Love Under Two Benedicts

Chapter 1



“I have no intention of being the bone you and your brother fight over, Deputy Benedict. So you can just take these flowers back, and you can both stop whatever game the two of you have been playing with me.” Kelsey Madison quickly looked around her restaurant, Lusty Appetites, to ensure no one else happened to catch the slight snip in her tone.

No one seemed to be paying them any mind at all. Good. She was glad she’d decided to say something at last. She’d put it as plainly as she could. Everything she’d ever read or heard about Texas men suggested they appreciated plain talking.

It had never seemed to be a problem between her and Philip. She’d met him in college, a sweet, gentle man from Austin, Texas, who’d decided he wanted to take his schooling in Pennsylvania. They’d fallen in love at first sight and had married before they’d graduated.

Philip is gone. Stop thinking about him.

Kelsey blinked. For one moment, she thought she saw sympathy cross Matthew Benedict’s face. That must have been a trick of the lighting because the expression he wore now was one of sly teasing.

“Now, Miss Kelsey, you must know by now that, while my brother and I would love for you to be the bone we nibbled on between us, we certainly would never fight over you. That’s why we’ve both been wooing you. It’s the Benedict way.”

Kelsey blinked because what he’d just said implied that he and his brother, Steven…

Her eyes widened as that thought grew. Matthew nodded as if he could read her mind. He smiled at her when she knew the look on her face had to be one of absolute disbelief.

At this moment, it didn’t matter that Matthew and his brother were the first men in five years to stir her juices and prime her pump. That was her secret. What he’d just implied was the last thing she’d ever expected to hear.

“You…you and your brother want to share me? Are you crazy?” She immediately hunched her shoulders and gave the restaurant another quick scan. Shock must have made her believe she’d shouted that last question instead of whispering as she intended because, again, no one seemed to be paying them any attention whatsoever.

Matthew’s grin slowly disappeared. He tilted his head to one side. “Susie said you’d been up to the big house for dinner a few times since you’d come to town.”

Kelsey couldn’t follow his line of reasoning. She furrowed her brow. “What does my being a guest of your sister and your family for dinner have to do with you and Steven sharing me?”

Matthew raised one eyebrow, and in that moment, he looked every inch the tall, arrogant Texan. Of course, maybe it couldn’t be considered arrogance when he was one of the two most handsome, potently masculine men in town.

Okay, Kels, that was a totally inappropriate thought. You’re supposed to be discouraging these two Lotharios, not thinking about how they rev your engine.

Kelsey chased that thought out of her mind, or tried to. Much to her annoyance, it settled right down in a dusty, empty corner and got comfortable.

“You’ve lived in Lusty for how long, now?” Matthew asked quietly.

“Nearly six months. You should know that because you and Steven were busy putting the finishing touches on this place the day I came to town.”

“Darlin’, that was one of those rhetorical questions. I suppose you’ve never taken the opportunity to go and visit the Lusty Historical Society Museum, either.”

Kelsey blinked and for extra measure gave her head a shake. She refocused on Matthew and ran his last statement through her brain. It was no good. He still wasn’t making any sense. “No, I haven’t. I don’t see—”

“Come on.” He took the flowers she’d been trying to hand back to him, then turned to her head waitress. “Hey, Michelle, will you put these in water for us? Thanks.”

Michelle Parker, a Benedict cousin, nodded happily and came right over, relieving Matthew of the small bouquet.

“Ooh, they’re so pretty. Yellow rosebuds and baby’s breath. I’ll see to them right away.” Michelle beamed a smile at them both, then spun her heel and headed for the kitchen.

Matthew reached for Kelsey’s hand and began to lead her toward the door.

“What…you can’t just pull me out of my restaurant in the middle of the day. I have things to do here!”

Matthew stopped and shot her a smile that did unspeakably mushy things to her resolve. “You’re between lunch and dinner. Can’t you spare twenty minutes or so? It’s important.”

Well, when he put it like that, she supposed she could give him a bit of time. She did have everything under control in the kitchen. Tracy Jessop, her sous-chef, could take care of things for a while. In fact, Kelsey often used this time of day to run errands or take a nice long break. She guessed she could consider accompanying Matthew to be both.