by Mandy Harbin
Toby gasped, which cut Josh off. Then he glanced over and saw Rob’s jaw had dropped and Jack’s eyes were narrowed.
“But she’s taken. She’s very much in love with a longtime boyfriend and plans to spend the rest of her life with him.”
Toby’s heart plummeted. He hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up, but up they had been . . . right before crashing to the ground. Fuck, he couldn’t catch a break. Not that he should’ve suspected anything differently. It was suicide to have an available woman around. His life sucked, but he had no intention of checking out early.
“Damn it, Josh,” Jack growled. “Care to tell us how the fuck that’s supposed to cheer us up? You want to dangle a woman in front of us for a month? One we can’t have?”
“Dude, I think you’re incapable of cheering up,” Rob said, shaking his head at Jack, then turning to their dad and Josh. “But he has a point.”
Josh smiled. “I said she was taken, not that she was off-limits.”
Toby’s head snapped up from the amber liquid he’d been studying. “Explain.”
“Krista is in an open relationship. She loves her boyfriend, but they allow each other to fuck other people.” Josh shrugged as if what he’d just said was the most uncomplicated thing in the world, and Toby had to fight not to punch that grin off his face.
“What about Eric? Have you forgotten what happened to our brother? He’d gotten cozy fucking Pam while she was still married. She’d been in an open relationship when that started, too.”
Josh frowned at him. “I know. I know this isn’t perfect, but Eric hadn’t known she’d gotten divorced either. You have nothing to worry about here.”
Toby glanced at his dad, and he was just sitting back, quietly watching his sons argue.
“So, let me get this straight,” Rob said as he stepped closer to Josh. “Are you expecting us to take turns fucking her? Is she expecting that? ’Cause I gotta tell ya, I ain’t into that shit.”
“Oh, no. She’s not expecting anything. And nothing may happen with her. All I’m telling you is that if she chooses to pursue one of you, then I’m letting you know it’s okay to fuck her.”
“She’s mine,” Jack said as he took a sip of his scotch with an air of righteousness.
“Oh, fuck you, hotshot. You can’t call dibs on pussy,” Rob snarled.
“I’m the next to the oldest. It’s my fucking turn.” Jack took a step toward Rob, and Josh stepped between them, putting his hands on their chests.
“Listen, bro. It’s up to her. It’s okay if you want to pursue her, but you can’t just claim her without giving the other guys a shot.”
“What, like you did with Mikaela? You have such a fucking double standard.” Jack shoved Josh’s hand off his chest and stepped back.
“I hadn’t tried staking a claim before even seeing her. Ms. Owens is a person, Jack, not a thing. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Whatever.” Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m going after her.”
“Me, too,” Rob said.
They both looked at Toby. Great. These two cats were acting like a couple of dogs fighting over a bone. Not only did he not want to get in the middle of his brothers, he just didn’t want to risk it. Eric had been in a very similar situation before he’d died. Toby wanted no part of it.
“Thanks, but no thanks. You two can fight it out. I’m not chancing it.”
And he wouldn’t. He envied his life.
His pathetic life.
Chapter Two
Krista stifled a yawn as she watched the countryside fly by. She’d already had a hard time picturing Mikaela living out in the country—the woman wore thousand-dollar shoes, for Christ’s sake—but seeing her get into this testosterone machine once they’d landed at the airport beat all Krista had ever seen.
After pulling her glasses off, she rubbed the corners of her eyes, trying to revitalize them. She’d removed her contacts to keep her eyes from drying out during the trip to the Woods estate, but sitting here with her glasses on, resting on a plush seat, she felt as if it were night-night time. With as much as she’d worked lately, sleep was a luxury.
If she forgot about the fact she’d stayed up half the night thinking about how crazy she was hoping some sexy man would whisk her off her feet and do naughty things to her, she didn’t acknowledge that.
“How much farther do we have until we get there?”
Mikaela chuckled. “Oh, my God, if you start whining ‘Are we there yet?’ I’m going to reach across the seat and bonk you on the head.”
