“Erm … well, actually … ” the ball cap brother murmured. He glanced up the aisle and, as if on cue, like a happy little puppy but not at all the runt of the pack, another behemoth came loping toward them. Only this one had the most luscious blond, beach-bum, surfer-dude hair Krista had ever seen. And it trailed behind him like a short jet stream of gold. His giant combat boots made heavy, loud clomping sounds on the white store tiles, and a giant smile took over his whole face.
“Three of you!” she practically screeched, having to look up, way up, into all their eyes.
Brother number one stuck his hand out. “I’m Rex. That’s Chase, and this shaggy mop—dude, you really need to cut your hair—is Heath.”
Speechless, with anger building like a winter storm inside her, she took each of their hands, trying her hardest to crush their bones with her grip, but they all seemed to get a kick out of her attempt and chuckled amongst themselves.
“Why is he having me followed by allthreeof you?” she asked again, wanting to get her facts straight before she went and tore a strip off their older brother.
Rex rolled his eyes. “Well, he kind of actually just hadmefollowing you. But I told Chase and Heath what I was doing, and they were curious. They wanted to get a peek at you. Brock never introduces us to any woman he’s seeing or even talks about them. So the fact that you’re special enough to have protection … well, we got curious.”
The fact that he considered her someone special stirred butterflies in her belly and made her sway where she stood. Or perhaps that was the hunger, fatigue and aching hips. Either way, she had to reach out to the shelf of—oh fuck, were they seriously in the condom aisle? What were the bloody chances?— to stabilize herself. She made sure to keep her hands clear of the box of Magnums. The men simply watched her, equal parts concern and curiosity drifting across each of their handsome faces.
She took a deep breath, grounding herself before she let go of the shelf. “I appreciate your concern, boys, and your willingness to help your brother out. And I will deal with Brock later, but I assure you I’m fine. I can handle myself.”
“Did you know that Myles was relocated to your detachment because of sexual harassment attwoother detachments across the country?” piped up Chase, the one who reminded her more of Brock and wasn’t overly generous with his smiles.
He and blondie shared the same midnight-blue eyes and light-colored eyebrows, but Chase was scarier looking and had scruff along his chin and cheeks, with a thin white scar running along the length of his jaw to his left ear. There was no mistaking the level of threat this man carried with him every moment of every day.
Krista’s mouth hung open. “How’d you find that out?”
He lifted one shoulder, a hint of smile tugging at the corner of his lip before retreating and settling into a frown. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”
Heath slapped his big brother on the back. “Chasey here is our resident hacker. He could hack the Pentagon if he wanted to.”
“You hacked into the RCMP?” The flare in each man’s eyes made her quickly bring her volume down several notches. The bald Goliath with a knitted brow was not how one would envision a hacker. Where were the glasses? The button-up shirt? The nervous blinking eyes from being out of the sunlight too long? No, this guy looked like he could snap an old growth red cedar in half and not even break a sweat.
“Don’task questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” he repeated.
“Brock’s asked us to help you and help him look into Myles Slade a bit more,” Rex added, trying to defuse the situation and not draw any unwanted attention from shoppers or staff.“Right now, we know you’re safe. We saw Slade go home. But we just wanted to get a peek at you.” He flashed me another big smile. “You’re cute and got a set of balls on you. We can see why he likes you. Don’t let him get away with any shit, okay?” Then they all turned to leave.
Only Heath turned around, his nose wrinkling with his smile. “We’ll see you at Christmas dinner, right?”
Brock’s phone buzzed on his nightstand as he towel-dried his hair from the shower. He’d just gotten home from work. It’d been a long two days out in the field. A long two grungy days with no shower and nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. But now that Krista was on light duty and his brothers were keeping an eye on her, Brock didn’t feel so bad about leaving her for a day or two to attend to work. Though things would certainly change when the baby arrived. He’d already talked to his boss about taking some paternity leave as well as no longer working long stretches away from home. One or two nights, tops.
He snatched his phone. It was a message from Rex.
“She caught me … I mean us. She’s pissed. Gutsy though. Cute too. Great ass.”
“Fuck,” Brock grumbled under his breath, tossing his towel onto the floor. “Last time he’s on fucking recon.”
He heard the keys in the front door and braced himself for a slam, followed by a gruff but feminine huff and stomping up the stairs. But there was none of that. Not even a sound. Was she mad? Rex said she was pissed. And Brock already knew his roomie-slash-fuck-buddy had a temper. That was one of the things he liked most about her. Well, maybe not her temper, but her grit was a huge turn on. He’d never liked the damsel in distress or the weak female whoneededa man to save her. He liked a woman who knew how to take care of herself and get shit done. An independent force to be reckoned with. And Krista was all that and more. Plus, she was dynamite in the sack and could bake a mean gingerbread man.
Holding his breath, he waited for her to emerge in the doorway with a scowl on her face and fury in her eyes. But nothing happened. Not even a creak on the floor or a frustrated sigh. What the hell was going on?
Scratching the back of his neck at the sexy little enigma he lived with, he turned to his dresser drawer in search of boxers. The rice cooker was on, and he was defrosting some chicken. If she gave him fifteen minutes, he’d have black pepper chicken stir-fry ready for her. Perhaps feeding the beast would soften the fury and she wouldn’t threaten to leave or, even worse, stop sleeping with him.
He was just tugging up his boxer briefs when a faint but discernible throat clearing caused him to release the elastic a little too early and a little too hard. “Fuck!” Determined not to buckle from the pain, he bit back a wince and instead flashed her the biggest smile he could muster, even though inside it felt like he was going to throw up. “You’re home late.”
She stood there, clearly exhausted, but otherwise with nary an emotion on her face. Eventually, she lifted one eyebrow. “Mhmm.”
“How was work?” Maybe if he showed interest in her day, he’d throw her off and she’d forget all about his stupid brothers spying on her.
Her mouth slid into a half-smile. “Long … and hard,” she purred. “Hard to do your job when you haveotherthings on your mind.”
What the hell? But he had to keep his cool. Was she playing a game? What was her angle? “Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “Mhmm.” Her gaze flicked to the bed. “On the bed,” she demanded. “I’ve been thinking about thisallday.”
