Page 50 of Protect and Serve

Lisa, however, shrieked, “What on earth have you done to my kitchen?”

Remembering what they had done here, in this room, on that table, made heat rise on Claire’s cheeks but she ignored it and said, “Charlie is teaching me to cook.”

“Oh, good God.” She frowned at Cade. There was no call for sarcasm.

“She’s doing well,” Charlie said, daring to kiss her forehead.

It was a minor miracle that her brothers didn’t lunge for him. But a muscle or two may have bunched. After a moment, Cody relaxed and forced a smile. “Anything edible yet?”

It was the first indication that he might be on the way to accepting that she and Charlie were an item.

And yes, it thrilled her that they were.

She looked up at him and their gazes clung.

“Well?” Cade clipped.

Charlie blinked. “What?”

“Anything edible yet? Cody asked if Claire’s made anything edible yet.”

“The, ah, pancakes weren’t bad.”

Claire snorted a laugh. The pancakes had been atrocious. She’d actually burned the blueberries. Just the blueberries. She had no idea how she’d done that.

But enough about her. She was tired of their scrutiny. “Tell me what happened in Austin.”

The all sat around the table while Lisa made real pancakes, and her brothers recounted how successful the event had been and that they were expecting a flood of new bookings.

But Claire didn’t hear much of it, because Charlie’s leg brushed against hers and then he found her hand with his and twined their fingers beneath the table, and everything but his presence danced from her head.

Her only regret was that their weekend alone was over.

But this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Charlie went back to work on Monday and while it was hard to adjust to his absence—she’d become so used to having him by her side—she was too busy to suffer much. Her brothers were correct. The phone started ringing off the hook and she was beset with new bookings. The calendar for the next six months filled up quickly.

And only one of those calls was the heavy breather.

About noon, a knock came on the front door and a thrill walked through her at the thought that Charlie had stopped by to see her on his lunch break. Thank God Cody was over at Ford’s discussing a stud fee for his new bull and Cade had taken Lisa into town to buy some supplies at the market.

She nearly skipped to the door.

But when she opened it, her heart plummeted.

It wasn’t Charlie.

It was Dustin.

She frowned, but tried for a friendly tone. “Hi, Dustin. What brings you here?”

To her surprise, his expression darkened. “Claire. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you…” His gaze flicked away.

Something lurched in her chest. “What? Tell me what?”

He raked his hair. “It’s your brother, Cody. There’s been an accident.”

“Oh, God.”