Her Three Wilde Champion Men [Wilde, Nevada 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Chloe Lang

  Is my dream coming true? Did he understand Wilde better than she’d imagined?

  The waiting room erupted in applause and embraces and kisses. This was Wilde. This was how things were done when a new baby was born.

  Austin Wilde came out carrying the new bundle with his four brothers surrounding him. He walked over to Mary, their mother, and Pappy Jack, their grandfather. “I’d like to introduce you to our daughter, Mom. This is Carol, named after grandma.”

  “Give that baby to me,” she said.

  “Did I hear you right, son?” Pappy Jack asked. “My old ears aren’t what they used to be. What’s this precious girl’s name again?”

  Jackson put his arm around his granddad. “It’s Carol, Pappy. She’s got the same eyes as grandma had, doesn’t she?”

  The old man wiped a tear from his eye. “That she does. That she does.”

  Alex squeezed Shelby. “I’m glad you’re here, baby.”

  “Me, too,” she answered, daring to dream her dream of a life with him and his brothers.

  * * * *

  Shelby put her head on her pillow. Norma and Lily had already been gone when she’d gotten home around nine this morning.

  What a night.

  A new baby. Carol Wilde.

  Lots of laughter and joy.

  Alex Champion. All of it was amazing.

  God, how she wanted her own family. She’d dated some guys in Wilde, but none of them had ever clicked for her. After that she’d widened her search but unfortunately, people from Wilde didn’t mix well with outsiders. She thought about the waiting room and realized that wasn’t quite true.

  The women at the clinic with her had all been outsiders before coming to Wilde. Charly, Mary, Maude, and Mackenzie had been twirled around the space by their men after Alex had come out of the delivery room.

  She recalled her mother’s words to her.

  “Outsiders just don’t understand our ways, Shelby. Trust me. Date the boys from Wilde. You won’t regret it.” That was what her mom had always told her. Her dads, too. They still did every Monday night at nine on Skype. For her parents, it was Tuesday afternoon. They’d retired and moved to Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were having the time of their lives. She missed them very much. They were coming back for a visit to Wilde in October, and she couldn’t wait to see them.

  Australia had been her mother’s dream for years.

  What about my dream of my own family?

  Only once had she tried dating an outsider, thinking maybe she could settle for a lone guy and break the tradition of the long line of women in her family who had enjoyed the love of two or three husbands. That had ended in a disaster. But Alex was as opposite from Kenneth, her ex from Reno, as could be.

  Her date with the handsome doctor had been incredible. The dancing even better. The kissing? Well, Alex’s talents in that department had been more than she’d even imagined they would be. Her lips were still swollen, but she loved every throb that came from them. It reminded her of him. She could still smell his scent in her hair. The sex? Even though vanilla, she’d reached two orgasms that had blown her mind.

  “Time to sleep, Shelby,” she told herself aloud, closing her eyes, hoping her silly head would settle back and let her fall asleep. She knew it would take a while to stop thinking about Alex. Images of him and his brothers, Justin and Brandon, appeared in her mind.

  Shelby opened her eyes and sat up. She needed that herbal tea that helped her sleep. She rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen to fix herself a cup, praying it would do the trick and grant her a few hours of rest.

  Thank God it was Sunday and not Monday. Tomorrow was a workday and Austin’s schedule was totally packed, which meant she would be swamped.

  * * * *

  Lucille heard the knock on her door. She wondered why Trixie had shown up so early. They weren’t supposed to leave for Vegas until five tonight. It was only noon. Trixie was always so impatient when it came to partying. “Coming.”

  Lucille opened the door.

  Not Trixie.

  Shocked by who was standing on her front porch, she asked, “May I help you?”

  What she saw next horrified her.

  A wicked smile.

  A gun.

  “No!”

  The weapon fired.

  Lucille fell to the floor, feeling horrific pain in her gut.

  Chapter Seven

  Brandon walked through Norma’s Diner, which was busting at the seams. He headed to the booth where his pop sat with his new wife. Even as busy as the restaurant was, his eyes still zeroed in past his two lunch partners. His focus was on the woman three booths down, reading a book. He’d seen her at Alex’s ground breaking ceremony.

