Craving (Steel Brothers Saga 1)

“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah. Let’s make something. Let’s cook today.”

Although Marj loved to cook, I didn’t exactly share the sentiment. I’d been cooking all my life because no one else was around to do it. “That’s fun for you, not for me.” I laughed.

She punched me in the arm. “If we don’t cook, we either have to go into Grand Junction to eat, or we go hungry.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you say so.”

“Besides, we have the best beef in the good old US right here on Steel Acres. I’ll pull out some steaks. How does that sound?”

One thing about Marj—she could put it away like a teenage boy and still keep that gorgeous figure of hers. Probably because she was so tall.

A smile crept up on me. “Let’s make dinner for Talon.”

Marj jumped up and hugged me around the neck. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

I froze. Did she know what was going on between Talon and me? Would she be okay with it?

“It means that…I’ll help you cook dinner.”

“Yay! So you’re not leaving! I was hoping you’d decide to stay.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Yeah. I guess so. For now. I should get my bar results next week. Maybe as soon as tomorrow.” My nerves jumped. “God, I hope I passed.”

Marj sat down. “You’re brilliant, Jade. Of course you passed.”

“I hope you’re right. That test was pretty daunting. Two whole days. The essays weren’t so bad. I mean, I know the material. But that multiple-choice test…”

“How could that be the harder of the two?”

“Because the essays were straightforward. The multiple-choice test had no ‘right answer.’ You had to choose the best answer. I could eliminate two pretty quickly, but then there were two that could go either way. By the time I started thinking about which one it could be, I realized I was wasting time. The test is timed, so I had to decide on an answer and move forward. I think I know four that I actually got right. The rest were a crapshoot.”

Marj smiled and placed her hand on my forearm. “Jade, I’m really not worried. I know you passed.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears. I sure hope so. Although I have to tell you, I’ve really been enjoying working with Ryan at the winery.”

“There’s no reason why you can’t continue to do that.”

“With a license to practice law, I kind of feel like I should be practicing law. But at least I can continue working at the winery until I find a job.”

Footfalls clomped behind me.

“Morning, Tal,” Marj said.

I turned. Talon stood in his jeans and bare feet. He hadn’t bothered to put his shirt back on. I hoped Marj hadn’t seen him come from our side of the hallway. God, he looked good—his hair tousled and sexy, just hitting his shoulders, his long eyelashes fringing his dark-as-night eyes, his lips red and swollen from our kisses. Basically, he looked like he had just had hot monkey sex.

My skin tightened. Suddenly I felt very conspicuous. If he looked like he had just had amazing sex…what did I look like?

“Hey,” was all he said. He walked toward the coffee maker and poured himself a cup.

“Sit down with us for a few minutes,” Marjorie said.

“Can’t. Got work to do.”

“Talon, it’s Sunday. And you were just in the hospital yesterday. Take a load off, for God’s sake.”

Talon visibly tensed. “I’m fine. And the trees don’t stop growing just because it’s Sunday, Marjorie.”