Kaden & Keegan (The Walkers of Coyote Ridge Book 9)

by Nicole Edwards

  When Kaden had informed him they were having company for dinner, Keegan figured it was his punishment for staying up too late, playing video games well into the early hours.

  When Kaden had refused to tell him who was coming to dinner, he figured it was Kaden’s way of pissing him off.

  The frustration he’d suffered throughout the day had been worth it.

  Maybe.

  As usual, his first response to seeing a beautiful woman was to lay on the charm. He offered the innuendo, the wink, the crooked smile, long before he thought about his reasons for keeping his distance from this particular woman.

  And he had damn good reasons. Really.

  For months now, Bristol had said very little to them, interacting only when it was unavoidable, steering clear whenever possible. In doing so, she had succeeded in pissing Keegan off and as time went on, he’d begun to harbor a grudge against her for leading them on, making him hope for something that she had no intention of giving.

  And no, he wasn’t referring to sex. Not only sex, anyway.

  Now she was here, and he’d made the mistake of flirting with her, pretending everything was hunky-dory when he honestly wished she’d take her pretty little ass on back to her house so he could go on being oblivious to her sweetness. He had no desire to be hooked by her the way Kaden had been.

  However, she was here and his parents had raised him to be respectful to everyone. The least he could do was be polite.

  Considering she was looking at them like she was Goldilocks and they were the bears gearing up to take a bite out of her, he wondered exactly what she thought they would do to her. She of all people should know they were the epitome of self-restraint. After all, they’d walked away that night at the resort despite the fact it could’ve very well ended with the three of them naked.

  Even thinking about that night and the months that followed put a bad taste in his mouth.

  Why she’d come, he didn’t know, but clearly, she had an ulterior motive. The auction, maybe? Curiosity?

  It wasn’t that he didn’t think Kaden capable of persuading a woman. He certainly was. But he seriously doubted Bristol had sexy, naked fun on her agenda. As far as Keegan was concerned, that was all they had to offer her. He knew his twin was hoping for something more, but Keegan had no intention of entertaining that notion. Not with her or any other woman. Never again.

  He watched the way Bristol looked at Kaden and he didn’t like the feeling he got.

  She liked him, there was no way she could disguise it. Her emotions were worn on her sleeve, and though she was nervous to be here, Keegan got the sense it wasn’t entirely off-putting for her. And she was staring at Kaden like the man was a knight in shining armor, gearing up to save her from the tower.

  Yeah, okay, maybe he should lay off reading fairy tales to the munchkins for a while.

  Where would it leave him if Bristol and Kaden went off and did something royally stupid? Like fall in love. Deep down he knew there was a connection there, one she clearly wanted to explore but was refusing to give in to. Interesting thing was, at one time he’d thought they had shared a similar connection except she’d been purposely avoiding them since that one intoxicating night.

  Why was she here? What did she want? What was her end game?

  He figured there was only one way to find out.

  “Come in,” he urged. “Don’t be shy. We don’t bite.” He forced a smile. “Much.”

  She laughed and it sounded strained. He understood. This wasn’t exactly comfortable.

  Kaden helped her along, placing his hand on her back and nudging her toward the kitchen.

  Keegan made a show of stepping back out of the way. “You two wanna be alone?”

  Kaden frowned.

  Bristol’s gaze held firm to his before she glanced back at Kaden. “I thought you said it would be the three of us.”

  “It is,” Kaden said with a sigh.

  Two could play this game.

  “Mmm.” Keegan moved around the island, stopping when he was standing behind Bristol. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. “And what might the three of us be doin’, darlin’?”

  “Ignore him. He’s bein’ an ass.”

  Keegan stood tall, stared at his brother. An ass. Right.

  “Why do I get the feelin’ he didn’t know I was comin’ to dinner?” Bristol prompted as she took a few steps away, looking between them.

  “My brother thought it’d be fun to fuck with me all day,” he admitted, still glaring at Kaden.

