With Cherry on Top [Loving in Silver 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (16 page)

“And I understand that. I just don’t know why you’re being all caveman about it. You just need to know there might come a time when I want to find a job. With the exception of the last three years or so, I’ve worked my entire adult life. I imagine it’s been the same for Gracie.” Gracie nodded vigorously, her arms folded over her breasts. Cody’s lips twitched, which she caught. Her eyes narrowed on him and he swallowed hard. “If Gracie wants to work, that’s her choice. She wants babies, so things might change. Babies are a lot of work. Until then, it’s her choice whether she works or not, not yours.”

“I know that it takes a lot to live on a ranch. I only work part-time, so I will have enough time to do my part to help out around here. But I want my own pin money. I have to work to have that.”

When Jake was about to open his mouth, Cherry held up her hand. “Don’t even mention giving either one of us an allowance. The hole you’ve dug is deep enough. Toss out the shovel before it’s too late. We’ll make arrangements so Gracie won’t be unprotected in town. How’s that? Now, let us get dressed. There seems to be plenty for us to do today.” She smiled sweetly. “Gracie has to be to work by two. We have to go pick up her car. It’s been repaired. We’ll do that after we go to Peaches’s to pick up my stuff.”

The ringing of the doorbell put off another argument. Cody was relieved. Mick gave Cherry his best
this isn’t over yet
look and left the room. Jake and Collin, wisely keeping their lips buttoned, followed. When the women turned to look at him Cody shook his head and hurried after his brothers. He wasn’t stupid enough to take them on alone. Hell, they hadn’t done that well
together
!

They loved Cherry and Cody knew it wouldn’t be long before they fell in love with the sweet Gracie. How could a man resist? She was beautiful, sweet, and kind. Those were qualities you cherished. It certainly didn’t hurt that she was also very sexy and seemed to love sex. Nope, it didn’t hurt at all.

But who knew the women would be so resistant to being taken care of? They only wanted them to have the best of everything. Their women didn’t have to work outside the home. Hell, they didn’t even have to work inside of it. A woman came three days a week to clean up after their sorry asses. It would be up to Cherry and Gracie if they wanted the extra help.

Cody and his brothers were pretty good at cooking, taking turns making their meals throughout the week, leaving one night a week open for going out to relax and eat out in town. There were also the meals they enjoyed at their parents’ house. That happened about three times a month. It was enough to make them feel welcome in their former home, but not enough to feel like they were being smothered.

Their mothers did love to smother them with food, affection, and advice. Especially advice, he thought with a shake of his head.

Cody forgot about their domestic problems as soon as he walked out the back door. Gray Evans, the sheriff, was there making notes in a small spiral notebook. He nodded, asked questions, and then wrote down their responses. Then they waited. The sheriff wanted to speak with Gracie and Cherry. He specifically wanted to ask Gracie about her past encounters with the Marks boys.

Boys, yeah, right. Cody doubted the pair had ever been boys. They were as mean as a rank bull and just as unpredictable. Fortunately they seemed to keep mostly to themselves. They had a place about twenty-five miles from Silver, living on a piece of land their grandfather had left them about ten years before. No one saw much of them in Silver. That was a good thing.

However, if Ed and DJ Marks thought they were going to mess with their woman, they had better look out. He and his brothers would take care of them if Gracie was scared or hurt by their actions.

Cherry held Gracie’s small hand as she spoke with the sheriff, answering the man’s questions in clear, steady tones. She was quite adamant that she had told the brothers that she didn’t want to go out with them. They hadn’t really made pests of themselves, but they hadn’t seemed to get the message, either. The encounter at the grocery store, she told the sheriff, was the most aggressive they had ever been with her.

“How long ago did they start asking you out?”

“Just a little over a year ago.”

The sheriff nodded and jotted that down. “Was there a particular reason you didn’t want to go out with the brothers?”

