Page 28 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

Kyle held up a hand. “It’s okay to be tired, Daryl,” he said. “I am too, but you’re not ragging on me for it, right?”

Daryl frowned. “Of course not,” he said.

“So why would I need an apology from you?”

He shrugged and then sighed. “When did you get so smart, huh?” he asked. “Last time I checked, I was the older brother.”

Kyle snorted. “I think it’s okay for us to take turns on who’s the bigger dumbass,” he said. “We’ve got Georgina to keep both of us in line, right?”

He laughed. “You got that right.” Their older sister was a Mama Bear not only to her kids, but to both of them as well.

“Though, speaking of tired,” Kyle started, and Daryl bit back a groan. He looked out at the horizon: the sky was painted pink and gold from the setting sun. It sure was pretty out here at the end of the day. “Can you help me with some repairs in the barn next week? Caleb’s taking his girlfriend out of town to propose, and it’s a two-man job.”

“What day?” Daryl asked, thinking to his already stacked schedule.

Kyle thought for a moment. “Wednesday?”

He didn’t have anything scheduled that day. “Sure,” he told him. “I should be able to swing that.” Daryl didn’t add that the thought of helping with barn repairs made him want to fall over. But what was the point of going through all of this effort to save the ranch from the bank if it just fell apart before he could actually do the saving part? He was just going to have to bury this tired feeling as far as he could and push through.

“Thanks, man,” Kyle said.

Daryl waved him off. “No worries, little brother.” Except that there were worries. Alotof worries. “Say, can you maybe go to Georgina’s tonight?”

Kyle side-eyed him. “Why would I do that?”

Daryl grinned; he couldn’t help himself. “Laura’s making me dinner tonight,” he said.

“She makes us dinner every night.”

“No,” Daryl said, giving his brother a look. “She’s not making dinner for us; she’s making dinner forme.”

It took him a few seconds, but Kyle wrinkled his nose in disgust, even as he smiled. “You finally slept with her.”

Daryl wasn’t going to point out that they’d done it more than once. The best course of action was to just say nothing specific. “We’re spending some time together, and I’d like to get a little privacy.”

Kyle nodded in agreement. “What about the baby?”

“Lily goes to bed at 7:30 at the latest,” Daryl said. “She’ll be fine. And she’s been really good about sleeping through the night lately.” He patted the top of the gator. “Drive me up to the main house?”

Kyle nodded. “Get in.”

The men rode back up to the main house, pitching to and fro as the gator went over the dips and bumps in the gravel road. Kyle stopped beside the shed where they stored the other gator when it wasn’t being used, and the pair walked the rest of the way to the house. They came through the side door and found Laura in the kitchen, grilling steaks on a grill pan. “Hey, guys,” she greeted with a smile. “How do you take yours? They just went down.”

“Medium rare for me,” Daryl said and then put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “He’s headed to Georgina’s for the night.”

Laura frowned. “Did you guys have another fight?”

“No—”

“Kyle just needed some breathing space,” Daryl said, cutting his brother off. “Isn’t that right, Kyle?”

The man sighed, pretending to be put out, even if he was smirking a little. “Yeah,” he said. “No worries about me—I just need some space from the happy couple.”Little bastard, Daryl thought when Kyle stuck his tongue out at him behind Laura’s back. “I’m just going to grab my stuff and be on my way.”

When he was gone, Laura turned around to look at him. Her face was a pretty shade of red, but she definitely didn’t look happy. “Does he know about us?”

“We’re married,” he said, evading her question. “I’m pretty sure that back when he got the birds and bees talk, it mentioned that most married people have sex occasionally.”

“Daryl,” she said with a sigh.

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