Excerpt of Winston Brothers by Lori Foster

TANGLED DREAMS

Even though it was an incredibly busy night at the bar, even though he could barely hear the newest order over the din of loud conversation, music, and laughter, he heard her. Her every thought. Chase watched her, saw that her mouth wasn’t moving, that she wasn’t actually talking but he could still listen to her.

She was on the other side of the bar, standing by a group of Halloween decorations that his sister-in-law had designed out of a bunch of pumpkins he and his brothers had carved. The haystack and jack-o’-lanterns were festive and provided an amusing backdrop to the serious expression on Allison Barrow’s face. He’d known her several months now, ever since his brother had married her best friend and boss, but he’d never before noticed how cute her round, wire-framed glasses looked on her small nose or the fact that she had a tendency to straighten them needlessly.

He noticed now. But why?

His youngest brother, Mack, bumped into him. “Hey, Chase, orders are piling up here. You want to stop daydreaming and help me out?”

Chase gave Mack a distracted glance. “Come here a minute, will you?”

Mack paused. “What?”

“Over here. Come on. Now stop right there.” Chase positioned him exactly where he’d been standing. Mack was in his last year of college, still studious and alert. Surely he’d pick up something. “Now, look over there at Allison. See her, right past the redhead with the skinny guy in a suit? By that Halloween display?”

“Yeah, so?”

“What’s she saying?”

Mack turned to stare at Chase in disbelief. “What’s she saying? How the hell should I know? I can barely hear you, and you’re only two inches away from me.”

Frustrated, unable to really explain, Chase said, “Well, look at her, dammit, and try.”

With a sound of disgust, Mack again stared toward Allison. Chase saw his gaze warm a little, then go over her from head to toe, and for some reason, that annoyed him. Now that he’d really noticed Allison, he didn’t particularly want Mack doing the same. He’d always thought Allison was cute, in an understated, sort of just- there way, but suddenly she looked very sexy to him. She was twenty-five, on the short side, dark blue eyes, medium blonde hair. Nothing special. Certainly not the type of woman to appeal to his baser side. But tonight he couldn’t pull his attention away from her. He suddenly heard her every thought when he’d sure as hell never been a mind reader before. And he only heard Allison, no one else. There was something going on between them, and it didn’t make any sense.

“Well?” Chase prompted.

“She looks different, doesn’t she?”

“It’s the clothes,” Chase explained, having noted the difference himself. It had taken him several minutes to finally pinpoint what made her looks so unusual tonight, so…sensual. “She’s wearing some sort of old- fashioned, vintage dress.”

In truth, she looked like a woman straight out of film noir. The dress was a deep purple gray, and even from a distance, Chase could see that the color did things for her eyes. Or were her eyes just brighter tonight, more alert?

There was subtle black beading on the top of the dress that caught the bar lights and drew his attention repeatedly to her less-than-outstanding bust line. At least, he’d never thought it outstanding before. But now…Now he was imagining her naked and almost going crazy because of it.

The waistline was tight, showing off her trim build, and when she turned, Chase not only saw that she had seamed stockings but also that the damn dress had a flat bustle of sorts, a little layering of soft material that draped real nice over her pert behind, a behind that would feel just right against his pelvis if he took her from the back…

“It looks…I dunno, kind of sexy on her, doesn’t it?”

“Mack.” Pulled from his erotic thoughts, Chase said it as a warning, surprising himself and his brother. His tone had smacked of possessiveness, and he didn’t like it, but also didn’t like another man, not even his brother, thinking Allison was sexy. He wasn’t quite used to himself thinking it yet. “Pay attention.”

“To what? From what I can tell, she’s not saying anything. She’s just standing there all by herself, looking sweet. In fact, she looks a little lost.”

Chase rubbed his face. “So you don’t hear anything?”

With a strange look, Mack asked, “What exactly am I supposed to be hearing?”

Damn. There was no way Chase could repeat the thoughts he’d picked up on so clearly. They were fairly… intimate. Explicit thoughts. Sexual thoughts. About him. He almost groaned. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Mack frowned at him. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Go on before we get mobbed by disgruntled customers. You take that end of the bar, and I’ll handle this end.”

