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“A couple of weeks ago. Everything okay?” I hear the creak in his chair as if he’s sitting up and taking notice.
“For the most part. This is about Birdie. I was wondering if you could take a look into an investigation.” Fletch lets out a breath of relief.
“Sure, what am I looking at?”
“You know Birdie’s full name. Her boss’s son attacked her this week. She made a statement and is pressing charges. Birdie came back home and has yet to hear anything back. Apparently, this Sherman guy is well-to-do and can grease palms of the law. You catch my drift? Birdie, being Birdie, wants to put it behind her, but in the meantime, it’s her who’s out of a job and it’s her who has to deal with recovering.”
“How bad of a recovery are we talking?”Fletch, like most men, our minds go to the worst case possible. I know mine sure as fuck did once I saw the bruises. It took me a minute to realize she wouldn’t have let me eat her if that were the case.
“She wasn’t raped.” Saying that word alone has my gut roiling. “Bruised rib or two. Torso suffered the same fate. If she hadn’t gotten away when she did, I have no reason to think he wouldn’t have taken it a step further.”
“Thank fuck for small favors. I’m willing to bet this isn’t his first rodeo in this scenario. I’ll do some digging. See what I can find out. I’ve got a buddy who works in Colorado. He may know more about the guy than we would,” Fletch explains.
“You’re not wrong about that. Still eats at my gut every time she winces or makes a sudden movement.”
“Text me the details. It’ll be easier to plug in the information and go from there. Everything else good at the ranch?”
“I’ll send it now.” I put him on speakerphone to send him the name, city, and date the incident occurred. “Yeah, they’re good. Mom is happier than a pig in shit with Case living under their roof. Though I think Ryland is probably ready to hurry the process of moving out along.”
“I bet. Gotta be tough going through this while having your parents watching the whole time. Good, bad, or indifferent,” Fletch says what we all see with ourtwo eyes.
“Yeah, it’s been fun, that’s for sure.”
“Alright, I got your text. I’ll let you know as soon as I know something. It was good to hear from you, Lane, even though it was bad news.” Yeah, he’s calling me out for not staying in touch like I should be.
“I appreciate it more than you know.” We hang up with one another. My forearms meet the railing, and I bend at the waist to take a deep breath. The other half of my heart and soul is in my bedroom. I should be shaking this shit off and getting back in bed with her like she asked. Today is going to be the day Eleanor, my mom, dad, and brothers are going to expect us to come up for air. I also promised Birdie I wouldn’t try and keep her from going and doing. In order to keep that promise, I’m going to have to share my woman. Fuck, do I hate the sound of that.
“Lane, what are you doing out here? You’re usually on the front porch.” She’s right. This deck is also the farthest away from the master bedroom. The way my house is set up, the front porch has the best views.
“Had to make a call.” I stand up, and when I do, I feel her arms wrap around my stomach. Her front is plastered to my back, and I lock her hands in place with one of mine.
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” She places a kiss on my spine, and I turn my body so I can wrap her up instead of her wrapping me up.
“It’s all good, baby.” I kiss the crown of herhead, breathing her in. “I figure today our time in hiding is up. My family is bound to converge on us, and I’d rather they don’t barge through the door. Which reminds me, I need to change the damn lock. There are too many keys floating around as it is.”
“You’re acting awfully put out, considering the fact that I do need to speak to your mom about the website. I also need to sit down with my own. Her website needs work, too, you know?” She tips her head up, eyes filled with laughter and happiness. Thank Christ. It killed me to see her looking sad when I first walked through the door.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” This time, she does laugh, and it’s me who swallows it down with a kiss. If I’m going to lose her for most of the day, I may as well get a taste that will last me a while.
12
BIRDIE
“Please tellme you’re almost here?” I ask my best friend once I’m out of bed for the day. I miss her and Rocky terribly. She should have already been here, but hiring a moving company at the last minute proved to be harder than we thought.
“Not so much. Am I going directly to your mom’s or Lane’s?” If we were on a FaceTime call, she’d be wiggling her eyebrows, doing some weird kind of thrusting with her hips. Clearly, she has an older brother.
“Mom’s. Lane is working, and I’m feeling much better. I swear he’d wrap me in bubble wrap if he could.” I was surprised to find him on the porch this morning before work. He’s usually in the kitchen or out front. There was something heavy on his mind, a subject Lane wouldn’t share with me, and while it made me second-guess ourrelationship, I had an internal debate with myself. I thought about all the moments I’ve had with Lane, the way he put his birthday party and birthday on hold to come to me. How he’s taken care of me since the moment his eyes landed on mine. Then there’s before I left, when I gave myself to him in every way possible. He’s my first love, my first partner, my first everything. And when I went to college, my heart stayed here in Arrowleaf with Lane. So I took a deep breath while he held me, and I got my thoughts unscrambled. My heart is Lane Johnson’s, and his heart is mine.
“From the stories you’ve told me and the texts you’ve been sending, I wouldn’t mind a cowboy like him. Tell me again, how many brothers are there?” The sip of coffee I’m taking goes down the wrong way, and I almost spew it all over myself and the kitchen counter. Today, I’m able to sit on the barstool without wincing in pain. My ribs and sternum are barely noticeable. My pussy, though, that’s another story. Lane tried his hardest to keep me still, to keep me from pulling him over the edge with me, but there was no way that was happening. The first time, yes. The second time, absolutely not. My body craved his, and once Lane allowed himself to let go, it was a thing of beauty. I kept my eyes open the entire time he came deep inside me. Watching his powerful thrusts, his muscles tightening, his sweat coating our skin, the way his head tippedback, his body locking up. And how he breathed my name when he came deep inside me. My core clenches, wanting to relive the moment, yet knowing today is going to be busy for both of us. Maybe Lane keeping me to himself wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“There are six Johnson brothers all together. Lane is obviously off-limits. From oldest to youngest, you have Lawson, Trey, Dean, JW, Ryland, and Lane. Their ages start at thirty-seven and end at twenty-seven.” Mrs. Catherine and Mr. Russel surely did a lot in a ten-year time span.
“And do all of them have Lane’s looks?” Thank goodness she’s asking me about this while Lane isn’t around. He’d lose his shit if he heard me talking about another man, let alone his brothers. The one thing about these Johnson men, they love hard and protect harder. They also do not share what’s theirs, especially Lane. I know he let me go for a reason. I also know he was never home when I was for the same exact reason. It sucked, but our love for one another ran deep enough to weather the storm.
“Well, first of all, Lane is the hottest, but all of the Johnson brothers are good-looking. I can’t say for sure how their personalities are since coming home this time around. Lane quite literally kidnapped me the day I came home and has sequestered me away at his house.” Yes, I know it’s only been a couple of days, but other than mymom, it’s only been the two of us since I parked my car in the driveway.
“And you’re complaining?” Tully snorts her reaction, and then I hear him. I hear my baby boy doing a yip in the background.
