Trev’s eyes narrowed. “Saved by the bell. I wonder who that could be. I thought we would be isolated out here, but there are always people coming in and out. I hope the new hands didn’t screw up. Ranch hands aren’t what they used to be.”
Trev got up and walked toward the door.
Noah picked up the paperwork and tried to focus, but a vision of Hope swam before his eyes. She’d been so damn beautiful when she’d submitted to James. Watching his brother spank Hope had gotten him hard as hell. For a moment, it was almost like it used to be. He’d been with his brother sharing a woman—except better because this time it was the right woman. He knew it deep down to his soul. Hope was the woman who could make them complete. Hope was the woman they could share a life with.
She was strong enough to handle them and sweet enough to love for an eternity. Noah wasn’t afraid the way James was. He wanted that connection, longed for it. He wanted everything his parents had had, but he was terrified he’d thrown it all away.
“Uh, Noah, Henry is here.” Trev walked in followed by Henry Flanders.
“I need to talk to Jamie,” Henry announced.
James would kill his ass if Noah allowed his first time with Hope to be interrupted. “He’s busy right now. Is there anything I can do for you?”
More than likely, he would be forced to listen to how the ranch could make its practices more earth friendly. Yes. This was his punishment.
“I need to talk to you both. It’s about Hope. I’m afraid she’s in trouble.” Henry’s brows creased over his glasses.
“Talk to me.” Noah stood up, his heart hitching a little. He’d known there was something up with Hope, but it had been easy to forget about her trouble in the midst of his own misery. Now all of his instincts were screaming again that something was going wrong.
Henry crossed his arms over his chest and a hard look came into his eyes. “Someone walked up to our shop today and started asking questions about Hope. I didn’t like him. He was lying about something.”
“What did he want to know?” God, how much trouble was Hope in? Ever since Noah was a kid, Bliss had attracted people on the run and down on their luck. Which one was Hope?
Henry adjusted his glasses. “He claimed to be interested in her, but I’m suspicious. He had a reaction when he found out she was involved with the two of you, and it wasn’t the one he tried to portray. He was angry. Volcanically angry.”
“Does he know her?” Noah searched his brain trying to remember everyone he’d seen at the fairgrounds today.
“He claimed not to, but again, I would say yes.”
“Fed?” Was the law after Hope? He clenched his fist to make sure it didn’t shake. No matter what she’d done, he was going to protect her. He wouldn’t let anyone take her.
Henry shook his head. “Not a chance. He doesn’t move well. He isn’t trained, at least not formally. He’s manipulative. Highly intelligent but perhaps sociopathic.”
Noah stared at Henry for a moment. “You got all that off a short conversation with him.”
Henry frowned, looking a little fierce. “I wasn’t always a pacifist, Noah. I had a life before Bliss like everyone else. I would like to remain exactly the man my wife loves, but if you don’t handle this guy, I will. He’s dangerous. I would bet a lot on it, and Nell is on his radar. I don’t like that. I won’t handle it well if he tries to use her to get to Hope again. I’ll be forced to do something I rather wouldn’t.”
Noah was the tiniest bit afraid of Henry Flanders in that moment. What the hell had Henry done before he came to Bliss? One thing was sure. Noah believed him.
“Did you call the sheriff?” Noah asked.
Henry sighed. “I thought it best to talk to you two and Hope first. I don’t want to put Cam in a situation where he has to compromise his badge. I wanted to feel out the situation a little. If Hope’s in some sort of trouble with the law, then you boys need to get your ducks in a row before you go to Cam. If she needs something, like a new identity or some records changed somewhere, I might know a couple of men who could help with that.”
Henry Flanders knew hackers? What the hell had the world come to? The idea of Hope needing to hide her identity and flee terrified Noah. What would he do? If Hope needed to run, how could he let her go? The answer was easy. He couldn’t. He would go with her, but James couldn’t. His brother couldn’t leave the Circle G behind.
And, damn it, Noah didn’t want to leave it either. He’d just gotten home.
“Knock, knock, James. Are you here, baby?” A soft feminine voice echoed through the hall.
Not Hope. And she was calling James baby? He threw Trev a look, silently requesting information. He hated the fact, but Trev knew what was going on in James’s life and Noah didn’t.
Trev shrugged. “No idea. He’s had more than a couple of girlfriends.”
Trev used air quotes around the word “girlfriends.”
A willowy brunette with glossy, long hair sauntered into the kitchen. “You can try to hide, but I found you!”
She was dressed in a long trench coat and what appeared to be five-inch heels. She had a bottle of champagne in her hands. Her hair was perfectly mussed in a way that had probably taken her hours to achieve. She was stunning.
Noah wasn’t impressed. He knew this type. He’d been married to her for five damn years. “No, you didn’t. You found me.”
“Who the hell are you?” the brunette asked, her face losing its previous sweet expression.
Trev leaned back against the counter having refilled his coffee mug. He had an amused look on his face as he watched the scene in front of him. “Serena, this is James’s brother, Noah.”
Serena frowned, looking him up and down. “Really? He doesn’t look like James.” She shrugged as if he didn’t matter. “Where is my boyfriend?”
Dear god, he didn’t need this. He had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn’t wearing much under that trench coat. She didn’t know James at all. He wasn’t a lawyer or a businessman who sat in an office all day. If he had been, then sneaking in for a little impromptu afternoon delight might make sense, but James was a rancher. This Serena girl could walk in all dressed up and ready for sex only to find the object of her desire knee-deep in cow shit or lost on the east range.
Or, in this case, balls deep in Hope McLean. What the hell had James been doing? Noah was going to have to have a little sit-down family meeting because this was not going to work.
“The way I heard it, she’s gone out with James exactly twice.” Trev’s eyes found Noah’s as though reassuring him. “And not at all in the last couple of weeks.”
“He’s been busy. And we worked fast. We clicked. Maybe you don’t know what that means. Now someone tell me where James is.” Serena set the champagne on the counter.
Henry was right back to being his normal, laid-back self. He sighed. “See, I told Jamie this kind of activity would come back to haunt him. Sex is sacred. It should be taken seriously.”
Noah was pretty damn sure his brother was learning that lesson even as they spoke.
Well, there was no way he was putting Hope in the same room as this Serena person. He had to get her out of here and fast.
It was far past time to protect his woman and his brother. First, he would protect James by getting rid of his good-time girl, and then they would all sit down and deal with Hope.
And she was going to talk. Noah would make sure of it.
Chapter Twelve
James looked up at Hope and promised himself he would get her naked again soon. She was dressed, all buttoned up and proper looking, but he knew the truth. He’d seen the real Hope, the sexy, amazing, beautiful Hope who had just ruined him for all other women.