Page 35 of Rough Ride

“Eli,” Crysta said pushing at him a bit. He realized he still had her pressed against the wall of the house and his hand had hold of the skirt of her dress. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, and her face was flushed.

It made him want to kiss her even more.

Her frown turned darker, as if she could read his mind. “Move.”

With regret, he moved away and ignored the snickering from Chambers and Ross.

“You’ve met Micah, and this is his partner, Evan Chambers. This is Crysta Miller.”

“Nice to meet you,” Evan said smiling at Crysta. She smiled back and Eli wanted to scream. It wasn’t like him to be territorial about a woman like this.

“Both of you move the hell out of my way,” Dee said from behind them. Both men moved to reveal Dee. She might be small in stature but she had a presence bigger than a four-star general.

“There’s my girl,” Eli said.

“Your girl isn’t happy you’re mauling my guest.” Then she turned her attention on Crysta. “Sorry about that. You must be Crysta. I’m Dee. I’m married to idiot number one.”

“Woman, I’ve said I don’t like being called an idiot.”

“Then don’t act like one. Come on in.”

As soon as she finished the sentence, there was a baby crying.

“Oh, you just had a baby.”

“Two months ago. May is taking care of her right now. Come on in so we can get acquainted.”

Oh, Eli didn’t like the sound of that.

She followed Dee in and they disappeared before he could stop them.

“Come on, Eli. We want to give you shit and drink beer,” Evan said.

Micah shook his head. “He really just wants to give you shit.”

Eli glanced down the hallway then followed the guys in. He knew there wasn’t any way around it.

When he caught up to them in the kitchen, Ross leveled him with a look. “So, you want to tell me about all the excitement at the ranch?”

eleven

Crysta followed Dee into a room that looked like pink cotton candy had exploded and decorated the walls.

“I can see from the look on your face, the pink is a little overwhelming. Sadly, it wasn’t myself who insisted but the men in my life,” she said with a laugh. “May, this is Crysta, Joe Kaheaku’s niece. This is May Chambers. She’s married to idiot number two out there.”

She turned and found a Hawaiian woman with long black hair that reached her waist and the most amazing blue eyes. She smiled at Crysta.

“Hi. I think you know my brother, Danny?”

“Oh. Yes. He’s been making a name for himself around the ranch.”

She shook her head. “Since Eli hasn’t sent him packing, I guess he’s staying out of trouble, for once.”

“He’s a sweetie. He was telling me about your grandfather last night.”

May rolled her eyes. “The boy has been a handful from the time he could walk. But we are really proud of him.”

“Devon should be by tonight too,” Dee said. “He’s very interested in meeting you.”

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