*
Keegan had been expecting a nothing-special sort of day. The kind of Saturday spent getting his chores out of the way and then parking it in front of the television, video game controller in hand. It was how he used to pass the time most weekends, because what else was he going to do? Perhaps it was a tad pathetic, but he didn’t much care.
Only, it hadn’t started as a nothing-special sort of day.
He’d woken up in Bristol’s bed, which made it … well, pretty extraordinary right off the bat.
Keegan hated that he’d left without waking her, but they had chores at the ranch that couldn’t be ignored, so he’d woken Kaden and they’d slipped out just before dawn.
Then Bristol had offered an invitation to lunch and his entire day was suddenly on a new course. He was no longer considering which room they would tackle for renovations or which video game he would conquer, because he was damn sure not the kind of guy who would pick a video game over a woman. He’d seen those videos online where the woman greets her man while he’s playing a video game. She’s supposedly buck naked behind the camera because it was all about seeing his reaction. One guy—the smart one—tossed the game controller in his pursuit of his woman. The other … well, the other was simply a jackass, becausecome on. Seriously. What the hell kind of guy could resist the temptation of his woman? Especially if she went to the effort to capture his attention?
Needless to say, Keegan’s online teammates were on their own if his woman were to greet him like that.
His woman.
Their woman.
He couldn’t believe he was actually thinking of Bristol as theirs, but there was no way he could deny it. As far as he was concerned, he was in the same place Kaden was. She was their end game.
Even if Bristol did want them to keep it a secret for the time being. He could respect that. For a little while, anyway.
Rather than let his insecurities get the best of him, Keegan had decided he would be the man she needed him to be, the one she could and would love the same as she loved Kaden. He would not be the one to keep distance between them. Not this time.
So, here he was, waltzing up the short path to Bristol’s front door while scanning the neighborhood.
Not far from the heart of Coyote Ridge, it was one of the older parts of town. Because Brendon and Cheyenne lived just a couple of streets over, Keegan knew the houses had been built sometime back in the fifties. Most were the single-story ranch, well maintained from the roof down to the manicured lawns. He could see signs of the holidays. A couple of blow-up snowmen sitting in the yards, lights strung from the eaves.
It was then he wondered if Bristol was the sort to decorate for the holidays. Considering she worked with kids all day, he would peg her for the sort to participate in the various traditions, if for no other reason than to appease the little ones. If Keegan had a house in a neighborhood like this, that would be what he would do. He would go all out for every holiday, just for the kids.
He smiled to himself. Neighborhood or not, he would soon be putting up Christmas decorations. Next year, for sure. For their own child to see.
Stepping to the side, Keegan waited while Kaden rapped his knuckles on the front door.
A minute later, the sound of a lock disengaging was followed by the squeak of the front door as it opened.
“Hey,” Bristol greeted, smiling up at them. “I didn’t realize you were on the way.”
“You offered food,” Kaden said as though that was all they needed to drop everything and run. In all fairness, it kinda was.
“Come in.” She stepped back, gestured them inside.
Because they’d come over in the middle of the night, been blindsided by the news of the pregnancy, fallen into bed with the sexiest woman on the planet, and slipped out before dawn, Keegan hadn’t had a chance to really give the house a good once-over. He didn’t have the same problem now. And yes, the house was as closed off as he’d thought it was. Then again, that had been the style back then, each room separated and individualized.
What really surprised him was the decor. The furniture was dated, as though it had been with the house since it was built. The flowered sofa had seen better days, as had the mauve carpet, the blue and green wallpaper border along the ceiling, and the brass and glass coffee table that he’d shoved aside last night.
Had he been inclined to learn anything about Bristol based on her house, Keegan would’ve failed miserably. It felt more like a house for an older man than a thirty-one-year-old woman.
As he followed Bristol toward the kitchen, he noticed the cheap, plastic-framed pictures on one wall did not match at all with the oversized farmhouse clock on another.
Then it dawned on him. This house had originally belonged to her grandparents, passed down to her father when they died. Her father had moved his family in, vacating the small farmhouse he’d been renting previously. And by the looks of it, this was still her father’s house, despite the fact he’d passed on years ago. Bristol clearly hadn’t updated anything since then. As though she was expecting him to come back at any moment, maybe fall into that ugly blue recliner, grab the clicker, and watch some tube.
“I’m sorry,” she said when they stepped into the kitchen. “I didn’t have time to put anything together.”
She made a beeline for the refrigerator.
Keegan met Kaden’s confused look. He didn’t need to hear his brother’s question to know he was wondering why she was so nervous. She certainly hadn’t been last night.
“When I texted you, I had just gotten up,” she explained, her head halfway in the refrigerator. “Then I had to shower and get ready. I was about to make coffee, but I heard you pull up.”
