Wild Montana Nights (2 page)

Marcus remained standing. “Excuse me for a minute, and let me

get my brother.” He smiled at her and disappeared through a doorway

to the right.

The minute he was gone, Darla blew out a breath and tried to will

her fluttering heart to calm down. Marcus was larger than life. Broad shoulders with a massive chest and narrow waist gave him the look of

a warrior in her mind. She didn’t realize there was a brother and

wondered if he lived there as well. Only a few seconds passed, and

footsteps returned. Two sets by the sounds of it.

Marcus returned, followed closely by a second man equally as

impressive. This man’s hair wasn’t as wavy but a bit longer. His hazel eyes sparkled in the firelight with what she could only term as a

wicked look. The same broad shoulders and narrow waist attracted

her gaze until she realized she was staring and looked away.

“This is my brother, Randall.” Marcus introduced them. “Randall,

this is Darla.

Randall smiled and held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Darla let him take her hand and found hers engulfed in a large

warm grip that wasn’t too tight. He held it a little too long, but she found that she didn’t mind. When he let her hand go, it tingled, and she refrained from rubbing her hand on her pant leg.

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“You said you’re from Mississippi originally. What made you

decide to move to Montana?” Marcus asked as he took a seat opposite

her.

Randall sat on the other end of the couch and turned toward her.

“That seems like such an odd decision to make.”

“I wanted a change. I’m tired of the heat and humidity and worked

with a lady who was originally from Montana. She always talked

about it, and it sounded so nice I thought I would enjoy living here.”

Darla nibbled at her lower lip.

“So tell us about your past experience,” Randall said.

“I was the housekeeping manager for a hundred bed hotel.” She

described her job and responsibilities to the two men.

“Why would you want to go from such a position of responsibility

to working at a ranch?” Marcus asked.

“I want a change. There’s a lot of stress associated with a job like

that, and although I can appreciate there will be some level of stress with this one, I have to believe it will be far less.”

“Would you have any trouble with us contacting your last place of

employment for a reference?”

“Not at all,” Darla said.

“When would you be able to start?” Marcus asked.

“I’m available at any time.”

“How about tonight?” Randall stood up.

“Excuse me?”

“Would you be able to start tonight?”

“Well, um, yes. I can start tonight.” She turned and looked toward

Marcus. “But don’t you want to talk with my previous employer?”

“Do we need to?” he asked.

“Well, no. I’ve told you the truth.”

“Then we don’t need to talk with them. Let’s talk about salary and

compensation.” Marcus also stood up.

Darla’s neck began to cramp, so she stood up as well.

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Marla Monroe

“Do you have everything you need for tonight with you? We can

go back to town tomorrow and gather the rest of your things.” Randall walked toward the front door.

“Um, I have everything I need with me in the car.” She started to

follow him, but Marcus took hold of her arm and pulled her toward

another doorway.

“I have all the paperwork drawn up in the office. We can go over

the salary and fringes, and then you can settle in for the night.”

Darla’s mouth opened then closed. She wasn’t sure what to say.

Everything was going too fast. She wanted the job but had expected to have to interview and then maybe get called back. She hadn’t

expected to be able to start immediately. Thinking about the drive

back down the mountain in the dark had her glad she didn’t have to.

She wasn’t going to worry about how it all happened. She was just

going to be thankful it had.

* * * *

Randall couldn’t wait to unload her car and get her settled into her

room. She was perfect. He was glad they had held out as long as they

had. He had to admit that Marcus’s idea to hire a housekeeper-cook

had been a good one. The moment he saw her, Randall knew she was

the one for them. Long auburn hair the color of turning leaves curled down the middle of her back. She stood maybe five feet two or three

inches. She looked so delicate compared to them, but they would take

good care of her. Lively green eyes spoke of passion-filled nights and sparks of anger when the wrong thing was done or said. She was nice

and curvy, just like he liked his women. Neither he nor Marcus liked

thin women.

He opened the back of the SUV to find three suitcases and three

boxes nestled together among a pile of two pillows and a stack of

blankets. His brows drew together in a frown. Had she been sleeping

in her car? The idea angered him for no reason other than she

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13

shouldn’t have put herself in danger like that. He huffed out a breath and reminded himself that until she had gotten there, she wasn’t their responsibility. Where in the hell was her family that they had let her drive off into nowhere like she had?

He grabbed two suitcases and began unloading her SUV. He

counted on Marcus keeping her busy with paperwork in the office

until he could get her things settled into the master suite. They set her up in there with the intentions that they would be joining her there

eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later. He could hardly wait to claim her.

He and his brother had always known they would share a woman

as their wife. They had grown up in a house with two fathers and one

mother. The love they shared bled through in everything they did and

said. Both he and Marcus wanted that sort of love in their life. Now

that they had found her, they had to convince her to give them a

chance. Marcus was sure that getting her to like where she lived as

well as getting her to fall in love with them would assure she became theirs. Their mother wasn’t so sure about the idea, and their fathers’

warned them it could backfire on them.

Randall left the last box on the floor in the massive room. There

were two large walk-in closets. One that he and Marcus would share

and the other would be for their wife. There was a massive chest of

drawers and a dresser that took up most of one wall, plenty of room

for the three of them to keep their folded clothes. The massive room

also held a sitting area where a couple of club chairs sat with table lamps beside them. The bed was larger than a king-size bed. It had

been special ordered and made just for them. Right now, the

comforter on it matched the green of Darla’s eyes, he decided.

