by Marla Monroe
Once she was settled on the couch at her place, the men settled in with her feet on Wesson’s lap and her head on Cole’s as they watched TV and she dozed. It felt comfortable lying there between them. It felt right. With that thought in her head, she drifted lazily between consciousness and sleep until the game they’d been watching was over.
“Are you hungry?” Cole asked her.
Jessie roused enough to think about it. She was a little hungry.
“I should probably eat something. I’m a little hungry but don’t think I want anything heavy,” she said.
“How about eggs and toast?” Cole asked.
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
Cole left her with Wesson and retreated to the kitchen to whip up the meal. Wesson massaged her feet with what she thought was a worried expression tightening his face.
“I’m okay, Wesson,” she finally said.
“I know, but you might not have been. It kills me that it happened while we were just out riding on our land. The bastard is trespassing, and we didn’t even know he was there.”
“It’s not your fault. I don’t blame either of you guys.”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I am any less upset over it, though.”
“I understand, Wesson. Just don’t let it make you sick thinking about it. It’s over, and I’m just fine.” She poked him in the chest with her toe.
He grunted then smiled. It transformed his rugged good looks from the frowning angry look to one of contentment as he squeezed her foot.
They ate in silence then Cole had insisted that they head to bed. He wanted her to sleep off the remainder of the effects of the drug, and they were going to stay the night to be sure she didn’t need anything during the night. Jessie was just fine with that idea. Having them close to her always felt good.
It felt right and normal to her now. She loved having them surrounding her in the bed. She felt safe and happy between them. She just hoped they would grow to love her as much as she did them.
The men undressed her as if she were a china doll, taking extra care to be sure she didn’t get off balance. They tucked her in with a kiss then undressed, as well, to slip into the bed on either side of her. She curled around Wesson with Cole plastered to her back. She wanted to enjoy the feel of them pressed so close to her body, but the effects of the drug still lingered, and she fell asleep almost immediately to thoughts of the three of them falling in love. It made her smile.
Chapter Eleven
Jessie still felt a little off the next day but counted herself lucky that there hadn’t been anything more dangerous on the dart that had knocked her out. She’d also been lucky that she hadn’t fallen off the horse and broken her neck before the guys had grabbed her.
Wesson and Cole spent the day with her, catering to her and spoiling her with their insistence of doing everything for her. They even hovered near the bathroom door when she had to go. It was both sweet and cloying at the same time. She just hoped that it would all settle down by the next time she spent time with them. She couldn’t handle being smothered by them all the time.
I honestly love how they care so much about me, but I don’t like being babied. This will never work if they keep this up.
“How about watching a movie on the couch,” Cole suggested.
“Sure,” she said. “Want to see what’s on Netflix or Hulu?”
“Good idea,” Cole agreed.
They settled her on the couch with a glass of lemonade and set next to her with Cole scrolling through the possibilities. They finally settled on an action flick and relaxed as the movie started. Both men held one of her hands after she’d given up her glass of lemonade. They both seemed to want to touch her a lot since the incident with the dart. It was sweet, but she hoped they weren’t constantly going to start smothering her.
One movie turned into two, along with a bowl of popcorn and a bowl of peanuts. She thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time with them. Well, quiet time wasn’t exactly right since they all cheered with the hero and heroine and booed the villains together. She realized she liked that about them. It was something she’d always done, and they seemed to enjoy it, as well.
“It’s getting late, babe,” Wesson said. “Neither of us want to go, but you need your rest before school tomorrow and we need to get back to check on the ranch. Are you sure you’re going to be okay to go to work tomorrow?”
“I’m sure. I really feel fine now. I think the effects of the drug have completely worn off,” she assured him.
“If you need anything at all, day or night, call us, Jessie. We mean it,” Cole said.
“I will. I’ll be fine. You’re right. I really need to get some rest before I have to deal with teenagers tomorrow. I’m going to gather my things for school then go on to bed early,” she told them. “Thanks for everything. Helping me yesterday and staying the night with me.”
“We care about you, Jessie. There was no way we were going to leave you alone after you’d been hurt. Now lock up behind us,” Wesson said as he and Cole headed for the door.
Cole pulled her into his arms and kissed her, rubbing his hands up and down her back as he did. The kiss was chaste compared to their usual heated ones, but it warmed her from the inside out. He placed another kiss on her nose then turned her to Wesson.
Wesson didn’t baby her with his kiss. He kissed her as if he might never see her again. His mouth ate at hers before sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and teasing it with the tip of his tongue. When he finally let her go, she was dizzy, but it had nothing to do with the drug. It had everything to do with his kiss and how she felt about the man. He undid her with how much passion he put into everything he did to her.
Where Cole was easy and relaxed around her, loving on her with playfulness and warmth, Wesson was passionate, giving his all and demanding it back from her. They were so different but complemented each other perfectly. She loved them both and knew that if they grew tired of the relationship it would devastate her.
