Then again, who was she to question it? It wasn’t like she had anything else to do because as she roamed the room to locate Jessie, she saw her sister standing at the back of the bar talking to a couple of really tall cowboys. Huh. They looked like identical twins.

After three steps, Kylie reached out and grabbed hold of Travis’ arm. Hard.

He stopped abruptly, glancing down at her with one eyebrow cocked in question.

“Whatever you do, please don’t mention that we’re technically still married.” Kylie glanced over at where her hand still rested on his arm and then back up to meet his eyes. “My sister doesn’t know.”

Travis’ mouth formed a hard, thin line, but he nodded. Kylie took that to mean he would keep their little secret.

They fell into step once more, and Kylie kept her eyes on Gage who hadn’t seemed to notice her up to this point. That changed in an instant just as they reached the group. Their eyes met, locked, and she noticed something akin to shock on his ruggedly handsome face.

She couldn’t help but wonder whether he would have taken his arm off of the pretty blonde who was currently standing much closer than Kylie was comfortable seeing. Granted she had no claim on the man, but still… No, there truly wasn’t anything there for her to get upset about. She’d sent him on his way and apparently Gage didn’t have a problem moving on.

Excusing himself from the man he was talking to, Gage released the woman and headed directly toward her. Male instincts must’ve kicked in because Travis’ body went rigid beside her as though he was prepared to defend her if necessary.

Little did Travis realize but Gage wasn’t a threat to anything other than her heart at this point.

She totally didn’t see this going well.

♂♀♂

Kylie?

At first Gage thought he was imagining things, but as he looked closer, he realized she was definitely real. Just as beautiful as the last time he’d seen her, he drank in the sight of her like he’d been in the desert for months and she was the only thing to quench his thirst.

Her hair was just as silky and long as he remembered, her skin just as clear and perfect, her body just as curvy. With her tanned, toned legs disappearing into a pair of cowboy boots, Gage was suddenly grateful that he’d gone casual, his shirt untucked and hiding the instant hard-on he got from seeing her.

Telling Kaleb he’d be back in a minute, Gage headed right toward her. He noticed how Travis’ posture changed, his stance reflecting that of a bodyguard ready to go toe to toe with him if he tried to approach too close.

Bring it.

“Gage,” Kylie greeted when he reached her. The sound of his name on her lips made a strange churning sensation take flight in his chest. It was a combination of happiness, anxiety, and confusion. God, he just wanted to stand there and stare at her for a little while.

Travis took a step closer. Breaking eye contact with Kylie, Gage turned and looked directly at the man. Since he’d walked into the bar, Gage had felt Travis tracking his every move, but they hadn’t spoken. Gage hadn’t even looked his way, afraid of what he’d see. He didn’t want to see disgust or contempt on Travis’ face.

“Matthews. Bout time you showed up again,” Travis said.

There wasn’t any anger on his face, but that I don’t give a shit attitude was front and center.

“Been busy,” he replied, glancing back down at Kylie.

“Hey, bro. Want to introduce us to the lady?” Sawyer’s exuberant voice echoed through the bar and effectively redirected their attention.

“Sawyer, meet Kylie. Kylie, this is one of my brothers,” Travis explained as the others were closing in around them.

With a nod of his head, Travis introduced the rest of the group, “Kaleb and his wife, Zoey. Zane and his fiancé, V. This old man right here is our father, Curtis. This here’s Ethan. Over there,” Travis nodded toward the back corner, “the two giving your sister a hard time are the twins, Braydon and Brendon.”

There was a round of “Hi, how are ya’s” from the Walker group.

“Wow, there really are six,” Kylie muttered as though she hadn’t expected Travis to have that many brothers. How much had he told the woman he married, Gage thought to himself.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to talk to her for a bit,” Travis told the others. “Oh, and E, make sure the twins know her sister’s off limits, would ya?”

Rather presumptuous of Travis to assume as much, but when Kylie didn’t say a word, Gage opted to keep his trap shut.

“Excuse us,” Travis told him.

“No way in hell,” Gage barked back. He knew he should walk away, but he wasn’t about to be dismissed. Not by Travis anyway. “I go where you go.”

