AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah yes, no need to worry about that, Sheri’s told us it was all clean and folded in the laundry room,” Syrus replied, smiling over at the other woman who positively simpered.
“Oh, well, umm… that’s good,” Ellie said, slightly confused.
“What you need to worry about is getting that kitchen properly cleaned,” Cody put in. “It needs a damn good mopping and when we’ve finished dinner, I’d like to speak with you privately in the study.”
A look and a nod passed between Cody and both of his brothers, but it wasn’t something she could quite decipher and then it was gone.
And just like that Ellie felt herself deflate all over again. Maybe this just wasn’t the place for herafter all. What were the chances of any one of these men choosing her over one of the cutesy blonde sisters, anyway? They seemed to come as a trifecta. Three brothers for three sisters seemed like a bit of a shoe in. Was it likely that the Carson’s would split them up? And did she even want them to? After the little she had witnessed today, Ellie wasn’t certain there’s be much chance of living in harmony if she ended up replacing one of them and having to co-exist with the remainingtwo, who surely wouldn’t appreciate what they were bound to see as subversion on her part. And Cody,for sure, seemed like a pretty harsh task master. Ellie could put up with a lot;shealready had in her own short life, but lack of appreciation really stuck in her craw. She wasn’t sure she be able to live with that.
She’d never been afraid of hard work and she hadn’t come here expecting love hearts and romance. That the brothers were all more sexy, and a lot better looking than she had expected, was already a bonus.
Still, a tiny suspicion wormed its way into her mind. Had Cora and Sheri somehow claimed that they had done the cooking and the laundry? Nothing specific had been said outright. Was it really fair to base her thoughts on the fact that Cody had looked at Cora first when he verbalized his gratitude for the meal? She had served up after all. Maybe he was including her for that reason. And Syrus hadn’t said Sheri had actuallydonethe laundry, just that she’d told him it was there, waiting. Perhaps they really were just trying to be helpful. Should she say something, based purely on a suspicion? She’d only been here twenty-four short hours. She didn’t really want to rock the boat as soon as she got here. That wasn’t going to get her into anyone’s good books. Especially if she was wrong. On the other hand…
Ellie opened her mouth to say something, but Gran’s voice rang loud in her head.
’Shame on you, girl! Casting aspersions without a shred of proof! And right when these three gentlemen have given you a roof over your head and food in your stomach. You really think you’re going to win any friends if you step out with an attitude as soon as you get here? Didn’t I bring you up better? I told you always to give the benefit of the doubt.’
Ellie sighed and started stacking the dishes. Gran was right. She was just being a little over sensitive and she needed to give this situation and all these people a chance before she started picking faults. That was not a positive trait to be throwing out as far as initial impressions went.
Tomorrow was another day. She’d clean this place so that it sparkled and maybe even weed the vegetable patch if she had time, since she’d noticed it was rather neglected.
Besides, right now, it wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go.
Except to Cody’s office, a little voice - that wasn’t Gran’s - whispered in her mind. Yeah, that wasn’t what she meant, but she also knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.
With a huffed sigh and with a large dose of trepidation she trudged to the study, cursing the fact that she knew the Trifecta were loitering in the den and trying to eavesdrop on her disgrace.
She was slightly taken aback to see all three of the Carson brothers in there. Cody sat behind a large vintage, leather-topped desk and the other two stood close by with serious expressions on both of their faces. A shimmer of awareness flashed through her body as Cody said, in that commanding voice of his, “Close the door, please, Ellie.”
Being in a small, closed room with them all was having a decidedly odd effect on her libido too, and she felt like she was overheating. She could feel her nipples peaking and the tone of Cody’s voice sent shivers down her spine. She hadn’t really had a chance to be alone with any of them, and they were potent stuff. Any one of them had her drooling in a decidedly unladylike fashion, but all three together. Hot Damn! All of those illicit fantasies were speeding back to take up space right in the forefront of her mind. She had to duck her head and stare at the floor because she couldn’t raise her head without blushing at all the naughty thoughts she was having. She could feel her panties dampening, just from the images in her head.
Drat it all, where was her sense of decorum. The likelihood was that she was going to get a thorough dressing down and her body - as well as her mind - were completely betraying her!
“Ellie, I’m an old-fashioned man and I believe in old-fashioned values. All three of us do.”
“So do I,” she whispered, willing the flush in her cheeks away.
“There’s one sure-fire way to fix today’s mess and wipe the slate clean.”
Ellie’s mind was racing. What exactly was he getting at? She didn’t dare ask. The atmosphere in the room had taken on a fraught edge; not frightening, just decidedly charged. Like anticipation was saturating the air with suspenseful expectation.
Or maybe her mind was just getting away from her after her own illicit thoughts.
She peered from beneath lowered lashes. Ezra, with his air of brashness stood there with his arms folded in a way that made the fabric of his chambray shirt stretch taut over a luscious chest, a wicked sparkle in his perpetually laughing eyes and slight tilt to one side of his lushly kissable mouth.
Syrus, on the other hand, was leaning against the desk and the stance caused the denim fabric of his jeans to mold tightly to his deliciously muscled thighs. His hair was a little longer than the others, and there was always a lock that seemed to want to fall into those amazing eyes of his, and her fingers itched to stroke it away.
Then there was Cody. Her tummy bottomed out when she looked at him, even surreptitiously. There was an unholy gleam in his piercing blue gaze and the Granite from which he seemed to have been carved only made her want to drop to her knees in front of him and beg his forgiveness.
“I’ll take your silence as consent then, Ellie, since you haven’t run screaming out of the door.”
She realized with a start that the current object of her thoughts was speaking, and she’d missed whatever it was he’d said with her daydreaming. Oh, sugar! She was just going to have to wing it. There was no way she could admit that he’d brought her in here for an admonishment, and she hadn’t even been listening. She’d be out on her ear before the sun came up!
“You can stay where you are, just lean over and grasp the other side of the desk.”
What?
Cody was busy giving her instructions and while they, themselves, were clear enough, their purpose was not. For a moment, she thought she should come clean, and tell him she didn’t know what he was talking about, but with everything going to hell in a handbasket already, she just couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
