Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) Read online

  Until today.

  Until he heard his sister Brandi’s sweet, good-natured best friend Lea Gablonski talking about giving a blow job. What the hell was she doing talking about oral sex on the phone in her family’s restaurant? She knew better. She was reliable, responsible and…

  And, why the hell was it turning him on?

  That was sick. Lea was an honorary sister in the Wyne household. For over a decade and a half, ever since his father had married Brandi’s mother, and Ben had gained a step-sister. Brandi and Lea had been fast friends, and the little girl had practically become a fixture in their house. She’d been great for Brandi. Still was, just not so little anymore.

  Or innocent, apparently.

  He blinked, glancing past his smirking brothers and no longer seeing the little girl with long brown pigtails. The one who used to follow him and Ryder around, the sweet girl with big blue eyes. The one he used to help with homework, bait hooks and taught how to ride a horse.

  No, the girl with her back to them, unaware of their presence, sighing seductively into her phone was definitely no longer a girl.

  When the hell had Lea grown up? And how could he find a way to go back to thinking of her as a child?

  “I explained to Clark that I don’t normally like them that big,” she continued, voice dropping an octave. “And believe me, this thing was huge. The girth was unbelievable. I never knew you could grow them that size, but darnit, it wasn’t just drizzled in chocolate. It was covered. And you know how I can’t resist chocolate.”

  The image her words created should’ve induced bile; instead, the vision of her enchanting mouth working a certain kind of magic was testing not only his integrity, but the integrity of the zipper in his ACUs—his Army Combat Uniform.

  “I kind of went a little crazy. Licked it clean. So clean it sparkled.”

  She let out a throaty sigh that wiped the smiles off his brothers’ faces and sent heat skittering down his spine.

  “I latched onto that sucker and didn’t come up for air until every last, delectable inch was gone.”

  She had all three of them squirming. He wanted to alert the woman of their presence, clear his throat, cough, anything to give her a clue, but that would require control of his faculties…of which he had none. Somewhere between delectable and inch he’d lost the ability to breath. Now, his head was no longer the only part of his anatomy pounding in tandem.

  “Man, you should’ve seen the look on Clark’s face when I lifted my head. It was priceless. And his eyes about bugged out when I licked my lips and told him I wanted seconds.”

  God bless Keiffer.

  And youth.

  Or whatever the hell it was that gave his youngest brother the ability to snicker, because the woman stiffened and stopped talking.

  Alleluia.

  Her mouth finally shut, and there were two things he no longer had to face. His honorary sister talking about lollipopping some dude, and the fact he wished it were him.

  Both should be disturbing. They weren’t.

  Now that was disturbing.

  Lea twisted around, dark hair swinging from the motion, phone poised by her ear, blue eyes round and unblinking, while her mouth parted to form a perfect O.

  X-rated thoughts of licking scenarios rushed through his head. Ah, hell. The heat in his veins scorched.

  She smiled and stood. “Hey, Ben. Just the man I wanted to see.”

  His mind blanked, and because he never suffered a blank mind before, he blinked. “F-f-for?” Damn. His voice cracked like a pubescent teen. He cleared his throat, refusing to glance at his snickering brothers. “For what?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, Brandi, he’s here, along with Keiffer and Mason. Buggers all snuck up on me,” she said, holding their gazes, not in the least bit embarrassed at having been caught talking blow jobs with his sister.

  His sister.

  Bile finally made an appearance in his throat. He cleared it again.

  With a grin that shouldn’t seem so damn sexy, the woman stepped over to his side of the booth in a dress looking tighter and shorter than normal. “Do you still want me to sit on Ben so you can talk?”

  Hell… “No,” he said, a little louder than intended. This garnered more snickering from his deadmeat brothers. “Just give me the phone.” He thrust his hand up, hoping—praying—she’d relinquish the device without question, and without expecting him to make eye-contact, because that was not going to happen anytime soon.

  Not until he got his body back under control.

  Thank God she handed him the phone. He was acting like a high schooler with raging hormones. Christ. Back in high school, his hormones had raged for Lea’s older sister. This was all too weird for his psyche to handle. So he didn’t.

