Michaela had been shocked when she’d first come to work here to learn that so many of the guests, and more than a few of the staff, were in committed ménage relationships. No, they’re marriages, not just relationships.
Whatever they were called, she couldn’t deny one solid truth. She’d never met a group of happier people in her life.
Even when she went into Lusty, when she occasionally had breakfast at Lusty Appetites, she couldn’t deny the evidence of her eyes. Some of the triads were celebrating more than thirty years together. She’d been under the impression that the institution of marriage was waning in the country.
It might be elsewhere, but not here in Lusty.
Michaela traded her coffee pot for the pitcher of tea, grabbed a tray with six glasses, and headed back to her most recent guests.
They were chatting as they scanned the menus and she poured out their sweet tea.
“So, the trip to Bandera was a bust?” Parker asked.
“Pretty much,” Lewis said. “I mean, the place looked ideal on the real estate web site. Hell, they call themselves the Cowboy Capital of the World, and we sure as hell are cowboys. But there was just something about that spread…”
Michaela had noticed that, between the two of them, Lewis and Randy, Lewis was the more reticent, the more…oh, doubting Thomas, she guessed. Randy, however, reminded her of the boy in the joke about digging through the pile of manure, because where there was manure there just had to be a pony. So she waited to see what Randy would say.
“It didn’t feel like it was meant to be ours,” he said.
“And that flight out to Denver to look at the ranch west of there?” Lucas asked.
“Same thing,” Lewis said. “As long as y’all aren’t getting tired of us, I guess we’re going to be here a while longer, yet.”
And that was what had kept Michaela wanting but not reaching to have. Those two men, as much as they turned her on and attracted her, were not here for the long haul. They had plans, dreams, to reestablish themselves in a place that, as Randy had told her once, felt like home.
She could so understand that dream, because that was the dream she’d been seeking to achieve, herself. And she would do nothing to get in the way of that.
“Tired of you? We’re lucky to have your help this last month,” Trace said. “I know the others feel the same way. Hell, even Ricoh was smiling when he heard you were going to pitch in.”
“That’s high praise, brother,” Dale told Lewis.
“I like Ricoh,” Lewis said. “He’s a straight shooter. You don’t ever have to guess where you stand with him.”
“It surprised me that Uncle George arrived for an entire two weeks,” Randy said. “It was kind of cool having him ride out with us this morning.”
“Surprised us, too.” Parker grinned. “He wanted to spend a bit of time with the guys and Addison. He’ll be heading to Divine to check in with Veronica and her guys, too. With the divorce final, and Norah having moved to California, Cord said his dad just wanted to meet his new grandbabies and touch base with his family.” Then he looked at Michaela. “We’re holding you up.”
“And here I was going to apologize for so blatantly listening in.”
“Naw,” Dale said. “You’re like family.”
“Thank you. Now I must ask, are y’all ready to order?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Randy looked up and gave her his grin….and a tiny part of her heart melted.
No, no, no! There will be no heart melting. There will be no more wet dreams. That last thought brought heat to her cheeks. She wasn’t ever going to acknowledge the wet dreams even to herself, let alone think about them while standing so close to the two men who’d inspired them.
Fortunately, she was saved by their hunger—for food.
They placed orders for burgers and fries, chili, tacos, and meatloaf. Yup, they’re hungry.
She headed to the kitchen to place the orders. Her fellow servers today were Bailey Benedict and the boss lady, Angela.
Laci, wife to Trace and Lucas, and the manager of the roadhouse, would be coming in for a few hours, from five to about eight tonight. Her little girl was five months old and just the sweetest little thing. Laci wanted to ease her way back to work, and her husbands supported her decision. They’d worked things out so that at least one daddy would be available while mommy worked.
I guess that’s a reason right there to have a ménage marriage. No parent gets stranded at home alone all the time.
Michaela needed to get her mind off the whole topic of Benedicts and marriages and yummy cowboys. Orders given to the kitchen, she lent Angela a hand with her table of ten then kept busy until it was time to deliver lunches to Benedict Central.
The next hour sped by. She looked up, because something had caught her eye. It was that table of Benedicts getting to their feet, and Lewis motioning her over.
“Need change?”
“No, ma’am,” Lewis said. “I need to see your hands.”
She opened her mouth to protest. Lewis just held her gaze. This man was dangerous to her self-control. His sculpted cheekbones, chocolaty pools he called eyes, and the way it felt like he could see right through her got her hot. It was hard to tamp down the arousal he inspired in her. She did her best and then shrugged and let him see her palms.
He placed his hands beneath hers, and it was all she could do not to shiver. Oh. My. Goodness. She couldn’t not feel the electricity of their connection, but she could do her damnedest not to show it.
“Now this is just a damn shame, baby girl.” Lewis rubbed his thumb over her half-healed blister. “You’ve been treating it? Keeping it clean and using antibiotic cream?”
“I have. I used to get the odd blister when I was in school, in track and field. This is the first time for one on my hand.”
“Using tools requires what’s referred to as PPE—personal protective equipment.”
