Quinn Brody stepped off the porch into the bright light of day. From the looks of things, a big bad day just got a whole lot worse.
She was here, looking like every boy’s dream. Damn it. She was supposed to be older, rounder, shorter, but this woman was all wrong. She climbed out of her old Bronco.
Too young, too tall, and lean with long shiny black hair that caught the wind. She gathered the lengths and tied it into a knot. He’d always liked black-haired women.
His brothers, Damien and Kal noticed, too. “Down boys,” he muttered for their ears only.
Their new housekeeper braced her feet wide. Low boots and Daisy Dukes made her legs look a mile long. A determined set to her mouth warned him of trouble, but being the eldest and most likely to spit trouble in the eye, he approached first.
When Damien and Kal backed him up, he knew their hackles had risen, too. The Brodys hated liars. And this woman had lied. How many more would she spin?
“You said you could cook. You’re too skinny to know your way around a kitchen.”
They’d advertised for a motherly type. What they had in the front yard was one hot mama.
“I cook. I clean. I do laundry.” She gave the ranch house behind him a good look. “I even do windows.”
Quinn stepped up close and took her hands in his. He flipped her palms up. The evidence was there; calluses and ragged fingernails. He dropped her hands and then turned to his brothers. “She’s a worker. No doubt.”
“Ma wouldn’t like her,” Kal said softly. “She told us a pretty woman would only bring trouble.”
At the left-handed compliment, the housekeeper grunted. “I won’t be any trouble.” The tone contained a plea. “And I’m flat out of gas, money and time. I need this job.” Her chin jutted as if the confession had cost her.
Damien scoffed. “Ma’s gone, rest her soul, and I’m too hungry to try another ad.” He scowled at Kal. “If you’d married Lisa last year like you should’ve, we’d be eating real food, not frozen shit.”
Quinn nodded. “Fine. We’ll give you a month to see if this is going to work. It’s quiet out here. No one visits for weeks at a time. You okay living this far out of town?”
Her ice blue gaze scanned the horizon. “The farther, the better.” She turned toward the back of the vehicle.
His brothers broke formation and ran to help get her gear. A couple boxes, a suitcase and a plastic tub with a broken lid. Inside, he saw a bright red set of kitchen appliances. A mixer, he thought. “You bake cakes?”
“Pies. I like to bake pies.”
“Welcome to Paradise Ranch.” Where the winds howl and so do the men. This woman was a whole lot of trouble on two legs, but pies? Bring ‘em on!…
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“Looks more like Paradise Lost,” she mumbled under her breath.
“What’d you say?” Quinn caught up with her and grabbed her arm. Too hard by the look on her face.
She jerked away from him and the fire in her eyes dared him to reach for her again. “I cook, I clean, I bake pies. I don’t do the employers so if you’re smart, you’ll keep your hands to yourself. And I don’t fix broken things.”
Quinn dropped his hands to his side. “Look, I’m…s-sorry.” The apology stuttered on his tongue. He never was able to say that word to Lisa. But for some reason, it was important to say it to this woman. Even if he had to force it.
She looked him up and down, then glanced at his brothers who’d managed to make it to the porch with her stuff and were muscling it through a screen door that hung crooked on it’s frame.
The silence hung as off kilter as the door. Quinn finally broke first. “It takes us awhile to get to fixin’ things sometimes.”
“Yeah. I can see that. Did your last housekeeper forget to fix the door?”
She waited expectantly, but Quinn wasn’t about to go into detail. She didn’t need to know the last female on the property had been Lisa. Or that Lisa couldn’t cook or clean or fix anything at all. “Things didn’t work out with the last one. After she left, we just kind of let things slide for awhile. But there’s too much to do on the ranch now and we can’t do everything so we advertised.”
“You’re not going to expect me to work outside too, are you?” Reena shifted the box she’d been holding to her other hip and Quinn automatically reached out and took it from her.
“We need someone to cook and clean. Me and my brothers will take care of the broken stuff. Like I said, we’ll give it a month. You manage to keep the place clean and my brothers fed, you’ll keep the job.”
Tilting her head to the side, her eyes narrowed and she gave him a piercing gaze. “And you? Don’t you need to be fed too? It’s not just your brothers who need to eat, is it?”
She watched Quinn’s mouth thin to a tight line. Then he turned on his heel and walked into the house leaving Reena alone. Away from town was one thing, but what had she gotten herself into?
****
Heya, Bonnie! I’ve missed you!