  “Hi, Ben.”

  He cleared his mind of everything surrounding him and concentrated on his sister’s voice.

  “You’re a tough guy to get a hold of,” Brandi stated, smile in her tone.

  “Sorry, it was drill weekend. I didn’t get your messages until last night, but it was too late to call. So, what’s up?” He trained his gaze on the table, vaguely aware of Ms. Licktober dropping off a coffee pot and cups before disappearing into the kitchen, mumbling about getting the usual.

  He was never going to associate that word with Lea ever again.

  Damn it.

  “I just wanted to ask you to double-check Dad’s schedule to make sure he’s around next month for the wedding, and not off at some meeting or exercise. He promised me he was all clear, but he does tend to book and forget.”

  A smile tugged his lips. “True. But I’m on it. Don’t worry. He’ll be here,” he reassured, pouring coffee into his cup. The hearty aroma hit his nose and lessened the pounding in his head.

  “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you and Lea.”

  Since he was doing his best to stay off the Lea subject, he decided to change it. “How’s Kade?”

  “Wonderful,” she gushed. “Now that he’s no longer sheriff, he’s concentrating on his horse sanctuary. It’s been great working with him. He seems so much at peace.”

  Ben blew out a breath and smiled. “I’m glad. He’s a good guy, Brandi. And he makes you happy. I can hear it in your voice.”

  Both Mason and Keiffer murmured in agreement as they drank their coffees. Their sister had blossomed into a confident, content woman since moving to Harland County, Texas a year and a half ago. It had been tough on his family, but she’d been determined to leave, and adamant she needed to go alone. Now that it was all said and done, Ben was damn glad she’d gone and rediscovered herself. Brandi was no longer the sullen, self-depreciator she’d been when she’d left.

  “That’s because I am happy.” She sniffed.

  Ah, hell. Tears. He hated tears. He didn’t mean to make her cry.

  “I just wish you and Mason and Keiffer and Ethan could be this happy.” Another sniff hit his ear. “And Lea. She’s always doing for others. It’s time she thought of herself and took care of her own needs.”

  All the control Ben had managed to muster the past two minutes slipped out the door. The mere mention of Lea and her needs conjured up images that had his groin tightening again.

  “I tried to get her to come down for a visit this past spring. There are a few nice cowboys here who would love to meet her,” his sister informed.

  The news tightened his gut for some strange reason.

  “But she said Ryder and Gwen were really busy with work. Between you and me, Ben, I don’t think she even asked if they’d cover for her and help their dad out at the restaurant. She never wants to impose.”

  True. Nothing new there. Lea was always eager to please. Always put others first. Hell, she’d quit her job in Philly and came rushing back to the Poconos so her siblings could continue with their lives. He wasn’t sure if that was responsible or irresponsible. That was no way to build a career.

  “It’s time she found someone who appreciated her,” Brandi c
ontinued. “That’s where you come in.”

  “What? How?” His constricted gut quaked with an invisible blow.

  “Relax, Romeo. I’m not asking you to court her—even though she’s had a crush on you since you and her brother were on the same little league team—I just want you to help me talk her into flying back to Harland County with me after the wedding.”

  Ben’s mind was still filtering in the crush news for something he should’ve known, but didn’t. He was having a tough time with all the eye-openers this morning. It was like a switch had been flipped the moment he’d sat down in the booth, and he wished to God he could flip it back.

  Life had been perfectly fine when he’d thought of Lea as his sister’s safe, reliable, sweet best friend. Not the sexy seductress, smelling all flowery with mouthwatering cleavage winking at him as she leaned across the table to hand out their food.

  What the hell? Now she had mouthwatering cleavage? What was next? A delectable ass?

  A clanking sound had her straightening upright as she glanced over him and shook her head. “Oh, hang on, Mr. Tierney. Let me get your cane.”

  Don’t turn.

  Do not turn around.

  Shit. He turned in time to see the woman bend down to retrieve a cane from the floor.

