Rosemary's Double Delight

ROSEMARY’S DOUBLE DELIGHT

Never Give Up

Divine Creek Ranch 4

Heather Rainier

MENAGE EVERLASTING

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ROSEMARY’S DOUBLE DELIGHT

Divine Creek Ranch 4

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

The middle of July…

The humid air hung in the large workshop as Evan stroked loose dust from the smooth oak surface with his hand. The odors of freshly sawn wood and turpentine permeated the shop as the radio played a Travis Tritt song.

“Why don’t you call Rosemary tonight?” Wes asked as he turned to the work table, wiping down the framework for the padded bench.

Fucking mind reader.

“Naw. She’d probably rather talk to you, Wes. I don’t want to upset her anymore.”
Anymore
. Shit, now even Travis Tritt was getting in on the fun, poking at the painful spot in his chest.

Wes continued in a reasonable tone. “Not talking this out is what’s upsetting her. She misses you. She wishes things were like they used to be, before…you know.”

Evan turned to look his brother in the eye. “Before I fucked everything up. Yeah, I know.”

“That’s not what I meant. If you call her, she’d be happy to hear from you. It’d be a start anyway.”

9

“We’ll see,” Evan muttered. The ball was in his court, and he stood there like an idiot watching it bounce away. “She working today?”

“Yeah, she usually takes lunch at eleven thirty,” Wes offered helpfully. “I could spare you for a while if you want to take her to lunch.”

The lyrics of “Anymore” mocked him as the song came to its final refrain.
“And I’m tired of pretending I don’t love you anymore.”

“I’ll think about it.” Evan looked at his watch. He’d stop at ten o’clock and take a shower. It would be good to talk to her. He missed the old times something fierce.

* * * *

Rosemary chatted with Jack Warner as she folded the shirts he was purchasing into a neat stack on the sales counter at Cheaver’s Western Store.

“How are things going with you and those Garner boys?” Jack asked as he handed her his debit card.

“All right, I guess. Wes seems fine, but Evan I don’t know about.”

“Be patient, sweetheart. He’ll come around.” Jack smiled at her compassionately. “They’re good men, and they deserve a good woman. Plus, they need someone to keep them on their toes. I imagine you’re up to that challenge?”

“I hope so. You, Grace, Ethan and Adam give me hope. The wedding plans going all right?”

“Oh, yeah. Are you coming with Wes?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t miss it.” She handed him his shopping bag.

“Well, hang in there. We’ll see you around,” Jack said with a wink before strolling off to the front door.

A few minutes later, a woman approached the sales counter and laid several items on it then plopped her over-sized, knock-off
10

handbag down beside them. Rosemary heaved a mental groan, remembering where she’d last seen this oh-so-annoying person.

Several weeks ago at O’Reilley’s, the woman had nosily approached Rosemary’s friend Grace while she was enjoying dinner with Jack, Adam Davis, and Angel Martinez and had the nerve to question her about the intricate gold necklace she was wearing. The necklace had been a gift from Ethan Grant, and the woman had made some ugly insinuations about Grace accepting such a costly gift from another man when she was engaged to Jack. Rosemary braced herself for whatever venom would spew from the woman’s mouth this time.

Elizabeth Owens sighed dramatically and spoke to Rosemary as if she knew her well. “It is such a
shame
that decent, hard-working men around here have the wool pulled over their eyes like that.”

Smothering a sigh, Rosemary replied, “I’m sorry?”

Remember it’s your mouth that gets you in so much trouble. She’s
not worth it.

“That
poor
man, Jack Warner. That gold digger he’s engaged to is one of
those
women in town. You know, the ones who like
group
sex
?” Elizabeth uttered the last two words in a stage whisper meant to be heard. “She’s bamboozled him into marrying her. She’s stolen three of the most eligible bachelors this town has. Someone ought to run her out of town. We don’t need that kind of immorality around here. The bible
clearly
states that—”

Oh, there she goes. Miss Holier-Than-Thou.

Rosemary interrupted her. “We should love our neighbor. You really need to check your facts before you spread any more gossip, Mrs. Owens. If you did, you’d know that Grace is an upstanding member of this community, self-employed, and well thought of by many people. If there’s an element of immorality in town, she has been more a victim of it than a perpetrator. Grace loves her men and is devoted to them. I imagine she will make a very happy marriage with Jack, despite what busybodies like you may say about her.”

