Page 25 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

“Good. Because short of locking her up, I’ve got nothing.”

“I think we should pay those ladies over at Mr. Steele’s old place a visit.”

Lifting his right hand, Ben grasped the back of his neck, massaging his neck and rotating his head. “For what? Is this plan for you or Selah? She told me you were eyeballing Dillyn’s friend.”

“Nuh-uh, big bro. You were the one sweeping women up off their feet and then freaking out over it.”

Ben remained silent because Lucas wasn’t too far off from the truth.

“We might be able to kill two birds with one stone. Maybe we can convince them to hire Selah for something, and she’ll have an opportunity to spend a little time with the types of women she seemingly wants to become.”

Ben was about to protest.

“It’ll help prepare her for all those guys trying to paw at her. We’re not blind. Selah’s attractive. She could probably use their influence.”

Lucas had a point. A big point.

“They moved here for a reason,” Lucas continued. “Apparently, the city ain’t all it’s cracked up to be; otherwise, they would still be there. Maybe whatever Selah is itching for is over at their place.”

“We could keep an eye on her,” Ben said almost to himself.

“Yep. We could.”

“You sure going over to that ranch ain’t about the woman who had you drooling before all hell broke loose?”

Lucas played it cool. “Ain’t no woman ever made me drool.”

Ben laughed. “Is that right? Selah made it seem like you needed a whole beach towel to clean up after you.”

Lucas thought it was nice to see his brother almost laugh. It had been a while.

Ben knew that Lucas had a solid idea. “Do we have a bottle of hot sauce?”

Lucas was confused. “Hot sauce?”

“I’ll need it when we go to visit the ladies. I heard it goes down good with crow.” They cracked up, laughing even harder as they headed into the house.

As their laughter died down, Lucas decided to test out a theory. “Dillyn is kinda hot.”

Ben tried to remain nonchalant. He shrugged. “I guess if you’re into skinny women. She had nice boots.”

“You seemed pretty into her last night.” Lucas chuckled. “And she is curvy in all the right places. For the record, I like all women. Skinny or thick, it doesn’t much matter to me.”

Ben shook his head. Most women liked Lucas too. Unlike Ben, Lucas was a playboy, and Ben didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

“A walking and talking siren just walked onto our property, and even you had to notice. I refuse to believe the only thing that stood out about Dillyn were her boots.” Ben’s silence caused Lucas to laugh out loud. “Okay, man.”

Ben had noticed, and that was the source of the problem. He had enjoyed the brief time they’d spent together the night they first met. Dillyn had him thinking about crossing a line that was way out of his character. That was also the weekend his life blew up. He’d felt guilty about that night ever since. When Ben saw Dillyn at Frank’s, he felt drawn to her in ways he’d never felt with Lana. That made Ben feel even guiltier.

“Maybe when we go over there, you can turn on some of that Cash charm? Ask her out.” Lucas knew better, but it was worth a shot. His brother was out of sorts and needed to get back in the game.

Ben turned serious. “You know I’m not ready for that.”

Lucas sobered up too. “I know, but it’s been two years.”

“I said I’m not ready.”

Lucas wasn’t trying to be pushy, but he saw the way Ben looked at Dillyn. Maybe she could help him heal. “You’re never going to be ready. You just have to do it.”

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