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“Jesus, this is weird. Beyond weird. I’ve witnessed this sort of thing all my life, but I never thought for a minute that I’d share a woman with my brothers. ”
“You aren’t the only one struggling, Seth. This isn’t exactly how I envisioned my life either. ”
“Yeah, I get it. ” He glanced in the direction of the living room again. “So how are we going to convince her to go home with us?”
“We could always kidnap her,” Michael said with a shrug.
Seth looked at him like he was deranged. Maybe he was.
“I’m a cop, remember?”
“I’m merely suggesting that we bundle her up and go for a ride. A long ride. And if we end up in Clyde, all the better. If she truly freaks out, we can always drive her back, but I don’t believe for a minute that either of us is going to idly stand by and watch her walk back onto those streets. ”
“Hell no. ”
“So we take her to Clyde—to my house. I don’t want to overwhelm her with Mom and the dads right away or she’ll feel ambushed. I think we should ease her into things there—namely our family. ”
“You assume a lot, Michael. What if she doesn’t want anything to do with us? She’s running from something or somebody. She could be in a lot of trouble. ”
“To quote one of the dads, when they laid eyes on Mom, her walking away simply wasn’t an option. They were willing to do whatever they had to in order to make her stay. As I recall, there was a lot of cooking, pampering and worshiping. ”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Depends on who you ask. Of course Mom is going to spout that nonsense. ”
Michael shook his head. “No, that came straight from Ryan’s mouth. Hell, Seth, you see the way they still are around her over thirty years later. ”
“That’s the way it should be,” Seth murmured.
“But will it be that way for us?”
“I don’t know,” Seth said in frustration. “Do you realize how stupid this conversation is? We can’t make her return our attraction. ”
“No, but we can damn sure show her our caring—and eventually our love. ”
“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, so we pull off the kidnapping. Christ, I can’t even believe I’m going along with this. ”
Michael chuckled. “It’s not like it’s a real kidnapping, and look at it this way. She’ll be the most pampered captive in existence. ”
“I need to pack a bag. We should probably head out before it gets dark. Weather’s already nasty. ”
“Go then. I’ll watch over Lily while you get your stuff together. ”
Chapter Seven
Lily awoke to light stroking on the curve of her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Seth kneeling in front of the couch, his face close to hers. She tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back down.
“Is something wrong? How long did I sleep?”
Instead of answering he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. Just a simple, delicate whisper over her mouth, gone almost before he was there.
“Nothing’s wrong. We were going to kidnap you. I’d rather you tell me you want to go with us. ”
There was light humor to his words that made her wonder if he was serious at all. She cocked her head to the side and then looked beyond him to see Michael standing in the doorway to the living room shaking his head.
“Where are we going?” she asked. Then she realized how ridiculous the question was. She flushed, but Seth only smiled.
“You’re going home with us,” Michael said from the doorway.
Before she could express her confusion over that statement, Seth spoke up.
“Home to Clyde. I don’t want you on the streets, Lily, but I won’t take you there against your will, either. I want you to come with us. I need you to come with us. ” He traced the line of her lips, and fire gleamed in his eyes. “Let’s see where this takes us, honey. Let us take care of you. ”
Her mind blanked for a moment, and she stared between the two brothers. Pain was a dull throb in her arm, forgotten in breathless anticipation. Seth was close, so close, and she realized she wanted him to kiss her. Worse, the same odd longing filled her at the idea of Michael doing the same. Of touching her and letting his warm, tender voice flow over her.
It was because she’d lived too long in a vacuum. What was it they said about animals starved for affection? They’d allow anyone to pet them? That was what she felt like. Sensory deprived. Devoid of the most basic human comforts, like love and acceptance.
She didn’t deserve them. But God, she wanted them.
“Lily?” Seth prompted.
Slowly, she nodded.
She expected triumph in Seth’s eyes, but what she saw was relief. It warmed some of the cold encasing her soul that he worried for her. That he cared.
“Now, there are some things I need to know before we leave,” Seth continued. “And I need you to be honest with me. Are you in some kind of trouble? Because if you are, I can help. ”
She shook her head. It wasn’t any kind of trouble he was talking about. The cop in him probably thought she was a fugitive in hiding.
“Okay, are you running from someone?” His eyes narrowed as he asked, and his jaw tightened. “Is there someone who hurt you? I don’t want to endanger my family by bringing you home if there’s some threat I need to know about. If there is, you need to tell me about it so I can eliminate it. ”
Again she shook her head, and she saw frustration mirrored in both Seth’s and Michael’s gazes.
“There’s nothing like that,” she said in a low voice. “You have no reason to believe me, but I would never endanger you or your family. I’ll understand if you no longer want to…do this. ”
Some sins weren’t so black and white. No, there wasn’t anyone after her. But it didn’t mean she hadn’t done a terrible thing. Time hadn’t dimmed the guilt or the pain, but she’d become more adept at blocking it out.
“We can accept that. For now. ” Michael’s tone warned they wouldn’t always allow her to avoid the issue forever. And maybe “for now” was what she needed. Just a little while to be someone else. To live someone else’s life and escape her own.
Seth looked like he wanted to press, but instead he pulled up a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans that looked awfully close to her size.