With one last curious look at his brother, Mack sauntered off. The bar, owned by the brothers, was especially packed tonight. It had gone from being a popular watering hole to a regular hangout. People not only drank there, they danced and played billiards and pinball. Cole, the oldest brother and recently married, was thinking of expanding into the empty building next door. He’d discussed his plans with Chase just the other day, and Chase was all for it, especially if it meant they’d hire in some help. The bar was plenty prosperous enough now to support several additional employees, and with Zane, the third brother, getting his own computer business off the ground, and Mack finishing up college, it was certain the two younger brothers would likely work less at the bar.

Cole had originally bought it to support the family after their parents had died. He’d worked damned hard, making ends meet and taking care of three much younger brothers. Chase, as the second oldest at twenty- seven, was still nine years younger than Cole, with Zane twenty-four and Mack just turned twenty-two. Chase had always tried to help out as much as possible, and he and Cole were friends, as well as being as close as brothers could be, but none of them had expected the bar to eventually be so popular. It had given them a great start in life and had guaranteed employment for the younger brothers, but it had served its purpose and it was time to think of the future.

Their clientele was as much female as otherwise, being that until Cole’s recent marriage, they’d all been bachelors - according to the local papers, the most popular bachelors Thomasville, Kentucky, had to offer. A lot of women lamented Cole’s altered state, which sent an over-flow of attention to the remaining brothers. Chase smiled. He wasn’t all that interested, being something of a recluse and extremely particular in his sexual appetites, but Zane and Mack sure appreciated all the female adoration.

The six to eight o’clock rush was finally starting to wind down when Chase was hit with another of Allison’s vivid internal dialogues. He’d been fending off the stray thoughts, doing his best to ignore them, but there was no way to keep this one out. A tray in his hands, a dishrag over his shoulder, he paused on his way to the sink, like someone had frozen him in mid-step.

Such nice shoulders. So sexy. Probably hard and smooth to the touch. And hot. They’d move when he thrust, the muscles shifting…

And then a visual image joined the words, an erotic picture of him making love to Allison. It was carnal, sensual, and showed him exactly what she’d look like naked, laid out beneath him, straining against him while he drove into her. Her small breasts were flushed, her pale pink nipples were puckered tight. Her eyes were closed , her blonde hair fanned out on a pillow, her hands desperately clutching his shoulders…

The tray almost slipped out of his hands, and he barely managed to catch it. He shook his head, trying to clear it, totally overwhelmed by a wave of raging lust and heated need. He turned to stare at her.

She was looking at him, and as he stared, gaze intent, her face turned pink and she ducked her head. Like a sleepwalker, Chase plunked the tray on the bar, threw the dishrag to the side, and started toward her.

She looked up at him, her eyes now rounding with alarm, and she took a hasty step back, but the haystack and pumpkins were there, crowded into the corner, making it impossible for her to flee. Which was just as well, because if she’d run, he’d have simply chased her down. All he could think of was getting his hands on her.

Chase stalked her, keeping her in sight, stepping around those people loitering or dancing in the middle of the floor, dodging tables and ignoring greetings. He didn’t like being played with, and while he didn’t know how she did it, he knew Allison was in some way responsible.

He stopped right in front of her and she looked up at him, one hand pressed wide over her heart as if to keep it contained in her chest. He started to question her, but then he noticed her lips, soft, pink, parted slightly, and he wanted so badly to kiss her he couldn’t think straight. He could almost taste her on his tongue, hot and wet and woman sweet. His hands shook - hell, his whole body shook.

Like a wild animal scenting a female in heat, it took all his concentration to control his basic urges. He’d never felt this way before, not even with the most accommodating women, and they were rare indeed. His desires were usually specific, a little risqué to the average woman, something that needed to be catered to in order to achieve mind-blowing pleasure. He simply didn’t get overwhelmed with lust at the mere sight of a woman.

