Mastered by Malone (Haven Texas Book 6) Read online

  And that was as good as being thrown in a cold mountain lake. He wasn’t interested in her. And she needed to find a way to get past this weird attraction she felt towards him.

  She made her way towards the door.

  “Oh, and, Mia?”

  She paused and looked back. “Yes?”

  “My favorite is apple pie.”

  “What?”

  “My favorite dessert. It’s apple pie. You’re making everyone else’s, so I get a turn, right?”

  “Um, right. Sure, apple pie. I can do that.” She forced herself out of the room before she made more of an idiot of herself. When she got to her room, she hastily shut the door then leaned back against it and slid down so her butt rested on the floor, her legs up against her chest.

  His favorite was apple pie. Holy hell. Here she was, wondering if it was possible to self-combust because she was so turned on and he wanted to talk about apple pie.

  She was so out of her depth.

  “Something smells good, darlin’.”

  She turned to see Tanner and Butch walking through the kitchen door. She pointed a finger at them. “Boots off.”

  Alec might still intimidate the hell out of her. And West seemed to dislike her as much as ever, even after she’d made him a new batch of brownies after that first lot had ended up in the garbage, but she’d stopped being daunted by the other brothers.

  Butch gave her his best puppy dog look. “But we’re just coming in for a minute,” he implored her.

  “Take those boots off now or you don’t get in my house.” As soon as she said the words, she wished them back. She blushed bright red. It wasn’t her house. She might clean it, take care of it, feed the people who lived in it. But it wasn’t hers.

  But neither man said anything to contradict her. And she knew she had to stand her ground with these guys, or they’d walk all over her. Not meanly, but they were definitely used to getting their own way.

  Tanner and Butch walked back in, this time in just their socks with their jeans rolled up. She gave them an approving lock. Tanner leaned over her shoulder, sniffing. “What you got cooking there, darlin’?”

  She moved to try and put some space between them, but he pressed closer. “Of course, nothing smells as good as you do. What do you call that scent you’re wearing?”

  “Soap,” she said dryly. “Will you give me some space? I’ve got to get the cookies out of the oven.”

  He backed off immediately, practically jumping for joy. “Butch! She’s got cookies.”

  “Yes.” Butch raced over. “Please tell me you made chocolate chunk ones like last week.”

  “The two of you are overgrown children, you know that, right?” She pulled out the tray and Tanner immediately reached for one and she slapped his hand away. “Get off, they have to cool and they’re for everyone. Now if you don’t have anything better to do, get!”

  “Jeez, so grumpy. No one has to know if you give us one now. Go on,” Butch wheedled her.

  “No. Go away.”

  “Please.” Tanner gave her another puppy dog look. “We’re growing boys.”

  “You’re that, all right. You keep eating like this and you’ll definitely be growing boys.” She patted his slim stomach.

  “What are you trying to say? That I’m getting fat? Butch, she called me fat,” Tanner complained.

  She rolled her eyes. “You know very well you’re not fat.”

  “Here, look, I’ll show you just how much I’m wasting away.” He reached for the bottom of his T-shirt, pulling it off before she could stop him. And the body he revealed was definitely not going to fat. He was chiseled. Muscular. Tanned.

  “See?” He ran his hand over his stomach, pinching at the skin. “Not an inch of fat on me.”

  “I don’t know. You kind of look like you’re getting a little soft here.” Butch poked at his gut and she rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah? Don’t notice you taking your shirt off, ashamed to show Mia your gut?” Tanner dared.

  Oh, hell. Why hadn’t she just given them a cookie and sent them on their way? Now they’d be here all day, competing with each other.

  Butch whipped off his shirt. She now had two shirtless men in her kitchen. And it wasn’t the warmth from the oven making her cheeks flush.

  “Will the two of your put your shirts back on?” she demanded with exasperation. She needed both of them out of her kitchen. Then, maybe, she’d go take a cool shower or something. It would take a stronger woman than her not to be affected by the two half-naked men standing so close she could feel the heat coming off their bodies.

  “Who has the better body, Mia?” Tanner demanded.

  Oh, no. No way was she getting into that.

  “Yeah, Mia, tell this dipwad that my body is way better looking than his scrawny ass.” Butch held up an arm, flexing the muscle. “Look at these biceps. Feel them, Mia. Touch them.” This little display of testosterone had gone on long enough.

  “Both of you get your shirts back on now.” The snap of an icy voice coming from the doorway made her gasp and jump. Her heart raced and she automatically cringed back, looking for a way to flee.

  Fuck, she hated feeling this way.

  “Just having a bit of fun, Alec,” Butch told him with an unrepentant grin.

