Counting Her Blessings [Riverbend, Texas Heat 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Caitlyn was probably five foot three inches with rich auburn hair and the brightest green eyes he’d ever seen. She had an hourglass figure that was soft and rounded, totally feminine. He liked to have something to hold on to when he was making love to a woman.

  Just thinking about her luscious figure had his cock standing up at attention. She was perfect for them. They would have to figure out how to prove it to her though. Somehow, he had a feeling there was more going on than was apparent. Anyone who would drive like she did to get somewhere had a reason for doing it. He wanted to know what her reason was.

  Chapter Two

  Caitlyn woke on her own for the first time and wished she hadn’t. Her head hurt, and she felt as if she’d been run over by a tractor-trailer. That was what she got for thinking she could drive like she did to get to Brian’s house. Brian’s house! She still wasn’t there. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the massive bed. It was big enough for three or four people.

  A noise at the door startled her. The double doors opened and one of the men from the night before walked in. He was tall and lanky with just enough muscles to keep him from being skinny. He probably topped out at about six feet six inches. He had wavy brown hair and hazel eyes that twinkled as he looked at her.

  “Morning. How are you feeling?”

  “Um, okay.”

  He cocked his head and frowned at her.

  “Well, my head hurts and I’m really stiff.”

  “You could probably use some more Tylenol and a hot bath. I’ll run get the Tylenol.” The he turned back and smiled at her, his eyes flashing when he did. “I’m Lamar. My brother Brody and I found you last night. I’ll be right back.”

  He disappeared through the doors. Caitlyn stood up and winced at the tightness in her back. She really had screwed up. Brian was going to be so angry with her. What choice had she had, though? She had nowhere to go.

  “Here you go.” Lamar handed her a glass of water and two Tylenol pills. She downed the pills and drank the entire glass of water.

  “Come on. I’ll run you some water and you can soak in the tub. It will do wonders for your stiffness.” Lamar led her to the enormous master bath. The tub was big enough for three just like the bed.

  Silly, they probably are into ménages like your brother is. He said the entire town was different.

  “Okay, make yourself at home. I’m going to cook breakfast in a little while. Have any preferences?”

  “Oh, no. Thanks. I’m not really all that hungry.” Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

  Heat raced up her neck into her cheeks. Lamar chuckled.

  “Okay, I’ll surprise you.” He turned around and walked out of the bathroom and then closed the bedroom doors behind him.

  Caitlyn squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears that suddenly threatened to fall. She needed to get hold of herself. She needed to be in control when Brian made it back. He would try to railroad her into something she didn’t want just like Harold had. If she didn’t have a plan in place, he would succeed.

  Turning off the water, Caitlyn searched through her bags for clean clothes and closed herself up in the bathroom. She slipped into the tub and moaned in bliss at the feel of the warm water enveloping her stiffened muscles. It quickly lulled her into a drowsy state where nothing mattered but enjoying the feel of warmth surrounding her. Sometimes she felt as if she would never truly be warm inside again.

  Harold had taken her warmth and security away from her when he admitted that he was already married to someone else in another state. All his business trips had been to see her. His job as a salesman kept him on the road a lot, but she had always trusted him. He had never given her any reason to doubt him or their marriage.

  Then one day, he came home and confessed that he was already married to another woman in Tennessee. He had married her two years before he married Caitlyn. In other words, she had been living a lie for the last five years of their life. Not only that, but he had two children by his first wife and then had a vasectomy. All the time that she thought it had been her fault they couldn’t have children, it had been his.

  The only reason he was confessing his duplicity to her was that his first wife had found out about Caitlyn and threatened to tell her. She swallowed and buried the pain deep inside her once again. She would not let it rule her. Never again would she depend on someone else for her happiness.

  She wasn’t sure how long she had been in the tub when there was a knock at the bathroom door.

  “Caitlyn? Are you okay in there?” She recognized the voice from the night before. He had been the one to wake her up every few hours.

  “Yes. I’m fine. I’m getting out now.”

  “Be careful in there. Breakfast will be ready when you are.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute.” She quickly stood up and nearly fell when the room spun around her.

  The door flew open and Brody grabbed her arms before she could cover herself.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  “You called out. I thought you had fallen.”

  “I–I was a little dizzy, but I’m okay now. Please leave.”

  Brody smiled at her and reached for the towel. He wrapped it around her and then picked her up out of the tub. When he settled her on her feet, she grasped the towel to keep herself covered.

  “I’ll see you in the kitchen. Just follow the hall.” He turned and strode out of the room.

  She heard the bedroom doors click behind him. Heat suffused her face as she fought to regain control of her breathing. He was nothing like his brother, Lamar.

  Brody stood an inch or so shorter than Lamar, but where Lamar was lanky, Brody was muscular. He had strong arms and a broad chest. She would be willing to bet he was just as muscular all over with the way he moved. He wasn’t hard and unbending, but she would be willing to bet that he could be that way if the need arose.

  His black shaggy hair reached to his collar, making her want to grab hold of it and pull him down to her… Are you crazy? You just found out your husband isn’t your husband and you’re already looking at men. Get ahold of yourself.

