Soldiers of Pearl 6: A Touch of Fear (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  She whispered a hello. Her friends made excuses to disappear, and she felt sick to her stomach.

  He stepped closer and looked her over. “That’s a pretty dress. Your coloring looks a lot better,” he said to her, complimenting her change of clothing.

  The pale green dress brought out the color in her eyes and was light, comfortable, and strapless.

  “Thank you.” She lowered her eyes and then looked around her. She noticed Dee and Georgia watching her and nodding, indicating for her to talk to Bandit. If her friends only knew what held her back. If they knew how scared she was of a man’s touch, especially an older man’s. All she’d ever known was Corbin’s touch and the way he made her feel dirty and like an object. She couldn’t get herself to focus on the fact that he’d never gotten too far and never raped her. But the things he had done would stay with her forever.

  “This is a great house. Sunny mentioned a game room and pool table. Do you know where it is?” Bandit asked her.

  “Yes, it’s downstairs. That’s where they have a bunch of movie memorabilia.”

  “Show me. I’d love to see it. The last time I was here we were all outside.”

  He motioned with his hand for her to lead the way, and they stopped at the top of the stairs as Cynthia showed up with a bottle of Bud for Bandit and a Chardonnay for Maggie.

  “Where are you two headed?” Cynthia asked with a smile.

  “Maggie is going to show me the game room. I haven’t seen it yet and heard you have a great pool table and some cool pictures down there.”

  “Oh yes, definitely check it out, but watch her. She plays a mean game of pool,” Cynthia teased.

  “Cynthia, I do not.”

  Cynthia rolled her eyes, and Maggie smirked.

  “Don’t trust her. She’s a sneak. She pulled one over on the guys and took all their money one night. Merlin has been practicing a bunch in preparation for a rematch.”

  Bandit chuckled, and she felt his hand at her lower back.

  She turned to look up into his brown eyes. “That’s pretty interesting. Maybe we’ll play a game or two.” He smiled.

  “Good luck,” Cynthia replied and headed down the hallway, probably to get more drinks. She was such a good hostess.

  * * * *

  Bandit could tell that Maggie was very shy and seemed almost scared. But he liked her. She was so beautiful and smelled so good that he couldn’t help but stand close to her as they looked at all the art, pictures, and memorabilia. Then he spotted a gorgeous painting. It was of the property here on the ranch that belonged to Perkins, Dugen, Merlin, and Karl. In fact, in the distance, were the four men on horseback, and on the porch stood a woman with long brown hair blowing in the wind.

  “This is amazing. My God, is that Cynthia?” he asked, moving closer.

  He looked at all the detail in the painting and how authentic it was that he knew it was the ranch and his friends. He looked for a signature of the artist.

  “M. Reed. I wonder who that is. This is gorgeous. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  He glanced at Maggie, and she looked emotional and then walked away. Maybe she didn’t like art. He was never one to really stare at a painting or get drawn to a bunch of things, but this one was really impressive.

  He watched her run her hand along the pool table, and he made his move.

  “How about a game?”

  “Oh, no, we should get back to the party.”

  “The party will be going on for hours. Let’s play. I’d like to see what you’ve got. Or are you scared I might kick your butt?”

  “Really? You, kick my butt?” she replied, holding on to the edge as he leaned forward and held on to the other.

  “Twenty bucks says I take you down real quick.”

  He looked her body over, noting the way the deep cleavage was accentuated by the strapless dress. She had a tiny waist and was so petite that he would love to feel her in his arms again. But his gut told him to take his time.

  “One game. Twenty bucks to the winner and show your money,” she said to him as if she didn’t trust him. Why did he have a feeling he was about to get hustled?

  * * * *

  As soon as he missed the second ball on his turn, Maggie went to town. She beat him, and he was begging for another match. One game led to another then another as some of their friends joined in to watch, laughing and roaring when either she or Bandit made a good shot.

