by Leah Brooke
It felt better to say it out loud, but it also made it more real. “She’d hide her fear of Stark from us because she thinks we’re too over-protective.”
Shaking his head, Reese leaned forward, eyeing both Jared and Duncan. “No. She wouldn’t do anything to endanger the baby. If she was scared, she’d tell us.”
Drying his hands, Duncan turned from the sink. “Maybe she really believes this guy’s gonna head out of the country as fast as he can.”
Tossing the towel aside, Duncan braced a hand on either side of the counter behind him and leaned back against it. “Something doesn’t feel right. Erin wasn’t as friendly to Cramer as she should have been. After all, he came all the way from Texas to warn her about Stark.”
Jared had wondered about the same thing. “There’s something there. A history that she hasn’t told us about, maybe?”
Reese finished his coffee and rose to his feet. “I just hope like hell our stubborn wife hasn’t made a decision to take care of things herself.”
Jared smiled and leaned back. “I’ve already thought of that. There’s no way she can get around us to deal with this guy on her own.”
The thought that she might try sent a chill through him.
* * * *
Fixing breakfast the next morning, Erin shook her head as she turned from the stove. “Stop fussing. I told you that Stark’s long gone. You all need to be there when the wood’s delivered, so just go. You can drop me off at the shop. We have a shipment coming in, and Rachel’s going to meet me there.”
They all turned at the knock at the back door, and since only strangers used the front door, Jared raised his voice slightly to call out for their visitor to come in.
Erin smiled, unsurprised when the door opened to admit Ace Tyler.
“Good morning.” Dressed in his crisp uniform, the sheriff came through the back door with a grin, immediately crossing to the bassinette Jared had brought to the kitchen. Bending low, he touched William’s tiny fist. “He looks bigger every time I see him. How’s he doing?”
Erin’s heart lurched with pride. “He’s great. He sleeps good and eats like a little pig. The doctor’s thrilled with his progress.”
Straightening, Ace turned, frowning as he studied her, his gaze sharp. “How are you?”
Smiling, she met his gaze squarely. “I’m fine. Do I look as if something’s wrong with me?”
His lips twitched. “Of course not. I just didn’t want you to worry about Stark.”
Shaking her head, Erin scooped the last pancake from the pan. “I’m not worried about him at all. These three are. Are you hungry? While you’re eating, you can tell us why you’re here.”
Reese jumped up to take the platter of pancakes from her. “Sit down, Erin. We need to talk.”
Careful not to show anything more than mild interest, Erin turned away to pour a cup of coffee for the sheriff. “Oh? What about? Let me guess. This has something to do with Wes Cramer.”
Ace accepted the coffee with a smile of thanks and waited until she was seated before lowering himself into the seat next to her. “Your friend is staying at the hotel.”
Pouring syrup onto the pancakes Reese loaded onto her plate, Erin glanced at Ace and shrugged, carefully schooling her features into a look of mild interest. “Not many other places to stay in town.”
Sitting back, Ace sipped his coffee, watching her over the rim. “Why’s he still in town?”
Looking up again, Erin found her husbands watching her closely. “Why don’t you ask him? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Uneasy at the feeling that her husbands sensed that something was off, Erin took a sip of her coffee to ease her dry throat.
Jared leaned forward, his steady stare making her uneasy. “There’s something you’re not telling us. Out with it.”
Erin set her cup aside and started cutting into her pancakes, fighting to keep her temper in check. “I discovered that Nelson Stark was embezzling from the company. I informed the president of the company, John Ritten, not knowing who else to trust. He arranged for me to meet with Wes Cramer, one of the attorneys the oil company employed. Together we gathered enough evidence to get Stark convicted. You know the rest. I don’t know what else you expect me to tell you.”
Helping himself to several pancakes, Duncan watched her, his eyes harder than usual. “Were you and Cramer lovers?”
Erin gasped, choking on her pancakes.
All four men jumped up, but she waved them off, glaring at Duncan as she caught her breath again.