Wow, this is great! Hi Bonnie, Hi NM 🙂
…What had he gotten himself into? Quinn wondered. Her pies had better be damn good for the kind of trouble she brought with her.
His ma would’ve whacked him with a wooden spoon for shouldering his way into the house before a lady, but to be fair, Quinn wasn’t so sure she was a lady.
“You’re room’s down the hall.” Quinn told his new live-in housekeeper. “Across from mine.” Aww hell, why’d his voice drop like that. Snap out of it, Quinn!
Both of his brothers were still in her room putting boxes down as he and his housekeeper entered. “What’s your name, anyway?”
“Reena.”
Her voice was low for a woman, but the kind of low that made a man think of long nights with that voice whispering his name. By the looks on his brothers’ faces, they thought the same. He even caught Damien adjusting himself when he thought no one was looking. Damn, this was the kind of trouble they didn’t need from her. His brothers liked women, hell, he liked women, but this? This was too much. She was too much. He could smell her, in this heat, and in this small room, he could smell her. She looked sweaty, but she smelled of cloves and nutmeg. No woman had ever drawn him like this one, not even Lisa…
NM, I love love love the line: “I don’t fix broken things.” Meaning the men, their lives, Quinn’s heart. OH, yeah. These lines make for page turners.
And thanks for coming up with a name for our heroine: Reena’s lovely.
And you Scottish lass: I love the scent of her in the room, in the heat…that she smelled of cloves and nutmeg. Very evocative and often sense of smell is ignored in a scene.
What fun…I’ve no idea how long this will be up here, but I’m off to a writing meeting but will check back in if I can.
And NM, I’ve missed you, too! Thought of you yesterday while out walking the dog.
And HH. While I was eating dinner, I, too, wondered if this little beginning could turn into a story!
And yes, since I wrote it I have the copyright so I can take it and run with it. But first, there’s a line up of characters in my head waiting for their turn. LOL
Some days it would be nice if they shut up!
Have a great day…I hope we make this a fun short story!
Bonnie
Keep it going Ladies! This is open till Sunday night. I love to see how far we can take it
DL
ARGH!!! I had a huge post here and hit submit and Blogger erased it AGAIN!! I’m really beginning to hate blogger. Really.
Quinn rounded the corner in time to see Damien taking a swig of orange juice straight from the container. Kal stood before him, hand outstretched, fingers waving in frantic anticipation.
“Put. The orange juice. Down!” Quinn thundered.
Damien started, turning toward Quinn, which caused the juice to slip over his chin, down his neck and all over the front of his flannel shirt. Kal snatched his hand back and watched the saturation before he burst out in laughter. Damien gave him an evil look and chucked the container at him which he managed to duck from. Unfortunately, the wall didn’t and a huge orange stain spread down the dingy paint.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?”
“Hey. He’s the one who started–“
“Never mind,” Quinn mumbled, shaking his head. He tossed a towel at Damien. “Clean that mess up. We need to talk.”
“Hey, Damien, you missed a spot.” Kal shot at his brother with a falsetto voice. “Don’t let dad see a less than perfect job.” He gave Quinn a loopy grin that managed to get him shoved into a chair.
“I said we have to talk. Reena’s off limits.”
Damien stopped in mid-swipe. “What do you mean off limits. Seems to me she’s a big girl–“
“Yup, a big girl who’s really pretty.” Kal interjected.
“Who is old enough to make up her own mind.”
“I don’t care. Leave her alone.” Quinn said it with too much force. He knew he did. He just didn’t understand why. “And another thing. Stop behaving like you’re under the age of ten. Use a glass. And quit throwing the food.”
Both brothers chimed a “yes dad” in unison.
“Just finish cleaning that up then get out to the back barn. That stall ain’t gonna fix itself.” Quinn marched out the door, trying to put some distance between himself and his ever frustrating brothers.
Reena looked around her new room. An antique bedroom set took center stage, with an ornate headboard and huge chest of drawers. All of the knickknacks in the room looked to be from another era and the feminine touches led her to believe it must have been their mother’s room at one point. With an inch of dust covering everything, she wondered how long ago the ‘last one’ had been here and if she’d stayed in this room too. Didn’t look like it.
She opened the top of a box and tears stung her eyes. How far would she have to run. Maybe this was far enough. Maybe she could make a life for herself here. Maybe she could hide from him and stay alive. And maybe a hundred more maybes might just convince her of her own hopes. She doubted it.
