“More comfortable than I’ve ever felt talking to a woman.”
“That’s what I thought. Same here. Easy to talk to and easy on the eyes. There’s a shyness about her, too. Never thought I would find that appealing, especially since she’s young and we’re older, more experienced. But I did. I hope we get another chance to talk with her again.”
“Maybe next time she’ll accept the offer of dinner,” Juno added.
“I think she’s shy and maybe getting together for coffee a few times might be better,” Orsin told them.
“I agree. The next time one of us sees Sydney, we need to ask her if she wants to grab a cup of coffee or take a walk by the lake in the park,” Atlas said.
“Sounds more like torture to me,” Juno said and then released a sigh.
Atlas chuckled. “She’s interesting in many ways, and the only way to handle something like this and a woman with such potential is to take it slowly.”
“I’m in no rush, you know that Atlas,” Juno told him and Atlas nodded his head. It wasn’t too long ago that they each met another woman, Tara who turned out to not be the woman they thought she was. Just when things got serious she took off with an ex lover, a man they never heard about until she was long gone. Orsin and his current connections in the government tracked Tara down. When Orsin and Hart found her, she wasn’t alone in bed. That had been the biggest shock of their lives, and it also put a wall up over their hearts. Trusting another woman wouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, Atlas wondered as his heart pounded inside of his chest and his stomach ached, whether or not any of them were capable of caring for a woman again.
But before he jumped the gun and started betting on an angel and thinking like him and his brothers could be like their friends, lucky to find their mates, their true loves, he needed to heed caution. Being a Marine, a deputy came first. For himself and his brothers. Gut instinct went a long way, but now he needed to make the opportunities to get to know Sydney. He would watch over his brothers and ensure that this time they didn’t get hurt. Otherwise they might as well give up on finding that perfect woman forever.
Chapter 5
Matt caught Hart and Juno looking at Sydney as she walked along the path to the garden. He glanced at his cousin Jimmy, who definitely caught their line of sight. Matt hadn’t given enough serious thought to men finding his daughter attractive and showing interest. He was processing the whole idea in his head and got a little firm with Juno.
“Are you listening to me?” he asked.
Juno looked him over. Hart and Juno were at least three inches taller than both Matt and Jimmy, but they had ten years on these men. They might be too old, too hard and experienced for Sydney. But what did he know? She hardly said anything more to him since day one.
“Are you all right?” Hart asked Matt, and Matt looked at Jimmy then toward Sydney where she was opening the gate to the garden holding a basket. Probably to collect some flowers. She seemed real smitten with being able to pick the flowers and put them around the house. Matt nodded toward the garden.
“The two of you have been watching Sydney like hawks,” he said.
Hart as usual remained straight-faced. He almost looked pissed off, but that was an expression most people around here who knew Hart, were used to. Juno crossed his arms in front of his chest. He held Matt’s gaze.
“Ain’t no harm in keeping an eye on her. Is there, Matt?” Juno asked him.
“That depends,” Matt replied, placing his hand on his hip and one on the butt of his gun. They were all carrying firearms. Most of them never left the house without one on them.
“On what?” Juno asked.
“On why you’re watching out for her.”
“Depends on lots of things,” Juno replied.
Matt raised one eyebrow at Juno, and Jimmy cleared his throat. “I think what my cousin is wondering is what your intentions are? You seemed interested in her. Wyatt said that Atlas and Orsin were walking with her in town the other day, as if they were giving her a tour,” Jimmy said to them.
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Juno said, and Matt interrupted him before he could continue.
“She’s young. Maybe too young to know how things work around here.”
“That’s something that needs to be explained to her then. We plan on keeping an eye on her because that’s how things are done,” Juno said to Matt.
“Jimmy and I can watch over her. She’s our responsibility just as Ella and Stella are, too,” Matt replied.
Hart spoke up.
“I think what my brother is saying Matt is that him and my brothers may or may not be interested in getting to know Sydney better. Best way to do that would be to spend some time with her. Keeping an eye on her just comes natural to all of us men. It’s what keeps the women and children safe. You know that.”
Matt raised one of his eyebrows up at Hart in surprise. Could Hart be interested in Sydney, too? This was a shock. Hart was so cold, so quiet and distant. The only time he seemed normal and real was when he was strumming his guitar when they played music together.
“That go for you, too? The interest in Sydney?”
Hart didn’t say a word, and that put Matt on edge. But before he could say anything, Jimmy did.
“We won’t let you hurt her, break her heart, or use her. You’ve been through shit before and have said aloud that none of you would take another woman seriously again after Tara.”
“Now hold on one second. We said that over a year ago when we were hurting and pissed off. We’re not standing here making any claims of undying love for anyone. We’re saying we’re interested in getting to know her. Could be nothing more than friendship. Who knows. But watching over her seems to come natural for my brothers and me. Can we just accept that as a first step in seeing where things might lead?” Juno, the more conservative, calmer of the brothers told Matt.
Matt thought about it a moment. He had enough going through his head trying to deal with his own reactions to all of this. He nodded his head.
