Chapter 8
brAY
Kitten was fine. She was fine.
I could tell because all she’d had on was her skimpy old robe. No blood. No bruises. Her hair was damp and long down her back.
While the robe covered her fairly modestly, it didn’t hide her curves. Or that she wasn’t wearing a bra. To me, it was hotter than the sexiest piece of lingerie because my dick was rock hard and I was losing my fucking mind knowing she was bare underneath.
Colt was here. He could take care of both girls. But nope. No fucking way. I’d call my clients and tell them I’d be by in the morning. For the first time, I had something more important than work.
Hoof care was important, but not compared to my girl.
“Um, Bray…” Lainey said again.
With Kitten inside, I finally turned to my sister. My gaze raked over her too, but not in the same way as I looked at Kitten. Clinical, making sure there was no blood. Broken bones.
“Yeah?” I asked, running my hand through my hair.
“What the hell was that?” she loud-whispered.
“What?”
She flung her arms in the air. “What? You showing up for starters. Then calling her Kitten. Then, oh, I don’t know, what you said happened at the bar. And… did you just spank Katie Camden?”
I flicked my gaze at Colt. His brow was up and he had a humorous twist to his lips. That was normal for him, observing. I didn’t know if he gave Molly a swat on the ass here and there, but it didn’t seem like he was against the idea.
“She might be your best friend, but she’s mine,” I said simply.
Lainey blinked at me like an owl.
“How long has this been going on? I mean, you’ve known her since we were kids and now you’re talking about her nipples?”
I didn’t want to have to explain myself, least of all to my sister, but she was Kitten’s best friend and would have to get used to this new dynamic the most. “Since she climbed onto my lap at The Roadside last night.”
“Yeah, well, that’s still a big jump to claiming her as yours,” she countered.
I shrugged. “I’d say I was sorry for making your best friend mine, but I’m not.”
Lainey had a right to get pissed. The thought of her with Ace or Cody made me want to pull off their fingernails with my work pliers.
She cocked her head and studied me. “This isn’t you just being horny and she’s convenient?”
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t like that insinuation, even though in the past I had sex for exactly that reason and with women who were convenient. “No.”
She stepped up and poked me in the chest. She was at least six inches shorter, but she had might on her side. “You hurt her and I’ll run you over with the combine.”
Colt hissed because that would be a rough way to go.
I nodded once. “Understood.”
Lainey sighed. “This whole chest beating thing is fine and all, but she doesn’t seem to know that she’s yours,” she said, pointing into the house.
I frowned. “I thought I made it clear last night.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Trust me, she doesn’t know it. We were getting ready to go out. To pick up men.”
“What the hell, Lainey?” Colt finally asked.
“Pick up men?” I added. “What the fuck?”
Lainey didn’t cower under the full force of her two brothers. She had five more overprotective ones so she was used to us.
“That’s fucking dangerous,” Colt snapped.
My gaze narrowed, imagining them in The Roadside and having assholes think they could do shit with them. I didn’t want to think of my little sister having sex… ever, but if she was going to find a guy, it wasn’t on the prowl.
“Says the guy who saw a woman across a rodeo and had a quickie in a closet,” Lainey countered, giving Colt a look.
She had him there, but I didn’t give a shit about double standards if it came to Lainey’s and Katie’s safety.
“No way either of you should be trolling for guys,” I told her.
“Trolling?” Lainey’s hands went to her hips and her eyes narrowed. “What were you doing last night at The Roadside?”
“Out with Cody and Ace,” I replied.
“So you weren’t looking at the ladies?”
“I was looking at one lady and will be from now on.”
“You and Katie out alone and–”
Lainey cut Colt off. “Will you two stop being Neanderthals? I was just pushing your buttons. Sheesh. We were gonna go to the River House. To eat. Food. Take Ellie and Molly. If there were guys there–”
Colt held his hand up in front of her face. “Don’t say anything else.”
“I’m twenty-seven. You want to know if I’m a virgin? Should we get this out of the way now?”
“NO!” Colt shouted.
“Fuck, no,” I said at the same time.
She smirked. “Has it ever occurred to you that Katie and I might go out trolling, but it doesn’t mean we take a guy home. Or to the parking lot.”
I saw red and Colt growled.
Lainey grinned. “Two times in a row. You guys are too easy.” She sighed. “I’m single because I’m discriminate, you dorks. I have eight brothers to show me what kind of guy I deserve. I want something real, not a one night stand. I’d rather open my bedside drawer and pull out my–”
Colt put his hand right over her mouth this time, muffling her words. The last thing either of us wanted to know was about any kind of toy she used to get herself off.
