Nicole Edwards - Travis

Travis heard the words, understood them even. It didn’t mean he was interested in airing his personal business.

“I’m not asking for details, but I’ll tell you one thing. If you care about them at all and you want this to work out, you might just have to put your heart on the line. The moment you hold back, you’re resigning yourself to a fate you might not be able to reverse. You hear me, bro?”

Travis stared at his brother. It sounded as though Sawyer was speaking from experience. They didn’t have these heart-to-hearts often, but damn it all to hell, he had a feeling he better heed Sawyer’s advice sooner rather than later.

Later could very well be too late.

♀♂

Note to self: If you want to get anything accomplished, don’t initiate phone sex. And definitely don’t do it more than once.

Kylie stood in the kitchen of Gage’s monstrous old farmhouse in her pajamas with her hair an absolute mess, and the only thing she had on her mind was inhaling the coffee now steaming from her cup. For the last week, she’d been staying at Gage’s with both Gage and Travis.

Each morning, she had to force herself out of bed, and the more days that passed, the more she wondered if tomorrow would be the day she burrowed in the blankets and refused to get up until she’d slept for a solid twenty hours.

Her men were wearing her out. Literally.

Travis spent most of the day at work, and Kylie and Gage busied themselves doing little projects while they waited for a couple of the subcontractors to come by and fix things they couldn’t. Like some electrical and plumbing issues. Between the physical labor during the day and the rigorous exercise that Gage and Travis were putting her through at night, Kylie was surprised she could still walk.

The kitchen door swung inward, and Gage stepped into the kitchen, a warm smile on his face. “Good morning.”

Kylie smiled back at him and then went up on her toes when he got close enough to kiss him. It was becoming their morning routine. She would crawl out of bed, which in turn triggered Travis to get up, shower and head out to the Walker Demo office while Gage jumped in the shower shortly thereafter.

And each morning Gage came into the kitchen, freshly shaven and wearing only a pair of ratty old jeans and a smile. Kylie would ogle him for a second, thinking he should’ve been a model, one of those that graced the magazine covers nearly naked. Corded muscle lined his arms while flat flexing planes graced the front of him. He was damn near perfect. Definitely model worthy.

And then they’d set the plan for the day.

“What did you have planned for today?” Gage asked as he poured a cup of coffee and then took a seat at the small table they’d been eating dinner at every night.

Just like that. Routine. Domestic. Wonderful.

Kylie had taken over cooking the meals, and waltzing around Gage’s house as though she lived there and had every right to be. No one questioned it or said anything at all. It was safe to say the three of them had accepted that whatever this was that was going on between them – and Kylie was careful not to label it – was more than just sex.

There were still moments when she wondered if it was real or if perhaps she’d tripped right over the edge of reality and landed head first in Crazy Land because it seemed way too good to be true. During one of those times when confusion snuck its way into her thoughts, Kylie made a pact with herself. One that involved her keeping an open mind and letting things play out as they should.

Her theory: when the boat wasn’t wobbling, there was no reason to get it started.

It was out of her hands at this point, and she was ready to let things happen as they should. And because Kylie was going to live in Gage’s house for the next few weeks, devoting every spare second to getting the house back to its former glory, she had plenty of other things to keep her busy.

Kylie had only taken a few sips of her coffee when she heard the front door open and then close. She cocked an eyebrow at Gage, silently asking whether he was expecting someone that early. She knew Travis’ brothers were coming over to help paint, but she didn’t think they’d be there already. When he shook his head and took a tentative step toward the dining room, she knew the answer was no.

Surprisingly, he didn’t reach for his gun, but that was only because it wasn’t tucked into the back of his jeans like it had been the first day she was there. She’d politely asked him to relax a little, and after a number of excuses, most of them about him feeling naked without it, he’d put the gun somewhere safe.

“Put me to work.” Travis’ voice sounded from the other room, and Gage turned back to look at Kylie before he pushed the kitchen door open to welcome Travis.

“What the hell? You play too much hooky, and you’re going to get fired, you know that?” Gage joked as he stepped back.

“Can’t fire the boss. And I’ve got priorities, people should understand that.”

“And that includes helping us paint?” Kylie questioned, sipping more of her coffee. She was going to need to connect the pot to an IV at this rate.

