Page 40 of Rocky Mountain Home

Huh. “A thing? Like more than once in a blue moon?”

He pulled back slightly, leaning his body away as if he were putting up a bit of a barrier in case she reacted poorly to his words. “We used to pick up one woman between the two of us, then Joel and I would make sure they had a very good time.”

Dare wrapped her brain around his confession. “Okay. That’s…”

He was waiting, trying for a don’t give a shit expression, but it wasn’t working.

She went for blunt. “I’m torn between this rush of oh my God at the thought of two guys built like you doing nasty things to me and how good that would feel, and a rush of negative oh my God that you and your brother—”

“Nothing ever happened between me and Joel,” Jesse drawled. “It was always about the woman, but yeah, it was a kink. We haven’t done that for years.”

Which was good, and bad.

Dare shook her head to knock out the images of being worked over by two Jesses before offering a grin. “Well, I’m not going to be a hypocrite and condemn you when my first reaction was to think how hot that would be.”

“Thanks. I’ll totally be a hypocrite and say no way in hell is another guy going near you when I’m around.”

He looked so serious Dare reached out and laid a hand against his cheek. “I’m not looking for any extreme fun and games these days.”

“Me neither, although I can’t wait to touch you again.”

A mass of information was swirling and twirling in her brain, but that blunt edge of sleepiness had finally returned. She fought to hide her yawn, but it was no use.

Jesse smiled knowingly. “I think that’s the real cue it’s bedtime.”

Dare nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

“I’ll be here.”

He slid to vertical, and she looked him over hungrily one more time, admiring the flexing muscles and tousled hair. He stood in the doorway for long enough she got a lovely mental snapshot that hovered in front of her eyes even as she closed them.

Chapter Seven

He’d followed her directions simply enough, which put them sitting in his truck, behind a three-storey building on Main Street, with five minutes to get to her prenatal appointment.

He was already on the sidewalk opening her door before he realized she hadn’t moved. Her fingers wrapped in a death grip around the seat belt crossing her chest, Dare turned her face to him but didn’t say a word.

He stepped back a little and waited.

She took a deep breath that rocked her shoulders up then down, but still didn’t move.

“Need a hand, darling?”

“Couple of shots of whiskey would go down fine right now,” she suggested.

Jesse hummed thoughtfully as he reached in to undo her belt so he could tug her unwilling body out the door. “That’s kind of what got us into this state in the first place.”

“I know.” She was staring at the building as if it held something putrid. “Tell me I have to do this.”

“You do have to do this. Buckaroo requires it of his mom, and he’s requesting you might want to shake those mama hen tail feathers a little quicker if he’s going to be on time for the show.”

Jesse wrapped his arms around her, lips pressed to her temple briefly. She shook in his embrace before pressing against him, a return squeeze like a rah-rah endorsement.

Dare pushed herself free and accepted the hand he held out. “Sorry about that. Momentary panic as I thought back to all the other times I’ve been in this place.”

“No prob. Makes sense—family doctor?” Why had he not thought to ask before?

“We’ve gone from childish illnesses to the disasters of teenage life, to post-accident mental health recovery, to grownup discussions on what I should use for birth control—which in spite of our current situation, I did have planned out. Yet this is the first trip that feels like a particularly adult thing to do.”