How many times had I heard her name coupled with his on rodeo gossip sites? Too fucking many. It had killed me every time. Not because I had anything against the guy. I barely knew him. But it had happened often enough that I began to wonder if this asshole intended to stick around permanently. That maybe she might be serious about him.
A mistake, she had called him. Well, she was fucking right about that. And she was about to find out just how much of a mistake he was.
I was barely aware of moving people aside as I strode toward my wife. She caught sight of me and for a brief moment she looked like she had regrets. But it was too late for that. She nodded like she was paying attention to what Bobby was saying, but her gaze never left mine. Something he might have noticed if he had bothered to look up from her chest for a second.
I got right between them like he wasn’t there and took hold of her elbow. “We’re leaving.”
She stepped back. “No. I want to dance.”
“We’re not dancing,” I said.
“I didn’t ask you.” She tipped her glass to her lips and a flash of blue glinted. Her wedding ring. She hadn’t taken it off.
Something settled inside me. Relief, maybe. But the adrenaline still pumping through my veins demanded a release. She started this fucking game, but it was one I was more than willing to play.
“You’ll dance with me, won’t you, Bobby?” she asked, smiling up at him.
Bobby glanced warily at me. “Uh?—”
“You know, I always took you for a man who enjoyed having two unbroken legs,” I said conversationally. “Was I wrong about that?”
He didn’t need to think long about that. “I think this isn’t something I need to be in the middle of.” He tipped his hat to Essie. “Ma’am.”
She rolled her eyes as he disappeared into the throng. “Really? Violence isn’t the answer, Brax.”
“Then don’t pose questions where violence is the only reasonable choice, hellion. Now, get your purse. We’re leaving.”
“We arenotleaving.” She slammed her glass onto the bar top. Her dark hair swirled around her shoulders from the motion. “I want to dance.”
I glanced around. No one danced at the Painted Cat, despite the music blaring over the speakers. Peoplecame here to drink and find someone to bring home. That was all. “This isn’t a honkytonk, Essie.”
But she ignored me, looped her arms around my neck, and tipped her head back to look at me. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes sparkling. So fucking pretty. “Don’t you want to dance with your wife, Brax?” she asked in that husky voice of hers that went straight to my dick.
“I don’t know how,” I admitted.
She laughed softly against my neck. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll do all the work.”
Fuck, I liked that, her calling me baby. I was such a sucker for this woman, even when I was pissed as hell. My hands settled on her hips. She pushed her body to mine, pelvis to pelvis, chest to chest. She gyrated her hips in time to the old Guns N Roses song playing and turned us in a slow, lazy circle.
There was something so intimate about this. Our dance. My fury. Her teasing. All of our emotions on display right out in the open for people to see and interpret however they wanted to. I never did this. My past relationships with women—the handful I’d had, all lasting less than a year—had been even-keeled, even sedate. Maybe we’d hold hands in public, but nothing more than that. I wasn’t one for public displays, either of affection or anger.
But Essie wore her emotions like a second skin.
And I didn’t care who was watching. All I caredabout was my wife’s body pressed against mine with a look in her eyes that promised more.
“Is this so bad?” she asked, her breath sliding across my throat.
“No,” I grunted out. Having my wife’s body grind against me when my blood was already hot wasn’t what I would callbad. Risky, maybe. This place had a filthy bathroom, and I had half a mind to drag her into it. As the last notes died out, I said, “Nowwe’re leaving.”
“But I’m having fun,” she pouted, her bottom lip jutting out in a way I couldn’t resist.
“This fucking mouth.” I dragged my thumb down her lower lip. “I want to see this red lipstick smeared all over my cock, and it’s either going to happen here or at home. Your choice. And, hellion?” I leaned down so the tips of our noses almost brushed. “You are in so much trouble, honey.”
She blinked rapidly. And then she grabbed her purse.
I had seenEssie be a lot of things.
Happy, for example. I loved seeing her happy. Irritated, at me more often than not. Focused, before a big race, when the only thing on her mind was the horse beneath her and the barrels in front of her.