Jerking apart, we both turned to the sound of Violet's voice. I stepped back, putting even more space between us as my eyes sought her out. And there, the most beautiful woman in the world leaned against the door of her barn staring at us both. Just behind her was Cy, and he looked ready to run.
"So," she said, her eyes jumping over to Ash, "are youtryingto chase him away? What the fuck are you thinking, Ashton? Did I not make myself clear last time? Leave Luke the fuck alone."
"He asked for it," Ash told her.
I just looked over at him. "Fucking asshole." Evidently, smoothing it over and not telling Violet had just gone out the window. Now, I was in the middle of the "blowing the fuck up" stage.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Cy tried to convince me to head inside. That should've warned me, but I heard something behind the barn, Luke's truck was here, and Ash had already tried that bullshit before. Combined, that all convinced me not to ignore this. But what I saw was not at all what I was expecting. Luke was gripping Ash's head with one hand, the other braced against his chest. Ash had Luke's hips pulled up against his, and I was half waiting for the clothes to come off.
They looked amazing, and the words just fell from my lips. "Oh. Wow...”
The pair jerked apart, but I couldn't tell if Luke had been trying to push him away or hold him close. I knew something was up because Luke had vanished on me last night, but I'd been so relieved to hear that Ash and Cy were on speaking terms that I decided not to worry about it. Then my text today had gone unanswered. Ash had wanted me out of the house a little too bad. And Cy? The fact that he was all but hiding behind me said this had clearly been planned, and that wasn't a good sign.
"So," I said, "are youtryingto chase him away? What the fuck are you thinking, Ashton? Did I not make myself clear last time? Leave Luke the fuck alone."
"He asked for it," Ash said, sounding defensive.
Luke's head slowly turned toward him. "Fucking asshole," he growled, storming the two steps to shove Ash back.
"What the fuck are you doing, Ash?" Cy demanding, finally pushing his way into the yard.
"And you," Luke snapped, turning on him.
"Enough!" I barked, but they ignored me.
"Not say shit to her?" Luke growled, and then his fist swung.
That hit Ash in the shoulder and Cy jumped in, grabbing Luke across the chest. Sadly, the cowboy knew how to fight. Slinging his head back, he cracked Cy in the jaw, only missing his nose because Cy jerked his head out of the way. But Ash wasn't about to be outdone. He took the sucker punch, jabbing Luke in the middle of his stomach.
Cy all but flung Luke out of the way to shove Ash back, and I just sighed. This was about to be a fucking mess. I wasn't sure the water hose would reach this far, but I knew something even better. Marching my ass right into the middle of them, I positioned my body so they'd have to go through me.
"ENOUGH!" This time, the three men stopped. "You," I said, pointing at Ash, "get the fuck out of my sight." Then I rounded on Cy. "You, put the groceries away." And finally, I looked at Luke. "And you need to start talking. I'm not sitting out here in the Texas heat, so inside."
"Violet," he tried.
I cut him off. "Save it. Inside, and you other two? You're going to spend the rest of the day cleaning out at least one of those cabins. The next man to hit someone else gets grounded. You three want to act like little boys, then I'll treat you like it, so grow the fuck up, and fast."
Then I pointed at the house again, and Luke sighed, but he went. As soon as we were out of sight, I could hear Ash and Cy talking behind me, but they weren't talking loud enough for me to make out the words. It didn't matter. At least they weretalking,and right now, that felt a lot like a win.
Luke headed into the house then paused, turning to face me. "Where do you want me?"
"My office," I decided. "Find a chair, sit your ass down, and don't even think about leaving, because if you walk out of this house now, I won't invite you back in."
"Yeah." He sounded like he'd already figured that out.
While he headed up the hall, I went to the kitchen. This was going to be a diet-breaking kind of conversation. I could already tell that much, so I didn't go for the fridge. I went for the pantry, pulling out a bottle of hundred-year-old single-malt scotch. Two tumblers were pinched in my other hand, and then I made my way to my office.
"So," I said when I walked in, dropping the glasses and bottle on the desk before closing the door behind me and flipping the lock. "Do we have a problem I need to know about?"
"Violet..." he tried.
I opened the scotch and poured a bit into the first glass, offering it to him. Luke just waved it away, so I closed the bottle and took it myself, then sat down in Gran's office chair and leaned back. The whole time I watched him, but Luke couldn't meet my eyes, and a few things were starting to make more sense.
"Start from the beginning," I said.
He let out a weary sigh. "I came over last night to deal with the tractor. Ash and Cy were in the barn, in the dark, and in the middle of something. Sounded like they were fighting. I thought I was going to break it up, but evidently I just made it worse."