A pretty blush flowed into Gracie’s cheeks. She glanced at the brothers from beneath her thick black lashes. “Them,” she whispered, dropping her gaze to the ground. Cherry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ve been in love with them for a very long time now.”

“Well.” Gray cleared his throat and then grinned broadly. “That’s a good reason. It must be love if you could overlook all that ugly fuzz they had on their faces. You darn guys don’t deserve these two fine women. I hope you know that.”

“We know it,” Mick told the man, looking both at her then at Gracie. “We’ve got our work cut out for us to prove how much they mean to us. Now about what can be done about the Marks brothers. If we catch them messing around here again, then we’re going to have to deal with it.”

“You’re well within your rights to protect what’s yours. Just try not to kill anybody. Could just be kids messing around. Doesn’t make it right, but we don’t have any proof that those two Marks boys did this. I’ll be going out to talk to them, see what they have to say for themselves.” To Gracie he asked, “Are you still planning on working at the pizzeria?”

“Yes, sir, I will for the time being.” She looked at the men, her chin lifting a little. Cherry suspected the woman had a stubborn streak in her.

“Then it’d be best if you didn’t travel alone to and from town. I’ll keep someone patrolling around the pizzeria.”

“Thank you, sheriff,” Collin said as the man tucked the notebook into his pocket and finally reached for the Styrofoam cup filled with the coffee one of his brothers had brought out for the man. “We appreciate how you’re taking this seriously.”

“I’m just doing my job, fellas. We have to look out for each other. Have a good day. And thanks for the coffee.”

“You, too, Gray.”

When the man was gone, Mick, Collin, Cody, and Jake turned to them as one. They were each wearing the same expression. It was one of determination.

“This is how it’s going to go. There isn’t going to be any arguing or negotiating,” Mick said in the most serious tone she had ever heard him use. “Gracie, we’ll take you to work and get your car. Cherry, we’ll stop at your sister’s to pick up your things. If you want, you can stay there and visit for a while. Collin will pick you up after he gets her car. I’ll stay with Gracie and bring her home after her shift ends.” When Cherry opened her mouth to speak, Mick held up a hand. He shook his head, his expression stern. “No argument. We all know you’re feeling more like your old self. You can’t know how happy we are about that. But you aren’t there yet. We need to protect you and Gracie. If that makes us Victorian cavemen, so be it. You’ll just have to learn to live with it.”

There was a pause, where she was obviously expected to respond. Cherry smiled. “Okay.”

Four pairs of dark eyebrows went up. “Okay? That’s it?”

“Sure. You won’t be able to say I haven’t learned from past mistakes.”

Cherry and Gracie went back in the house, leaving the four men staring after them. She smiled as she heard them muttering about how confusing women were.

* * * *

After leaving Cherry to visit with her sister, with strict instructions she wasn’t to be lured into training sessions with Logan, Mick and Collin took Gracie into Silver to get her car then take her to work. Even though she argued briefly, he repeated sternly that she wouldn’t be driving it back to the ranch. Collin would do that. There was a moment when she appeared as though she would try to take another stand, but it passed and they parted ways peaceably. Mick was about as relieved as a man could get, though her quiet manner made him slightly uneasy. Gracie was tiny, demure in appearance, but there was a real spitfire inside the woman. He wasn’t so sure the argument was over just yet, that he wasn’t being led into a false sense of security.

The corner of Mick’s mouth quirked with remembered pleasure as he suddenly did a mental one-eighty. Gracie was so cute when she was angry. Maybe he could get her worked up so they could have makeup sex. She could take out some of that anger on him. Maybe he could get Cherry mad, too. They could “punish” him together with some hot sex.

Liking the idea more and more, he was whistling as he met up with Collin. They were picking up some supplies for the ranch while they were in town. Their fathers were good at using an opportunity, something which had been passed on to their sons. After they got the truck loaded with the supplies from the hardware and feed store, they went to the jewelers. It took all of a half hour and a few photos sent via cell phones to Jake and Cody to agree on the rings for their future wives. He thought it worked out pretty well, though he couldn’t claim the idea was original. Those jerks who had married Peaches, Cherry’s sister, had sent photos of rings back and forth until they had settled on the perfect one. He was amazed those three had managed to think of doing it.