  When his friends arrived, she felt a little nervous as their eyes remained on her, but she wasn’t going to let Bandit beat her.

  “Okay, final game, winner takes all.”

  “Bandit, you don’t have shit to bet. She took it all,” Logan said to him, and everyone else hooted and hollered, teasing him.

  He locked gazes with her, and she saw the seriousness in his eyes.

  “Winner takes all, and if I win, Maggie here agrees to go out on a date with me tomorrow night.”

  She felt the blood rush to her head, and her heart began to pound. Her friends smiled and cheered along with the men, but Bandit, Logan, Breaker, and Stack looked dead serious. She had to win. She couldn’t go out on a date with him. She couldn’t. She tried getting out of it.

  “Why should I play you again? I beat you seven times. You owe me a hundred and forty dollars.”

  “If I win this time, then all you have to do is say yes to a date? What’s the big deal? It’s a free dinner on me. Are you scared?” he asked.

  The crowd of friends cheered him on. Cynthia, Dee, and Georgia were encouraging her to go for it.

  “And if I win?” she asked.

  “You take him out to dinner,” Dee stated, and everyone cheered.

  Maggie was shocked and felt embarrassed. Even her friends were trying to push the issue. She tried not to look at Bandit. He was just so good-looking and tall. Very, very tall.

  “Come on and play already,” Sunny pushed, and they started laughing.

  Bandit won the toss to break first. In doing so, he sank all but two of his striped balls into the pockets. Maggie went next, sending every ball one after the next into the designated spots she called out. When she came to the black eight ball, she pointed to right-hand corner pocket and took her shot. The ball hit the side and went into the left-hand pocket. She lost the game, and the men all cheered. Bandit had a huge smile on his face as he half leaned on the pool stick and looked her over.

  “Why, Miss Maggie, looks like you and I have a date for tomorrow night.”

  Everyone congratulated both of them for a great round of pool and then began to leave the room. Maggie tried sneaking out, but Bandit touched her hand, stopping her. She was surprised that she didn’t pull away but, instead, froze in place.

  “Don’t go disappearing on me now. We have plans to make, doll.” He winked, and she felt her cheeks blush as she walked away.

  * * * *

  Bandit was smiling from ear to ear as he put the stick away and then walked over toward the painting.

  “Don’t look so smug. She screwed up the last shot. It’s not like you beat her because you were better than her,” Breaker teased him.

  Stack, Logan, Merlin, and Karl were there, too, taking seats around the pool table or making drinks by the custom bar.

  “That was great. She plays like a pro,” Merlin said as they took seats around the sitting area in front of the large painting.

  “That is some painting. It’s so lifelike,” Logan said, staring at it.

  “It’s by an M. Reed. Who is that?” Stack asked. Dugen and Merlin looked at one another, and Karl smiled.

  “She didn’t tell you?” Karl asked.

  “Who didn’t tell me what?” Bandit asked.

  “M. Reed is Maggie. She painted that for us. She’s an artist,” Karl said.

  Bandit was shocked. She’d seemed so touched by the painting one moment as he acknowledged how beautiful it was, and then she seemed as if she didn’t care. She was modest and shy and exceptionally talented.

  “So, where you planning on taking Maggie for your first date?” Merlin asked him.

  He looked at his team members. “Not sure yet, but I’ll think of something special.”

  Dugen cleared his throat and looked toward the stairs. Everyone except for the seven of them had gone back upstairs.

  “Just be sure to take your time with her. She’s really shy, and she doesn’t date,” Dugen told him.

  “She mentioned that,” he replied.

  “Why not?” Logan asked.

  Dugen looked at Merlin and Karl.

  “Not really sure why, but Cynthia thinks Maggie was hurt a while back, because she’s extra cautious. Cynthia doesn’t know what happened to her, but she keeps to herself and never accepts offers of dates,” Karl added.

