Mastering Elodie [Grizzly Pines] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Paige Warren

  If only that sounded as heavenly as it should. No, she’d much rather go somewhere and snuggle between these two hunks. A girl could dream!

  Beck wheeled her outside and left her in Beau’s care while he went to retrieve their truck. When a brand new, large silver quad cab pulled up to the curb, Elodie’s jaw dropped. She’d never seen such a pretty truck before, nor had she ever been inside anything so nice. When Beck came around and opened the door, she breathed in that new car smell. Beau helped her stand and assisted her into the truck, having her slide to the middle. He surprised her when he climbed in right behind her, pulling her against his side.

  With Beck back behind the wheel, they pulled out of the hospital entrance slowly, easing into the parking lot and then onto the road. There was little to no traffic at this time of night and Elodie knew they’d be home in about twenty or thirty minutes. She was going to enjoy this ride immensely, snuggled up to Beau. Her head rested on his shoulder and his hand rested on her hip, holding her close to his side. Elodie breathed in deeply, inhaling his spicy scent. She didn’t know what cologne he wore, but it smelled divine, and probably cost more than she’d ever dreamed of spending on scented body products. She’d never owned a bottle of perfume, but she always bought scented bubble bath and body lotion, catching every sale she could find.

  The low playing country music and thrum of the truck’s engine soon put Elodie at ease. She closed her eyes, relaxing into Beau. Not asleep, but not fully awake, either. She felt his lips brush against the top of her head and smiled softly, wishing for more. Turning her body a little, she paced her hand on his thigh. The muscles under her fingers tensed a moment before he blew out a breath and relaxed. She could hardly believe it, but it seemed he was just as affected by her as she was by him.

  Beau placed his hand over hers and gave her fingers a squeeze. She opened her eyes and saw Beck watching them in the mirror. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then he returned his gaze to the road. Did he mind that she was cuddled up to Beau? He was probably too polite to say anything in her presence, if he did have a problem with it. But as courteous as he’d been in the hospital, she doubted he minded. They’d tag teamed her and it made her wonder if that dream of them sharing her could maybe become a reality.

  She knew she had body image issues to deal with, but those were on her. Just because she saw herself as being a hippo didn’t mean everyone did. Yes, the Brubakers and several others around town made comments about her weight, but she doubted it bothered everyone. Most people didn’t like her because of her mother, something she had no control over. Honestly, didn’t they realize if she could have picked another mother, she would have? Who wanted a drug addict and whore for a mother? It wasn’t like you got to choose your family.

  When they pulled into a parking space near her apartment, she frowned, realizing she’d never given them directions. Beck must have noticed the expression on her face because he turned around and smiled at her.

  “We asked where you lived after meeting you yesterday. Presumptuous of us, probably, but we had planned to stop by and surprise you today with flowers.”

  “And someone just gave you that information?” she asked.

  His smile broadened. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

  She rolled her eyes, not about to agree with him and feed his ego.

  Beau opened the door and slid out, reaching in to assist her out. When her feet touched the ground, she faced another problem. No keys. How was she going to get in her apartment? As much as she hated to see the apartment manager, she had little choice in the matter. Heading that way, she felt Beau and Beck behind her, their heat searing her.

  She knocked on the manager’s door and smiled when he opened the door.

  “Mr. Thorne, I hate to bother you, but my keys were stolen yesterday and I need to get in my apartment.”

  His eyes narrowed. “The sheriff called to tell me about the missing keys. I’ve already changed the lock on your door. You understand why I’m hesitant to give you a key?”

  She flushed in embarrassment, hoping Beau and Beck weren’t paying any attention to the old man. “I understand, but I really need to get in.”

  He nodded and stepped back. She watched as he opened a cabinet on the wall and withdrew a key. He handed it over and she wrapped her fingers around it. With a quick thank you, she turned and hurried to her apartment.

