Trusting Them (7 page)

“Don’t you think we can take care of each other? Don’t you trust us to take care of you?”

“It’s not that.” Jeni tried to reason with him. “I trust both of you, but he doesn’t play fair. He uses his goons to do most of his dirty work. It wouldn’t just be one against one; it would be four or five against two.”

“Who is he, Jeni?”

“My ex-husband, Glenn Rosenberg.” Jeni ran her hands over her face, pulling away from him.

“How long has he been chasing after you?” Brock didn’t give up.

“Six months. I was heading to Alaska. It’s the last place I would ever go. Or so I hope he believes.”

“If he has chased after you for six months, he isn’t going to stop any time soon. You’re better off staying here, with us. We can protect you, honey.”

“He’ll find my car and keep looking until he finds out where I am. Then he’ll hurt anyone around me just to make me suffer more.” She shook her head.

Brock dragged her out from under the covers and across his lap. He held her there with strong arms, but without hurting her. She realized she felt safe in his arms. It felt like no one could hurt her while she was there. But she knew better. The last person who’d tried to help her had ended up without a job and no place to live. She wasn’t making that mistake again.

He hugged her tightly against his chest, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed it. It felt good to be held and not held down. The warmth of the arms around her seeped into her body and warmed her from the inside out. Surely, she could enjoy this for a little while longer. No one knew where she was right now. Until it was time to go to town, she could believe she was safe. Just for another day she would pretend.

“You’re thinking awful hard again.” Brock’s voice cut into her fantasy world.

It didn’t surprise her when he bent down and placed a kiss on her lips. It was just a kiss, but one that would stay with her for the rest of the day.

“So, how about we dress you nice and warm and you can sit downstairs by the fire for awhile? I’m sure you’re tired of the bed by now.”

She smiled in anticipation. “I’d love to.”

“I’ll grab another pair of warm-ups for you, and we’ll bundle you up in a blanket and go downstairs.” He sat her back on the bed and pulled the covers over her again.

Jeni waited as he left the room only to return a few minutes later with a pair of gray sweatpants and another pair of socks. He insisted on dressing her, saying she needed to conserve her strength. She decided the fact that he liked doing it was the real reason. It amused her. She stood up with his help, and he wrapped a blanket around her. There was no way she could manage the stairs now. She was about to inform him of it when he suddenly picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all and carried her out of the bedroom.

“Hey! I’m too heavy for you to carry me down those stairs. You’ll drop me.”

“There you go not trusting me again. Relax, I can handle you. You don’t weigh more than a newborn colt.”

“A horse weighs a ton,” she grumbled.

“A foal doesn’t,” he admonished.

She closed her mouth and hung on tight as he carried her down the stairs without so much as a nudge that he would drop her. She didn’t breathe easy, though, until he sat her on the couch in front of the fire.

“There, you should be plenty warm enough as long as you keep the blanket around you and we keep the fire going.” Brock fiddled with the fire using the poker and then straightened up.

Jeni watched him watch her. He smiled a slow, sensuous smile that jump-started her heart. The man watched her as if he were undressing her with his eyes. Considering she didn’t have all that much on, he wouldn’t have much to do.

“I’m going to see what Brady is up to. Holler if you need anything. One of us will hear you.” With that, he disappeared into the other room.

She had no idea where anything was in the house. She’d been unconscious when they had brought her inside the other night. The room she was in now looked to be a living room. It had the fireplace as the central feature. There was a flat-screen TV on the wall to the right of the fireplace and two lounge chairs facing it on the other side of the couch, with just enough room to squeeze between them. She smiled to herself. Just like a pair of men to fix the room the way it suited them.

A doorway opposite the wall with the TV led into what she decided must be the kitchen, as that was where the smell of cooked bacon came from. She leaned back to try and get a look at the other room, but other than a glimpse of a cabinet, she couldn’t see anything more. The doorway behind her led to the stairs, but she didn’t know what lay on the other side of the stairs. Another room? Maybe an office, she wondered. They would need an office for running the business side of the ranch, right?

The bedrooms were upstairs, but how many were there? She decided that since they always left the bedroom she was staying in that there were at least two others, one for each brother. She couldn’t help but wonder why neither of them used the one she was in. It was certainly big enough. In fact, with the bathroom, she figured it to be the master suite. Maybe they were waiting for one of them to get married and then move into that room. The idea of them marrying anyone drew a low growl from her throat. She couldn’t bear to think of them with another woman. They were hers. Now where had that thought come from?
You’re getting hooked on them. You need to keep your distance. You know what happens to anyone you care about.

Jeni ran a shaky hand over her face and leaned back against the back of the couch. He wouldn’t hurt her men. They were hers. She would leave before he found her. Just as soon as she could locate her car and make sure it was all right to drive, she’d leave. They would forget about her soon enough. But would she forget about them?

* * * *

Brock found Brady in the stable mucking out a stall and mumbling to himself.

“Thought the ranch hands were going to do that,” Brock said.