11

The look on Elizabeth’s face was comical. Rosemary grinned when she saw her co-worker Bernadette approach with a smile, having overheard the exchange. Elizabeth’s jaws flapped together several times as Rosemary slid the neatly folded stack of merchandise to Bernadette. Rosemary lifted the stack of freshly hung shirts from the sales counter and walked away to place them on the rack.

After finishing with the sale, Bernadette sauntered over and said,

“I’ve never seen Elizabeth Owens struck speechless before. That had to be a first. She’s probably going to complain about you, honey.”

Rosemary scoffed and said, “Oh, she can bite my lily-white
ass
, Bernadette. What are they gonna do?
Fire
me? That woman and her self-righteous, gossiping friends are an embarrassment to Divine.

They can
all
bite my ass.” Bernadette first laughed then coughed, looking past Rosemary’s shoulder. She quickly excused herself.

“I’d love a bite of that, myself,” a deep voice said near her ear.

Startled, Rosemary jumped and turned. She knew exactly who it was even before she looked because her body responded to that rugged voice the same way every time. The shirts she was holding swung around her ankles as she turned, catching on her pant legs. Losing her balance, Rosemary fell into Evan’s powerful arms. He caught her against his broad chest and steadied her as she juggled the hangers in both hands.

Perfect. Rosemary looked up into Evan’s handsome face. His full sensual lips showed the barest hint of a smile. Her body rendered a triple-whammy reaction as she inhaled his clean, soapy scent. Her nipples hardened, and her cheeks became so hot they throbbed,
just
like her clit. She put Pavlov’s dogs to shame with her lightning-quick responses to his stimuli.

“Hi.” Evan leaned forward to kiss her cheek and she clearly heard him inhale.

Well fine, damn it. I hope he gets hard as a freaking rock. It seems
only fair.

12

“H–Hi. How are you?” she asked. She hoped he could see in her eyes that this was no rhetorical question she was asking.

He gazed at her with turbulent, dark brown eyes, hesitating before finally saying, “Confused, needy, and missing you something fierce.

How about you?”

“I—um. The same.” She wished the tremor in her breathing would stop. She looked down at the shirts, trying to remember what she’d been doing with them.

“Do you take lunch anytime soon? Could I take you out?”

“Yes, at eleven thirty.” Glancing at her watch, she added, “You’re right on time. Is Wes around?”

“Naw, just me.” He paused for a second before adding, “Is that all right?”

“Of course it is. I’ll grab my purse and let the office know I’ll be out for a while.”

Rosemary hung the new shirts on a rack and walked to the stockroom to check out. She glanced back at Evan and caught him watching her walk away. He had a sexy grin on his face and his cock was definitely taking notice if the big bulge behind his fly was any indication. Good. Knowing he was still affected by her kind of made up for her pebble-hard nipples and sopping wet pussy.

Rosemary stopped inside the stockroom doors for a moment and leaned against the wall, catching her breath. Was he finally ready to talk to her? Could they put the past behind them?

“Carol, I’m leaving for lunch.”

Reaching for the ringing telephone, Carol, the office manager and bookkeeper, said, “Your uncle is looking for you, honey.”

“I’ll get with him later,” she said distractedly as she went into her office and retrieved her purse.

Her Uncle Randy had different ideas, though, and caught her just as she was about to walk through the stockroom doors back onto the sales floor.

“Sweetie, you can’t be telling the customers off.”

13

Rosemary caught a glimpse of Evan standing at the front of the store talking with someone, before she turned back to her beloved uncle. “Elizabeth Owens is a mean-spirited gossip. I told her exactly what she needed to hear. She was gossiping about Jack, Ethan, and Adam. Did she happen to mention
that
when she came and cried on your shoulder?”

Randy gave her a long-suffering look. “It’s bad for business. She talks—”

“We do more business with the Divine Creek Ranch in a week than we do with the whole Owens family in a year. Seems to me like I did the right thing.”

Randy nodded and said, “You’re correct. But you know that’s not how she’s going to spin it when she tells everyone how she was mistreated here.”

“Oh, she can bite—”

“Your
ass
. I know,” Randy said, unable to hide a snicker. Her uncle was her senior by all of five years and had a hard time pulling the age card with her. He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder before crossing his arms on his chest, a big grin on his face. “Did you know Evan Garner is out there?”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. Word always spread fast around Cheaver’s Western Store, whether good or bad. “Yes. I’m having lunch with him. I’ll be back in an hour…or so.”

