your respects, and Peyton here appreciates it. Next time you see her, try to keep your hands off of her or else I’m gonna make sure to have some glue nearby to make good on a few promises. I don’t want you feelin’ her up or down. Got it?”
Loy tossed his hand up as he walked to his truck. He never glanced back again but by the time Evan and Kane did, she was ready for them.
“Hang on there a minute!” Kane shouted as he caught a plastic lid and Evan dodged a few cups.
“No!” She threw another one and then another. Lids, bowls, straws, everything she took out of the cabinet, she nailed them with it. “You don’t get to come in here and run off my friends.”
Evan moved around a flying wooden container and grabbed her wrists. “Stop this. Stop it now.” He started to shake her.
Kane liked the idea of maybe spanking some sense into her.
Tears drenched her cheeks in a cowboy country second. “Get out. This is my house, and you two can get the hell out. You can’t run my friends off just because you think I’m Cartwell property now.”
Evan took his hands off of her immediately. “We never once called you our property.”
Kane stooped over and started to pick up the items she slung his way with the strength of a mad wet hen. “Look, Peyton, with friends like him, you’ll end up barefoot and pregnant. Then you can kiss all those scholarships goodbye and trade in your college fund for diapers and bottles. Maybe you think it’s a good swap but from what I’ve seen, you’re not the stroller kind of woman.”
“She’s not a woman yet,” Evan reminded him.
“I’m more of a woman than either of you boys will ever be able to handle. Now leave!”
Kane walked out of the kitchen after her statement but he returned just as fast. Hell yeah, she sure looked and acted more like a woman than any he’d ever known. With natural boobs, fiery eyes, a sassy little mouth and a few other attributes, if he wasn’t one of her guardians, he’d count down the days to her eighteenth birthday. He’d also shoot a man for thinking the things he thought.
Kane spotted Peyton Storm long before his brother made the mistake of taking her on to raise. Now, Braden told them daily Peyton stayed off-limits. He’d like to have Braden committed for such a stunt. He had no idea what kind of trouble waited for them when he brought that girl into their home. No idea at all.
Peyton bent over and started to pick up a few items scattered across the floor. Her denim shorts showcased more than any woman wanted revealed, unless their intended goal was to tempt a man. Evan and Kane exchanged knowing glances.
Yeah, Braden deserved to hang for this caper.
Kane walked outside and stood on the front porch. He closed his eyes and listened. Evan was a senior in high school when Peyton had been a freshman and rumors ran rampant. She’d pursued Evan hard back in the day. Too bad for Evan, he wasted his high school years with Doris something another and missed his chance with Peyton Storm.
Dumb fuck.
Evan could’ve dated the cream of the crop. Instead he settled for the crop. The woman he chose later ended up with a pathetic reputation. She ran men through her bed like an auctioneer at a cattle sale.
“Get out, Evan.” Peyton made her demands loud enough for Kane to hear them too.
“Peyton, listen. Braden wants us to help you out. Get you packed up and moved in before school begins. I’d like to help. Kane’s ready to lend a hand too.”
Kane glared across her tiny porch and stared into the kitchen window. Her blond hair hung over her shoulders and the light breeze flowing through the windows allowed the scent of her shampoo to fill his nostrils. Damn if she didn’t smell sweet.
“This is my home! I can pack up everything in my own time and get out before the bank sells it.”
Evan cleared his throat. “I know, Peyton but you see, if you’re running in and out of here all the time, we can’t keep an eye on you and with boys like Loy Martin…”
“Boys like Loy Martin?” she cut him off. “Boys like Loy Martin who are only two years younger than you!”
“Right, well in any case…”
“Shut up, Evan, you’re dancing around the subject.” Kane said when he stepped back inside and turned on Peyton as quickly as she’d turned on them, “Here’s the thing. Until you’re eighteen, you won’t have the opportunity to get yourself knocked up. Until you graduate from high school, you’re going to follow Braden’s law.”
“Braden’s law?” She laughed. “Braden’s or Kane’s?”
Darn, he had a feeling she saw right through him. Right then and there, she even recognized his motives. For a second, he lost his train of thought. His eyes drifted over her body, and she rattled him long enough to let him know he lost his better judgment for a second longer than he needed to lose it.
Peyton stomped across the kitchen and stood in his face. With her index finger, she pointed at Evan and then back at Kane. “Admit it. The reason you two don’t want me fraternizing with the locals is because down deep, you’re both waiting for my eighteenth birthday like half the men in this county.”
“Peyton, that’s not true, doll.” Evan moved by her and grinned. “If you’ll remember, I turned down your sweet little tail a long time ago. I assure you, I can still walk away from it now.”
“Hush up, Evan,” Kane warned but it arrived a second too late.
The fit throwing and pan slinging started all over again.
Chapter 2
Three Months Later
Peyton rode up on a horse no one on the ranch ever dared to touch except Braden Cartwell. Her legs hugged the English saddle and her hair tumbled over her shoulders and back.
“Whoa! Damn you!” She cursed the animal and tugged on the leather reins. The stallion reared high and then discarded her at Kane’s feet.
“I’m not hurt,” she immediately barked out.
“I never said anything to the contrary.” A very amused Kane stared down at her with one arm extended as a gentleman’s gesture. “He’s gonna kill ya.”
“What the hell do you know?” she snapped.
Peyton reluctantly reached for Kane’s hand and stood up. She turned to see Braden pulling up the driveway in his new silver Ford truck. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah. It might be a good time to take your pretty little ass up to the house and make out with some school books, get some sort of education on personality disorders or something.”
“Bite me.” She started for the opposite end of the barn and fortunately ran into Evan and Braden’s horse. Evan shook his head. “Don’t thank me yet.” He nodded toward Braden as he pulled up in front of the barn.
“Cover me, and I’ll blow you both when I turn eighteen.” She didn’t smile directly at them but pasted one on quick enough for Braden.
“Hey there,” she said with a forced grin. “We weren’t expected you so soon.”
She stuffed her hands in her back pockets and twisted her waist from side to side. She wanted to look cute enough for him to forget all about the ornery animal behind her.
Braden’s eyes narrowed, and he picked up his pace as he headed straight for his stallion. A proud and beautiful creature, the black beast stamped his hoof into the sawdust, agitated, and downright angry. Over and over again, he pounded at the ground. The damn horse wanted her to get in trouble. She felt it in the air.
Braden looked at his brothers and their expressions. He summed up everything and didn’t need their help doing it.
“Peyton.” He remained too calm for her liking, far too removed from the situation. ”Peyton, answer a question for me.”
She popped a hip and rested her hand on it. “Shoot.”
