Dimon spied Lucy and loped after her."Shit."Dev's oath reached Ian's ears as his brother hurried after the big dog.Ian crossed his arms over his chest and watched the chaos, highly satisfied when Dimon jumped up and left two gigantic, muddy paw prints on Lucy's shirt, one over each breast.
Dev paused in front of her, eyes wide and fixated on the sight.
Ian frowned.He was walking forward before he even realized he'd moved.Lucy might look innocent and inviting, but Ian knew better.Best not let her get her hooks into Dev…
"Down!Get down, you big mutt!"Good grief, the dog was heavy.Laughing, Lucy stepped back, regained her balance, and righted her shirt.The shaggy gray giant sat down in front of her, tail thumping the ground, mouth open, and panting.Even sitting, his nose was at her belly button."You're a big guy who doesn't know he's big, aren't you?"She scratched behind his ears.
"Sorry about that."
Lucy glanced up at the tall, broad shouldered, very good-looking guy.Brown hair brushed his collar and had a slight wave to it.He wore a heavy five o'clock shadow and looked a little bohemian and a lot rugged.But it was his eyes that caught her attention the most.They were hazel, a light shade of brown with some green thrown in, and they were ...well, haunted was the only word that came to mind.
A well-mannered German Shepherd sat by his side.
"He's a work in progress."The guy's eyes darted to her shirt.Lucy looked down.Two muddy paw prints over her chest.Great."Sorry.He has no sense of size."
"Typical of big dogs.You sound American," she noted, though he did have a slight accent.He nodded, not offering up anything else, so Lucy fished."Are you a guest at the castle?"
"No.I'm staying in one of the cottages and helping with repairs."He eyed her thoughtfully."So you know dogs," he gestured to the Deerhound, referencing her earlier comment about typical big dogs.
"Yeah.It's been a while since I've been around one his size, though.I work with animals."His eyes lit with interest."Nothing glamorous.My cousin, Kate, runs a pet grooming and sitting business in New York.I work for her."
"All that, and you still have time to write for The Ambler," Ian's voice sounded from behind her.
Her stomach dropped like a stone.
Crap.
Lucy swallowed, plastered a smile on her face."I like to stay busy," she said carefully, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
Yep.Just as striking as she remembered.She really hoped to avoid him today after her idiotic behavior last night.But no such luck.
Standing together, the resemblance between the two men became clear.While their coloring was different, they had the same large frames, and similar facial features.
"Brothers," Ian said.
"Devin."Devin held out his hand.
Lucy took it."Lucy.Nice to meet you."
"If you see another one of us wondering around," Ian added in a dry tone, "just ignore him."
"That'd be James," Devin clarified."The youngest."
Ian and Devin were about the same height, both built, and both had that aura of capability and strength.The universe was not playing fair today, making her face two gorgeous men, one of whom was staring at the paw marks over her breasts—Ian's attention stayed there way longer than necessary.When his gaze finally lifted to hers, it was completely unapologetic, and filled with an unreadable expression that gave Lucy pause.Something was different about him...
Devin cleared his throat."See you around, Lucy.Sorry about your shirt."He gave Ian a quizzical look before leaving with the Shepherd.
Great.Now she was left with big, bad-attitude Ian."This your dog?"she asked.
After a beat, Ian stroked the dog's head.He had nice hands.Strong hands.And Lucy wanted to roll her eyes for noticing.
"Dimon is sort of everyone's dog."
"Right."She was antsy to cut and run and avoid any more embarrassment."Well, I'm off to sight see and take some pictures, so… Bye."
She got three steps beyond him when he said in a challenging tone, "That afraid of me, Mrs.Brooks?"
Lucy froze.Surely she was mistaken.No, don't turn around.Don't take the bait.But she was already turning."Excuse me?"
