by Zoey Marcel
Emmett smiled. “Swimmingly?”
“Yeah, it’s my new word.”
“Interesting.”
“This is great,” Jake said. “All we need to do is have Emmett spend some time with her and then he’ll be hooked and we’ll hand her over to the other two so they get sucked in by her.”
Emmett frowned. “Don’t go weaving me into your web of matchmaker hell. I want no part of it.”
“What?” Jake shrieked.
Apparently a new word wasn’t the only thing he’d acquired on his little trip. Drama seemed to be another little friend he’d made along the way.
How charming.
Hunter turned to face him. “You aren’t even willing to at least give Mellie a chance?”
“I’m not in love with her, but if you can get Greyson and Diego on board, I’ll go along with your scheme,” Emmett bargained.
Jake looked disgusted. “You can’t just agree to it because you want to get your dick wet. Mellie’s a classy lady, and I won’t let you ruin her. If you marry her, it has to be for love or she’ll end up getting hurt.”
Hunter focused on Emmett while addressing Jake. “That’s not why he’s doing it.”
Jake sounded puzzled. “It’s not?”
“No. He’s doing it to help us get pops back,” Hunter said.
Emmett met Hunter’s stare, tapping his fingernails on the arm of his cushy chair. Trust his goody-two-shoes brother to know that. Hunter had a way of seeing into his soul that irritated him.
“I’m afraid you’re giving me too much credit, Hunter,” Emmett began. “We’ve survived without the old man this long, and I hardly see attempting to get him back as a valid reason to settle down with a woman. My participation is entirely motivated by my desire to relieve my balls.”
Hunter wouldn’t remove his damned eyes from him. “I don’t believe that. I think you’re a better person than you like to admit.”
Emmett stood swiftly and made his face hard, trying to cop a devil-may-care attitude. “Your faith in humanity is disturbing. I’ll be in my room reading.”
“Where did Greyson go?” Jake asked.
“He went to get Mellie,” Hunter replied.
Emmett turned back to face them. “Yes, you should have seen the look on his face when he found out Melanie was staying at her cousin’s instead of here like he arranged for her to.”
Jake made a face. “Yeah, I figured that was going to happen.”
Emmett grinned. “This ought to be interesting.”
* * * *
Melanie wasn’t sure how she felt about going into an adult store with her cousin, but Aubrey was insistent.
“We’re both women and I want a big-ass dildo. I’m single, remember,” Aubrey reminded her.
Mellie followed her into the shop, excited by all the sexy goodies there were. She smiled when she saw other light blue butt plugs like the one Hunter and Emmett had gotten her. She missed Hunter and was beside herself with joy that he’d told her Jake had texted him earlier to let him know they would be home late tonight.
“Hmm, on second thought, I want a vibrator,” Aubrey decided.
Her cousin was also in her thirties, but older than Mellie. Aubrey was tall, slender, and blonde with entrancing blue eyes.
Melanie picked up a packaged sex toy, studying it. Anal beads. That was interesting, like sticking a giant beaded necklace up her butt she imagined.
She glimpsed a man standing a few feet away watching her. When she looked up, he approached her swiftly and with startling confidence.
“Melanie Laurie?” he asked.
The fact that he knew her name and she didn’t know him left her uncertain. “Yes?”
“Greyson O’Neil.”
Instantly a blanket of relief enveloped her. It was as if a switch flipped in her brain, telling her it was okay to open her eyes. Lord, what a mistake. She should have kept her taken, indifferent woman shields up.
Greyson was probably about six foot two and without a doubt the most rugged, manliest looking man she’d ever seen, right up there with Hunter.
Greyson’s hair was an appealing dark sandy-blond color that almost touched his shoulders in the back. His beard and mustache were the same shade as the hair on his head and they were only on his face with nothing hanging down like a goat or ZZ Top. She was grateful for that, although she felt ZZ Top rocked the mile-long beard look.
Greyson wore a navy-blue T-shirt and jeans with cowboy boots. He smelled like good, worn leather and the sinful indulgence of musky cologne.
“It’s good to meet you,” she almost squeaked with nerves.
This was big bad Greyson, the one she’d heard so much about, and she just had to go and meet him in a naughty store, didn’t she?
Mellie thought about shaking his hand and then blushed when she realized she still held the package of anal beads in her hand. Her cheeks burned as she tried to discreetly set the toy down.
Greyson’s eyes fell and a crooked smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he saw what she’d been holding. The slight smirk was wicked and made her belly tighten.
“I see my brothers have put you to work in my absence.”
Her face felt hot. “I was just looking, Mr. O’Neil, or do you want me to call you Greyson?”
“No,” he said shortly.
She squirmed when the awkward silence settled between them. It was uncomfortable for her anyway. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it in the least. His eyes swept over her features and then silently padded her body down. One eye was green and the other was blue. She’d only seen that on one other man before. The shades were close enough that the difference wasn’t obvious when he was at a distance, but up close she noticed it.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was looking for you.” His gravelly voice had a sandpaper rasp to it that was smoking with maleness.
