Taryn was unsure whether to back up Finn or watch like a spectator with popcorn and beer.Luckily, her coffee was closer.
Bree’s husband climbed out of his black ute, his boots hitting the dirt like the man was spoiling for a fight.Broad shoulders, thick arms, and a trimmed black beard that made him look like someone who’d chew through fence posts for breakfast.But all together,wow!
‘BREE!’
‘Are you going to be safe?’Taryn muttered to Finn.
Finn gave an eye roll that saidas if.
A younger version—probably a brother, with the same good-looking genes—jumped out of the passenger side of Ryder’s ute, looking equally concerned as he followed Ryder inside.
‘There you are.’Bree sipped her water like she hadn’t just staged a domestic escape.‘Took you long enough.’
‘You ran away,’ grumbled Ryder, his voice deep.
‘I drove off.The Kombi can only go so fast.It’s not exactly a tactical vehicle that’s gonna break some land-speed record now, is it?’
The towering man of brawn and beard stalked past Taryn, to wrap his arms gently around Bree, while checking her over like a mechanic inspecting a beloved engine.
‘You okay, babe?’
‘Fine.I was just having a lovely banter session with Taryn here.’Bree angled her water glass toward her.‘Taryn, this is Ryder Riggs.And his brother, Ash.’
Taryn gave them a small nod.‘So you’re the cavalry?’
‘More like containment team,’ Ash muttered under his breath with a grin.
Ryder didn’t smile.He just grunted and assessed Taryn the way a bull might assess a new muster dog in the yard—curious, cautious, and not quite convinced she wasn’t going to nip.
‘What, no nicknames?’Taryn asked Bree.
‘Cupcake and snowflake,’ Bree said sweetly.
Taryn giggled, as Bree bumped shoulders with her like they’d known each other for a decade.While the men grunted in stereo and made for the counter, grabbing fruit and opening jars like Vikings raiding a settlement.
Taryn watched them for a moment, spotting the similarities between Ryder and Finn.She then leaned toward Bree and said quietly, ‘You’ve got a type.’
Bree smirked.‘What can I say?I like my men big and emotionally repressed.’
Ryder swiped the Kombi keys off the kitchen bench and tossed them to Ash.‘Stash this somewhere she can’t find it.’
‘Oi, you can’t hide my Kombi like it’s an Easter egg,’ complained Bree.‘It glows in the dark, you know.’
‘That thing has no airbags and a god complex,’ Ryder said, while gently steering his wife past the Harley in the lounge room, and towards the front door.‘But while we’re in town, we’ll visit the hospital and have the midwife check you out.’
‘They got their dates wrong, not me.’Bree didn’t fight him.Just grumbled about alpha males and public transportation as both Ryder and Finn helped her into Ryder’s passenger seat with more care than a sacred artefact.
Bree leaned out the passenger window and waved at Taryn with a grin.‘Fun morning, buttons.Let’s do it again the next time I decide to make a prison break and play food fairy.’
‘Looking forward to it.’
‘Oh, FYI, Finn does a mean barbecue.Don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s not domesticated.’
Finn groaned.Ryder sighed.Ash meanwhile looked like he was considering an upgrade in his life insurance policy as he climbed into the Kombi.
As the black ute rumbled down the drive, with theput-put-putfrom the older, shockingly bright yellow van following, Taryn took a long breath as if a storm had passed.
Finn turned towards her, seriousness rolling off him like heat.‘We need to talk.’