  Damn. She did have a delectable ass.

  Swallowing a curse, Ben twisted around to find his younger brother grinning across the table at him.

  “See something you like, bro?”

  “What’s Keiffer laughing at?” his sister asked, reminding him he still had the phone pressed to his ear…in a killer death grip.

  “Nothing,” he replied, loosening his hold before the cell cracked in half. “The goof still thinks he’s actually funny.”

  “Well, give chucklehead and Mason my love. And tell Lea I’ll call her later. I can’t wait to see her with Kevin. Wait ‘til you see how great those two are going to look standing up together with their dark hair and blue eyes. Those pictures are going to rock. Love ya. Bye, Ben.”

  And just like that, the line went dead.

  But he had questions. Damn. Like, who the hell was this Kevin dude? Some Casanova cowboy ready to put the moves on sweet, innocent girls? The clanking of the phone echoed when he set it on the table a little harder than necessary.

  “What the hell did Brandi say to make you look like you bit into a lemon?”

  He ignored his gawking brothers and stabbed at his eggs, scrambled just like he liked them. Lea always did know what to serve him without asking. The woman deserved better than a Casanova.

  By the time half his plate was gone, his missing common-sense returned. Brandi would never set her friend up with someone unworthy. And, as he’d just recently realized, Lea wasn’t an innocent girl, she was a twenty-six-year old woman capable of doing who and what she wanted.

  His stomach knotted on that one, but he refused to examine the reason.

  Somewhere in the recesses of his fogged mind, he had data on a cowboy named Kevin, and he aimed to find it. A few more forkfuls of delicious bacon did the trick. Bacon always cured what ailed him. The smokey goodness was his go-to fix. Ben began to relax and the fog continued to lift. Kevin was Kade’s cousin and his best man. And most importantly, engaged to be married in October.

  Funny how the food suddenly didn’t taste like cardboard anymore.

  “You know, Mason, I think our brother’s look had something to do with Lea talking about giving a—”

  “Enough,” he barked at Keiffer just in time to stop the words his newly under control body couldn’t handle. “Don’t the two of you have clients to take hiking today?”

  Not only were he and his brothers in the National Guard together, they also owned a resort that catered to the outdoorsman year round. Since it was still summer, the place was booked for hiking, fishing, boating, and white water rafting, of which his three brothers happily obliged. Ben was more of a silent partner, working full time in supply in the guard. Keiffer, Mason, and Ethan were part time guardsman while they ran the place their sister had redesigned and renovated three years ago.

  Lea appeared to replace their empty pot of coffee with another. “Can I get you guys anything else?”

  “Chocolate,” his idiot younger brother replied with a grin.

  The guy was a dead man.

  She smiled and leaned her hip against the booth near Mason. “I love chocolate.”

  “We know,” Keiffer said, scratching the bridge of his nose with his thumb, still smiling that stupid smile.

  Ben was ready to scratch his brother’s nose with his fist. Why the hell was the idiot bringing that up?

  “I’ll put it on just about anything, but even I won’t put it on eggs. Pancakes, sure, but not eggs.”

  Keiffer cocked his head. “So…eggs—no, men—yes.”

  “Men?” She straightened with a frown, color tinting her cheeks. “What do you mean?”

  Mason cleared his throat and spoke for the first time. “We kind of overheard your conversation with Brandi.”

  “Okay.” The groves in her forehead deepened as her gaze bounced to each of them. “So?”

  His brothers transferred their gazes to him.

  Ah, hell no. Not gonna happen. He sat back in his seat, folded his arms across his chest and stared them down. No way in hell was he going to further the conversation.

  “I’m confused. I wasn’t talking to Brandi about a guy. I was talking about a banana split.”

  Right. Ben snickered. “Since when did you start naming your dessert, Clark?” Damn. So much for staying out of the conversation.

  “Clark?” She blinked. “I…oh my God.” She laughed, then laughed some more. So much so she sank down in the booth next to him, her warmth vibrating, stirring parts of his anatomy that shouldn’t be stirred as she silently shook. When the woman finally sobered, she took one look at their faces and start laughing again.

