by Leah Brooke
Looking from one to the other, Kendra frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Picking up his fork, he glanced at her. “Not a thing. Mason’s being a smart-ass. Eat your breakfast.”
Kendra’s soft laugh held a huskiness that warmed something deep inside him. “If it’s cold, it’s Quinn’s fault.”
Quinn smiled, enjoying the way her cheeks flushed.
Enjoying the way she softened against him.
Grant kissed her hair on the way to his own seat. “It’s fine, honey. Quinn never makes pancakes.”
Quinn didn’t bother to reply, a little disconcerted at the feel of Kendra’s warm softness against him.
He watched her eat her breakfast, pleased to see she ate with gusto. She became more animated as the others pulled her into the conversation, and he couldn’t deny the sense of pride at her enthusiasm and curiosity about the ranch.
He realized, suddenly, how desperately he wanted her to be comfortable here.
He wanted her to be comfortable with him. With them.
He wanted this to be her home—and it scared the hell out of him.
He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to trust a woman enough to have a relationship again, and anything short of a commitment with Kendra just wouldn’t work, especially with the others involved.
“I’m staying here with her today.” Surprised at himself, he clamped his mouth shut, wondering where that had come from.
He’d had no intention of staying at the house with her today, and had planned to avoid her as much as possible.
Now, he couldn’t imagine walking away from her.
Not until everyone, including Kendra, turned to look at him did he realize he’d interrupted their conversation. Ignoring their searching looks, he cut into the fluffy pancake. “Jim is bringing the supplies today and they’ll be doing the cleaning. She can’t be left here alone, and I’ve got some calls to make.”
He’d told John Marsh that he’d call him back today. Marsh hadn’t had much information when they’d spoken before, but had promised to make some calls by today and get more.
Anxious to do whatever he could to keep Kendra safe, Quinn couldn’t wait to talk to his longtime friend.
He didn’t like the fact that Edelson had disappeared, not knowing if the other man was hiding somewhere, or if something had happened to him.
He couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to Kendra, and could easily kill anyone who threatened her.
Kendra’s sudden laugh caught his attention, her sparkling eyes arousing him all over again. Holding her plate, she got to her feet and grinned at Barrett. “No. I want to wear my own pajamas. I do appreciate the loan of the shirt, though. It’s really comfortable.”
Mason frowned. “Yeah, she slept with me, wearing your shirt.”
Kendra laughed, blooming under their attention. “You didn’t seem to mind last night.”
Mason grinned. “That’s because you didn’t wear it for long.”
Realizing he’d missed a lot of the conversation, Quinn remained silent as he ate.
He shifted his gaze to Mason, unsurprised at the satisfaction in his eyes as his gaze followed Kendra.
Grant looked as if he’d been kicked in the gut, and Barrett studied her thoughtfully.
It hit him suddenly that none of them brought up the subject of her staying.
Looking at the others, he wondered if they were as afraid of approaching the subject as he was.
What the hell would he do if she wanted to leave as soon she was no longer in danger?
Gritting his teeth, he set his fork aside and studied her.
He’d better figure something out soon because the thought of her leaving the ranch made him sick to his stomach.
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as Mason, Grant, and Barrett left her alone with Quinn, Kendra started washing up the dishes, waving away Quinn’s offer to help. “You said you had some phone calls to make. I’ll get these and start the laundry.”
With a nod, Quinn went into the study and closed the door behind him, his preoccupation as obvious as his desire to put some distance between them.
Trying not to let it hurt her feelings, she washed and dried the dishes, watching out the window above the kitchen sink, and hoping for a glance of the others.
She paused while drying the pan she’d used to cook the bacon, her mouth dropping when she saw Grant heading toward the barn, through foot-deep snow, carrying a calf.
The sudden realization of the amount of physical work they had to do on a daily basis, and the danger involved, stunned Kendra.
She didn’t know what they’d done in the evenings before she’d arrived, but knew they’d spent most of them at home. By their own admission, they hadn’t brought women home, and she figured they’d led a cold and lonely existence.
Little by little, she hoped to change that.
Little by little, she wanted to make the large, stone house into a home.
She wanted to belong here. She wanted to help make their lives easier and more comfortable.
She wanted to stay.
She finished the dishes and moved to the foyer, staring at the closed study door. She didn’t know how long Quinn would be, or what time Jim and his wife and daughters would be here, and decided to go up to get their dirty clothes and strip the beds, unwilling to let the other women touch the men’s personal things.
She dressed in one of her sweat suits and a pair of thick socks, and had just started stripping the beds when she heard the unmistakable sound of her cell phone ringing.
With a sigh, she headed into Mason’s room to the nightstand where she’d left it. Not recognizing the number on the display, she frowned and answered. “Hello?”
“I want to talk to you.”
She recognized the female voice immediately, and stiffened at the anger in it. “How did you get my cell phone number?”
Lisa snorted inelegantly. “Never mind that. Look, if Grant wants to fuck you while he’s waiting for me, that’s fine. I know what a highly sexed man he is. But, I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and watch you make trouble for him.”