Anger washed over him, making him tremble. He didn’t want to notice her, dammit. She’d never affected him this way before, so why now? How did she do it? He stared down at her, at that tempting mouth, and every muscle in his body tensed. He cursed softly.

Oh, God. Maybe I should have chosen Zane. He’d have been willing at least, and so much easier. He wouldn’t question what was happening…

“Like hell!” Chase took her shoulders and shook her slightly. Through clenched teeth, he growled, “You’re right, Zach wouldn’t hesitate; he’d probably already have you in the back room with your little bustle in the air. But I’m not Zane, and I didn’t start this, you did.”

She stared at him, her shock apparent, her face draining of color.

Jealously mad him a little rougher, a little less discreet than he’d normally be. He took care to keep his private life private. Not that he was a monk, but he sure as hell wasn’t the outgoing, obvious ladies’ man that his younger brother Zane was. His hands tightened on her narrow shoulders and he leaned low to say, “You can just get thoughts of Zane right out of your head.”

She blinked up at him, the pulse in her throat going wild. “What…what are you talking about?”

They were so close, her glasses fogged just a little, then slipped down the bridge of her nose. Chase could see the small flecks of gold in her deep blue eyes, like little explosions of heat. His jaw worked for a moment, then he said with just a touch more calm, “How dare you even consider my brother?”

She gasped, putting both her palms on his chest. The touch burned him, making the lust that much worse. He wanted to howl. He had never in his adult life had this happen, had lust rage over him so suddenly, so uncontrollably. Hell, of the four brothers, he was the quietest, the most discriminating in outward appearances. And control, especially with a woman, was something he insisted on.

She glanced around, her movements nervous, then whispered in a rush, “Chase, what in the world is wrong with you?” Her face was flushed, her eyes round, and she looked embarrassed and alarmed and very worried.

Chase, too, glanced around. Several people were looking at him, including his damned brothers. They must have radar, he thought, wondering how all three of them had known he was going to make a fool of himself. But the fact that he had, that it was over a woman, was rare enough that he knew they wouldn’t ignore it or let him forget it. He simply didn’t cause scenes, ever, but especially over women.

Turning back to Allison, striving for a pleasant look rather than that of a crazy man, he said, “I’d like to talk to you. In private.” The words slipped out through his teeth and the parody of a smile he’d forced to his mouth.

She rolled her lips in and bit them, her gaze still wary, then nodded. But she looked far from willing. She looked nervous as hell. He could feel her nervousness, damn her, just like he’d felt everything else.

TANGLED IMAGES

Mack Winston was minding his own business as usual. His thoughts were focused inward, mostly on career choices and disappointments, but he whistled carelessly, unwilling to let anyone witness his concern. The day was snowy and cold, getting colder by the moment, and his nose felt frozen. He was distracted enough not to care.

But the second he entered the family-owned bar he saw them, all three of his damned older brothers and his two sexy sisters-in-law, huddled together at a single tiny table. They looked…conniving.

They’d been working on him lately, trying to cheer him when he didn’t want them to know he needed cheering. It irritated him. He liked being known as the carefree brother, the fun brother. It suited him.

Since it was early and the bar was not yet open, they glanced up at him when they heard the door close. Then they did a double take. The women suddenly smiled, and their smiles were enough to make the slowest man suspicious. And despite his brothers’ ribbing, he wasn’t slow.

Mack’s whistling dwindled. He thought about making a strategic retreat, but then Zane, only three years his senior, called out, “Ha! A lamb for the slaughter! What perfect timing you have, Mack.”

Cole, the oldest brother and the most protective, shook his head, looking somewhat chagrined that Mack had shown himself at this precise moment. Chase, the second oldest and the quietest, glanced at Mack and snorted. Both their wives looked as if an enormous problem had just been solved. Whatever the problem, Mack knew he didn’t want to be the solution.

Zane grinned. “I tried to save you, honestly, but I’ll be out of town.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “You’re too damn willing, Zane. It unnerves me.”

Chase merely snorted again. His wife, Allison, patted his arm. “You were never even considered, honey, so relax. There’s no way I want the female masses of Thomasville ogling your perfect body. You’re a married man now, and that means I’m the only one allowed to ogle.”

