Lassoed (Steele Ranch 5)

“Oh,” I said, taking a sip of tea. One of her men, Archer, wore a sheriff’s uniform, so I had to assume the handcuffs belonged to him. I had no idea how to respond. “I want the long story long. All of it. And that murder thing Kady blurted out.”

“Oh no,” Sarah said, holding up her hand. “It’s your turn, sister. We want the dirty details. The dirtier the better.”

I glanced from one to the next. Kady, with her red hair and pretty clothes. Penny, all petite and blonde with the sweet little baby. Cricket with her spunky attitude and sly smile. Sarah with her long black hair and killer curves.

“How is it there are nine men out there and they’re not bothering any of us? Aren’t they thirsty or anything?” I asked.

“They are well-trained.” Sarah narrowed her eyes. “And I see you are skilled at evading. This is what happens when you arrive last. Four sisters to torture you.”

I bit my lip, torn between liking the feeling of them so interested in me, but also bothered, as if they were poking an open wound with a stick.

“I don’t like them,” I replied simply.

“Ashe and Sam?” Penny asked, frowning. “Why not?”

I took a deep breath, let it out. “Because they told me after I slept with them who they were, that they’d been investigating me, had an entire folder on me.”

They stared, and stared some more. Penny’s hand even stopped patting the baby.

“They didn’t tell you who they were? Like made up fake names and stuff?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, they were truthful about that, but the next morning, I was…well, in the shower with Ashe and he just spit out that I was an heiress and he was in Boston to tell me that.”

Sarah blinked. “That’s awful, but I’m stuck on the mental image of Ashe in the shower.”

Kady laughed. “Me, too!”

“You’re not bothered by it like I am?” I asked, surprised by their lightheartedness.

Cricket came over to me, tugged me across the room so I was in front of them again. “If you hate them, we hate them, too. We’re on your side.”

They all nodded and Sarah pulled me in for a hug. She was so much shorter, so curvy and in a few decades, would make a perfect grandma giving some sugar. “The jerks.”

I laughed then. That wasn’t sugar, but it felt good knowing she had my back. “I felt…embarrassed. Used. Tricked.”

The words came easier now.

“Yeah, the jerks,” Penny added. “But I’ve known them for several months now. They’ve never behaved that way that I’ve ever seen.”

“Ashe drove me to the hospital when my water broke,” Kady admitted. “I’d been at home and I called the office. Riley was in court with Cord so Ashe came right to the house. He took the turn into the driveway on two wheels. You would have thought he was the dad. He was completely freaking out.”

It was hard to imagine, the Ashe I knew had seemed to be so…chill.

“Maybe they just screwed up,” Cricket added. She cocked her head to the side, studied me. “I mean, look at you. You’re gorgeous. Any guy would be thinking with his dick at the sight of you. And those two? Yeah, you might think they’re dicks for how they revealed everything, but I bet they have really big ones. Dicks, I mean.”

I laughed then. Fully. “Yeah, they do.”

All four of them laughed and hollered, whooped it up and gave each other high fives.

“What did they say when they apologized?” Kady asked.

“They didn’t.” I held up my hand when they looked ready to go after them with pitchforks. “I mean, I didn’t give them a chance. I was so upset, I stormed out of the hotel room. I haven’t seen them since.”

“Well, I heard Cord say they were back in town. Why not let them have a chance to explain?”

“Yes, Natalie, why don’t you let us have a chance to explain?”

Kady, Sarah, Penny and Cricket whipped around at the sound of Sam’s voice. The baby made a funny whimper/burp sound at the jostling and Penny started patting his butt again.