“Me? Why? How did you find me?”
“I have my ways.”
Okay.
His expression turned stern. “You were given specific orders to stay with us at our ranch, were you not?”
She gulped, feeling like a child being rebuked by her parent. “Yes, sir.”
His pupils dilated and his irises deepened in color. “I didn’t give you permission to call me that.”
“I’m sorry, Greyson, uh, Mr. O’Neil. What should I call you?”
“You will call me boss and you’ll say it with enthusiasm.”
Melanie blinked, unable to respond right away. What was that word Kendall liked to use sometimes?
Oh yeah, prick.
“Okay.” She squirmed when his brow rose in expectation. Heavens, was he really going to make her say it here and now? “Yes…boss.”
Greyson got a smug look on his face that screamed “power trip” in her brain and “slap me please” to her hand.
“Did it make you uncomfortable to call me that, Melanie?”
The condescension in his tone floored her. Mellie didn’t know if it was deliberate, but she knew for certain that she didn’t like the way he said her name. The way he said it was different from the sweet way Jake said it and the tender manner in which Hunter spoke it.
In Greyson’s mouth it felt too personal, made her feel vulnerable, and that invasive, probing stare he gave her told her that there was a chance he did it on purpose.
“A little.”
He smiled. What in the world for, she couldn’t imagine. “That’s good, Melanie. It will make you respect me. Respect is very important to me.”
She didn’t doubt it.
“Now, why did you disobey me?”
She swallowed, not liking that it sounded loud to her. “Aubrey arranged for me to stay with her at night. I thought your offer was a suggestion, but I appreciate it.”
Greyson stepped forward, invading her personal space. “I give orders. I never make suggestions. If you want to keep working for us, you’ll remember that.”
She took a step back, but th
e shelves were in her way. “I…I’m sorry. I’ll come stay with you at the ranch tomorrow night.”
He took another step forward, backing her up against the shelf without actually touching her. Mercy, didn’t the man have any concept of boundaries?
“No. You’ll come tonight,” he murmured. “I want you in bed.”
A hot flash flared up in her. “What?”
He looked amused. “I meant I want you to sleep in your bed in the room we prepared for you.”
“Oh.” Her face got hotter. “I just have to get my suitcases from my cousin’s.”
“See that you do.” He turned to leave, pivoting when something occurred to him. “Someone called for you and wanted me to have you call her back, the Reverend Mother.”
Melanie’s stomach knotted. Now he knew about her past, the part at the abbey anyway.
He eyed her sternly. “After you’re through talking with her, meet me in my study. You and I are overdue for a talk.”
She cringed and watched him leave the store, but his absence brought her no relief. He was upset with her and that couldn’t be good for her job. Would Hunter and Jake still want her if Greyson fired her?
Was Greyson mad that she used to live in a convent, or simply that she’d failed to tell him that?
Then she began to wonder why the Reverend Mother had called her.
* * * *
Once back at the ranch, Melanie called the Reverend Mother.
“Hi, this is Melanie.”
“Hello. Child, why didn’t you call Sister Abby back?” the older woman asked her.
“I didn’t know she called me.”
“Yes, she told that gentleman to tell you.”
Mellie thought for a second. “Oh Emmett? He told me my sister called. He probably heard Sister Abby and assumed she was my actual sister. I’m sorry for the mix up.”
“It’s all right.”
“Is she hurt?”
“No. She’s not the one in danger,” the Reverend Mother said seriously. “You are.”
Mellie was startled. “Me? Why? What’s going on?”
“I’m afraid you have a stalker.”
Chapter Eight
Melanie was in a fearful daze after she hung up the phone. The Reverend Mother’s words didn’t compute with her at first. She wondered who the hell would want to stalk her. She wasn’t rich or famous, nor was she a beauty queen. Pretty with makeup, perhaps, and a good deal of rest, but still.
No suspects came to mind. She was kind to everyone, so revenge couldn’t be the issue. Did the person really just have a thing for her?
Creepy. She felt bad that the mystery man, a cowboy dressed in all black with a gruff yet smooth voice and a black Stetson, had terrified all the nuns at the abbey. If she’d been there she might have spared them that. But really what could she have done?
The Reverend Mother’s description of the man offered her no insight. She didn’t know anyone who looked like that.
Mellie walked into Greyson’s study, shaking with jitters. Would he fire her or simply reprimand her for keeping secrets about her past from him? Her time at the abbey wasn’t work related so really what business was it of his? She was entitled to keep her personal life to herself.
Did he know about her and Jake? Probably to a certain extent or he wouldn’t have made that suggestive comment in the adult store about his brothers putting her to use.
Greyson sat at his desk. “Shut the door.”
Words she might have found sexy being spoken in such a rough, smoky voice sounded daunting when uttered in the present context. She closed the door and then turned to face him, not sure what to expect. Would he yell? Send her away? Grill the hell out of her?
“Come to me,” he ordered with a look of stone on his face.
She gulped and approached his desk. “Yes, sir?”
His brow rose in disapproval and she wondered what she’d done wrong. Then she remembered. “I mean, boss.”
