It annoyed the hell out of him that one thought kept popping up and poking him in the nuts, ruining his buzz.

She’d dated Travis first.

All the Coleman boys had a similar cut. Solid features, clear lines. In their immediate clan, the twins were the fairest with their dark blond hair, but the other four were clearly family. And he and Travis, other than the age difference, looked a lot like twins themselves.

Blake couldn’t bear to discover Jaxi had been chasing a dream all these years. Trying for a substitute for Travis.

She tugged his hand and he blinked. He’d been woolgathering while his brothers arrived at the table. He escorted Jaxi to her seat before joining the others and digging into the spicy food before him. An ear-to-ear grin stretched his face as he thought about the afternoon and Jaxi lying naked right about where his bowl now sat.

She was hotter than any five-alarm chili.

“You think Dad will be able to help at all this harvest or should we plan on finishing without him?” Matt asked.

“Let’s plan on going it alone. He won’t be driving machinery with that monster of a cast, although I imagine he’ll be impossible to stop from helping completely.”

Daniel scooped more salsa and chips onto his plate. “I’ll finish the outstanding furniture order. It’ll take most of tomorrow, but after that load is done I’ll have time to help out wherever I’m needed in the fields. I think we should hold off on accepting more requests for the shop until we know for sure we’re got things under control.”

“Agreed.”

Blake relaxed into his chair, his gaze on Jaxi as she sat across from him. She looked around constantly, checking the table and the food, eyeing the boys and the expressions on their faces. She caught him staring and blushed.

He chuckled softly. She’d sat naked on this table three hours ago. Now she was blushing while he looked at her fully clothed. She was too good to be true.

Talk continued for a bit before Blake turned from his conversation with Daniel to check again on Jaxi. The content expression she’d had at the start of the meal was nowhere to be seen. He followed her gaze. Both Travis and Jesse looked as if they’d swallowed a bug.

“Can I get someone to help dig beets tomorrow?” Her voice sounded falsely bright and Blake paused. What was going on?

He nodded toward Jesse. “He should be able to finish the fences by dinner. After that he can give you a hand.”

Jesse ate slowly, all his focus on his plate. Jaxi laid a hand on his sleeve to get his attention and he jerked away. He shoved his chair back and rose. “I’m not real hungry. Got chores to finish in the barn.”

Avoiding Jaxi’s eyes, he stomped from the dining room.

The sound of forks on plates grew loud in the suddenly quiet room. Travis wiped his mouth, then threw the napkin on his plate. “Well, I may as well go too. Thanks for supper, Jaxi. Appears you still know how to cook up some heat, when you want.”

She sucked in a quick gasp and Joel placed a hand on her arm.

Blake was on his feet in a flash. “Travis, what kind of rude-ass remark was that?”

His brother shrugged. “Didn’t mean anything. I’ll be in the barn if you need me.”

His footsteps echoed across the floor, the door slamming shut behind him.

Matt shook his head and turned to Jaxi, whose face had gone white. “It’s nothing but Travis being an asshole again. You know how he gets.”

Jaxi nodded silently and poked at the food on her plate. Her big eyes looked suspiciously as if she was holding back tears.

“Excuse me.” She slipped into the kitchen, her head down.

Blake made to follow her, but Joel held up a hand. “Let me. Please, Blake. I can at least ease her mind about Jesse. I know what he’s thinking, and he really doesn’t mean to be a shit.”

Then there were the three of them. Blake glanced at Daniel and Matt, at the unfinished meal in front of them. Silently Daniel gathered plates together. Blake’s stomach was tied tighter than he thought possible.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal at this table end like that.”

Daniel snorted. “It ain’t always been roses either, Blake. What did you expect? You won and they lost. Give them time.”

He grabbed the load of dishes and headed for the kitchen.

Matt cleared his throat.

Blake turned to him. “You planning on offering me advice too?”

“Depends if you need it or not. I wanted to know. This thing with Jaxi, is this a keep-to-play or a play-to-keep thing?” Matt asked.

