Page 54 of The Outlaw and the Heir

"Why not?"

"Because, like most brothers with sisters, you would fuss, fawn, and puff up your chest, insisting she could only do it when it wasn't too hot, and with you at her side to make sure she didn't get hurt, and all sorts of other things."

"I...you make it sound like a bad thing," I said, knowing full well the protest sounded feeble because it was.

Samuel stopped, turning to face me with a smirk. "It's not a bad thing. It comes from a good place. But it must be exhausting to deal with all the time. I know you probably think of her as a woman surrounded by men, but you forget she grew up surrounded by men. And, your sister or not, a woman or not, she's smarter and more clever than you think. Clever people don't like being tied down to one thing, so she finds ways to feel free for a little while."

"Joseph doesn't know."

"Absolutely not, and he doesn't need to be told. You hover like a worried clucking hen because you care. He just wants to have anything he can under his control because he's a tiny man all too aware that he's small and wants to make up for it by seeming big."

It was as brutal as it was succinct, and I was reminded just how astute and harsh Samuel could be. Even though I knew better, it was sometimes easy to forget that under all his smiles,jokes, pranks, and smart comments, there was a man who’d been hardened and sharpened by the world into someone who relied on reading and knowing people to survive. Even if I didn't know my brother enough to agree with him, I’d seen how observant he could be and felt the bite of his verbal teeth when he was riled up.

"That's...well, fine," I said, trying to recover from the surprise of how accurate the assessment of my brother was, which begged the question of how accurate his assessment of me and my sister was.

He peered up at me, a curious expression crossing his face, brow slowly rising. "Why do you look like I gave you the most complicated question about life?"

I shook my head, trying to return my features to something a little more normal. I knew how we interacted had changed in the past couple of weeks, but realizing I was taking something he’d said as worth hearing, something deeply personal, was new. He had a good point. I saw my sister as a woman in need of protection, and if she was going to walk around the ranch, she should have an escort.

Yet she'd apparently been going on those walks of hers without me knowing a damn thing. And apparently, without the slightest trouble. Clearly, my sister didn't need as much protection as I thought...and apparently, I needed to have a little more faith in the men at the ranch. Even if they weren't all that trustworthy, the threat of what would happen if someone overstepped their boundaries would hopefully be enough of a deterrent.

"It's a shame your idea didn't pan out," I said, knowing full well any talk about physical pleasure would be more than enough to distract him from homing in on a perceived weak point and digging where I didn't need him to dig.

I was a little surprised when he immediately grinned, cocking his head. "Thatwasn'tmy idea. That was just the warm-up to my idea."

I wasn't sure if I should be worried or interested. “The...warm up?"

"Yes."

"And what's the idea?"

He grinned, leaning in close and dropping his voice. "Well, you see, ever since you decided to give us more freedom, we no longer have people watching us as closely. Especially at night."

"You had people watching you at night?"

"Maybe you didn't realize it, but yes. Your father made sure there were men taking turns watching our cabin at night. But ever since you made your decision, he dialed it back."

I wasn't sure how I felt about my father doing something like that without my knowledge, though it was like him to give with one hand while keeping something in reserve. It was also like the men of the ranch not to tell me what my father had ordered them to do. There was an unspoken agreement that so long as my father was giving the orders, you followed them and asked no questions, and you made sure to follow those orders to the exact letter.

"Ah," Samuel said with a twitch of his brow. "So you didn't know."

"I didn't," I admitted, as much as it pained me.

"Is it the fact that he did it behind your back or that he did it without mentioning it to you that bothers you so much?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Mm, fair enough," he said, though his eyes lingered on me for a little too long before he shrugged and continued. "In any case...why don't I stop by your cabin tonight?"

That brought me up short, and all thoughts of my father and his choices were washed from my mind at the implications of what Samuel said. "I...my cabin?"

"Why not?" he asked with a grin. "It's not as if we haven't already played with fire."

"So we set a bonfire instead?" I asked in shock.

"Honestly, it's probably safer than trying to have fun in random hiding places. Your cabin is away from the others; it'll be late at night, and since there's no one to watch over me, they'll never know I'm not where I'm supposed to be."

"And if you are seen?"

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