by Rye Hart
“This is really gettin’ to ya,” he said.
“It is. It’s been on my mind a lot.”
“Since ya fucked Katie?”
“Don’t talk about her that way,” I said. “But yes.”
“So, if the two of us wanna settle down, then who gets Katie?”
“I don’t think it’s a matter of who gets anyone. Do any of us know how she feels about the rest of us? Have any of us talked to her about this?” I asked.
“Probably not. You ready to have that conversation with her?”
“Not really. I was enjoyin’ the casualness of it all, but it doesn’t sound like it’s too casual anymore.”
“Nope. Not by a longshot.”
“And there are still so many unanswered questions,” I said.
“Like whether Wyatt and Caleb have gotten a slice of her, too.”
“Can you talk with any more decorum about her than that?” I asked.
“There’s no offense. But I don’t pussyfoot ‘round shit like you do. It’s a genuine question. We gotta figure out if Caleb and Wyatt have slept with her, too, then figure out where they stand if they have. Or even if they haven’t. But, I do know that Caleb’s interested in her.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Me and him had an agreement goin’. We’d keep our eyes peeled on you and Wyatt to figure out if you guys were sleepin’ with her. I think Caleb’s feelin’ left out of the whole love circle.”
“There is no love circle. I’m not sharin’ Katie. She’s gonna have to pick if she wants one of us.”
“I agree,” he said. “Like I said, don’t know if Caleb’s slept with her, but I know he’s interested. He sure as hell wanted to know all that information about you and Wyatt.”
“How the hell did we get put into this position?”
“Katie,” he said with a grin. “She’s always been a closet minx. And you can’t tell me you didn’t see the way she used to look at us in high school. She’s probably just playin’ out some fantasy to get this botched weddin’ outta her system.”
“Yeah, so, what happens when she screws us all?”
“Whaddaya mean?” he asked.
“When she’s power-played us and made her rounds. You know, fulfilled that fantasy. Where we all gonna stand then?”
The question rendered Andrew silent as his gaze got far off again.
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.
“Yeah, me neither.”
CHAPTER 22
CALEB
I sat in my office staring at paperwork while Katie worked the front desk. She was checking people out for the afternoon and getting everything ready for guests who were checking in at the last minute. She was bouncing between in-house counsel and the front desk beautifully, and it made me wonder if we could carve out a full-time position for her. The only reason why we didn’t take our former lawyer on full-time was that he couldn’t accommodate a full-time appointment with us, and that was fine. But we easily could now, and Katie really seemed to be getting the hang of things. The praise our lawyer and the guests had for her was outstanding. She was the highest-ranking employee thus far with reviews, and she’d only been here a week. People loved her. She always greeted them with a smile and answered their questions about anything regarding their stay or with anything in their contracts they were signing to use our venues.
She was a perfect fit for the roles she was playing.
I wanted to talk with Katie about things, especially with all the information I’d found out yesterday. I had gone to take Andrew some last-minute suggestions for stuff when I heard him and Dylan talking. And when I heard what they were talking about, it made me sick. They had both slept with Katie. I knew something like that was going to happen on Andrew’s date. It always did. He wasted no time in getting women into bed with him, but Dylan’s admission was a little more difficult to swallow. It meant Katie had actively tried to hide it from me when I caught her in the hallway that morning after the party.
I couldn’t blame her, especially if she knew our reputation around town. She probably just thought we were sharing her. But something told me Katie was also smarter than that. But then that meant she knew what she was doing, actively trying to screw all of us because she wanted to.
And I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
I was pretty certain Wyatt had screwed around with her, too. Which meant I was the only brother who hadn’t gotten a piece of her. Who hadn’t been able to touch her body or feel her lips or explore her. I wanted to talk to her about it. I wanted to ask her if there was something wrong with me, if there was something I wasn’t doing or if she was waiting for me to make the first move or if she just wasn’t interested.
But every time I tried to get some alone time with her, one of my brothers ruined it for me.
Either way, I had to try and keep getting Katie all to myself. I cared about her. I always had. And I wasn’t sure if I could do what Andrew and Dylan and Wyatt were doing. I wasn’t sure if I could have sex with her and move on. Katie was special, different from any other woman in Dallas. She was classy, with just enough country in her to make the classy palatable. She was the perfect mixture of your best friend and your heated lover. There wasn’t a day that had gone by when I’d seen her that I didn’t think she was the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet.
But the longer she went without initiating anything with me, the more I began to think she didn’t want me.
The day was wrapping up, and my brothers were nowhere to be found. The bar was empty, the dining hall was being cleaned up, and Katie was just coming out of her office. This was my chance. Maybe I could push her against the wall, take a bit of command and show her I wanted her. Maybe that was what she was waiting for. Or I could pull her into my lap while I sat at my desk and look up into her eyes.
Or I could rake my arms along my desk and toss everything to the floor so I could lay her down on it and take her right there on top of it.
“Katie!”
“Hey, Lizzie!”
