Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(25)
“You can share mine, pretty lady,” Dalton said with a chuckle, and Clint gave him a fist bump.
“Shut up both of you jackasses. Zoey isn’t going to be sharing anyone’s bed. Just because I turned my old room into an office doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking we would all be back here at some point. The sofa in there pulls out into a bed. Clint can sleep in there.” Tanner nodded to Zoey who gave him a smile that almost took Clint’s breath away. She was absolutely radiant.
Her beauty didn’t distract him enough that he wouldn’t argue a little, “Hey! Why am I the one giving up my bed?”
“Because it hasn’t been your bed for years. It’s Zoey’s bed now. Enough about beds,” Tanner adjusted his stance and Clint almost laughed out loud. So, he was right that there was attraction between Zoey and his oldest brother, he just didn’t realize that Dalton was in the running too. This could end up being an interesting foot race.
“So, are you back for good, little brother?” Dalton asked, taking a seat on a hay bale nearby. He patted his knee and held out his hand for Zoey, who rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Yep. I think so. I’m not sure what I’m going to do back here, but my Hollywood dreams died on my thirtieth birthday. What about you, Professor? What are you doing out of the wilds of Africa? Did your rhino girlfriend leave you high and dry and you came home to nurse a broken heart?”
Dalton flipped him off. “I see you’re still a dickwad. MSF actually shut down the program in Somalia. I didn’t have another post to go to, so I came home for a while. Tanner needed a hand on the ranch, and rumor has it that Doc Plass might want to retire soon.”
Clint felt his mouth drop open, “You mean you might stay for good?”
Dalton just shrugged.
“I think I’m going to just leave you three to catch up. I have to make another batch of icing for the bread,” Zoey said, turning to leave.
“Another batch?” Tanner questioned.
“I ended up wearing the first batch. It was pretty damn tasty though, angel. Just give me more notice the next time you want to play with food, and I’ll make sure I start out naked.” He winked at her, and enjoyed the slight pink flush that stained her cheeks before she stomped out of the barn, her heart shaped ass swaying. When she disappeared out the doors, Clint turned just in time to realize both of his brothers’ eyes had been locked on her ass too.
Locking that tidbit of info away for the moment, he pulled on a more serious face. “How did you end up with a woman living here that you can’t fu-ck?”
Matching hard looks from both Dalton and Tanner surprised him, and he held his hands up, “Sorry! I just wanted to know what the story was.”
“Zoey needed a place to stay, so I gave her one. She is under my protection, so don’t push her too hard. She’s not one of your bimbo California women,” Tanner said, giving him a glare.
“Gotcha. You have a thing for her. I don’t blame you, but I won’t make any promises. If she gives me a signal, all bets are off. That woman is hot as hell, and based on her reading material, I think she has a kinky side I would love to explore,” Clint said just as seriously.
Dalton perked up, “Kinky side?”
“The book on the night table in my old room certainly isn’t a children’s book,” Clint said with a laugh.
“Her choice of reading material is her business. Lay off, Clint,” Tanner snapped.
“Got it, Skipper. So, tell me what’s been going on at the ranch.” The three men settled in to catch up, and Clint finally felt like he could breathe again. This was home, and this was how home was supposed to be. The three of them together again, talking horses, woman, and beer. It had been years since he felt like he belonged somewhere, and he was glad it was here.
*****
Zoey was really irritated. Who the hell did Clint Keegan think he was? Good grief, these Keegan cowboys were arrogant and cocksure as any prize bull in the pen. By the time she had dinner ready she had no appetite for anything but chewing cowboy ass. There was no way she could tolerate the flirting, kissing, and teasing from all three of them.
After Tanner left her high and dry in the kitchen, she had gone in and taken an hour nap to recover her sanity. Of course she had masturbated twice too, but that was just to take the edge off her temper…or so she told herself.
She was on her way to forgiving and forgetting the incident when Clint scared the shit out of her in the kitchen while she was making icing to drizzle over the cinnamon bread. His arrogance had lit the fire under her mad again out in the barn. Between Dalton’s open flirting, Clint’s arrogance, and Tanner’s brooding, she was piping hot and ready to blow by dinnertime. Half mad and half horny didn’t make a good combination when she had to face off with all of them.
The three men came out of the barn as a unit, and Zoey felt her lungs tighten and her mouth go dry as she stood on the front porch watching them saunter toward her, laughing as brothers. Clint’s appearance in Stone River wasn’t all that much of a surprise to Tanner and Dalton.
He was the youngest, but he was slightly taller than Tanner and Dalton, although it was hard to tell when he was the only one without a hat on. Ever since he hit puberty he had been good looking, but he had aged to perfection after high school, and she was honestly shocked that he hadn’t made it big in Hollywood.