by Jenny Penn
“I assure you we’re both clean, so you don’t have to worry about diseases.”
“What? Do they test you down at the club?” Kristen shot back, more than eager to turn the conversation from something humiliating to her toward something that should have humiliated them, though neither one of them looked particularly embarrassed.
“I was wondering if Gwen told you about that,” Brandon muttered, no doubt thinking mean thoughts about her cousin.
It probably wasn’t right to let him think Gwen when it was Cybil who had actually told her, but she didn’t want him thinking mean thoughts about Cybil either.
“We’re quitting.”
“What?”
“What?” Brandon echoed Kristen’s stunned amazement as they both turned to stare at Dylan, who made his position perfectly clear.
“I don’t need all those women, princess. Not if I have you.” He sealed that vow by reaching out to lace his fingers through hers and give them a squeeze. “And I’ll kill any other man that touches you…besides Brandon. Understand?”
Kristen could only nod, dumbfounded as she continued to gape up at him. Brandon recovered quicker and took her other hand to draw her attention back to him before making a similar solemn vow.
“I’ve been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you, so try not to break my heart. Okay?” Brandon offered her a small smile, and Kristen felt the tears spring into her eyes.
This was more than just lust.
Leaning up, she sealed that vow with a kiss that almost had them getting caught by her parents as they pulled into the church parking lot. Dylan saved them from an embarrassing mistake when he gave a quick whistle.
“Parental unit alert,” he called out. “At least they looked happy.”
Happy wasn’t the word for it. Her mother was fairly glowing, and it soon became obvious why. Dylan was back, and her scooter wasn’t. Her daughter was dating a deputy, and Marissa was strutting like a peacock showing off every feather as she introduced Dylan to almost every member of the congregation.
It was embarrassing, but no more than when her mother started hinting that she was ready for grandchildren. Dylan handled the moment well, assuring her mother that he did want children, one day. That comment struck Kristen as she wondered what she wanted.
She had a whole long hour of church to think about it. The only conclusion she could come to was that she wasn’t ready for children. Kristen would have to find the courage to explain that to her mother. It became apparent she was going to have to find it soon, though.
That became clear after her mother invited the three of them to a baked ham lunch. Dylan and Brandon were agreeing before Kristen could warn them that her mother’s ham was kind of like her tea⎯rotten. They learned that soon enough and made Kristen smile when they cleaned their plates.
After then it was off to the living room with the men. No doubt so her father could grill her suitor while her mother grilled her in the kitchen. It started innocently enough, but Kristen knew exactly where her mother was headed when she commented on what a nice gentleman Deputy Singer seemed to be.
“He’s lovely,” Kristen agreed, thinking that no real gentleman could kiss the way Dylan did.
“He’s got a stable job,” her mother pointed out as she began washing the dishes. “A stable, respectable job.”
“And dangerous one,” Kristen added on as she scraped another plate clean over the trashcan. “Deputies get shot at, you know.”
“Hush, Kristen, or you’ll invite the devil.” Her mother waved away that talk with her usual rejoinder.
Normally she thought her mother was being overly dramatic, but this time she could see her point. Kristen feared she might already have invited the devil into her thoughts because she hadn’t considered that point until right then. They really could be shot. Then what would she do?
“Oh, now you’re frowning.” Her mother shook her head at her. “And don’t think I don’t know why, but you shouldn’t start crying until there is something to cry over.”
That was true. With a deep breath, Kristen reminded herself that she couldn’t stop the future. So she might as well enjoy the present.
“Thanks, Mom.” Kristen gave her mother a quick side hug and a peck on the cheek before turning to the ham. “You want me to wrap this up.”
“Sure, but first let’s cut you off some.” Her mother quickly moved to fetch a knife. “You know you should come over some time and let me teach you how to make a ham. I think your deputy liked it.”