It’s too late to put a stop to it now. Losing them will kill me. I’m in too deep.
Jessie locked the door behind them after promising to get some rest and be safe. She listened as the truck started up then backed out of the drive to rumble down the road. She stayed next to the door until she could no longer hear them then hugged herself. The house was already too empty without them there with her.
She puttered around cleaning up and gathering her supplies for school the next day then took a shower and climbed into bed with her Kindle to read until she felt sleepy enough to turn off the light and go to sleep.
She couldn’t concentrate on the book enough to know what she was reading. Instead, thoughts of the men and how they made her feel kept intruding on the storyline. She shivered as she remembered their touch and how her heart skipped a beat when they kissed her. She sighed and put aside the e-reader and snuggled down under the covers. Before she finally fell asleep, she realized that she could still smell them in her bed. Strangely enough that helped her relax enough to drift off.
* * * *
“I didn’t want to leave her there alone,” Cole said as they drove toward home.
“Neither did I, but we can’t run a ranch from there,” Wesson said.
“I love her, man. I want her to move in with us.”
“Yeah, me, too. She’s perfect for us.”
Wesson wanted her to marry them even more than he wanted her to just move in with them. He loved her so much it scared him at times. Falling for Jessie this soon had surprised him. He’d expected it to be just like all the other women they’d dated. Either they broke it off because she couldn’t handle both of them or they broke it off because the woman just wasn’t who they were looking for.
He sighed. “Convincing her to move in with us this soon isn’t going to happen, Cole. We’ve got to take this slow so we don’t spook her. We talked about this.”
“That was before someone shot her with the fucking dart. I want her close to us so we can watch
over her,” Cole said.
“As much as I agree that I want her close, she’d be in more danger living with us right now than living in town. The bastard who’s doing this is concentrating on ranches where he can more easily hide. I don’t want her near our place until he’s caught and stopped,” Wesson said.
“Fuck, I know you’re right, but I miss having her in my arms at night during the week.”
“Me, too.”
“Hell. I can’t believe I’ve fallen this fast for her,” Cole said.
“Just proves that she’s the one for us.” Wesson turned down the road that led to their ranch.
“I hate that we can’t bring her out to our place anymore,” Cole said.
“We can still cook for her and have her over to watch movies, but no more horseback riding until the sheriff catches this asshole.” Wesson slowed for the turn down their long drive.
“We need to help him stop this guy. We can hunt him as sure as he’s been hunting on our ranch,” Cole said.
“I was already thinking that. We should get with all the other ranchers in the area and form a plan. Once the sheriff has finished looking over where Jessie got shot, we can do our own investigation,” Wesson told him.
Once he’d parked in front of the house, Wesson climbed out of the truck and looked around their yard. There weren’t any trees near the house, only the outbuildings like the barn, the tool shed, and the equipment shed. Behind them was their land spreading out as far as he could see and then farther. Somewhere out there a bully, because that was ultimately what the bastard was, had been stalking first their cattle then their woman.
“What are you thinking?” Cole asked with one foot on the back steps leading up to the porch.
“That whoever this is, he’s a bully. He’s either been terrorizing people since childhood or was terrorized and is trying to take control by picking on other people from a safe distance where he can’t get hurt anymore.”
“You might be right.”
“I am right. I can feel it.”
“So how does that help us catch him?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to catch the son of a bitch one way or another.”
Wesson looked out around the yard one more time then followed his brother inside. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and tossed one to Cole. They walked into the living room and sat down without turning the TV on. Neither of them felt like watching it anyway. They were deep in their own thoughts, wondering who the man was behind the shootings.
He wondered if it would turn out to be someone they knew, someone who’d worked their ranch or someone they’d met in town. What did all the ranches hit have in common? He planned to find out tomorrow. Maybe it was as simple as someone who they’d all fired at some point and now he was trying to get back at them.
“Can you remember the names of everyone we’ve fired in the last three years?” Wesson asked.
“Maybe, but it would be easier to look back at the payroll books. Are you thinking that he could be someone with a grudge? What about the other ranches?”
“We compare names with them. He might have been fired from the other ranches, as well,” Wesson suggested.
“Good idea. Even if we only get a couple of the other ranchers having fired the same man, it’s a start. The other ranches could just be to throw everyone off,” Cole said.
“That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll call the sheriff in the morning and see what he thinks. We’ll dig through the books and make a list of those men we’ve fired over the last few years.”
“It’s hard to believe someone would be pissed enough to shoot a human. Hitting us using our animals is one thing, but targeting a human, and especially a woman is wrong on so many counts. That’s just too fucked up,” Cole said.
“I agree, but someone is out there hunting people now, and it’s only a matter of time before he switches from darts to real bullets.”
“Damn, I was hoping I was the only one who was worried about that. But you’re right. It’s only a matter of time.”