“Bonk you on the head?” Krista laughed, and Mikaela laughed louder. As much as Krista tried putting Mikaela in a boss role, she could see her becoming a close friend. Not that Krista had many friends.
“For your information,” Mikaela hesitated to turn on her blinker then pull up to a huge iron gate, “we’re here.”
“Oh, thank you, Jesus. I’ve had to pee for like the last twenty miles.”
“Yeah, now you see why I had to stay here when I prepped that codicil for Mr. Woods. We left civilization about sixty miles ago.” She rolled down the window and leaned out to punch in a bunch of numbers on the keypad. When she finished entering the code, she rolled up the window and waited for the gate to open. “But there’s a little town about ten or fifteen miles farther down the highway. No hotels, but there’s a shitty little bar if you’re so inclined.” Mikaela smirked.
“I think not.” She rarely went out with friends. No way was she venturing to an unfamiliar area by herself. Yeah, she was a grown-ass woman, but there were some things she just didn’t do, and she had no interest in getting raped or killed while she dallied about all by her lonesome in a questionable establishment.
“Don’t blame, ya. Maybe I can talk Josh into taking us out on the town one night.”
Krista appreciated the offer but still had no desire to get all gussied up to be a third wheel. Instead of giving a definitive answer, she shrugged as she looked out the window. The driveway wasn’t as narrow as she’d expected, considering the forest seemed to grow right up against it, but the picturesque ride through the curving path was truly breathtaking. The evergreen trees provided a canopy, sheltering them from the autumn sun. And as they entered a massive clearing, Krista gasped as she took in the huge log cabin. It looked like some custom mansion but was made to fit perfectly in its surroundings. Smaller cabins dotted the area, but even those buildings looked bigger than her apartment.
“I know. The house is beautiful,” Mikaela said, seemingly reading Krista’s thoughts.
“That’s an understatement.”
Mikaela parked, then Krista hopped out and started grabbing her bags. She would be staying a month, so she’d packed a lot. She seriously thought she had more with her now than what was left at her place.
“May I take your bags, ma’am?” a voice sounded behind her, and she whirled.
“Umm.”
“This is Jeffery,” Mikaela said, coming to her rescue. “He’s, well, he’s Thomas’s everything. If you need anything, he’ll get it for you. And if he can’t, he’ll find some way to make it happen anyway.” She leaned over to hug Jeffery. He seemed a little startled by her action but returned the hug briefly before looking back at Krista.
“Ma’am?”
“Oh, yes, yes, of course. I mean, I can get some of them, but I wouldn’t mind the help.”
“That won’t be necessary, ma’am. I’ll have your bags in your room waiting for you by the time the lady of the house finishes with your tour.”
“L-Lady of the house?” Hadn’t Mikaela told her Mr. Woods was a widow?
“He means me.” Mikaela shrugged like it was a silly notion, but she had a twinkle in her eyes that betrayed her nonchalance. “C’mon. Let me show you around before the guys finish up their work. I’m afraid once they lay their eyes on you they’ll be monopolizing all your time. I think they’re going to make it really difficult for me to get any real work out of you,” she said, laughing as
she motioned for Krista to follow her.
Oh, yeah, work. She couldn’t forget the real reason she was here. Lots of hot monkey sex it was not.
* * * *
“Holy shit, do you smell that?” Rob jumped off the limb he’d been perched on while the guys were taking a breather. “That’s her. She’s here.” He inhaled again, groaning on his exhale.
Toby sniffed and immediately suppressed his own sound of pleasure. Rob was right. That scent was the sweetest thing he’d ever smelled in his life. And he’d smelled plenty of women in his past. Granted, they, too, were women already taken, but the smell of a ripe woman was still intoxicating.
This Krista chick had them all beat. She was ambrosia. And he was fucked. Truly fucked. He still didn’t want to risk getting his ass handed to him by a pissed-off cougar lioness after being turned against her will, so he’d have to resist the temptation. And he would.
Jack stood suddenly. “I’m heading in to shower. See you in the dining room for drinks.” Toby wanted to growl at . . . what? Jack had every right to prepare himself for meeting that woman. Toby should be happy Jack was so focused on getting in her panties. If his brother kept her distracted, maybe Toby would find it easy to resist her.
