“And I invited her to stay,” Norah added quickly. “She was going to crash at that nasty motel on the edge of town, and I couldn’t let her do that.”
The cowboy let out a low, irritated sound and glared at her. “Now why the hell would you do something that stupid?”
“Excuse me?” I said, carefully stepping forward even though every nerve in my body told me to slap him or storm off. “Stupid? She was being kind. I didn’t realize that was a punishable offense around here.”
“Funny coming from youMiss ‘I don’t stop for strangers.’Guess kindness is only convenient when you’re not the one being asked for it.” He then turned his laser focus on Norah. “Your little charity case here left me stranded on the side of the road earlier today!”
My mouth fell open—in shock, in hurt, in…anger.Too many words rushed together in my mind, all of them directed at thisunbelievable jerk, and I was just about to defend myself when Norah stepped in with, “Wait—what?”
“She saw me, slowed down, and then left me eating dust like I didn’t exist.”
I folded my arms across my chest, eyes narrowing directly at him. “If only.”
“You don’t even know her, Nor. She could be a criminal for all you know. A scam artist. A thief. And you just let her in our mother’s home.”
Luke stepped in then, glancing between me and the cowboy, clearly amused, then gave me a long look—slow and appreciative, but not gross. Just enough to stir something in my chest. “If she’s here to steal somethin’,” he drawled, “I hope it’s me.”
“Gross,” Norah groaned under her breath.
“Seriously?” the cowboy growled, clearly not amused. “You want to flirt with hernow?”
“Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood,” Luke said, hands up in mock surrender.
“Shut up, Luke!” they barked in unison.
“All right, enough!” Their mother called over top of the bickering and held her hand out to stop them from talking. “It’s the middle of the night. We all have to be up in a few hours. Whatever this is? Solve it in the daylight.”
He opened his mouth, probably to argue again, but his mother shot him a look.
“I said enough. Now everyone, get back to bed.” She waited patiently as the two men slowly walked out of the room.
“We’ll go to bed as soon as we get this glass cleaned up,” Norah told her while reaching for the broom and dustpan.
“Good enough. Good night, girls,” she said as she disappeared down the hall.
I waited until I was almost positive everyone was far enough away from the kitchen before I spoke. “You didn’t tell me you lived with your family.”
Norah winced. “I don’t. Sometimes the boys crash here after a night at the bar. I would’ve said something, but I didn’t think you’d wander the house in the middle of the night in your underwear.”
She laughed, and I took the dustpan from her as I crouched down. “It’s fine. I just didn’t plan on flashing your entire blood line.”
Norah snorted. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
As we swept up the glass, a thought hit me. “That guy standing beside Luke…he’s your brother, too?”
She nodded. “Yep. My oldest brother, Zane. Reigning king of the grudge holders.”
“He hates me,” I said flatly.
“Don’t take it personally. He kind of hates everyone. The man’s got issues.”
“Issues?” I prompted, handing her the full dustpan.
“It’s too long a story to get into right now,” she said, tossing her arm over my shoulder and walking me back to my room. “Come on, we better get back to bed. Days start early on a ranch, and we don’t want to be dragging our feet around all day, now do we?”
“I guess not,” I said, a little confused as to what that had to do with me.
I slid under the covers, the sheets cool against my skin, but the warmth of sleep never came. Not withhimstuck on replay in my mind. That cocky smirk. Those stupid, perfect abs. The way he looked at me likeIwas trouble.
