Page 10 of The Cowboy's Temporary Solution

I sip the drink Virgie brought for me and meet Bernie's eyes across the table. She's staring at me with the same cat-like grin she's been giving me since she first spotted me with Ranger's arm wrapped possessively around my shoulder at the chapel this morning.

"So, y'all have been awful clingy." Bernie sips from a long neck bottle, swallowing the beer and leveling Ranger with a grin that's downright malevolent.

I can't help myself. I tighten the arm I have wrapped around the back of Ranger's neck like he's actually mine and glare back at the grinning blonde across the table.

"What's your point, Bern?" Ranger drawls back at her.

For a man who's three shots deep, there's not a trace of slur in his speech. Although I have a feeling that's going to changebefore long, since Virgie just dropped another round off at the table and the reminiscing hasn't slowed down.

Although, talk about Ranger's father seems to have been put on hold for a few minutes while everyone clues in to Bernie's observation about me and Ranger.

She shrugs at Ranger's terse tone, like she didn't even notice.

"Just sayin' is all," she tells him. "You haven't let go of the poor girl since you got off the plane but I don't think I've seen you kiss her not one time, Range."

Ranger shifts uncomfortably, his entire body going stiff beneath me, while Bernie smirks from across the table.

I know what she's doing. She's calling our bluff, which means she obviously thinks we're bluffing. Which just reminds me that she knows Ranger better than I do...which might be exactly what she's trying to point out.

Well fuck that.

Maybe it's the honkytonk feel of the bar, or letting loose with Ranger's brothers and friends after the funeral.

Maybe it's the fact that shots of top-shelf whiskey have been showing up in front of me all night, or the smug little smirk on Bernie's face as she keeps watching me and Ranger like she's looking for something to use against us.

Ranger wanted a fake girlfriend who would make sure his ex-real one believed he was off the market-- and he's the one with the impossibly hard cock digging into my ass that won't let me get off his lap so I can get some space and catch a fucking breath.

The man wants to convince them? I'll convince them.

Ranger

It was just supposedto be a couple of rounds in honor of the old man, while we shared a few of the stories about him that aren't appropriate for the fancy eulogies.

Somehow, the table that was supposed to just be my brothers and a few of our closest buddies has expanded into a group of a dozen or more of us and I'm in danger of losing count of how many drinks I've knocked back, seein' as how Virgie isn't letting the glasses stay empty.

Now that we're all a few rounds in, suit jackets tossed aside, music's playing, and lips are as loose as our ties, tellin' stories my old man wouldn't have wanted us passing around, all punctuated with laughter and curse words.

Another shot of whiskey slides down the back of my throat, hot on the tip of my tongue and sweet on the back. The high-end shit that Dad liked-- that'll no doubt leave me with a bar tab that'll hurt worse than the hangover tomorrow morning.

Seri's managed to make herself right at home in my lap and I'm thinking I could get used to having Serenity wrapped around me like this. I could get used to having Serenity wrapped around my body in a lot of ways.

Something about the way Bernadine has been sitting across the table, watching me and Seri like she's trying to solve a puzzle while she sips a beer from the bottle, has me on edge.

Sure enough, just when I'm getting comfortable; with Seri's arm around my neck, and my hand resting over her thigh; just as Rowan launches into one more "that time Kevin O'Leary tried to..." stories that have been going around all evening, Bernie interrupts with what I assume is meant to be a dare; pointing out that she hasn't seen me and Seri kiss yet.

I open my mouth to tell Bernie to mind her own business, when Seri's lip crash against mine. Shutting me up damn good.

This is the point I know I'm good and buzzed, because-- God help me-- I am powerless to put together a single thought as Serenity's tongue pushes between my lips like she's on a mission.

The bar fades away, the hoots and cat-calls sounding around us barely registering through the haze of whiskey and the taste of sweet cola and heat as Seri stakes her claim on me in front of everyone in O'Hare's bar today.

Her arm tightens around my neck, pulling me into her soft curves, like she expected me to put up a fight. Then her other hand rests against my cheek, those soft fingertips lightly rubbing against the stubble that's grown in since I shaved cleaned this morning.

My hands find her body-- one gripping her round hip, the other pulling her closer to me with a firm grasp on her thigh, till she must be able to feel what she's doing to me from the thick bulge diggin' into her ass now.

I like the weight of her pressing against my erection, and the feel of her fingers sliding into my hair at the back of my neck. I can't get enough of her heat or the soft glide of her tongue against mine, and I'm desperate to have more of her sweet curves filling up my hands.

The whiskey and the relief of finally getting a taste of the lips I've been craving since I first set eyes on this girl has me forgetting where we are-- until I feel the icy cold water dripping down my back and over my shoulders.

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