They had decided long ago that Mick would be the one to marry Cherry, when she decided to come home. Not if, but
when
. Even though they would be legally husband and wife, his brothers would not be left out. She would be their wife as much as she was his. That’s the way it was supposed to be. She was
the one
. She was the woman they had been looking for. And after the marriage ceremony they would have a commitment ceremony, where they would promise themselves to her for an eternity, and she to them.

Gracie would now be a part of that. The three remaining brothers hadn’t had time to discuss which of them would marry her. It would also depend upon which man Gracie favored.

Having been raised by multiple parents, they were very aware of the dynamics. As he tended to be the most dominant of the brothers, his father Matt was the most dominant of the three fathers, something his mother, Sylvia, had liked about him.

Ron was in the middle, stepping up when the need arose, but more the moderator type, settling the occasional disputes between loving partners, employees, and drunken cousins at weddings and reunions. Collin was a lot like him. Serious, and gentle, quiet, but with a strong sense of self which carried him successfully through life. Lois had married Ron when he asked.

Now Joe, Jake’s father, was so laid back and easygoing, he wasn’t willing to make anyone do anything. He wasn’t lazy or irresponsible. He was great at getting work done, but he wasn’t much on wanting to be left giving orders to the men and women who worked the ranch. Yet no one on the ranch mistook Joe for anything other than one of the bosses, even if he was a total sweetheart of a man. If a person was slacking, he let them know it. He didn’t go running to his brothers to get a problem taken care of.

Their parents had admitted that they had expected Joe to find a woman to call his own eventually. He never had, the right woman never coming along. But it never caused problems. The brothers had been committed to sharing the two women from the very beginning. It was all about sharing their love as much as sharing anything else. Joe, however, liked to say he enjoyed the life of a bachelor. Yeah, he was Jake’s father.

Which of his brothers would Gracie choose? Mick smiled to himself. She couldn’t go wrong with any of them, but he guessed she would choose Collin. She seemed to want someone strong and with a hint of a dominant streak. Neither Cody nor Jake fit that particular bill.

With the rings in their pockets, they decided to visit the new adult shop, Totally Discreet. It was a fascinating place for a couple of horny cowboys. The place was so sophisticated with its air of bygone luxury he felt rather conspicuous in his jeans, tight white T-shirt, worn Western boots, and beaten white straw hat.

He forgot all about his appearance as one of the owners, a woman introducing herself as Jessica, helped them through the store. The front was dedicated to the most innocent of all purchases, which were books. Romances seemed to be high on the list. Judging by the covers they were of the erotic type. Definitely not the kind found on the rack at the grocery. How-to books were placed together on another rack.

The next section was slightly naughtier, with displays of things from edible underwear to rather playful-appearing soft rubber lashes, which probably couldn’t do much damage unless they were swung by a major-league batter. There were pasties and board games, dice with naughty suggestions on them, and any number of other things which would put a normally reserved woman into blushing and giggling as she contemplated a night of wickedness with her spouse.

The deeper they went into the store, the more intense the items were. He and Collin examined the butt plugs, paddles, whips, nipple clamps, and various restraints. He arched a brow at ball gags and leather masks with zippers.

While he was all for a little fun, he had no desire to become all hardcore like Logan and a few of his friends were. Yeah, tying up their women would be fun. Hell, it would be
a lot
of fun. What about spankings? The thought of turning their lovely ladies over his knee was more than a little turn-on. Stinging their pretty white bottoms with his hand until they turned pink took his breath away. He could feel his cock stirring behind his zipper. Watching as Collin examined the selection of paddles, he knew his brother was thinking the same thing.