Chapter 16
Kristen held back her giggles until she was safely encased in the cab of Dylan’s truck, her parents’ house fading into the background. They pealed out though as she looked to find Brandon staring down at the plates of ham her mother insisted he and Dylan take. The expression on his face was priceless, and she felt compelled to lean up and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you for being so nice to my parents.”
“Him?” Dylan snorted. “He wasn’t the one being glared at by your father. I don’t think he likes me.”
“I’m sure he loves you,” Kristen countered, though she wasn’t really sure. What she was sure of was that she was grateful. Leaning up, she dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, too.”
“If you really want to thank me, you would⎯”
Whatever lewd thing Dylan had been about to say got cut off as Kristen laid her finger across his lips. “Don’t ruin the moment.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dylan agreed after she’d lifted her finger.
“Why do I get the feeling your agreeableness is just a trap?” Kristen eyed him suspiciously. Dylan was smiling, a no-good kind of smile.
“It’s not a trap,” Brandon assured her, making Kristen realize he was wearing a very similar grin. “It’s more like an afternoon surprise.”
“A surprise?” Kristen blinked in delight. She hadn’t known what she expected, but she’d hoped they’d plan to spend the afternoon with her. “What kind of surprise?”
“The kind that requires shorts and T-shirts.” Brandon paused to cast her an amused look. “You do own a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.”
She didn’t, and he knew it, but Kristen wouldn’t give Brandon the pleasure of telling him he was right. “I can borrow something from Gwen.”
Her cousin wouldn’t mind. In fact, she’d probably be thrilled. Gwen still made little comments about Kristen’s clothes, and she knew it drove her cousin nuts that she wasn’t more fashionable. Still, she wasn’t sure how fashionable she had to be when Dylan added on that she might want to wear her bathing suit.
That comment unnerved Kristen.
“I’m not going to get tossed in any more pools, am I?” She glanced nervously from man to man, but both had the same response.
“Definitely not.”
“Not this time…but you might get wet,” Brandon warned her, leaving Kristen even more confused on what they planned, but they weren’t spilling any more details.
No matter how much Kristen probed and prodded, they only teased her back. In the end, it really didn’t matter. Kristen knew, whatever they planned, she’d have a good time. After all, she’d be with them.
First, though, they dropped her off home with the promise that they’d be back in an hour to pick her up. That gave Kristen more than enough time to get ready. Just as she’d expected, Gwen didn’t mind lending her an outfit. The hard part was making sure she didn’t go off the deep end and leave her half-naked. The bikini she had no intention of showing off did a good enough job of that.
Of course, if it were just Dylan, Brandon, and her, she might change her mind. Just the thought of being that close to naked with them had her remembering how good it had felt to feel Brandon skin-to-skin when he’d kissed her at the pool party. It had been electrifying.
And he’d said it wouldn’t just be kisses.
A sense of such excitement flooded her with such strength she couldn’t help but giggle. This was going t
o be the best day of her life. She could just sense it.
“Oh God. Look at you. You’re glowing.” Normally that would have been a compliment, but the way Gwen bit out the words, it was clear she was disgusted. “You’ve really got it bad for those two idiots, don’t you?”
“They’re not idiots,” Kristen countered, allowing her defense of them to say it all.
She did have it bad, bad enough to consider dating both men at the same time. Kristen wasn’t sure how it would all work out, but she was willing to try and to trust that Dylan and Brandon would know how to manage things.
“You are in for quite a shock,” Gwen warned her. “Men are only in love for as long as they’re hard.”
“I wish you wouldn’t be so cynical.” Kristen frowned at her cousin. “There is reason to hope.”
Gwen shot that down instantly. “No. There isn’t. Men are never loyal. It’s against their nature.”
“That’s not true. Just think of my father,” Kristen insisted, certain her father had never strayed. He was an honorable man, a family man, but Gwen’s smile sent a cold tendril winding through her.
“Yeah, look at your daddy.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kristen demanded to know, puckering up instantly in defense of her father, but before she could lecture Gwen on her father’s finer attributes, a knock echoed through the house.