  When she got there, Beck took the key from her and opened the door. He pushed it wide and motioned for her to step inside. Cool air greeted her, and she was thankful that at least the air conditioning still worked. She tossed the key on the counter and turned to face Beck and Beau as they shut the door. Suddenly, her apartment seemed a whole lot smaller.

  “Thanks for bringing me home.”

  “I’ll just go turn down the bed for you,” Beck said. “You need to rest.”

  Before Elodie could stop him, he’d started off in the direction of her bedroom. She turned back toward Beau and found him frowning down at the counter. A sick feeling settled in her stomach. She knew what he was looking at, the eviction notice she’d left out. He picked it up and gave her a stern look, the corners of his mouth turned down.

  “What the hell is this, Elodie?”

  “You know what it is. I’m assuming you can read.”

  “Don’t be cute.”

  Beck came back, scowling at her. “Damn bulb in the bedroom is burnt out. If you’ll tell me where the new ones are, I’ll replace it for you. It’s too dark in there to see much of anything.”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t have any.”

  Beau shook the paper in his hand. “We have bigger issues than a light bulb.”

  Beck’s brow furrowed as he took the sheet from Beau. He sent Elodie a dark look after he’d read it. “When were you going to say something about this? You said Casey stole all of your cash when he took your purse. You had to know you couldn’t pay the rent.”

  “I’ll figure it out.” She twisted her hands in front of her.

  “You don’t honestly think we’re going to leave you here, knowing you’re going to be thrown out on the street, do you?” Beau demanded.

  “I can’t afford another place right now. Don’t you understand? I have nothing, absolutely nothing. Not even the furniture in here belongs to me.”

  Beck let the sheet fall to the floor and pulled her into his arms. “We aren’t leaving you here, Elodie. You’re coming home with us.”

  “I can’t, Beck. My problems are exactly that—mine. I won’t be a burden to Beau and you.”

  Beau moved in close, placing his hands on her hips. “Honey, you could never be a burden to us. Since the moment we laid eyes on you, all we’ve wanted to do was take care of you. Can you let us do that?”

  It wasn’t an easy decision to make. She’d been independent for most of her life and wasn’t sure she could just hand the reins over to someone else. Is that what they wanted her to do? Turn her life over to them and just go along for the ride? She was used to making her own decisions, to paying her own way. Not being able to put a roof over her head hit her hard. As she thought about it, she realized she didn’t really have too many options. She could stay in her apartment, jobless, or she could go with Beck and Beau and stay long enough to get her feet back under her.

  “I’ll go, but it’s only temporary.”

  “We’ll just have to agree to disagree,” Beau said with a smile. “Once I get you on our ranch, there’s no way I’m letting you walk away.”

  “You don’t own me, Beau.”

  The smile slipped from his face. “I don’t want to own you, Elodie. I want you to be part of our lives, to wake up every morning knowing that you’re going to be there. I know we just met, but you can’t deny that the attraction between the three of us was instantaneous. Is it so wrong for me to want to act on it?”

  She sighed. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry, Beau. I’m just not used to relying on other people. I’ve always taken care of myself and I’m not sure I
know how to let other people help me.”

  “Why don’t you sit on the sofa and rest while Beau and I get your things packed up?” Beck suggested.

  Elodie shook her head. The last thing she wanted was for him to pack her underwear, or god forbid, her vibrator! No, she was going to pack her bedroom, no matter how bad she felt. She didn’t care if her arm felt like it was going to fall off, she wasn’t letting them see her pathetic excuse for lingerie.

  “I’ll pack my clothes. I’ll let you pack everything else, though.”

  “If that makes you more comfortable, that’s fine. Just don’t overdo it. I don’t want you to hurt that shoulder.” Beck caressed her chin with his thumb.

  “If you could just get my suitcase off the top shelf in the closet, I can handle the rest,” she said.

  “I’ll get it,” Beau said, already moving toward the bedroom.

