Page 14 of Wellspring
“I could help you wash it off,” she purred with a coquettish smile.
Heller took a sip of his drink and grimaced.Probably wasn’t up to the standard he was used to, Cade supposed, though anything he’d find once they left the Penny would be even worse.
“C’mon, Millie, don’t hog Cade all to yourself,” another girl protested.She caught Millie’s arm and pulled her to her feet, promptly taking her place in Cade’s lap.“He’d much rather spend time with me anyway.”
“Now, girls, you know you’re all my favorites,” Cade protested, because if he didn’t, he’d end up in real trouble.To prove his point, he shifted so Izzy was sitting on one knee and patted his other thigh for Millie to come back.She did with a flounce and a squeal that made Cade want to wince.“Say hi to my friend Erick, girls.He might appreciate some love too.”
Even if he hoped Heller wouldn’t take them up on it.
“Hi, Erick,” the girls chorused, though neither of them made a move off Cade’s thighs.
Heller didn’t seem distressed at their indifference, or at Cade’s use of his first name.“Ladies.”He rose to his feet with a small bow.
“Ooh, a gentleman!”Millie sidled over to Heller’s lap as soon as he sat again.“Don’t get many of them around here, do we, Izzy?”She wrapped an arm around Heller’s neck, and damn, but Cade shouldn’t find the blush that bloomed in his cheeks so arousing.Izzy squirmed closer, so at least Cade would have an excuse if Heller happened to notice.
Not that Heller was looking his way.Before he could say anything to Izzy, who was running a finger down his cheek, another saloon girl wriggled her way onto Cade’s empty thigh.
Cade wrapped his arm around her waist automatically.He might see the girls here more as sisters than anything else, but their attention still felt good.He didn’t get a whole lot of human contact out on the range.He might insist he’d only done what any good man should have done when he shot Farrell after he caught the man trying to abuse Chel, but everyone at the Penny insisted it made him a hero—their hero, anyway.“You’re looking better than the last time I saw you, Ruby.”
Ruby hadn’t been there when Farrell was still in charge.Abigail had taken her in after she’d been beaten half to death and abandoned.That didn’t seem to matter, though.She fawned over Cade the same as all the other girls.And he adored her right back.
“I could show you how much better.”She ran a hand down Cade’s chest, and Izzy pouted.
“No one would dare raise a hand to anyone in here after what you did for Chel.”Not to be outdone, she slipped open a button of Cade’s shirt and slid a hand inside.“How is Chel, anyway?We haven’t heard from her since you took her away.”
“She’s doing good,” Cade said.“Miz Roarke don’t stand for any nonsense on the ranch.”Cade suspected Chel had taken a lover once or twice from the other men in the outfit, but it had been on her terms, not anyone else’s, and if he’d noticed her spending more time with Trujillo, the outfit’s cook, recently, well, that was her business and he was keeping his nose well and truly out of it.
“Give her our love when you see her again.”Before Millie could say more, Heller put her off his knee—gently, not that Cade would have expected him to shove her off, no matter how uncomfortable he clearly was at her attentions.
“I think I shall return to the hotel.The chance to sleep in a real bed is appealing.”Heller flushed again and drained his glass of brandy.“Ladies, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said as he stood.
Cade started to rise as well.“Do you know the way back?I can come with you.”
Heller shook his head.“I can find my way.I would not want to take you away from your… friends.”
Cade heard what Heller didn’t say, but the girls herewerehis friends—nothing more, perhaps, but no less important for being friends, not lovers—and he didn’t see them often.“Good night, then,” he said as he sat back down.
His movement had displaced Izzy and Ruby enough that his lap was momentarily empty.Momentarily because Millie took advantage of the opportunity to reclaim his attention.
ERICK FOUNDhis way back to the hotel easily—he had been paying attention on the way to the saloon, despite the distraction of a clean and freshly dressed Webster walking beside him.Cade—he was Cade in Erick’s thoughts now, at least—had obviously wanted to impress the girls at the saloon.Any hope that Cade might possibly return his interest was well and truly dead now, and all for the best.The way the saloon girls were hanging all over him, and Cade plainly welcoming their advances, made his preferences all too clear.
Not that he should have expected anything different, Erick acknowledged as he let himself into their room and stripped down to his union suit.He’d let a few sidelong glances and his own attraction feed his imagination.Well, he knew better now.Cade could have any one of the girls who’d thrown themselves at him.Judging from what they’d said, he’d already taken one of them back to the ranch with him.Whether she was a wife or merely a lover, he was clearly still open to taking up with others in her absence.
It’s none of your business, he told himself as he slid beneath the sheets.He had no right to judge the other man’s actions, no claim on him at all, much as he might wish otherwise.He fell into a restless sleep, waking at any noise from the hall outside as other guests made their way to their rooms.As the night wore on and Cade didn’t return, Erick tortured himself imagining in him one of the saloon girl’s beds.Though why only one?Cade was strong and virile—he could take his pleasure more than once.Or maybe they’d share him.A vision of Cade sprawled naked across a mattress and surrounded by fawning women refused to be banished.Erick groaned and took himself in hand, imagining himself in the saloon girls’ place while damning himself for an attraction he’d have to fight all the harder to keep hidden.
Chapter Ten
CADE LEThimself into the hotel room the next morning, in charity with the world.Abigail had found an empty bed for him the night before—after demanding to know why he was asking her for a bed when every girl in the place would have willingly shared hers.Abigail had taken one look at his burning cheeks and seen right through his excuses.If that tall drink of cool water doesn’t appreciate you, he’s not worth your time.
After Heller’s disinterest in Millie and the other girls, Cade actually hoped he might have a chance.Or maybe it was just saloon girls Heller wasn’t interested in.But if Heller was too snobbish to want them because they earned their living that way, he’d lose all the respect he’d earned in Cade’s eyes by treating them so courteously.
“Did you sleep well?”he asked when he saw Heller still in bed, despite the later than usual hour.He’d hoped to give Heller some space and let him have the bed to himself since it was a small room and even smaller bed.As much as he would have enjoyed spending the night so close to Heller, he doubted either of them would have gotten a good night’s sleep if he had.
“The bed was comfortable.And you?”Heller asked, not meeting Cade’s eyes as he rose to dress.
“I always have a good night,” Cade replied with a cocky grin to hide his reaction to the intimacy of watching Heller dress.
“That I do not doubt.”Heller straightened his collar and gestured toward the door.“Shall we go to breakfast, or do you care to refresh yourself first?”