“Your lover boys are here.” Gwen’s smile turned more mischievous as she slipped back out of Kristen’s bedroom and headed for the front door.
Kristen raced after her, worried her cousin might ruin her date, again. She got distracted, though, by the sight of Brandon in his shorts as Gwen opened the front door. They hung down low along with his oversized shirt, but there was no hiding the power of the muscles beneath. He was long, hard, and so damn hot he made her knees weak.
“Gwen.” He greeted her cousin with a scowl that lightened immediately as his eyes skipped over Gwen to settle on Kristen. “Hey, beautiful. You ready?”
“Where you guys headed?” Gwen asked as she slipped past Brandon. “Oh, I see. It’s lake day, huh?”
That question drew Kristen’s attention past Brandon to where Dylan’s truck idled by the curb. There was a fast-looking boat hitched up behind the truck that left Kristen unnerved.
“It’s a perfect day,” Brandon shot back, his smile growing as his eyes remained locked on Kristen. “But any day with my princess is bound to be perfect.”
“Oh please.” Gwen groaned as she fished out a pack of cigarettes from their hiding place behind the sconce that hung near the door. “You’re going to make me sick.”
Kristen blinked, her attention turned by the sight of her cousin snapping the pack against her wrist. “You’re still smoking?”
“Yeah.” Gwen paused to cast Kristen a pointed look. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because…it’s not healthy.” Kristen quickly caught herself before she revealed the truth.
Gwen still hadn’t mentioned her pregnancy, and Kristen didn’t know what she intended to do about the matter. Still, smoking was a horrible habit that she didn’t approve of, whether Gwen kept her baby or not.
“Please.” Gwen snorted. “Next you’ll be nagging me about not going to church.”
“Well, I’m sure Pittsview has some lovely churches,” Kristen insisted, telling herself that wasn’t nagging.
“Yeah, Gwen, maybe next Sunday we could all go check out First Citizens Baptist,” Brandon suggested a little too eagerly, causing Kristen to frown up at him.
She knew her parents were a little much, but he didn’t have to be so gleeful about trying to avoid another service with them. A second later Kristen realized that wasn’t his intent.
“I’m kind of wishing we’d gone there today.” Brandon directed that at Kristen, but she could tell by the sparkle in his eyes he was taunting her cousin. “After all, there was quite a spectacle with the sheriff and Heather Lawson all but announcing their engagement. Everybody is talking about it.”
Kristen froze as those words trickled out of Brandon’s mouth. She felt gut-punched and could only imagine how Gwen was feeling. Actually, she didn’t have to imagine. Gwen’s response was instantaneous.
“Bullshit!”
“Sorry, Gwen.” Brandon apologized wearing a smile that made a mockery of his words. “The sheriff is officially off the market.”
“No way!” Gwen chunked the pack she was crushing in her hand down, and Kristen would have loved for her to stomp on it, but Gwen stepped over them as she wagged a finger at Brandon. “No fucking way! You’re lying!”
“Maybe you better go make a few calls,” Brandon suggested, but Gwen was already shoving past them.
Only Kristen, though, saw the tears in her eyes. The door slammed shut a second later, and Kristen felt torn. She knew just who to blame for that. Turning a frown on Brandon, she glared at him hard enough to have him holding up his hands.
“She was going to find out sooner or later, beautiful, so don’t give me that look.”
Kristen figured he had that right, but that still didn’t excuse his smile. “Yes, well, you didn’t have to enjoy it so much, did you?”
“Yes, I did,” Brandon answered honestly, grabbing on to her hand and beginning to tug her down the steps. “And since you’re on the wrong side of the door to slam it in my face this time, you might as well forgive me and agree to come and have some fun.”
“Yes, well, I should probably still go check on her,” Kristen murmured, glancing back at the house as Brandon all but pulled her across the small yard.
