“I notice you didn’t say misconceptions which was real honest of you.” There was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
Decklan grinned, “You’re not the only one with skeletons, Brooke.” Her laugh was low and sent a bolt of sensation into their cocks. They kept their expressions controlled, amused.
The dimples in her cheeks showed themselves as her full lips curved into a knowing smile. “Oh I’m aware. If half of what y’all pulled in this little piece of the world is to be believed, I can just imagine what you get up to out on your own. Glad you didn’t get caught up in Cindy Gentry’s mess. You know she caught the owner of the bank’s boy a year after all that? Poor thing is stuck right and tight.”
Logan jerked back a bit as she stood and moved to the counter, “You know about Cindy Gentry? How?”
“You’re kidding, right? Nothing goes on in McCurtain County without everybody knowing. Y’all lived here all your lives. You have to know that.” She got them all coffee and sat back down.
He said nothing and Decklan looked uncomfortable. “How much do you know about that whole…situation?”
Needing a moment, Brooke sipped her coffee with a small smile, marveling again at how gorgeous they were. That they were sitting in her kitchen just didn’t seem real. Faded jeans, soft t-shirts, and worn boots had never looked so good. Their hair was dark and silky, a little unkempt. She wondered if it was as soft as it looked.
“Are you asking if I know you have a habit of taking your girlfriends together or if I know she tried to use that to say one or the other of you could have been her baby’s daddy? The little tramp wasn’t even knocked up but the poor church ladies ‘round here were fanning their faces for months.” Brooke took another sip and smiled over the rim. “I’m not certain whether they were scandalized or intrigued but I found it highly amusing. Plus, it took the focus off my drama and gave my parents some peace before they died.”
The brothers didn’t know what to say. Respond to the fact that she was already aware of their preference for ménage or her parents knowing about the picture taken by her ex-boyfriend not long after he’d taken her virginity?
“Yes, I know about your penchant for…sharing, I guess you’d call it? And yes, Dad received a copy of the picture from someone at a tractor auction. I was dating a boy two years older who was bound to push for certain things and he did. No surprise there. They didn’t judge me but my dad went and beat the shit out of Brad for the picture. Told him he was lucky I’d admitted being willing or he’d have had him in handcuffs. Good times.”
Decklan and Logan were staring at her intently. Clearing his throat, Decklan said quietly, “You seem very relaxed about the information you know about us, Brooke.”
“Is there a reason I should be scolding you like children? You’re grown men and the women are obviously willing. Who am I to judge?” Brooke shrugged her shoulders, “The reason I brought it up is I’m sure you’d feel the need to hide it from me on tour and I’d hate for y’all to change your habits on my account. That would make me feel bad. It wouldn’t be right since I’m getting the most out of this deal.”
Jackson came in the kitchen and said, “Mr. Cash waved goodbye when he was heading to his truck and the girls are begging for ice cream. You want to make homemade?”
“Hell no, Jackson, it’s too late to start it now, it takes hours to do it in the manual machine. We can do that next time. I’ll take y’all into town if you’ll pull Mama’s car around. You might have to try it a few times since we haven’t started it in a couple weeks. Let it sit for a while to cool off and we’ll pile in.”
Jackson pumped his fist, “Yes! Can I drive it around the property?” Brooke nodded with a smile. “Damn, you’re the best sister.” He swooped down and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek.
He grabbed the keys and slammed out the back door. She called after him, “Not on the main road, Jack!” Turning back to the men in front of her, she smiled. “Anyway, I don’t want y’all to feel like you have to babysit me or anything. Having a chick around all the time shouldn’t impact either of you at all. Okay?” They nodded carefully. “Good, then that’s settled. I’m going to go grab my boots.” With that, she was up and they watched her ass as she left the kitchen and headed down the hall.
Logan whispered, “She’s going to kill us. I’m sure of it.”
“Bro, I’m barely hanging on already. Can you imagine long days in the studio? Traveling with her on tour? Holy hell.” Decklan ran his hands over his face.