  Justin had told him that her name was Shelby Taylor. His brother had already put the moves on her. So like him. Never wasting any time to pounce. Then he would move on to his next conquest. Later, Alex had told him she worked for Austin Wilde as his personal secretary. He knew Austin. Hell, everyone in the whole state knew the man. Wilde walked a fine line but always ended up on the right side of the law. So far, anyway.

  Brandon’s brain was in a damn tailspin ever since seeing Shelby. This must’ve been her Monday lunch. Dining alone? He thought about asking to join her, ditching his dad and Connie.

  No one had impacted him so fast or so strongly ever. Not even Ashley. When he’d watched Justin walk away with the Wilde beauty at the ceremony, the old green-eyed monster of jealousy had shown up in his head. He wasn’t about to go down that path again, especially not with a girl from this town.

  Still, he could just imagine how soft and sweet Shelby would be under his body. During the deposition back in Elko, his mind had kept producing images of her in various states of undress. What was underneath those clothes of hers? He was pretty certain her hidden skin was just as fair as her gorgeous face, which was currently turned his way. Her big blue eyes were wide. She wore her hair up. She didn’t look like a one-night-stand kind of person to him, so he turned his attention away from her and back to his dad and Connie.

  He’d sworn off women long ago, not that he’d become a monk by any means. His bedroom had gotten quite the workout, especially after Ashley had broke it off with him. Lately less, but still active. More accurately put, he’d sworn off anything that smacked of permanence with any female. No one was invited to stay for breakfast. No one.

  “Hey, son.” His dad waved him over. It was still odd seeing him in the sheriff’s uniform, though he loved that his dad was so happy. His dad’s new attitude was more likely due to Connie than him being the head lawman of Wilde.

  Connie was so different from his mom. She was a bit scattered, where his mother had been so neat and orderly about everything. He’d been in high school when his mother had died, but he could still remember how everyone held on to their glass else his mom would swoop it up, carrying it to the kitchen to be washed. Now he realized his mother must’ve had a big case of OCD, which he’d apparently inherited from her. Fuck, he missed his mom.

  “I took the liberty of ordering for you, son,” his dad said. “The special today is meatloaf with gravy.”

  “I love meatloaf.”

  “I know you do.”

  Brandon scooted into the booth opposite the happy couple. “What sides?”

  “Mashed potatoes and a side salad.”

  His dad did know him. Quite well, too. Testing him, Brandon asked, “What dressing did you pick for my salad, Pop?”

  “Same as me, son. A mix of blue cheese and French.”

  Connie shook her head. “All you Champion men have such strange palates.”

  “Don’t knock it, sweetheart. Just enough blue cheese to give it a tangy flavor,” his pop said, grabbing her hand and squeezing.

  “Too harsh a flavor for me, Sheriff Champion.” She smiled. “Give me Thousand Island over any other every time.”

  Their waitress came over with her arms full of plates. A cutie with short black hair and hazel eyes,
which normally would’ve had him intrigued, but all his attention was on Shelby at the moment.

  “Hi, Sheriff,” the woman said, placing their lunch onto the table.

  His dad smiled. “Hey, Anna. Busy today, isn’t it?”

  “You’re telling me. Carlotta and Deuce went to Reno to meet some of his old rodeo buddies. Mackenzie quit after everyone learned about her working undercover to get you-know-who. I didn’t know her long, but I would not have guessed she was a reporter.”

  “A damn good one, too,” his dad said.

  “I suppose so. She’s working over at KINK as the five o’clock anchor and also taking the reins of the paper. With no Carlotta and no Mac, that leaves me and Danielle to run the front.” Anna, clearly a chatterbox, leaned in and whispered. “Danielle isn’t the same after all that happened with you-know-who.”

  “You mean Malcolm Winters, don’t you?” Brandon asked.

  “Yes. Thank God he’s dead.” She turned to his dad. “We’re safe in Wilde now, aren’t we, Sheriff?”

