from Melanie’s verbal assault. But he should have known she wouldn’t take being shielded that way. She stepped around him.