Travis (40 page)

Travis
stared at his brother. It sounded as though Sawyer was speaking from
experience. They didn’t have these heart-to-hearts often, but damn it all to
hell, he had a feeling he better heed Sawyer’s advice sooner rather than later.

Later
could very well be too late.

♀♂

Note
to self:
If you want to get anything accomplished, don’t initiate phone sex.
And definitely don’t do it more than once.

Kylie
stood in the kitchen of Gage’s monstrous old farmhouse in her pajamas with her
hair an absolute mess, and the only thing she had on her mind was inhaling the
coffee now steaming from her cup. For the last week, she’d been staying at
Gage’s with both Gage and Travis.

Each
morning, she had to force herself out of bed, and the more days that passed,
the more she wondered if tomorrow would be the day she burrowed in the blankets
and refused to get up until she’d slept for a solid twenty hours.

Her
men were wearing her out. Literally.

Travis
spent most of the day at work, and Kylie and Gage busied themselves doing little
projects while they waited for a couple of the subcontractors to come by and fix
things they couldn’t. Like some electrical and plumbing issues. Between the
physical labor during the day and the rigorous exercise that Gage and Travis
were putting her through at night, Kylie was surprised she could still walk.

The
kitchen door swung inward, and Gage stepped into the kitchen, a warm smile on
his face. “Good morning.”

Kylie
smiled back at him and then went up on her toes when he got close enough to
kiss him. It was becoming their morning routine. She would crawl out of bed,
which in turn triggered Travis to get up, shower and head out to the Walker
Demo office while Gage jumped in the shower shortly thereafter.

And
each morning Gage came into the kitchen, freshly shaven and wearing only a pair
of ratty old jeans and a smile. Kylie would ogle him for a second, thinking he should’ve
been a model, one of those that graced the magazine covers nearly naked. Corded
muscle lined his arms while flat flexing planes graced the front of him. He was
damn near perfect. Definitely model worthy.

And
then they’d set the plan for the day.

“What
did you have planned for today?” Gage asked as he poured a cup of coffee and
then took a seat at the small table they’d been eating dinner at every night.

Just
like that. Routine. Domestic.
Wonderful.

Kylie
had taken over cooking the meals, and waltzing around Gage’s house as though
she lived there and had every right to be. No one questioned it or said
anything at all. It was safe to say the three of them had accepted that
whatever this was that was going on between them – and Kylie was careful not to
label it – was more than just sex.

There
were still moments when she wondered if it was real or if perhaps she’d tripped
right over the edge of reality and landed head first in Crazy Land because it
seemed way too good to be true. During one of those times when confusion snuck
its way into her thoughts, Kylie made a pact with herself. One that involved
her keeping an open mind and letting things play out as they should.

Her
theory: when the boat wasn’t wobbling, there was no reason to get it started.

It
was out of her hands at this point, and she was ready to let things happen as
they should. And because Kylie was going to live in Gage’s house for the next
few weeks, devoting every spare second to getting the house back to its former
glory, she had plenty of other things to keep her busy.

Kylie
had only taken a few sips of her coffee when she heard the front door open and
then close. She cocked an eyebrow at Gage, silently asking whether he was
expecting someone that early. She knew Travis’ brothers were coming over to
help paint, but she didn’t think they’d be there already. When he shook his
head and took a tentative step toward the dining room, she knew the answer was
no.

Surprisingly,
he didn’t reach for his gun, but that was only because it wasn’t tucked into
the back of his jeans like it had been the first day she was there. She’d
politely asked him to relax a little, and after a number of excuses, most of
them about him feeling naked without it, he’d put the gun somewhere safe.

“Put
me to work.” Travis’ voice sounded from the other room, and Gage turned back to
look at Kylie before he pushed the kitchen door open to welcome Travis.

“What
the hell? You play too much hooky, and you’re going to get fired, you know
that?” Gage joked as he stepped back.

“Can’t
fire the boss. And I’ve got priorities, people should understand that.”

“And
that includes helping us paint?” Kylie questioned, sipping more of her coffee.
She was going to need to connect the pot to an IV at this rate.

A
disappointed grumble came from Gage and Kylie laughed. He had mentioned that he
wasn’t fond of painting, but aside from the patching and hole filling they’d
already completed, it was one of the first things that needed to be done.

“It
does now that my meeting was canceled,” Travis said, leaning up against the
counter and crossing his arms over his chest. “My brothers will be here soon.
They’re goal is to get as much done as they can today and tomorrow, but after
that, I need them back to work.”

Kylie
nodded, understanding how generous his brothers were being by volunteering to
help them in the first place. Free of charge.

“Where
is the rowdy bunch? I figured they’d get here before you,” Gage asked.

“The
twins stopped to get breakfast and Zane had to pick up V. Haven’t heard from
Kaleb, so I’m betting he’s on his way already. Sawyer was finishing up
something at the office when I left.”

“Well,
I’d like them to start down here if at all possible. Now that Gage has furniture,
we’ll have to tarp everything and work around it,” Kylie told Travis and then
turned to look at Gage. “You and I can head out to pick out flooring for the
kitchen and the bathrooms today if that works for you.”

Gage
frowned. “How ‘bout you pick everything out and I promise, I’ll love it.”

Kylie
laughed. She didn’t figure him for the shopping type.

The
ancient doorbell sounded, and their conversation came to a halt as Travis said,
“Time to get to work,” and then disappeared from the kitchen with a huge smile
on his face.

Gage
was right on his heels.

“Kylie,
come here, darlin’,” Gage called from the other room a minute later and Kylie set
her coffee cup on the counter, staring down at her state of dress. Yeah, she so
wasn’t going to face all those cowboys while she was in her pajamas.