  What the hell was his brother up to?

  “Have to take the opportunity when it arises,” Kaden said.

  “Ain’t no opportunity here,” he muttered under his breath as he moved away.

  “Keegan, be nice,” Kaden commanded, that all too familiar warning in his tone.

  It struck him wrong. So much so, he turned around and stared at the two of them. “What the fuck is goin’ on here?”

  Kaden was the one to respond. “We’re just havin’ dinner. And maybe some polite conversation.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yes.”

  Keegan looked at Bristol. “Only dinner?”

  Her dark eyebrows dipped low. “Yes. Why else would I be here?”

  It was an opening he couldn’t pass up. “Oh, I don’t know, Bristol. Maybe to pick up where we left off last year? Remember that night? You. Us. The hotel room?”

  “Keegan…” The warning in Kaden’s tone was lethal.

  He held up a hand to his brother, kept his eyes pinned on Bristol. “Forgive me if I don’t welcome you with open arms, darlin’. I seem to recall doin’ that once.” He tilted his head to the side. “Look where it got me.”

  When she didn’t speak, he studied her gaze, wondering what her motivation was here. He knew Bristol wouldn’t have come simply because she wanted to spend time with them. It wasn’t her style. No, Bristol was the sort of woman who ran from her desires, ignored them, pretended they didn’t exist. Hell, he’d witnessed it firsthand.

  “Set the table, Keegan.” There was frustration in Kaden’s tone this time.

  “I can help,” Bristol offered, sounding only a tad flustered.

  Keegan stared at her.

  Seriously?

  “I’ve got it,” he insisted, making his way around the island to the cabinet that housed the plates.

  While he went through the motions of laying out the plates, the silverware, the napkins, his thoughts drifted back to another time.

  He recalled doing this very thing on more than one occasion for a woman they thought they’d spend the rest of their lives with. Two women, in fact. Separate incidents, of course. Kim and Meredith, two names that still made him cringe when he thought about them. The last one being the most memorable. Meredith Marsh. A sweet woman with a smile that had been almost as sweet as Bristol’s.

  It had started off much like this. The chasing game, the giving in, a constant push and pull. Time had passed while Meredith had made them believe the possibility of happily ever after was within their grasp. The nights had felt endless, the three of them together. Passion, indulgence in abundance.

  Little had they known but Meredith had been making her own plans. It had been her intention to land Kaden, to slowly but surely push Keegan out of the picture. Why? Well, that was easy. Kaden was the mature one. Level-headed, financially stable. The perfect husband according to Meredith.

  And Keegan’s role in all of it? Meredith had informed him he was good for two things: a good laugh and an even better orgasm.

  Yep. That was him.

  Meredith’s efforts to break Kaden and Keegan apart had never worked, but he’d spent far too much time pretending not to notice while she’d been making future plans for her and his brother.

  To his shock, Kaden had been the one to put an end to that ridiculous ruse but not before Meredith had proposed marriage. To Kaden.

  That had been when the veil on the illusion had slipped away. Since then, Keegan m
ade a point to keep women at arm’s length. One night was all he had to offer, because the last fucking thing he intended to be was on the back burner. Never again. Meredith was the reason Keegan refused to think Bristol could be a real possibility, despite his brother’s obvious interest.

  And this … this dinner… This was the first step in repeating history, making the same fucking mistake all over again.

  He knew what Kaden was up to. His brother’d had his eye on Bristol Newton since the first time they’d laid eyes on her at the hospital back when Ethan and Beau’s babies were born. Since then, they’d attempted to pursue her a little. Back at Christmas, they’d even managed to get close enough to tease her while they’d been cozied up in her hotel room. Damn, but that woman had been so fucking hot. And then her flame had extinguished. Just poof. Disappeared.

  And now Kaden was attempting to go at her a different way.

