“Brandon’s right,” Clint said.
I glared at them both.
“I’m not a child,” I began hotly.
“That’s right, you’re a pretty young woman,” Clint said flatly. “You saw the men Yates had with them. I wouldn’t let them within fifty paces of a sheep without supervision, I don’t want you to stumble across them like we did today, without me and Yates.”
Brandon and Will both nodded firmly.
“If you want to go out and Clint’s busy, come find me,” Will said. “I’m usually doing something less crucial anyways, and most of those men are cowards. I don’t think they’d mess with you with any witness.”
I nodded, reluctantly.
“Okay,” I said, “I’ll stay close for now.”
“Good,” Clint said, and nodded firmly.
After that, the conversation moved to speculation about what Yates had been doing on the property that day.
Will suspected that they were just looking around, part of a larger plan. Brandon’s theory was that they were picking at the edges of the business again, trying to cause trouble out of malice or revenge.
Clint said that he didn’t care why, he just wanted them gone.
When we finished up the coffee and the talk, Brandon stood up.
“Well, it’s getting late,” he said. He was talking to Clint, but his eyes were on Will, and they were hungry.
They obviously were not suffering from any sort of pledge to abstain from having sex.
For a split second, I cheerfully hated them. I came to my senses almost immediately, of course. They had known each other for years and the love and respect that they had for each other shone through all of their actions.
Clint and I had still only known each other for two months. I thought that I loved him already, although I hadn’t said it, but I couldn’t look at us the same way.
Even though I wanted to.
I stood up quickly, too, not wanting to overstay our welcome any more. Clint and Will followed us to the front door, and I grinned at Will, saying all the right polite things as Brandon took his hand and pulled him away, shutting the door in our faces.
Clint took my hand and towed me towards his house, as urgent as Brandon.
Unlike Will, I put my foot down.
“What are you doing?” I asked, “I can walk, I’ll get to the house.”
He nodded and let go of my hand, walking at my side. He was still tense and watchful, though, and didn’t speak.
We marched back to his door. When we stepped inside the pleasant kitchen, Clint slammed the door behind us.
I turned and opened my mouth to demand what the hell had gotten into him, but he was already on me.
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me roughly to him, pressing his mouth to mine in a demanding kiss.
I gasped and he didn’t even bother to deepen the kiss, just gripped my arms more tightly and claimed me with his mouth.
Finally, he released me and pressed his forehead against mine, staring into my eyes as we both gasped for breath. I was awed by the depth of feeling in his eyes.
“I won’t let them hurt you,” Clint growled.
“What?” I asked.