Mastered by Malone (Haven, Texas 6)

“The dining table?” Another of the brothers asked her. He scowled. “We don’t eat at the dining room table. Don’t even know why we bought that damn thing.”

“Because it came with the house, dickhead,” another brother said.

Her eyes widened. But the one who’d first spoken didn’t seem offended. He just shrugged. “Should have used it on a bonfire a long time ago.”

She had seen the dining room table earlier. It was beautiful and made out of walnut. It obviously cost a lot of money. And they wanted to use it as firewood?

Not my place. Not my home.

She looked up at Alec, wondering if he’d say anything. But he just stared at his brothers. As she slipped by him, he grabbed her arm. “I thought I told you that you weren’t to cook.”

“I can’t sit in my room for two months; I’m going to go insane. I’m sorry if my presence offends you. I’ll try to keep out of your way.”

He let her go as she tugged at her arm.

Asshole.

Damn it. He hadn’t meant it like that. He just wanted to keep her out of the way of his brothers. Plus, she wasn’t here to work as their unpaid cook. Maybe they could come to some arrangement though, if her food tasted as good as it smelled.

He ignored his rumbling gut and stepped into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. As soon as she left the room, his brothers started grabbing plates and lifting the lid on the dishes sitting on the counter.

“Want some of this?” Raid asked him around a mouthful of food. “Damn this shit is good.”

“Good?” Maddox said. “Its best fucking whatever it is I’ve ever tasted.”

“Stop,” Alec commanded in a low voice. They all stilled and looked at him. “Do you not remember me telling you all that you need to keep your hands off her?”

They all looked at each other, except for West and Jaret. Jaret had a girl in town. The only one of them that had had a steady girlfriend for longer than a few weeks. And West, well, he’d never shown an interest in any girl except Lana.

“We just figured you were saying that in front of Jardin,” Tanner said.

“If Jardin doesn’t want us touching her, he should have taken her to his brothers,” Raid said. “Don’t even think they have a dick among them that works.”

They all laughed except West and Alec. “This has nothing to do with Jardin. She’s here for our protection, not to cook and clean, and definitely not to be your fuck toy.”

Now everyone stared at him.

“You want her?” Maddox asked.

“Hey, man, if I knew she was yours, I never would have—” Beau started to say.

Alex scowled at him. “She is not mine. I’m not interested in her. She’s my responsibility while she’s here. We’ve got to keep her alive until she can testify. Keeping her alive, doesn’t mean having her in your beds. Just keep your hands off her. Got it?”

He turned and walked away before any of them could say anything. Mia was waiting anxiously outside the dining room.

“You can cook for them if you want. I’ll work out a wage for you. It will have to be cash. No paper trail.”

“No need to pay me,” she replied quietly. “You’re already doing so much. I want to do something in return.”

“You’ll get paid.” He stomped away, down towards his office, ignoring the urge to turn back—to take her in his arms and demand that she not even think about going near one of his brothers. But he forced himself to keep walking. He didn’t want to think too closely about why he cared whether Mia ended up in one of their beds. Probably because he didn’t want any more problems. He intended to carry on with his life and ignore their house guest as much as possible.

The Malone brothers were mad. Crazy. Reckless. And she was fast falling in love with them.

But they also had absolutely no manners. She still couldn’t believe they never used that dining room. They’d all rather fight over the furniture in the huge living room, so they could sit in front of the TV and shovel her food into their mouths. All the time grunting, talking over each other, and trying to snatch food from each other’s plates. By the time they were finished eating, the place was a pigsty. After a few nights of sitting through that, she’d had enough.

She been there for a week. At first, she’d jumped at just about every loud noise or blushed with each rude innuendo, but she was coming to know them better now and most of what they said and did was in good fun. They were charismatic and full of energy and life, so much so, they made her feel exhausted just being around them.

She’d managed to work out who was who. Alec, of course, was the oldest. And he never joined them to eat. Neither did West, who was the second oldest brother. Next came Jaret. He was her favorite. He wasn’t around as much because he had a girlfriend in the next town over. He was the one who always took a minute to ask her how she was doing and he often helped clean up.