Oh, NM. You got it spot on. Reena’s on the run. I wanted to hint at it and let people here take it further. You rocked it, lady.
Loved the brothers play in the kitchen, too.
Will come back with another addition in a bit!
Bonnie
Reena gathered her nerve. He’d been close in Galveston, but she’d gone to ground faster than usual. Here, in the wilds of Wyoming, she’d have a better chance of avoiding the bounty hunter.
And if she played her cards right, these Brody brothers would make great cover. Pretty good protectors, too. With no electronic trail, and no reason to poke her head out into the world, she might make it through this month long trial.
For that, she’d happily bake pies, wash windows and scrub floors.
She just hoped these men would keep their hands to themselves. Especially Quinn. He seemed way more dangerous than the younger ones.
Dangerous, but controlled.
A soft knock came and she opened the bedroom door a crack. “Yes?”
“Nightfall’s coming. I suggest you lock your door before moon rise.”
“Okaaaay.” She glanced at her bedside clock. “Time enough to throw together a meal though, right?”
Quinn’s stomach answered for him. “Make it fast.”
She stepped into the hall with him. “Sure thing.” He followed her along the hall and downstairs to the kitchen, her very own man-sized shadow.
Speaking of shadows. . . “Wow, that five o’clock shadow of yours sort of came out of nowhere. I could have sworn when I got here that you’d just shaved.”
He flushed! Like a girl! Which only made his bristles more obvious. “It’s hereditary. Better get a move on with that dinner. The boys’ll be starved in no time.”
“I bet that’s a sight to behold,” she muttered as she opened the fridge. “Omelettes fast enough?”
“Great!” Three voices directly behind her nearly frightened her out of her skin.
“Jeeze! You gotta stop sneaking up on me!” She turned and the Brodys had her crowded against the open fridge door. She smiled. Wide.
They stepped back as one. “Reena, you’ve got some big teeth.”
“I can handle myself,” she said and stepped around the gawking men. “Now, hand me a skillet.”
Why was it so important to lock her doors before the moon rose? Reena couldn’t help but wonder. They were out in the middle of nowhere.
Reena wondered about Quinn’s intense 5 o’clock shadow as well, it wasn’t quite, natural, for lack of a better word. And for large men, they sure could move quietly. And quickly.
Before she got a chance to sit down to her own omelette, all three brothers had wolfed down theirs.
Shrugging it off to hungry boys, Reena sat down to her own dinner.
“Thanks Reena!” Damien’s thank you included a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Not to be outdone, Kal kissed her full on the mouth. Reena almost choked on her eggs.
Quinn growled at his younger brothers-you’d think they were little kids being chastised by their dad!
Reena stepped between the brothers and put a hand on Quinn’s arm…his really strong and muscular arm…and tried in her best soothing-a-wild-animal voice “hey, it’s okay, Quinn, they were just thanking me.”
Without taking his eyes from his brothers, who both had looked away, he growled “This is why you won’t work out.”
Reena stiffened. Oh hell no! She needed this job. “They weren’t flirting, they were just happy to have full bellies. Stop making such a big deal about nothing!”
Quinn finally turned his attention to Reena, and his eyes were glowing! “Kissing you is nothing? So it’s nothing if I kiss you?” Before she could answer, Quinn’s lips crushed hers, and beneath all his anger, all his tension, was a wild flavor. Something she’d never tasted on a man before.
As his tongue slipped in between her lips, his kiss felt more primitive, more like a claiming. Reena was no longer sure staying here was a good idea.
And as abruptly as it began, Quinn lifted his head and stared her down.
His brothers interrupted with “moon’s up.”
Quinn never broke his feral stare, and she felt both calmed and terrified by it. Her heart seemed to beat so loudly, but if he heard it, he said nothing. There was something territorial in that man, she found herself thinking. But what was it?
A secret.
“Outside,” he ordered his brothers, and they scurried out the front door. Turning back to her with a sudden indifference, he said, “You should probably turn in for the night.”
She scooped up her plate and glass and carried them to the kitchen without a word. She wanted to rinse the dishes, but before she even reached for the tap, she felt a hand at her shoulder.
“Later,” he said, ushering her down the hall to her room.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, standing in her doorjamb and turning to face him.
“Of course,” Quinn said, trying his best not to worry her, “why wouldn’t it be?”
Of course, she thought, mocking him, why wouldn’t it be? Obviously something was going on here. But she couldn’t possibly ask what without getting herself in trouble. Better not to draw attention.