Kylie’s head turned back and forth, watching them like one would watch two prowling tigers in their backyard. Gage waited for her to tell him to go to hell. She didn’t. She didn’t say anything, and Travis must’ve taken that as her consent because he exhaled and then turned to walk away. His retreat was rather disappointing because Gage wanted to hear what the man had to say.

It wasn’t like he could use the wife excuse because for the last ten years, he damn sure hadn’t treated her as though they were married. However, Gage had been gone for a while and he didn’t have any idea what had gone on between the two of them since then.

They reached a booth in the back, but before they could sit, Kylie spoke up. “Mind if we sit at a table?”

Ahhh, so she didn’t want to get trapped beside one of them. Her request both amused and disappointed Gage. Trapping her, preferably between their bodies, had been one fantasy he hadn’t been able to shake in recent weeks. Not that this woman would ever be onboard with that idea. Gage wasn’t even sure Travis would be open to the suggestion, but it wasn’t like he was going to mention it either.

Travis opted for a table farther in the back, and they were once again on the move. Shit, by the time they sat down, they were all going to need more beer because they were going to be dehydrated at this rate.

They both moved to pull out a chair for Kylie at the same time and Gage thought he saw an amused smirk on her lips, but she quickly turned away as she lowered herself into the chair.

“Sit.” Travis nodded to Gage, and he instinctively went on the defense. Before he mouthed a “fuck you”, he forced his legs to bend, and he dropped into a chair beside Kylie.

Now was not the time for him and Travis to go toe to toe. Especially not with Kylie present.

“So, what house did you show your sister?” Travis asked as he eased into the chair on the other side of Kylie.

The question got Gage’s attention. Why the hell hadn’t he questioned why she was there? Was he so far gone that it hadn’t mattered to him why? He was just so damn happy to see her, he hadn’t thought about anything else.

“Just a house I had considered working on,” she explained, but she wasn’t looking at him as she answered and Gage knew at once which house she was referring to.

His.

“You restore historic homes?” Travis questioned, tipping his beer bottle to his lips as he eyed her.

“I do.”

Hmmm. Gage wondered whether those two words brought back any memories for Travis. I do. He forced his eyes to the table, not wanting Travis to see his irritation. This situation bothered him for so many reasons, most of which he wouldn’t be able to explain if anyone asked.

First and foremost, Gage was pretty damn sure he’d fallen in love with Kylie Prescott several months ago. Even after she sent him on his way, he’d never been able to stop thinking about her. Secondly, during those rare times when he wasn’t thinking about Kylie, he was thinking about Travis.

And wouldn’t this just be fodder for town gossip? The three of them sitting there, talking like old friends when Gage knew better. He and Travis were far from being friends. They might have some sort of dangerous attraction to one another, but aside from that, he wasn’t even sure he liked the man. And then there was Kylie. If it was true, and Gage had fallen in love with her, then she was sitting with two men who loved her – either present tense or past.

Hell, by the look on Travis’ face, Gage wasn’t so sure the guy didn’t still have feelings for her.

“When will you start working on this house?”

Gage’s eyes flew to Kylie’s and she met them head on. He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

“I’m thinking of starting in a week or so. I’ve been waiting for the owner to get back in town.”

She had?

The way her eyes darted away from his, Gage knew she wasn’t telling the truth. Either she was trying to placate Travis or she was flat out lying.

“Where’s this house at?”

What was with the interrogation? Shit.

“Your sister staying with you?” Gage tossed his question out before Kylie answered the last one from Travis. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to know the answer, but he’d rather not hear her flat out lie about taking on his renovation. If it was the truth, which he doubted, he’d find out soon enough.

“Yes,” Kylie said with a sigh of relief, as though the change of the subject had eased some of her tension. “She’s down here to visit during her vacation.”

Gage already knew all about Kylie’s sister thanks to the time they spent together. He knew she was two years younger than Kylie and lived in Dallas. According to Kylie, they didn’t spend nearly as much time together as she would have liked.

Gage glanced back to see Jessie was laughing and joking with Braydon and Brendon. He wasn’t sure whether Kylie even realized what her sister was getting herself into. The twins shared women. They didn’t fly solo ever, which meant if Jessie was interested, she might be learning a riveting lesson tonight. Or whenever.