Bachelor Untamed - Brenda Jackson [47]
She studied the men’s faces, and although she hadn’t seen them since the summer of their last year of high school, she still recognized them. Like Uriel, they were in their early thirties. All were very good-looking—handsome would be an even better word to describe them—and, according to Uriel, like him, they were still single.
Going into the kitchen and grabbing the cole slaw out of the refrigerator, she headed out the door.
Uriel couldn’t help but smile as he gazed at the four men. Although they might be screwing up his plans with Ellie, he was still glad to see them. They were close—always had been and always would be. Of the six of them, he and Xavier were the only two who didn’t have other siblings. But the one thing they all had in common was that they were the first-born sons of their fathers.
“Okay, U, where’s the food?” Winston Coltrane asked, looking around and sniffing the air. Everyone knew how much Winston loved to eat, especially when it came to fried fish from Cavanaugh Lake.
“In the kitchen. And there’s plenty, W, so don’t plan on eating any off Y’s plate,” Uriel said laughing. Since being kids, they’d shorten each other’s names with just the first letter.
At that moment there was a knock at the door. York, a former officer for the NYPD, who now owned his own security firm, glanced over to Uriel. “You’re expecting someone, U?”
Uriel nodded. York was always on the alert for any type of action. “Yes, I’m expecting someone,” he said, crossing the room to the front door. He understood why Ellie would come to the front door instead of the back door. She wasn’t sure how he wanted to define their relationship to his godbrothers, and would follow his lead. He appreciated that, because he wasn’t sure how he intended to define it—which was odd, because he’d never had this problem before with other women.
He opened the door and his mouth nearly fell open. She had changed clothes, but if she thought what she was wearing would garner less attention, she was sadly mistaken. This was the first time he recalled ever seeing her in anything other than shorts, and the transformation was astounding. The color yellow made her glow in a sensuous sort of way. And the smile she wore jolted his insides.
“I’m back with the cole slaw,” she said in a quiet tone, and the texture of her words seemed to flow over his skin. Instead of answering or taking the huge bowl out of her hands, he just stood there staring at her. She’d done something different to her hair. It was all fluffed up around her face, as though she’d put a curling iron to it. And he could also tell she’d put on some makeup. Not a whole lot, but just enough to enhance her full cheeks and eyes. Then there was the lip gloss she’d smoothed on her lips, which made them even more sultry-looking. He felt tempted to lean closer and taste them.
“Hey, who’s at the door, U?”
Uriel rolled his eyes. It was Y asking again. Instead of answering, he took the bowl out of Ellie’s hands and whispered for her ears only, “Yellow is my favorite color on you.”
When her smile brightened even more, he said, “Come on in.” He took a step back and hoped he would be able to deal with his godbrothers when they saw her again.
When Uriel stepped out of the way, Ellie walked over the threshold and four pair of eyes stared straight at her. From the curious expressions on their faces, she knew immediately they didn’t remember her, which was understandable, since she’d only been twelve years old when she’d last seen them.
Smiling, she said, “Hi guys. It’s good seeing you again.”
Their gazes sharpened, it seemed all at the same time. One man’s eyes narrowed more than the others, and she recalled who he was: York Ellis. And he was the one who finally lifted a brow of disbelief when he said, “L?”
The others followed with that same astonished disbelief in their voices. She could only chuckle, and said, “Yes, it’s me.”
“Damn.”
That had come from Virgil Bougard, and it made her laugh. He still could curse.
Over the summers, when they had visited with Uriel at the lake, they had called