“Don’t waste your time. I can tell you how that conversation would go.” Brandon paused by the truck door to shoot Kristen another quick smile. “But I wouldn’t want to offend you with the obscene language your cousin is spewing right about now.”
He was probably right on that point. Gwen was no doubt raging, and when she finally calmed down, she’d either lock herself in her room or go out. There really was nothing for Kristen to do, so she let Brandon lift her up into the cab, but that didn’t mean she stopped worrying.
“Hey, princess.” Dylan greeted her with a smile as Brandon followed her into the cab. “What’s with the frown?”
“Gwen’s upset,” Brandon answered for her.
“Oh.” Dylan didn’t sound as if he cared, but Kristen did.
“And Kristen, being such a sweetheart, is upset for her,” Brandon tacked on.
“It’s just a…delicate time for Gwen.” Kristen hesitated over her words, not certain if she should be honest about Gwen’s condition.
It really wasn’t her business and certainly not her business to tell, but she wanted to talk about it, wanted to know what her men thought, and she could trust them, couldn’t she?
“Delicate? Gwen?” Dylan snorted over each word and shook his head. “Honey, you’re wearing some seriously rose-colored glasses if you buy that crap. Gwen is as hard as most nails.”
“She’s pregnant.”
Those two words popped out without permission from her mind, but Kristen didn’t regret them. She knew this was a big step, but if she was willing to give them her heart and body, she might as well risk her secrets would be safe along with them.
“Holy shit!” Dylan’s jaw dropped as Brandon started shaking his head.
“No way.” Brandon rejected her words without any hesitation. “Gwen knows better than that…unless, of course, it was intentional.”
Brandon and Dylan shared a look over her head that had Kristen frowning.
“Pity that fool,” Dylan muttered, and Kristen started to pucker up.
“There is no reason to pity a man for having to share a child with my cousin. Gwen may be a little wild, but she’s got a good heart.”
“And you got a big one if you believe that,” Dylan shot back.
How was Kristen supposed to argue against that? “Okay then, but it was an accident.”
“You’re certain?” Brandon asked, clearly not in agreement.
<
br /> “If Gwen was going to get intentionally pregnant by anybody, then it would be the sheriff,” Kristen pointed out. “He’s the one she loves, and clearly it’s not him.”
“That’s for sure.” Dylan nodded. “Alex wised up a long time back. He hasn’t touched Gwen since.”
“What do you mean? Wised up?” Kristen demanded to know, ready to defend her cousin once again, but she was blindsided by Dylan’s next revelation.
“She had the sheriff, okay? She had her chance,” Dylan corrected himself. “But then she tried to play one of her games, tried to make him jealous by sleeping with those idiots, Killian and Adam.”
“That was so stupid,” Brandon grumbled with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t know why women think stupid games like that will get a man to admit to loving them. If a man loves you, he’ll tell you.”
There was a grim finality to those words that had Kristen glancing up at him in wonder. “But you said you’d fallen in love with me.”
Brandon’s face lit up with the kind of smile that shined pure warmth straight into Kristen’s soul. Then he was kissing her, a gentle rub of his lips at first, but as usual, things spun a little out of control, and it was only the need for air that finally broke them apart.
Their lips were still almost touching as Brandon’s thumb rolled slowly across her cheek in a sweet caress that had her leaning into the hard strength of the palm cupping her jaw.
“I do love you, beautiful,” Brandon whispered. “You’re funny and sweet and innocent, and yet you have the strength to stand up for what you want, for what you think is right. Your light shines from within, Kristen, and I am captivated.”
He said the sweetest things, and she felt the tears flood her eyes. She choked on a breath that she didn’t dare release for fear it would shatter this dream. Then she feared her silence would kill it. Kristen wanted to tell him she loved him, but something just wouldn’t let her.
Brandon seemed to understand. He smiled, a slight hint of sadness tinting the twist of his lips as his thumb rolled across her cheek once again. “I know. It’s okay. I can wait.”