  Ben exchanged glances with his brothers, hoping they had a clue as to the cause of Lea’s laughing fit. He wasn’t sure his aroused body could take much more of the sweet torture. But given their shaking heads and shrugging shoulders, he guessed they were just as clueless as him.

  “I’m sorry,” she said a minute later, wiping her eyes. “That was just too funny.”

  “What was?” he asked.

  “The three of you thinking my conversation had to do with licking chocolate off of Clark’s…banana.”

  “It wasn’t?”

  “No.”

  Thank God.

  “Then what was it?”

  “I told you. I was talking about eating one of Jill’s banana splits.”

  Mason grunted into his coffee while Keiffer nodded. “Oh, Jill. That explains it,” his younger brother exclaimed, grin consuming his face. “That woman sure knows her way around chocolate.”

  Now, Lea was nodding while she tossed her hands up. “Amen.”

  “So, let me get this straight.” He turned to the great smelling woman smiling next to him and nearly forgot what he’d wanted to stay. “You were talking about a banana, not a…” Ah hell, he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t utter the name of the very thing throbbing for her touch. A new ache he’d never experienced before, at least, not with Lea.

  She glanced around the now vacant restaurant, then settled her amused gaze back on him. “It’s okay to say penis, Ben. I know what one is. I’ve seen one. Heck, I’ve even touched one.” She sucked in a breath and slapped a hand over her mouth, faking a shocked expression.

  “Very funny.” He did not like where this conversation was heading.

  Her smile turned positively sinful. “Trust me, there wasn’t anything funny about it.”

  Shit.

  “Enough,” he ground out again. “We’re not having this conversation.”

  Neither one of his heads could take it.

  She shrugged, not in the least put out by his tone. A tone that had many supply sergeants quaking in their boots.

  “You all started it, althou
gh, I wish I had known you mistook my conversation with Brandi.”

  “Why?” Keiffer grinned. “So you could’ve played it up?”

  “Hell yeah.” The exasperating woman’s head dipped in quick affirmation. “I would’ve mentioned my sticky—”

  That’s it. “Let me out.” Shoving the laughing woman from the booth, he swallowed a curse as he shot to his feet. “Since my brothers seem to be in a jolly mood, they can pay the bill. I have work to do.”

  With one last, stern glare at the three of them, he pivoted around then strode from the restaurant. What the hell had gotten into her?

  Once outside, he jammed his hat on his head and crossed the street. The woman in there smiling and spouting the word ‘penis’ was a far cry from the sweet, innocent blue-eyed girl who used to follow him around.

  Two days later, as Ben was leaving work, he realized he had been mistaken about Lea.

  She still followed him around.

  He couldn’t get the damn woman off his mind. Just when he thought he had a handle on things, he’d hear her voice in his head, talking about chocolate and his favorite body part, or see her mouth curve into a seductive smile.

  It was damned annoying.

  She was his best friend’s baby sister, and his baby sister’s best friend. He had no business thinking of her in that context. And she sure as hell had no right to invade his dreams, with her lush lips and generous cleavage, turning them into fantasies that even made him blush.

  He took the stairs inside the armory at a hurried pace; the muffled sound of his boots clapping off the steps followed him to the ground floor. So did his irritation.

  He was a military man. From a military family. Order, control and discipline were not only a code of conduct, they were a way of life. He thrived on them. They were ingrained. A part of him. These recent, foolish, unwanted flashes of lust were for schoolboys. He’d had his shot at allowing his heart to rule his mind at the end of his senior year with Gwen Gablonski, and failed. Miserably.

  A month after he graduated, the long-legged, blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty had signed with a New York modeling agency and became supermodel Gwen Gabel at seventeen. Ben had been so proud that his girlfriend had been a model. He’d left for boot camp, foolishly believing they’d make a long-distance thing work. That he could have the girl and a future in the military. Five weeks later, he received the Dear John letter. She left him for a French photographer while he still had eleven weeks of training to go.