“Yeah, they were, but I needed something to do. Besides, they’re busy enough keeping the herd together and breaking ice. I swear that shit freezes hard in less than five minutes.” Brady leaned on the pitchfork and regarded his brother with a questioning look. “So, did you find out anything?”

“Yeah, she’s running from her ex-husband. He’s some sort of bigwig. She’s afraid he’ll hurt us, so she wants to leave.” Brock leaned against the stable doors.

“We can take care of her. Did you tell her it didn’t matter, that we’ll keep her safe?”

“Of course, but I don’t think it made any difference to her. She’s got it in her head she has to protect us.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. She doesn’t need to protect us from some asshole who thinks he can beat on women and get away with it.” Brady grabbed the pitchfork and went back to work. “You set her straight, didn’t you?”

“I tried, but she isn’t listening to me. Time will tell if she trusts us or not. We have at least another twenty-four hours to convince her we can keep her safe,” Brock said.

“Sounds like what we need to convince her of is that we can take care of ourselves.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Brock grabbed the pitchfork from Brady’s hands and started mucking the next stall.

“It all boils down to trust, like you said. She needs to trust us.” Brady pulled off his gloves and stuck them in his coat pocket before stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets.

“So, we start small. Like getting her to trust us enough to let us hold her—together.” Brock finished that stall and proceeded to scatter hay around the floor.

“Seems like we’ve already done that, Brock.”

“No, we’ve slept holding her. That’s entirely different from deliberately holding her between us. One of us can even kiss her while the other one holds her. Show her we’re okay with her wanting both of us. If she trusts her feelings with us, the rest will follow.” Brock leaned the pitchfork against the wall near the entrance to the barn.

“I’m game for that.” Brady clapped his hands together and rubbed them expectantly.

“Don’t get all excited. You still have until after dinner to wait for all of this.”

“Yeah, but I’ll have her to myself this afternoon,” he said. “Speaking of which,” he stared at his watch, “it’s nearly one now. Think I’ll go wash up and see what Jeni is up to.”

Brock just shook his head and watched his little brother stumble out into the snow and wind. He walked out behind him and looked up at the clouds. Definitely another round of snow moving in, he groaned. He shook his head and then continued making rounds and chatting with the ranch hands. All of them were warned to keep it to themselves that they had a guest. He knew each and every one of them like family. He trusted them to keep it under wraps.

Before he headed back to the house, Brock checked the wood pile on the back porch and decided to add more wood. It wouldn’t hurt to keep it full with the snow beginning to start. He checked the trucks to be sure they were fine. Then he made one last round to assure himself that there was no one lurking around in the woods at the edge of the yard. No footprints or tire tracks marred the white carpet of snow, save his own. She might not believe they would take care of her, but he knew he and his brother would keep her safe if it was the last thing they ever did.

When he walked inside, he knew something was different. There was a tension in the air. His first thought was that something was wrong. He eased the kitchen door open and checked on where he’d left Jeni earlier, only to find his brother kissing their guest. From the moaning she did, she liked it. He grinned and watched unabashedly.

From where he stood, it looked like his brother had his hands inside the blanket. He could only imagine what they were doing. Did he have her breasts in his hands? Was he playing with her nipples? His cock jerked at the idea. He wanted to feel those pert tips graze his lips. The thought of watching his brother suck one rosy red nipple into his mouth nearly drew a moan from him. He bit it back and re-adjusted himself. His cock was rock hard now and growing by the minute. Much more and he’d have to unzip his pants. His cock would wear the imprint of the damn thing for the next six months.

Brady’s head slanted over her mouth. Brock could tell his tongue was playing with hers. He remembered how her mouth felt under his. He remembered how her lips trembled against his. Knowing his brother would feel the same thing aroused him even more.

Something must have alerted her that he was there because she suddenly jumped back from Brady’s arms and pushed to the other end of the couch. Her eyes grew wide when she caught sight of him leaning against the door facing them.

“W–when did you come in?” She stuttered over the first word.

“A few minutes ago. Do you know how sexy you looked just now?”

“You saw?” Her voice broke.

“I saw the way your face looked all soft and dreamy,” he said.

Brady just sat there waiting on what would happen. He seemed to be afraid of upsetting a delicate balance. Maybe he was right, maybe everything hinged on this moment. He drew in a deep breath through his nose and waited for what she would say or do.

“I just kissed you a few hours ago. Doesn’t it bother you? Because it sure as hell bothers me.” She dropped the blanket from around her shoulders and stood up on not quite steady feet.

Brady moved to help her, but one look from her had him backing down again. She was pissed now. Call him crazy, but he much preferred that to complacent. At least this way she showed some fire. Sure, he was probably going to get burned, but it was a small price to pay for seeing her filled with passion.

“He’s my brother. We share everything. Seeing you kissing my brother only made me care about you more.”

“So, like I’m a toy to be shared instead of fought over?”

“Yes, no. No, you’re not a toy. You’re a human being with feelings. We want to make you feel good all over. Together we can take you places you’ve never even thought of going before. Neither one of us would hurt you for anything in the world.” Brock swallowed and waited for her to accept or disagree with his words.