Page 39 of Rough Ride

They turned the corner and ran into Eli, who was frowning at them.

“Lurking around corners, St. John?” Dee said.

“It was just taking you awhile, that’s all.”

Both women gave her a smile and slipped around him. It gave him the room to move closer.

“So, how much did those women tell you?”

She snuggled Lizzy closer, mainly because she liked it, but also as a barrier. She had to think about things, get her head wrapped around the insanity of May Chambers.

“Nothing. They want to have lunch tomorrow at Dupree’s.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Eli, come on and quit hoarding our guest of honor,” May yelled out.

“I wouldn’t make her mad if I were you,” Crysta said.

He cracked a smile and stepped back to give her passage. “I always aim to please the ladies.”

She slipped past him, then smiled back over her shoulder. “That’s what I’ve heard, Delicious Dom.”

“I swear to God, I’m going to kill those two,” he muttered as he followed her out to the lanai.

twelve

By the time they were sitting down, Devon showed up. It was hard to see him and Dee as twins. He was a bit darker, but they had the same blue eyes. He smiled when he met her.

“Lord, I think we might need to warn the police, Devon just smiled,” Micah said.

“Shut up, old man. And I’m going to smile when I meet the woman Jack raved about.”

“Who’s Jack?” Eli asked, irritated. How had a woman who hadn’t been off the ranch that much know so many men?

“Jack the pilot,” she said with a huff. “Really, Eli, usually you pay more attention.”

He heard a little snicker at the end of the table, but Eli refused to pay attention to it. Right now, all his attention was on the multimillionaire sitting down next to his partner. There was no reason for Stryker to sit next to her, but he ignored Eli’s scowl and did just that.

“I see you’ve got my girl there,” Devon said to Crysta.

“And I understand that both you and Micah are the ones responsible for all the pink.”

He leaned forward and gave his sister the stink eye. “Really, do you ever not tell people that?”

Dee shrugged as she took a sip of water. “It’s the truth. I’m not taking the blame for that mess.”

Her brother rolled his eyes and then leaned closer to Crysta. He used the pretense of kissing his niece on the forehead, but Eli didn’t like it. Crysta looked at him and frowned. When Devon started to talk to May about his latest game release, Crysta leaned toward Eli.

“You need to behave,” she said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She moved closer and lowered her voice. A wisp of her hair tickled his cheek. He wanted to reach up and slip his finger into the curl, but he didn’t have a right. He wanted that right, but he knew he didn’t have it.

“You growled.”

“What?” He couldn’t keep track of what she was saying. Those eyes of hers had every cell in his brain dissolving.

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