“I can accept that for now. Just watch your step. She’s not Tara.” Matt walked away with Jimmy by his side. They headed toward the house and Jimmy chuckled.
“Damn, cousin, you fit right into the protective father role real good.”
Matt swung his head toward Jimmy. “Like you didn’t fall into it, too? You jumped on them just as fast, adding your concerns.”
“I sure did. After all, I want to be on the good side of Sydney’s Mamma. If things are going to work out like we talked about with Stella, we both need to take responsibility for Syd and Ella, too.”
“You seemed real comfortable playing the protective role.”
“Like I said, Stella means a lot to me. Hopefully she feels the same way and the three of us could move on with our futures together.”
“I damn sure hope so. I just don’t know how Stella is going to react when we tell her we both want to make her our woman. That it took twenty some odd years to finally admit to the desire and become men enough to put her first in everything we do from here on out.”
Jimmy placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder.
“We built all of this, established ourselves, saved and invested money, did what we needed to do to make her happy and to provide for her and the women. She’ll get it. She’ll want us both and realize she doesn’t have to choose. We’ll help her to see that we’re meant to be together and that she completes us.”
Matt sighed, feeling the anxiety about it all.
“Let’s hope she feels the same way about us. That’s the big question.”
* * * *
Sydney was lost in thought as she cut some flowers and placed them into the basket she held. Her arm was looped under the handle, the wicker balancing in the crook of her arm and elbow. She had the audition scheduled for nine o’clock on Saturday at the Rusty Horn. She was also going to be celebrating Ella’s birthday. First with dinner and a BBQ here at the house. Ella said she wanted to go out so there was no need for
dinner at a restaurant when she would need to get ready for the bar hopping later. Syd had to chuckle. She better wear a good pair of shoes. She may be carrying her sister home later.
She thought about the audition and what song she might sing. She really needed to see what the inside of the place looked like and what songs the band played. She wouldn’t want to do a song someone auditioned right before her for. She was getting nervous, but at least Ella would be there for support. Although more than likely Ella would be surrounded by cowboys buying her birthday drinks. The girl figured she would be drinking free all night long. Sometimes she was such a scammer.
Sydney glanced over her shoulder and saw Matt, Jimmy, Juno, and Hart talking. Matt seemed angry, but not as angry and menacing as Hart. That man was the epitome of intimidation. She felt his eyes on her the moment she walked across the yard to the gardens. Why did it seem like he and his brother Juno were watching her?
As she continued to cut flowers and walk between the thicker rows of flowers, she pulled at some weeds and tossed them over the fence into the barrel Matt told her to put them in when she had asked about weeding the other day.
She just bent down to pick at a bunch of weeds when she felt and saw the snake slither over her hand and across her foot.
She screamed out loud then ran for the gate, nearly tripping over her own feet.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?”
She gasped as strong arms grabbed a hold of her, and her heart felt as if it leaped from her chest and she dropped the basket of flowers, spreading them all over the ground.
“Oh God. I’m…there was.” She couldn’t calm down, she was shaking so hard. The snake was huge and long, plus it slithered over her feet. Thank God she was wearing sneakers and her jeans. But she wished her skin hadn’t been exposed by her ankles and the top part of her foot. The snake went right over her exposed skin there. She shivered.
She stared at Juno as he held her arms and caressed them. Wearing only her black Keds, she was so small compared to him. She nodded her head.
“What the hell happened?” Hart barked at her and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stepped back.
Juno stepped with her.
“Something scared her. What was it, doll?” he asked her after he glanced at Hart.
“Snake. A long, slimy snake.”
“Jesus, is that all,” Hart said, shaking his head and walking away and toward the garden.
Juno smirked. “There are going to be plenty of snakes around, sugar. Be best if you made a lot of noise. You were as quiet as a mouse in there.”
“It slithered right over the top of my foot,” she said and looked down as if trying to see if any slime was on her foot. She shivered again and Juno chuckled as he bent down.
“Let me see. Hold onto my shoulder,” he ordered, and she immediately did what he said. It was so weird. He had a very authoritative, commanding tone to his voice. It must be from being in the military.
She held onto his shoulder, and he gently lifted her foot to the top of his jean-covered thigh. With the light, flimsy Keds she could feel the muscles beneath her feet. Nevermind seeing the bulging muscles on his arms as he lifted her foot and caressed a calloused finger along the top part of her ankle and foot where the skin was exposed.
“No slime here, just soft, pretty skin,” he said, his blue eyes shaded slightly by the rim of his Stetson. She placed her hand over her eyebrows and looked at him. He held her gaze as he caressed her calf. It felt incredible. With a man as big and muscular as Juno, she was certain the feel of his arms wrapped around her would be like heaven. She gulped and began to pull away as he helped set her foot down.
They locked gazes.
“Glad that you’re okay. When I heard you scream I was worried that you got hurt.”
“I appreciate that. I was scared. It was a big snake.”
“You mean this little ole’ thing?” Hart called out, and she turned to look and he was holding the snake in the air by its head. She jumped behind Juno and held onto his waist.
