Marie Harte - Foxy Lady

She gripped his neck as they kissed again, and her nipples strained against her clothing, begging to touch his naked chest. All thoughts of trouble and family and danger faded next to the need to feel Ty inside her.

She’d dreamed about him for so long…

A knock at the door interrupted them, like a spray of very cold water.

Julia sprang back, doused in reason once more.

Ty took a step in her direction, his eyes cloudy with lust, his mouth parted and ready for another kiss.

Julia couldn’t help looking him over, centering on his obvious arousal. Oh boy. He looked big. Really hard, and really big.

“Don’t move,” he warned and walked to the door. After cracking it long enough to take a sniff, he stepped back and pulled it open. “You must be Jason.”

Jason blinked in surprise. “Ah, well, yes.” He cleared his throat, sensing the buried frustration in Ty as easily as Julia felt it. “I’m here for Meghan.”

Ty drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Come in.” He closed the door behind Jason, subtly adjusted himself in his jeans and walked to the bedroom. “This isn’t over,” he growled in a low voice to her before calling Meghan outside.

Julia had just avoided a very big mistake. She should have been thankful Jason had saved her from sure disaster. But she wasn’t. Even knowing Ty would bed her and leave her, like all the others he’d dated, Julia wanted a taste of that passion. How stupid. She knew better than most what heartache could do. If she could keep the relationship strictly sexual, she’d have done it already. But she was more than half in love with the stubborn man and had been for years.

Her stupid crush had blossomed into what she suspected was a bad case of puppy love. Considering male foxes were called dogs, she didn’t think the term puppy love all that far from the mark.

“So I hear you saw Ned again,” Jason said in a somber voice. “I’m sorry, Julia. I tried to talk him out of this obsession, but when Ned gets something into his head, he won’t quit.”

“I don’t get it. Why the whole marriage thing?”

Jason shrugged. “Mom’s tired of waiting. She’s been after Ned to settle down for a while, but he hasn’t seen anyone he likes as much as he likes you. My mom wants grandkids, and she wants to see her sons married. That’s part of the reason she’s so in love with Meghan. Not that Meghan isn’t terrific on her own,” he hastened to say with a flush.

He seemed so young and innocent that Julia felt like an ogre for stepping in the way of true love—if that’s indeed what it was.

Meghan rushed out of the bedroom and into his arms. “Oh, Jason. It’s been awful.”

Gabby rolled her eyes behind her. Ty joined them, a disgruntled frown on his face.

Jason soothed her sister with a skill Julia expected he’d honed after many such instances of exaggerated worry. “Honey, I’m sorry about today. But tomorrow night will be better. You can meet the rest of the family at dinner. They’re not all as bad as Ned and my brothers.”

Meghan added, “Jason’s mother is sweet.”

Julia knew why Meghan didn’t mention Jason’s father, Ned Senior. A bigger chauvinist Julia had yet to meet.

Ty answered for them all. “We’ll come to dinner tomorrow night. Thanks, Jason. I’m Ty, Julia’s boyfriend, by the way.”

“Oh boy,” Jason breathed. “I’m pleased to meet you, and I apologize in advance for whatever Ned’s going to do to make your life miserable. My brother really, really likes Julia.”

“So I gathered.” Ty glanced from Jason to Meghan and to the sparkling ring on her finger. “I see you two are engaged.”

Jason nodded. Meghan beamed before shooting Julia the famous Easton death glare. Julia grudgingly agreed with Ty—her sister should have majored in theater.

“When did that happen?”

“Just last week. Imagine our surprise when Julia and Gabby showed up to congratulate us.” Meghan said in an overly sweet voice.

Julia didn’t appreciate the brat’s tone.

“Julia, easy,” Gabby whispered. In a louder voice, she said to Meghan and Jason, “We were happy but surprised. You haven’t introduced Jason to the rest of the family yet.”

Meghan ignored the gentle reprimand. “It’s great to have you guys here to celebrate. And Ty too. Wow.” She batted her eyes.

Ty said something under his breath Julia probably didn’t want to hear.

The silver foxes were going to pitch a fit when they heard Meghan had involved herself with an outsider.

First she’d need permission from the clan to date him. For anything more serious than that, the town council would become involved. Anything that compromised Cougar Falls as a whole fell under town jurisdiction. It made sense, though the idea of asking permission to date someone felt like a restraint even Julia didn’t necessarily like.

As rebellious as Meghan was, Julia knew the girl would marry Jason if for no other reason than to prove a point. Perhaps if the clan gave her permission to at least date, without a defiant need to spite her family, Meghan might gradually end her association with Jason. A nice enough young man, but he’d never be family.

“Ah, would you excuse us for a minute? Jason, Meghan, don’t go anywhere.” She pulled Ty with her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

“Now, Julia?” Ty glanced at the bed, a spark of humor in his eyes. “I’m ready, but I have a feeling you’re a screamer. If you don’t mind being loud in front of your family, I don’t care.” His fingers moved to his belt buckle, and she hurried to stop him.

“Cut it out, smartass,” she hissed. Realizing her hand covered his and that the backs of her fingers lay against his belly, she quickly retreated. “I have an idea.”

“I have several of my own.” His heavy-lidded gaze did weird things to her libido.

“Ty, shut up and listen. I think Meghan’s in lust with this kid.”

“Kid? He’s what, four or five years younger than you?”

“He’s a kid,” she said again. “Meghan’s always bucking authority. Maybe if the clan council gives its permission for her to date an outsider, she’ll decide he’s not worth the hassle and come home.”

“But she’s already dating him. She’s engaged to him.”

“The council doesn’t know that.”

“Ah. I see. You want me to pretend I don’t know about that ring on her finger, that it?”

“Yes. I was thinking that if you, as the sheriff, added your weight, the council might actually approve of Jason. Not that I want her to be with an outsider. I just want her to see him as a real person and not an excuse to irritate the council, the town and me.” Julia didn’t like playing the role of mother to her younger sisters, but someone had needed to take charge. If only Meghan would see how much Julia cared, that she didn’t try to run her sister’s life for the hell of it, but to protect her from the harsh realities life had to offer.

She held her breath, waiting for Ty’s answer.

He responded with hesitation. “I don’t know, Julia. Seems to me Jason’s family really is a threat. What if she actually wants to marry him?”

“She doesn’t.” I love him, Julia . Meghan’s words bothered her, but Julia ignored them. Meghan was too young to know what she wanted. What the hell did Meghan know about love? Love had torn their parents apart before Meghan was born.

“Well…”

“Jason’s okay, Ty. And it’s not like they’ll really be getting married. This is another one of Meghan’s phases.” To Jason’s credit, after a year of dating, he still treated Meghan with respect. He didn’t seem to fit in with his oddball family, luckily for him. Because if he stepped so much as one foot out of line, Julia would kick his ass from Nowhere back to Seattle and away from her sister.