“No! What the hell would make you think I’d be interested in someone as self-absorbed as an asshole like Wes Cramer?”
Duncan dropped into his seat again. “Something’s going on between the two of you. If not, why the hell is he here?”
Erin jumped to her feet, panicked at the thought that something was going on that she and John Ritten didn’t know about. “I don’t know!”
William cried from his bassinette, her raised voice wakening him.
Irritated at herself for losing her temper, Erin pushed past Jared and went to the baby. “I’ve got him. I’m going to the store.”
Jared started to follow her. “I’ll go with you.”
Whirling on him, she adjusted William’s blanket and bounced to settle him. Keeping her voice at a furious whisper, she eyed each of them in turn. “No. You won’t. Stay the hell away from me. I need some air.”
Chapter Seven
Jared followed his wife from the room, his unease growing as he reached past her for the diaper bag. “I’ll drive you.”
“Fine.” Erin grabbed her purse and adjusted William in her arms with an ease that never failed to impress him.
Meeting her glare, he raised a brow, not about to let her put them in the wrong. “Don’t lose that impressive temper. It doesn’t scare any of us. You have to admit that having a strange man, a man we’ve never even heard of, not only call our wife but show up on our doorstep and grab her in anger is bound to…bother us.” With a hand at her back, he led her out to the SUV.
“Not only that, but we learn that our wife might very well be in danger and she kept it from us.” After setting the diaper bag inside, he took the baby and fastened him in his car seat, bending to kiss his flailing hand.
Lifting his gaze to his wife as she slid into the back seat next to the baby, Jared raised a brow. “Did you really think we wouldn’t have some questions? Did you really think we wouldn’t worry? Did you really think we’d allow you to get away with this?”
Erin averted her gaze, but not before he saw a flash of hurt in her eyes. “What are you and your brothers worried about, Jared? Are you worried that I might be threatened by a damned accountant or that I’m going to have an affair with Wes Cramer?”
The thought of her with Cramer ignited his own temper. Leaning close, he gripped her chin and lifted her face to his again. “If I thought you were interested in Cramer, I would paddle your ass and beat the hell out of him.”
Erin’s eyes went wide, the shock in them telling him she’d finally realized the depth of his anger. Swallowing heavily, Erin pulled away from him. “That’s not funny, Jared.”
Shaking his head, Jared straightened. “No. It’s not.”
He closed the door, blowing out a breath of frustration as he rounded the SUV. Sliding into the driver’s seat, he met Erin’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I love you, Erin, more than I ever thought I could love a woman. One of the things I love about you is your honesty.” He allowed a small smile. “Although, at times, it can be brutal.”
“Jared, I—”
Lifting his hand, he effectively cut her off and continued, needing to finish what he had to say. “I never thought you would keep such an important call from us, nor did I think you’d ever keep a potential threat from us. I don’t like the distance this has created between us. It’s out of place. Off. I’m not comfortable with it, and I sure as hell am going to do whatever I can to get rid of it. You’re keepi
ng something from us, but I can see it’s bothering you.”
Erin sighed. “I don’t consider Stark a threat, and I was going to tell you about Wes when I figured out how to tell you without you getting your panties in a bunch.”
He readily admitted that he and his brothers were protective of Erin, her sister, their niece, and their son, but they’d been raised in a town where men protected the women at all costs.
Starting the engine, he paused and met her gaze again. “I know you think that we’re overprotective, but it’s the way we are. That’s never gonna change, baby. And Cramer didn’t come all this way to tell you something he already told you on the phone. Even if he had, that doesn’t explain why he’s still here.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I don’t know why the hell he’s still here. I didn’t even know he was still here until Ace mentioned it!”
They rode in silence for the few minutes it took to drive to the lingerie shop Erin and Rachel owned together.
After putting the SUV in park, he turned off the ignition, staring straight ahead. “There’s something going on there, something you’re keeping to yourself because you think it’ll upset us. We need to know about it. “
Unable to resist, he lifted his head, turning to look at her. “Get whatever is screwing with your head sorted out and talk to me.”
