Three's a Charm (Dirty Tricks)

"Are you crazy?" Audrey hissed under her breath.

A smile lifted the corners of Charli Sutton's lips. "Maybe, but I've never been more sexually...stimulated as this." Her hand rose to touch her breast through her tank top with a beer advertisement plastered all over the front. With near-giddy anticipation, she glanced around at the people lounging in lawn chairs outside Ed Judson's new two-story ranch house. If she hadn't RSVP'd a week ago, she'd have skipped Ed's house-warming barbeque to prepare for the night ahead.

"You should have called the cops," her boss and best friend exclaimed.

Charli's brows rose, her eyes widening. "You think a cop would have joined and made it a threesome?" She bit back the laughter bubbling up inside at Audrey's horrified expression.

"No. I'd hope he'd arrest the bastards for gang raping you." Her voice rose with each word.

Kendall Mason glanced in their direction, a worried frown pressing her eyebrows together.

With a reassuring smile, Charli wiggled her fingers at Kendall then dragged Audrey farther away from the group. "Shhh. I was not raped."

"You willingly let two men pretending to be cops cuff you, blindfold you and do carnal things to your body on a public highway?"

Charli cringed at the recounting of the events. "That does sound awful, doesn't it?" But the sensuality of the experience flooded her. She couldn't hold back the smile for long, it burst through, her chest swelling with excitement. "I haven't been this turned-on in months. Hell, years.” She flung out her arms and spun in a circle laughing, staggering to a stop, still grinning. “You know the best part?”

“What, that you’ve completely lost your mind?”

“Yes, no. That we have another,” Charli frowned, hesitating before she finished the sentence, “date, tonight.”

“Date?” Audrey shook her head. “Is that what you call fucking in a pool and on the highway?”

With a shrug, Charli looked away. "Well, sort of."

"Did you go out to dinner?"

"No."

"Did you have a drink?" Audrey crossed both arms over her chest, a foot tapping the ground.

Charli didn't like the way this conversation was going. Mostly because Audrey had a point. She held her breath, knowing the next question Audrey would ask.

"Did they bother to tell you their names?"

To Audrey that had to be the deal breaker.

To Charli, that had been what made the last two mad, crazy, insane nights so incredible. A shiver ran over her skin. She still didn't know who her cowboys were. Especially her cowboy number one, or as she'd dubbed him...the Original Sin.

"Got you on that one, did I?" Audrey nodded, her mouth drawn into a smug line.

That warm tingly feeling bubbled up in Charli again and she hugged her arms around herself. "Nope. I still don't know his name and right now, I don't care. I like the mystery. That fact makes me crazy with lust."

With a shake of her head, Audrey sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Yeah," Charli agreed without remorse. "I am."

"Well, there's only one thing left to do?"

"There is?"

"Yes, ma'am. I have to go with you on your date."

"I beg your pardon?"

Audrey grinned. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't protect you from a man determined to take advantage of you?"

"Oh, honey.” Charli shook her head. “I want him to take advantage of me. Please, don't do me any favors."

Her friend smiled. "Okay, but I don't like all this secrecy. I wonder what he's hiding beneath his hat."

"Who cares? He makes me smile." Especially when he touched her in all the right places.

"He or they?"

"Mostly him—the Original Sin."