Just as he walked back into the living room, Darla and Marcus

came out of the office. Darla didn’t appear very enthused. He risked a questioning look toward his brother. Marcus smiled and nodded once.

As good as it was going to get, he interpreted. She wasn’t balking at the initial setup. How much had Marcus revealed to her though?

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Marla Monroe

Surely he hadn’t told her what they really wanted from her was to be

their wife?

“Let me show you to your new home,” Randall offered, extending

a hand toward her.

She hesitated for a split second and then pasted on a nervous smile

and let him take her hand. He was careful on the stairs to let her set the pace. Then he led her down a long hall that held three other

rooms. He opened the door to the left at the end of the hall and

stepped back for her to enter. He watched the expression on her face

as she looked around her. He wasn’t disappointed. First was delight,

then disbelief followed quickly by uncertainty.

“This is much too nice for a housekeeper. Surely there is another

room I can use.” She licked her lips.

Randall found himself watching her tongue dart around her

mouth. He ached to taste her but wasn’t sure where they stood at the

moment. He needed to talk with Marcus.

“I’ve brought everything inside for you. Why don’t you unpack

and make yourself comfortable? I’ll come back and get you in a little while. I thought we could have sandwiches tonight since you only just arrived.” Randall backed out of the bedroom and closed the door

behind him.

Without looking back, he headed toward the office and Marcus.

He found his brother pouring two glasses of whiskey. He handed one

to Randall when he walked into the room and held his up. They

clinked glasses in a silent toast. His went down smooth, warming him

from the inside out. Marcus sipped his before turning it up.

“What do you think?” Marcus finally asked.

“She’s perfect. I’m half in love with her already. Mom was right

when she said we would know her when we saw her.”

“I agree with you. How did she react to the bedroom?” Marcus sat

his glass aside and leaned back against his desk.

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“She wasn’t pleased. Well, it was obvious that she liked the room

immensely, however, she isn’t buying that the room is for a

housekeeper. What did you tell her?”

“Nothing, really. Just that we’ve needed a housekeeper for quite

some time now. Between the cattle and your programming business,

neither of us has the time to deal with the day to day stuff that needs to be taken care of. And, by virtue of where we live, daytime help

isn’t feasible for six or so months out of the year.” Marcus curled his hands around the edge of the desk.

Randall walked over to where his desk sat and plopped down in

the chair. He scowled into one of the many computer monitors sitting

on the desk. He had hoped she would be so overwhelmed by them

that she would instantly fall in love. Well, that was really going to happen.

“Do you think we are expecting too much from her?” Randall

asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I thought she would instantly feel an

attraction to us if we did for her.” Marcus pushed away from the desk and paced. “That still may happen. She wasn’t looking for anyone

when she came, but we were looking for her. So there’s still hope.”

“I vote we play it cool and see if she shows any interest in one or

both of us and then take it from there.” Randall crossed his arms

behind his head and watched his brother pace.

“Okay, I can live with that. No pushing her. If it happens, then

fine, but we won’t force her into thinking about it.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to go fix a few sandwiches. Why

don’t you go get her in a few minutes and bring her to the kitchen?”

Randall stood up and walked around the desk toward the door. “I’ll

hold off on hers until you get there with her. I already know what we like. I can make them first.” He grinned and left the room.

* * * *

16

Marla Monroe

Marcus stood in the middle of the office without anything to

occupy his hands. He couldn’t stand to waste time doing nothing.

Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and continued his walk

back and forth across the office. He couldn’t exactly pace with his

hands in his pockets. It looked like a sick imitation of a runway model walk.

Darla smiled shyly at him when he knocked on her door some

fifteen minutes later.

“Do you have everything you need? If not, we might have it

somewhere here. Just let us know.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need anything. Really, this room is way too

nice for me to use,” she began.

“Nonsense. You need space to live. We have the entire house to

live in.” He held out his hand to her. “Let’s go to the kitchen and eat.”

Her mouth thinned into a straight line while she considered her

options. Then she sighed and took his hand.

“I hope you like ham. That is all we have right now for

sandwiches. I’m hoping you can come up with a grocery list

tomorrow that we can fill on Saturday.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

He guided her with a hand at the small of her back. They entered

the kitchen to find Randall with an assembly line type process going

on.

“Darla, what do you like on your sandwich?”

“Mayo and that’s all.” She drifted over to the pantry to look

inside.

Randall glanced at Marcus with raised eyebrows. “Anything?”

“Not really. I can tell that I make her nervous, but then she doesn’t know me from Adam’s house cat.” Marcus sighed and watched as

Darla reemerged from the pantry.

“Come have a seat at the bar, Darla.” Marcus pulled a barstool out

for her to climb up on. He barely managed to keep his hand off her

ass when she climbed up to sit down.

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17

Randall sat her plate in front of her and offered her something to

drink. She chose iced tea and began to eat. Marcus climbed up on the

stool to her right, and Randall took the one to her left. She was

surrounded by them now. Elbow to elbow, they lined the bar and only

the sounds of eating and drinking could be heard for several minutes.

“What time do ya’ll like your meals?” she asked.

“Breakfast is at six thirty. Lunch is at noon and dinner would be

thirty minutes after sunset. We have to utilize as much of the sun as we can,” Randall explained.