Hard to Handle (Caine Cousins #2)(12)

“Thanks for invitin’ us.”

“Yeah,” Sawyer chimed in. “We’ve all been itchin’ to get outta the house for a bit.” He nodded toward the pretty redhead at his side. “You remember my wife, Kennedy.”

Lynx nodded. “Nice to see you again.”

“Same. Where’s Copenhagen?” she inquired.

“She’s a veterinarian,” Sawyer said with a chuckle. “Always thinkin’ about the four-legged ones.”

“Took him over to my old man’s house. Things can get kinda rowdy out here.”

“That’s an understatement,” Brendon said, stepping up and holding out his hand to Lynx.

Brendon’s twin brother, Braydon, moved up beside him.

“Where’s your ol’ lady?” Lynx asked Brendon.

“She’s on the road,” Brendon said with a frown. The man happened to be married to one of the hottest country music singers out right now. “She said to tell you hello.”

Lynx grinned. “What about Jessie?” he asked, glancing over at Braydon.

“She’s back at the house. She’s not feelin’ all that well.”

Brendon leaned in. “Mornin’ sickness.”

Braydon flipped off his brother. “She ain’t pregnant again.” He smiled widely. “Yet.”

Lynx knew that the Walker brothers had all settled down as of late. Some of them even had popped out a baby or two in recent years.

“Hey, man,” Travis greeted. “Kylie, you remember Lynx.”

“I do,” Travis’s wife said with a grin. “The troublemaker, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The rest of the clan moved in, and Lynx greeted Ethan and his husband, Beau, along with Kaleb and his wife, Zoey.

“We left the munchkins with the grandparents,” Kaleb informed him. “Thought maybe we’d get some adult time.”

“Glad y’all could make it on such short notice.”

Another truck headed down the drive, and Lynx followed the headlights until he could make out the truck.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Lynx told the others. “My date just arrived.”

All heads seemed to turn toward the newcomer, but Reagan was still in her truck.

“Wolfe’s over by the fire,” Lynx told them. “And there’s beer on ice, so help yourself.”

Travis smacked him on the shoulder as he passed, the rest of them falling into step with the eldest Walker.

Lynx strolled over as Reagan was hopping down from her truck.

“Hey,” he greeted, moving right up to her as she shut her door.

“Hey,” she answered, slowly turning toward him. “What? Were you waitin’ for me?”

Lynx chuckled. “Of course not.”

“How did I know you were gonna say that?”

He grinned. “Come on, girl. Let’s get you a beer.”

Reagan’s eyes lingered on his face for a few seconds, and Lynx saw the moment she decided not to fight him. Whether or not she was going to give in was still to be seen, but at least he wasn’t going up against a brick wall first thing.

He considered that progress.

“Holy shit,” Reagan said with a whistle. “You invite the whole town?”

“Yep.”

“Looks like most of ’em showed up.”

“Good turnout,” he agreed.

“That means less people at the barbecue tomorrow, huh?”

He laughed. “Probably.”

It didn’t take much to put together a party in this town. It was one of the things he loved about Embers Ridge. For as long as he could remember, they’d been having parties out in the empty fields, plenty of them right here on the Caine land.

“Amy here?”

“Yep.”

“She doin’ all right?” Reagan’s eyes were full of concern.

“As good as can be expected, I suppose.”

“Still no sign of that crazy man?”

Lynx grabbed a beer from one of the many coolers and passed it over to Reagan. “Not yet.”

The crazy man Reagan was referring to happened to be Amy’s ex-boyfriend. The bastard who’d tried to kill her a little over a year ago. Thankfully, he hadn’t succeeded, but it appeared he was now looking to finish the job. It was the very reason the stress level had ratcheted up a few notches in the past few weeks.

One of the many reasons that a night like this was just what the doctor ordered.

Good friends, beer, bonfire, and laughter.

What more could you ask for?



Reagan had had reservations about coming out to the lake tonight.

But a couple of hours in, she was wondering what she’d been worried about. After only one beer, she was feeling lighter than she had in a long time. The conversations weren’t hurting, either. Everyone was having a good time, laughing, joking, telling stories about the many parties they’d attended right here on the Caine lake.

“Remember that time Lynx decided to streak around the lake?” Wolfe asked, pointing his beer bottle at his cousin.

“Died out halfway around, if I recall,” someone added. “Didn’t y’all send someone to get his ass?”