  Keegan couldn’t deny he liked Bristol even if he harbored some anger toward her. She was pretty, smart, funny. All the qualities he admired in a woman. But if he was being honest, she didn’t quite tick off all the boxes for him. Mostly because Bristol wasn’t the one-and-done type and that had been their only prerequisite for the past decade or so. Women who wanted to know what it was like to be shared by two men, pleasured in ways they’d never experienced.

  Of course, he might’ve entertained thoughts of the cute little daycare owner before Christmas. On a different level. If he factored in his age and his recent thoughts about settling down … yeah, Keegan had given the whole forever thing a thought a time or two. Same thoughts he’d had for much of his life, even after Kim, the first one to dump him in hopes of having Kaden all to herself. But Meredith had ruined him completely, confirming that women didn’t really want to be with two men for a lifetime, they merely wanted to be fucked by two at the same time.

  Burned not once but twice. Keegan wasn’t interested in reliving it for a third time.

  Not that Bristol would give them the time of day. While she was sweet as cherry pie, not to mention hot as all get out, Keegan wasn’t an idiot. They didn’t have what it took to catch her eye. No, Bristol Newton was interested in someone with more … life goals. Yeah. That was a good way to look at it. He knew from overhearing her conversations that Bristol wasn’t interested in a couple of redneck boys who lived life to its fullest without all the worries of which university had the best programs, which companies offered the best benefits. None of that had ever mattered to them and Bristol knew it, too. She had her sights set much higher than the two of them. Hence the parade of men she’d had since Christmas.

  Not that his brother would ever accept that. Kaden was still disillusioned when it came to love.

  Did Keegan want to fuck her?

  Oh, yeah. Nine ways to Sunday, in fact. He’d even dreamed about it a couple of times.

  Would he act on it?

  As he listened to her soft laughter, he had to wonder whether he would or not. It was tempting. But despite the real heat he felt between them, Keegan had no desire to go through it all again.

  Twice was more than enough, thank you very fucking much.

  Chapter Four

  Kaden could feel the tension lingering thick and heavy in the room, suffocating the conversation, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the meal.

  And sure, he’d expected some nerves, perhaps even anxiety from Bristol.

  Just not from Keegan.

  Try as he might, throughout dinner, he hadn’t been able to break it. The conversation lulled on more than one occasion, Bristol pretending to eat, pushing around the beef stroganoff on her plate, while Keegan ate with gusto, going back for seconds, then thirds, always ensuring his mouth was too full to speak.

  Kaden thought back to that morning, to his decision that subtle was no longer the way to play this game. He’d changed his mind. It wasn’t about being subtle or taking the reins. No, he was convinced it was time to stop playing the game altogether.

  Before he could say something to put them both at ease, Keegan piped up with a question that had Kaden looking to Bristol for an answer.

  “Tell me somethin’. What happened to that last guy you were datin’? Chuck was it?”

  “Charles,” she corrected, her attention on her food. “We were … quite different.”

  “And the one before that?” Keegan asked. “David?”

  “Daniel,” she said. “Same. Not much in common.”

  “And the six before that?” Keegan bit out, his tone turning harsher than Kaden had expected.

  Bristol’s head snapped up, sparks glittering in her light blue eyes. “Is this some sort of interrogation?”

  “Maybe.”

  “No,” Kaden stated firmly, glaring at Keegan. “It’s not.”

  “I’m just curious.” Keegan’s tone lost some of its heat as he leaned back in his chair, picked up his beer. “Figured there was a reason you’d crammed ’em all in this year. Did it work?”

  Yeah, they both knew her reasons, but he doubted Bristol would cop to the fact she’d been dodging them at every turn and using a plethora of first dates to do so.

  Bristol looked confused. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. One man after another since January. Seems kinda convenient after what happened between us last Christmas.”

  “Nothin’ happened last Christmas,” she countered.

  It was Kaden’s turn to chime in. “No?”

  Those blue eyes swung toward him. “If you’re talkin’ about the game we played … it was just a game.”

