Lassoed (Steele Ranch 5)
As for the other three Steele sisters who’d arrived in Barlow, it had been the same way for them. Instalove for Cricket and her three men. Penny had wrangled her two husbands from the get-go. Even Sarah—who had surprised all of us as being one of Aiden Steele’s daughters because she was from Barlow—had married quickly. She’d known about her dad and kept it secret, at least until the past winter.
And it had been our job to track down the fifth and final Steele heiress. Natalie. She might be single, but that was about to change. Her social media was switching to In A Relationship the second we got her alone. She just didn’t know it yet.
“Did you catch her scent?”
“Lemons,” I replied. We’d gotten close enough to her in the back hallway to pick it up. To see the dark color of her eyes, her full lips. Every inch—clothed inch—of her up close. I was eager to see the rest of her as soon as fucking possible. I’d never wanted a woman so much in my life. One look and… bam. Hit by a fucking two by four. I was ruined for all other women.
And I’d been right. With her heels, she was only a few inches shorter than me. I wouldn’t have to bend in half when we fucked. “Yet we’re over here while that douche is putting his moves on her.”
“It’s her boss. She’s handled herself well so far.” Ashe didn’t seem any happier about it than I was, but was proud of her to be smart and strong enough to deal with stupid shit like inappropriate advances herself.
“She doesn’t have to,” I countered. “The handsy bastard needs to have a talking to. I can see his wedding ring from here,” I grumbled, watching the expression on Natalie’s face change to disgust.
She stood and he put his hand on her thigh. Her fucking thigh. Yeah, the asshole was walking out of here with a stump.
With her free hand, she tugged on her ear as she gave him the evil eye.
We were at her side in seconds, but in that time, she’d grabbed his palm, turned it clockwise so it faced the ceiling. It wrenched his shoulder and he leaned in, trying to relieve the pain I could see on his face.
“Natalie?” I asked, interrupting our girl at work. My dick got hard just watching her take care of herself.
She stepped back, letting dickwad’s hand fall away. He glanced up at us, as he rolled his shoulder and opened and closed his fingers. Even after being so blatantly reprimanded, a grin spread on his greasy mouth as he looked up at us. He wasn’t contrite in the slightest, he just gave me a look of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Those cookies aren’t for you, fucker.
“Yes, oh hi! Sam, wow, it’s been a long time,” Natalie said, a tad breathlessly. I knew it was because she was flustered and—hopefully—angry at her boss for being such a prick. Also, being forced to do something about it. Putting him in a wrist lock probably hadn’t been what she’d wanted to do in a restaurant. Her cheeks were pink. “Ashe, too.”
“You look great,” he added, leaning in and giving her a kiss on her cheek.
Smart guy. I wish I’d thought of that. Then I’d know how soft her skin was.
“The last time we got together, we had to cut it short,” I continued. “It’s too bad you couldn’t come with us then. You can now, if you want.”
Yeah, we could totally make her come.
She blushed at the secondary meaning of my words, then grinned. Yeah, she was fucking smart. I loved that brain of hers. She knew exactly what I meant, what I was offering her. It was bold, forward even, but the connection was real. I didn’t want to scare her off, but I definitely wanted her to know what we wanted. Her.
Natalie cleared her throat, eyes on me. It was as if the boss and everyone else in the restaurant just disappeared. “You’re right. I would really like to come with you.” She looked to Ashe and her gaze was full of feminine appreciation. “Both of you.”
She afforded her boss a brief, annoyed glance. “I’m done here.”
“Great,” I said, holding my hand out to take her briefcase.
“Nat, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” Boss man asked, a piece of spinach flying out of his mouth and landing on the floor.
Wrinkling her nose, she gave him a narrowed passing glance. “No.” Instead of handing me her bag, she put her free hand in mine. Fuck yes. “Goodnight, Alan. Tell your wife I said hello.”
Ashe stepped back to let her lead the way. I gave her hand a little squeeze and we headed out of the restaurant. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashe leaning down, speaking to the bastard, hopefully threatening him with the need for a prosthetic if he touched her again, but he quickly caught up to us.
Once out on the sidewalk, but away from the entrance, she stopped, turned to face both of us. The front of the restaurant was well lit, the street busy. It was just getting dark, the air chilly.
“Thanks for your help.”
She hadn’t tugged her hand from mine and I had no intention of letting go until she did so.
“From what we saw, you didn’t need any help from us,” I said, letting her know we’d been impressed.
Even though she’d put Mr. Hands in his place, Ashe was still pissed, but trying to hide it from her. She had enough problems with her boss without taking on his feelings about it. “I didn’t want you to leave that hallway without us, to go back to that fuckwad,” he said. There was a sharp bite to the tone, but by looking at him, it was because he was aroused, not upset. “I didn’t get a chance to…” He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, eyed Natalie. Yeah, he’d found her ninja routine hot as hell, too.