Page 72 of Nauti Boy (Nauti 1)

“Several might have tried though,” Dawg pointed out, his lips twitching in a grin.

She stared between the three of them before her gaze moved back to Rowdy. He could see it in her eyes, she must have caught part of the conversation, but that didn’t mean she liked any of it. He was realizing just how intensely private his little love was, and it shocked him to realize how much that pleased him.

He should have known Kelly would change the rules on him; what surprised him was the fact that she made him like it. It sent a strange little pulse of pride through him, that considering his past, he shouldn’t have felt.

“If you’re making plans concerning my life or my safety,” she said then, crossing her arms beneath the tempting mounds of her breasts, “I think I should be a part of the planning process. Don’t you?”

What had made him think she would accept anything less?

“Now, Kelly,” Natches drawled then. “We can take care of the detail stuff here. You shouldn’t worry your little head about this stuff. ”

Rowdy and Dawg both blinked back at the other man, wondering if he’d lost his ever-lovin’ mind. Everyone who knew Kelly knew you simply did not patronize her, period. She was sharp as a whip and had definite ideas on a lot of things. Pig-headed men being one of those things.

Kelly’s eyes narrowed on him. “Just not worry my little head about it?” she asked him gently.

“Kelly…” Rowdy cleared his throat, looking for an excuse for his dim-witted cousin.

“More or less. ” Natches’s smile was condescending as Rowdy stared at him in disbelief. When had his cousin decided that women were stupid?

“Kelly, sweetheart, Dad and Maria were supposed to—”

“Don’t try to distract me, Rowdy, it doesn’t work,” she snapped, her dark eyes furious as her stubborn chin lifted, her soft lips tightening in anger as her gaze swung back to Natches.

“Come on, Kelly, we all know Natches can be a knothead,” Dawg sighed. “Let’s not hurt him too bad here. We might need him down the road later to dig ditches or something. ”

Natches’s lips lifted in a grin as his light green eyes stayed locked on Kelly. And suddenly, Rowdy knew his game. He almost laughed when his gaze went back to Kelly and rather than seeing furious arousal glittering in her eyes, he only saw the anger.

His little spitfire wasn’t in the least turned on by Natches’s confrontational attitude.

“You know, Natches”—she lifted a hand and surveyed her nails for a second before lifting her gaze back to the other man—“just because I’m not exactly a part of the upper crust of this fine little town doesn’t mean I don’t know its little secrets. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m one of those slow-witted little blondes you and Dawg have been snacking on lately. Because I’m not. And neither am I at all interested in taming that bad boy thing you have going on. And as for you. ” She turned to Rowdy.

Rowdy lifted his brow curiously. There was the arousal. It glittered just beneath the anger as she raked over his lazy slouch against the bar. “Before making any plans that concern my future, maybe you’ll be good enough to discuss them with me first. If you don’t mind, that is. ”

Ouch. The lash of displeasure in her voice actually stung.

“And I think that’s our cue to go,” Dawg stated with a smile as he straightened from where he was leaning against the wall. “Let’s go, Natches. ”

“Like hell,” Natches drawled. “Watching her neuter him is way too much fun. ”

Rowdy straightened as hurt flashed in Kelly’s eyes as she stared back at the other man. Natches’s tone was bordering snide, and Rowdy was fed up with it.

“Natches, shut the hell up,” he warned softly.

“Why?” Natches asked with apparent joviality. “Hell, Rowdy, I’m taking notes here. Watching you get your dick twisted in a knot like this over her is teaching me what not to do. ”

He was going to kill Natches.

“Kelly, ignore that fool,” Dawg drawled then. “He’s just pissed as hell that you’re not twisting his dick, that’s all. ”

“And he’s getting ready to get his ass kicked. ” Rowdy moved then.

He stalked across the room, ignoring Kelly’s flinch as he pulled her against him, his lips pressing to her forehead as he held her to him, his gaze slicing to Natches in warning.

“We’re just discussing the best place to protect you, baby. ” He rubbed his hand down her arm, feeling her tremble against him despite her anger. “No plans are being made without you. I promise. ”

“I don’t need to be babied. ” She pulled away from him, but the hurt in her voice was easy to hear and Rowdy promised he was going to make Natches pay for that one. “I just thought somehow, plans that included me were my business. Just forget it. ”

She turned and stalked from the room as Rowdy turned back to Natches. The minute he heard her moving up the hallway, he jumped for the older man.

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