House plans. They wanted a big house. Just with them, they needed a lot of space to avoid grating on each other’s nerves. There needed to be an office or two. Their old house had been beautiful, but after the fire they had to rebuild.
Maybe I should start with two-story houses. With the extra level, they could get more space out of a smaller piece of land. She clicked on some plans. A few, the outside appearance was great, but not the inner layout. Of course, Ethan would say that could all be changed when they talked to an architect.
The man was so confident. It all seemed so much to her. Maybe it would seem easier and not so overwhelming once they were out of the stalker mess.
“Hey, Penny, you look busy.”
Penny whipped around. Chloe stood in the doorway with Logan and Tony beside her. Penny smiled. A lightness swirled through her. This is what they planned.
“Hey, just keeping myself busy since they wouldn’t let me help too much.” She waved them over. “I’m sure they have a plan, but come sit down.”
“Leslie should be coming in soon. I saw them drive up as Dawson let us in.” Chloe dropped down on the couch beside her. “Are you four planning to build another house?”
“Building one is definitely in the plans. They want to customize it. I don’t know if they plan to use the same site or a different one.” She tapped a finger on the side of her computer.
“What have you found so far?” Chloe peeked at the plan and the accompanying picture she had up.
“Well, that although I love the look of the vaulted ceiling, as I’m thinking of the space we’ll need that it would be just a wasted area. We could have a bedroom or something on the floor above instead of one big room with an expanse of walls and high windows that would be a bitch to clean.” She waved her hand.
“Yeah, I especially like the houses with the darker beams across the ceiling, but I don’t know if I’d ever want to live in one. Vaulted rooms usually do have windows almost floor to ceiling in one part. Windows are bad enough, but cleaning windows that tall, not my thing.” Chloe shook her head.
“So what else caught your attention?” Logan asked.
Penny glanced at him. As if it wasn’t obvious, they’d asked him to probe for what she liked. “I like the two or three story houses, but not with tiny rooms. And the master has to have a fairly huge closet.”
“A lot of clothes?” Chloe raised her brows.
“Not exactly, but you should realize that sharing a room with three men and having all of their clothes with yours takes up a lot of space.” Penny chuckled. “And these three have multiple business suits.”
“I wasn’t even thinking of adding their clothing with yours, but you have a point. My clothing and theirs takes up a lot of room.” Chloe nodded. “Luckily, they started off with a big closet.”
“I can guarantee that a big closet is already on their list. It usually is in ménage marriages.” Logan nodded.
“Hey, Penny, how are you? When John told me that there was another incident today, I thought that we’d be putting this off for a couple days.” Leslie strolled into the room with John and Judge following after her.
Chloe gasped and turned to look at Penny. “Someone came at you again? Were you hurt?”
“No, I wasn’t hurt.” Penny grimaced. “They smacked Griffin in the head. He was dazed for a while. When they checked him out, he had a minor concussion.”
“What about the people who attacked you?” Chloe grasped her hand.
“Apparently, my kitty does not like people attacking my men. She went all rawr. I swiped at one of the women. Next thing I know, I’ve leapt up on the man and ripped at his face and shoulder. When he shoved me off him, I turned and went after the other woman. Took her to the ground and rolled away. By that time, Griffin was on his feet.” Penny exhaled and clenched her free hand. That had been too damn close.
“Attacking a mate is one sure way to get into contact with the animal within.” Leslie dropped onto the couch which sat at an angle to theirs. “Good job on taking down that bitch.”
“It was a woman?” Chloe leaned back. “I thought your stalker was a man.”
“My stalker is a man. The women who attacked me were friends of the woman who I shared a house with after Mags left. They were working with my old boss.” Penny exhaled. Maybe it had been a little revenge because of Ethan’s decree or perhaps they hated that she’d been born human.
“Well, I’m glad you took care of yourself.” Chloe nodded.
“I am, too, but after this whole mess is over, I’ll be taking some lessons in self-defense. While my cat is capable of taking care of herself, I want to be able to back her up with some human skill.” Penny took a deep breath.
