Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Heat

Curiouser and curiouser.

The moment had come to be blunt. It was hardly right for her to fault Cari and Leo for not communicating when she was guilty of the same thing with Blake.

“I’m not interested in taking any more classes. I figure I need to move on to the next stage of my life. Meet new goals, fulfill new desires.” Okay, it wasn’t a totally blunt declaration of wanting to jump him, but it was a start. Especially as she opened her shoulders to face him, pulling one leg up on the bench seat so that her knee bumped into his thigh. A gentle caress. Barely there but enough to get her heart pounding.

“Where’s he live?”

Her mind clouded with the image of Blake reaching to touch her, smoothing his strong fingers over her thigh. His work-hardened hands opening her jeans and unbuttoning her blouse, caressing her bare skin…

“Jaxi, where does he live?” Blake demanded.

She shook her head and lifted her gaze from his hands. What the hell were they talking about again? “Who?”

“This Royce guy.”

The urge to giggle rose, and she beat it down unmercifully. Acting like a teenager wasn’t the impression she wanted to project right now. “Don’t worry about Royce. He’s a nice enough guy but I’m not interested in him.”

She adjusted her leg casually, rubbing his thigh again.

Blake changed gears, his leg shifting away from hers. “Well, you let me know if he gives you any trouble, alright?”

She leaned toward him slightly, letting her body soften, letting her desire for him show in her eyes and the tone of her voice. “Now why would you do that? You’re not my father to watch over me and save me from the big bad wolves.” Come on, Blake, make a move. She was sure she’d seen signs of his attraction, but the man was damn stubborn. Whatever held him back was driving her up the wall.

“No, I’m not your father, but I’ve thought about you a lot lately. I haven’t been taking care of you as well as I did before you began college classes. I’m going to work on that, Jaxi. You need someone to watch out for you.”

Hope rose in her heart. Was he coming around? Maybe his earlier anger was because he felt responsible for her and wanted more?

Then he dumped cold water on her dreams as he reached to pat her knee gently. Playfully. As far from a lover’s caress as possible. “You’re a good girl, and you deserve to be cared for. I’m going to be the best big brother you could ever have.” With a final squeeze to her knee, he turned up the radio, and his strong hands thumped the wheel in time with the song, a peculiar pinched smile on his face.

Jaxi stared at him slack-jawed, her body and mind both reeling as she tried to understand what he’d just said.

He’d gone insane.

A big brother? Like hell that’s what she needed. If he wanted to care for her, it wouldn’t be as a big boy reluctantly playing house with a little girl. Making mud pies good-naturedly when he would prefer to be anywhere else. They’d done that already, years ago. It was time to shake things up, to show Blake she was no little girl and he was definitely not her big brother.

She’d told Jesse earlier she played to win. The game started now in earnest, and Blake wasn’t going to know what hit him.

The testosterone in the room was driving her crazy.

Jaxi dipped her hands into the sink and tested the water, turning her face away to hide the smile that rose unbidden as Jesse and Joel scrambled to impress her. They carried in dirty plates, scraping and cleaning the few leftovers into the slop buckets for the animals. They were well trained—Marion Coleman had never let any of her boys slack off, in or out of the house. Jaxi turned to the stack of hand washing and began.

If it hadn’t been for the other chores, and helping Marion, she bet she wouldn’t even be here now. Between the guys’ skills at batching it, and the fact the twins would occasionally be home on weekends from school, there were a lot of hands around.

Just not enough when you added Marion’s work to the list.

“You sure can cook up a storm.” Joel nudged her hip lightly to get her to step aside as he rinsed one of the large roasters in the second sink.

“How come you seem to know how much to prepare to have enough for us all? You’ve only got three in your family.” Jesse stacked plates in the dishwasher, standing to flash her a grin. “And for the record, I agree with Joel. That was great. Thanks.”

She shrugged, rinsing bubbles from utensils and passing them to Joel to dry. “You’re welcome. And I estimate, then double. You know, to be able to feed you two bottomless pits.”

Their good-natured responses made her smile. That’s what she wanted from them—friendly, not sensual. If she could just keep them on the right track.

“Hey, you guys looking forward to college? What you got on your schedule this semester?” Jaxi wasn’t going to miss it. Not with the plans she was finally moving on, but there was a part of her that was real happy she’d gotten a chance to go for a few semesters.

“It’s all awesome. The technology classes—so incredible what they’ve got set up for using with the crop rotations and helping with the planning.” Joel leaned against the counter, the dishtowel fluttering in one hand as his face lit with excitement. “I’ve already managed to incorporate some of the information from last year into this coming season. I show Dad what I can as I learn it. By Christmas I hope to have more solid plans to be able to help arrange for our spring purchases.”

Jaxi shook her head in wonder. “Computers and crops. Never thought that would happen.”

“It’s only a part of it,” Jesse interrupted. “You wouldn’t believe the genetics classes. That’s my area of expertise.”

The boys rambled on for a bit, enthusiasm and energy quivering through them. Jaxi wiped down the counter and began breakfast preparations. Marion had different methods, but since she’d taken over in the kitchen, Jaxi did things her own way. And her way involved planning ahead.

“One of you grab me the oats, please? Your mom said there’s supposed to be a big bag tucked somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it.”

“I got it.” Travis slipped in through the swinging door and tilted his head toward the pantry. “Last time we did groceries, I had to put it up on the top pantry shelf.”

“Good timing, asshole. Dishes are nearly done.” Jesse snapped his towel at his older brother as Travis paced past.

Travis spun out of the way and nabbed Jaxi, tugging her against his body to use her as a shield. “I was working.”

“Working on skipping work.”

Travis’s forearm pressed hot against her belly where he held her close, dragging her across the room. “Now, now. I’m here and eager to be of assistance. Why don’t you kids go do your homework or something, and I’ll take good care of Jaxi for the rest of the night.”

Oh brother.

“I don’t think I need much taking care of.” Jaxi tugged on Travis’s arm until he released her. He turned to pull down a full twenty-five-pound bag of oats only after winking at her mischievously. This was a complication she hadn’t expected. It was bad enough having to fight off the twins’ attention, but Travis?

The boy didn’t take no for an answer very easily. Come to think of it, none of the Six Pack boys did. Except Blake, damn it all.

Travis carried the bag to the counter while Jaxi grabbed the other supplies she needed, dragging a Crock-Pot over and loading it with the fixings for overnight cooking.

She was in the middle of measuring vanilla when he stepped behind her again, reaching around to grab the brown sugar. He adjusted the lid carefully, organizing her supplies. All the while far too close, rubbing and bumping her at every chance.