Chapter Six #3
all the men would run, and now she’s caught in her own trap.” Lucy waved down a
server. “Hey, Val, we’re going to need some rosé.”
Gemma looked them over, and a brow cocked over her
intelligent eyes. “See, I told you. Threesomes. Even in friendships, and Ty
doesn’t count. Those two have been down a friend for a long time.”
“Well, I was down to me and Ty while River here followed Jax
all over the world.” Lucy took a seat.
River sat down across from her. “He was on the run from a
crazy lady who took all his memories. I made vows. In sickness and health and
in case of supervillain trying to kill us.”
“Well, I’m glad that particular villain is dead and gone.”
Lucy pulled her napkin over her lap. “So did you see the latest paparazzi shots
of Georgia?”
Georgia Stark-Warner didn’t care what the world thought. She
went all over the city with her husbands, Logan and Seth. Seth being the
billionaire he was, the press was fascinated.
Georgia handled it all with her usual aplomb, though Seth
had upped their security since they had their first kid.
“They were all over her at the airport. Seth was pissed.”
She leaned over to look at River’s phone and winced. “I look like the nanny.
And like the really sad nanny. Yikes.”
The picture was of them walking toward the airplane. Georgia
was smiling and holding hands with Seth. Logan was on her other side, carrying
their infant son against his chest. Brooke trailed behind carrying her sad
suitcase with a backpack on her back.
Awesome. She was in the society pages and she looked like
the world had kicked the hell out of her.
Because it had. She sighed and turned back. “Well, it was
worth it for the free ride.”
River nodded. “Now tell us everything.”
The server brought the rosé, and Brooke relaxed with her
friends.
* * * *
Bay looked around the place and wondered if they
shouldn’t make it…prettier. Even that tiny place Brooke was in last night had
some decorations. Not much, but there had been flowers. Should he go get some
flowers? Brooke liked pretty things.
The house was nice, had plenty of room, but it was…neutral.
He didn’t want her to see it as a hotel room. He wanted her to get comfortable
here.
“It’s fine.” Shane set his pack down. “The place looks
great.”
“Nah, it looks like the last person who actually lived here
was a man who did not give a damn about anything but comfort.” Trev McNamara
chuckled as he walked through the doorway. He was a big guy, his body still
evidence of his former NFL career. He’d been a famous quarterback with the
world open to him, but he’d had an addiction to a bunch of stuff that wasn’t
good for him, and now he was a rancher.
And seemed happy about it. Oh, he still played some ball,
but only with his friends and family. Bay had caught a couple of that dude’s
spiral passes, and the man could hit a target.
Shane looked at their boss. “Oh, it’s fine. We’re thankful
that you’re allowing us to use it. I need you to understand we know it’s just
while Brooke is here.”
Trev studied Shane for a long moment and then gave the same
scrutiny to Bay. He wondered if they were about to get a lecture about taking
advantage of his wife. “How long do you suspect that’s going to be?”
Yes, he should have known this was too good to be true. “I
think she said she was going to be here a couple of weeks.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Trev asked.
“We support Brooke in whatever she wants to do,” Shane said,
proving he was the one with a filter.
Bay didn’t have much of one. “No. We want her to stay. She
thought throwing out the whole fake engagement thing would get me to run, but
she doesn’t know me well. Yet. Pretty soon she’s going to figure out that was a
mistake because I’m a tick who digs in hard.”
For a second he worried he’d said the wrong thing, but then
Trev pointed his way and smiled. “That’s what I want to hear.” He glanced out
the open door. “Jamie, I was right. This is all a scam to trap Brooke.”
“Thank god.” Jamie Glen walked in, carrying a vase filled
with red and pink roses. “I was worried they were using Brooke to fuck over
Max. Not that anyone would blame you.”
“Brooke would, Mr. Glen,” Bay pointed out. She loved her
brothers, and he and Shane needed to find a way to make up for the last several
years of fucking around with them.
Jamie set the flowers on the kitchen table. “These are from
Hope. She’s planning on inviting Brooke over to the storage shed. There’s some
extra furniture and stuff we haven’t gotten rid of since our last makeover.”
Trev grinned. “My wife can’t stop renovating. She’s working
with Hale Galloway on some of his projects. I swear my kids already know how to
install flooring, but she’s real bad about letting go of things. She’s a bit of
a hoarder. There’s some furniture plus extra bedding. I think the kitchen is
well stocked.”