  His pop smiled and patted Anna on the back of the hand. “I’ll do my best to make sure our streets are free of criminals like Winters, young lady.”

  “That’s a relief. Let me know if you need anything.” Anna bounced away.

  “She’s something else.” Brandon inhaled the savory aroma of the meatloaf on his plate. He was hungry, having skipped breakfast this morning.

  “She’s sweet, son.”

  “Very sweet,” Connie chimed in. “She just needs the right man in her life, Brandon Champion.”

  “She’s from Wilde.” He lowered his voice. “Forgive me, Connie, but I think she’s looking for the right men, not man, if she’s anything like the other girls I’ve known here. If that’s what this lunch was about, trying to set me up with Anna, then I’m afraid you wasted your time. I’m not interested in Anna.” He glanced over at the booth with the one woman from Wilde he would be interested in getting to know more.

  “Son, this lunch was my idea, though Connie thought it was a good one.” His dad shook his head. “We weren’t thinking about Anna, though you could do worse. She’s a sweet, lovely girl.”

  “She’s also not a native of Wilde, Brandon,” Connie added.

  “So this was a setup attempt. Yes or no?” he said in his best courtroom voice. Then he smiled. “You two like playing a matchmaking team?”

  “You could do worse than us, son. This wasn’t about Anna, but it is about you.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked his dad, not liking where this seemed to be headed.

  “You’ve been alone far too long,” his pop said. “I know your heart was broken by Ashley, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop living.”

  Connie kissed his dad on the cheek. Then she fixed her gaze on Brandon. “It also doesn’t mean you need to stop being open to love. Who knows what’s just around the corner? Your soul mate might even be in this diner.”

  Three booths down? He shook his head. “I’m so happy for you two. You found each other. You deserve love. I’m not ready to settle down yet. Why aren’t you having this conversation with Alex or Justin? Or have you already?”

  “Alex is swamped with the new hospital construction.” His father sipped his tea. “Justin…well, you know your brother as well as I do. He’s not the marrying kind.”

  “That’s putting it lightly. You think Alex is busy? I’m buried with all the cases I’m working on.”

  “Have you given any more thought to coming up here to Wilde and taking over the Silver County District Attorney’s office?” Connie asked.

  His dad added, “With the current D.A. retiring, we need someone.”

  “Ask Jackson Wilde. He’s from here. Makes sense. Besides, I like being a defense attorney.” Not entirely true, but it was a living.

  “Do you love your too-big caseload, son? I never know what city you’re in until you tell me. How many cases do you have in Reno? In Vegas? Hell, even in Elko you’re working at least three.”

  “Elko may be small but it’s flooded with people who need my help. Don’t worry, Pop. I’m not taking any new cases.” He took another bite of his lunch and saw someone he didn’t expect to be in Wilde come through the diner’s entry.

  Sheriff Lyle Byrd of Elko County walked straight up to them, not waiting for Anna or Danielle to lead him to a table or booth. “Wayne, where is Alex?” the overweight lawman demanded.

  Brandon didn’t like Byrd’s tone or the look in his eye. The sheriff of Elko wasn’t a man to be trifled with. The man had a cold-blooded way of working cases. Though Brandon had never been able to prove it, yet, he believed Byrd had planted and tampered with evidence on several occasions to make convictions stick, whether the accused was truly guilty or not. “Why do you want to know where my brother is, Sheriff?”

  “What are you doing up here in Wilde, counselor?” Byrd asked with a smirk.

  What an ass. “Lunch with my dad, if you must know, but you haven’t answered my question.”

  “I don’t plan on answering it either.” The sheriff turned to his father. “You’re a lawman now, Doc. Time to start acting like one. Where is Alex Champion?”

  “You have a warrant, Lyle?” his pop asked.

  “I just need to question him and the woman he was with in Elko Saturday night.”

  Woman? Had Alex made the move on Shelby like Justin had? Was Sheriff Byrd looking for her, too? “What do you want to question them about?”