“She’s so nonchalant about our sexual tastes. It makes my dick twitch, I swear to god.”
A few minutes later, Brooke came down in a cowboy hat and her boots. “Huddle up, troops! Ice cream!” Molly and Becca came running, charging right past the brothers before skidding to a stop in their flip flops.
“It was sure nice to meet y’all. You sing real pretty,” Becca told them shyly and they thanked her.
The older sibling sighed, “You sure are good lookin’. Gracious, Brooke, better than when we watched them on the CMA’s.” Molly glanced at her sister, “We were about fainting then.”
“Yup, they’re gorgeous and talented. And ready to escape our little zoo, I’m sure. Out to the car.” The little girls waved and took off running, slamming out the door and across the porch.
The brothers stood and followed Brooke to the kitchen door, passing her inside the opening. As one they stopped and turned to look at her. Logan said, “You’re an enigma, Brooke.” She shook her head with an amused smile. “Yeah, you are. You think we’re gorgeous?”
She laughed fully and both men hid their physical response to the sound, “Doesn’t everyone? This can’t be news to you. Come on now, you’re fishing for compliments.” One hand was on the door, one on her hip. It had the most amazing effect on her breasts, pushing them out more. A millisecond glance down, no more, but she caught it.
Her eyes were laughing at them and she clucked her tongue. Decklan said, “Yup. You being in the band is going to be just the shake-up we’ve been needing. Because all the men are going to be talking about is how gorgeous and talented you are, Brooke.” They leaned forward as one and kissed her cheeks. When they lifted their heads to look at her, she was smiling and didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“Oh, that’s what it is, huh, the draw to both of you together? Yeah, I can see it now. Y’all sure are overwhelming up close, aren’t you?” She could have sworn they groaned. “Come on, I have kids to sugar up and you have some of that to do yourselves, I’m sure.” They flinched. “Puh-lease, that’s what I mean. I speak honestly. You act on your honest desires. We have to be able to coexist without you being all self-conscious. Just don’t be disrespectful about it. I don’t think any of us want my siblings catching on to your lifestyle.”
Message received and understood.
Then she winked and pulled the kitchen door closed, waving goodbye as she got in her mama’s late-model Cadillac with her siblings to take them into town. As the brothers climbed up in their truck, pulling out on the main road, they were both off-kilter. They had a feeling it wasn’t the last time Brooke was going to make them feel that way.
As it turned out, the brothers were right. She hadn’t even gotten started.
Chapter Five
The photographer and his crew showed up two days later but Brooke didn’t notice them for the first hour they sat across the road from her place. Vaughn Deflora’s assistant spotted her from the back and they parked on the other side of the main road running along her property.
Five minutes later, the Bradshaw brothers pulled up behind them as Vaughn uploaded from his digital camera fitted with a telephoto lens. “We’re early. The camera loves her. Fucking adores her. Look at this.”
The twins and the photography crew watched her handle the big tractor around the hay fields. Everyone suspected the photos of her on the massive John Deere would become some of the most downloaded on their website. She wore a tank top with a built-in bra that pro
minently highlighted her nipples. Her skin was tanned golden and covered in a light sheen of sweat. Jackson drove behind her in an old truck, their sisters in the cab.
It was nearing a hundred degrees, heat rising off the hot pavement. Brooke took off her cowboy hat and upended a bottle of water on her head, smoothing it through her hair and putting the hat back on. Every man watching had to adjust themselves. The water ran over her shoulders and chest, her nipples tightening further under her shirt. She blew a belt on the tractor ten minutes later and hopped down from the cab with a tool bag.
“Who is this woman?” Vaughn asked. “And is she available? Merde.” He never stopped shooting as Jackson brought the replacement belt over and she climbed up on the massive engine with a tool bag to change it out. He put music on and she shook her ass while she worked.
The little girls climbed out and she took a break to chase them through the hay. At one point the three of them tackled her and they rolled around hysterical. Molly started doing cartwheels with Becca following suit. The twins were ten different kinds of impressed when Jackson did two one-handed cartwheels, tucking his still-healing wrist close to his body in its new removable cast. They ran little races, letting the littlest ones win every time.
