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“Well, last night Tucker tried to take Amelia home with him,” he stated with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Now all four brothers stared at her. Amelia felt her cheeks warm and then she heard Sam, Jordan, and Tysen make comments.
“That man is trouble. I hope you four did something about it,” Jordan stated.
“She’s standing here now isn’t she?” Mad Dog replied with an attitude.
Amelia wanted the floor to eat her up. This was so embarrassing. Where did all this instant protectiveness come from? She wasn’t used to it. She took care of herself and the sooner everyone understood that the better.
“Excuse me,” she stated. They all looked at her as Elise, Regan, and Velma placed the last platters of food onto the table.
“I don’t know anything about Tucker or what his problem was last night. I don’t know any of you at all really. I appreciate your concern. I appreciated your assistance last night, Murphy, but I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it long enough, so please, back off.”
By the intense expressions on the men’s faces, she knew she hit a sore spot or something with them. She heard chuckling as she turned toward their fathers. She saw them trying not to laugh.
Elise smiled as she patted Amelia’s shoulder.
“You have been taking care of yourself, Amelia. But my boys will keep an eye on you, for me. You’re not from around here. You don’t know who to stay clear of and what things to watch out for. And don’t worry, my sons’ barks are bigger than their bites. So let’s eat, before it gets cold.”
Jordan pulled a chair out for Amelia as Sam pulled one out for his wife. She sat between her men, and they served her first before they served themselves.
Feeling half successful in making a stand and half foolish, they ate in silence until Velma began to explain about her plans for next Friday night, her official birthday, and then the family party here at the house on Sunday.
Amelia caught the looks from the Haas brothers. She felt her palms sweating as their intimidating personas affected her big-time.
She took a piece of chicken and looked up to find Sniper watching her. She liked both of his names. Waylon sounded so cowboyish. Sniper definitely added to his intimidating attitude. The way his eyes held her gaze, or zeroed in on her body, her lips especially as she spoke, made her nervous and aroused. A glance at each of them, and she saw things she liked and was attracted to and things she feared. The ultimate scare was their immediate authoritative attitude. They were bossy, mean looking, yet handsome enough to stop a woman dead in her tracks. She smiled to herself. Son of a bitch, I am attracted to these men. Since I would never be able to choose between them if I had a chance, it’s futile to fantasize.
“Waylon, you’ll be here for my birthday right? You don’t have any matches?” Velma asked.
Amelia wondered what Velma was talking about, and as she looked at Waylon, he gave a nice smile to his sister.
“No boxing matches. I’ll be here.”
Amelia’s stomach was immediately in knots.
“You’re a boxer, a fighter?” she asked, her voice cracking as she said the words.
“Yeah, that’s where his bruises came from. He just finished a huge match in Vegas. That’s when you guys first met right? At the airport.” Regan smiled, but Amelia wasn’t even paying so much attention to that or how his parents began asking about them meeting. She heard them saying how crazy it was that she and Waylon met one another at the airport. She even heard Velma say something about fate, but Amelia was in a dead stare at Waylon and she felt the disappointment and sadness reach her eyes.
He’s a fighter. He has a bad attitude. He’s just like what I left back in New York.
“You should see him fight. He’s really good, Amelia,” Velma stated.
She stared at her plate.
“I don’t like fighting,” she whispered.
“Oh this is organized fighting. You should see how good Waylon is,” Regan added.
Amelia was silent. She felt the eyes upon her and then Jordan changed the subject and they all started talking about the ranch, the upcoming season, and swimming in the lake out back.
She listened quietly as they all talked about the area.
“Murphy, did you get a chance to look for a place for Amelia to rent yet? Didn’t you say he was going to help her, Regan?” Elise asked.
“Yeah, Murphy, anything?” Regan asked.
Murphy looked at his mom as he wiped the corner of his mouth with a blue checkered linen napkin.
