Lord Have Mercy (The Southern Gentleman #2)(19)

Carmichael and I shared property about five minutes outside of town. Both of us had been given a sizable nest egg from our grandparents when we’d graduated college, and we’d invested it together and bought over two hundred acres, and then both built a house.

Though we were technically more like neighbors, I still had the code to her house and could check on her through my camera that pointed in her house’s direction.

Carmichael had a system of her own, but I tried not to be too much of an overprotective big brother.

My sister rolled her eyes. “Why does it not surprise me that you know you can do that?”

I winked at her. “Make sure you remember that Donnie is yours tomorrow.”

Donnie, our twenty-year-old horse that we got when we were both children, was taken care of by both of us. He liked Carmichael better, but I tried not to let it get to me.

“Yeah, I remember. Bye.”

Croft watched her go, and I’d had enough.

Waiting until she was all the way to the car, I turned to my friend.

“I love you like a brother, but if you hurt either one of them, I’ll kill you all the same,” I told him bluntly.

Croft turned to me, a blank expression on his face.

“Either one of who?” he asked innocently.

“I saw you flirting with Camryn earlier,” I told him. “And then you switched on that charm with Carmichael. I don’t like it.”

“Listen, Flintstone,” Croft said, sounding somewhat angry. “I’m not setting out to hurt either one of them.”

“Then what are you doing?” I questioned.

He looked back at the parking lot where Carmichael had just pulled out but slowed to wave to Camryn who was now walking back in with her basket of laundry.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” he answered.

I didn’t like that answer at all.

“Camryn is mine,” I blurted.

Croft blinked.

“What?” he asked in surprise.

I was honestly quite surprised at the words that’d fallen out of my mouth myself.

“She’s mine,” I repeated, much more harshly this time.

Croft crossed his arms over his chest and waited for me to go into more detail, and when I didn’t, he laughed softly under his breath.

“Took you long enough,” he said. “Watching you two fight it out was causing me heart palpitations. Thought you’d never pull your head out and make your move.”

I blinked.

“You…what?”

“I’ve had a thing for your sister for a while, but I never made a move because you guard her like a junkyard dog would his turf. Then she starts working here, and you all of a sudden loosen your reins on Carmichael and start focusing in on Camryn. Honestly, I wanted a chance with your sister, so I pushed you a little in the direction I wanted you to go by flirting with Camryn just a bit,” he answered.

That made me mad.

“You know that Camryn has a thing for you, right?” I wondered.

Croft shrugged. “She might’ve. Might not have. I don’t know. I’ve never really understood Camryn, and since she was my little sister’s best friend, it’s hard to look at her in any other light than ‘off limits.’”

I could see that, I guessed.

“Treat my sister badly, and I’ll rip your balls off and make you swallow them.” I paused. “And don’t fuck around with Camryn anymore. I don’t want you to hurt her.”

Croft looked serious all of a sudden. “I won’t hurt her.”

“Won’t hurt who?” Camryn asked.

Croft answered before I could. “Carmichael.”

Camryn’s face lit with a smile. “She has a huge crush on you.” Her face went wonky. “You hurt her, and I’ll rip your balls off and run over them with my car.”

Croft’s face went slack. “Yes, ma’am.”

Camryn didn’t say another word as she walked into the gym and toward the shower.

Croft’s face was laughing when he said, “See? Weird.” He paused. “She’s perfect for you.”

And that wasn’t the first time, or the last time, that thought had occurred to me that night.

After Croft left, I set the alarm and headed to the back room where the shower was located, intending to show Camryn exactly where everything was.

Only, as I arrived, the shower was already on, and Camryn was stripped down to her underwear and sports bra, looking so good in all her sweaty glory.

She blinked and reached for the sweaty shirt that she’d dropped on the ground as I’d come into the bathroom.

“You know,” she said conversationally. “It’s polite to knock…and this is the girl’s bathroom, right?”

“It’s my personal bathroom,” I felt it prudent to say. “But by all means, please take your shower first because you’re more important.”

She rolled her eyes and dropped the shirt, seemingly uncaring about her semi-naked state any longer.

I about swallowed my tongue as I caught a look at her ass—her bare ass.

She was wearing a thong.

And her goddamn sports bra was doing a piss poor job at keeping her adequately covered.

Honestly, I was surprised she could work out in that thing at all with how flimsy it was.