Chapter 12
“Peyton, go in the house. I need these two to help me.”
Like hell he did. Braden wanted to give them another warning, a stern reminder, something to scare them off and hold them back. Kane figured he faced two choices. Lie to Braden and tell him he wouldn’t touch her or lie to Peyton because she’d call him out this time.
After what they’d shared earlier, she’d force him to face her, demand answers and expect to hear them. If he turned down her advances, she would want to know why. Hell, there was a third choice in there somewhere, and maybe, by God, it was time to toss good sense to the wind.
Peyton marched over to Braden. Her cute little butt barely shook as she walked straight up to him and shocked him as much as his brothers. “Braden, do you like me?”
“Well, what kind of stupid question are you asking now?”
“It’s a yes-or-no stupid question. Do. You. Like. Me?” She emphasized each word and added a huff or two between each syllable for added Peyton drama. “Check yes or no.”
“Of course, I like you, Peyton.” He touched the tip of her nose with his forefinger and turned his back to her. Kane wanted to laugh out loud.
Peyton wasn’t going to stand there looking at Braden’s back, unless she really liked his ass. And she might but she hated a man turning his back to her more. Kane and Evan learned early on it ranked as her number one pet peeve.
She started to reach for him and for some reason stopped. “Do you want to fuck me?” Her hands returned to her hips.
“Oh shit, here we go now everybody.” Evan headed for the feed room and stopped short of stepping inside. He didn’t look amused.
Kane almost felt sorry for Braden, because knowing his brother, he wanted to die right about any second. It simply came down to this, and he saw the caution light straight ahead.
After Kane talked to the man Peyton almost-but didn’t-fuck, he had time to think. David Taylor gave him a lot to consider. A woman ruined three prosperous lives. Three cowboys destroyed the underlying strength of one woman. His mother might have lived to meet Peyton if things had been different for her, the way he imagined he wanted them for Peyton.
Braden didn’t turn around. “I said ‘I need to talk to Evan and Kane’. Go up to the house and get some dinner started. We’ve all had a long day, and by the time we feed everything down here, it’ll be time to eat.”
“Then snack on this.” She grabbed his wrist hard, whirled him around and by God she pressed her little body against his as she cupped his face and most likely stripped his ever lovin’ mind with a kiss like hers. Watching it shackled Kane’s senses and gave him more to think about than he needed.
Evan stepped into the feed room. He couldn’t watch it.
Kane knew why. His own dick was harder than it had ever been. If Evan had feelings for Peyton, then he understood why it was a little tough watching her kiss Braden with one goal in mind-to try and convince him why they belonged together. From what he’d seen from Peyton, she wanted all of them, and she refused to deny herself any one of them.
“Stop.” Braden held her by her shoulders.
“No.” She started to kiss him again but he held fast to her thin arms.
“You’re making a train wreck of everything.”
“I’m shooting for the rodeo, and I’m ready to ride when one or all of you get your head out of the sawdust.”
“Peyton, your analogies need some serious help,” Evan teased as he stuck his head out of the stockroom.
Braden stepped away from her. “Get on up to the house, like I told ya.”
“No.”
Kane saw the tears fall before Braden blinked and realized he caused them. Kane took a few steps forward and wrapped her in his arms as she fell into one of those heartbreaking sobs she released on occasion, especially when she wanted to get her way.
“Where’s the key to her car?” Kane snapped.
Braden reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to him. He in turn, handed it off to her. “Peyton, get in the car, passenger’s side.”
Sniffling, she walked off, but by the time she reached the car, Kane would just about bet she was smiling. Oh yeah, this stunt was going to get her exactly what she wanted but before he left, he planned on letting his brothers know. He wanted it to eat their hearts out. He’d drive them one inch short of crazy.
“I’m not taking her to the boathouse but if you want to look there, you’re welcome to and I’m not coming back with her until tomorrow. Maybe by the time I get her back here, you’ll make a decision to see her for what she is and what she’s not.”
Evan stepped out with a few buckets of grain piled high. “She’s already confused, Kane. You’re making it tougher on her.” He started reaching in each stall and dumping the horse feed in the individual bins.
“Confused? Hell, I’m more perplexed than she is. She seems to know what she wants and tries her damndest to get it but we keep pushing her away. She’s not Mom, nothing like her-thank God-and we’re not like our fathers.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Braden gritted out through clenched teeth.
“Maybe you don’t want to hear it.”
Evan stopped at the other end of the barn and looked back at his brother. “If you hurt her, so help me God, I’ll repeat history.”
“This is exactly what I don’t want to see happen,” Braden said.
“I’m not going to hurt her,” Kane promised, “But I am going to love her, and I don’t care if I have your permission or not. I don’t care if you stay up all night wondering what it might have been like if you’d swallowed your damned-ass pride. I don’t give a shit if you like it, agree with it, or downright hate it. I’m going to love her until she knows she belongs to me. Now, what she does with the two of you later will be up to her, but for tonight, she’s mine. Interfere or try to stop it, and so help me I’ll run away with her and never look back.”
Evan watched Peyton’s car until it disappeared between the gates. “I hope you’re happy.”
“What the hell did you want me to do?”
“I wanted you to swallow some of your big-brother pride and tell Kane for once he’s right.”
“He’s not,” Braden said.
“She’s not a little girl, Braden. She’s never been a little girl. You wanted to take her on to raise and someone already beat you to it. Her momma did a fine enough job before she died and the least you can do is notice.”
“Her mother should have left behind a how-to manual so I’d know things, understand how we were supposed to handle her and manage her life most effectively.”
“We’re not supposed to manage her life, Braden. We took her in as family. When we signed those papers, it wasn’t just about being her guardians. Hell, we could’ve pulled strings and helped her stay right there where she grew up. Instead, you took one look at her and wanted to save her.”
Braden scratched his head.
“Then, she came in here and made this place a home. Just seeing her first thing in the mornings makes my day better. I guarantee you feel the same way. In a few short months, she’s going to leave for college and start her life. Why not let her live a little before she does, even if it means including all of us in some kind of fantasy?”
“I promised her mother to take care of her. I did not promise her mother I’d fuck her silly and put her on the school bus each morning afterwards.”
“Damn it, Braden! She’s not a kid. She’s a woman. She acts like a woman, looks like a woman, and by God she knows how to turn a man on which is something I’d just about fight Kane for right this minute.”