To Jared’s horror, Erin’s eyes welled with tears.
“You don’t trust me!”
Jared couldn’t deny it. “I did. I have to admit my trust is shaken. I’m scared, Erin, and mad as hell. You’ve never kept anything from us before, and a lie of omission is still a lie.”
Erin gasped, her jaw dropping. “Jared!”
Shaking his head, he got out and opened her door, his stomach in knots. “The thought of you having a past with him is bad enough, but your unwillingness to talk about it scares me more than I want to admit.”
She reached for him, and for the first time since meeting her, he avoided her touch, the need to shake her strong enough to unnerve him.
Looking up, he saw Rachel in the front window of the shop, waving frantically.
Forcing a smile, he lifted a hand in return before turning back to his wife. “I’ll get the baby.”
Erin nodded, the fear in her eyes like a knife to his heart. “Jared, I don’t want to hurt you.”
He forced another smile, fear of losing her gripping him by the throat. “I know, baby.”
“Jared, damn it! We need to talk about this.”
“Yes, we do. This isn’t the time or place. That would have been back at the house when we asked you what was going on.”
As soon as they stepped inside the lingerie store, their niece squealed.
“Uncle Jawid!” Theresa, dressed in pink overalls and white shirt with pink trim, raced toward him. Throwing herself against his legs, she jumped excitedly, her curls bobbing. “I wanna see the baby!”
Jared couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Crouching, he smiled at his beloved niece. “You used to be happy to see me.”
Dutifully, she reached up to touch his cheek, kissing him full on the lips with an exaggerated smacking sound before turning her attention to the baby. “I am, Uncle Jawid.” Poking her lip out in a pout that melted her daddies’ and uncles’ hearts, she leaned against him and reached out to touch William’s tiny fist. “He’s seeping again. Why’s he always seeping?”
Chuckling, Jared licked the cookie crumbs from his lips that Theresa had left behind. “Because he’s growing. He needs to sleep to grow.”
Her eyes went wide. “I have to take a nap because mommy says I’m gwowing.”
Pursing his lips, he adopted a serious expression. “Indeed you are. I think you’ve grown since I saw you the other day.”
“Really?” Turning, Theresa patted her mother’s thigh. “Mommy, Uncle Jawid says I’m bigger!”
As Jared straightened, Rachel reached for William, looking from Jared to Erin and back again. “That’s wonderful, darling. See? If you keep taking a nap when you’re supposed to, and eat all of your vegetables, you’ll keep growing.”
Aware that Rachel eyed her sister critically, Jared bent to pick up Theresa, his gaze drawn to Marissa as she came through the curtain that separated the lingerie shop from the back rooms. Scowling when he saw her red-rimmed eyes, he glanced at Rachel. “She okay?”
Shaking her head, Rachel handed William back to him, eyeing him meaningfully. “Sammy’s in the back. Why don’t you go say hi to him and put William down?”
Nodding, he started to set Theresa on her feet again when she cupped her hand to whisper in his ear. “I don’t like carrots. Mommy makes me eat carrots.”
Hiding a smile, Jared sighed. “Aunt Erin makes me eat carrots, too.”
After setting her on her feet, he nodded soberly and took William, hiding a smile when Theresa gave Erin an accusing look, a look she met with a raised brow.
Erin’s eyes danced, love for her niece obvious. “You have to eat your carrots. So do your daddies and your uncles.”
Lowering her head, Theresa looked up at Erin through her lashes, twisting from side to side. “Okay.”
Copying her, Jared met his wife’s look of amusement with a raised brow, looking into Erin’s eyes as he spoke to Theresa. “Sometimes you have to trust that someone who takes care of you knows best.”
It made him feel slightly better when she blushed, but he knew he wouldn’t get rid of the nagging sense of foreboding until they’d worked everything out.
He barely had time to greet Marissa, who gave him a distant smile before rushing to greet the customer who walked in, but he’d gotten close enough to see that she wore more makeup than usual, probably in an effort to disguise the fact that she’d been crying.