  “You’re gonna have to try harder to convince me.”

  Bristol dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter. “What is this, Kaden? I thought you wanted to talk about the auction.”

  He chuckled, grabbed his beer. “Did you now?”

  “Yes. Why else would you invite me here? It’s not like either one of you has paid me any mind this past year. Not since you walked out of my hotel room last Christmas.”

  He studied her for a moment. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was offended that they hadn’t pursued her that night. Had she thought they had rejected her? Surely not. The woman was too smart for that. Plus, he’d told her they would be waiting when she was ready.

  “Perhaps all those guys you were datin’ made it a little difficult,” Keegan supplied, the words spoken dangerously low.

  Yeah. This was taking a turn in the wrong direction. As much as Kaden wanted to hash this out, he didn’t think this was the appropriate way to do so. Bristol was obviously defensive, as was Keegan.

  Bristol pushed back her chair, grabbed her cell phone from where she’d placed it on the table.

  “Clearly this was a bad idea,” she said, looking from one to the other.

  “You’re damn right it was,” Keegan snapped. “Always playin’ games, this one.” He shoved to his feet, beer bottle in hand.

  Kaden sighed when Keegan stormed out of the room. Bristol hadn’t gotten to her feet, but he could tell she wanted to. The only thing stopping her seemed to be her surprised reaction to Keegan’s outburst.

  “What is he talkin’ about?” she asked. “Who’s been playin’ games?”

  When she met his gaze, Kaden held it and opted for the truth “You have, darlin’.”

  Her eyebrows lowered into that V that relayed her confusion. “What are you talkin’ about?”

  Kaden canted his head to the side. “That, Bristol.” He jerked his chin in her direction. “That right there’s the game I’m talkin’ about. You pretend nothin’ happened between us.”

  “I’m not pretending. I’m not the one who hightailed it when things got too hot. If I recall correctly, you and your brother walked out on me. Not the other way around.” She shot to her feet. “I think I should go.”

  Holy hell. She had taken their gentlemanly gesture as a rejection.

  Explained a lot.

  Just not all the refuted attempts they’d made for the past ten months.

  “Ru
nnin’ like usual,” he said softly as she passed by his chair.

  Her footsteps stopped. “Is that what you think?”

  Setting his beer down, Kaden stood, slowly pivoting to face her.

  She was standing just a few feet away, so he eliminated some of the distance, holding her stare as he peered down at her.

  “How would you explain it?”

  “I’m not runnin’.” Her teeth were clenched.

  “Sure looks like it to me.”

  “Why? Because I haven’t followed the two of you around like a little puppy?” Bristol’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not one of your toys, Kaden. I refuse to be.”

  He laughed, stepped forward until he was practically on top of her. “Toys? Name the last time you saw us with a woman, Bristol.”

  It was obvious she was attempting to think back on that.

  “Months,” he said, his voice lower as he pursued her when she took a step back. “That’s how long it’s been since we’ve entertained a woman. And that was because you decided to flaunt Barry in our faces.”

  “Bradley,” she corrected.

  Yeah, he knew the guy’s name. He knew all their names. Hell, he even knew how long they’d stuck around.

  And that was the problem.

  Bristol took another step back, him a step forward until she was up against the wall. He had to give her props, she didn’t attempt to slip away. Bristol held her ground, tilting her head back to stare up at him.

  “You remember that night,” he said, cupping her face and brushing his thumb over the slight dent in her chin. “You remember the same way we do.”

  She didn’t respond with words, but her increased breaths told him all he needed to know. She did remember.

  “And you’ve been runnin’,” he accused.

  Bristol shook her head. “No.”

  He ignored her response because it was a lie. “Why’re you runnin’ now?”

  Leaning in, he brought his lips closer to hers.

  “Kaden…”

  “Do we scare you?”

  “No,” she rasped. “You terrify me.”

  He pulled back an inch. “I do?”

  “Both of you.”

  “Why?”