A disappointed grumble came from Gage and Kylie laughed. He had mentioned that he wasn’t fond of painting, but aside from the patching and hole filling they’d already completed, it was one of the first things that needed to be done.

“It does now that my meeting was canceled,” Travis said, leaning up against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. “My brothers will be here soon. They’re goal is to get as much done as they can today and tomorrow, but after that, I need them back to work.”

Kylie nodded, understanding how generous his brothers were being by volunteering to help them in the first place. Free of charge.

“Where is the rowdy bunch? I figured they’d get here before you,” Gage asked.

“The twins stopped to get breakfast and Zane had to pick up V. Haven’t heard from Kaleb, so I’m betting he’s on his way already. Sawyer was finishing up something at the office when I left.”

“Well, I’d like them to start down here if at all possible. Now that Gage has furniture, we’ll have to tarp everything and work around it,” Kylie told Travis and then turned to look at Gage. “You and I can head out to pick out flooring for the kitchen and the bathrooms today if that works for you.”

Gage frowned. “How ‘bout you pick everything out and I promise, I’ll love it.”

Kylie laughed. She didn’t figure him for the shopping type.

The ancient doorbell sounded, and their conversation came to a halt as Travis said, “Time to get to work,” and then disappeared from the kitchen with a huge smile on his face.

Gage was right on his heels.

“Kylie, come here, darlin’,” Gage called from the other room a minute later and Kylie set her coffee cup on the counter, staring down at her state of dress. Yeah, she so wasn’t going to face all those cowboys while she was in her pajamas.

Rather than answer, she flew up the stairs, running to the bedroom and probably alerting them all as her feet pounded on the floor. She grabbed the first thing she could find in the dresser she’d commandeered in one of the extra bedrooms. Gage had specifically told her she could put her clothes there, but her body was going to be staying in his room with him.

She hadn’t argued.

She was dressed, her hair pulled up in a haphazard ponytail, and she was back down the stairs within five minutes. Quite impressive if she did say so herself.

“Hi,” Kylie greeted the two people currently smiling at Gage and admiring the room they were standing in.

Kylie couldn’t keep the frown from her face when she noticed that, once again, the pretty blonde woman had her arm around Gage in a very casual, almost possessive hold.

“Kylie, you remember Kaleb and his wife, Zoey,” Gage said by way of introduction as he stepped back from Zoey.

Kylie had met them at Moonshiners a while back, and just like now, she’d never forget them either. The way they reacted to Gage was way more intimate than mere friends.

“Hey,” the tall sexy cowboy said with a mischievous smirk as he held out his hand like this was their first introduction. Kylie reached over, shook his outstretched palm and then turned when Zoey stepped up beside her.

“Nope, no hand shaking for me,” Zoey smiled. “I want a hug.”

Kylie was stunned at the woman’s forwardness, but she leaned in, responding to the hug by briefly touching Zoey’s back with one hand. When they parted, Zoey placed her hands over her tummy, and that’s when Kylie noticed the barely visible baby bump. If Travis hadn’t told her, or Zoey hadn’t done the maternal cradling of her belly, Kylie would’ve never been able to tell.

“Nice to see you again,” she finally told them, realizing Zoey was once again flashing a dazzling smile at Gage.

Kylie felt the warmth of Travis’ body as he stepped closer, his arm going around her shoulder in a possessive gesture that made her insides go haywire.

“This is the paint crew,” Travis told her. “Well, part of it anyway.”

“Well, technically, I’m not part of that crew, but feel free to use me however you’d like,” Zoey offered.

“Hey, the two of you could go together to pick out the flooring. Lord knows I’m not all that fond of shopping,” Gage said.

“No, but I am,” Zoey laughed. “I’d be happy to help.”

An hour later, Zoey was behind the wheel of her old pickup truck and Kylie was riding shot gun. The woman hadn’t stopped talking for the last few minutes, and Kylie welcomed the random chatter. And she welcomed the girl talk. It’d been a long time since she’d had a friend she could talk to other than her sister. Kylie wasn’t one to share much of her personal life, but she’d never had someone to share it with, not having had many girlfriends through the years. Not that Kylie would be sharing much with Zoey, but the idea of it made her feel better.