I gritted my teeth as I watched the girls embrace outside my office. Lizzie slung her arm around Katie’s neck, and the two of them ventured off to the bar. Of course. Another chance at talking to Katie ruined by someone else in her life.
Was there even any room for me?
The two of them were sitting at the bar drinking as I locked up my office. I saw Dylan striding across the floor, making his way to the bar as well. Hunter came through the front doors with Andrew, and Wyatt came running past me, his massive body blowing wind that almost knocked the folders out of my damn hands.
“Hey, watch it,” I said.
“Sorry,” Wyatt said as he turned around. “You gonna join us for drinks?”
“Didn’t know drinks were takin’ place,” I said.
“Yep. All of us together. Like old times. Come on, get those filed away and come join us.”
I mumbled underneath my breath as I shoved the folders underneath Andrew’s door. File them away, my ass. I was going to get my time tonight with Katie whether it pissed someone off or not. I walked into the bar and saw Dylan playing bartender, making up drinks with a rag laying over his shoulder.
“Ya look like the guy from Cheers,” I said.
“And you sound like you could use a drink. Beer?” Dylan asked.
“Yeah. Sounds good,” I said.
“Hard day?” Hunter asked as he clapped my back. “Ya know what you could use? Some music.”
I grabbed the beer Dylan was holding out for me as Hunter turned on the radio. Garth Brooks poured through the station, and Lizzie held her drink up in the air.
“To long days and even longer nights. Let’s party, y’all!”
We all cheered our glasses as we slumped against the bar. Lizzie was dancing and swiveling her hips, acting like the hoochie mama she was. Katie was shaking her head as she sipped on her beer, and I could see Dylan’s eyes heavy on her body. All of them were st
aring at her. Drinking her in and watching as her lips wrapped around that damn beer bottle.
Did none of them care that Hunter was sitting right there alongside her?
It was nice, having everyone together. Except I couldn’t get my mind off Katie. Lizzie plucked her from her stool, and the two of them danced together, leaving all of us at the bar to shoot the shit. But my eyes were hooked on the two girls dancing. If someone asked, I could say I was watching Lizzie make a damn fool of herself. But as the guys talked around me, bitching about their days and talking about the next time we were all going fishing, my eyes stayed on Katie.
I kept wondering if she wanted to be with me like she had with my brothers.
“You good, Caleb?” Wyatt asked. “Ya look a little lost.”
“Long day,” I said.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.
“Not really. A beer or two’ll help.”
Lizzie came back to the bar to get another drink, but Katie wasn’t with her. I looked around the dining room for her, seeing if I could figure out where she went. I heard little footsteps walking around in the kitchen, so I tossed my empty beer bottle into the trash before I slid from my seat.
And sure enough, when I rounded into the kitchen, I saw Katie opening one of the fridges.
“Hungry?” I asked.
“Hot,” Katie said. “Just need to stand here for a second.”
“Can’t hold your alcohol like you used to, huh?”
“I’ve toned it down for several reasons,” she said.
“You know you could’ve called me, right?” I asked.
Her head peeked around from the door of the fridge.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Katie. An eighteen-year-old didn’t have no business drinkin’ the way you used to. It got worse in college, didn’t it?”
“I don’t really wanna talk about it right now.”
“But you know you can with me, right?” I asked. “Anythin’ and everythin’.”
“I appreciate it, Caleb. But I’m not in the mood.”
“Do any of my brothers know about it?”
“I told Dylan. I think I told Andrew. I don’t know if I’ve told Wyatt. It’s hard to keep up sometimes with who I’ve told and who I haven’t. It’s why I don’t talk about it.”
“Why not me?” I asked.
“Caleb—”
“Not about—not about your drinkin’, Katie.”
“Then what are you talking about?” she asked.
“I know about Dylan and Andrew.”
Her head whipped back around the edge of the fridge, but this time she let the door shut.
“What?” she asked breathlessly.
“We’re all assuming Wyatt as well. What I wanna know is, why not me? Why haven’t I been able to experience you the way they have?”
I watched Katie bite down on her lip as she approached me. That small gesture, watching her tongue flick out to capture her lip. It was enough to drive me wild. I felt my cock twitch as she grew closer and closer, her body heat beating down on my chest. Holy hell, this woman was beautiful. There wasn’t no way I was going to be able to give her up to my brothers. She was standing toe-to-toe with me, her eyes locked onto mine as my heart leapt into my throat.
I leaned forward to kiss her, my arm slipping tentatively onto her hip. I pressed my lips to hers, feeling the warmth of her body press into my torso. Her hands came up to my chest, gripping my shirt and tugging me closer to her.
Holy blessed shit.
Katie was kissing me back.
It felt like all the things I knew it would feel like and so much more. White hot and passionate. Electric and warm. My toes tingled, and my heart thumped in my ears. I could hear the blood rushing through my veins as my other hand rose to cup her cheek. She tasted like the beer she’d just had, and I was ready to back her into the shadows. Press her against the wall and fill her with my growing cock.
But heavy footsteps behind us startled her, and she pushed away as quickly as she had pulled me to her.
