He heard the moans coming from her throat and every time one escaped he deepened the kiss that much more. He was tempted to spread her out on the kitchen table at that very moment and have his way with her. Take her with a passion until he was too weak to stand.
“We could always leave and come back later.”
The heavy voice made them jump apart like kids who’d gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Filled with both anger and protectiveness Ramsey moved in front of Chloe while glaring at his brothers, Zane and Derringer, and his cousin Jason.
“What the hell are the three of you doing here?”
Derringer smiled. “We had a meeting. You told us to be here at seven. Sharp. Threatened us with dire straits if we were late. Did you forget?”
He had.
“We can understand if you did forget,” Zane said. He was two years younger than Ramsey and known as a smart-mouth.
“It’s no big deal, Ram,” Jason said. Jason was the easygoing cousin and his trademark smile was genuine. “It would be nice if you introduced us,” Jason added.
“Yeah,” Zane said grinning. “Any reason you’re hiding her behind your back?”
Cursing quietly, Ramsey realized he was doing that very thing. He stepped aside and the moment his brothers’ eyes lit on Chloe, all three gave her an appreciative male perusal. He loved every member of his family, but at that moment thoughts of doing these three in actually made him want to smile.
“Chloe, I want you to meet my brothers, Zane and Derringer, and my cousin Jason.” And then to his brothers and cousin, he said. “Guys, this is Chloe Burton, my new cook.”
Chloe had never been so embarrassed in her entire life and actually felt the color stain her already-dark skin. From the way the three were staring at her she could only assume that they’d never walked in on Ramsey kissing a woman before.
She extended her hand to them. “How do you do?”
Their handshakes were firm and as she locked eyes with each of them she saw a friendliness in their dark depths. And there was no doubt in her mind that when placed in the same room with a crowd anyone could easily guess they were related. They all had the same chiseled jaw, dark brown eyes, dimpled smile and creamy brown skin. They were extremely handsome men. Her gaze was momentarily drawn back to Derringer, the man who had her best friend’s heart and he didn’t even know it.
“Okay, so much for introductions,” Ramsey broke into her thoughts and said aloud. “Let’s have that meeting.”
Zane, she noticed, was still holding on to her hand. He smiled, glanced over at Ramsey and said, “The three of you can have a meeting. I prefer staying here with Chloe. I hear she can whip up the best scrambled eggs this side of the Rockies.”
She watched Ramsey tip his head back and sigh. He then fixed his brother a leveled stare. “Don’t push things with me, Zane.”
Zane drew his gaze from Ramsey and glanced down at Chloe. She thought the smile that tugged at his lips was devilish. “What about a rain check, Chloe? Tomorrow perhaps?”
She could only nod and then watched the three men follow Ramsey from the room.
“That pretty much sums things up,” Jason was saying. “I talked to Durango and McKinnon yesterday and they are excited at the prospect of expanding their operation to Colorado.”
Ramsey nodded. Durango Westmoreland and McKinnon Quinn were cousins of theirs, Durango by blood and McKinnon by marriage. The two lived in Montana and owned M&D, a very successful horse breeding and training operation. A few years ago they had invited another cousin, Clint Westmoreland, who lived in Texas, to join their milliondollar business. And now they were making the same offer to Zane, Derringer and Jason. The three had traveled to Bozeman and spent three weeks with Durango and McKinnon and their families, learning more about the operation and to determine if it was a business venture they wanted to become a part of. As all three were fine horsemen, Ramsey couldn’t imagine their turning down the offer.
“So the three of you are really thinking about doing it?” he asked as he looked over the report. Everything was in order and M&D was doing extremely well; especially after Prince Charming, a horse they had trained for Sheikh Jamal Yasir—another cousin by marriage—had placed in the Kentucky Derby.
“Yes, and we figured since our three properties are adjacent to each other,” Jason was saying, “we can share acreage for grazing land and for future expansions. But what we don’t want to do is to reduce the land you need for your sheep.”
Ramsey nodded, appreciating their concern. Sheep required a lot of land and his siblings and cousins had been very generous in letting him use some of theirs for grazing purposes. At present he was satisfied with the number of sheep he owned, and other than the lambs due to be born at the end of the month, he didn’t intend to increase his herd anytime soon.
“With what Dillon and I own together, there will be plenty enough,” he said to the three. “And before Bane took off for the Navy he gave Dillon permission for me to use his land if there was a need. A few days ago I received a letter notifying me that the federal government has approved my use of land at Diamond Ridge, so I’ll start taking part of the herd there later this year for grazing.”
Ramsey glanced back down at the report. “Although I have my hands full here with the sheep, I’ll be interested in becoming a silent partner with the M&D Colorado-based operation once it gets started. I think it’s time that I consider diversifying. It’s not good to have all your eggs in one basket.”
“True,” Zane nodded, casting his brother a smile. “We would love to have you on board. And speaking of eggs, you kind of got uptight when I invited myself to breakfast.”
Ramsey snorted as he leaned back in his chair. “What is it with you and Callum with your crazy games? Chloe is off limits.”
Derringer, who was slouched down on the love seat, glanced over at Ramsey and asked in a belligerent tone. “Says who?”
Ramsey frowned. Derringer was younger than him by three years and enjoyed being argumentative. “Says me, Derringer. Evidently you either didn’t get it or you didn’t understand the message I gave Zane in the kitchen.”
“So, you’re saying Chloe is more than just your cook?” Jason asked, as if for clarification.
Ramsey hauled in a deep breath, irritated at the thought of having to explain anything to his relatives. But knowing them the way he did, he knew he’d better do so. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be more explaining to do to the others when word got around that these three had walked in on him kissing Chloe. Zane was probably just itching to tell everyone, especially because it had been eons since Ramsey had been involved with a woman.
“Chloe is nothing more than my cook,” he said.
Now it was Zane who snorted. “I don’t recall you ever kissing Nellie.”
Ramsey rolled his eyes. “Nellie is a married woman.”
Derringer straightened in his seat and lifted a brow. “Are you saying if she wasn’t married you’d be kissing her?”
Before he could respond Zane burst out laughing while slapping his thigh. “Damn, Ramsey, we didn’t know you had it in you. And all this time we figured you were living a dull and sexually inactive life.”
Ramsey took a deep, calming breath. His brothers were trying to get a rise out of him and he refused to fall prey to their tactics any more than he had to Callum’s earlier. He tossed the document he was holding on his desk. “Let me get something