James’s ears perked and his heartbeat quickened when he thought he heard her voice. He raised his head searching through the crowd for her. To his disappointment, he realized it was someone else, a saloon girl serving a customer a couple of tables away.
They came in five minutes ago and luckily found a table before the real crowd came in a few minutes later. The place was packed. Unfortunately, their table stood closer to the exit door than the piano and stage in the saloon.
Trevor glared at him. “Relax, James.”
“I’m relaxed.” He frowned back.
“Oh? Well, you could have fooled me. You haven’t sat still for one second, and you just jumped right now.”
“No, I didn’t,” he refuted.
“Yes, you did.”
James heaved. “Okay, okay. This waiting is driving me crazy.”
Trevor swirled the whiskey in his glass. “Me, too.”
James stared at him keenly. “Since I had to go check out the train station today, we didn’t have a chance to talk about what happened last night. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
“Me, too.” Trevor paused, just staring to the side. “What do you think?”
“Think about what? What happened or if I think Belle is Isabelle?”
“Both.”
James took a deep breath and started. “Well, last night was amazing. Out of this world amazing. She’s so beautiful.”
Trevor’s eyes glazed over, and a serene smile spread over his lips. “Mmm, beautiful, desirable, all woman. You just want to hold her in your arms and…”
Then his face took on a serious look laced with a tinge of disappointment. “But unfortunately I guess this means there’s a good possibility she is LaRue.”
“You think it, too?” James’s heart hurt at the thought.
Trevor opened his mouth to say something when a female voice interrupted, “Well, look at who we have here?”
James’s attention ripped over to the lady standing beside their table. A smile spread over his face. “Sally, howdy.”
She leaned against Trevor and wrapped her arm around his shoulder in a too-welcoming way. As she dipped in, her cleavage caught James’s eye for a second until he quickly diverted his gaze back to her face. She then smiled in an alluring way, winking at him. She obviously saw him peeking and didn’t mind one bit.
“Nice to see you makin’ Eden’s Paradise your home, fellas.”
“We came to see Belle sing again,” Trevor responded.
Her brow lifted. “Belle? Yes, I figured that you would. She’ll be comin’ down in a minute. In the meantime, what can I get you boys, in drinks, that is? Anythin’ else, well, that comes extra.”
She winked at James again, and when James didn’t react, she threw her head back laughing.
Trevor looked at him, turned to her, and responded for them both, “We’ll just have two whiskey shots, Sally.”
She put her hand under his chin, tilting his head up slowly, “Comin’ right up, sweetie.” Then she blew him a kiss and walked away in a sultry gait while glancing over her shoulder at them.
Trevor gazed at James with a lifted brow. “What the hell was that?”
James shook his head and snorted. “You’re asking me? I haven’t got a cl—” Before he could finish his sentence, pain surged from his ankle up to his shin. “Ouch! Why did you kick me?”
Trevor put his finger to his mouth. “Shh, stop talking and look.” He pointed with his chin. “She’s coming down the stairs.”
James glanced over his shoulder just in time to see her descend in the epitome of elegance. She wore a pearl-blue gown that cascaded straight down to her shoes. The collar was all the way up to her neck with overflowing ruffles. The tight fit accentuated every curve of her breasts, waist, and hips.
His memory catapulted him back to last night with her naked on the bed, her long, gorgeous legs and her pussy that made him whimper in need to touch them once again. He imagined her full, soft breasts with her taut nipples erect, screaming for attention. He didn’t have the satisfaction of touching, fondling them last night. Trevor did. But seeing his partner touch them, pinch them, lick them, aroused him just as much, if not more.
Trevor let him read the note she left them when he awoke this morning. Now, it spurred his eagerness for the evening to come to an end so they could head back to the inn to continue where they left off last. Tonight, he planned on fondling, licking, suckling her breasts while Trevor watched, and he hoped to do far more than that.
Where were they? Her gaze scoured the room as she descended the stairs, but because the place was packed, she couldn’t see much. Had they come? Or had they stayed at the inn? God, she hoped not. Mat and John would be breaking into their room anytime soon. The last thing they needed was to get caught before they could find out what the handsome, secretive men were up to.
When she got to the end of the stairs, Jesse greeted her, much to her disappointment. “Miss Belle, you look beyond pretty tonight. You look like a princess.”
“Thanks.” She forced her smile and headed to the bar while he followed.
She rolled her eyes upward and silently sighed in frustration. “Jesse, I’m running late. I’ll be going up in a little bit. I want to drink something to soothe my throat. So I don’t have time to talk. Sorry.”
Glancing from side to side, she tried to search for them while she walked to the bar. Jack had already set her a glass of water on the bar.
He was one of the few men in the place who respected her, acted like her older brother. Unlike the pervert Jesse who never left her alone and looked at her like he owned her body and wanted to touch his property like he saw fit. She shivered in disgust
“All right, I’ll talk to you after your show then,” Jesse replied from behind her.
“Sure, that’ll be fine.” She looked back to nod.
He waved to her. “Good luck, Miss Belle.”
“Thanks,” she said while taking the seat at the bar that was reserved for her. Sally stood near there waiting for Jack to get her order ready. She had the freakiest grin Belle ever did see.
“Why are you smiling like that, Sally?” Belle asked, frowning.
Sally looked at the bar. “Nothing. Just nice to see the boys got to finally talk to you the other night.”
“You saw?” Her cheeks heated.
Sally’s smile widened. “Sure did. Saw them waitin’ for you outside and that they talked to you for quite some time. Ain’t that so sweet.”
Belle couldn’t help but smile herself. “They were so kind.”
Sally slid closer. “I also saw them escortin’ you home, too.”
“They’re staying at The Mayflower Inn, too. They wanted to keep me company. That’s all.” Belle lost her breath then.
Sally laughed. “I’m sure they did. So which one caught your fancy?”
Belle was at a loss for words. “Uh.” She wanted to scream,
Sally threw her head back, laughing. “Belle, the look those boys have whenever your name comes up, they ain’t interested in only friendship with you, honey. They want much more.”
Playing coy, she responded, “Really?”
She nodded. “Yes siree.” Then she leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Maybe you don’t need to decide. At least not just yet. Sometimes two is better than one.”
“What?” Belle’s eyes sprang open as she darted her gaze at Sally.
As Sally picked up her tray, she nodded with more emphasis this time. “You heard me, honey. You heard me.” Then she handed the tray over to Belle.
