Divine Charity(Divine Creek Ranch 18)(6)

“What?”

“No one can quote Shakespeare like you, handsome.”

The moment had been bittersweet as he’d pulled her into his lap and held her. The weight in her heart had settled and stayed for a long time and they’d never spoken of it again.

Rumors flew for days about the black eyes and bruises the three of them sported but none of them ever said a word, even to their parents. Knowing she’d been the source of their conflict was painful and she’d done her best to heal the wounds. The relationship had recovered as the rest of their senior year flew by, although she’d worried that things would never be the same. Her biggest fear had been hurting the three of them but she’d also known without doubt that it was right between her and Justin.

After graduation, Justin had proposed and he and Charity had been wed in a small ceremony. Grace had served as her maid of honor and like loyal brothers, Val and Ransome had stood up with him.

Val and Ransome had left town the following day and a pattern of absences punctuated by visits that revolved around holidays and birthdays like clockwork had begun. Each year, Val and Ransome had seemed more hardened and rugged, more masculine. And all three men had let their hair grow out, which had really flipped Charity’s switch.

Val’s wavy hair reached his shoulders, and Ransome let his straight hair grow even longer, like Justin’s, down his back. Family genes had blessed all three of them with hair that was so black it had natural blue highlights in the sunshine. That similarity had done much to make them appear more as brothers and had been a very sexy distraction for Charity for years. She hoped they never cut their hair.

There were no women in Val and Ransome’s lives that she’d known of and it’d been years before she’d finally gotten an honest answer about what they did for a living. That was when the real worry had started for her. Bounty hunters might make good money but they didn’t have long life expectancies.

Justin’s hands slid down her back to cup her ass cheeks, drawing her back from the bittersweet memories. With a gentle squeeze, he murmured, “You’re thinking hard for a woman who should be dead to the world right now.”

A chuckle slipped from her. He knew her so well. “I was just…remembering.” Wanting.

“Yeah?” His hands slid up her back again, caressing her with work roughened fingertips.

“I’m happy the guys retired.”

“Me, too. It’ll be good to have them around more.”

Yes, but more time around them equals more torture, too.

“I hope they’re going to take a little time off.”

A chuckled rumbled in his chest. “Those two? They may take a week or two off but they’ve already talked to the dads. They’ve got some catching up to do but they sound like they want to continue the family tradition with me just like our dads did.” The three of them would make the third generation at the head of Connors Mobile Fabricating, LLC. The business had been started by Justin’s grandfather, who’d left it to his son, Justin’s father, and his daughters, who were Val’s and Ransome’s mothers. When his aunts had married, their husbands had gotten involved in the family business as well.

“They know about what you’ve been doing on the side?”

“Yeah. I showed them some of the pieces in the barn and they seemed intrigued.” He’d been hesitant about sharing his work with many people and Charity wasn’t surprised that Val and Ransome would support him in it. Justin was a master welder, who could not only create anything a person might need out of metal, he was also a metal artist on the side.

“Are they going to find places to live in Divine, do you think?”

Justin cleared his throat and ran his fingers through her hair. Noting his hesitation before answering, she lifted her head and stroked the slight widow’s peak at his forehead as she waited for his reply. “About that…I told them they were welcome to stay with us until they get settled. Is that okay?”

She laid her cheek against his chest again and nodded. “Of course it is, babe, you know that. What’s mine is theirs.” Her face turned hot as she remembered that summer night the year before, at the Republic of Texas Bike Rally. Justin was the king of fulfilling her fantasies, but he never knew how close he’d come that night.

The sun had set hours before on the adults-only campsite and rally grounds. Their friends and family members from Divine had already departed for home but Charity and Justin had stayed overnight with their friends Dale and Natalie to enjoy more of the night life.

Val and Ransome had wandered off to party and Justin had gathered her into his lap. He’d whispered that he wanted to take her to the next level under the stars, surrounded by their biker friends and her body had instantaneously flooded with pulsing, liquid heat. She’d gone topless earlier in the evening to get her upper torso painted like a bright beautiful butterfly and low-level arousal had been simmering all night as they’d walked around. Knowing Val and Ransome’s eyes had been all over her all night had only made it stronger.