“She didn’t have much sleep last night. She was tossing and turning,” Marco added to the conversation.
Before she could respond to Marco’s comment, they heard Anthony bang something against the door.
“What the heck is he doing?” Millie asked then slowly raised her head up.
Jeremy was certain that the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet, but she seemed determined to not show defeat.
“We told you, sweets, he’s updating your security,” Marco told her.
“That really isn’t necessary.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, Millie. We know what we’re doing,” Anthony stated firmly from across the room.
* * * *
Millie didn’t know what was happening. These men were awfully bossy yet sweet at the same time. She didn’t know any of them well enough, yet she felt comfortable to some extent. She needed to get a grip. But she understood how relationships worked around Pearl. When multiple men in one family started paying attention to a woman, protecting her, caring for her, then they were interested in more than just friendship. That was something she sure couldn’t entertain right now or perhaps ever. A sexual relationship between her and one man did not mix well. She sure as hell didn’t need to involve herself with multiple men. She cringed as the deep thoughts added pain to her already aching head.
God, I wish I could just go somewhere and hide. All alone in a nice guarded room tucked under blankets where nothing could touch me or make me feel, and I wouldn’t have to deal with everything.
She watched as Anthony knelt down in front of the open door and began to measure and then lift the drill to it. She clutched her ears, expecting the drill to sound harsh against her bad headache, but instead it hummed. She absorbed the sight of Anthony kneeling in jeans and scuffed-up cowboy boots with the utility belt hanging somewhat loose against his waist. His forearms flexed as he pressed the drill bit into the wood, making a hole. She watched in fascination how quickly he did the job and then he stood up. The man was at minimum six feet tall. The sight of his side profile, dark brown crew-cut hair with the small pencil hugged against the back of his ear, was sexy for some really strange reason. His dark-blue T-shirt with the Lewis company logo stretched across his wide chest. He looked a lot like Marco and she wondered if his eyes were blue like Marco’s, too.
“There. Now check this out,” Anthony stated as he closed the door and showed off his handy work.
Millie watched Jeremy swagger across the room in his tight, dark jeans and joined Anthony by the door and checked the two new dead bolts that Anthony installed. He pulled on the door and Millie watched him. Jeremy was younger than Anthony and definitely Marco, if she had to guess. He seemed closer to her twenty-three years t
han the others. That thought made her feel funny. Why, when she thought about one Lewis, did she think about the others and compare? She didn’t like the direction her mind was heading in. She needed to nip this in the bud before it got out of control.
“You should go lie down again, Millie. I’ll stick around until twelve or so and then Hank or Dalton will be by. Jeremy and Anthony are headed to the Triple C for work.” Marco sounded bossy and controlling. She didn’t want bossy and controlling. The attraction to a man in control and with authority sent her in the wrong direction. Why was she even thinking that these men would be interested in her, anyway? She wasn’t thin, glamorous, and sexy. She was average and some psycho killer was after her.
She stood up a little too quickly and grabbed on to the counter before she fell. Marco went to reach for her, but she swatted his hand away. He scrunched his eyebrows up in an expression of surprise at her reaction. She couldn’t falter.
“I don’t need you to stick around, Marco, or your brothers to stop by and babysit. I’ll be fine alone and I don’t need you telling me what to do. Now make good use of the door and show yourselves out. I’m taking a shower and then I’ll be headed over to the Triple C to paint.”
She glanced over her shoulder. They watched her walk away and she saw their surprised expressions. She ignored the tug in her belly of guilt and regret. She was losing her mind, filled with mixed emotions and feelings she just didn’t want to be filled with at a time like this. She had some serious thinking and planning to do.
* * * *
“What the hell was that all about?” Jeremy asked.
“She’s being stubborn and she’s afraid,” Anthony offered as he began to gather his things.
“I don’t want to leave her here alone.” Jeremy walked over to the sink, washed his mug from the coffee he had.
“She’s under a lot of stress right now Jeremy. I looked into this Frank guy last night and I plan on talking with Stacy today, too. I want to know the whole story. Plus I think the five of us need to sit down and talk tonight.”
“Talk? About what?” Jeremy asked.
“About our attraction to Millie and how we plan on getting to know her and whether or not Hank and Dalton are on board,” Anthony said then nodded his head toward the door. Jeremy walked out first and then Anthony and Marco followed, except Marco sat on the front porch waiting for Millie to get ready to go. She more than likely forgot that the truck was in the shop and she would need a ride to the ranch.
* * * *
Millie walked out of the cottage and was surprised to see that Marco was still there. His blue eyes bore into her as he leaned against a rather large truck with tinted windows that nearly shared the color of his eyes. She turned from him, giving an annoyed expression, but truly she was relieved that he was there. While alone in the shower and her bedroom, she thought about the events of the last week and couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt over Clare’s murder. It didn’t matter what Wyatt and the deputies told her. She was to blame.
She locked the door and turned toward Marco.
“I told you that I was fine. I don’t need babysitting.”
He looked her over and it made her body hum in an awareness she was finding difficult to fight off. Her conversation with herself about staying away from Lewis men appeared to have been forgotten every time one of them looked at her like that.