“Um, you might want to find someone who can teach by example. Your men might not appreciate hands-on type of learning. Perhaps try to get a woman instructor.” Leslie grinned.
“We definitely wouldn’t appreciate someone laying their hands on her.” Ethan strolled into the room. “Hey, peaches, we’re putting on the meat right now and have everything in hand. Griffin and I will be bringing in drinks for everyone.”
“That sounds great.” She braced her hand on the back of the couch. Her eyes glided down his body. Those jeans hugged his muscular thighs. Damn, if only there was a little time to peel him out of those.
“Good. Is he cooking alone?” She frowned at Ethan.
“He’s not alone. Archer and Jason are out there with him. According to them, Dawson needs some supervision since he’s been gone so long. Really though, they don’t need an excuse for drinking a beer while watching meat sizzle on the grill.” John laughed.
“Well, in that case, hurry back with the drinks.” Penny smiled.
“Will do, peaches.” Ethan nodded.
“So no news about the bastard stalking you?” Chloe asked.
“No, I still don’t know who he is or why. That’s what I really want to know. Why come after me? I haven’t done anything to anyone.” She raked her fingers.
“It’s probably not about you in that way. It could be, but it could easily just be that he’s fixated on you because of something he thinks you are.” John shook his head. “No one deserves to be stalked and hunted. It’s not your fault in any way.”
“Thank you for that.” She drew in a deep breath. Sometimes, everything overwhelmed her.
“It’s just the truth.” John shook his head.
“All right, we’re back and we have drinks.” Ethan strolled in with a tray of drinks. He passed the drinks out. He sat a drink with a thin wedge of grapefruit in it in front of Chloe.
Once he was finished, he put the tray down. “Here, peaches, let me take that. Griffin’s bringing your glass of wine.”
“Sure, just shut it down. Thank you.” She kept one hand on it, but leaned back to give him space to take it.
He reached down and took the laptop from her. She gave Minnie a stroke. The cat stood, stretched, and then jumped down. Minnie roamed over to a tree positioned near a shelf and jumped up.
“Are Shonna and Dixie coming tonight?” She turned to Ethan as he took the computer and slid it onto a shelf.
“Yes, they said they would, but they haven’t arrived yet. They haven’t called about any delay.” Ethan eased up behind her and massaged her shoulders. “We’ll hear the bell when they arrive.”
“This is good. What is it?” Chloe took a sip.
“It’s a mocktail Paloma.” Ethan massaged Penny’s shoulders. “We also made up a pineapple and ginger drink if you’d like to try something a little different later.”
“Oh, thank you.” Chloe took another sip. “Maybe add this to the menu, Tony.”
“I’ll see what they can come up with, baby.” Tony reached over and squeezed Chloe’s hand.
“Is Maggie doing all right? I haven’t managed to talk to her in the last few days.” Leslie leaned forward.
“The last time I talked with Maggie, she was great. Busy, but she’d been out with a few people f
rom her work and seemed to be making friends.” Penny smiled. Maggie always landed on her feet.
The doorbell rang. Ethan’s fingers tightened on her shoulders. “I’ll get that and be right back.”
“Are John, Judge, and Archer competitive?” She turned to Leslie.
“Not that I’ve seen. Do you mean with me?” Leslie leaned forward and frowned.
“No, not with you. Just in general. We were playing a game and I swear Ethan and Griffin nearly came to blows. I wondered if it’s a cougar brother thing.” Penny rolled her eyes.
“It’s not a cougar thing.” Chloe laughed. “It’s a brother thing. Hatch, one of Tony’s brothers, came to visit. They decided to go play baseball. Those two had a hilarious moment on the field when they were going after the ball.”
“A hilarious moment, as in they did something funny or something funny happened to them?” Penny smiled.
Chloe raised her hands up and smacked them together. “Smack and down they went. They came up yelling at each other about how it was his ball and the other should have backed off. To this day, I still don’t know who should have backed off and who should have caught that ball.”