Randy had headed out before she’d approached Lewis, but now he was back and walking toward her. He handed what he carried to Lewis, who released her hands and gave the new-looking work gloves to her. Michaela tried not to think about the loss of contact. She felt positively bereft. A feeling that was offset by the aroma of Randy as he stood just a bit closer. His dark blond hair looked as if he’d run his fingers through it a lot, and his soft blue eyes just made her want to sigh.
“You’ll want a smaller pair, eventually, but until you get those, use these,” Lewis said.
Michaela wrenched herself back to the conversation. Lewis met her gaze. “And when you go get your gloves, we want you to buy safety goggles and work boots that have a steel toe and a steel shank. The guys told me you can get all of that stuff at Darryl’s Duds in town.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. “We’ll see you Friday? At the party?”
It was all she could do not to close her eyes and clamp down on the erotic waves that washed through her just because Lewis Benedict had kissed her cheek.
He said party. Michaela nearly asked what party, but at the last moment she remembered. Jenny was having a party for Parker’s birthday, and it happened to be on the one Friday she had off in the month. She’d been invited before she’d met these way-too-tempting Benedicts. For one moment, she considered saying no.
But she’d promised Jenny she’d be there, and Tammy was looking forward to going with her, too. The fact that she was attracted so strongly to these men was her problem. She would not let that get between her and her coworker or bff.
So instead of refusing, she nodded slowly. She looked from Randy to Lewis. “Yes. I’ll be there.”
Michaela carried the warmth of their smiles with her for the rest of the day.
* * * *
“I don’t think I fully appreciated just how hot it got here,” Lewis said. Along with his cousin Randy and their brothers, he was at new-to-him Cousin Carrie’s large dining room table. Chase and Brian were t
here, of course. But Alan and Duncan, the two wranglers who’d been with the twins since the beginning of the combined ranching operation. were over in their own house, having supper with their wife—and their nearly four-month-old daughter, Angelica.
“It’ll get hotter,” Trace said. He and his brother, Lucas, took turns holding, feeding, and burping their daughter, little Zoe Diane. Randy’s sweet little niece was going to be five months old in a week. At the moment their wife, Laci, was putting in a few hours at the roadhouse. For the most part, supper was done. Carrie had excused herself, telling the table she had a “date” with her main man, her son Donny, who’d turn one next month. The men would pitch in and clean up, once they’d finished jawing.
“It sure will,” Lucas said. “But you get used to it. Eventually.”
“When Cord and Jackson first came to Lusty, we didn’t understand that getting acclimated was a real thing.” Chase, one of his Texan cousins, said. “Because, well, we’ve been here all our lives and the weather is what it is. And then a year ago, we took Carrie for a mini vacation—a week in Colorado. It was in the dead of winter, and swear to God, I’ve never been so cold in my life.”
“Imagine having to go out and look for cows in a snowstorm,” Lewis said. “Breaking ice off the ponds—what you down here call tanks—so they can drink. And then getting food out to them, once you find them, because there sure as hell is no grass they can eat then.”
“That’s the same thing Cord said,” Brian said. “He also said that even at its hottest, he’d take Texan summers over Montana’s winters.” And then he grinned.
“You look so much like Randy when you smile like that,” Lewis told Brian.
“I know, right?” Trace said. To Brian, he said, “That was one of the first things I noticed about you.”
“We Benedicts have damn good genes.” Brian said.
There wasn’t much any of them could say about that. Lewis realized that, over the last month, he’d gotten pretty used to having good, relaxing, and fun evenings in the presence of so many Benedicts.
“I have one question.” Parker sat back from his now totally cleared plate. He looked at Lewis, and his head tilted in a way that told him was going to say something Lewis might not like.
“And that would be?”
“That tender moment today at the roadhouse—between the two of you and Michaela. Just wondering if you were thinking of starting something there.”
“We’re all kind of protective of her,” Lucas said. “She lost her dad not that long ago. Plus, she’s taken on fixing up her place, and so far, she has turned down every single offer of assistance every single Benedict, Jessop, and Kendall has made.”
Lewis looked over at Randy. They’d spoken about Michaela, of course they had. They’d coaxed her into sitting with them for her break a couple times at the roadhouse. They’d kept it light, of course.
But with each passing day, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the growing attraction they felt for her. The woman got to him, no doubt about it. Her sassy-cut light brown hair gave her a just-been-laid look, and yeah, that was likely sexist as hell of him to think it, but man, she was hot as hell. Oh, he knew that she did her best not to be, but it was the pure truth that, as far as he was concerned, looking hot had to be her superpower.
And when she looked at him with those intelligent hazel eyes, he felt as if she could see into his soul.
Maybe if we spend more time with her, see if she’s amenable to scratching mutual itches, the attraction will die a natural death. That had been their thought earlier, before they’d headed over here for supper.
Ignoring the attraction he felt toward her was getting harder and harder. So yeah, maybe if they indulged in some hot sex, the attraction would fade. He figured that for a sure bet, because it always had worked in the past.
Lewis didn’t particularly want to share that sentiment with his Texas cousins, his brothers, or Randy’s—and he didn’t think Randy did, either.
But now with six Benedicts staring at him and Randy waiting for an answer, he knew he had to say something, and “mind your own fucking business” wasn’t going to cut it.
