chapter 22

Isaackissedtheside of my head. “I’ll take you home if you want. It might be better to work shit out with him now, though. He typically stays around for a few weeks when he comes down from the mountain. You might be seeing a lot of him around the office.”

I groaned and dropped my head back on his chest. “Well, that sucks.”

Blake looked at Isaac and nodded to the sleeping baby in his arms. “Don’t let him come in here stomping around. Hank just fell asleep.”

I grinned despite myself and crawled back to their sides to press a kiss to both of their cheeks. Blake took advantage of his and moved his head so I kissed his lips. Standing up, I sighed and then straightened my back. “Maybe I’ll just talk to him on the porch. That way, if he shouts at me for trying to climb the Steele brothers’ ladder of erections, he won’t wake Hank.”

Isaac laughed and stood up. “I’ll come with you.”

“I’m okay. I can handle him.” At least I hoped I could.

He grunted and walked me to the door. “Was whatever happened between the two of you that bad?”

I cut my eyes to Hank without meaning to and shook my head. “It was barely anything. Sex behind the bar in town. Not that sex is barely anything. I just mean we barely spoke. God, that sounds terrible, too. I’m not a complete slut. Although, from what the two of you have experienced…”

Isaac bent to be eye level with me. “You’re not a slut. There was nothing wrong with what we did together.”

“Try telling your brother that.”

“He knows there’s nothing wrong with what we do.” There was a tone to Isaac’s voice that made me think he wasn’t saying something, but then I heard heavy boots coming up the steps and didn’t have time to press Isaac for more information.

Pushing him away, I slipped out the front door and came face to face with Julian. Face to chest, anyway. I tipped my head back, bumping it on the door, and stared into his annoyed face. Instead of giving in to his clear dislike of me and getting angry, I swallowed my nerves and forced a smile. “Hey. I thought maybe we could talk out here before we go in. That way, if you want to shout, you can do it out here.”

Julian just stared at me for another few seconds before grumbling and heading over to one of the rockers.

“Although, I’m not sure why you’d want to shout at me.” I sank into the rocker next to him and crossed my legs, suddenly realizing I was wearing a short sundress.

“So, what? You’re just making yourself at home on the family ranch? You don’t see how that might be weird?” His deep voice was even gruffer than normal and he didn’t attempt to hide the mistrust and frustration in his eyes.

“I have a home, and it’s not here. Your brothers picked me up from that home to hang out tonight.” I sighed. “And I know it’s weird. I know that everything about it is weird. Trust me when I tell you this isn’t what I had in mind when I moved here.”

“Am I interrupting whatever orgy you three were having?”

Shame washed over me, but I resisted showing him. “Yep. We’ve got a few other guys coming over soon, too, if you don’t mind making this visit quick.”

He snorted. “Tell me how you ended up finding the men in town who happen to have my same face.”

I snorted right back at him. “Isaac’s face is much more interesting than yours. And Blake’s is just pretty.”

That actually got a laugh. “Well, shit.”

I looked out at the darkness that had engulfed the ranch. “I didn’t mean to intrude on your life. It just happened. I was kind of hoping not to run into you for this exact reason. It’s awkward.”

“There goes my theory that you’re some kind of deranged stalker, I guess.”

“I barely have time to wash my hair some days. I can assure you that I don’t have the time to stalk you.”

“More meetings with your sister keeping you running around?”

I flushed at the memory of our first meeting and tugged at the hem of my dress. He remembered details of our meeting, which struck me as strange, but I ignored it. “If you want to talk with your brothers alone, I’ll gladly go home. I just have to gather Hank and—”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “There’s another man in there?”

I wagged my brows while standing. “Oh, yeah.”

“What the fuck? Since when do they bring in another—”

“My son.” I stopped at the door and turned back to face a too close Julian. “Hank is my son.”

“You have a kid? Here?”

I opened the door and walked in to find Blake standing, still rocking Hank, and Isaac hovering around them. Biting my lip to keep from smiling at the sight, I walked closer and saw that Hank was awake and looked teary-eyed. “Did he wake up?”

“It’s my fault. I tried to stand up without disturbing him, but I must’ve jostled him just enough to startle him. He woke up mad about it.”

I gently took Hank and held him against my chest, patting his butt ever so lightly. “There we go, baby boy. You’re okay. Momma’s got you.”

Isaac grunted. “That’s all it took, huh? Nothing we did worked.”

Blake frowned. “I think my feelings are hurt.”

Laughing, I cradled the back of Hank’s head and walked around the kitchen, noticing there was ice cream out on the counter, next to a couple of big sandwiches. I pointed at the ice cream and looked over at Isaac. “Mine?”

He nodded and handed me a spoon while he scooped a big bowl full of the chocolate goodness. “So. You two good?”

I shoved a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth between patting Hank and glanced back at Julian, who’s gone non-verbal. Shrugging, I looked away and tried to ignore the fact that Hank and his father were in the same room. My hands shook, but I tried to hide it by shoveling more ice cream into my mouth.

“Julian? You good?”

“So. The three of you are just hanging out…with a baby?” Shaking his head, Julian scratched his beard. “How old is the kid?”

I dropped my spoon and winced when Hank let out a loud wail. “Sorry, sorry.”

Isaac cleaned up my mess while Blake rubbed Hank’s little back. “What’s wrong, little guy?”

“He didn’t nap today, so he’s cranky. It’s my fault. I kept him up to spend time with him. I can just go.” I looked around frantically for his bag, even as he started crying louder. “I’m sorry.”

Isaac caught me and pulled me into his arms. “Slow down. He’s okay. Unless you just want to go home, we can handle him letting us know he’s angry for a bit.”

I blinked back overwhelmed tears and kept my head planted in his chest. “He’ll stop soon. He’s just exhausted.”

“He’ll stop when he’s done and then I’ll pour you something to drink to go with your ice cream. How does that sound?”

I nodded and pulled away. “I’m just going to get him settled on your bed.”

Hank calmed down pretty much once we were in the dark bedroom. I rocked him and sang him the lullaby that Kara had sung to me when I was little. In under a minute, he was passed out again, his little thumb shoved into his mouth.

“You’ve got a pretty voice.” Julian’s low tone came from right behind me, and I jumped. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

I shook my head. “You’re fine. Help me make a pillow wall around him?”

My brain screamed at me that what I was doing was weird. Having Julian help with Hank was wrong when he didn’t know. It was wrong that he didn’t know. It was wrong that I was there with them in the first place. Everything I was doing was wrong.