“He should have backed off. I was in right field and the ball was in my area. Hatch should have stayed in center field where he was supposed to.” Tony ruffled Chloe’s hair.
“And it doesn’t only go with sports or games. If them being competitive during a game is all that happens, don’t worry about it.” Leslie grinned. “My brothers used to fight over whose glass had the most in it.”
“I’m not worried in that sense. But you know, I do plan to have children so I wondered if it was something every set of cat brothers did. Will I have to regularly pull them apart?” Penny raised a brow. “Not so bad when they’re young children.”
“But way more than a handful when they grow up.” Leslie nodded. “They learn to cooperate and if they get out of hand when they’re older, hand them over to their fathers like my mother did the few times they tangled.”
“Good, I just don’t know much about whyr children. I’m sure I’ll learn. Their family is huge.” Penny relaxed. That solved that worry.
“And they’ll be there for you when you need help and if the little wildcats get out of hand, they’ll have some advice to help.” Griffin dropped to his knees in front of her. “Just ignore Aunt Marie, she’s evil.”
“Aunt Marie isn’t evil. She just never fell for your innocent face.” Ethan laughed. “Which, by the way, never quite hit innocent.”
“Every family has an aunt or grandmother like that.” John laughed. “Archer could never pull anything over on our Grandma Scarlett.”
“I have an Aunt Patty who regularly saw through teenage schemes. I loved her lake house, but sneaking out to skinny dip or meet some boys was hella hard.” Shonna eased onto the big lounger.
Griffin slid onto the couch beside Penny. His hand stroked over her arm.
“Hi, Shonna, good to see you.” Penny laced her fingers with Griffin’s, but smiled at her friend.
“Good to see you, too, and it’s great to be here.” Shonna pulled a pillow in front of her.
“So how are things with you?” Chloe turned to Shonna.
“Ugh…” Shonna ran her hand over the back of her neck.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Penny frowned. Something sounded a little off. Is something wrong? Leslie tensed and so did Chloe. All right, so it wasn’t her imagination.
“Something wrong, Shonna?” Leslie asked.
“Nothing that a good ass kicking wouldn’t fix.” Shonna knuckles went white as she gripped the pillow.
“Yours or someone else’s, because I can handle giving you one.” Leslie leaned forward and grinned.
“Not mine and in your dreams, pussy cat.” Shonna scowled. “It’s just a male being a pain in the ass. The hierarchy will work it out. They are aware of it though.”
“Maybe we’ll have a go at it some time.” Leslie smiled.
“No ass kicking in the house. If you want to fight, take it outside, but don’t expect it not to be filmed and laughed at over years to come.” Chloe held up her phone. “I will keep that video and show it to your kids one day.”
“You would, too.” Shonna glared at Chloe.
The doorbell rang again. Ethan strolled out. When he returned, Dixie followed him. She walked over and sat beside Leslie on the lounger.
“Long day, Dixie?” Chloe relaxed back against Logan’s arm.
“Long week. Seems like everything that could go wrong, did.” She shook her head. “I started the week with a flat tire and ended it with a transmission that went out.”
“Is there something you need to talk to me about?” John straightened.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I apparently ran over a nail and the transmission just happened. No one’s tampered with it.” Dixie shook her head. “The reason I’m so late is that I had to rent a car.”
“Did you rent a nice car?” Leslie raised her eyebrows.
“It’s an all right car, but it’s not my Lexus.” Dixie heaved a sigh.
“Of course it’s not your Lexus. I doubt even a rental company babies their car as much as you do.” Leslie laughed. “At dinner, we have something we’d like to tell all of you.”
“All right, but why not now.” Chloe leaned forward.
“Because everyone isn’t in the room and we want to tell everyone at the same time, not do it in a couple sessions.” John laughed. “Your patience will be rewarded.”
“Chloe can be a little impatient.” Logan pulled Chloe tighter against him.
Penny grinned. John’s smile brightened his face, Judge’s green eyes gleamed. And Leslie glowed. Whatever it was, the news was good, but considering everything that could happen, it could be anything.
