Page 57 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"The same place my father does," Connor said darkly. "What else did they say?"
"They told her to stay away from me," Josiah said.
I wished I could tell him he was wrong, but he wasn't. "Yeah, they said that too, but they also hinted that people were worried I was dating Brooks as well."
"Because you are," Brooks said. "I don't give a shit what they think."
"Even if you lose your job?" I asked.
"I'll get another one. I'm not giving you up for anything." Brooks placed a hand on my hip and pulled me to him.
"He won't fire you," Connor said. "I won't let him. I'll talk to him. Tell him to mind his own fucking business."
"I'll do the same with my father," Riley said.
"I don't want to cause problems with your families," I said.
"You didn't." Connor placed his hands on my cheeks, almost hitting Brooks in the face. "They did that. They're small town, mountain men with small town, mountain men ideas. It's time they caught up with the rest of the world." He pressed his forehead to mine. "Okay?"
"Okay," I whispered.
"If it makes you feel any better, my father is a hypocrite," Connor said. "I know for a fact he's been unfaithful to my mother. But this—" He lifted his head and glanced around. "None of us is going behind anyone else's back. If he wants to throw stones, he should throw them at himself."
Riley made a confused sound at the back of his throat. "Do you think my father is projecting?"
"I think my father dragged him into this," Connor told him. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were the only ones who had any problem with this situation. No one else seems to give a crap."
I thought about that for a moment. "Right. Everyone else has been lovely." At least, they were to my face.
"Everyone else loves you almost as much as we do," Riley said. "I think we should get ready for the party and go down there and show our fathers we won't be intimidated."
"That's exactly what we're doing." Connor had a bag dangling from his arm. He reached into it, his eyes on me. He handed me a white dress with long sleeves. "I brought your costume."
I took the dress and shook it out. It fell to just above my knees, the skirt flaring out.
"Go and put it on," he said. He exchanged cagey looks with the other guys, so I knew something was up, but I wasn't sure what yet.
"Okay," I said slowly. "I'll be right back." I disappeared into my bedroom, deliberately closing the door behind me. I stripped down to my underwear, before putting the dress over my headand tugging it down into place. A glance at my reflection in the mirror showed an almost innocent looking version of myself. A woman waiting for four bad boys to corrupt her. Or maybe she wasn't so innocent and she was waiting to corrupt them.
Either way, I grabbed a jacket, slipped my feet into boots and stepped back out of the bedroom.
I let out a squeak of surprise, seeing four men dressed entirely in black, their faces covered in masks.
"I've just stepped into a video." I looked from one to the other, taking in the different details on their masks. Silver, red, gold and black. Mysterious, and hot enough to melt my panties.
"Is this where I start running?" I asked. It might be worth enduring a flare-up.
"After the party," Connor promised. "We have some business to take care of first. We'll show them we're together and we won't be messed with. Then we'll come back here and mess around." Speaking so firmly, with the mask over his face, made my nipples tighten.
These men were a pure fantasy come to life and they were all mine.
"Okay, but no throwing anyone into a snow bank," I said.
"I make no promises," Riley said. "If I do it, no one will know it's me with this on." He gestured at his mask.
"Except us," Brooks said.
"Yeah, but you're not going to say anything," Riley said. "Don't tell me you wouldn't help dispose of the evidence."
