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Dawg leaned forward, his eyes narrowed.
“You had company outside the house last night. ” Dawg’s voice was low. “On that little knob above the house that looks into Kelly’s room. I was checking it out this morning before heading here. He must have been there all night. The grass was indented where he sat, with claw marks at the side where the bastard dug his fingers into the ground. He’s getting pissed. ”
Hell. Rowdy had known Kelly’s attacker was watching, waiting. He just hadn’t been certain where, or how.
“Where do we go from here, Rowdy?” Natches watched him with a spark of excitement in his eyes that Rowdy knew was as much to the thought of a good fight as to the chance of touching Kelly.
“I’m taking her back to the boat this evening,” he answered. “We’ll head out to the cove. We should be staying the night. We’ll see how brave he wants to get. We’ll have dinner on the boat. Let the bastard think we’re all having a fine time. After dark the two of you can slip on shore and I’ll pull farther out into the water. We’ll see what happens. ”
Dawg and Natches nodded somberly. They were waiting, watchful, their bodies now on high alert. Not that anyone else would have noticed the change.
They paused as the waitress moved toward them, her steps slow, her head down, waves of burnished chestnut curls pulled into a low ponytail, her classically pretty features stiff and tense.
Rowdy cocked his head at the woman. Crista Jensen kept her head carefully lowered as she refilled the coffee cups before turning to leave.
“You didn’t ask me if I wanted anything to eat, Crista. ” Dawg surprised them all with his mocking drawl. “Didn’t Jenny warn you to look after us good?”
“Shut up, Dawg,” Natches muttered, his voice low but easy to hear.
Rowdy watched as Crista pulled the ordering pad from the back pocket of her jeans, a pencil from behind her ear and watched Dawg with a spark of anger. Dawg stared back at her expectantly.
“What would you like to order, Dawg?” Her words were gritted, her voice raspy.
“Eh. Nothing right now, but be sure to check back in a few minutes. ” Dawg’s smile was all teeth, a predatory snarl if Rowdy had ever seen one.
“I’ll be sure to do that. ” Crista’s smile was no less antagonistic as she returned the order pad to the back pocket of her jeans, picked up the coffeepot, and stalked away.
The minute her back turned, Dawg’s eyes narrowed and a flash of anger seared the depths as he rose to his feet, dug into his pocket, and slapped a few dollars to the table.
“I’ll see you at the marina,” he snapped before stalking from the café.
Rowdy watched, perplexed, before turning to Natches.
“What the hell was that?”
“Dawg in heat,” Natches snickered. “She won’t give him the time of day. ”
Rowdy glanced to the woman in question and restrained his smile as he noticed her gaze, centered squarely on Dawg as he stormed from the café. Sad, weary, her expression marked with indecision. Yeah, she was giving him the time of day, perhaps more than the big lug deserved.
Now this was an interesting development.
“So, how are we playing tonight? One on one or is she ready for all of us?”
“Kelly will let us know what she wants. ” Rowdy shifted his shoulders, a primitive surge of something akin to possessiveness rising inside him as Natches watched him curiously.
That was strange. He was one second from baring his teeth and daring Natches to touch Kelly. He knew the pleasure the three of them could bring her, versus the pleasure he alone could bestow. So what the fuck was his problem all of a sudden?
Shit. He could feel the back of his neck prickling as irritation began to surge inside him.
“Waiting on her has been a bitch,” Natches grimaced, his light green eyes gleaming with lustful determination. “She’s going to go up in flames—”
“Shut up, Natches. ” Rowdy lifted his coffee cup to his lips, glaring at his cousin across the table as Crista moved to a table close to them.
Natches watched the woman, his expression considering.
“Something’s up with that one,” he sighed. “Dawg has been like a bear with a sore tail ever since she arrived back in town. She didn’t even let the family know she was coming. ”
“What about her husband? Didn’t she marry some guy from Virginia?”
