Sir Loin of Beef (Grade-A Beefcakes 1)

At my shrug, the two of them stared at me as if I’d said I was a space alien. “You expect it? Because of this morning? Or last night?”

“Because of what my father did.”

“What your father did. Not you,” Jed added.

I gave a slight shrug. “Same difference.”

Landon put his hand on my upper arm, then let it drop, as if he felt he didn’t have the right to touch me. “Not the same at all.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I countered.

“I know what color panties you wear,” he replied, his gaze raking down my body. “I know what you sound like when you come. What you look like. How your little hand feels gripping my cock. I know how you make me feel.”

I flushed while he had no qualms about talking dirty. “A one-night-stand.”

Both of them shook their heads. “We meant it when we said you belonged to us,” Jed said, his eyes lowering to settle on my mouth.

“And you think he’s bossy?” I asked him.

He grinned then. Wicked, dark. Dangerous to the wall around my heart.

“When I saw you last night, I was done for. One look and I became yours,” Landon began. “It was so good, so right. And that was when we knew nothing about each other, not even our names. It proves this connection we share. That it’s real on an elemental level.”

“All three of us share,” Jed clarified. “When you and your friend came up to the bar, seeing you for the first time was as if Landon had hit me in the gut with one of his two-by-fours.” He rubbed a hand over his very flat belly.

“I’m sorry,” Landon said to me, finally taking my hand. I felt the rough callouses on his palm, how his skin was warm, his touch gentle. “So fucking sorry. I have serious anger issues when it comes to your dad, but I put them on you. That wasn’t fair and I was wrong. If you’ll let me—”

“Us,” Jed cut in.

“—us try again, then we’ll show you… prove to you how it can be between us. For the rest of our fucking lives.”

A car pulled up then, another right behind it. Jed and Landon turned and we watched as people piled out.

One, two… five. Oh god. It was the rest of the Duke family.

Two big men who looked strikingly similar to Landon, a woman with red hair who looked nothing like them. Julia Duke. I remembered her hair color from when I was ten, that I’d thought she looked like the girl in Anne of Green Gables, a book I’d read about a red-haired orphan. Then there were Mr. and Mrs. Duke. I remembered them now, although they were a touch grayer than they’d been in the courtroom.

Mrs. Duke led everyone up the walk, then they fanned out about ten feet away from us. They were like a wall, either keeping Landon and Jed where they were, or lined up to take their turn to yell at me.

“What are you all doing here?” Landon asked.

“Making sure you don’t mess this up,” Mr. Duke said, staring pointedly at Landon.

“Did you tell this nice young lady that you hate her?” Mrs. Duke added, hands on her hips. She was a tiny woman, but clearly formidable. Out of the entire family, even the super-sized Duke boys, she was the one I feared the most. In her jeans and pale blue blouse, gray hair styled into a chin length bob, she looked like a Sunday school teacher, yet strong and determined enough to raise three boys—and Julia.

“Tucker is such a tattletale,” Landon grumbled. “What are the rest of you doing here?” he asked, eying his siblings.

Tucker, or maybe it was Gus, grinned. “Watching you grovel, big brother.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “He’s not doing a very good job. He’s not on his knees.”

“I should take you over my knee like you were four,” Mrs. Duke scolded.

Jed pinched his lips together, and I could see he was trying to stifle a laugh.

Groveling or not, apologizing aside, there was more going on here than me just forgiving Landon. I understood why he’d lashed out, why he’d been so mad this morning. I’d felt a similar anger toward my father for years and years. I recognized the feeling. Even if there was chemistry between me and Landon, ridiculous, hot, sexy chemistry, that wasn’t enough. This morning proved there was unresolved anger, strong emotions when it came to the accident. It didn’t matter that Mr. and Mrs. Duke were fine, completely recovered from their injuries. That was physical. Emotional wounds extended beyond the two whom had been actually hurt. Landon had issues and I could assume the others did as well, especially where I was concerned.

Telling Landon that I forgave him and that we could… try again, wasn’t enough.