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“I wanted to make dinner.” Sighing, I went to the pantry and looked inside. There were a few things I might be able to whip together to make a decent meal, but would that be good enough for our guest? Why did I care so much?
“You are? What are you making?” Duke looked up from his book.
“I don’t know. Someone didn’t go to the store, so we have little to work with.” I arched my eyebrow.
Setting his book on the coffee table, Duke wandered into the kitchen. He always liked it when I did the cooking, but he did help out, for which I was grateful. Duke opened the fridge again, then proceeded to shut it only a few seconds later. “We could go to the dining hall and see what Jessie might let us have.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, but it wasn’t our best idea either. Jessie, our resident cook and wife to Stefan and Mikel, two of the original founders of King’s Ranch, had been in New York with the team helping at the event, so she wouldn’t have been able to stock the dining hall, but it was worth a shot.
“Let’s go and check it out.” I shoved Duke and walked out of the kitchen with him right behind me.
I had to hope that Abbey would stay out long enough for us to get back and start dinner. It hadn’t sounded like she’d talked to Grace or Blake yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me. They had a lot of unpacking to do.
“Guys, mind giving us a hand with this?” Blake stepped out of the barn as we passed by and shouted.
“How can we help? We were on our way to see what we can mooch off the dining hall,” I called as we detoured, stopping in front of Blake.
“Why would you need to do that? Just eat there.” Blake crossed her arms the best she could with her eight-month belly sticking out.
“Because I’m making dinner for the three of us, and Duke didn’t go to the store today.”
“Really?” She arched her eyebrow.
“I had to get Abbey’s car towed,” Duke grumbled.
I had to wonder if it wasn’t because he didn’t want to leave without Abbey being back.
“Thank you for helping her. We’ll come by and bring her to stay at Grace’s as soon as we finish.” Blake let her arms fall, and she placed a hand on Duke’s bicep, completely oblivious to Duke’s stiffening shoulders.
“You don’t need to do that,” I all but squeaked out. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “We’ll keep Abbey another night and let you and Grace settle in with your men.” When Blake didn’t look convinced, I added with a toothy smile, “Please.”
“Why? What’s going on? Is everything all right? I should at least go check in on her.” She pivoted and started toward our house.
I reached for her arm to stop her, but she slipped from my grasp. “Everything’s fine, I promise. Let Abbey unwind before you girls start at it.”
Blake stopped and turned to me. “Liam. Something is up and I want to know. Why do you want Abbey to stay with you?”
“Something’s up, all right,” Duke teased under his breath, and I shoved an elbow into his ribs. Blake’s forehead scrunched.
“Not helping,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. “I’ve heard all about her from you and Grace. Duke had the privilege of getting to spend time with her already, and I haven’t. You always said she was like a little sister to you. It’s my turn to get to know her.” I wasn’t going to mention how intimately I wanted to get to know her unless I wanted my balls removed. Blake had gone into protective mother mode over the last few weeks, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to test her.
“You’re not fooling me, Liam. But I do appreciate the space for a night. With these hormones, it’s harder than ever to not jump my men every time I see them.” Blake turned to Duke. “Are you sure you’re okay with one more night?”
Duke grunted with a firm nod.
“Okay then. I’ll call Abbey in a few and check in with her. Make sure she’s okay with all this too.”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything less, ma moitie.” I held up my finger. “But she’s in the paddock with Zeus and Jax.”
“She has no cell service out here,” Duke added.
“We’ll need to fix that.” Blake headed toward the paddocks. “Her favorite food is tacos,” Blake shouted.
I spun around, meeting Blake’s smirk.
Fuck.
She saw right through me.