Mack backed up two steps.

Sophie, Cole’s wife, now seven months pregnant, ran over to Mack and latched onto his arm. “You understand, I couldn’t let Cole do it. Not that he would have, anyway. You know how reserved he is. But my God, it would have started a riot! Can you just imagine how the women would react to Cole?”

Mack didn’t know what she was rambling on about, but he almost smiled anyway. Sweet Sophie harbored this absurd notion that Cole was perfect, and that every female he met wanted him in the most lascivious manner imaginable.

Mack had to agree that in many ways, his older brother did border on perfection. Cole had pretty much raised him and Zane, with Chase’s adolescent help, after their parents’ deaths, and he’d done a great job of it. But Cole was so over the top in love with his wife that he no longer even noticed other women. They could riot all they wanted, and Cole wouldn’t care.

Both Cole and Chase had only recently married, and Zane swore Mack would be next, that the Winstons had somehow been cursed or blessed, the two remaining bachelors still uncertain which it was. Oh, their brothers felt blessed, and the sisters-in-law were wonderful. It was just that Zane didn’t ever want to marry, and Mack didn’t want to marry anytime soon.

He’d been very cautious around women ever since Chase had unexpectedly succumbed, proving the virus to be very real. Of course, Mack had been shunning the dating scene for other reasons as well. While he was in college, his studies had taken precedence over everything else. Well, everything except one very sexy, very enticing woman - who hadn’t wanted a damn thing to do with him. There were still times when he dreamed of her, and someday he hoped to meet a woman like her, one that could turn him on with just a look. But until then…

Sophie’s hand tightened on his arm, and Mack tried to step away. He didn’t get very far. Though she looked small and delicate, Sophie had a grip like a junkyard dog hanging onto a prized bone.

Zane sauntered over, his eyes glinting with humor. “I still think I’d have been the best choice. But you know I’m going out of town for that convention, so that leaves you, little brother.”

Mack swallowed, eyeing each relative in turn. “What exactly does that leave me to do?”

Sophie squeezed a little closer, and her tone became cajoling. “Why, just a little modeling.”

His brows shot up. “Modeling?”

“Yes.”

Chase snorted again.

“All right.” Mack decided enough was enough. “Sophie, turn me loose, I promise not to bolt. Zane, I’m going to flatten you if you don’t stop grinning. And no, Chase, there’s no need to snort again. I already gather this isn’t something I’m going to enjoy.”

“Nonsense!” Allison, his other meddling sister-in-law, whom he adored to distraction, leapt to her feet to join Sophie. Mack felt sandwiched between feminine resolve. He assessed their wide-eyed, innocent stares warily.

With a sigh Cole came to his feet, too. “Sophie has some harebrained idea of offering a new line of male lingerie at her boutique.”

Male lingerie! Mack stiffened and again tried to back up. The sisters-in-law weren’t allowing it.

“It’s not lingerie, Cole,” Sophie insisted in a huff. Since her pregnancy had gotten under way, she huffed more often. “It’s loungewear. And it’s very popular.”

Mack’s head throbbed the tiniest bit, “Loungewear?”

“Yes, you know, like silk boxers and robes, and -”

Zane leaned forward. “And thongs and lace-up leopard print briefs and leather skivvies and -”

Allison slapped her hand over Zane’s mouth. “Women appreciate those nice things on a man.”

Zane, Mack, and Cole all stared at Chase, who immediately started to bluster, while frowning at his wife. “Oh, no. You can forget those thoughts right now! That’s just an assumption on Allison’s part. You wouldn’t catch me dead in any of that goofy stuff.”

Disappointed, they all returned their attention to Mack. He looked around at their expressions, which varied from amused to resigned to hopeful, and he shook his head. “Hell, no.”

Sophie glared at him. “You don’t even know what it is that I want yet.”

“Honey, I don’t need to know. If it involves this…this…male loungewear, I want no part of it.”

Her eyes narrowed in a calculating way. “All I need you to do -”

“No.”