“Hey, you two okay?” Wyatt asked.
Of course, it was him.
Of course, it was fuckin’ Wyatt.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Katie said.
“Care if I join ya? The guys are, well, bein’ guys out there,” he said.
“Sure,” Katie said. “We don’t mind.”
I minded. I very much minded. Wyatt cast me a look, and I could’ve sworn I saw a grin playing on his face. That fucker knew exactly what he’d done, and if he thought he was going to get away with it, he was sorely mistaken. Now that I’d had my moment with Katie—that moment where I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her—things were different. The war was on for Katie’s heart, and I was determined to be victorious.
That kiss had given me hope, and I was dangerous when I had hope.
CHAPTER 23
WYATT
I was saddling up two of our best horses for one of the couples staying at the resort. They were recently engaged and celebrating their love for one another, and I thought it was great. They were walking down to the stables, all giggling and laughter, unable to keep their hands off one another. It really was a beautiful sight, and it made me think of Katie. How happy she looked sitting on my lap that day and how easily her body gave itself over to mine.
I could see myself having that with her.
“First off, congratulations,” I said.
“Thank you so much,” the woman said. “I haven’t been horseback riding in a very long time.”
“And I’ve never done it. This is all her thing,” the guy said.
“Well, let me get ya introduced to the horses,” I said.
“Love the accent, by the way,” the man said.
“Y’all from out of town?” I asked.
“San Francisco,” the woman said. “Your resort comes highly recommended by our boss.”
“Well, tell that to the front desk. You can earn that boss of yours a free night’s stay if he referred ya here,” I said. “And welcome to Dallas.”
“Thanks,” the woman said. “Which one am I on?”
“Whichever one ya want,” I said with a smile.
“The brown one’s beautiful. Does she have a name?” she asked.
“His name’s Longhorn.”
“Oh! Well, sorry there, Longhorn. Mind if I get on?” she asked.
“Be my guest. Ya need any help?”
“I think I got it. I just gotta get my foot—”
The woman stumbled back, and I caught her before she fell. Her fiancé came over and helped me get her up there, using it as an excuse to cop a feel of her ass. I grinned at him, and he winked at me, and I knew the two of them would be just fine. Couples who could be playful like that always made it. At least, that was how it worked out here in the country.
“You need help gettin’ up? Since you ain’t rode before?” I asked.
“Probably, but you don’t get to touch my ass,” he said.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. If ya like, I got a stool you can step up on,” I said.
I got them mounted and ready to go before I walked both the horses to the beginner’s trail. It was smoothed out and very wide. It’d be comfortable for the horses to walk side by side. The two of them reached out for one another’s hands and interlocked their fingers, then they kicked at the horses and started walking. They really were a nice duo. The way they smiled at one another told me they really were in love.
And as I stood there making sure they got off to the trail all right, my mind slipped back to Katie.
I wondered what it would be like to settle down with someone. I was still young. Youngest of the Lee pack. Twenty-seven with a full-time job I loved and no taste for one-night stands at all. I did them for the release. A man’s got urges and shit like that. But they weren’t nothing to write home to Momma about, so I didn’t care if they stuck around. If they wanted to, I let them. It was nice waking up to something warm and soft next t
o me. But I wasn’t like Dylan. I wouldn't cook them breakfast or make them feel like they could stay longer if they wanted.
Waking up to someone other than Katie reinforced the fact that, well, they weren’t Katie.
I’d been wanting her more and more lately. There were still so many things I wanted to experience with her. Places I wanted to kiss and areas of her body I wanted to lick. I wanted to know what it would feel like to wake up to her in the morning. To roll over and see that beautiful face with those sparkling eyes and her dazzling smile.
Fuck. I needed to get my mind off her now.
I shoveled out stalls since Andrew was at the main house doing fuck-knew-what. It seemed more and more like he was defaulting to me doing all this shit, but I didn’t mind. Least, not at that moment. Shit like this helped me to clear my mind and right myself for the day. If I had pent-up frustrations or anger I needed to get out, shoveling pounds of horse shit really took it out of me.
But I was so high-strung that I was thinking about taking the night and finding me a corner to pull Katie into.
I knew what I’d interrupted between her and Caleb in the kitchen. I wasn’t stupid. My brothers acted like I was, but they were wrong. They were sharing a moment and it made me nervous. First Caleb and Dylan busting in on my moment with her with pizza, and then me catching her with Caleb.
I exited one of the stalls as Andrew and Dylan came into the stables. They had their stern faces on, which meant some shit had already gone down that day. I readied myself for what it could be.
“Wyatt, we gotta talk,” Andrew said.
“I can tell by those look on y’all’s faces,” I said breathlessly. “What’s up?”
“We know you’ve slept with Katie,” Dylan said.
My eyes locked hard on my brother’s face before I jammed the shovel into the ground.
“And if I have?” I asked.
“Cut the shit,” Andrew said. “We’ve slept with her, too.”
“Wait. What?” I asked.
“Yeah. The three of us have slept with Katie. Digest that so we can get on with this,” Dylan said.