  “I’m here on official business, young man.” Byrd frowned and then looked at his dad. “Why the cat and mouse, Wayne? Have you forgotten where you came from? It isn’t here.”

  “I am the sheriff in Silver County, Lyle. Not you. Either you answer Brandon’s question or you can go back to Elko.”

  “Look, I’m working on an attempted murder case. People saw your son and a blonde woman talking to the victim Saturday night in Elko. The attack occurred at noon yesterday. Some recognized her as a Wilde girl. Do you know who she might be?”

  Brandon had seen that look in Sheriff Byrd’s eyes before. Now he’s going to try to pin this on Alex and Shelby. He must act and fast.

  “Let’s take this to my office, Lyle,” his dad said, glancing at Brandon for a split second. “We can sort it all out there.”

  His pop knew the Elko sheriff’s reputation as well as he. His father was clearly giving him some much-needed time, if only a little, to get a plan together.

  * * * *

  Shelby sat reading her book from one of her favorite authors, Sophie Oak. But she really wasn’t reading it at all. Her attention was on a certain lawyer who was sitting three booths away with Sheriff Champion and his wife, Connie. Brandon Champion was just as sexy as his two brothers. Taller by a half inch than even Justin. Every time he smiled, she saw his lone dimple on his left cheek, just like Justin’s.

  God, Brandon was devastatingly beautiful. She glanced back at her book when his dark eyes locked on hers for a moment. Her heart was racing. Why was she being so foolish?

  She was a girl from Wilde. To Elko men, that meant she was a woman from the proverbial “other side of the tracks.”

  It would never work for Brandon. It would never work for Alex or Justin either. The Champions all wanted different things than she did. One man. One woman. That was what the outside world deemed normal.

  She wasn’t about to settle. It wasn’t fair to them or to her, though her heart was so on board with pursuing the impossible dream. Was it because of her night with Alex? God, being with him had been so amazing. Her submissive side had responded to him even during the vanilla sex. Odd. That had never happened before to her.

  Apparently, a lot of odd things were happening lately.

  Shelby had been shocked to see the sheriff from Elko walk into Norma’s and head over to the booth where Wayne Champion sat. Wayne was the acting sheriff for Silver County, so it didn’t make sense that the sheriff from Elko County would be here.

  What had shocked her was the reaction she s
aw on Brandon’s face. He was clearly not a fan of Sheriff Byrd. Most in her hometown knew the past history that had occurred between Byrd and the Strong and Wilde families. Bad blood.

  But people from Elko seemed to adore the man. Byrd won every election by a landside no matter who ran against him. Why did Brandon and his dad have obvious disdain for the sheriff?

  Byrd walked out of the diner with Wayne and Connie.

  Brandon stayed and paid the bill.

  Once again, she saw his dark eyes lock on her. She slammed her stare back to her book, but the words didn’t have any meaning to her. At the moment, they were just scribblings on a page. Her mind was fixed on something else besides the sexy story Oak had written. All she could think of was how to get out of the diner without looking back at Brandon.

  “Shelby?”

  She peered over the top of her book and saw Brandon standing right at the edge of her table. “Yes,” she squeaked out, feeling her heart start to thud hard in her chest.

  “You have a dollar?” he asked.

  “You need money?” She got her purse off the seat beside her and began rifling through it, glad for the chance to look away from his mesmerizing eyes.

  “No. You need an attorney.”

  She snapped her head up, keeping her fingers inside her bag. “What do you mean?”

  “The dollar,” he ordered. “Then we can talk.”

  “I don’t understand, Mr. Champion.”

  “You will…after the dollar,” he said even more firmly than before. That kind of tone was something she could never resist no matter how hard she tried.

  More images of her being with all three Champion brothers spun in her head. Stop it, Shelby. Something is troubling him. What?

  Had Sheriff Byrd said something to put him in this mood? What did it have to do with her?

  Shelby found a five-dollar bill and brought it out. “This is the smallest I have. Will this work?” she asked, handing it to him.

  “Perfect,” he said, sliding into the booth opposite her. “You just hired yourself an attorney, Shelby.”