He cleared his throat. “How long were you at the abbey, Melanie Laurie?”
It was odd the way he used her full name in a casual conversation like he was a robot instead of a person.
“Five years, sir. Boss.”
“Is this the first job you’ve had since leaving the convent?”
“Yes, but I had other jobs before I lived there.”
He studied her in unbearable silence for a good long minute. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why were you there and why did you leave?”
She squirmed. “I left for personal reasons.”
“Are you religious?”
“No, sir. Boss.” Freakin’ slip-ups.
“Then why were you at a convent?”
She twiddled her thumbs, hoping her reserve wouldn’t get her terminated. “I joined for personal reasons that had nothing to do with religion.”
Greyson seemed displeased. “I detest ambiguity. Answer at least one of my questions.”
She sighed in defeat. “I left the abbey because I felt like it was time to move on. I had the sense of direction I needed.”
“A housekeeper position in South Dakota?”
“Yes.”
His scrutiny unnerved the crap out of her.
“How long were you here before you went to bed with my brother?”
Her heart was in her throat. Yep, she was screwed. She wanted to ask which one, but that probably wasn’t an idea a rocket scientist would approve of.
“He initiated it.”
She wasn’t trying to accuse Jake of anything or get him in trouble, but he had been the one to start the physical contact between them.
Greyson leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his sturdy chest, bearing into her with sharp eyes. “Do you always do what you’re told, Melanie Laurie?”
There he went again using her whole name. What was up with that? Maybe he was just a strange egg.
“I try to, sir.”
This time he didn’t rebuke her for calling him sir. The harsh expression on his face changed to something else, something equally intense.
“Did you have vanilla sex with him?” he asked in a heated tone.
Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
Now the terse authority was back in his manner. “Answer the question.”
“That’s very personal.”
“You defiled my youngest brother. As his oldest sibling and the man of this house, I have the right to know. You will tell me, Melanie Laurie.”
He did it again.
“Yes.”
Scolding might have been better. This interrogation had her unglued and his question was downright humiliating.
“Did you want me to go and vacuum?” She flinched when he stood suddenly and stalked toward her.
“Jake might be young and naive, but you can’t fool me, Melanie Laurie.”
She did her best to hold back a snicker. “Why do you keep calling me that?”
Her stomach flip flopped and not in a good way when he stood directly in front of her. His nearness was excessive, so much that she felt heat pouring off his body.
“You’re more convincing than some we’ve had.”
“Excuse me?”
Greyson circled her like a vulture, waiting for her to fully cripple over and die. “You flirt and seduce the poor bastard because he’s too young to know any better. Then before you know it, you hound him to propose to you under the guise of making an honest woman out of you.”
Her mouth fell open. She was too stunned to lash out at him for such a horrendous accusation. “What?”
“Is that your plan, Melanie Laurie?”
Okay, now he was just trying to make her uncomfortable by using her first and last name in excess.
“Of course not.”
“Then what are you doing here?” he demanded.
“I needed a job.”
“You came all the way from Boston to South Dakota for a job? How stupid do you think I am?”
She pu
rsed her lips, telling herself it was neither smart nor right to punch him in his irritatingly handsome face. “I’m sorry you don’t trust me, but the truth is I really just came here because I needed a job and the money was good. South Dakota is far away from people in my past, and my cousin Aubrey lives here in McKenna Downs so it would give me a place to stay since I don’t have much money.”
Greyson was quiet for a minute as he continued to circle her like a whirlpool. “Then you saw how wealthy we are and you decided to go after Jake?”
Mellie’s fists balled by her sides, but she unclenched them when he glanced down at her hands, clearly amused.
What an asshole.
“I just needed a job. I didn’t come here to seduce or marry anyone.”
“Do you want to hit me, Melanie Laurie?” he asked or taunted, she couldn’t tell which.
“No. That would be wrong.”
“Did they teach you that at the abbey? Didn’t they also teach you that sexual immorality is a sin according to the book I’m sure you glanced at while you were there?” He sneered.
She could see why some of the past maids had quit. “I don’t feel ashamed for premarital sex because I’m not religious.”
“Then why did you join a convent?”
He stood in front of her and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, crushing her with his strength and burning her with the fire in his touch. Then again, she might be getting warmer from aggravation. He was far more frustrating than any man had a right to be.
“I told you my reasons were personal. I’m sorry I can’t disclose any more information than that to you.”
“No, you’re not.”
Her jaw tensed. “Fine, I’d rather keep that to myself, if you don’t mind.”
She stepped out of his touch and backed toward the door, but he stepped forward and stopped her in her tracks with one hand on each of her shoulders.
“I do mind.”
She wanted to say “well, tough luck, bucko,” but again her tongue’s first impulse hardly seemed like the one in her best interest so she kept quiet.
Greyson stared her down hard, but she lowered her eyes and wouldn’t look at him. A slow smile told her he was pleased by the way she averted her eyes. After a long moment that felt like an eternity, he hooked a finger under her jaw and tilted her face up toward his.
