Chapter Fifteen
Isaackissedthesideof my head. “I’ll take you home if you want. It might be better to work shit out with him now, though. He typically stays around for a few weeks when he comes down from the mountain. You might be seeing a lot of him around the office.”
I groaned and dropped my head back on his chest. “Well, that sucks.”
Blake looked at Isaac and nodded to the sleeping baby in his arms. “Don’t let him come in here stomping around. Hank just fell asleep.”
I grinned despite myself and crawled back to their sides to press a kiss to both of their cheeks. Blake took advantage of his and moved his head so I kissed his lips. Standing up, I sighed and then straightened my back. “Maybe I’ll just talk to him on the porch. That way, if he shouts at me for trying to climb the Steele brothers’ ladder of erections, he won’t wake Hank.”
Isaac laughed and stood up. “I’ll come with you.”
“I’m okay. I can handle him.” At least I hoped I could.
He grunted and walked me to the door. “Was whatever happened between the two of you that bad?”
I cut my eyes to Hank without meaning to and shook my head. “It was barely anything. Sex behind the bar in town. Not that sex is barely anything. I just mean we barely spoke. God, that sounds terrible, too. I’m not a complete slut. Although, from what the two of you have experienced…”
Isaac bent to be eye level with me. “You’re not a slut. There was nothing wrong with what we did together.”
“Try telling your brother that.”
“He knows there’s nothing wrong with what we do.” There was a tone to Isaac’s voice that made me think he wasn’t saying something, but then I heard heavy boots coming up the steps and didn’t have time to press Isaac for more information.
Pushing him away, I slipped out the front door and came face to face with Julian. Face to chest, anyway. I tipped my head back, bumping it on the door, and stared into his annoyed face. Instead of giving in to his clear dislike of me and getting angry, I swallowed my nerves and forced a smile. “Hey. I thought maybe we could talk out here before we go in. That way, if you want to shout, you can do it out here.”
Julian just stared at me for another few seconds before grumbling and heading over to one of the rockers.
“Although, I’m not sure why you’d want to shout at me.” I sank into the rocker next to him and crossed my legs, suddenly realizing I was wearing a short sundress.
“So, what? You’re just making yourself at home on the family ranch? You don’t see how that might be weird?” His deep voice was even gruffer than normal and he didn’t attempt to hide the mistrust and frustration in his eyes.
“I have a home, and it’s not here. Your brothers picked me up from that home to hang out tonight.” I sighed. “And I know it’s weird. I know that everything about it is weird. Trust me when I tell you this isn’t what I had in mind when I moved here.”
“Am I interrupting whatever orgy you three were having?”
Shame washed over me, but I resisted showing him. “Yep. We’ve got a few other guys coming over soon, too, if you don’t mind making this visit quick.”
He snorted. “Tell me how you ended up finding the men in town who happen to have my same face.”
I snorted right back at him. “Isaac’s face is much more interesting than yours. And Blake’s is just pretty.”
That actually got a laugh. “Well, shit.”
I looked out at the darkness that had engulfed the ranch. “I didn’t mean to intrude on your life. It just happened. I was kind of hoping not to run into you for this exact reason. It’s awkward.”
“There goes my theory that you’re some kind of deranged stalker, I guess.”
“I barely have time to wash my hair some days. I can assure you that I don’t have the time to stalk you.”
“More meetings with your sister keeping you running around?”
I flushed at the memory of our first meeting and tugged at the hem of my dress. He remembered details of our meeting, which struck me as strange, but I ignored it. “If you want to talk with your brothers alone, I’ll gladly go home. I just have to gather Hank and—”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “There’s another man in there?”
I wagged my brows while standing. “Oh, yeah.”
“What the fuck? Since when do they bring in another—”