Page 15 of Tice’s Kind of Trouble (Obsessive Protectors #2)

FIFTEEN

Bethany

I honestly didn’t know I could be this happy. Sitting in the dining room, my legs are draped over Tice’s below the table as my brother and his girlfriend eat takeout and we all talk about…

Whatever comes up.

It’s like Christmas, but better. No weird presents to buy. No stuffy meal to fix. This is pure heaven in my book.

Tice’s warm hand slides up and down my leg, him giving me heated side-glances often enough to keep me electrified.

Does my brother know ?

Heat pulses in my face… and a few other places.

“Ahem, so,” Tice clears his throat. “About time to rack out.”

“What’s that?” I ask confused.

He chuckles and lifts my knuckles to his lips for a kiss. “Military slang for hitting the sack…going to bed.”

“Oh. Okay. Well—” I glance at my brother who is staring a hole right into Tice’s forehead.

“How many guest rooms you got here, Tice?”

Kane’s voice is venomous.

There’s a twitch in Tice’s hand before it stills on my leg. “About a half-dozen. That enough for you, man?”

“Depends. My sister staying in one?”

Kane’s girl jabs his ribs with her elbow, giving me an embarrassed look as she scolds her man. “Honey…that’s not nice.”

“I’m a grown woman,” I remind Kane. “That means, I can sleep where I like.”

There is a static charge in the silence that follows. Kane pushes his chair back causing it to scape loudly on the expensive tile floor, stands up, leaning on his fists on the table. “A word with you outside, Tice?”

“Be back in a minute, sweetheart,” my…lover? says, giving me a swift kiss on the cheek.

We watch the men go, or I should say I stare after them with my eyes wide and my mouth hinged open.

“Wow,” I finally mutter. “This is like some weird movie.”

“This is a fantastic house,” Eagle says as she digs back into her Asian-fusion takeout. “The pool is to die for.”

A wicked grin replaces my shocked expression. “You should see Tice’s bedroom.”

We share a laugh, but then I get an awful vision the men fist-fighting outside the front door.

“You think they’re going to break anything?” I ask, nerves making me twist in my seat.

“Nah. They’ve got a bro code, and from what I can tell, you’re happy. And that’s all they really both want.”

“I hope.”

A loud crash makes us both jump up and take off for the door.