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An Excerpt From: COLT’S CHOICE
© Copyright
PATRICE MICHELLE, 2004.
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave, Inc.
Rockin’
Joe’s was just as he remembered it, a good-time bar with lots of drinking
and dancing. As he walked through the dim, smoke-filled room, country music
playing in the background, he spotted Mace and Elise sitting in a secluded
corner booth. He’d bet his last dollar Mace had brought many dates to that
very booth. Colt set his teeth and headed for the table, his boot heels
making a dull thud on the wood floor as he walked.
When he
slid into the bench seat beside Elise, she was now sandwiched between both Tanner
brothers. Just as he’d settled in his seat, Mace grabbed Elise’s hand as All
My Exs Live in Texas started up in the background.
“Come on,
Elise, they’re playin’ our song,” he drawled as he pulled her out of the
other side of the booth.
“See you in
a few, Colt.” Elise turned and smiled back at him as Mace led her to the
dance floor.
Colt
watched his brother swing Elise in his arms. His chest tightened as she
laughed up into Mace’s face when she missed a step and tripped. Mace caught
her and pulled her closer. Colt fisted his hands beneath the table and set
his jaw. He wanted to punch Mace’s square into the middle of next week.
Thankfully
the song ended and Mace escorted a breathless, rosy-cheeked Elise back to
the table.
She
fanned herself and smiled. “Can you get me something to drink, Mace? It’s
hot in here.”
Mace slid
back out of the booth. “Anything in particular?”
“How
about Sex on the Beach?” She grinned at him and gave Colt a sideways look.
“I haven’t had that in a while.”
Colt
groaned inwardly. The woman was way too sassy for her own good.
Mace gave
him a suggestive smirk before he swaggered away. Colt turned his gaze to
Elise and chose a neutral subject. “Looks like you had a good time out
there.”
Her
sparkling green eyes met his. “Yes, I did. I’ve never danced the two-step
before. It was fun to learn.”
“How’s
the website going?”
“Great.”
Her face became more animated as she talked. “It’s been a while for me, so
I had to pull out my textbooks. The code was a little trickier than I had
initially thought.” She noticed his raised eyebrow and rushed to assure
him, “But I think I have it all figured out.”
Colt
looked at her sincere face. “Something about you tells me you wouldn’t let
it go until you got it right, Elise.”
As she
gave him an appreciative smile, Mace returned with a whisky for himself,
Sex on the Beach, complete with a cherry on top, for Elise, and a beer for
Colt.
“Thought
you could use one, bro,” Mace said as he handed Colt a longneck.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t
mention it.”
As soon
as Mace sat down, a redhead slid into the booth beside him, her arm going
around his shoulders.
Her
arrival made Mace scoot over and Elise in turn was forced to move closer,
pressing her thigh against Colt’s. A jolt of electricity shot through him
as the heat of her leg touched his. With blood rushing straight to his
erection, he had to focus to concentrate on what the redhead was saying to
Mace.
“Where
have you been, darlin’?” she drawled as she cut her eyes over to Elise,
sizing her up.
Mace
laughed and said, “It’s good to see you, too, Lana,” before he turned and
introduced her to Elise and Colt.
Lana
turned pouty lips to Mace as a slow song started to play. “Come dance with
me, Mace honey.”
Mace
glanced at Elise as if asking for permission.
She
laughed and shooed him on. “How could you possibly turn her down?”
As Mace
slid back out of the booth, this time to be led away by the lady, Colt and
Elise watched the well-endowed redhead wrap her arms around Mace and pull
him flush against her body.
After a
few minutes, Elise must have realized she was still pressed against him
because she breathed out an embarrassed, “Oh,” and moved over a few inches
in the booth.
Colt
wanted to tell her to stay but knew better. He didn’t say anything even
though he missed her soft heat already.
They
drank their drinks in silence. He felt her inquisitive gaze on him as if
she were probing him and wondering about his thoughts.
He
refused to look at her. He didn’t want to look down into those gorgeous emerald
eyes, the kind of eyes a man could lose himself in if he wasn’t careful.
Mace and
Lana came back to the table laughing, arms wrapped around each other. They
sat back down, on the other side of Elise, forcing her to move back over
against him once more.
Colt
swallowed hard. He didn’t know how much more he could take. He and Elise
listened as Mace and Lana exchanged all kinds of sex innuendos. His own
libido had kicked into overdrive with the first brush against Elise, he
didn’t need any more stimulation. He felt like yelling, “Will you two get a
room, already?”
He
chanced a glance at Elise. Big mistake. She had finished her drink and
proceeded to suck the last of the drink out of the cherry. She met his gaze
and popped the whole cherry, stem and all, past her luscious lips into her
mouth.
He went
rock-hard instantly but resisted the urge to growl out his sexual
frustration.
Lana slid
out of the booth and said to Mace, “Come on, sexy.”
“Sorry,
Lana, but I brought Elise tonight.”
Lana
frowned and Elise cut in, “It’s okay, Mace, Colt can take me home.”
And
straight to bed, Colt thought without really thinking. He was thinking
with one part of his body, that’s for damn sure. He wanted her so bad his
balls throbbed. Why was wanting her such a bad idea again? he argued with
himself as the seductive pull Elise seemed to have over him reached out,
grabbed hold of his gut and squeezed. Tight.
When Lana
licked her ruby red lips in a suggestive manner, Mace turned to Elise and
Colt, saying as Lana pulled him away, “I love it when a woman knows how to
use her tongue for more than just talkin’.” He saluted them both as he
walked in the direction of the exit with Lana.
Colt
looked back at Elise, his body literally aching. Aw hell, he could keep his
emotions out of the mix. The truth was, physically he’d never wanted a
woman as much as he wanted this one. One way or the other, he’d convince
her to make their unplanned date tonight a real one.
“Don’t
worry, Colt. I’ll get a cab. I just didn’t want Mace to worry about having
to take me home.”
When she
finished speaking, she smiled at him. With a secret look in her eyes, she
touched her lips, then put something in front of him on the table. “Night,
Cowboy,” she said in a sexy Virginian accent as she started to slide out of
the booth.
Colt
looked down at the table in front of him. Sitting on the table was the
cherry stem tied in a nice, tight knot. And damn, she had done it all with
that delectable tongue of hers.
“Not so
fast, Princess.” He put a staying hand on her thigh.
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