He hoped like hell it wasn’t to cover a bruise.
Making a mental note to call Cole Madison when he left, Jared headed toward the back.
Cole, Sloane, and Brett Madison had already expressed their interest in Marissa, but she’d done her best to keep them at a distance—something Jared doubted would last much longer.
He went through the curtain, passing the kitchen on his way down the short hall to the nursery Boone and Chase had made in the back room.
After settling his sleeping son in the crib, Jared straightened to look at Sammy.
Sitting on the sofa, Sammy stared down at a plastic red truck, moving it forward and backward on the cushion in front of him.
Noting that the small boy seemed unusually silent and sullen, Jared went to the sofa to sit on the other side. “Hi, Sammy. I like your truck.”
Without looking up, Sammy paused to stare at the truck. “Mr. Brett bought it for me.”
“Did he? That was very nice of him.”
“My daddy broke mine. Stepped on it and broke it so Mr. Brett took me to the toy store and let me pick out a new one.”
“That was very nice of him. Mr. Brett, Mr. Sloane and Mr. Cole like you very much.”
Sammy looked up, smiling for the first time. “They like mommy, too. I heard them say it.”
Hiding a smile, Jared nodded. “I know. Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah.” Sammy started moving the truck again, his smile falling. “Daddy made Mommy cry again.”
Jared stiffened, wondering if Cole, Sloane, and Brett knew. “Oh?”
Sammy shrugged and looked up again. “Mr. Sloane hugged Mommy. I like Mr. Cole and Mr. Sloane and Mr. Brett. I wish they were my daddies.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. They’re nice. The make Mommy smile and play trucks with me. Mr. Cole bought me a hammer. He said he’s gonna show me how to build a birdhouse.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Mr. Sloane is taking me and Trisa for ice cream, but we have to eat all of our lunch first. I can’t get big and strong if I don’t eat my lunch.”
Enjoying their conversation immensely, Jared grinned. “That’s true. Mr. Sloane is very smart.”
“Yeah.” Sammy sa
t back, staring down at the truck he now held on his lap. “Trisa has two daddies.”
Seeing the direction Sammy’s thoughts had taken, Jared smiled again. “Yes. She does.”
Sammy looked toward the crib. “The baby has three daddies.”
A glance toward the crib had his chest swelling with love and pride. “Yes. He does.”
When Sammy went silent again, Jared waited him out.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“I wish I could have three daddies.”
Marissa came through the doorway, her cheeks as red as her eyes. “Hello, Mr. Preston. I’m sorry I was busy earlier.”
Hating the thought of her ex making her cry, Jared smiled. “No problem. Sammy was just showing me his new truck.”
Her blush deepened. “He’s very proud of it. He even sleeps with it.”
“It sounds like Cole, Sloane, and Brett have made a big impression on Sammy.”
Marissa shifted restlessly, rubbing her arms. “Sammy, your snack is ready. Theresa’s waiting for you. Mr. Sloane is going to be here in a little while to take both of you for ice cream—if you finish your lunch.”
“Yay!” With his truck in hand, Sammy raced out of the room.
Once he left, Marissa sighed. “I’m just afraid that Sammy will get too attached to them.”
Hating to see her so nervous, Jared kept his voice low and even. “Is that such a bad thing?
“Yes. I’m not going to let them take over my troubles. I’d better get back out front.” Turning abruptly, she disappeared, but Jared would swear he saw tears shimmering in her eyes.
Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway, Jared sent a text to Cole instead of calling, not wanting his conversation overheard.
Getting to his feet, he went to the crib to check on William, unsurprised when Erin appeared at his side.
She reached for him again, seeming relieved when he didn’t pull away. “Jared, we need to talk.”
Something in her tone sent a chill up his spine. “We will, but not here. Call me when you’re ready to come home. I think it’s only fair to warn you that if this is about you leaving, you’re going to have a hell of a fight on your hands.”
