Page 27 of The Hunt

“I did not blitz attack you. You just opened the door wearing pink skimpy silk and no bra, and I just—red alert, Genny. I am only a mortal man.”

“I’m home alone! Do you know how often that actually happens around here?”

“Probably not often. Your brothers are on their way in, anyway.” But his fingers were toying with the first few buttons on her top. Just like that, he popped two buttons. She didn’t have much there—Giavonna had gotten Genny’s share of the boobs and the height—but what Genny had was about to be exposed. “You have about five minutes.”

“Great. There goes my day.” She scowled up at him. “I was going to do absolutely nothing today, Chad. Absolutely nothing. I was looking forward to it. I was planning it.”

He swore. “I just can’t help myself. The sexy grumpy in pink silk is just too much.”

He swooped.

Then she was up on the kitchen island, of all places, and the man with the exceptionally wonderful hands was practically devouring her.

Genny didn’t think to protest—in fact, she didn’t think again for a long, long moment—and she just let him. When his hands slipped beneath the silk next, well, she let him do that, too.

It was the hands. They were hard to resist.

If he kept kissing her, she would probably let him put his hands everywhere he so obviously wanted.

She had just slipped her hands under his shirt to touch all that hard, hot male skin herself—maybe what she was doing was crazy, but…she was only human, after all—when someone cleared their throat behind Chad.

Loudly.

Chad pulled back, one hand immediately going to the silk between them—holding the two sides together to cover her, as it was now fully unbuttoned.

The man had to have eight very clever hands to have done what he had without her noticing. Genny grabbed the silk and buttoned it quickly, face flaming. And looked.

Oh, no… not…

Of course it would bethisbrother who would catch her making out with the boy next door right there on the kitchen island. “Gunn Kendrick Hiller, what are you doing here? I thought you guys were going to be up in the north pasture. All day. For hours.”

“Fencing is down all over between here and there. We’re going to have to fix that, and round up the cattle. They’ve made it over to Chad’s parents’ place.” Her brother—apastor, for Pete’s sake—just looked at her, a mildly curious expression on his beautiful face. Then he turned to Chad. “Can I ask what your intentions are toward my little sister, Dr. Fields? Or should I get my father or George over here to handle that part? I think Gene has that old shotgun around here somewhere, but I may need to clean it first. Or give it to one of the brothers, so I can do themarrying part of things…? Whenever you are ready, of course. By dinner, perhaps?”

“Don’t be ridicul—“ Genny started.

“Entirely honorable. She just doesn’t believe me yet. I’m still convincing her.” Chad looked over his shoulder at her. And grinned. Wicked, wicked man. “And…let’s keep this between us, okay? The rest of your brothers don’t need to know that I am a weak, weak man where your sister’s concerned. At least not yet. I just can’t help my wicked ways. I’m afraid they won’t respect me in the morning if they know the things I want to do to her.”

“Chad! Don’t say that to him! Gunn’s completely innocent of all of those kinds of things.” Well, maybe. He hadn’t always been a pastor, after all. But she wanted to preserve her illusions about at least one of her big brothers. Just for sanity’s sake. “Now, both of you, go away.”

“Can’t. We came to get food, drinks, and call in Guthrie and George to get off their lazy butts and help us,” Gunn said, still giving her thatlookthat said she had known better than to be doing what she was… doing. “You…are lucky I got here first. The other boys are pulling in right now. You might want to go put on real clothes, though. Charlie is with them—and he’s brought a few friends from the TSP to help. I don’t want them seeing my baby sister in pajamas she ought not own. I think I have socks that have more material than those pajamas, Genesis Isabella Hiller.”

Genny heard the trucks pulling in at that very moment. She yelped.

Chad lifted her off the counter, kissed her on the forehead, and nudged her toward the stairs. “We… will have that discussion later.”

Yeah, she kind of got the feeling he wanted to do more than justdiscuss.

Genny did the safe thing—she ran. All the way.

22

She was smilingat a child patient when Doug came around the corner. He had always loved watching her with children. She was just so good with them. That was one of the traits he felt was most important in the woman he made the mother of his children someday.

He had it all planned.

Doug imagined they would have their first child sometime in the next two or three years. Then a few years after that, their last. She was so small, and he was a larger man. Pregnancy could be hard on a woman’s body.

He’d heard her say before that she wanted four or five kids of her own someday. He would make her see that that was foolish when the time came. He would never do that to her. Absolutely no more than two.