  “Although those guys from Keanter were in town last week and totally hit on her. They mentioned stopping in the art gallery she works at Monday in Tranquility,” Merlin said to them.

  “How many guys?” Bandit asked.

  “I think four, or was it five, Karl?” Merlin asked.

  Karl kept a straight face. “Five I think. Brothers from Keanter.”

  “Don’t worry though,” Dugen said. “You’ll have your date with her tomorrow night, and maybe she’ll accept another one and not be interested in those guys. Maybe she’ll be interested in the four of you.”

  Karl and Merlin smiled.

  “Us? No, we’re not interested. Bandit is,” Stack stated.

  “It looked like the four of you were equally interested while you watched her play pool,” Merlin teased.

  “She’s a beautiful young woman. A very young woman,” Logan stated.

  “Oh give me a break. So she’s like twenty-three. What the hell is ten years when the attraction is there and so strong? We’re way older than Cynthia, and she doesn’t care,” Dugen added.

  “We’re not interested. It would never work.” Stack stood up.

  “Definitely not,” Breaker said and looked at the painting as he stood up and took a slug from his beer.

  Bandit saw right through their words as he exchanged glances with Breaker, Bandit and Stack, and then Logan. They were interested in Maggie. They were just scared, and that was an emotion none of them admitted to feeling, ever. Could they want her too? Could Maggie be the one to bind their friendship and connect them all on the most intimate level? He wondered, and then he hoped that they could all find happiness in Maggie like they deserved and that Maggie could find happiness with all of them as well.

  “I guess a lot rides on this date tomorrow after all,” he said, shocking his team, but not Dugen, Merlin, or Karl, who nodded then clinked their beers with his before saying, “Cheers.”

  Chapter 3

  “You’ll be just fine,” Cynthia told Maggie over the phone as she got dressed for her date with Bandit.

  “No, I won’t be. I don’t date. I can’t date a man. Men make me nervous.”

  “Don’t be silly. He’s a nice guy, and he cares about you already. I think his friends do too, and they’re taking things slow on purpose.”

  “His friends? What the hell are you talking about, his friends?”

  “Calm down and don’t freak out,” Cynthia stated firmly.

  “Well, I am freaking out. I should cancel. I should text him right now.”

  “Don’t you dare. You need to do this. For you. To be stronger and to get over whatever these fears you have stem from. Now, I know you’ve told me not to worry, but I do worry. Why are you so scared of men?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s going to be a disaster.”

  “No it isn’t. You might even enjoy yourself if you just let your guard down a little. I’m not saying a lot, just a little. Baby steps. This is a first date, and maybe more will follow if all goes well.”

  “Oh God, more? Jesus.” She felt her chest tighten and her breathing hitch as if her pathway was obstructed.

  “Calm down. Breathe into a paper bag. Pull yourself together, Maggie. It’s a date with a gorgeous man. You are beautiful, smart, classy, and sweet. You can handle this.”

  Maggie took a deep breath and released it.

  “I love you, Cynthia.”

  Cynthia was quiet for a moment. “I love you too,” she said and sniffled.

  The doorbell rang.

  “Oh God, he’s here.”

  “Go, and call me when you get home or, if not, in the morning. Good luck.”

  Maggie rubbed her sweaty palms down the front of her black skirt then adjusted the spaghetti straps on the cream-colored camisole she wore. She’d decided to wear a little more of a heeled sandal because Bandit was so tall and she felt self-conscious about her height.

  When she arrived at the door, the sight of him took her breath away. Apparently the sight of her did the same to him because Bandit just stared at her and slowly let his eyes roam over her.

  “God, Maggie, you’re stunning.” He then handed her a bouquet of yellow flowers.

  “These are beautiful. Come in, and I’ll put them into a vase.”

  He glanced back toward his truck parked in the driveway. It was a big truck. Navy blue, tinted windows, and a lot of chrome. It looked expensive, but she worried about climbing up into it.

  She placed water in a vase as Bandit looked around her small house.

