Once inside, she greeted Bailey and Jenny Benedict, two cousins by marriage who worked there. She saw Michaela Powell, the newest hire at the roadhouse, and Angela, who was behind the bar, because Laci was on maternity leave.
She waved to the ladies and grabbed a booth in the back. The table was too large for just her, but there were no other alternatives for her except the few stools by the bar. She could never get herself situated on bar stools comfortably, no matter where they were. That might be a holdover from the asshole.
Yep, her inner imp was alive and well and hard at work after a very long hiatus.
Bailey came over with a menu and a smile. “Hey, Rachel. It’s been a while. How are you? How’s Libby?”
“We’re both good, thanks. She’s spending the day with her bff, and I decided to treat myself to lunch out. Has Laci had her baby yet?”
“Not yet.” Bailey smiled. “They have an appointment to go into Waco. I think they’re planning to induce, but she’s getting close to that date, and there’s a chance, she said, that the baby will come on its own.” Bailey grinned. “The daddies-to-be are getting more and more stressed. They were in yesterday, the three of them, for lunch.” Bailey chuckled. “Laci burped, and they jumped. They never took their eyes off her, not the whole time. It’s amazing that they managed to get the food into their mouths, so hard were they watching her.”
Rachel had never before felt this combination of joy for another and…and a deep inner sadness. Oh, how she envied these women she’d met since she’d come to Lusty! She never in her life would have considered that having two husbands could be a good thing for a woman.
No, your first thought was twice the work and twice the heartache.
Rachel told her inner imp to stop. She didn’t know how she managed to give Bailey a smile, but she did.
“They’ll forget all the stress and the nerves once that baby arrives,” Rachel said.
“That’s what I’m hearing.” Bailey sighed, and Rachel had no trouble imagining that the younger woman was thinking about future babies of her own. She knew from past conversations that Bailey had been married only for about a year and a half.
The woman shook her head and offered Rachel a rueful smile. “Let me grab you a beverage. What will it be?”
“Just water, with ice, please, but no lemon,” she said. Then she opened her menu and had a gander as Bailey went to get her drink.
The menu was different from the one offered at Lusty Appetites, though there were some common items, what Rachel thought of as basic comfort-foods, offered at both locations.
She had a sudden craving for a hamburger and fries. Instead of deciding right away, she decided to peruse the entire menu, thinking that something “healthier” would surely appeal to her.
The country music in the background, accompanied by the music of conversation, created a symphony of relaxation, and she felt the tension she’d been carrying since she left the house begin to dissipate.
A shadow fell across her menu, and she looked up, expecting to see Bailey Benedict ready to take her order.
Instead, probably conjured somehow by her conniving inner imp, a couple of far too thoroughly handsome and totally appealing men stood, side by side, looking down at her.
“Hello, Rachel,” Brandon said. “May we join you?”
She should say, “No, thank you.” She should say, “I’m on my day off and don’t want to deal with people.” She should say, “No, you’re too dangerous for my equilibrium and my peace of mind.”
But Rachel couldn’t say a damn word. Instead, without her permission, her inner imp grabbed a hold of her head and made her nod “yes.”
Brandon’s dominant head motion had her obeying before she knew what she was doing. She slid into the booth further, making room for him to sit beside her.
Trace slid in the other side, until he was sitting exactly opposite her.
“We’ve been hoping for an opportunity to see you again,” Brandon said.
Bailey arrived, with Rachel’s glass of water and two more menus. Rachel met her gaze, and the younger woman actually winked at her.
She looked from Trace to Brandon and wondered, almost absently, what the hell she’d just done by agreeing to have them sit with her.
Apparently, her damned inner imp had an opinion on the subject, and the words were loud and clear in her head.
You’ve decided to join the land of the living. Now don’t disappoint me and chicken out.
Chapter Four
Brandon could feel the nerves coming in waves from the woman seated next to him. But he could also sense her arousal. The Dominant in him wanted to gather her in and assure her she was no longer alone, that he and Trace would watch over her and her daughter and do the heavy lifting from here on out. Then he wanted to take her back to their house, strip her naked, and feast.
The twenty-first-century man, who totally respected women and was very strongly drawn to this woman, wanted to assure her that she had nothing to fear from him or his best friend.
It was a hell of a thing when a man’s two halves were at war with each other.
“Grandma Kate mentioned you have a daughter,” Trace said. “Why don’t you tell us about her?”
Brandon felt the change in Rachel. She relaxed and smiled. Score one for Trace.
“Her name is Elizabeth, though she goes by Libby, and she’s a very mature fourteen.”
“Does she look like you?” Brandon asked.
“A bit. Her hair is lighter, and her eyes are gray. She gets those from her father. But her face and the shape of her eyes and mouth, they’re mine.”
Brandon looked over at Trace.
“Would it bother you if we ask where her father is? I lost mine when I was fifteen. He was a soldier and died in the service of our country, over in Afghanistan.”
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. She made a
