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“You knew that was part of it,” he growled. “Everyone knows that’s part of it. ”
Kelly tipped her head to the side, watching him. Of the three cousins, Natches had always been the most alone. Dawg had his sister after his parent’s death, as well as Rowdy’s parents. Natches’s parents were cold, almost inhumanly so. Scions of the county, with more money than they needed and less heart than anyone Kelly had ever met. How a brother of Ray’s could have turned out like that, she couldn’t figure.
And Natches had always suffered for it, until he was old enough to leave. Dawg and Rowdy were his family. They were all he really claimed. And though she couldn’t see him as needy, she could see the regret that egged at him, the fierce determination not to lose that connection he had with the other two men.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “What Rowdy does when he leaves me—”
“You think he’s going to leave you?” Mocking laughter filled his voice then. “Hell, Kelly, what do you think we were fighting over when you walked in? Rowdy gave us the ‘hands off. ’ He’s gone all white-knight possessive on us for some damned reason, and it has to be because you refused to do it. ”
She stared back at him in surprise.
“He did what?”
“You heard me,” he grumbled. “Son of a bitch dared us to touch you. You have his dick tied in so many knots he doesn’t know what he wants. ”
Now, that just didn’t sound
like Rowdy. Rowdy wasn’t a man who didn’t know what he wanted. And he always meant what he said.
“I didn’t know that was what you were arguing over—”
“Because you’re not the one who would have problems understanding the concept. ” Rowdy’s deep, angry voice broke in on the conversation as he stepped into the smaller entrance next to the stairs.
He stared back at Natches, his eyes narrowed, his body corded and tense.
“Hell, back down, Rowdy,” Natches sighed. “I just wanted to apologize for hurting her feelings, not take you on. ”
Natches pushed his fingers wearily through his hair. She could feel the sense of resignation moving around him and the sadness of it pricked at her.
Kelly shivered as Rowdy moved next to her, his arm going around her waist, pulling her against the warmth of his body. As he did she caught the look that flashed across Natches’s face. It was so quick that she wondered if she imagined it. Envy, regret.
“I accept your apology, Natches,” she told him softly. “And I’m sorry, this isn’t what I intended. ”
Rowdy tensed at her side.
Natches’s grin was crooked, charming, but the sight of it made her chest ache. It was a ruse. Natches wasn’t taking this well, and of the three men, she wondered if perhaps he was the one who needed the sharing the most.
“Time for me to slip out and see if we can catch our evil neighborhood stalker now. ” He straightened from the doorway, flexing his shoulders as he turned toward the hallway. “Catch ya’ll later. ”
As he disappeared she felt Rowdy’s hands slide through her hair.
“Are you okay?” He tilted her head back, staring down at her with a slight frown.
“I’m not an emotional wreck, Rowdy. ” She grimaced at the concern in his eyes. “You’re suddenly treating me with kid gloves and it’s getting on my nerves. ”
“What do you mean by that?” His frown darkened as she moved away from him then turned to face him.
“You told Dawg and Natches to keep their hands off me?” She leaned against the center island and crossed her arms beneath her breasts as she stared back at him. “Why?”
His eyes narrowed. “We’ll discuss this later. ”
He turned away to the fridge, opening it to grab a beer as she stared back at him in surprise.
“Says who?”
“Me. ” He unscrewed the bottle top with a hard jerk of his fingers.
“And you think that perhaps this doesn’t concern me in some way? That maybe I don’t have a say in it?”
