Owned (10 page)

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath. “Me too. Nate likes her though. We can’t poach.”

“Too bad,” I growled softly. “He’s had
years
to tell her that and obviously she sees him only as a friend. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted any other woman and he’s a dipshit but his loss. I want bad enough that I’m willing to share with you.”

“Seriously?” My brother’s eyes went wide. I considered it and nodded.

“Yeah, doesn’t bother me.” I gave him a stern look. “Besides, we both know that the type of women we’d end up wouldn’t get along given they’d have to interact as often as they would being with us. If Kate has it in her to love both of us equally, give us what we both need, I wouldn’t make her choose.”

He rubbed his chin for a moment, watching all the employees leave and Jamie talk quietly to Nate across the kitchen as he thought about that. Then Jared turned to me with a wolfish grin.

“Besides, a woman like that would need both of us to keep her satisfied. She’s gorgeous, successful, and has a list a mile long of great qualities from all the stories we’ve heard over the years. She’s a
colossal
catch. Two of us would be better in persuading her to pick us instead of someone else.”

“You are so all or nothing,” I chuckled. “Let’s not start picking out china patterns. We both want her and neither of us is backing off. She’s got a ton of shit she’s dealing with and we have to protect her. If I can get her naked too, fantastic. If I have to wait until she’s healed or ready, I will. But I will chase after her no matter how far or long she runs.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling she’s more than worth it.”

I heard the front door open and I smiled as she jogged into the kitchen, watching that ass and her breasts bounce as sweat trailed down her neck. I wanted to chase each drop with my tongue before begging her, offering her whatever she wanted to let me take her.

Oh yeah, she would be worth it.

* * * *

I didn’t stop running until I hit the front door. Still jogging through the house to the kitchen, I went to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“Which course?” Nate asked me quietly.

“Eleven,” I answered shortly, heading back towards the porch to cool down, stretch some more, and drink my water.

“What does that mean?” I heard Mr. Sexy Voice ask.

“Four miles over rough terrain,” Nate replied.

“In twenty-six minutes?” Mr. Sexy Voice was talking again, his tone surprised, but I didn’t hear the rest of what he said. I went out the door and closed it behind me. Jamie came out a few minutes later and sat on the porch swing by me.

“Better?” she finally asked.

“Relatively speaking,” I answered with a shrug.

“He didn’t mean it the way it came out, he wasn’t thinking.”

“I know.”

“Doesn’t hurt any less knowing that, does it?”

I didn’t even need to think about that one before answering. “No.”

“You still mad at him?”

“I’m not happy with him, but by the time I shower and dress, I’ll be fine.”

“We told the guys you’d talk to them after dinner,” Jamie told me. “If that’s okay with you?”

“Fine,” I replied, taking a few more gulps of water.

“Mad at me?”

I shook my head. “No, not even a little.”

“Are you going to make it through this, Kate?” That got me to pause my stretching and face her.

“I don’t know, I really don’t, Jamie,” I answered honestly, not having the energy to come up with a lie to make her feel better.

“Thanks for being honest,” she said. I didn’t know what to say so I just shrugged and drank some more water. “Those guys Nate was telling you about are here.”

“Oh fuck,” I groaned. “It’s not bad enough I made an ass of myself in front of all the guys who already work here, I did it in front of the new ones too.”

“You didn’t make an ass of yourself, Kate,” she snapped, getting pissed. “Why are you so hard on yourself? After what you’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours, most people wouldn’t even have been able to get out of bed!”

“Okay, sorry.”

“Okay then.” She eyed me over and gave me a satisfied nod, letting it go now that she got her point across. “Let’s go in and introduce you to the stud brothers.”

“The stud brothers?” I asked with a laugh as she took my hand and dragged me to the door. “Even I’ve heard of the Acker brothers. They were affectionately known as the Horn Dog Twins when they were stationed by the base Nate and I were at for a bit.”

“Oh yeah, if they are going to be working here, I might just move in with you,” she chuckled. I shook my head at her antics as she dragged me through the door and living room and into the kitchen. I stopped laughing when I saw the two men sitting at the kitchen table. “Close your mouth, sweetie, you’re drooling,” Jamie hissed in my ear.

I snapped it shut and blinked a few times. “The stud brothers” didn’t even come close to describing the two men. They both stood so I got the full picture. I felt my nipples get hard as I got a little wet. Both were the most gorgeous men I had ever seen in real life. They weren’t identical, but fucking close. They had deep blue eyes, one looked very serious, and the other seemed to be more playful. Dark hair, short, but it looked like they were starting to grow out their military haircuts.

I guessed they were about six four, so they had a few inches on me. They had broad shoulders, wonderfully muscular without being over the top. Neither had tight shirts on, but I could tell they had flat stomachs, and I could see the muscled legs they had in their jeans. After gazing over them, I realized how bad it must look that I was just staring at them.

“Hi, I’m Kate, sorry about earlier,” I finally said after swallowing a few times.

“Not a problem,” the serious one said, and of course he was Mr. Sexy Voice. I was so screwed, this had to be a dream.

“Sorry for your loss,” the playful one said, but he was serious in his condolences.

“Thanks.” I turned to Nate, who was walking towards me.

“I’m sorry, Kate,” he said, not touching me, but I could tell he wanted to hug me.

“I know.”

“Still mad?”

“Yeah, but I’ll cool off.”

“We good?”

“Ask me after I catch a shower and change,” I answered him. “You guys mind waiting to talk until I clean up?”

“Not at all,” the serious one said. I couldn’t refer to him as Mr. Sexy Voice anymore, because they both had incredibly sexy voices. I nodded, not trusting my own voice, and headed to my room. Jamie followed me, but didn’t say anything until we got to my bathroom and I turned on the shower.

“What did I tell you?” she asked, smirking at me.