“Because you use it so often.” Jamie leaned against the bar.
“You know you’re not going to be able to wander up here in the altogether to
fix a couple of sandwiches during a long play session.” He looked to Bay. “Trev
had the brilliant idea of transforming the basement of this building into a
playroom after his oldest started wandering around the house by herself. There
were doors he did not want to explain why they were locked.”
Trev shrugged. “The old adult playroom is now a kid’s
playroom. And we play here where our kids know not to go into. It helps quite a
bit having someone in the place.”
He hadn’t even thought about that. Trev had shown off his
gorgeous playroom when they’d hired on since he knew Bay and Shane were in the
lifestyle. He’d offered for them to use it if they took a sub. He remembered
thinking if he was a couple of years younger, he would have been all over it,
but now the only person he wanted was Brooke. But the last thing he wanted to
do was cause trouble for his boss. “We can clear out when you need the space.”
Trev’s head shook, and his expression went soft. “We don’t
play much right now. Three kids in, and we mostly sleep when we get the chance.
It’s okay. It’ll be here when we’re ready. I’m going to enjoy all the phases,
and this phase is less sex, more kids sleeping on my chest. As Jamie here is
about to discover.”
Jamie smiled his way. “I’m ready. You’re not the only one
who’s going to have wild-ass kids running all over this ranch. Those two boys
of yours are getting another brother. And Miranda will have another young
dumbass to dote on.”
“My daughter likes to play Mommy with her baby brothers.
It’s the sweetest thing,” Trev explained.
Bay didn’t understand that, but he did know the two men were
happy. “We’re appreciative of the offer to stay here for a couple of weeks.”
Shane stepped in beside him. “And we’re well aware that
neither of us is actually the foreman. That’s pretty much Bo.”
Trev’s lips quirked up. “Bo is all about the kids right now.
He’s got a lot on his plate, and he’s been helping out more and more in the
office. We were actually thinking about how well this job is working out with
you. Maybe you could handle it while Beth is working on her renovations.”
“Just in a probationary way. Let’s give it a month or so and
see how it goes.” Jamie watched them. “Unless you’re planning on moving on
soon. I know you don’t stay in one place much.”
They’d already discussed this. Bliss was their home now. He
could breathe here. Work here. He would honestly miss new places and
discovering new worlds to work on, but he could make Bliss his palette, his
inspiration. He was sketching more, getting ready to sculpt.
Her. He wanted to sculpt her. He had drawn her a hundred
times, but he hadn’t drawn her forth from clay. The older he got the more he
wanted hours a day to spend on his art.
“The light here is perfect. There’s a room on the second
floor and the light is golden.”
Jamie and Trev stared like they were trying to figure out
what he meant.
Luckily Shane spoke his language. “He likes the smaller
bedroom upstairs because the light is right for painting, though he could be
talking about sketching or sculpting. He’s a jack of all art trades. He simply
happens to be good with cattle, too.”
“And you’re good with people,” Jamie pointed out. “You both
have excellent skills when it comes to the job. Let’s try it, and if Bay wants
time in the afternoon because the light is right, Shane can take up the slack.
Here’s the thing. We don’t care as long as the job is done and everyone is
treated well. We’re bringing in another couple of hands for the rest of the
summer so I can concentrate on Hope and our new son. We’re interviewing a few
next week.”
“We’ve got some experienced candidates,” Trev added. “So you
shouldn’t have to train some green kid. Like I said, let’s try this out. Take
the weekend to spend with your girl, and if you need advice on how to handle
her, we’re around.”
“She thinks we’re just for sex. How would you handle that?”
The question popped out.
Shane sighed. “He doesn’t have a filter. Sorry. It’s a good
question, though. She views us as stress relief. According to Bay, she’s in
some kind of trouble. Not like danger trouble, but trouble. I don’t know if she
would have said yes to last night if she wasn’t. She never has before, and
we’ve tried a couple of times over the years. I think she’s going to have fun
with us until she figures out her future.”
“She lost her job, right?” Trev asked. “That’s the rumor.”
“She had her job stolen from her,” Bay corrected. “Not that
I know everything. By the time I got her packed and in the car, all she wanted
to talk about was her meeting with Gemma and the fact that she’s spending the
whole afternoon at the theater. She’s not supposed to be back until late.”
“She told us she would get a ride from the Farley brothers.
She’s taking that whole crazy ride share thing they have going too seriously,”
Shane complained. “But see, she’s not even talking to us about that, and now