“Okay, well, good night,” she managed. The moonlight gleamed in his eyes. Except, there isn’t any moonlight shining in this room, is there? she asked herself.
Quinn pulled the wooden door shut, and muffled through the knotty alder, said, “Don’t forget to lock your door.”
With a twist of the lock, Reena turned toward the oversize bed and slipped off her shoes.
As she prepared for bed, she remembered the way he used to look at her; at least, she remembered the way he used to look at her during the good times. He had a way of making her skin crawl by day, but smooth over and melt by night.
Reena pulled her hair down from the bun and let it cascade carelessly down her back, shaking it out of its twist as if shaking loose those old memories. She hoped one day to be free of them – free of the memories, and free of him.
Until the late hours of the night, she found herself trying to stare out the skylight into the night sky. It felt like a constant reminder that wherever she was, he was out there somewhere, looking for her, looking at the same sky, and no matter what she did to disguise herself or hide or even answer an ad all the way out in the middle of nowhere, he was just one step away from finding her. She shuddered at his memory and swung out of bed, determined that a glass of water would help her sleep.
But when she quietly unlocked her door, so as not to wake the brothers Brody, and swung open the heavy panel, she couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of Quinn. He stood stark naked at the opposite end of the hall, drinking from a pitcher whose contents spilled down his muscled back in tiny rivulets.
He snapped his head in her direction and landed his icy stare on her form.
Is it any wonder I love these round robins? No one ever knows what’s next. What a hoot.
“Something she’d never tasted on a man before.” LOL — does she usually kiss women? (yes, I write erotic romance, but I tend to keep it to m/f) or maybe she’s used to kissing another species altogether?
What fun and we could probably go a whole week with this thing.
BTW, calling dibs on these names – I like-y the Brodys.
Bonnie
maybe he’s not a man….
I say we keep it going till Thursday!
DL
Have more floating through my head, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I’m having fun! I used to do this with a group of friends. I still have them all up on a really obscure website because it’s how we got to them all.
Anyway, off to bed. Later dudettes! 😉
‘Oh, my,’ sighed past her lips from somewhere deep in her chest. Reena wanted to slap her hand over her mouth the minute the sound left it, but she was too shocked at the vision before her.
He looked even taller, standing in the half-shadow at the end of the hall. Bigger. More muscular. Darker somehow as if he were covered with a fine layer of fur. She let her gaze travel from his broad shoulders to his narrow waist. Even in the scant light, she saw his nice, tight ass and thighs so powerful, they looked like runner’s thighs.
Adonis, standing in the hallway.
He turned slightly then and she got her first look at his solid chest, tight abs and, oh my lord was that? Wow!
Just…wow!
Her breathing picked up and she ran her tongue over the edge of her upper teeth. This man could be nothing but a world of trouble for her. One month. She only needed one month for sure. If things worked out here…then she raised her gaze to his face and started.
His eyes were blazing red.
“Get in that room and lock your door. Now!”
It growled out of him in such a way, she was powerless to resist. She turned on her heel and slipped back into her room, throwing the lock. Then she crossed the room, grabbed the small chair from the dressing table and crammed it under the door handle. When she was sure it was wedged tight, she leaned against the wall beside the door. She heard him in the hall, stomping toward her door where he stopped. There was a brushing noise as if he was running his hand over the jamb.
Then silence.
“Q-Quinn?” It didn’t come out the way she wanted it to. Rather than sounding normal, it was a whisper-squeak and made her sound pathetic and frightened. She hadn’t made it this far being either and had no intention of starting now.
“Quinn!” This time it sounded more authoritative and she was proud of herself. She waited, still hearing nothing. She was about to turn back to the bed when she heard his low, almost unearthly voice beyond the door.
“Don’t open that door again until I come for you in the morning.”
And then he was gone.
Quinn paused a short way down the hall. He knew she couldn’t hear him. But he heard her when she jumped into bed and, from the sound of it, pulled the covers over her head. What was it about women and their complete inability to listen to instructions? Was it too hard for her to just do as he’d asked? Stay in her room with the door locked? Two simple things and yet, the first time he’d let his guard down, she was halfway down the hall.
Damn! Damn, damn, damn! Now he’d have to give her some ridiculous reason for his presence and peculiar state of undress. Then again, he could let her believe it had all been a dream. That was the easy thing to do. A planted suggestion or two and she’d think she’d been sleepwalking. Good thing his brothers weren’t around. That would have made it a lot harder to convince her.
Damn.