  Caitlyn quickly dried off and dressed before cleaning up the bathroom and repacking her suitcase. She shored up her defenses and opened the bedroom doors to the delicious aroma of cooking food. She followed the hall around to the kitchen where Lamar was busy frying bacon. He looked up and smiled at her.

  “Are you feeling better?” he asked.

  “Yes, thank you. Breakfast smells delicious.”

  “It will be ready in just a minute. Brody said you were getting dressed.”

  Caitlyn felt the flush of heat once again. She quickly turned away and busied herself looking around the spacious kitchen and dining area. It opened up into the den area where there was a stone fireplace on one wall and a big screen TV mounted on another wall. Several couches and recliners were scattered around the room.

  “There she is. Are you ready to eat?” Brody walked into the kitchen and the room suddenly got smaller.

  “I’m not real hungry.”

  “Nonsense. You haven’t had anything to eat since you got here. That was eight hours ago.”

  “Here you go.” Lamar set a plate on the bar in front of her. It held an omelet, bacon, and toast.

  “Thanks.” She watched as he loaded up another plate for Brody then himself.

  They started eating, so she followed suit, but found that as good as it tasted, she really didn’t have much in the way of an appetite. She managed a few bites of her omelet and the bacon, but couldn’t swallow the toast. She drank the orange juice and got up to scrape her plate.

  “Whoa, Caitlyn. You haven’t eaten near enough to keep you going. Would you rather have something else?” Brody asked.

  “Oh, no. It’s very good. I honestly don’t have much of an appetite this morning. Do you know when my brother will be back? I really need to get over to his house.”

  “He won’t be back until later this afternoon.
I don’t have a key, or I would let you in. You’re welcome to stay here though until he gets in.”

  “I suppose Andy is with him.”

  “Yeah, they always ride together.”

  Caitlyn swallowed and nodded. “I appreciate your letting me stick around. I’ll stay out of the way.”

  “You’re not in the way at all, Caitlyn.” Brody smiled at her. “I’ll show you around the house so you don’t get lost.

  Brody took her empty plate and stacked it with his in the sink. Lamar grinned at her as he ate his breakfast.

  “I’m sure you have things to do. I don’t want to interfere.”

  Brody made her nervous. He was so big. Yeah, Lamar was taller, but Brody just seemed to spread out in the room. She found it hard to breathe around him.

  “Don’t have a thing to do today. Sundays we normally laze around and watch TV. Come on.” He placed his big hand at the small of her back and led her through the den.

  “We’ll watch something on TV later. Let me show you the rest of the house. We just moved in a month ago.”

  “I’m sure you’re really pleased with it.” She didn’t know what to say to the man.

  He acted as if it were important that she see the house for some reason. She doubted she would ever be back again once her brother got back home. In fact, once the wedding was over with, she would be moving on to find somewhere to settle down. She had already decided to stick to Texas so she would be close to Brian, but she didn’t want to live in the same town.

  “This is the office. We ought to hire you to do our books. We can’t keep anything straight.”

  She looked at the messy desk and file cabinet. How they found anything was a miracle to her. She felt her fingers itch to get hold of the paperwork and straighten it out. It took a monumental effort not to step into the room.

  “You look like you could use some help. What sort of business do you have?”

  “Lamar and I own a machine shop in town.”

  “That must keep you pretty busy.”

  “We do all right.” He led her from the office to the stairs.

  He followed her up then showed her each of the bedrooms, pointing out his and Lamar’s as well as the other two rooms.

  “It’s a large house for two bachelors,” she said.

  “We plan to find a wife someday and have a family.”

  “Well, you have the perfect house for it. I wish you luck.”

  She found herself back in the den area. Lamar was flipping through the channels on the TV when they walked in. He looked up and smiled. She felt like he was flirting with her but thought surely she was reading too much into it.

  “What sort of movies do you like?” Lamar asked. “We have about anything you could imagine.”

  “Oh, well, you don’t have to entertain me. Just pick whatever you normally would watch.”

  “Normally, we close our eyes and grab a movie. I’d rather you picked,” he said.

  Caitlyn sighed and walked over to the shelves. He was right. They had about every movie ever put on DVD. She could browse their selection for hours. She grinned and pulled out a Bruce Willis movie.

  “How about this?” She handed her selection to Lamar.

  “Good choice. Have you seen it before?”

  “No, I’ve seen him in movies before, but I haven’t watched anything lately.”

  “What did she pick out?” Brody walked back in the room.

  Lamar tossed him the empty DVD case as he turned on the DVD player. As soon as the advertisements began to play, Lamar pulled her over to the recliner.

  “You can watch with me. I have the best seat in the house.”

  “Oh, I can see just fine on the couch.” She started to pull away from him, but he already had her tipped off balance so that she fell across his lap when he sat down.

  “Oh!”

  “Relax and watch the movie.” Lamar wrapped an arm around her waist.

