The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [46]
“Don’t be a smart ass.”
Suddenly she heard Casey say, “What’s going on? I heard someone scream.”
Honey thought if there was any luck to be had for her, she would faint after all. She waited, praying for oblivion, and waited some more, but no, she remained upright, fully cognizant of the entire, appalling predicament she’d gotten herself into.
Sawyer’s body shifted as he gave a heavy sigh. “It’s all right, Casey. Honey was just trying to sneak off in the night. She was going to steal a car.”
“I was not!” Honey couldn’t bear the thought of Sawyer’s son believing such a thing about her. She cautiously peeked around Sawyer and saw Jordan and Gabe amble into the room. Just what she needed. Morgan, bless his modest soul, had sat down behind the bar. All she could now see of him was his chest. But that was still more than enough, especially since the gun remained in his hand, idly resting on the bar counter.
Gabe held up a hand. “I already heard the explanations. Damn, but she has a shrill scream. I had to scrape myself off the ceiling, it startled me so bad.”
Jordan held the cat in the crook of one arm, gently soothing it. “I even heard her all the way out in the garage. When I got here, the poor cat was nearly hysterical.”
Ha! Honey eyed them all, especially that damn traitor feline, and tried to muster up a little of that courage Sawyer claimed she had. At least they weren’t all naked, she told herself, then shuddered with relief. Casey had pulled on jeans, and Gabe had on boxers. Jordan had a sheet wrapped around himself, held tight at his hip with a fist.
She felt remarkably like that damn cow in town who’d drawn too much attention.
“I wasn’t stealing the car.” They all stared at her, and the accusing look on Casey’s face made her want to die. She wiped away tears and cleared her throat. “I left a note on the bed, explaining. I just wanted to get to town and I thought it’d probably be too far to walk. I would have left the car there for you to pick up.”
Jordan frowned. “What’d you want in town that one of us couldn’t get for you?”
“No, you don’t understand. I was going to take the bus.”
Morgan shook his head in a pitying way. “We don’t have bus service in Buckhorn,” he explained with little patience. “You’d have gotten to town and found it all closed up. Around here, they roll the sidewalks up at eight.”
Her heart sank. “No bus service?”
Gabe pulled open the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. He drank straight from the carton. “The only bus service is in the neighboring county, a good forty miles away.”
Honey watched him with a frown. “You shouldn’t do that. It’s not healthy.”
Sawyer turned to glare down at her, his face filled with incredulous disbelief. She shrugged, feeling very small next to him. In a squeak, she said, “Well, it isn’t.”
Gabe finished the carton. “I knew it was almost empty.”
“Oh.”
Sawyer flexed his jaw. “What about your car? Your stuff? You don’t even have any shoes, remember?”
He was still so furious, she took a step back. And even though Casey had looked wounded by what she’d attempted to do, he came to her side. He didn’t say anything, just offered his silent support by standing close. She sent him a grateful smile, which he didn’t return.
She shifted. “After I got things taken care of, I’d have sent for my stuff.”
“Taken care of how?”
She’d known Sawyer was large, but now he seemed even bigger, his anger exaggerating everything about him. There was no warmth in his dark eyes, no softness to his tone. She wasn’t afraid of him, because she knew intuitively that he’d never hurt her. None of the brothers would hurt a woman; that type of contemptible behavior just wasn’t in their genetic makeup. But she was terribly upset.
She opened her mouth, hoping to put him off until she wasn’t quite so rattled, and he roared, “No, God dammit, it will not wait until the morning!”
She flinched. Silence filled the kitchen while she tried to decide how to react to his anger. Jordan stepped over to her, flanking her other side. “For God’s sake, Sawyer, let her sit down. You