“Or so?” Randy looked at her, arching a brow. She elbowed him in the ribs as she went past him.

“See you in a bit. Want me to bring you anything to eat?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind. Anita didn’t have time to pack me a lunch this morning. Whatever you order is fine.” Randy deserved better than “whatever,” but Rosemary kept her thoughts to herself.

“’Kay, love you,” she called as she stepped through the door. Her uncle treated her better than her own father ever had, but he acted more like an older brother. As indulgent and kind as he was to his wife, he deserved better than the treatment Anita offered.

14

Evan waited for her, talking to two old-timers sitting on the bench by the door. He smiled as she approached, not hiding his enjoyment at watching her as she walked. When he looked at her like that, she felt self-conscious. She was aware of the way her rounded hips swayed as she walked, aware of her straight posture that pushed her big breasts out, and certainly aware of the throbbing in her clit as he continued to stare at her like a starving man. This was going to be an interesting lunch.

Rosemary held back an appreciative sigh as he opened the door for her, his thick, muscled biceps flexing sexily as he nodded a good-bye to the old men. She wanted to reach out and caress that bulging muscle, but they needed to talk first. She didn’t even know where to begin.

“Rudy’s?” Evan asked simply as he opened the passenger door for her and helped her climb into his truck. She couldn’t help but notice he seemed a little unsure where to begin, as well.

“Yeah, that sounds great. Will you help me remember to pick up lunch for Randy while we’re there?”

“Sure. So you’ve been all right?” he asked, looking out the windshield.

“Mostly, yeah. Wes tells me you’re really busy right now.”

He seemed grateful she’d broken the ice as he glanced at her and grinned. “Yeah, Jack has us building a whole warehouse full of furniture for Grace.”

Rosemary chuckled and said, “They know how to spoil a girl, that’s for sure.”

Evan put a hand on her knee for a second then drew it back cautiously. “Remember, she doesn’t know about all that. She only ordered three pieces, besides the custom bed.”

Pavlov’s dogs set to barking at his slight touch. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep the secret. So?”

Evan gulped noisily. “Yeah?”

“Confused?”

15

He nodded, neither smiling nor frowning.

“Needy? Missing me?” she asked, rubbing her sweaty palms on her jeans.

He kept his eyes on the road and nodded.

Rosemary searched his face, loving every plane and line of it. She liked the soul patch he’d grown beneath his lower lip. She’d liked the way it tickled her jaw when he’d kissed her cheek a few minutes before. Rosemary was glad he hadn’t gone for the whole goatee. Evan had such a strong, chiseled jaw that he didn’t need to hide it behind facial hair.

Rosemary licked her lips, wishing she could kiss him. Either he’d read her mind or he’d caught her gaze because she heard him groan quietly. He pulled into Rudy’s parking lot in one of the spaces in the rear. He sat motionless for a few seconds, looking out the windshield, the engine still running. Evan gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white then abruptly released it and rubbed his hands on his thighs.

He began almost haltingly. “Baby, none of this is your fault. I’m sorry I’ve been taking it out on you.”

“Nope, there is plenty I’m responsible for, Evan. Me and my mouth for starters—”

He held up a hand and cut her off. “That was years ago, baby, and you were right. I
was
a stupid boy. I was stupid for not seeing the big picture. I was a horn dog who couldn’t see past his own needs.

Marrying a bitch like Rita, there must’ve been something wrong with my brain.”

“Naw. You were just thinking with the
wrong
brain,” Rosemary said with a snicker, hoping a little levity would help the mood. Plus, he knew better than to give her an opening like that and not expect her to run with it. “Since we’re dredging up the past, you might as well say it.” She looked into his eyes and waited.

He paused for a few seconds. “Damn it. Sleeping with my brother? After turning
us
down time after time,” he muttered.

16

“I wanted to wait until after college when we would all be together again. I wanted it to be forever and then you didn’t want me anymore—” Rosemary couldn’t stop her voice from cracking even after all this time.

He surprised her by not raising his voice and quietly said, “I never stopped wanting you, even after I met Rita.”

Anger swelled in her at his words. A fat lot of good telling her that did her now.

“You brought her home and introduced her to everyone, even
me
,” she said, her voice trembling again on the last word. “You asked
her
to marry you.”