The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [165]
“He is so gorgeous.”
“And wicked lookin’. I dearly love those whiskers on his chin.”
Aha. And here his brother Jordan had sworn the whiskers looked disreputable and tried to convince him to shave. Jordan could be such a stuffed shirt sometimes.
“I like that golden hair on his body, myself.”
Gabe almost chuckled out loud. He couldn’t wait to tell his brothers about this. Now that the two eldest were married and off-limits, Gabe and Jordan, the only two single ones left, got even more attention. Not that he was complaining. Female adoration was one of those things that couldn’t really go to excess, at least, in his opinion.
“I don’t mind tellin’ you, Rosemary, it made me nervous when the first two brothers got married off. I cried for two days, and I was so afraid they’d all end up doing it. Heck, besides dying to have one of them to myself, those brothers were the biggest tourist draw we had here in Buckhorn.”
Gabe bit the side of his lip. He’d just keep that little tidbit to himself when he did the retelling. Hell, his brothers’ egos—Morgan’s especially—were big enough as it was. No need adding to them. No, he’d just stick to sharing the compliments about himself.
“And Gabe is the biggest draw my boat dock has. With him sitting there, no one wants to get their gas or bait anywhere else. I keep thinkin’ I ought to pay him or something.”
“Ha! You’re just hoping to get a little closer to him.”
“No, I just wanna make sure he doesn’t take his sexy self off to some other dock.”
“Amen to that!”
Giggles erupted after such a heartfelt comment and Gabe sighed. He had no intention of switching loyalties. Hell, Rosemary’s daddy had been letting him hang out on his docks since he was just a grasshopper and had first noticed what a pleasing thing it was to see females in bikinis. This place felt almost like a second home now. And since Rosemary’s daddy had passed away, he felt honor bound to stick around and help out on occasion. The trick was to keep Rosemary from getting marriage minded, because that was one route his brothers could travel alone, thank you very much.
“It amazes me that those brothers aren’t full related. They all look different—”
“But they’re all gorgeous, I know. And they’re all so…strong. My daddy used to say it took a hell of a woman to raise boys like that. I just wish they didn’t live so far out on that land. Thinking up a good excuse to visit isn’t easy. Not like accidentally running into the other men here in town.”
Gabe did smile at that, he couldn’t help himself. He and his brothers—he refused to think of them as half brothers—had often joked about going into town to see who was looking for them. Usually some female or another was. But by living out a ways, they could always choose when and if they wanted to get friendly. It had been helpful, because once they’d hit their teens, the females had come on in droves. His mother used to claim to keep a broom by the front and back doors to beat the women away. Not that any of them minded overmuch, though his two new sisters-in-law were sure disgruntled over all the downcast female faces since the two weddings had taken place.
Gabe was just about to give up feigning sleep when a new female voice joined the others over by the gas pumps.
“Excuse me, but I was told Gabriel Kasper might be here.” It was more a statement than anything else, and rather…strident to boot.
Female, but not at all local.
This new voice wasn’t soft, Southern or sweet. She’d sounded almost impatient.
Gabe decided just to wait and see what the lady was up to. It wasn’t unusual for someone female to be looking for him, and most everyone in these parts knew that in the summer, you could find him by the lake more often than not. He resisted the urge to peek at the owner of the voice and kept his body utterly relaxed.
“Whatdya want Gabe for?” That suspicious tone was from Rosemary, bless her sweet little heart, and Gabe vowed to take her to dinner real soon.
There was a beat of silence, then, “I have personal business