“- is to let the photographer get a few pictures of you in the clothing to advertise it in a new catalogue.”

“No!”

“Because there’s no way I can afford to hire a real model, who would probably have to come all the way from New York or Chicago, and I have the feeling you’d look better anyway.”

Well, that was a nice compliment, but…he shook his head. “No.”

Zane pried Allison’s hand away. “Not as good as I’d look, but as I said -”

Three voices yelled in unison, “Shut up, Zane!”

Zane only chuckled.

Sophie continued, her voice coercing, her eyes wide, “This is a great opportunity for me, Mack. The photographer is a friend of mine, willing to do this cheap for the exposure it’ll bring the studio. I’m getting a special deal here. It’ll only take two or three days -”

“No.”

“- so it won’t really interfere with your schedule or anything -”

“Damn it, Sophie -”

“- and Valentine’s Day would be the perfect time to advertise the new line.”

Mack groaned.

“So it’s all set, then. And Mack, I really appreciate it.” She gave him a sideways, very calculating glance. “You can consider this payback for all those study sessions with me for your college science classes.”

He felt doomed. He could only mumble, “Unfair, Sophie.”

She batted her pretty blue eyes at him and said, “You’d never have passed anatomy without me.”

Cole’s mouth fell open. “All those late nights she helped you study, it was for anatomy?”

Mack rolled his eyes. “Just female reproduction. That stuff’s confusing.”

Zane roared with laughter, and this time Chase and Allison joined him. Cole, still huffing, pulled his wife possessively to his side while Mack groped for a chair and fell into it.

“Well, hell.” He looked to the heavens, but all he saw was the ceiling of the bar. He supposed there was no help for it at all.

He tilted his head toward Zane. “You’d actually have done this if you weren’t going out of town?”

“Are you kidding? The women will love it. You’ll have so many new dates, you won’t have time to be in a funk.”

“I’m not in a funk.”

Chase snorted.

Rubbing his brow, Mack tried to ignore them all. He knew Zane probably would like to flaunt himself a little. He was a born exhibitionist and wallowed in the female attention heaped upon him. But Mack wasn’t that way - at least, not as much so as Zane. There’d been only that one woman he’d ever wanted to wallow with.

He glared at Sophie and said, “I’m not wearing anything stupid.”

She glared right back. “I wouldn’t carry anything stupid at my boutique!” Then she softened. “But don’t worry. There’ll be a selection available, and you and the photographer can decide together which things to photograph. Other than a few definites that have to be in the catalogue, you can pick and choose.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Sophie handed him a card that read “Wells Photography,” and listed a downtown address. She gave him a huge hug and kissed his cheek. “Be there Friday at two o’clock, okay?”

At least that gave him two days to get used to the idea. Or rather, two days to dread it.

TANGLED SHEET

She refused to spend her twenty-sixth Valentine’s Day as a virgin.

Despite her circumspect upbringing, despite the well-meaning stricture of the maiden aunt who’d raised her, she was ready to become a woman, in every sense of the word. And Cole Winston - bless his gorgeous, sexy soul - was offering her the opportunity she needed to see her plans through.

Sophie Sheridan scanned the flyer again as she hesitated just inside the door of Cole’s bar, previously called The Stud by some macho former owner, but changed to merely the Winston Tavern after Cole bought it. Heaven knew, the bar’s reputation was notorious enough without a suggestive label. Though, to Sophie’s mind, The Stud was pretty apropos, given what the Winston men looked like, Cole Winston especially.

All the neighboring shops had received a flyer inviting women to take part in a new Valentine’s Day contest. Not that the Winston men needed an incentive to draw in the female crowd. Women loved to come here, to see one of the four brothers serving, tending bar, simply moving or smiling. They were a gorgeous, flirtatious lot, but Sophie had her eye on one particular brother.

