Free Unridden: A Studs in Spurs novel by Cat Johnson

made progress, which for some reason made Slade jealous, but now Mustang was suddenly giving in and giving up on closing the deal when he’d seemed so close. Mustang never gave in until he’d gotten the girl, but tonight, that was exactly what he seemed to be doing.
    When they’d reached the bar, Slade turned to Mustang. “What the hell were you thinking over there? I’ve never seen you give up on a woman that easily. How come you’re not ordering her some fruity drink and getting her drunk and then back to the trailer?”
    “Because this one’s special. It’s going to take a different lure to reel her in.”
    Yeah, she was special and different, and that’s exactly why Slade didn’t want to risk letting her get away. “Do you really think we’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell of ever seeing her again if you let her go now?”
    “It’s our only chance. I’m telling you, she’s not coming back to the trailer tonight and if we push too hard, I guarantee you we’ll never see her again. She’ll be all scared and hide from us until she leaves Tulsa.” Mustang hooked the heel of one boot on the brass bar rail and leaned in, lowering his voice. “She’s interested now. We wait until tomorrow, let the idea settle in, and she’s all ours, for as long as she’s here in town.”
    Slade considered that, remembering with envy the expression on Jenna’s face when Mustang had touched her. “Yeah, maybe. But she’s not interested in both of us.”
    Mustang grinned. “Oh, yeah she is. In both of us.”
    “You’re doing all the talking and she’s barely even looked at me.”
    “That’s the thing. She’s avoiding looking at you too hard and every time she does, she blushes. Haven’t you noticed? You make her nervous.” Mustang laughed at that.
    Nervous. Great. “That’s a good thing?”
    “With women it is. And may I say I haven’t seen you this interested in a woman in months, maybe a year even.”
    “I’m not…” Mustang raised a brow skeptically and Slade stopped, mid-denial. “All right. I’m interested. I’ll admit it.”
    The one time Slade actually cared if they got the girl or not, they were willingly driving her home before anything happened. “You sure about taking her back to the hotel now?”
    Mustang nodded. “Yup. Positive.”
    “You think she might invite us up to her room?” Hope sprung eternal inside a horny cowboy.
    “If she does, we say no,” Mustang ordered.
    “Say no? What? Are you crazy? Why?”
    “Look. We have her book.” Mustang held up the handful of pages he’d grabbed off the table. “She needs us before she can finish this. More importantly, she knows she damn well can’t do it without us. She’s not going anywhere. Believe me, tomorrow night she’ll be there in the arena again begging us to give her some more of our valuable time.”
    “So now we’re playing hard to get?”
    “Yup.” Mustang grinned.
    “This plan of yours better work.” Slade adjusted his jeans slightly, realizing he’d started to get hard just thinking about Jenna begging them for anything.
    Mustang slapped him on the back. “It’s good to have you back in action, my friend.”
    Slade rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t fuck this one up. Okay?”
    “I won’t. Don’t you worry. I want her as much as you do.” Mustang blew out a breath and glanced back at their table. “Damn, she’s hot, and those new chaps you’re gonna buy me will be a nice bonus too.”
    Slade followed his friend’s gaze to where Jenna sat alone, waiting for them and taking in the crowd with what he suspected was her usual curiosity. They both stood there like idiots staring at the women neither of them would have that night until Mustang finally blew out a loud breath.
    “Damn. Let’s go before I change my mind and order that fruity drink. And I’m gonna need the bathroom first when we get back.” Mustang adjusted himself within his jeans, shaking his head. “It’s been a long time