“‘The stud brothers’ doesn’t quite cover how gorgeous they are,” I said, shaking my head. “Fuck, I’m wet just from seeing them. How am I supposed to function around them? The last thing I need is a couple of
love them and leave them
types tempting me.”

“If it’s any consolation, I saw they had about the same reaction,” Jamie said laughing as I stripped off my clothes and started to shower. “When you walked in still drunk and looking cute as could be, I noticed both them had their mouths hanging open. They also had to adjust in their seats. Wonder why that could be?” She laughed again, but I wasn’t getting the joke.

“I don’t get it, why?” I asked, puzzled.

“Oh come on, Kate, because they both had hard-ons!”

“Please, if they did, it was from seeing you.” I snorted and rolled my eyes.

“Honey, they didn’t give me a second look,” she corrected. “But they couldn’t seem to tear their eyes off you.”

“Shut up, would you? Don’t encourage this,” I growled, already frustrated. “It’s bad enough I’m going to be horny as hell every time I’m around them. I don’t need any delusions they feel the same about me.”

“If you didn’t just mention you were horny, I’d smack you,” Jamie teased, laughing. “But you’re not my type. Hurry and finish up, I’ll set some clothes out for you.”

“Thanks,” I drawled, rolling my eyes again. I’d be surprised if she didn’t lay out a bikini for me. Jamie wasn’t very subtle and she was always trying to get me to go out with guys. Who had the time?

I was still thinking about the stud brothers when I finished up my shower. Heading into my bedroom, I saw that Jamie had laid out appropriate clothes. Well at least she was thinking about everything going on. I needed that right now. Not some fantasy about two hot brothers who were going to be my backup.

I dressed in record time, leaving off the shoulder harness but keeping my pants holster that went in the small of my back. I kept my hair in a towel, put on a little mascara, grabbed my brush and a hair tie, and went downstairs.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I walked back into the kitchen, avoiding looking at the two hot men.

“It’s okay. I’ve never seen a woman get ready so quickly before,” the playful one said with a chuckle.

“Thanks. I aim to please,” I joked before I realized how that sounded. I turned around with a glass of juice and a banana in hand, seeing them all gawking at me. “Oh get your minds out of the gutter.” I tried to play it cool and shook my head.

“Oh yeah, because normally yours is so clean,” Nate said.

“You just got off my shit list, you want back on?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“No,” he answered, looking down at the table, trying to hide his smile.

“Alright then,” I said in mock reprimand. “Well you called these guys in, you want to introduce them, or do I get to pick which one is which?”

“Honey, you can call me whatever you want,” the playful one purred. Oh, he was going to be trouble. I just rolled my eyes.

“Kate Boyle, the idiot who just opened his mouth is Dean Acker. The serious one is his twin brother Jared Acker,” Nate said, giving me a funny look.

“Nice to meet you both,” I replied, extending my hand to Dean first after I put my juice and fruit down. Instead of just shaking my hand, he turned it and lifted it to kiss it. Before I could stop him, he did, and it sent electrical shocks down my arm and straight to my pussy. I pulled back quickly. “Cut that shit out, I don’t do seduction or games.” I shot Nate an evil look. “I thought you said they weren’t the Horn Dog Twins anymore and they grew up.”

“Games I don’t do, but seduction I do,” Dean said, pouting. Oh, he was good at it, he could do puppy dog eyes too. It took every ounce of willpower I had to ignore him and turn to his brother. While Jared shook my hand normally, his eyes were so piercing, I swore he could see all my secrets.

“I’ve not heard that nickname in a while,” Jared chuckled, shaking his head. “Wow, I’d forgotten about that.”

“Oh?” Jamie pushed, cutting me a glance.

“First off, we’d never been out of our small town before and there were actually women our age who flirted with us whose dads didn’t watch us with shotguns,” Dean rambled.

“We’d lost our parents and we might have tried to deal with our pain in not the most productive ways.”

“You mean banging everything that looked good in a skirt?” I asked innocently, repeating the exact phrase I had to Nate.

“That and drinking excessively, working out, and training until our bodies were exhausted,” Jared agreed with a short nod. “Anything to distract us or take away the pain.”

“But seeing real combat and remembering what we did wasn’t for fun and games makes you grow up real fast,” Dean added with a shrug. “I can’t remember the last time I got laid.”

“So Nate has filled you in?” I asked,
really
not wanting to talk about their sex life or picturing anything to do with them or sex. I didn’t need any more fantasies about them than the ones I was already thinking.

“He filled us in on the basics,” Jared answered. “Asshole and violent foreman from caveman times who wanted to club you and drag you to the altar so everything became his. Also, dickhead and violent brother/uncle who gets the ranch if you die, though I’m not clear how he can be an uncle and a brother.”

“My parents were killed when I was fourteen, so I came to live with my grandparents. They officially adopted me,” I answered. “So really he’s my uncle, but since they adopted me, he’s legally my brother.”

“Got it, sorry, didn’t mean to be rude,” Jared said softer.

“You weren’t. It’s a valid question. You don’t have to worry about my delicate sensibilities, I don’t offend easily. If you piss me off, you’ll know.”

“Other than what I’ve already said, we’re here to help out, and be an extra set of eyes. Goals are to keep you safe and see if all the other employees are loyal to you and the ranch and not the old foreman,” Jared finished.

“That sums it up nicely,” I agreed. “You guys know enough about cattle and horses to be believable?”

“We grew up on a horse ranch,” Dean said, smiling. “Don’t know much about cattle, but we know horses.”

“That actually works, since we’ve only had horses for about six years. Most of these guys are cattle men, so your expertise would be appreciated.” After a pause I continued, “I’ll give you my thoughts so far and after I’m done, you can ask any questions or make any suggestions, fair enough?”