  She pulled away from Beck. The warm, affectionate look in his eyes was nearly her undoing. She wanted nothing more than to stay in his embrace, angle her head back and beg for a kiss. Elodie would bet his lips would be soft, and commanding. He had that air about him, that take-charge attitude. Beau seemed more like the fun-loving brother.

  When she reached the bedroom, Beau had already laid out her suitcase on the bed. It was open and ready for her use. She quickly gathered her clothes and dumped them inside. It wasn’t like she owned much, so it didn’t take long. As an afterthought, she buried her vibrator in the bottom of the case, hiding it under her functional cotton panties and bras. She closed the lid and clicked the locks. At first, she was going to lift it and carry it to the living room, but the burning sensation in her shoulder stopped her. She decided to let Beau or Beck get it for her. She figured they would love doing it, since it gave them another way to take care of her.

  Elodie settled on the sofa and waited while the guys finished packing her things. It took maybe thirty minutes total for her whole apartment to be boxed and ready to go. How sad was that? Locking up for the last time, she returned the key to the manager while Beau and Beck carried her things to the truck. By the time she climbed into the truck, she was aching and tired. All she wanted to do was climb into bed and relax. She hadn’t asked about sleeping arrangements at the ranch, but she doubted they expected her to share a room with either of them, not this soon anyway. They didn’t seem like the type.

  As they passed under the archway to the ranch, she noticed the sign had been changed and now read Circle B Ranch. She wondered if the B stood for their names, or something else. Hell, she just realized she didn’t even know their last name, and here she was going to live with them. That didn’t exactly make her responsible. It was bad enough they’d just met. For all she knew, they were ax murderers. All right, so an ax murderer probably wouldn’t have spent the whole day in an uncomfortable chair at the hospital, just to make sure she was okay, or have paid her bill when she couldn’t afford it.

  They pulled down the long dirt drive and came to a stop in front of the two-story ranch home. They’d already painted it, the fresh white paint shining like a beacon under the moonlight. An old rope swing still hung from the tree in the side yard and she wondered if they were going to leave it up or take it down, since neither was married with children. Two cattle dogs, a red and a blue, stretched on the front porch and waited at the top of the steps. She had to admit the place had a rather homey feel to it when you first pulled up. She didn’t know how long she’d be here, but she was going to enjoy herself. Elodie had never lived in a place so beautiful before.

  Beau helped her out of the truck and wrapped an arm around her waist, walking with her up to the front door. With Grizzly Pines being so small, they hadn’t locked the house and he pulled open the screen door before pushing the wooden door in, guiding her into their home. A light burned on a table near the sofa in the living room to the right. To the left, the dining room lay in darkness. Before she could protest, Beau lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs. She knew she had to be too heavy for him, but he didn’t even seem winded when he reached the second floor. He bypassed the three rooms on the right and went straight for the only bedroom on the left, what she assumed was the master.

  “Flip the switch for me,” he said as he pushed his way inside the room.

  She reached out and flicked the switch. The overhead light illuminated a large room with dark, heavy furniture. Definitely masculine. She wondered whose room this was. With three other closed doors, she figured at least two had to be bedrooms; surely one of them wasn’t giving up their bedroom for her.

  Beau settled her on the king size bed and turned on the bedside lamp. “Just rest here and we’ll bring your things up to you.”

  “Whose room is this?” she asked.

  “Mine,” Beck said from the doorway, a box under one arm and her suitcase dangling from his other hand. “And don’t argue. It’s the most comfortable room in the house.”

  “And where are you going to sleep while I kick you out of your bed?”

  Beck smiled. “I’ll take the guest room, next to Beau’s. We’ll both be right across the hall if you need anything. All you’ll have to do is call out and we’ll come running.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine until morning.”

  Beck nodded. “Well, while Beau gets the last of your belongings out of the truck, I’ll just gather a few things so I won’t wake you up in the morning. You need sleep, lots of sleep, if you’re going to heal.”

