Page 93 of Forbidden Kisses

"Finn," Duncan said in a warning tone.

Finn winked at him. "Don't worry, we've got your back. We want Riley to hang around, after all." He smiled enigmatically but didn't add anything else, as Jeremy yelled, "Uncle Finn!"

He was on top of the slide but then turned around and came back down the ladder.

My heart lurched in my throat. I’d told him so many times not to climb back down. It was tricky enough when you went up. It was a slippery death trap when you tried to descend it.

He jumped down the last three steps and then ran toward us, hugging Finn.

Knox arrived just then. "Why isn't everyone already in the pool?" He had a huge grin on his face when he noticed me, but then his eyes darted to Jeremy, and he said, "Riley, nice to see you again."

I had a hunch that he would have teased me and Duncan just as much as Finn, but they were reining themselves in for Jeremy’s benefit. Aw, that endeared them to me.

Several more people arrived. I only recognized Susan. There was an older man among the group as well, who I assumed was their father.

Duncan was right next to me. Finn and Knox had stepped to one side with Jeremy. I swear I only blinked and the two of them had gotten rid of their clothes, putting them on one of the lounge chairs. They already had swim trunks on, and they jumped into the pool with Jeremy.

The group approached us. "Riley, this is Bruce," Susan said, pointing to the elderly man.

“Nice to meet you.”

"How do you do, Riley. I've heard a lot about you." He glanced from me to Duncan, then to the rest of the guys. The brothers, I assumed. Susan and Bruce headed toward two chairs closest to the slide.

“I’m Chase,” the nearest brother said, putting his arm around the only woman in the group besides their mother.

"Hi, I'm Hannah," she introduced herself.

"She's mine," Chase said.

That was hands down the best intro I’d ever heard. Not "my wife," "my fiancée," or "my girlfriend," just "mine." I gathered that there was a possessive streak running in their DNA.

"Nice to meet you, Hannah.”

“This is my first rodeo with the polo match too. I don't play. Do you?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No. I’m here to keep an eye on Jeremy."

"And to meet you," Duncan added.

I blushed.

"My brother didn't give you a heads-up about us?” one of the other men cut in. “I'm Griffin, by the way."

"Hi, Griffin," I said. I felt myself blushing even more.

"I did give her a heads-up," Duncan said in a more serious tone.

"But I actually think a warning would have been necessary," I replied, holding my head high, though I was still blushing.

Griffin yawned. “Sorry, everyone. I went to bed late last night. Might not be at my best today.”

“What did you do?” Duncan asked.

“That’s private,” Griffin replied.

“No, it’s not, dude,” Knox said from the pool. “You do know that every time someone tags Sterling Industries on Instagram, all of us see it, right? Your date last night was hot.”

Griffin blinked. “What the hell? People are tagging the company? That’s fucked-up.”