“Okay. Do you need help?”
“No. You go sit with them. That way you can reassure my brothers I’m good.”
Right. Nothing was going to convince Phoenix and River their sister was okay. But I wasn’t going to argue.
“Need you to promise me something before I go.”
“What’s that?” she asked warily.
“That you understand no matter what you say to me, how hard you try to push me away, I’m not leaving. Not physically but especially not emotionally. I will not abandon you. I will not allow you to close down and keep yourself from me.”
“I’m counting on that,” she whispered.
I stood motionless as the burn worked its way through my body. A burn that cauterized old wounds I hadn’t realized weren’t healed. Leftover abrasions on my soul that had yet to be treated. Some were minor—the residual pain of losing my career. Some were bigger, marks that would never fully go away but hadn’t yet scarred over. Things I’d done and seen and failed to do. But one thing I knew for certain, Shiloh Kent, a woman who did not trust, did not allow herself to connect, held herself remote, would not believe in me unless I’d earned it. So, yeah, fuck yeah, the old wounds sealed over.
“If we didn’t have company including two of your brothers sitting in your living room, I’d drag your ass into your bedroom and show you what your trust means to me.”
“They have to leave sometime,” she returned with a smile.
“I’m being very serious, Shiloh. Means the world to me, baby.”
Her face softened—no, everything softened as she silently stared at me.
“The world,” I repeated.
“Means the world to me, too, Luke, knowing you won’t leave me.”
Fucking hell. She knew that, too.
Thank Christ.
“I’m walking out of the kitchen now before I stop having a care your brothers are here and would likely be displeased, they saw me hauling you through your living room.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m not sure if Phoenix or River could live through that kind of trauma.”
“Right.”
I tagged my beer off the counter and hightailed my ass out of Shiloh’s kitchen. Not because I was worried my control would slip and her brothers would witness something that would likely turn them off sex for a very long time. Something bigger was at play, something that needed to be contained. Because while Shiloh was holding on, acknowledging what she was feeling, telling her I loved her might push her too far. And I needed her as close as I could get her right now.
“Please tell me you made brownies,” River said from across the table.
It was after dinner; dirty plates, empty serving plates, beer bottles, and balled-up napkins littered the table. No one was getting up to clear or clean. Not because the men around the table were being rude, it was because no one could move. Even though everyone had eaten at the picnic they’d still decimated the meal Shiloh had made.
“Sadly, I did not,” Shiloh returned.
“Ice cream?” River tried.
“Nope.”
“Cookies?”
“Jesus, Riv, you ate half a pig earlier,” Phoenix said. “And just now, two pieces of chicken and a plate full of broccoli salad.”
“I didn’t eat half a pig. I only had one sandwich. Though I did have three plates of potato salad. Which reminds me, I’m gonna need the name and address of whoever made it, so I can get down on my knees and ask her to marry me.”
“Actually.” Ethan chuckled. “My dad made the potato salad.”
“Well, damn,” River muttered.
“You need a wife,” Shiloh told River.
River shot her a filthy look even though he’d just said he was down to propose marriage to the potato salad maker.
“Bite your tongue, woman. I need no such thing. Though that shy redhead at the picnic was damn cute.”
Oh, shit. The only redhead at the picnic was Lauren. My eyes slid to Logan and just as expected his jaw was clenched. He would never make a move on our pretty receptionist, but it seemed he didn’t want anyone else to.
Silence ensued.
Then it stretched to uncomfortable.
“What?” River asked. “I thought she was single.”
“Oh, she’s single,” Matt put in. “But good luck getting in there. She’s on the shy side.”
Logan growled.
Matt smiled.
“It’s the shy ones who are always wild,” River continued.
The guy had no idea he was digging the knife into Logan’s chest, and with Matt egging him on River was likely going to twist it.
“She’s not a natural redhead,” Matt noted. “But I bet she could be fiery with the right…persuasion.”
Logan growled again.
“Well, hook a brother up.”
Yep, there was the knife being twisted.
“Yeah, no,” Shiloh cut in. “I know Lauren. She is shy. She’s also sweet. And you, big brother, are a dawg. You’d chew her up and spit her out. Go find someone else to play with who understands what one night, no repeats, means because that is not Lauren. Just today she told me she’s looking to settle down. She wants a husband and kids and she’s serious about finding a man.”
Fuck.
I was wrong; it wasn’t River who twisted the knife, it was Shiloh.
Logan wanted Lauren something fierce. But he didn’t want a relationship. Didn’t believe love was real. And he really, really, didn’t want kids.
“Hell, yeah,” Dylan barked, and all eyes went to him.
His head was bowed and he was looking at his phone.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“Got the prints back,” Dylan announced. “Jeff Shepard was in Becca Harper’s bedroom. Prints on the door handle, nightstand, and also on the shovel at the rental property he swore he never touched.”
Ethan looked shell-shocked and Dylan looked like he was ready to pump his fist in triumph.
“Is that enough to haul his ass back to Georgia?” I queried.
“You talking about the Harper cold case?” Phoenix was looking between me and Ethan.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Righteous.”
“Fucking finally,” Ethan muttered. “Thanks for dinner, Shiloh, but I gotta run.”
“Hey,” Shiloh called softly and waited for Ethan’s attention to come to her. “Good work.”
“Not me who drove to Montgomery. That was your man who broke the case.”
With that, Ethan jogged through Shiloh’s living room.
“Be good that little girl can finally get justice.”
River wasn’t lying.
A high-pitched squawk followed by a long tone filled the room and Shiloh’s eyes drifted closed.
“Shit,” Shiloh muttered.
“Thought you weren’t on call,” Phoenix protested.
“I’m not, but two warrants came yesterday, we only got to serve one. Bravo was going to serve the other one tonight. If they’re caught up in that.” Shiloh shrugged and sighed. “You know the drill.”
“Go get ready, I’ll start cleaning up,” I told her.
“Will you be here when I get home?”