Page 30 of Cowboy Triplets Next Door

I put down more food and then climbed the rickety old ladder into the loft to check on the family of mice I’d seen up there a few days earlier. To keep them from eating Betsy’s food I’d brought them their own.

“Come here, little family of mice. I have a nice dinner for you guys.” I slowly crept towards the corner I’d seen them run to and gently put the food down. “I know that probably sounds like something a serial killer would call out, but I promise I’m not into that sort of thing.”

“What sort of things are you into?” Gray’s deep voice came from below me and I nearly screamed. As it was, I clutched at my chest and panted.

“What are you doing? You scared the hell out of me!” I braced myself at the edge of the loft and glared down at him. “Why are you always eavesdropping in here?”

Gray’s face pinched and he looked nervous for the first time since I’d known him. “Come down, Bumble B. That loft isn’t secure.”

I put my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrows at him. “It’s fine. Now, tell me what you want.”

“I want you to come down. That wood’s rotten in places, B.” He inched closer, his hands up. “Now, B.”

I rolled my eyes at him and turned to move back towards the ladder but the sound of cracking wood stopped me. I froze and whimpered as I realized what was happening. It was too late, though. One second I was standing there and the next I was falling. I might’ve screamed but I wasn’t sure. The wind was knocked out of me when I landed but I couldn’t feel any pain right away.

From next to my ear, Gray spoke. “You’re a fucking menace.”

I listened as he groaned and turned around to see that he’d somehow managed to catch me. He was holding his nose, though, and as the adrenaline faded, I could feel a dull throb at the back of my head. I caught my breath and moved closer to see how bad his nose was. When he moved his hand, though, blood rushed out.

Growing up on the ranch had taught me how to handle most things but I’d never gotten used to blood. I swayed a little as I dry-heaved.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gray growled out but it sounded nasally and dulled the effect. “Come here.”

I turned my head to keep from seeing the blood and held up my hands. “No, no. Stay over there.”

“Dammit, woman. Nothing is easy with you. Hold on.” Gray tossed me over his shoulder and marched out of the barn. “I was going to apologize but now I think you owe me an apology.”

I felt better not being able to see the blood. “Where are we going? I can walk. As long as I don’t see the blood.”

His gait slowed and then he was climbing stairs. I couldn’t figure out where he was going at first, but then he pushed open a door and I recognized the creak it made. We were in what had been my room before I moved into the carriage house.

“Close your eyes.” Gray waited a second and then dropped me onto what I assumed was his bed. He’d turned and walked away before I could look up and see the blood. “Stay.”

I looked around the room and took in all the changes. The girly furniture and paint had all been replaced with large, masculine pieces. There was a lot of leather and wood. It smelled great. The bed I was on was so much softer than anything I’d ever slept in and I had to stop myself from worming my way under the covers to take a nap.

“Why’d you bring me in here?” I called out to him. “If you’re making sure I don’t get away before you get my information for some sort of lawsuit, you could’ve just found me next door.”

A few seconds passed and then Gray came out of the bathroom with toilet paper shoved up each side of his nose. His eyes were already turning black. “I don’t know.”

I stood up and crossed my arms under my chest. “You don’t know?”

He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t have a single clue. You fuck with my brain, B.”

My heart ached and a sense of warning hit me hard. Slowly backing away, I held up my hands. “I don’t know what you’re doing but stop it.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Yes, you are. You’re being nice now? Or at least what passes as nice for you.” I pushed open the door to the balcony and backed out. “Thanks for catching me. I’m sorry about your nose. I have to go, though.”

Gray moved quickly, catching my wrist before I could slip through the door entirely. “I’m just trying to do the right thing, B. You make that hard, though.”

I searched his face and blinked away a wave of loneliness. “I have to go.”

“Bumble B…”

I twisted my wrist free and hurried down the stairs, leaving nice Gray behind. I couldn’t handle nice Gray, not after I’d felt his mouth on mine. I hurried to the carriage house and locked myself in. Turtle bounded over to me and jumped up to drown me in kisses. It was a nice balm for the ache I was feeling deep inside.

Nice Gray made me want things I had no business wanting. I hated them. Even before they’d toyed with my body and left me needy, they’d stolen the ranch from me. Gray had just carried me into his new house with such a sense of ownership, but it had been mine not too long ago.

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