Sandy stomped her foot for more emphasis and winced when a piece of glass cut her. The fighting came to a stop instantly, and she heard a snarl from behind her as Zack picked her up. Her cut was forgotten as his bare chest glistened with water droplets. Her eyes followed trails of water down his chest and watched them hit her body. Oh wow, his chest was magnificent. His tattoos stopped at his shoulders. Sandy slowly traced a water drop down.
Zack took a deep breath and whispered to her, “I would cut that out, little Firebird, if you want to get this mess sorted out.”
Her brother gave a huff as he fixed his shirt. “The only mess we will be sorting out is why the hell you two are in my sister’s house.” Philip walked over to Zack and tried to take her out of his arms. “Give me my baby sister.”
Zack growled and she shot him a glare. “Put me down n—” She was interrupted by the sound of her front door slamming open and her father and brother yelling for her.
“Oh my God. This is so embarrassing.” Sandy buried her face into Zack’s chest, only to realize what she was doing. She pushed on his chest when she heard her dad’s booming voice. “Zack, put me down.”
He held her tighter and kissed her forehead. “No, you cut your foot because of these idiots.”
Sandy groaned as her dad snarled, “What is going on here? Why are you holding my daughter? Baby girl, why are these men in your house? These men aren’t bothering you, are they? And what the hell happened to your front door?”
Pushing at Zack’s chest again and getting nowhere, Sandy sighed. “Dad, I’m fine. Everyone was just leaving, weren’t you?” The “No” answers were unanimous around her. “Crap! Well, can we move out of my kitchen?”
They all trudged to her family room. Zack sat on her lounge as Jake checked her foot for glass. Once they’d figured out she had only cut her foot, and no glass was in it, they all sat down and glared at each other.
Her father was the first to break the silence. “Who are these men?”
Moving herself off Zack’s lap but only getting as far as sitting between him and Jake, Sandy looked at her dad who sat leaning forward on the lounge. “This is Zack and Jake. They are Susie’s friends. Um, my friends.”
“Why are they here, Sandy?”
She shot a stare at both men hoping they would keep quiet. “They came by this morning to help me organize a surprise for Susie. She’s pregnant, so I was going to do something nice.”
Her dad raised his eyebrow as he looked at Jake and Zack. “If this is true, why are you wearing one of their shirts?”
She glanced down and saw that the something she’d shoved on was Zack’s shirt. Groaning at her stupidity, she ignored the men on either side of her and tried to figure out how she could get out of all this.
“Zack and I have been seeing each other. Last night was the first time he stayed over. He came by after work. Jake here had a little too much to drink, and Zack picked him up. As he lives out of town, I said he could crash at my house.”
Her father seemed to think this over for a minute before he looked Zack up and down. “He’s a bit old for you, isn’t he?”
She was about to answer when Jake butted in. “Sandy lives by herself and is over twenty-one, sir. I have to go to work in an hour, so I’m going to rush this along. My name is Jake Bear, and I am one of your daughter’s mates-slash-boyfriends-slash-fiancés.”
Sandy choked and saw her dad’s face going red and her brothers clenching their fists. Oh shit. “Dad, I have no idea what he’s talking about. He’s joking. Calm down. Think of your blood pressure.” She shot a death stare at Jake and elbowed him.
Jake held her elbow with one hand and stroked her cheek with the other. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it before murmuring in a soothing voice, “I’m not giving you up. I will be open and honest from the start. You are mine. Ours.”
Her bothers said, “I don’t think so,” and broke the spell Jake had woven around her as she stared into his emerald green eyes.
Philip and John stood and came toward her, and Philip snarled, “You two sickos are not having our sister. We’ve heard of you Bear men. And I’m not letting my sister date playboys like you.”
Her temper started to rise as everyone started telling her what she was going to do and who she was going to see.
Sandy’s father joined her brothers. “Sandy, come here now. I didn’t raise you to go off with the first man who looks your way. If this is what living out of home does to you, then you are coming home with me.”