“Me, too.” Rob hopped up and bolted without another word. Fuck. This sucked ass! No, no, this was a good thing. He sighed, looking down at his scuffed work boots.
“I’m heading in, too. I haven’t seen Mikaela in two weeks.” Josh leaned over and patted Toby’s shoulder, then gave it a squeeze before turning and walking away.
Everyone had bailed, but technically the work was done for the day. Toby could do a few minuscule things, knowing he’d be stalling, or he could go shower, make nice with his pecker, and get ready for dinner.
He took a deep breath as he stood and almost fell to his knees when his legs started to buckle. God, that woman’s scent would be the death of him.
Maybe he should jack off twice tonight. He walked off, but the closer he got to the house, the stronger her scent called to him.
Fuck. No maybe about it. His dick was hard as steel. Tonight he would be switching up the monotony with a twofer.
* * * *
Krista paced in her spacious bedroom, regretting the outfit she’d put on. She still had time to change out of the blue silk dress that complemented her eyes. The wrap style helped camouflage her rounded belly, but it made her boobs and butt look huge. The lacy bra and panties she’d run out and bought last week matched the color of the dress. She’d also purchased some additional matching sets to replace the holey granny panties and stretched-out flesh-tone bras she’d worn for years. She wanted to make a good impression and had all these great ideas of coming out of her shell with a bang.
Now she rather liked the idea of her comfy, homey shell. This dress was too snug and just too revealing. She didn’t feel sexy. She felt like an idiot, like a virgin playing dress-up. She wiped her sweaty palms along her arms as she looked at her opened closet door. She had time to change if she was quick about it. Hell, she’d spent the afternoon unpacking and organizing everything since she knew she was going to be here for a while. So she knew exactly where her favorite jeans were.
As she rushed over to the closet to grab them, she almost tripped over the pumps she had on. Flats. She’d change into flats, too. But a knock on her door stopped her.
The sound of Mikaela’s voice had her groaning. “Don’t you even think about changing out of that dress I helped you pick out.”
“Go away.” She walked to the closet and grabbed her jeans.
The doorknob jiggled, and then the door swung open.
“Not gonna happen, girl. And those jeans you’re holding onto like a security blanket are staying off those sexy-ass legs of yours for the night.”
Krista’s heart raced. “M-Mikaela, I don’t think I—”
“Damn, girl. I’ve seen you in court. You tear into top-notch attorneys without even batting an eye. This is just dinner with a group of down-to-earth men. They won’t bite.” Mikaela darted her eyes suspiciously, almost nervously, but she looked back so quickly that Krista didn’t have time to fully analyze her behavior. “Unless you want them to.” She shrugged with a smirk, then held out her hand. “C’mon. Since you’re acting like this experience is a trip to the doctor’s office, we’ll treat the initial introductions like we’re ripping off a bandage. That part will be over before you know it.”
Mikaela’s tone brooked no argument, so, on a sigh, Krista relented, dropped the jeans on the bed, and walked toward her bossy colleague.
“Good girl.” Mikaela shut the door and led the way to the dining hall.
I can do this, Krista chanted mentally. Mikaela’s brothers-in-law were just men. It wasn’t as if she’d never kissed a man before. She’d just never done much of anything else. And you’re never going to at this rate. Suck it up! Okay, if she didn’t find them attractive, then no harm in looking. If they were easy on the eyes, then no harm giving one of them a test run in between the sheets. Besides, she’d never see any of them again—not unless they were to come up to St. Louis for legal work, and that wasn’t likely. As they neared a rustic-looking door with elegant iron work, Krista’s stomach flipped. The voices coming from the other side of that door sounded deep, masculine. Sexy. Holy moly, she wasn’t sure if she could do this. She wasn’t some vixen out to snag a lay. She was a good girl.
She was a horny girl.
A virgin.
“You look constipated, hon’. Take a deep breath before I open this door. When we walk in, I’ll get us some wine. Loosen you right up.”
