Sharpshooter: Why not?
Kentuckygirl: Because I love merry-go-rounds, and you’re a tilt-a-whirl kind of man.
Holly stared morosely into her tea cup. She’d had a sleepless night between Logan waking intermittently with his stomachache and seeing the man chasing her in her dreams. She had simply given up the struggle to sleep, going to the kitchen to make herself coffee.
When she heard one of the bedroom doors open then the bathroom door close, she knew it was Dustin by the sound of the shower running.
She had lived with the men long enough to know their habits. Dustin took his shower every morning; Greer took his at night. Greer liked to stay out a night, sometimes not coming home until morning. Dustin came home every evening after work to spend time with his son. He would stay out on Saturday nights, but he always made sure that Greer stayed home those nights.
“Morning.”
She braced herself at hearing the voice behind her.
“Morning.”
Seeing Greer head toward the kitchen to make himself a plate for breakfast, she mentally prepared herself for another argument. No matter what, he would find something to antagonize her with. This morning, she was too tired and drained to deal with him.
“You need a refill?”
Lifting surprised eyes to him, she nodded.
“I heard you up early this morning.” Greer brought his coffee cup and the pot over to the table she was sitting at, pouring them both coffee before taking the pot back to the kitchen. “Logan feeling any better?”
“I think so. He’s still asleep, but his fever is down.”
“He was running a fever?”
“Yes. I called the doctor this morning. He says there’s a virus going around town and he should be better in a couple of days. Diamond said I can work from home today, so you won’t be bothered with him.”
Holly noticed the muscle in his cheek twitch, but he remained silent as he drank his coffee. Then Dustin came in dressed for work.
Coming to her side, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay this morning? I heard you up after I went to bed.”
“I had a little trouble sleeping. I’ll take a nap this afternoon when Logan does. You want me to fix you a plate?”
“I can. Finish your coffee. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep either if someone had been chasing me in the dark.”
Her mouth curled into a smile. “Yes, you would. You’re not afraid of anything.”
Dustin’s handsome features brought a smile to any woman’s lips. His features weren’t as mature as his older brother’s, his boyish face lacking the lines of maturity and experience that age would bring. His was much softer and gentler than Tate’s and Greer’s, but what Dustin’s looks lacked in maturity, there was no doubt about him being a player with a body she had heard more than one woman confide they wanted in their beds. Holly always shied away from those conservations as if they were talking about her brother.
The women were always trying to find out if she and Dustin were in a relationship. When they found out they were only friends, that was when the confessions started. Most of them ended with pleas to tell Dustin to call.
Her eyes moved to Greer. He, on the other hand, had no soft or gentle features. Each nook and cranny of his face was sculpted in hard angles and curves. His bottom lip was sensuous and had a woman torn between staring at it or his eyes, with a nose that had been broken, marring the perfection of his looks. The expression he inevitably gave to a good-looking woman made her think of satin sheets and dirty sex. His skin was usually sunburned in the winter, until the summer came and it turned a golden tan. He didn’t have a spare inch of soft flesh on his body, and the times she had bumped into him in the hallway were like running into a brick wall. There wasn’t a soft thing about him.
Stormy grey eyes stared at her as he lowered his coffee cup. “You don’t think he gets scared? You should have seen him last night when I told him what happened to you. Everyone has something they’re afraid of.”
Holly couldn’t help herself. “What are you afraid of?”
When he didn’t answer, Dustin did.
“When Pa was alive, Greer was afraid of going to the barn. We all were. When our pa gave you an order, you did it or you’d regret it. Pa made you go to the barn and wait for him there. I don’t know what was worse: the wait or the whipping.”
“The whipping.” Greer took a piece of toast off Dustin’s plate when he sat down next to him.
“You could go make yourself one.”
Greer shrugged. “Why should I when you can carry it to the table for me?”
He was trying to steal a piece of bacon when a knock came to the door.