Page 72 of Unguarded

“What’d you get all dolled up for?” Duke is right on her heels, freshly showered.

She huffs, rolling her eyes. “We have company, and I was sick of smelling like cow manure.” She smiles at Monroe, who is still withdrawn but manages a smile.

“I love it. Pink is your color,” she says.

A noise sounds from the entryway, like the front door opening.

“Ah shit, look what the cat dragged in.” Duke pulls a couple of beers out of the fridge and tosses one to me.

I catch it, popping the tab open before downing half of it in one swig. With all these women around, Lord knows I need it. Deciphering their body language and undertones in conversation is giving me a headache. My brother tosses another beer toward the hallway. Sam materializes, catching it with one hand.

Unfortunately, my eyes drift over to notice my little sister’s reaction. She bats her eyelashes and leans back against the kitchen counter like she’s posing for a magazine cover.

Why the fuck is she acting like this? Surely, it’s not for Sam.

Sam Seymour has been Duke’s best friend since we werekids. He’s like a brother to us, hanging around the ranch while we were all wild teenagers because he was an only child, raised by his grandfather with no other family.

Monroe smiles, eyes drifting to meet mine. Reading her expression has always been fairly easy for me, but I’ve gotten to the point where I know exactly what she’s thinking.

Yeah, I guess my little sister has a crush. Let’s hope Duke doesn’t notice it.

She turns back to observe them, clearly fascinated by the family dynamics. She’s similar to Sam in that she doesn’t have any siblings and only one active parental figure—her manager. I make a mental note to ask her what happened to her biological parents, realizing it’s never come up. All she’s said is that they both abandoned her.

Duke ushers Sam over to us. “Have you met Blondie? She’s here until my brother can get his head out of his ass or three weeks, whichever happens sooner.”

My eyes say,I will fucking murder you and bury your body behind the barn,but my face reveals nothing.

Sam shakes Monroe’s hand. He’s always been a good-looking son of a bitch. He’d better not get any ideas about bonding with her about mutual loneliness and wealth. Sam is the sole heir to a massive, multimillion-dollar Texas ranch and countless entities across the state when his ailing grandfather kicks the bucket.

Monroe smiles up at him politely. “Nice to meet you. I’d love to hear what it was like, being raised next to such a close-knit family. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Sam shrugs. “You’ll get used to—well, all of them, exceptthis fucker. He’s annoying as fuck.” He elbows Duke hard in the ribs.

My little brother relishes every chance he gets to fight, returning the jab with one of his own, much harder and straight into Sam’s gut.

Dolly gasps. Sam reaches back out, attempting to pull Duke into a headlock. He misses by a hair when Duke ducks out of the way. Monroe leans away from them, reaching back, desperately searching for me.

I grab her hand, squeezing it reassuringly as I lean forward to whisper in her ear, “They’re always like this.”

Sam manages to swipe Duke’s legs out from under him, and my brother goes down. Duke rolls over, springing back to his feet and posing for an attack.

I roll my eyes, wrapping my arm around Monroe’s shoulders. “They’re showing off for you.”

She glances back at me, wide-eyed.

“Take that shit outside, fuckers! This isn’t the damn stables,” I shout.

Holden and my father enter the kitchen together. Holden is the one who corrals the brothers and has since our mother died and Dad started drinking like a camel. Pops has calmed down on the drinking a lot, but he never tried taking his place as head of the family again.

He comes over to where Monroe and I are standing.

“This is Pops. Pops, meet Monroe.” I introduce them.

Pops grins, extending a wrinkled hand. “Hello there, missy. Nice to meet you.”

Monroe shakes his hand and smiles. “You too. Thank you for letting me stay at the ranch.”

The conversation is cut off abruptly by the scuffling between Duke and Sam growing louder and more obnoxious.

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