“And we have a gift for Penny. Actually, a couple of them.” Ethan dropped onto the couch beside Griffin.
“What did you get? And why did you get me a gift? It’s not my birthday or a special occasion.” Penny frowned and turned to face him.
“It’s a gift because we wanted to give you something.” Ethan laughed and reached over to squeeze her hand. “And we’ll give it to you after they share their news. I have a feeling that their news is much bigger than our present to you and much more of a moment. They should go first.”
“Hey, all of you lazeabouts, dinner’s almost ready. Dawson told me to tell Ethan and Griffin to start taking the sides to the dining tables.” Tony stepped into the doorway.
“Will do.” Ethan nodded. “How about we all head into the dining room? Griffin and I will carry the sides. We’ll also grab another bottle of wine and more beer.”
“Sure thing. We’ll walk in there. You said tables?” Logan rose to his feet.
“Yeah, their long table was damaged in the fire. We’re using three smaller tables pushed together. Everything will be replaced once we settle on the house part of the matter.” Penny rose and tugged at Griffin.
He sighed and rose to his feet. Such a long-suffering man. He wrapped her in his arms. She leaned back against him.
“Griffin, I’m not carrying this stuff alone.” Ethan stepped back in the room.
“I’m coming. I wanted to hug Penny.” Griffin tightened his arms around her and then stepped back.
“And I like his hugs.” She trailed her fingers over his arm as he strolled past.
She sauntered down the hallway with the others to the dining room. Griffin and Ethan carried in platters and bowls. Dawson ambled in with a platter of steaks. Jason held a big platter of chicken. Archer followed with a tray. She frowned. What is that?
“That’s spinach and cheese stuffed mushrooms. They’re delicious, peaches.” Dawson put the platter on the table. “Since I cooked them I had to taste them to make sure they were good enough to bring to the table.”
“And we made sure his opinion was right. They are delicious.” Archer nodded.
“And if anything isn’t perfect, we know the
y’re all to blame.” Ethan brought in more beers and Griffin carried in a bottle of wine.
They all sat down at the table. Food was passed around and the drinks poured. Ethan went back to the kitchen to get a large pitcher of the mocktails they’d made. Judge, Dixie, and Chloe weren’t drinking tonight. For a while, everyone enjoyed the delicious steaks and chicken, savored the herbed potato salad, and made a huge dent in the corn and veggies.
“I believe Leslie mentioned that you four had news.” Ethan glanced at John, Judge, and Archer.
“Yes, we do. We’d like to invite all of you to our wedding.” John grasped Leslie’s hand.
“We wanted to tell our friends before we started the preparations.” Leslie smiled at John, Judge, and Archer.
“Congratulations!” Chloe leaned forward.
“Are you planning on having a big wedding?” Penny smiled. Warmth spread through her. Weddings were wonderful.
“We’re not sure how big, but I know it will be in a hall with a red-carpeted runner, flowers, and maybe candles or twinkling lights.” Leslie grinned. “A lot of the details are up in the air, including the size of the bridal party, so don’t glare at me, Dixie. You know I wouldn’t leave you out.”
“Good thing, too, pussy cat. Or when I get married, I’d have to put you in something really ugly as a bridesmaid dress.” Dixie crossed her arms. “I was thinking olive green.”
“Not nice.” Leslie shook her head.
“And it’s not nice to leave me hanging.” Dixie’s lower lip pushed out in a pout.
Leslie sighed. “I expect a stellar bachelorette party.”
“Strippers.” Dixie laughed.
Growls rolled through the room.
Penny glanced over at Ethan. “Why are you growling?”
“Because you’d be at that party and I don’t want some guy shaking his junk at you.” Ethan glowered at her.
“I guarantee that any guy they find to shake his booty wouldn’t have better ‘junk’ than you do.” She patted his hand. “And he wouldn’t be focusing on me. It’s about the bride.”
Staking Their Claim Page 26