Krista nodded absently, mentally directing her lungs to inhale and exhale. When she blew out her breath, Mikaela opened the door, and she followed behind.
Good heavens! She stood wide-eyed, staring at all the hunks in the room. They all seemed to be about the same height, with varying shades of brown hair and tanned skin. The one wearing a green pull-over sweater walked over to Mikaela, eyes locked onto her like he was about to devour her. Had to be the hubby.
“Hi, kitten,” he murmured, taking his wife into his arms and kissing her temple affectionately. Even though the action was simple, Krista felt the chemistry zinging around them and felt a little pang of sadness that she didn’t have a man in her life who looked at her like that.
She’d have to get a man first.
He looked over at her and extended his hand. “You must be Krista. I’m Josh Woods. It’s a pleasure.”
She shook his hand, smiling. “Krista Owens. And you have a lovely home.”
He nodded, pulling his hand away, leaving his other arm wrapped around his wife as he guided her toward the crowd. “Come. Let me introduce you to my family.”
Krista followed, fighting the urge to stare at her pumps as they echoed from clicking on the hardwood floor.
“This is Rob, Jack, and Toby.” He pointed to each of the men as he said their names, and they each stared at her intently. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Then the last dude looked away suddenly, and the one in the middle stepped forward, took her hand, and gave it a gentle shake as his thumb tenderly rubbed her skin.
“I’m Jackson Woods. Second to the oldest. And it’s a pleasure to meet such a lovely, beautiful woman.”
Wow. This guy was smooth. Where Josh had green eyes, this guy’s were a deep blue, matching her own eye color. His hair was also cut short, shorter than his brothers’. She could see herself wrapping her legs around this hunk of man.
The one on the left stepped up and elbowed Jack to the side as Jack growled at the intrusion. She chuckled, and Jack glanced up at her, smiling tightly. Hmm. So his growl wasn’t a playful sound. He really seemed irritated that his brother had stepped over. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The guy was hot and all, but she didn’t care much for pushy types.
How would you know? You’d have to mingle with men to know your type. Ugh, mental pep talks sucked, but the voice in her head was right. She
couldn’t write him off just yet.
“I’m Robert Woods. Rob. It’s nice to meet you, Krista.” He shook her hand with the same care Jack had shown her, but when he finished, instead of letting go, he held on, dropping their joined hands to his side. Weird, but okay. She could handle that. This guy was just as hot as Jack. His eyes were green, but where Josh’s were a deep color, Rob’s were a mossy green, almost hazel. “How do you like it here so far?”
“Um. I like it just fine. I just got here, though, so I might feel differently after a few weeks.” She laughed, and he joined her, his eyes twinkling.
“Not if I have anything to do about it.” He stepped closer, and she gasped, instinctively moving away.
Mikaela nudged in between them. “Take it down a notch, hotshot. I don’t want her freaked out on her first day here.”
Krista laughed nervously, tugging her hand free. Rob inclined his head, giving her a half smile before returning to where he’d been standing.
“Toby?” Mikaela asked. The guy in question looked up from his drink, not looking at Krista at all.
“Yeah?”
“You going to come over here and introduce yourself?”
The guy hesitated, looking at Josh and then at Mikaela before taking the few steps necessary to stand before Krista. Only then did he look into her eyes again, and she got a better look at him. Oh bejeezus, his eyes were a blue-green mix, and when he gave her a tentative smile as if he were unsure how to act, he flashed a perfect set of dimples. She had a thing for dimples, and she immediately wondered if his very fine rear had them, too.
“Toby Woods. Just Toby. I’m the baby ’round here now.” He quickly shook her hand, but before she had time to relish his touch, he let go, shoving his hand into his pocket and rocking on his heels. Toby let his eyes stray back over to Josh before he stepped away.
Unsure what to do now, Krista turned to Mikaela. “You said something about a drink.”
Jack grabbed her elbow—gently but surely—and pulled her away from Mikaela, Josh, and Rob. “You can have whatever you want,” he whispered in her ear as he led her to the table.