“I’m busy.”
“Tomorrow morning, then?”
“I’m up at five.”
A pause. She was staring from the porch, probably trying to decide if I was being difficult to be an asshole or if I was just telling the truth.
Both. The answer was both. I'd been expecting someone I could ignore or run off without much effort. Instead, I got her. Sharp-tongued, stubborn, and clearly not going anywhere. Which meant I needed to get rid of her fast.
"Five works," she said finally.
"Can't wait, darlin'," I said, as flat as I could make it.
I barely had time to enjoy her irritation before my brother’s battered F-150 came tearing up the drive, horn blaring.
He slammed it into park. Wren was already hopping out of the passenger side, but Colt beat her to it.
“Look at that,” Colt said, grinning wide. “He hasn’t scared her off yet. I owe Wyatt ten bucks.”
Wren shoved his shoulder out of the way as she passed, her loose braid swinging as she headed toward Sienna.
“Ignore the cavemen,” Wren said, extending a hand. “I’m Wren, Brock’s sister. This idiot is our brother Colt. And we already apologize for whatever Brock said to you in the last five minutes.”
"I'm Sienna," she said, shaking Wren's hand. The stiff posture disappeared, and she smiled.
I looked away. Didn’t need to see that.
"Don't let the scowl fool you," Colt said. "Brock's just mad he has to share his sandbox. Come on inside, dinner must be almost ready."
I ground my teeth and looped Rio’s lead rope over the fence rail. "Nobody asked for a welcoming committee."
"Nobody asked you to punch a guy on camera either, but here we are," Colt shot back.
I pushed through the round pen gate as Wren reached for Sienna’s suitcase. I stomped up the porch steps, brushing right past Sienna as if she were invisible, and snatched the handle out of my sister's hand. Wren gave me a sour look that I ignored.
I marched inside, but paused to toe off my dusty boots. The house smelled as it always did on Sunday evenings: roasting chicken and herbs. But there was something else now, something floral and warm that didn’t belong here.
It took me a second to realize it was her perfume. That pissed me off more than it should have.
"Come on," Wren said, nodding toward the stairs. "Let's get you settled. Those shoes and that dress are way too pretty to ruin out here."
Sienna let out a short laugh and gestured at her clothes. "I didn't exactly plan for this. I didn't know I was coming here."
Wren stopped on the second step. “They sent you here without telling you?”
"They told me when I landed."
My sister looked at her for a long second. "Well, you're here now. And we're not that bad, I promise. Come on, I've got stuff you can borrow."
"Honestly, after the welcome I got from your brother, 'not that bad' already feels like a five-star upgrade."
"Give it a week,” Wren said. “He grows on you. Like mold."
Fucking great. Now I had two of them coming at me.
"I heard that," I called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Good," Wren shouted. "Saves me repeating it."