Kendra dropped to the side of Mason’s bed, getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What do you mean?”
“Hell, you are as stupid as Grant said you were. I’m talking about the trouble that you brought to the ranch. Grant’s in danger because of you, and I won’t have it!”
A cold knot formed in her stomach at the thought of Grant talking about her to his ex-wife. “Grant told you that?”
“Of course he told me that! We talk all the time.”
Nauseated, Kendra wrapped an arm around herself and glanced toward the doorway. “Grant told you what was going on?”
She wanted to cry at the way Grant had duped her.
“Grant told me everything. Lucky for him, I found the man your boss owes money to. He wants to meet with you. If not, he says that he has no choice but to start causing trouble on the ranch. Grant’s very old-fashioned, and believes all women need protection. I don’t want him to get hurt protecting you!”
Kendra got to her feet and went to the window, looking out over the yard. “I don’t believe you.”
“You’d better. I don’t want Grant to get hurt.”
Kendra didn’t know what to believe, but she couldn’t take a chance that any of the men getting hurt because of her. “What do you want me to do?”
“You’d better find a way to get off of the ranch. If not, there’s going to be trouble. If you really cared about Grant, you would put him first, and do whatever you could do to protect him.”
Lisa disconnected, not giving Kendra a chance to reply.
Hanging up, Kendra moved on shaky legs back to the bed and dropped onto the side, tossing the phone back on to the surface of the nightstand.
She couldn’t believe that Grant had spoken to Lisa.
Now that the numbness had begun to wear off, she realized that Grant wouldn’t have spoken to Lisa about
She did believe, however, that Lisa had spoken to whoever shot at her.
How else could she have known so much?
The reminder that her presence put the men’s lives in danger made the knot in her stomach tighter.
She couldn’t stop thinking about it as she stripped and remade the beds. With her arms laden with bedding, she went down the stairs, glancing toward the door to the study.
Finding it still closed, she made her way past the kitchen and down the short hall to the mudroom. After starting a load of sheets, she looked out the window, her pulse tripping at the unmistakable sight of Barrett making his way through the snow and into the barn.
Rushing to the front door, she shoved her feet into her boots, grabbed her coat and rushed back to the mudroom and out the back door. Not wanting to miss Barrett, she hurried across the yard as fast as she could through the foot-deep snow, the sun reflecting off of it nearly blinding her.
Once inside the barn, she blinked, pausing as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark interior. Unable to see clearly, she jumped when Barrett called out to her, spinning toward him.
Straightening from where he crouched with another man next to a bellowing calf, Barrett started toward her, his eyes narrowed and glittering. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
Kendra returned the man’s polite smile with one of her own before turning her attention to Barrett. “I needed to talk to someone. I was putting laundry in and I saw you crossing the yard.”
Smiling at the feel of his warm hand wrapping around her cold one, she shook her head and gestured toward the calf. “I can’t believe you carried him in here. Is he okay?”
With a hand at her waist, he turned her and headed back outside. “He will be once he warms up. What did you need to talk to me about?” He led her to a nearby fence and lifted her by the waist to sit on the top rail.
Aware of the interested gazes of several of the men who all seemed to have something to do close by, Kendra flattened her hands on his chest and looked up at him.
“I had a phone call a little while ago.”
Barrett’s eyes sharpened, his arms tightening around her. “Who called you?”
“Lisa.”
Barrett’s eyes narrowed. “She called you on your cell phone?”
Warmed by the possessiveness in his eyes, Kendra felt some of the knots in her stomach loosen. “Yes, and there’s only one way she could have gotten my number. From Don Edelson. I just got the phone when I started working for him, and he’s the only one who has the number.” Frowning, she met his gaze. “I didn’t think about that before. She had me so mixed up.”
Kendra explained about the call, leaving nothing out.
Barrett said nothing until she finished, but his eyes became colder and darker, his body tense against hers. “Grant hasn’t spoken to her about you. The last time she called him was the day after we found you, and that was only to tell him that she was getting another divorce and had already set her sights on her next husband. She was trying to make him jealous, but he felt nothing but disgust.”
The tension Kendra hadn’t realized she still carried eased. “Okay. That makes me feel better. I know you have to tell the others about the phone call, but please don’t tell Grant that she told me that he talked about me to her. I don’t want to upset him unnecessarily.”
Bending, Barrett touched his lips to hers. “It’ll be our secret.” Straightening, he ran his hands up and down her back, shooting glares in all direction and sending the ranch hands scattering.
Staring at his chest, Kendra ran her fingers over the collar of his shearling coat, loving the freedom to touch him. For the first time, she realized that he hadn’t taken his hands off of her since walking up to her. “She was right about one thing, though. If any of you get hurt, it’ll be my fault. I’m not sure I can live with that.”
“You’re not leaving.” Gripping her chin, he forced her to face him. “The men already know that you’re not allowed off of the property, and no one is allowed to approach the house.”
Turning, Kendra pointed toward the mountains in the distance. “Anyone could stand up there with a rifle and start shooting.”
