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“I’m sure there’s plenty of food beyond this door.” Jackson arrowed a thumb at the front door behind him.
“I don’t... I don’t have... I don’t have a birthday present for you,” she sputtered.
At that, Jackson’s smile widened and his left eyebrow arched ever so slightly. “Maybe we can do something about that. Later.”
Before she could stop him, he opened the front door and strode inside the house where Isabel immediately noticed two things.
#1. Something smelled incredibly delicious and her stomach was suddenly dying for sustenance.
#2. There were way more people than just the Henley brothers inside that house.
She hesitated on the front porch until something rubbed up against her ankle and she jumped a mile. Looking down, a gray cat weaved between her legs, headbutting her boots and purring loudly.
“Roxie says, Get your ass in here,” a male voice said and Isabel looked up to see a dark-haired man with an easy smile on his lips.
“Christian?”
“The one and only. Nice to see you again, Isabel. C’mon in and help us celebrate that my runt of a brother hasn’t gotten buried alive in a dig site yet.” He stepped out of the doorway and swept his arm back, inviting her in.
The cat, Roxie, paraded herself right in, her tail high in the air, and Isabel supposed that was a good example to follow. She could pretend it was perfectly normal for her to be here, celebrating Jackson Henley’s birthday. Shoulders squared—because she didn’t have Roxie’s tail advantage—Isabel stepped across the threshold into Henley territory.
“I don’t know what you remember about us brothers,” Christian said, indicating that she should walk down the hallway in front of them toward where the majority of the noise was coming, “but I promise we’re more civilized now that we’ve met some cool chicks who were willing to tame us.”
“These must be some impressive chicks.” Isabel certainly remembered what handfuls Jackson’s brothers could be. She’d always wondered how their mother hadn’t become a raging alcoholic after raising four testosterone-fueled mutants. Jackson had struck her as the calmest, but he had been known to partake in occasional shenanigans.
They spilled into a kitchen filled with activity. Tons of food lined every available countertop and a long table. A dark-haired woman mixed a drink at a center island, handing the cocktail glass of bright blue liquid to Jackson. A blond woman draped long curls of blue ribbons around Jackson’s neck as the two of them laughed. Another woman with chestnut hair blew a noisemaker, letting the tip of it unfurl to hit Jackson in the cheek repeatedly.
“Those are the Impressive Chicks,” Christian said from behind her as she was starting to wonder if the three women had been hired to entertain Jackson for his birthday. Thankfully, she’d kept that notion to herself. Insulting Christian by suggesting he’d hired strippers for Jackson wouldn’t have been a good start.
Jackson extracted himself from the trio and came over to Isabel and Christian. “I see you’ve run into this idiot.” He motioned to his brother. “Sorry for anything uncouth he’s done.”
“Hey.” Christian reached over Isabel’s shoulder to give Jackson a little shove. “I’ve been nothing but charming, right, Isabel?”
“Prince Charming.” Isabel grinned when Jackson narrowed his eyes at her.
“Give him time. The royalty will wear off. Christian’s crown is made of aluminum foil.” Jackson moved to stand beside her, his arm going behind her and his hand coming close enough to touch the small of her back. But not quite. “Let me introduce you to the women who have been completely bamboozled into thinking my brothers are husband material.”
“Don’t you dare talk Nicole out of marrying me.” Christian made a fist and shook it in warning at Jackson.
“I can still save her,” Jackson said, turning to face Isabel. “Landon and Donovan are married, but Christian just got engaged.”
“Congratulations,” Isabel said, looking at Christian.
“Thanks.” A loud roar sounded from another room and Christian jumped. “Baseball game is on. We have a friendly wager going. You want in, Jackson?”
“Not this time.”
“Okay.” Christian squeezed Jackson’s shoulder. “Happy Birthday, little bro. We’re so happy you’re actually here in Maplehaven so we can all be together.” He spent another moment looking at Jackson then jogged off to the other room.
“Did he just get emotional?” Isabel asked.
Jackson sipped his blue cocktail and shook his head as if the drink packed a punch. “Yeah. They’re all a little happy I’m here. I don’t visit Maplehaven often.”
“Too busy hunting for treasures?”
He nodded, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Let’s get you one of these.” He wiggled his drink and set off toward the dark-haired woman.
“Hi!” the woman said as soon as Isabel and Jackson arrived in front of her.