“What the heck are you doing?” she asked, and as Hart walked out of the garden and closer to her and Juno, she gripped onto Juno tighter. “It’s okay, Sydney. It’s harmless,” Juno told her.
“I want you to look at this snake, Sydney. You’ll need to learn the differences between poisonous ones and non-poisonous ones.
“Are you out of your mind? You want to give me a freaking lesson in snake identification?” she barked at him.
She felt Juno pull her around in front of him. She stepped back, trying to move behind him again, but Juno pressed his front to her back, wrapped an arm around her waist, and caressed her arm.
“You’re safe. He won’t put the snake too close to you, but you should learn about some of the creatures to beware of living in Texas now.” Juno hopped on the crazy train with Hart.
“For crying out loud.”
“Do you see these markings here? The dark lines over the lighter lines of brown are significant. This is a harmless garden snake. Now, if it had a thin, almost cream color between the two shades of brown, that would mean it was poisonous,” Hart explained.
“You are both nuts. You don’t seem to understand. I don’t care if it is poisonous or not. I won’t get close enough to one to identify if it has a cream line between the brown or whatever. I see a snake and I’m running. Get it away from me.”
“She’s shaking Hart. Just put it back,” Juno told him.
She was shaking for more reasons than just the damn snake. Juno’s thick, muscular arm was wrapped around her midsection right under her breasts. Which, for some, reason felt fuller and her nipples actually hardened. She felt his hard pecs against her back and shoulder blades, plus inhaled his cologne, which was so appealing she actually inhaled deeply a few times to continue to get a good whiff of it. He was so sexy and macho. Older looking with the gruff on his chin and cheeks.
“You’re putting it back? Why the heck would you put it back into the garden?” she asked as Hart let it go.
“It might live in there or be hunting for food,” Hart said as he walked back toward them, wiping his hands on his jeans. His forearm muscles flexed, and she felt her belly tighten and her pussy clench. She was so turned on by these two men. She really needed to put some distance between her and them.
She stepped from Juno’s hold, pushing gently down on his forearm as she took a step forward. He held her hand, forcing her to turn to look up at him. He used his thumb to caress her palm, giving her the goose bumps.
“I want you to be real careful walking around on your own. There are other critters and things to keep an eye out for, and until you know the difference between friendly and foe, it might be wise to have one of us with you.”
She was lost in his blue eyes and that damn commanding tone again. Then his words sunk in and she knew he was flirting. He was pretty damn good and using those lines of needing his company to be safe. Did she look that naive to him?
She chuckled.
“Does that line usually work for you, Juno? Gets the young ladies to feel they need a big strong sexy man to take care of them?” she asked.
His eyes darkened, and then he looked at her lips as he licked his lower one.
“You think I’m sexy, Syd?” he flirted, and she felt her cheeks warm and her lips parted. She was so not in the same league as this guy.
“I should go.”
Juno chuckled.
“One last thing before you run off again,” he said, and she turned back toward him. He stepped closer and she glanced at Hart, who kept one hand on the butt of his gun on his waist on one on his hip just staring at her. He was intimidating, too, and dark, intriguing, completely older, more mature, and way more experienced than her. She knew it instinctually, so why did that turn her on instead of make her freak out and run for her life?
“Yes?” she asked Juno.
He caressed her arm and stared down into her eyes.
“I’ve got my eyes on you. Plan
on getting to know you better. But the only way to do that is to get together. So how about you meet me for coffee tomorrow?”
She glanced at Hart. Was he part of this, too? She couldn’t help but wonder.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Hart asked. She got her answer. She swallowed hard.
“Well, my sister and I are going out tonight. It’s her twenty-first birthday. We’ll be out real late.”
“Where are you going?” Hart asked, but Juno spoke up, too.
“Then you’ll be in need of some coffee late morning.”
“You two going out alone?” Hart asked.
She looked at him.
“That’s not really any of your business.”
He clenched his teeth and held her gaze. Why did she feel like she shouldn’t be pissing a man like him off?
Juno touched her cheek and gripped her chin gently, tilting it up toward him. “You two be real careful while out tonight. Cowboys can get a bit rowdy. You don’t really know the safe places to go.”
“I guess we’ll figure it out. We’ll be fine. I need to go. Thanks for the whole snake education,” she told them, and when she went to leave, Hart stopped her.
“What about your flowers?” he asked, and she looked at the ground where they were still scattered.
“Oh God, they’re probably ruined. What a shame,” she said as she walked over, bent down, and began to gather them, placing them into the basket with Hart and Juno’s help.
“They’ll be fine. Just get them into water quickly,” Juno told her.
“I will. Thanks again,” she said and then stared at both men a moment. For a second she was hit with thoughts of dating, perhaps falling into some sort of committed relationship. But then the whole sharing and ménage thing hit her and she panicked. She had no experience with sex whatsoever. How could she possibly consider a ménage? It would be asking for trouble and definitely for a broken heart. There was too much to accomplish first. There was enough time for daydreaming, and getting all dreamy eyed over multiple cowboys was just asking for disaster.
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