Chapter 7 #2
“Late,” Holden says and hugs his sister close. “Sorry, baby girl.”
“Nah, we were fine today.” She keeps her arm around his waist and smiles up at him with pure love on her gorgeous face. “Where’s Millie?”
“She just went inside with Ava and Harper,” I tell her.
“That’s where the food is,” Darby says, just as her stomach rumbles. “I’d better go get some.”
She smiles at me once more before she walks inside, the screen door shutting behind her, and Holden turns to me, his face completely sober now.
“Is there something going on with you and my sister?”
I don’t move a muscle, and I absolutely do not back down.
“Define something.”
Holden sighs and rubs his hand over the back of his neck.
“So this is where I tell you that if you fuck with her, they’ll never find the body.”
Holding his gaze, I nod slowly. “Nothing is happening that isn’t completely consensual.”
“That’s not really what I wanted to hear.”
“It should be. She’s not much younger than us, Holden. She’s a grown woman. A beautiful, smart, lovely woman, and I’m not an asshole.”
He blows out a breath and shoves his hands in his pockets, and then finally nods. “You’re right. She’s smart as fuck, and she can make her own choices. Just . . . she’s had enough shit in her life.”
“Yeah, I know.”
His gaze whips to mine in surprise.
“She didn’t tell me everything, but enough. She’s not fragile, you know.”
After another moment of my girl’s older brother staring me down, he finally says, “Yeah, I know.”
“Why are you looking at each other like that?”
I glance over and find Darby frowning at both of us. I didn’t hear her come back outside, but she has two plates loaded down with food. Ribs, potatoes, corn, beans . . . it’s a feast.
But when I expect her to pass the second plate to her brother, she shocks me and offers it to me instead.
“I hope you like everything because I brought you some of each,” she informs me as I take the plate, and then she picks up her fork and dives in.
Sweetest fucking thing.
“Thanks,” I tell her and then look over to where Holden is watching us.
“I’m going to go find my wife.”
He stalks off, and Darby turns back to me. “Did he grill you or make you uncomfortable?”
“No.”
She narrows her eyes. “Yes, he did.”
“He didn’t make me uncomfortable, Duchess.”
“But he did grill you.”
“He’s your big brother. What do you think? I grill every asshole who tries to date my sisters.”
“You had a talk with Blake?”
“Of course I did. I mean, I knew him already, but yeah. I called him. It’s what we do.” I take a bite of beans. “Thanks for making me a plate. Is this your way of flirting with me?”
Her lips twitch, and she shoves a bite of potato in her mouth, avoiding the question. Her eyes hold mine as she chews, and I reach over to take a little smudge of sour cream from the corner of her lips.
“Thanks,” she says.
“You’re welcome. You kicked ass today.”
“I think we all did,” she replies and looks around at the guys. They’re chatting and joking, but we all look tired.
Twelve hours of hard work in the sun will do that to you.
“The farrier is coming tomorrow to work on the horses’ hooves,” I tell her. “I should be around, but I wanted to let you know ahead of time.”
Because it’s a man, and she doesn’t do well around strange men. She’s just now loosening up around Scott and the other guys, and she’s been working around them for a couple of weeks now.
“Sounds good. I’ve always wanted to watch that process. Hopefully he won’t care if I hang out for a while.”
“He won’t care. He’s been doing my horses’ feet for years.”
Ava steps out the back door, and Darby waves at her.
“I have to go talk to your sister for a while.”
I nod, and watch her walk away, her ass moving like a wet dream in those jeans, making me imagine what she’d look like out of those jeans, and I have to shake myself out of it before I join Easton and Scott and listen to them talk about a summer baseball league they’re both going to join, but I always keep my eye on my girl.
She and Ava have their heads together, talking about something serious from the looks of it.
Finally, they hug, and I want to know if my sister is okay, but before I can go ask her, they start to laugh about something, and the serious moment is over, so I leave them be.
“You should join the team,” Scott says to me as he drops a rib bone onto his plate and reaches for another. “It would get you off this ranch a couple times a week.”
“I like being on the ranch.”
“You need a break,” Easton says, agreeing with my foreman.
“I don’t need a break.”
They both just stare at me and I shrug.
“I don’t need a break.”
“Everyone does,” Easton insists. “You work long hours. Take a couple of hours to yourself to toss the ball around. Remind everyone in Silver Springs that you’re the town jock.”
Just because I played high school and college football, my brother won’t let me forget that I was once a big deal when it came to sports.
Then, Xander outshone all of us. And to his credit, he deserves it. The man is a beast on the ice.
“I don’t need to remind anyone of anything,” I reply. “My trophies are still in the high school.”
“Yes, you’re a very big deal.” Scott rolls his eyes, making Easton laugh. Scott’s known me since junior high. “So that’s a no on joining the team?”
“That’s a no,” I confirm and glance over to check on Darby, but I don’t see her. Ava’s chatting with Millie and Holden, and when my eyes skim over the patio, Darby’s nowhere to be seen.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and shoot her a text.
Me: You okay, Duchess?
I watch my phone, but she doesn’t answer me. With a frown, I stand and walk over to Ava.
“Did you see where Darby went?” I ask her.
Ava frowns and looks around, then nods. “Yeah, she took her plate inside.”
Ignoring Holden’s glare, I stride through the back door, and there she is. Darby’s at the sink, washing dishes.
“You don’t have to do that.”
She glances my way and smiles. “I know, but there aren’t many, since we’re using paper and plastic for most things, so I figured if I washed these up, no one would have to worry about it later.”
I toss my empty plate and lean my hips against the counter, watching her.
“And, I wanted a quiet moment,” she admits. “I told you before that I’m not great with people.”
“You’re good with people. Doesn’t mean you have to want to be around them all the time. It’s one of the things I like about living on the ranch. There’s hardly anyone here to irritate me.”
She chuckles and places the last dish on the drying rack, then reaches for a towel to dry her hands.
“It is nice and quiet out here.” She turns and leans her hips on the counter next to me, and we stand here in silence for a long moment. “Wanna sit by the fire later?”
“Yeah, Duchess. I wanna sit by the fire.”