The door opened behind her as more patrons hustled in, allowing icy wind and a flurry of snowflakes to surround her. For just a moment, intrusive laughter overwhelmed the sound of soft music and the muted hum of quiet conversation. Distracted, Sophie stepped farther inside the bar, then headed for her regular seat at the back corner booth, away from the heaviest human congestion. Since she’d met Cole some seven months ago after buying her boutique, he’d gone out of his way to accommodate her, to make certain her seat was available for her routine visit each night. He did his best to cater to all his customers’ preferences, which in part accounted for his incredible success at the bar. Cole knew everyone, spoke easily with them about their families and their problems and their lives.

But he was so drop-dead sexy, Sophie spent most of her time in his company trying to get her tongue unglued from the roof of her mouth. It was humiliating. She’d never been so shy before; of course, she’d never received so much attention from such an incredible man before, either. Cole made her think of things she’d never pondered in her life, like the way a man smelled when he got overheated, so musky and sexy and hot, and how his beard shadow might feel on the more sensitive places of her body.

She shuddered, drawing in a deep breath.

While Cole believed she was timid and withdrawn, and treated her appropriately, Sophie had concocted some sizzling, toe-curling fantasies about him. Now, thanks to his contest, she just might be able to fulfill them.

Heat slithered through her, chasing away the lingering cold of winter, coloring her cheeks. Unfortunately, Cole chose that moment to set her requisite cup of hot chocolate in front of her. He’d put extra whipped cream on the top, and the smell was deliciously sinful. Almost as delicious as Cole himself.

“Hello, Sophie.”

His low voice sank into her bones, and she slowly raised her gaze to his. Warm whiskey described the color of his eyes, fringed by thick, black lashes and heavy brows. She swallowed. “Hi.”

Slow and easy, his grin spread as he looked down to see the flyer clutched in her hand. “Good.” There was a wealth of male satisfaction in his rough tone, and his gaze lifted, locking onto hers, refusing to let her look away. “You going to enter?” he asked in a whisper.

Here was the tricky part, the only way she could think to gain her ends. Their relationship, already set by her tongue-tied nervousness, was hard to overcome. She couldn’t merely go from reserved to aggressive overnight, not without confusing him and risking a great deal of embarrassment.

Her aunt Maude had drummed the importance of pride and self-respect into her from an early age. If she gambled now, and lost, she’d also lose the comfort of coming to his bar every night, the excitement of small conversations, and the heat of her fantasies. If he rejected her, she wouldn’t simply be able to pick up and carry on as usual. Something very precious to her - their relationship - would have been destroyed. Everyone she loved, everyone she felt close to, was gone. She didn’t want to risk the quiet, settling camaraderie she shared with him in the atmosphere of his bar. But if she won, if she was able to interest him for even a short time, it wouldn’t last. Cole was renowned as a diehard bachelor; he simply didn’t get overly involved with anyone. At thirty-six, you had to take his dedication to living alone seriously. The man obviously liked being a bachelor, had worked hard at staying that way.

His rejection could put a distance between them she wasn’t willing to chance. So she had to use deception.

“I couldn’t,” Sophie said, laying the colorful flyer aside. She licked her lips in nervousness and toyed with the cup of hot chocolate, making certain it sat exactly in the center of her napkin. “I’d feel silly.”

Cole’s smile was indulgent and blatantly male. He pulled a chair over from the next table rather than sitting opposite her in the booth. He straddled it, his arms crossed over the back. “Why?” He sat so close, Sophie could smell his scent, cologne and warm male flesh, a combination she hadn’t appreciated or even noticed until meeting Cole. She breathed deeply and felt her stomach flutter, as if his scent alone could fill her up.

Cole tilted his head at her, cajoling. “All you need to enter is a photo. I can even take your picture here at the bar. There will be dozens of other pictures up, too, you know. Already, we’ve had around twenty women sign up. I’ll hang all the pictures in the billiard room, and on Valentine’s Day, we’ll vote on the prettiest picture.

“There’s no point in it,” Sophie said, though she hadn’t meant to. She wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but she realized that was how it sounded when Cole made a tsking sound.

His hand cupped under her chin, lifting her face, and his look was so tender, so warm, her heart tripped over several beats, making her gasp. “You’re very pretty, Sophie.”