Rather
than answer, she flew up the stairs, running to the bedroom and probably
alerting them all as her feet pounded on the floor. She grabbed the first thing
she could find in the dresser she’d commandeered in one of the extra bedrooms.
Gage had specifically told her she could put her clothes there, but her body
was going to be staying in his room with him.

She
hadn’t argued.

She
was dressed, her hair pulled up in a haphazard ponytail, and she was back down
the stairs within five minutes. Quite impressive if she did say so herself.

“Hi,”
Kylie greeted the two people currently smiling at Gage and admiring the room
they were standing in.

Kylie
couldn’t keep the frown from her face when she noticed that, once again, the
pretty blonde woman had her arm around Gage in a very casual, almost possessive
hold.

“Kylie,
you remember Kaleb and his wife, Zoey,” Gage said by way of introduction as he
stepped back from Zoey.

Kylie
had met them at Moonshiners a while back, and just like now, she’d never forget
them either. The way they reacted to Gage was way more intimate than mere
friends.

“Hey,”
the tall sexy cowboy said with a mischievous smirk as he held out his hand like
this was their first introduction. Kylie reached over, shook his outstretched
palm and then turned when Zoey stepped up beside her.

“Nope,
no hand shaking for me,” Zoey smiled. “I want a hug.”

Kylie
was stunned at the woman’s forwardness, but she leaned in, responding to the hug
by briefly touching Zoey’s back with one hand. When they parted, Zoey placed
her hands over her tummy, and that’s when Kylie noticed the barely visible baby
bump. If Travis hadn’t told her, or Zoey hadn’t done the maternal cradling of
her belly, Kylie would’ve never been able to tell.

“Nice
to see you again,” she finally told them, realizing Zoey was once again
flashing a dazzling smile at Gage.

Kylie
felt the warmth of Travis’ body as he stepped closer, his arm going around her
shoulder in a possessive gesture that made her insides go haywire.

“This
is the paint crew,” Travis told her. “Well, part of it anyway.”

“Well,
technically, I’m not part of that crew, but feel free to use me however you’d
like,” Zoey offered.

“Hey,
the two of you could go together to pick out the flooring. Lord knows I’m not
all that fond of shopping,” Gage said.

“No,
but I am,” Zoey laughed. “I’d be happy to help.”

An
hour later, Zoey was behind the wheel of her old pickup truck and Kylie was
riding shot gun. The woman hadn’t stopped talking for the last few minutes, and
Kylie welcomed the random chatter. And she welcomed the girl talk. It’d been a
long time since she’d had a friend she could talk to other than her sister.
Kylie wasn’t one to share much of her personal life, but she’d never had
someone to share it with, not having had many girlfriends through the years.
Not that Kylie would be sharing much with Zoey, but the idea of it made her
feel better.

“So,
if I’m not mistakin’,” Zoey drawled, “I’d say Gage and Travis are smitten.”

Kylie
laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement and at the abrupt change of
subject. The idea of either man being smitten was amusing. Almost as much as
Zoey talking about how half the town should’ve been declared a flood plain and
then jumping right into a much more intimate topic without batting an eyelash.

When
she recovered, Kylie said, “Well, I’m not sure about all that, but I’m quite
fond of
them
.”

As
they made their way through downtown Coyote Ridge, Kylie watched out the window
as the handful of small stores passed by. Based on Zoey’s arsenal of random
facts, she had learned that they’d had everything from an organic pet food
store to an herbalist who sidelined as a palm reader, and neither of those had
survived long in their little piece of country paradise – Zoey’s exact words.

Because
of the limited resources the town had to offer, they were heading into Austin
where their options were unlimited. Knowing they had at least a half hour drive
ahead of them, Kylie prepared herself for Zoey’s questions.

“Now,
if I overstep my bounds, tell me to shut up,” Zoey said, glancing over before
turning the volume down on the radio.

Kylie
thought she knew the direction the conversation was headed, but since Zoey had
stunned her more than once already, she braced herself. Knowing that they were
going to venture to more personal topics, Kylie was hesitant, but she welcomed
the opportunity to talk to someone who wasn’t her sister.

“You’ve
been married to Travis for ten years?”

Nope,
nothing seemed to be off limits with Zoey.

“It
would seem so, yes.”

“But
I take it you haven’t seen him, right? I mean until recently.”

Kylie
watched the trees pass by in a blur as they headed down a county road that
would lead them to the interstate. Her thoughts drifted back to that miserable
day when Travis had walked out on her, giving her so little to go on. “Not
once.”

“Mind
if I ask what happened?”

Kylie
didn’t say a word for a few minutes, trying to outline the story in her head.
Or at least the version she was comfortable sharing with someone she didn’t
know. Based on what she knew of Travis, he didn’t offer up many details of his
personal life, and the last thing she wanted to do was to upset him by sharing
information with his family.

“It
was one of those whirlwind romances, I guess you could say. We met one
afternoon at the lake. And I hate to sound like it was right out of a romance
novel, but it kinda was. I’m pretty sure by the time night fell I was head over
heels in love with him.”

“I
imagine he felt the same way,” Zoey said, her full attention on the road.

“I’d
like to think the feeling was mutual. We dated for about a year while he was
stationed at Fort Hood and then one day he asked me to marry him. I was beside
myself, and of course I said yes. Never even dawned on me that I hadn’t met
anyone in his family, especially his parents. Considering he never told me he
had any brothers, I didn’t think anything of it.”

“He
didn’t mention any of his brothers? At all?” Zoey’s incredulity reflected the
absurdity of what Kylie had considered the most intimate relationship of her
entire life.

“No.
I’m not sure I ever directly asked if he had brothers or sisters. Though that’s
unlikely… Anyway. On our wedding day, we met at the courthouse, the Justice of
the Peace presided over the nuptials, and the rest is history. Literally.”