Montana Cherries (26 page)

chapter twenty-two

T
he last rays of color disappeared from the sky as the music started back up after the band’s break, and Ben grew anxious waiting for Dani’s return. Her brothers had wrecked both her hair and her outfit, but it seemed she’d been gone an awfully long time for repairs.

He was tired of waiting. And he was finished dancing with anyone but her.

If she didn’t show back up soon he would go to the house and find her. And if that happened, neither of them would be returning to the party at all.

Familiar laughter hit his ears, and he followed the sound to find Michelle talking with a man who appeared quite pleased with the attention. She’d been at Gabe’s side for most of the evening, seemingly on her best behavior, but she stood now, distanced from everyone else, just her and this man. And then Ben realized who the guy was. Ben had seen Michelle talking with him at the bar Sunday night. Or, rather,
flirting
with him.

Ben hadn’t said anything at the time, assuming it to be harmless. She’d had a few too many to drink, but she and Gabe had seemed to be having a good time.

But damned if she and the man didn’t look awfully chummy tonight. Which pissed Ben off.

His friend was changing his entire world—their child’s world—for her. And she still flirted with other men?

Not on his watch.

The sea of people parted as he crossed the middle of the dance floor. When he reached Michelle’s side, she glanced up at him and her laughter slipped.

“Dance?” he asked. It wasn’t really a question.

“I’m in the middle of a conversation, Ben.” Her flirting with
him
had ended a couple of weeks ago—thank goodness—and she looked at him now as if he were mud on her shoe.

“Your conversation is over.” Without waiting for a reply, he took her wrist and moved them toward the dance floor.

“Ben,” she gritted out, as she tugged against his hand as subtly as she could. “Let me go.”

“Not until you hear me out.”

“About what?”

“About you,” he said. He swung her into his arms and smiled as if he were thrilled to have her there. “And your marriage. Smile so people don’t figure out that we’re arguing.”

A bright smile lit her mouth. “Stay out of my marriage.”

He swung her out and back, rewrapping his arms around her to have her right up against him, and put his mouth to her ear. “I can’t do that. You’re married to my friend, yet you routinely seem to forget that.”

“I don’t—”

“Here’s the deal,” he interrupted. “I have money.”

With his statement she stopped struggling against his touch, and he gave her some space. They remained together, however, both dancing to the beat, and to the casual observer they would look like any other couple having a good time.

“I have a
lot
of money,” he clarified with yet another fake smile.

He’d known she would listen to that, because he’d overheard her telling a girlfriend this week about “her” new LA apartment. The woman was a money-grubbing, coldhearted bitch. And Ben would do whatever he could to protect his friend from letting that destroy him.

“And if I have to use every last cent of it to pay for
your
divorce,” Ben continued, “and to make sure Gabe gets custody of
your
child”—he stared straight into her eyes—“you’ll get nothing.”

“You have no right to talk to me like that.”

He ignored her. “You either start treating your husband like the good guy that he is, quit flirting with any-and-everyone, and pay attention to your daughter, or I’m going to rain hell down on your head.”

His speech shut her up. And honestly, it shut him up, too. He hadn’t been planning on saying all that, but he found that he meant it. Gabe was a good guy. His friend. And even though Ben hadn’t seen him in years before this trip, Gabe had opened his home to him without question the minute Ben had needed it.

That kind of favor had to be returned.

He and Michelle swooped around the dance floor, they smiled, they pretended a grand time.

“You can’t threaten me like that.” Michelle finally got her voice back.

Ben once again pulled her to him. “If that’s what you believe, then go on about your business tonight. Flirt. Hell, sleep with the guy. That’ll help my fight.”

“I don’t cheat on my husband.”

“No?” He wasn’t sure if she did or not, but if she hadn’t already . . . “If I hired someone to follow you, would that hold up?”

She stopped dancing, her breathing hard, and looked him up and down. “How dare you?” she spat out. Venom shot from her eyes, and he began to suspect that their ruse of enjoyable dancing was about to be up. Which was fine. He didn’t want her near him any longer.

“Your husband is by the band,” he told her. “Ignore your new friend, and don’t leave Gabe’s side again tonight. Or that apartment I’ve just set you up in is history. As is the life you’re hoping to fake your way through once you’re in LA.”

She eyed him, anger rolling off her, and without a word turned and walked away.

Standing behind her was Dani, and Ben immediately forgot about Michelle and everything she’d done to piss him off. Dani was back.

She was dressed, now, in a flowing skirt of turquoise and white that hit just above the knees and dipped longer in the back. Her own set of cowboy boots were on her feet, and there was something flimsy and clingy draped around her chest. He gulped. He couldn’t wait to take that off her.

She also had on the pink cowboy hat that Haley had brought her from New Mexico. Ben couldn’t help but smile at the contrast the hat made with the sex goddess thing she had going on in the light of the bonfire.

“Well, hello, darlin’,” he murmured.

Her brows shot up. “Where’d you pick up that accent, Hollywood? It come with the hat?”

He tipped his grandfather’s hat at her and winked. “Maybe. Or it might be because I’ve officially turned in my Hollywood card. Handed my apartment keys over to your brother the other day.”

“Yeah?” She glanced in the direction that Michelle had gone. “That why you were dancing with my sister-in-law?”

“Ah, babe.” He reached for her as the band started a new song. “I do love your jealous streak.”

“Please.” She made a face. “I am so not jealous.”

“Well, I am.” He pulled her into his arms. “Dance with me, woman. I think you’ve been in the arms of every man here tonight but mine.”

