They were talking about her. She knew it. Was Knox trying to convince him to make her leave? She set the coffee mug down and rubbed her right arm as she thought about having to leave this place. Would Lowe listen to his brother? She doubted it. Lowe wanted to keep her here, and she was beginning to feel it wasn’t just because he wanted to help her. This attraction she felt wasn’t one-sided. Lowe liked her too.
Cameo looked around her at the cabin.
This hadn’t been part of the plan.
While she could probably continue her job as a ranger if she lived in a place this remote, it would be difficult. She would have to spend her working days living somewhere closer to where she needed to be, which would only leave the days she wasn’t working for her to live here. Would that be enough to make a relationship with Lowe work?
She cursed.
She was getting way ahead of herself as always, planning things ten steps ahead, filling a mental binder with every little detail of how her life would work if she lived with Lowe.
She wasn’t even sure that he wanted more than a fling.
She wasn’t even sure she wanted more than that.
Her heart called her a liar. She did want something serious with Lowe. She was just scared of it happening. Her last serious relationship had been with Karl and that hadn’t exactly ended well for her. What if she fell in love with Lowe and he broke her heart? What if it turned out he was as controlling as Karl had been and tried to make her quit her job and do whatever he said she should do?
It was enough to have her taking a mental step back from Lowe, put fear in her veins and doubts in her head.
She was rushing things, and it wasn’t like her, but something about Lowe made her desperate. A little wild. A lot reckless. It was like he brought out a side of her that she had never realised existed. A side that was possessive and also protective, urged her to seize him in both hands and not let him go.
That possessive and protective streak roared to the fore as four men and a woman strode into view from the direction of the woods and Lowe and Knox turned to face them. Both brothers took a few steps towards them and held their hands up, a clear indication to the newcomers to stop where they were.
Who were they?
More neighbours from the south?
She didn’t like the way the men gestured at each other, their motions screaming of aggression. The woman she had seen speaking to Lowe and Knox appeared on the deck of the cabin.
A man with blond hair stepped up beside one who had hair a shade lighter, closer to the colour of Lowe’s, and stared Knox down.
They were going to fight.
Cameo couldn’t stop herself from hobbling to the door and opening it, her heart racing as she thought about the men coming to blows, thought about Knox and Lowe involved in a brawl against four men. She wasn’t sure what she intended to do, but she had to do something.
She stepped out onto the deck and limped forwards.
The second she clutched the post that supported the overhanging roof, Lowe looked across at her.
“Cameo, go back inside,” he hollered and then turned on the men and said something she didn’t hear.
Cameo looked to her right, at the ash-blond man who was staring in her direction too now. Lowe had been speaking to him. The man looked as if he was on the verge of throwing the first punch, which had Knox closing ranks with his brother and saying something to him.
Lowe flicked her another worried look.
Cameo forced herself to take the hint and go back inside, even when what she really wanted to do was storm over to the men and make them leave. She glanced back at Lowe as she reached the door and her heart shot into her throat as he peeled his black coat off and discarded it. The urge to make him stop flooded her, had her pivoting back to face him.
Things looked as if they were going to come to a head when the woman on the deck of Saint’s cabin hurried down the steps and pushed past Lowe and Knox, coming to stand in front of them. She argued with the four men, looked for all the world as if she was going to be the one to fight them.
If she did, she wouldn’t be alone.
Lowe stepped up beside her and said something to the men, but it didn’t defuse the situation. Were they arguing about the woman being on their land, with one of them?
One of the men, the tall one with dark hair, stepped forwards too and spoke to the woman with a gentle look on his face. Her slight shoulders shifted in a sigh and she said something back to him, and then tensed and spun on her heel to face the cabin.
Cameo looked there too.
Her eyes widened as a big man stepped out onto the deck, his presence seeming to defuse the situation, taking everything from a raging boil to barely a simmer as everyone looked at him.
Saint, she presumed.
She grimaced as her leg hurt and bent to rub just above where the ache was worst. Maybe standing on a deck in the cold wasn’t the best medicine for her injury, but she hadn’t been able to go back inside when Lowe had looked ready to fight. She glanced at him and frowned. Everyone was dispersing now, and the woman was going with the group towards the forest.
Lowe strode towards her, concern etched on his handsome face as he pulled his coat on and his pace picked up the closer he got to her. He swiftly took the steps up onto the deck and cupped her cheek, a tender gesture that flooded her with warmth and made her realise he really did have feelings for her and they were running along the same lines as hers were for him.
His hand was cold as he smoothed it across her cheek, as he angled her head back and looked down into her eyes, his blue ones warm with concern. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Just a little sore.”
He cast a worried look at her leg. “You’re sure you don’t want to—”
“No. I’m fine here.” She almost cursed when that came out sounding desperate, scared.
He smiled softly. “Almost sound like you don’t want to leave this place.”
It wasn’t the place she didn’t want to leave—it was him. He stared down into her eyes, a sharp edge entering his as they stood in silence, and she had the feeling he was trying to glimpse things she wasn’t ready for him to see yet.
She searched for a change in topic, glanced beyond him when the intensity of his gaze began to fluster her, and found it as the big brunet man she believed to be Saint finished buttoning a checked fleece shirt and stepped off his deck.
Heading in her direction.
“What was all that about anyway?” She looked back at Lowe.
He huffed. “Holly lives with our neighbours, but she’s taken a shine to Saint, and she came to see him without telling her friends. They were worried about her.”
“Is that Saint?” She jerked her chin towards the man marching towards them.
Lowe turned and didn’t look happy to see the man closing in on them. He pressed his hand to her waist and eased her back towards the open door.
“You go on inside. Get warmed up.” He frowned when she stood her ground.
She wanted to meet the man who owned this place and she had the feeling he wanted to meet her too. Going inside wasn’t going to stop this man. She could see it in his dark eyes as he turned a frown on her.
“Knox said we had company.” Saint’s deep voice rolled over her like thunder, a hard edge to it as he slid Lowe a look that told Cameo he wasn’t happy about it.
The second he placed a booted foot on the stairs that led up to the raised deck, Lowe turned on him and pressed a hand to his chest, stopping him. Something passed silently between them as they glared at each other, their faces stern and eyes dark.