Wesson finished his beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table before propping his feet up on the table. He felt like they would know the man responsible once he was captured, and that bothered the shit out of him. It felt as if they would know that someone who could do something like this would stick out to him, but he honestly couldn’t think of a single soul he would have believed could shoot someone, much less a woman. He prayed it turned out to be someone from another town and not someone he knew.
“I don’t know what I would do if something happened to Jessie,” Cole said out of the blue.
“Me either. She’s ours, Cole. She’s ours, and I’m not going to sit around until that bastard screws up and gets caught. I’m going to hunt for him,” Wesson said.
“How?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to scour every inch of our land to find out where all he’s been and see if I can narrow down who he is by his footprints and whatever else he might have left behind to give himself away. The sheriff can’t do it all. He’s only got two deputies, so he’s spread too thin to spend all his time on it. He needs help, and I’m going to give it to him,” Wesson said.
“Talk to the other ranchers and see if they can go over their land, as well. You can all compare what you find and see if you can come up with a likely suspect. I’ll get the names of our ex-employees, and you can compare with them while I see to the ranch.” Cole leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m with you. We’ve got to take matters into our own hands and help the sheriff find this guy and fast.”
“I’m just glad that Jessie lives in town and is at work all day. She’s safer there than she would be just about anywhere else,” Wesson said.
“I agree. As much as I want her here where we can watch out for her, it’s not safe right now. I’m worried about the other ranchers who have children at home. Surely the asshole won’t shoot a kid,” Cole said, shaking his head.
“I don’t know. I never would have thought he’d shoot a woman, but he did.”
“We’ve got to find him.”
“Find him and stop him,” Wesson said.
Cole stretched and stood. “I’m going to grab a shower then head to bed. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
“I’m right behind you. I’m anxious to get started looking for clues,” Wesson told his brother.
Once Cole had strode away, Wesson tried to think back to everyone they’d fired that he could remember. Most of them had been angry about being let go, but there were a couple who stood out as especially upset to the point of threatening. He couldn’t remember their names, but he could see their faces in his mind. If any of those men had also been fired at the other ranches, they’d at least have a suspect pool to investigate.
Wesson sighed. They’d turn the names over to the sheriff because he had the expertise in interrogation. All he would be able to do is beat it out of them. That wouldn’t go over too well with anyone involved. He didn’t want to look like a brute to Jessie. He’d let the sheriff handle it, even though, deep down, he wanted to do it himself.
Finally, Wesson felt like he could shower and relax enough to go to bed. He was sure he’d still see Jessie’s unconscious body on that stretcher in his sleep. It haunted him how pale she’d been and how shallow her breathing had seemed. For a while, he’d feared they’d lose her before they’d even begun to know her. It caused a deep ache beneath his breast bone.
The sound of the shower shutting off in Cole’s room galvanized Wesson into getting to his feet and walking toward his room. Thoughts of how close they’d come to possibly losing Jessie haunted him all through his shower, following him to his bed. He prayed he didn’t have nightmares about it once he finally fell asleep. More than that, he prayed their Jessie didn’t have them while she was all alone. One of them should have stayed with her, but it was too late now.
Chapter Twelve
Jessie’s week flew by amid laughter, groans, and e
xcitement from her students. They were a great bunch of kids to work with, but there were always a few who resisted the draw of literature and complained about it nonstop. She tried to mix up what they read and discussed with some more interesting books that she had hoped would pique the interest of the worst of the class. It didn’t always work.
“What about The Odyssey bores you?” she asked one student.
“It’s just so out there. Why can’t we read something from now?” he asked.
“So, how many of you have watched the movies Percy Jackson or read the books?” she asked.
Most everyone in the room raised their hands, including the two reluctant teenagers who were complaining about what they were supposed to be studying now.
“Well, those were based on The Odyssey,” she told them.
“No way,” someone said.
“Yes, just think about it. What were some of the monsters he fought in those movies?” she asked.
After that, everyone settled in to read and comment about how the movie differed from the book or how the movie got it right. The afternoon went by much quicker with her other class when she brought up the Percy Jackson movies with them, as well.
I should have thought about this a long time ago.
By the end of the day she felt better about how classes were going and wanted nothing more than to go home, prop up her feet and enjoy reading something she wanted to read for a change. Namely, one of her naughty romance novels.
“What has that smile on your face? I know it can’t be about work,” Laney said.
Laney was one of the other teachers, who taught science. They’d instantly bonded over the joys of teaching mini adults with attitudes the size of giants.
“Just thinking about how much I’m going to enjoy propping my feet up once I get home,” she said.
“Tell me about it. These kids keep me on my feet all day just trying to keep up with them.”
“Yeah. Coming up with ways to keep them interested in all this dry literature”—she air quoted the word dry—“has got to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. They hate the classics and barely tolerate some of the other books I have them read.”