Brooke yanked Becca up on her back and Jackson fireman-carried Molly and both of the younger girls were dumped in the bed of the truck. He got up in the tractor cab and listened to her instructions. She adjusted a few things in the engine and gave him a thumbs-up.
Checking her watch, she climbed up and finished the row she was on, letting the hay drop so it could dry, then they headed back to the house.
Preparing to pack up, the photographer said, “Hell no, we’re going to sneak up on her. I like the candid shots.”
They watched as she pulled the tractor into the big barn and Jackson turned on the well spigot. Water sprayed high, the ground soaking it up as it fell. The girls ran through it screaming in happiness long before Jack whooped like an Indian and stripped off his shirt. They were calling Brooke, begging her to play and she finally stripped off her boots and socks.
“Oh Jesus help us,” Decklan whispered.
“This is our punishment. We’re being punished by God,” Logan told him fiercely.
“God loves me then, boys, oh hell yes, God loves me,” Vaughn murmured happily. Decklan grabbed Logan’s arm and they watched the scene unfold in the soaked yard of the Kincaid ranch. She was rolling in the grass with them now, all of them laughing so hard it looked almost painful. Finally, they simply laid on the ground with their arms up to catch the water as it poured over them.
Brooke stood first and pulled Molly up, taking her to the spigot and rinsing her blond hair. Wringing it out, she talked to her and Molly nodded, hugging Brooke tight and running inside.
Next Becca was pulled up and rinsed off. When she was clean, Brook lifted the little girl in her arms and danced with her in the manufactured rain. Then the little girl took Brooke’s face in hers and kissed her eyes and nose. After Eskimo kisses she was put on her feet to follow her sister.
Putting her hand out, she helped Jackson up and they leaned on the wall talking. It looked like he was crying and she hugged him. She waited a bit, took his chin between her finger and thumb, talking until he smiled and nodded his head.
He spun her out and they two-stepped while they sang. They stopped, talked a moment, Jackson giving her a fist-bump and kissing her forehead before going inside.
The twins wondered why Vaughn was waiting but he said nothing, the camera still aimed at Brooke under the water. Suddenly, she did the toe-touch from her cheer days and every man groaned. She stepped up and rinsed the grass off her body, then out of her hair. Turning off the water, she headed toward the porch, unbuttoning her jeans. As she made the top step, she was shimmying them down, the top edge of her plain white cotton panties visible.
Standing up and turning to them, Vaughn said, “There was a vibration about her. She was going to do something else with no one watching. I can always tell.” He started barking instructions to his crew, “Change of plans. We’re dialing up the sex appeal on this shoot. She wants to find the woman she’s meant to be, she’s a girl on the cusp. Let’s show her who’s in there, people.”
Glancing at the Bradshaw brothers, he added with a sly smile, “Good luck. Travis said to remind you that you’re not to touch inappropriately.” He walked away laughing.
They headed up to the house and both brothers wondered how they’d handle the rest of their day. Seeing Brooke’s interaction with her brother and sisters had started a tugging inside them. God knew they were both fighting it hard.
When they pulled in, Molly and Becca were sitting on the steps, apples in their hands. They were freshly scrubbed in dry clothes. Jackson came out with a t-shirt in his hand and the makeup artist said, “That boy is going to be fine as hell when he’s full-grown. God, I hope I’m around to corrupt him.”
Nodding at the brothers, the young man said, “Y’all don’t ever call. She’s going to be pissed she wasn’t ready for you, again.” Garth Brooks started playing from inside the house and Brooke came out behind her brother, barefoot and wearing an eyelet sundress with tiny straps. Her damp hair fell around her and she wasn’t wearing a bra. She was holding a small laundry basket in her hands filled with stuff to make homemade ice cream.
Frozen like a deer, she whispered, “Shit. Do y’all do this on purpose?” Glancing up at all the people in her yard, she groaned. “Really? I have the new phone. I’m keeping it charged and everything.”