Lainey and Colt stared at each other for a few seconds while I winced.
“You done?” Colt asked her.
She nodded and he lowered his hand.
“I can look, just like you two,” she continued. “I don’t want to know about where you stick your dicks any more than you want to know about my vagina.”
Colt and I groaned at the same time. She wasn’t done.
“I’m not stupid. Neither is Katie. We make safe choices when we’re out.” She stuck her arm out and pointed at the window. “Why’re you so stuck on our evening plans and them being dangerous when this happened? I pretty much pushed Katie to go out with me and now you want her to stay here? Alone?”
Colt and I glanced at the broken window. My jaw clenched and I felt my anger rise again. Someone messed with my kitten.
“I’ll call Buck and Zeb,” Colt said, pulling out his phone. Zeb was home from college for the summer and Buck worked the family ranch. “They were with Pops today and can probably bring over a sheet of plywood.”
Kitten came back out onto the porch with a broom. She was in jean cutoffs, a white tank top and flip flops. The simple outfit made my dick hard. While Colt was talking to one of our brothers on the phone, his eyes were on Kitten. I pushed on his shoulder and forced him to turn around.
Why? Because she had so much fucking skin showing.
Hell, more than the robe. Nothing revealing because her tank didn’t even offer a hint of cleavage, except her lush tits were perfectly outlined.
Her arms were bare and so were her long legs.
She was thick and well muscled from all her work in the stable.
I wanted to get my mouth on every inch of that exposed skin–and what was covered up–to find out how she tasted, how she smelled, what made her hot, made her moan.
I needed to mark her and make her mine in every way. Wrap her in a blanket and hide her gorgeous curves from any other man.
It was hot out. I shouldn’t expect her to come downstairs wearing oversized sweats and a hoodie.
“Time to go.”
She blinked at me. “Go? Go where? I have to clean this up.”
“You’re staying with me while we figure out who did this and why.”
“What? Hayes won’t like it. Besides, I can’t stay with you,” she sputtered.
I lived with my brother so she was probably right. Still…
“Like hell you can’t. Someone just attacked your house!”
“I have chores,” she countered.
Her eyes were wild, panicking more now when I told her she was staying with me than when a rock was tossed through her window. No, not, stay. She was moving in with me. Because how the hell could I let her spend a night in this house alone ever again after what just happened?
She’d grown up here with her grandparents, then they’d died a few years apart. Since then, she’d been all alone.
“I have horses to take care of!”
That silenced me. She had a point. Camden Stables wasn’t large, but it was known around Devil’s Ditch to be excellent for boarding. It was all because of my kitten.
The animals couldn’t be ignored no matter how much I wanted her away from this place… and danger.
I nodded, decision made. “Fine. Then I’m staying here with you.”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous. I’m fine.”
“Because you weren’t in your living room when a river rock came through the window,” I countered.
“I’ll just clean up the glass and get a tarp to cover the hole and I’ll be all set. I’m sure I’ve got one somewhere.”
Was she insane? All set? I ran a hand through my hair. “Someone did this. Intentionally. If it was the guy from last night, do you want to be here alone if he comes back?”
The idea of the guy messing with her at the bar had me breaking his nose. I’d kill him if it really was him that came here to scare her. Or worse.
Her face paled. “No.”
“Someone has a beef with you and you think I’m leaving you here by yourself?”
“Zeb and Buck are coming with a board.” Colt offered the update as he stuck his cell in his pocket. “They’ll be here within the hour.”
“See? All set,” she added, although the last thing she looked was set. She looked scared, but was stubborn for some reason. “I’ll lock the door and I have my granddad’s shotgun.”
“Still staying,” I insisted.
“Don’t you have to work?” she asked.
“Nope.” I did, but not now.
“Lainey’s coming with me,” Colt added. “We’ll be at Ma and Pops’ for dinner.”
She glanced to Lainey, who only offered her a shrug. She was smart enough to know when not to push.
“But–”
“Staying,” I repeated.
She looked down at her porch floor, then glanced up at me through her lashes. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
What was she talking about? “Inconvenience? Kitten, you’re not an inconvenience.”
Her eyes held such confusion. “Bray… why?”
Why? Why was I staying? Why wasn’t she an inconvenience? Hell, this woman needed more than a kiss, it seemed, to know what was between us.
“Because you’re mine and I take care of what’s mine.”