Sliding a hand in her hair, Barrett cupped her cheek and turned her back to face him. “We’re not stupid, Kendra, and we’re sure as hell not careless, especially when it comes to protecting what’s ours.” Bending, he touched his lips to hers again. “That includes you.”
Overcome with emotion, Kendra blinked back tears, warm all the way through despite the frigid wind. “I still think you’re all nuts.”
Straightening, he smiled and tapped her chin, his eyes filled with something that made her heart beat faster—something that made her want to burst out in tears. “Thank you for telling me about the call. It means a lot to me. It shows that you’re beginning to trust me.”
Kendra shrugged, hoping she hadn’t guessed wrong about the emotion in his eyes. “I figured if I tried to leave and go talk to this guy, that you would follow me, and not have any idea what you were walking into. This way, you know what to expect. You said that you could see them coming here. I want you to have every advantage you can get.”
As his hands closed around her waist, she gripped his shoulders, facing him squarely. “Trust is important to me, Barrett. I’ll be honest with you and I need you to be honest with me.”
Barrett nodded, lifting her and setting her on her feet. “You’ve got a deal. Let’s get you back inside. It’s cold out here, and Quinn will be looking for you.”
* * * *
Smiling her thanks, Kendra started putting away the food, aware of Quinn’s sharp scrutiny.
He’d been shooting dark looks at her ever since she walked in the back door with Barrett to find him calling her name and frantically searching the house for her.
He narrowed his eyes at Jim, who’d brought the groceries, and barely glanced at the women as they hurried up the stairs to start cleaning.
Shooting a glance toward Jim as he went out the door to get more groceries, Kendra poked at Quinn’s hard stomach. “Stop looking at him like that. I thought he was your friend.”
Quinn blinked, his brows going up. “He’s not my friend. I hardly know him. He brings the groceries out once a week, and brings his wife and daughter to clean. We’re hardly ever here when they are. What the hell did you buy?”
Kendra smiled when he eyed the bags of fruit on the counter as if he’d never seen fruit before. “It’s called fruit, and other than orange juice in the morning, none of you seem to have any of it. There’s a big bowl on the top shelf that I can’t reach. Can you get it for me?”
She went back to the counter to gather another armful of groceries, sucking in a breath when Quinn crowded her.
With an arm around her waist, he pressed his body against hers and reached for the top shelf in the cabinet above her to retrieve the bowl.
Placing it on the counter in front of her, he rubbed his palm over her stomach and bent to scrape his teeth over her neck. “I can’t stop wanting you.”
Struck by the anger in his tone, Kendra stilled. “Why do you sound so angry about it?”
He pulled her close, both arms tightening around her as he buried his face in her neck. “Because I don’t want to want you so much. I’m trying to figure out why I want you so much. You’re like a fucking drug in my system and I don’t particularly care for being led around by the cock.”
Her nipples beaded, the flush of warmth that went through her creating a decadent thrill that dampened her panties. “I’m a little confused, too. I never knew I could feel this way. I never dreamed I’d feel this way.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an attempt to calm herself. “I shouldn’t want all of you. There’s something so wrong with that, but I can’t help it. I know what you all must think of me—”
“You have no fucking idea what we think of you.”
He hugged her close, surrounding her with a warm solidness that cocooned her in a warm sense of security that melted her insides.
“If it’s any consolation, I’ve never been in this position either.” Pressing his cock against her back, he slid a hand up to cover her breast. “I’ve got a soft spot for you, but I’m still taking your ass tonight.”
Amused at his threat, she slumped against him and let her eyes flutter closed. Turning her face toward his, she smiled at the feel of his lips on her hair. “It won’t work. I know you’re trying to scare me.”
“Am I?”
“Hmm.” Smiling, she cuddled closer, listening to his heart beat next to her ear. “You scowl all the time. It intimidates people. I thought you hated me.” She bit back a moan at the flick of his fingers over her nipple.
Sliding his hand back to her waist, he chuckled softly. “I never said I hated you. I don’t particularly care for people in general, and you…unnerve me.”
Grinning, she looked up at him. “That’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me before.”
His eyes narrowed. “Just remember that when I take your ass. I sure as hell won’t have the pretty words you’ll probably need.”
Kendra stiffened, her pulse tripping. Her nipples beaded tighter and her ass and pussy both clenched in response.
Unsettled at how easily he aroused her, Kendra jumped when the door opened again, and Jim came inside with another box. Avoiding Quinn’s gaze, she went back to putting groceries away, her heart pounding furiously and her cheeks burning. Conscious of Jim’s presence and the attention of the women who came down the stairs, Kendra kept putting groceries away, avoiding eye contact with all of them.
Quinn helped her with the groceries, crowding her more often than necessary, and making each inch of her skin tingle with an awareness that made her clumsy.
Sliding a hand down her back, he gestured toward two large plastic bags on the island. “Those are from the drug store. Take them upstairs so you can have a few minutes to settle down. Divide everything between the four rooms.”
Grateful for an excuse to put some distance between them, and get a few minutes to compose herself, Kendra grabbed the bags and started for the stairs, finding the bags heavier than she’d expected.
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