“We called it. I think you have it on vibrate or something, honey,” Logan said quietly. He was having trouble breathing with the vision of her perky breasts and erect nipples pressing against the fine cotton of her dress.
She rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself. “Of course. I’ll need another lesson from the two of you.” Decklan begged her silently to never say those words again. “Decklan, will you please fix my phone? It’s on the kitchen counter.” Taking a deep breath, she said to everyone gathered, “If y’all will bear with me for just a little bit, I promised the girls homemade ice cream. I’ll get it started then, you know, get dressed. Give me ten minutes.”
Vaughn stepped up and took the basket from her. “Miss Kincaid, it is a great pleasure to meet you. I’m Vaughn Deflora, the photographer Travis hired to capture you on film.” His eyes flickered over her boldly. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m going to have to ask your forgiveness. We’ve been here for some time but didn’t want to interrupt your family time. As a photographer, I shoot what inspires me. I’d like you to go through the pictures I’ve already taken and tell me which ones you’d like copies of and which you wouldn’t mind if we used to promote you. Would you do that for me? I would be so grateful.”
Not saying anything for a long moment, her sarcasm was obvious, “Wow, does that work on lots of women? That whole, “I’ve totally invaded your privacy but I was inspired and I’m exotically good looking so you’ll forgive me, I’m sure’?” She laughed at his shock. “No worries, Mr. Deflora, I’m sure you’re used to getting your way with your accent, long lashes, and dimples.” She gave a delicate shrug. “I’m just not susceptible. Remember that in future if you don’t mind. I’ll try to be a good subject for you.” He nodded with a stunned smile.
She took the basket back and gave the brothers a wink as she turned. “Molly, Becca, come on girls, I can’t do all the work by myself.” They scrambled to sit beside her as she sat on the porch steps, the ice cream maker between her legs. The dress rode up her tanned, sleek thighs and Vaughn picked up his camera.
Glancing up, she said clearly, “You get a single one exposing a portion of my body not intended for public consumption and it better get destroyed. Do we understand one another, Mr. Deflora?” He nodded. The three blond heads bent together as they added ingredients for the ice cream.
The brothers sat on the railing of the porch and watched her. Jackson sat on the porch swing, his guitar in han
d, playing along with the music on the stereo. As they started turning the crank, Break Down Here started to play, and the three girls started singing along.
Their long blond hair lifted and dried in the warm breeze. If she’d been older, she definitely could have been mistaken as their mother. Becca leaned against her and Molly added salt and ice as Brooke turned the crank. They sang and made ice cream as if there weren’t seven people waiting.
Not that any of those people looked impatient. Most of the crew were city-dwellers and the simple scene was both lovely and heart-warming. Brooke’s beauty was stamped on her siblings and the love between them was obvious.
Vaughn never stopped shooting, backing up to get the brothers on the rail and Jackson on the other side. He zoomed in on the brothers’ faces, noting how they watched her. He figured they were the most photogenic people he’d shot in a long time. When the song ended, she accepted kisses from the girls and Jackson came to take her place. “Let me change.”
“Actually, Brooke, if I promise to be discreet, can you stay in what you’re wearing?” She sighed and nodded with an air of resignation. He headed toward the hay field and gestured for the three of them to follow. The brothers hopped the railing after Brooke did and Vaughn’s crew followed with a small scaffold they’d assembled.
Finding a uniform section of clean, golden hay, Vaughn held out his hand to Brooke and she took it. “Please, lie on your back.” Snorting, she did and watched as makeup and hair people came to fuss over her for about thirty seconds before stepping away. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d have much to do,” he told them smugly.
They set up the scaffold and Vaughn climbed to stand above her. “Look at me, there you go. Put your hands over your head…perfect. Now drop one to your stomach. Lovely.” This went on for about ten minutes before he turned to the Bradshaw brothers and said, “Shirts unbuttoned, lie on each side. Oh please, now you’re shy? You know I know better than that. We have a lot of ground to cover and currently have excellent light.”
Yes to Everything Page 4