“Why is everyone expecting me to propose to the girl the day after we—”

“Don’t be such a stupid shit. Because Jaxi’s the kind of girl you should have proposed to before you took her, that’s why.” Matt’s anger seemingly blazed out of nowhere as he rose to his feet. “You’ve had the woman dogging your heels for years. It’s been clear to everyone she’s head over heels in love with you, and more than willing to admit it. You’re the bastard holding your relationship back, and I think you’re an asshole if you don’t get your butt in gear and face the truth. She may be hotter than the peppers in that chili, but she’s a good girl. Treat her like one.”

Matt stomped from the room, leaving Blake utterly alone.

He rose and paced to the window. The irony of the mess was he’d already had his own plans in place before all this unsolicited advice came his way. He jiggled the contents of his pocket again. It appeared he now had to deal with his brothers who were acting like idiots, as well as his own stupidity.

Outside, the sun painted the family land with bright colours, turning it into a picture before him, everything orderly and neat. His father and grandfather had worked hard to make the Coleman land a success. His brothers were right. This wasn’t the first or last time the family would have to deal with having differences of opinions. Strong-willed, bullheaded bastards, all of them, with his name firmly on the top of the list. He headed to the barn to do some damage control.

With a short stop in the kitchen first to give Jaxi a kiss and a hug.


Travis sprawled on his butt on the straw-strewn floorboards, blood pouring freely from his nose. Jesse wiped at his mouth and glared at Blake, who’d just hauled his brothers apart. Jesse spun on his heel and headed for the door.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Blake yanked him to a stop by the back of his collar. “First you tell me what this is all about, and then we’re going to settle any troubles you two have with me and Jaxi.”

Travis and Jesse exchanged angry glances, but neither of them spoke. Travis heaved himself to his feet and tried to staunch the flow of blood. He backed away to stand warily as Blake eyed Jesse.

“Me and Travis had a difference of opinion. We’re done.” Jesse spat at the floor, his tongue licking at his bruised lips.

“Nothing else to say?” Blake demanded.

“Travis is the King of the Assholes. Happy?” Jesse snapped.

Blake barked out a laugh, “We already knew that. Of course, it looks like we need to put your name up for the title as well. You think you could work a little harder to hurt Jaxi? If you tried, you might beat Travis out of his crown.”

“I don’t have an issue with Jaxi,” Jesse insisted.

“Well, it didn’t seem that way to her.”

Jesse bent his head against the wooden sidewall and stayed quiet for a minute. When he finally spoke it was toward the straw-covered ground at his feet.

“Blake, you need to back off on this one. I’m happy for you, I guess. But last night it could have been me making love to Jaxi. How would you have felt?” Jesse looked up at him, his blue eyes dark with emotion. “She’s been a good friend for a long time and I’m not about to stop caring for her but…I got a taste of something I’m not gonna be able to forget overnight.”

His whole body had gone rigid. Blake nodded slowly. He could sympathize with Jesse’s hurt. He waited patiently, letting the words come as Jesse found the strength to let them free.

“I’m trying to do right by her and you. Give me time.”

“I can do that.”

Jesse’s eyes flashed with one last burst of emotion. “But if you hurt her, you need to know I’ll take you apart, then I’ll take her away.”

Blake hauled Jesse into a bear hug like he was a kid again and held on tight. They clung to each other, two grown men both needing the reassurance of family. It took a while before Jesse relaxed in his grip, his short, angry breaths of frustration slowing. Finally, he slapped Blake’s shoulders and stepped away, head held high.

“I’ve never been so glad to head back to school as I am right now. It would kill me to watch the two of you spooning all over the house for the next couple months.” Jesse wiped his fingers over his mouth again before examining them closely.

There was no way Blake’s smile could look anything but forced. He was thrilled at having Jaxi in his life, but hurting his brother hadn’t been his intention. “This will last a little longer than that.”

Travis cackled, a harsh brittle sound. “Damn right it’ll last longer, if she’s got anything to say about it. Stupid, stubborn—”

Blake’s blood rose to a boil. “You stop right now or I’ll pick up where Jesse left off and pound you into the dirt. Whatever your problem is, you watch how you speak to Jaxi from here on. You got an issue, you tell me and we can take it outside. I’ll knock the shit out of you anytime you like, but you leave her alone, you hear?”

The final thorn in his side stood across from him in the form of one younger brother with a shitty attitude and way too much history with Jaxi. Right now swinging a few fists sounded like a fine way to work off some steam. But when he’d seen her in the kitchen before coming outside, she’d made him promise not to bash anyone.