Hearts on Fire 9: Her Shadows of Light(10)

“What the fuck is going on? Where is she going? She had to have seen us,” Reece said as he, Rusty, Tobin, and Pat headed toward the entrance.

“Your Brighid is our Bri?” Tobin asked, sounding angry.

Pat chuckled. “Holy shit, we met the same woman and all are attracted to her.”

They all started walking by the crowd of women so they could find Brighid.

“Um, hold it right there. Where do you think you’re going?” her friend asked, trying to block them.

“Don’t even try it, honey. We saw her. We’ve been going crazy thinking about her,” Reece told her friend.

“Really?” the woman asked as Reece, Rusty, and Tobin left there to find Bri.

“Yes, really, and it seems our brothers met her, too, here in town and hit it off.”

Her friend’s eyes widened and then formed into a huge smile.

“Holy crap, then go get her, but she’s embarrassed about what happened. She never did anything like that before. She’s had crappy boyfriends, and she drank too much that night but totally didn’t regret it.”

Pat smiled. “Thanks, honey, and don’t worry. My brothers and I will treat her real good.”

Pat ran outside and looked both ways. He saw his brothers all standing near the sidewalk and a bench. He hurried over.



* * * *



Brighid was so embarrassed she wanted to cry and just let the ground open up and swallow her whole. How embarrassing? Her heart pounded inside of her chest. Two men she’d slept with, had a one-night stand with, were at the same place, hanging out with the two newest men she was attracted to. What were the odds? Really? Fucking really? Something like this can only happen to me.

She covered her face and just sat there. There was no place to go. Pat and Tobin knew where she lived, and she and the girls had taken a taxi to get to the place because they couldn’t all fit in her small car and her friends planned on drinking.

She felt the presence of all four large men as they stood around her. They probably hated her, thought she was a slut. She felt so dirty and low. Two men she’d slept with one night as she threw caution to the wind and followed her heart and her body’s attraction to Reece and Rusty. Then there was Tobin and Pat. Oh God, Tobin was going to hate her, and Pat might, too. Then one of them bent down and placed his hand on her knee.

“Look at us, Brighid,” he said, and she uncovered her face and stared at Rusty.

Dark hair, dark eyes, tattoos along his arm and wrist. He looked calm but serious. Her heart raced. He was so good looking. God, and his body? His body was to die for, and now he wore a sexy grin and one damn tight black T-shirt that showed off his muscles big time. She swallowed hard, wanting to smack herself because the sight of him made her breasts swell and her pussy throb. Holy crap, I am a slut. I’m a sex-craved ho.

The tears filled her eyes.

He gave a soft smile. “Damn, baby, we’ve been trying to find you. Now you just shocked the hell out of all of us.”

“It’s not what you think. Well, I mean it is. I mean I met Tobin and Pat. They saved me, and, well, we hit it off. Wait. Did you say you’ve been trying to find me?”

He chuckled and gave her knee another squeeze. She wished he would stop doing that. She couldn’t concentrate. She went to reach up to touch him but then pulled back. She couldn’t do that. Not with Tobin and Pat standing there.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said to her.

“Me? What are you doing here in Treasure Town? How do you know Pat and Tobin?” She glanced up at them. Pat sat down next to her and smiled.

“I mean I just met them a few days ago. I had a flat tire, and then some car nearly ran us over,” she started to explain as if she needed to make them understand that she wasn’t cheating on them, but really, she sort of was in a way only because she felt guilty.

“We’re brothers,” Pat said.

“What?” She stood up, and Rusty and Reece stepped back.

“Oh my God. Oh God, this is so embarrassing. It’s crazy.” She covered her face again and felt as though she was on fire she was so embarrassed.

“Oh God, Oh God, oh God,” she rambled and heard Pat chuckle. Then she felt his arm go around her waist from behind. He pressed up against her, and she tightened up. He kissed her shoulder.

“This shouldn’t be embarrassing. It’s perfect,” Pat said to her.

She pulled from his hold, and Rusty took her hand and brought her close against his chest. He ran his hand along her waist to her lower back as he stared down into her eyes.

“It’s crazy as damn hell but fucking perfect.”

“You were made for us,” Pat said very seriously.

She turned around to look at him and at Reece and Tobin, who looked intense to say the least.