  Caitlyn couldn’t believe she was sitting in the man’s lap watching TV. What was happening to her? Nothing had gone right since she had gotten up to find out that Jean was expecting a baby and hadn’t told her. She had been staying with Jean for the last several months while she tried to figure out what to do with herself.

  Then Jean admitted that she was getting married and the room Caitlyn was staying in was supposed to be the nursery. She decided right then that she would move out and see her brother a little early. How had she missed that Jean was pregnant?

  You were all wrapped up in yourself and what was happening to you. You didn’t pay attention to your friend.

  Caitlyn needed a plan. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to figure one out sitting in Lamar’s lap watching a movie. Despite her reservations, she soon found herself relaxing and watching the movie. They were active movie watchers. They commented on what was going on and cheered when the good guys won.

  By the end of the movie, she was smiling and not the least bit worried about what her future held. Brody shoved in another DVD right behind that one and Bruce Willis once again filled the screen. Two hours later, she was laughing and joking with the brothers about the movie. Then the credits rolled and reality came crashing back on top of her.

  “How about another movie?” Lamar asked.

  “Shouldn’t my brother be back soon?” She looked at her watch. It was closing in on four in the afternoon.

  “He’ll call when he gets back into town. I left a message for him.” Brody pulled her off of Lamar’s lap. “Come on. It’s my turn to cook dinner tonight. You can help me.”

  “What do you want to cook?”

  “How about spaghetti?” he asked.

  “Sounds good to me.” She moved away from him.

  He kept getting in her space. She didn’t think it was on purpose. He was just such a big man that anywhere he moved, he filled up the room. She watched him rummage around in the freezer for some hamburger meat. He popped it in the microwave on defrost and began to gather together the ingredients for homemade spaghetti.

  She helped him brown the meat and stir the sauce until he pronounced it ready to simmer for a while. Then he pulled her back into the living room where he sat her down on the couch next to him.

  “So, what are your plans after the wedding? You seem to have everything you own in your car.”

  Caitlyn jerked. She hadn’t expected them to notice that.

  “I forgot all about my car. I need to go get it off the side of the road.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We already drove it over here. It’s out in the drive.”

  “Oh, thank you.”

  “So, are you moving here?” he asked.

  “No.” She almost shouted it out. “I mean, I’m going to move somewhere close by so I can see my brother more often, but I thought maybe Austin. It’s only a couple of hours away.”

  “Why not here? Riverbend is a nice community. We could sure use another accountant here.”

  “I—I was thinking somewhere with more people.”

  “You like the big city lights?” Lamar said from the other side of the room.

  This time he was frowning instead of smiling.

  “I don’t much care about all of that. It’s just that I would have a better chance of landing several accounts, so I can make a living. I don’t see where I could support myself here.”

  Lamar stared at her for a few minutes then nodded. “Maybe, but I bet you could support yourself just fine here. Did Brody show you our office? We’d hire you. The only reason we don’t use the one in town is that he’s so busy he doesn’t have time to take on new clients. What will your brother do once you set up his books and then leave?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She looked over at Brody. The other man was awfully quiet. What was he thinking? She couldn’t see anything in his expression to give it away. Then he got up and pulled her with him.

  “Spaghetti sauce should be ready. You about ready to eat, Lamar?”

  “I’m always hungry.”


  Chapter Three

  Brody’s phone rang as they were beginning to gather up the dishes to wash. He answered it on the third ring.

  “Brody? Is Caitlyn with you?” Brian asked.

  “Yeah, she’s here with us.”

  “Thank God. I nearly had a heart attack when I got her messages. I didn’t realize my phone was dead and just charged it back up.”

  “We need to talk.”

  “Is everything okay with her? What’s going on?” Brian sounded worried now.

  “Everything’s okay now.”

  “Okay. I’ll be at the house in about twenty minutes.”

  “See you then.”

  “Was that my brother? Why didn’t you let me talk to him?”

  “He’s not home yet. His phone was dead, and he didn’t know it. Just got it charged back up.”

  “When will he be home?”

  “In another hour or so. He’s going to come back here and pick you up.”

  “Thank goodness. You’ve both been very nice to me, but I feel like I’ve interrupted your life.”

  “Honey, you haven’t bothered us at all,” Lamar said.

  He flashed Brody a look. Brody nodded at him, hoping he would understand that he needed to leave. Evidently he picked up on it.

  “Come on, Caitlyn, let’s watch another movie till he gets here.”

  “Okay. One more. I haven’t watched this much TV at one time in years.”

  Brody sat with them for about fifteen minutes, and then he slipped out and drove over to Brian’s house. He and Andy had just pulled in.

  “Hey, man, thanks for taking care of my sister. What’s going on?”

  “You tell me. I thought she was married?”

  “She is. Is something going on with her marriage?” Brian frowned. “Why are you asking me all of this anyway?”

  “She drove from Jackson, Mississippi to here nonstop, Brian. By herself. We found her sound asleep on the side of the road.”

  “Ah, hell, Caitlyn.” Brian ran a hand through his hair. “Something’s going on then. She wouldn’t have done that unless she was desperate.”

  “How was she getting here before you left on your trip?” Brody realized that Brian really didn’t know what was going on.