She gave him a throaty laugh, but she also twined her arms around his neck. Her body fit snug against his. “I seem to be a popular girl. Not that you’ve been standing around by yourself.”

“Oh, there’s that jealous thing again,” he murmured.

She softened and warmed in his palms, but her massive eye roll kept the mood light.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he told her. He stared down at her and made a point of capturing her lower body tight against his. At the sight of her he’d started to get hard, and he wanted to make sure she knew it.

Her eyes widened in pleased surprise.

“Of course, you’re beautiful every day,” he added. His hand was on the small of her back—the shirt she wore left the skin there exposed—and his fingertips took a quick dip under the material of her skirt to sweep across the top curve of her butt. “But tonight you’re glowing.”

She wiggled at his touch, and he grew harder with her movements. Short breaths came from between her parted lips. He had her ready to do more than dance.

“I guess it comes with taking two showers for one party.” Her words came out breathless.

God, he wanted this woman. Right now. And he didn’t want to let her get on that plane tomorrow.

“They love you, you know?” he said. “Your brothers.”

“I know.” She nodded. “And I even realize that they showed that tonight. In their own way. But good grief.”

He put his mouth to her neck. “Well, I liked it. It got you back out here like this.” He nipped her just underneath her ear, and her breasts pushed into his chest.

“Rein it in, big guy,” she whispered. “We have a party to get through before any of that can happen.”

“Too bad,” he murmured. But he put two inches between them, because it would be a long night if he had to spend every remaining moment of it erect. He captured her hand, and wrapping her fingers in his, brought their hands between their bodies. “Want me to take you to the airport in the morning?”

“No need. Cord’s got a flight out, too. He has a rental, so that’ll make it easy.”

There would be absolutely nothing easy about her leaving in the morning.

The volume of the music picked up as the band neared the end of the song, and Ben took a moment to spin Dani away from him. He needed a second to breathe, and he’d never been able to do that with her so close.

When he brought her back, she tilted her face up to his.

“I love being in your arms,” she said.

He couldn’t do this. He absolutely could not do this.

He couldn’t let her get on a plane and never look back.

Once again, he closed the distance. “Dani,” he started. He could see everything he was feeling, everything he wanted, right there in her eyes. She felt it, too.

“I—”

“Dad.” Haley tugged on a belt loop, cutting off his words, and he and Dani both groaned.

Dani made a move to step away, but he tightened his grip, keeping her in his arms. His daughter had the worst timing in the world.

“Yes, Haley?” he answered, careful not to show his frustration.

“Daddy,” she said, “Leslie says her doggie is having puppies and I can have one. Can I? You told me we would get me one.”

When he didn’t answer in the first second, she asked, “Can I?” once again, and he chuckled at both her unbridled enthusiasm and his unfit state. His daughter might be the death of him. Either that or Dani.

“Can we talk about this later?” he asked.

“But I need to tell her yes or no.”

He kept him and Dani swaying together, not wanting her to forget where they’d been, and all the while looking down at his daughter. She was literally bouncing, and he couldn’t get over how different she was.

“Yes,” he told her. “You may have one.” He’d give her anything she wanted, but there would be logistics to work out. “You’ll have to wait a few weeks after they’re born to bring it home, though. Puppies need their mothers for several weeks.”

She nodded, her face a mixture of confusion and trust, then was off, heading back to shout the answer to Leslie and Jenna, along with several additional girls who’d joined the trio. He also heard her inviting every one of them to her new house to play with her dog.

Ben brought his gaze back to Dani’s. “Can you believe she claimed to only want two friends? What have I turned her into?”

“She’s the life of the party.”

“Thanks to you.” He put his cheek next to hers. “Thank you for suggesting the therapist. I think Haley’s actually going to be all right.”

And he was, too. Because he’d finally figured out what love was.

Dani pressed her cheek more firmly to his, but she didn’t say anything. Ben kept them dancing.

“How’s the house search going?” she eventually asked.

“Great. I got an email earlier today from my agent. She sent pictures of a property on the lake not far from here, and it’s gorgeous. If there are no issues, it could be the one.”

It was a place where he could picture Dani and himself.

The song stopped, and she stepped back.

“No,” he said. “You’re dancing with me for the rest of the evening. Only me,” he stressed. “I want you in my arms.”

“But there are people here I haven’t seen yet,” she said. “They came to see me.”

“I don’t care.” They’d just have to do without, because he couldn’t handle another second with her anywhere but in his arms.

When she didn’t agree, he tried the only thing he knew to use. His smile. He knew she loved his smile.

At the attempt, a curve of her own lifted the corners of her lips, and she returned to his arms. “You don’t play fair, Hollywood.” With one finger, she traced the creases that ran alongside his mouth. “You know this smile can bring women to their knees. You could get anything you want with it.”

He clasped his hands behind her back. “And what if what I want is you?”

At his serious question, her mouth flattened. Her gaze turned uncertain.

The sound of silverware tapping against an empty beer bottle pulled their attention to Gabe, who once again stood on the trailer. Michelle and Jenna were at his side.

“Can I have your attention once more?” Gabe shouted through the microphone.

After the crowd hushed, he continued. “As you know, we’ve had another successful crop this year, and it’s in no small thanks to you.”

Cheers went up, and a couple of men snagged their wives and pulled them onto their laps. These people worked hard, and they played the same way.

“I couldn’t be more proud. Thank you all for the hard work, for the great effort, and for another terrific season.” Gabe reached for Michelle’s hand. “But I also wanted to let you know that within the next few weeks, Michelle, Jenna, and I will be moving, and I’ll no longer be the man in charge.”

Shock echoed through the crowd, and Ben saw Max making his way to the trailer.