She looked at Pat. “What?” she asked, raising her voice.

He looked at his brothers, and she glanced at them, Especially at Tobin and Reece who stood there with their arms crossed in front of their chests, looking pissed off with hard expressions and appearing shocked.

“Sit down, Brighid. Let’s talk this through so we can get on with our date,” Pat told her. She sat down on the bench Rusty knelt down next to her, and Pat took a seat next to her on the bench.

Rusty squeezed her knee and then began to run his hand along her thigh back and forth. “We haven’t stopped thinking about you or that crazy, freaking night.”

“Really?”

“Of course we haven’t. We were so upset when we woke up in the morning and you were gone and we hadn’t gotten your number. It’s been hell thinking you moved to New Orleans,” Reece told her.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and squinted.

“I lied about that. I was worried about giving up too much information, and when the night went on and the tequila kicked in, I didn’t bother to correct it. I never did anything like that before. The night was so perfect, and I really enjoyed your company.”

“And we enjoyed yours.” Rusty let his eyes linger lower over her breasts and then to her lips.

She felt them tingle with desire. She wished she could have remembered more about that night of making love to Reece and Rusty. Then she looked at Tobin.

“This is a total mess. You must think the worst of me. You should know that I never did anything like that before. That night was not normal. This is so wild, to meet four brothers separately and feel like this for all of you.” She covered her mouth and stood up. She stepped away from them.

“What’s wrong?” Rusty asked.

“Yeah, what you said is a good thing, baby. My brothers and I share everything,” Pat told her.

“Your friend said that you couldn’t stop thinking about us either and that you have strong feelings for Pat and Tobin too,” Reece chimed in.

She opened her mouth to speak. Tobin stepped closer.

“I think we should just settle down and let the woman digest all of this.”

He ran his hand along her waist and then pulled her close. He licked his lips and looked down into her eyes.

“A connection, an attraction like this one, does not come along too often at all. Why don’t we head back inside where all your friends are waiting and enjoy the night getting to know one another together?”

Tobin was the voice of reason, a leader, the one man who, when he spoke, everyone listened to, including her. He was charismatic, hard, and so commanding that she found herself nodding slowly to his suggestion.

“You still want to get to know me? You don’t think terrible things about me?” she asked, and his expression looked firm as he squinted his eyes. But then he shook his head and winked as he said, “Tsk, tsk.” She felt a light bit of relief.

He didn’t smile, but instead, he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers as he pulled her snug against his body. She kissed him right back, and that kiss grew deeper, wilder, and full of lust and desire. He held her so close that she felt safe, secure and protected. When his palm moved along her thigh and over her ass, squeezing it, she didn’t even pull away. She pressed closer and felt her breasts smush against his hard pectoral muscles until he slowly released her lips.

“I’m not letting you outta my sight tonight,” he said very seriously, and she was shocked, aroused, intimidated until he gave a soft wink, took her hand, and led her back inside to the bar, along with his brothers. One look at her friends’ big smiles when she walked back inside and she knew that this night was going to be just as wild and crazy as the night she’d met and slept with Reece and Rusty McQuinn.



* * * *



Rusty couldn’t help but smile. Brighid absolutely lit up a room. From her striking red hair in waves along her shoulders to her gorgeous green eyes to her infectious laughter, she was beyond appealing. He noticed other men looking at her, and when she excused herself to go to the ladies room, men watched, checked her out, and even had the nerve to say hello. She was theirs. He had no doubt in his mind that Brighid was the woman who was made for him and his brothers.

He glanced at Tobin, badass, always on guard, always looking around waiting, anticipating some sort of situation being the detective he was. His brother rarely dated. When they asked him why, he always had an excuse. Too busy with work. A heavy case was on his mind. He didn’t meet anyone worth dating. He had become somewhat cynical when it came to women and what they were after. Rusty figured it had to do with the one time they’d all been out and he’d seen a woman he’d slept with. She came over, flirted, led him on, and then went back to her friends and some guys she was chilling with. A while later, she came back over again and asked Tobin if it was true that he and his brothers liked to share. When he told her sometimes, she said she was more than willing to do him and his brothers, and Tobin had been pissed. He didn’t want to be some fling, some adventure for a woman. Nor did Rusty and the rest of them.