“I can appreciate your concerns. She’s a sweetheart, and it’s impossible not to feel protective of her.” He knew he had to give them more, and though he hadn’t planned it, the words came out.
“We’ve felt something for her since we got here, but what good does that do? We’re looking for our own place.”
What had he said, exactly, that had made his brothers and cousins relax? He had no fucking clue.
“She seemed grateful for those gloves. Maybe the two of you will be able to succeed at helping her where we’ve all failed.”
“As for the attraction?” Chase shrugged. “We got all macho with Cord and Jackson when they were sniffing around Ari. But if married life has taught us one thing, it’s this.”
“Women,” Brian said, “are complex creatures. And we’ve figured out that they are grateful if you stomp on scorpions for them and keep them safe from danger. They do not, however, appreciate being treated as if they’re incapable of knowing their own minds or making their own decisions and choices.”
“Amen.”
Lewis laughed when his brothers and cousins, married men all, said that as one.
“I guess what we’re trying to say is that we’re all in agreement on this,” Trace said.
“Michaela knows you’re not planning to make your lives here,” Parker said. “And we trust you guys not to do anything that she doesn’t want.”
“And if you could sweet talk her into letting you help her fix up her ranch, that would be bonus.” Dale looked around the table at his Texan cousins, who were all nodding.
“Ranch?” Lewis had thought she was fixing up a house in town. She hadn’t said anything about a ranch.
“Yeah, man. Spread’s been in her family for damn near a hundred and fifty years,” Chase said.
“That woman is fixin’ to bite off way more than she can chew. Because once she gets that house repaired, she’s planning on operating a ranch—with a few head of cattle and probably some horses and farm crops, too.” Brian folded his arms across his chest.
Chase, along with Lewis’s brothers and Randy’s, were all nodding their heads. Clearly the six of them were united in their belief, despite what they’d just said, that Michaela Powell didn’t know her own mind and, in fact, needed a caretaker.
Lewis looked over at Randy, and they reacted in total unison. They both burst out laughing.
He didn’t care that every other Benedict at the table was frowning at them. It felt damn good to laugh.
“You guys better work on your enlightened and understanding male routines,” Randy said.
“Because from where we’re sitting, I have to tell you, you have a long way to go.”
Chapter Three
“Come here often, pretty lady?”
“Such a cheesy line!” Michaela shook her head, but she guessed that Lewis and Randy Benedict knew she wasn’t really offended. She didn’t have a hope in hell of quelling her smile, either, as she met their grins.
“It was cheesy, but it made you smile,” Randy said.
“Looked to us like you weren’t having a good time.” Lewis said. “And we couldn’t have that.”
“I am having a good time. I was just…I guess I was taking a moment to think about these friends of mine—Jenny and Parker and Dale. They seem so… so damn happy.”
“They are happy,” Lewis said. He sighed. “You may have heard there’s feuding of a sorts going on back home.”
Michaela shrugged. “I may have been on the receiving end of a few confidences.” She was certain that she didn’t know anything more than either Lewis or Randy did.
What the guys had actually witnessed was her thinking about the way these friends seemed to just include anyone who came into their sphere—even a mixed-up young woman who’d had no idea of where she was going in life while she was dealin
g with a difficult and dying father.
And then she’d felt Lewis and Randy headed toward her, and she’d been trying to recall if she’d heard anything derogatory about either of those two Benedicts from anyone.
She’d just come to the conclusion that she hadn’t when Lewis had delivered that line. It was definitely cheesy, and now I know, it was deliberately so.
Lewis met her gaze. Beside him, Randy, too, had his attention focused on her. In that moment a strange sensation swept her. Safe. Secure. Important. All those feelings were hers right then, with the sound of her friends’ voices in the background, the scent of chili teasing her taste buds, and these two men looking only at her.
How could I not have known I was missing something so basic, something so important?
“We both appreciate your unwillingness to share anything you heard in confidence,” Lewis said. He reached out and took hold of her right hand. He used his thumb to stroke the back of her hand, and she felt…calmed. “So we’ll give you a recap of what they—all of them, really, and us to a lesser extent—have been through.
“Cord and Jackson and their brothers and sisters—one sister here and one in another town, Divine—their parents have finally divorced. It was really ugly between Aunt Norah and Uncle George for a time. Our Aunt Norah is….” Lewis blew out his breath as if he didn’t want to say anything really bad about Cord and Jackson’s mother.
“A bitch?” Michaela had no allegiance to Norah Benedict, but she liked those of her children she’d met. Some folks, she guessed, were just born mean. She’d often thought, over the years, that had been the problem with her father. He hadn’t pulled anything like the kind of shit she’d heard Norah had, but he’d not been a symbol of hearth and home, either.
“That’ll do.” Lewis’s lips stretched into a smile, and Michaela realized then he was a man who didn’t smile much. “You probably also know that their dad, our Uncle George, is here visiting for a bit. He’s a rancher—that seems to be something that runs in the family, be it Montanan or Texan. He actually had to hire a few of the local boys to keep an eye on his place for the time he’s away.
Love Under Two Mavericks Page 3