  “This is really nice. Oh, and you have a lot of paintings. I didn’t think you liked artwork.”

  She wondered what he meant, so she gave him an inquisitive look as she arranged the pretty bouquet of flowers into the vase.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “You didn’t seem too impressed with that gorgeous piece at Sunny’s house.”

  She swallowed hard and placed the vase down then reached for her bag.

  “No, I like art. That’s a very nice piece, if you don’t look too closely,” she said to him.

  He caressed his knuckles along her cheek as he held her gaze.

  “Sounds like someone is a bit hard on their work.”

  She realized immediately that he knew she’d painted it.

  “It’s a pleasure meeting you, M. Reed.” He winked, and she smiled.

  He took her hand and led her toward the door. “Shall we?”

  She locked the door behind her, and he escorted her to the truck. She felt a little giddy, kind of excited, and as he opened the door, she was shocked to see Logan in the driver’s seat.

  She looked at Bandit, and he placed his hand at her waist then scooped her up into his arms and right into the front seat of the truck. Her thigh hit Logan’s, and he smiled.

  “Hey, gorgeous, long time, no see,” he teased, and she was speechless. She’d said yes to a date with Bandit, with one man, not two.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Bandit slid in and closed his door then reached over and placed her seatbelt on as he stared into her eyes.

  “I hope you don’t mind that Logan came along.”

  She shook her head, not really knowing how to respond.

  “Stack and Breaker couldn’t make it tonight. Perhaps another time. You know, we do everything together,” Logan added and then began to drive the truck.

  Maggie was speechless, but she wasn’t exactly freaking out and demanding that they let her out and to forget this date. Instead, a small heated sensation began to simmer in her core. Logan was just as handsome as Bandit, and what better way to get over her fear of men than to go on a date with two at the same time? If she could get through this, she could get through anything.

  * * * *

  Logan laughed so hard his belly ached. Maggie was definitely a little tipsy, not drunk by any means, but just more relaxed. When they’d first arrived at her place to pick her up, she looked shell-shocked, as if she might demand them to let her out of the truck. But she hadn’t, and once they’d arrived at the Inn on Main Street in town and ordered a few drinks, even saw some people they knew, all went well.

  He watched her closely. She was very classy, proper, and dainty. The sparkle in her eyes and the depth of emotion expelled from them as she spoke about her talent in art oozed over his flesh. He felt it all in his heart, his soul, and even in his pants. His cock had remained hard from the moment she’d slid down out of the truck, exposing her tan thighs. The more she spoke and told stories of conventions and crazy people she encountered, the more endearing she became.

  He was shocked at the emotions he was feeling, and one look at Bandit, as he held her hand and caressed her fingers as they talked, told him he was feeling it too. Then, suddenly, Logan wished that Stack and Breaker could let down their guard and just live a little and see who Maggie really was.

  “What about you two? I’ve been answering all your questions and telling all the crazy stories about work. What do you do, when you’re not hunting criminals in forests?” she asked then took a sip of wine.

  “That’s what we mostly do. We get called out across the state, sometimes out of the country, to find people who are lost or have been abducted. We chase down bad guys and bring justice to victims’ families,” Logan told her.

  She squinted as Logan turned away and played with his glass of beer.

  “You’ve done that for a long time?” she asked.

  “The past ten years,” Bandit told her, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

  She held his gaze.

  “It pays well, and we don’t have special talents like you do, Maggie,” Logan told her as he held her gaze.

  She remained holding his. “I bet you do. You just don’t see them as talents, like I don’t see my work as a talent but as something I enjoy doing. I can always see the errors afterward. I see what I would change if I could do it over. My art teacher in Virginia used to tell us that there are no mistakes in art. Every line, every drip, or touch of paint is special and unique to that painting. Maybe when you’re searching for someone in need, you use all your available resources, techniques, and even physical abilities to locate them and find them before it’s too late. Kind of the same thing in a way.”

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