  She gave him a tired smile. Beau ducked out of the room while Beck rummaged through his drawers, gathering socks, underwear, jeans and T-shirts. Elodie eased off the bed and opened her suitcase. Digging out her favorite pair of pajamas, she snapped the lid shut and excused herself to the adjoining bathroom. She turned on the light and closed the door, then realized that Beck probably needed in here, too, to get his shaving things and such. Oh well, a little late now.

  Quickly stripping out of her clothes, or as quickly as she could with a bum shoulder, she changed and wadded her scrubs up in a ball. She didn’t know what to do with them. It wasn’t like she really wanted to keep them, but it seemed wasteful to throw them out. Maybe she could use them to clean or paint or something. Not that she saw herself doing either of those things in the near future, not until her shoulder was healed. She’d figure it out in the morning. Until then, they could sit on top of her suitcase on the floor.

  She vacated the bathroom and discovered the bedroom was empty and all of her things were on the floor against the far wall. The door was still open, so she wasn’t sure if Beck was coming back or not. Too tired to much care, she pulled down the covers and climbed into bed. The moment her head hit the pillow, she breathed in Beck’s scent and closed her eyes in ecstasy. It sent a delicious shiver down her spine and her nipples pebbled. It was amazing that just his scent could turn her on.

  The overhead light had been turned off at some point and she reached over to switch off the lamp beside the bed. Her shoulder pulled and burned with the movement and she winced. She never had gotten that pain pill, and she was feeling the effects now. Maybe Beck had some Tylenol or something.

  “You okay, sweet thing?” Beau asked from the doorway.

  “My shoulder hurts. Do you have something I can take for the pain?”

  “I think Beck keeps Aleve in the cabinet downstairs above the kitchen sink. I’ll get some for you and be right back.”

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  It didn’t take long for Beau to return with two large gel caps and a glass of water. She downed them quickly, thankful they glided right down her throat. She usually had trouble swallowing pills, especially big ones like these. Finished, she handed the empty glass back to Beau and settled back against the pillows.

  “Get some rest, Elodie. I’m going to hang around the house in the morning in case you need anything. Stay in bed as long as you like.”

  “I don’t want to disrupt your day, Beau. Go do whatever you have to. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”


  He shook his head. “It’s nonnegotiable.”

  She gave him a tired smile. “Well, thank you.”

  He bent down and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She watched him walk away, pulling the door mostly closed, then shut her eyes. As she began drifting off to sleep, she realized she’d never told them about losing her job. What would happen when they realized she had no means to save money for a new place, that they were stuck with her for a while? Not that they seemed to mind, for the moment anyway.

  Chapter Three

  Elodie woke the next morning to a stabbing pain in her shoulder. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tossed back the covers. Cool air greeted her, making her skin erupt in goose bumps. She stretched then rolled out of bed, hurrying into the bathroom to take care of her needs. A shower sounded heavenly, but she wasn’t supposed to get her stitches wet. The aftercare papers had said something about wrapping the wound in cellophane. She’d have to see if the guys had some saran wrap. For now, she’d settle for getting her toothbrush and scrubbing her teeth really well. Dragon breath wasn’t attractive in the least.

  She swapped her pajamas for a pair of denim capris and a pink tee, which took longer to put on than she’d thought, then she slipped on her flip-flops and headed downstairs. Beau had said he was staying home with her this morning and she figured she would find him in the kitchen. The clock in the bedroom had read 8:05, which was the latest she’d slept in forever, but she supposed her body needed the rest so it could heal itself. There was little doubt in her mind that the guys had eaten way earlier, probably closer to five or six, if they kept farm hours. It had been dark last night so she hadn’t gotten a good look at the land surrounding the house. Did they run cattle or horses? Maybe both?

  She stepped into the kitchen and found Beau sitting at the table. He lowered the newspaper and smiled at her. His gaze travelled over her before resting on the top of her head. His lips twitched and she lifted a hand to her hair. She knew it was a wild mess, but, unless she washed it, that wasn’t going to change.