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His pops chuckled. “I never would have thought our baby girlwould fall in love with a couple of nerds.”
Grim’s head turned, frowning Pop’s way. “That is not a goodway to refer to people anymore, Mr. Fleetwood. I’m a nerd.”
His pops shook his head. “Now, see, maybe I no longerunderstand the definition of the word. In my day it was smart kids who studiedtoo much and didn’t get laid. I don’t think that describes you, son. Now you’rereal good at the studying part, but you’ve pretty much run through most of thewomen in East Texas, and a whole bunch of Dallas and Austin.”
Josh laughed as Grim turned a shade of pink. Grim had shamepoured into his system at a young age, but they were working on the problem.And his pops’s description was wholly accurate. Theymight have had some trouble getting started, but they had the ménage thingdown. He and Grim were practically a rite of passage for the women of EastTexas.
“I’m only saying Livie has the right to pant after anyoneshe wants, even if they are kind of weird and scare me,” Grim admitted.
“I am not panting after Will and Bobby.” His sister waspretty much the spitting image of their mom, and when he looked at it from anoutside eye, he could admit they were both gorgeous women. But she totallypanted after the Farley brothers. She had ever since they were kids. She wouldsee them once every couple of years and moon for months.
And his dad was right. They were kind of nerds. But Grim waswrong. Nerds were cool these days. The Farley brothers would be worth millionsone day, or they would cause the end of the world. Or maybe get locked upbecause they became supervillains.
Josh wasn’t sure, but he was interested in the outcome. Ofcourse if they ever gave in and allowed Livie to become their queen, they woulddefinitely veer into supervillain territory. His sis could come up with an evilplan like no one else.
The trouble was, he kind of thought Livie might not be theirtype. But his sister didn’t listen to his instincts.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the brunette made it to thetable and managed to get the heavy tray down.
Grim was back to watching her, too. Then he turned, and abrow rose over brown eyes.
Josh grinned and slowly nodded.
And that was that. Nicole was on their radar, but then he’dknown she would be the minute he’d caught sight of her weeks before. Grim hadbeen in Dallas attending a conference. This was the first time he’d had achance to see the woman Josh had been thinking about. He wouldn’t approach herwithout Grim.
Begin as you mean to go, but it looked like he was going toget his shot.
“Besides,” his sister was saying, “the last I heard Bobbyand Will are working on their doctorates at MIT. I’m not offering to go toMassachusetts to explain our new accounting software to the physics department.I’m offering to go to Bliss and spend way too much time teaching an ex-footballplayer how to use a spreadsheet. I say that because I know James Glen will runthe minute he sees me and I’ll end up hanging out with Trev and the girls thewhole time.”
Because his sister could be a bit much. The Circle G was runby the Glen brothers and Trev McNamara and his partner Bo O’Malley. The G was apartner ranch in his fathers’ organic cattle collective. They’d started outjust the two of them—Jack Barnes and Sam Fleetwood—and now they represented theinterests of over twenty independent ranches across the country. Josh split histime between actually working the ranch, running the day-to-day business of thecompany and traveling around to train their partners on everything from newaccounting software to all the legal crap Uncle Lucas could come up with.
“That’s because you scare the crap out of Mr. Glen, Livie.”Grim might still call their parents Mr and Mrs, but he did not have the same issue with their sister.
Grim treated Olivia like the sister he’d always wanted afterbeing raised the youngest of a brood of asshole brothers. Years later and Grimstill went quiet when one of them walked into a room.
“I do not.” Olivia’s green eyes rolled, and she sipped onher Dr Pepper. “I’m perfectly nice.”
She was. Olivia could make a room light up with her smile,but she could also tear a strip off anyone who got in her way. She had a zestfor life that drew people to her. He liked to say she was all the best parts oftheir parents. She had their mom’s kindness, their pops’sjoy, but knew when to bring out Dad’s ruthless will.
Josh himself was all about ruthless will, and if he got sentoff to Colorado, he wouldn’t be able to solve the mystery Nicole presented. Shehad a certain look about her.
A bit haunted. A lot innocent.
If he left, he worried she might move on, and any chance topeel back her layers would be gone because he was also almost certain Nicolewas in trouble, and he intended to see if he could help.
And also if she needed an orgasm. He’d found sex wasexcellent at clearing a person’s head and helping them think straight again.
“Livie should do the Bliss run,” he said, sitting back andpicking up his burger. It had been his turn to choose their Saturday nightdinner spot. It was something they’d done since they were kids, not that therewas much to choose from. Willow Fork, Texas, was a town of roughly threethousand people, though it served a larger rural community. There was ahonky-tonk with some great bar food, a nice Italian place, two fast foodjoints, and Christa’s. Sometimes they splurged and went into Tyler.
He remembered the first time Grim had come with them. He’dsat in the booth at the honky-tonk staring down at his burger. He’d eaten itlike he was starving, and Josh had realized his friend was.
Starving. For food, for attention, for affection andfriendship.
Grim had come a long way under his parents’ loving care. Heno longer shrank back when the old biddies of the town sent them all the stinkeye or turned their noses up. And by old biddies, he didn’t mean merely old orfemale. There were plenty of middle-aged male biddies in this town.
“And why is that?” Dad’s brow had risen in that “you betterhave an excellent explanation since it’s actually your turn to do training andyou doing your job might save my precious baby girl from those ravenous nerdswho likely want to eat her up” way.
Yeah, he spoke Jack Barnes well, and he had an excellentexcuse. “Grim and I have a trip planned for next week. We’re going to Austin.”