  “Fun?” He said the word like he didn’t understand the meaning of it. Maybe he didn’t. He seemed to work all the time. “You two get back to work. Mia, you stay where you are,” he demanded as she tried to make her way towards the door.

  Drat.

  “We’re going,” Tanner told him, putting his shirt back on. “We just came in for a snack.”

  “Get a snack and go.”

  “All right, no need to get all heated up,” Tanner grumbled. But he reached out to grab a couple of cookies. Butch did the same as he slipped by, giving her a sassy wink.

  “We’ll take up where we left off later, sweet Mia,” Butch called back at her.

  She gulped and looked at Alec’s hard face. Jesus, was Butch trying to poke the beast? Tanner obviously had more sense than his brother because he reached back and grabbed his brother’s shirt, dragging him out through the mudroom.

  Alec turned that icy gaze on her. Shit. She licked her lips. “Look, I—”

  “Seems I missed a rule,” Alec said in a low voice. Shit. Shit. Her heart raced. She had to remind herself he wasn’t the enemy. Since the brownie incident, he’d gone back to ignoring her. Meanwhile, she spent most nights recalling the feel of his hard body against hers, imagining what it would have been like if he’d kissed her.

  “What do you mean? I haven’t left the ranch or contacted anyone.” Hell, she hadn’t even left the house, other than to hang the washing out on the line. This place felt safe. Out there did not. And she was so tired of being scared.

  As she stared into his hard face, she felt her insecurities rush to the foreground. She hadn’t broken any rules. He had no reason to look at her like that. He wasn’t going to kick her out, was he?

  “You haven’t broken any rules. I didn’t think you would, knowing the consequences.”

  Yes, that she’d lose his protection.

  She still worried that being here was a mistake. What if the hit man found a way to get to her? What if he hurt these guys? She couldn’t stand it if any harm came to them because of her.

  “I’m talking about a completely new rule. I told them but didn’t think I’d have to warn you. My brothers are off-limits.”

  Off-limits? What did that mean? Suddenly it hit her, and she sucked in a deep breath. “You think that I . . . that I want . . . that I could ever . . . ” She couldn’t get out the words, she was so flabbergasted at his insinuation.

  “I came in here, you standing between them with their shirts off, face flushed, arousal in your eyes, those stupid grins on their faces meaning they were teasing you about something, and you think I don’t have to warn you that they’re off-limits?”

  She straightened her shoulders. She hadn’
t done anything wrong. She wouldn’t be ashamed.

  “I am not interested in your brothers.”

  He didn’t look like he believed her. Her short burst of confidence started to dissipate.

  “And even if I was, would that be so bad?” Why didn’t he want her to get involved with one of his brothers? She wasn’t a terrible person. She was kind, polite, hard-working. Boring.

  Yeah, she was definitely that.

  “Yeah, it would.” He pointed at her. “Do not encourage that shit I just saw again.”

  She took a step back, unable to help herself. She hadn’t encouraged them, had she? What if it happened again? Would he send her away? Of course, he would. He wasn’t the type to not follow through on his threats.

  Where would she go? She liked it here. She felt safe here. Could breathe here.

  She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and reached back, accidentally placing her hand on the still-hot oven tray. She pulled it back immediately, hissing. Thankfully, it wasn’t as hot as when it had first been taken from the oven, but it still stung.

  “What did you do?”

  She gasped as she realized he’d moved without her noticing. He now loomed over her, glaring down at her. She tucked her throbbing hand behind her. It was probably a childish reaction, but she didn’t need him berating her for messing up yet again.

  “Nothing. I have to start getting dinner ready.”

  “Give me your hand.”

  He held his out imperiously. He didn’t move any closer. Didn’t try to reach for her. Just held his hand there like he expected her immediate obedience. And weak fool that she was, she gave it to him.

  His hand engulfed hers. For a moment she couldn’t help but wonder what that hand would feel like against her naked ass. What need did he have for paddles when he had one at the end of his arm?

  Mia. Stop being an idiot.

  “Little fool, you burned yourself.”

  The insult rushed through her. And she rocked back. All right, so he got to boss her around. He got to make all the rules. He even got to be a cold asshole. But there was no need to call her names.

  “It was an accident.”

  “Notice you’ve had a few of those.”

  She gaped at him as he led her over to the sink and turned the faucet on, sticking her hand underneath.

  “What do you mean?” She turned to look at him as he moved away.

  He turned back with a firm look. Two steps back and he was next to her once more, his front against her back as he leaned over her, grasped hold of her hand and firmly placed it under the water again. This time he held it there for a beat or two. And as her body reacted to having him so close, she berated herself for having drawn his attention back to her. She should have let him leave. Then they could have just gotten on with their days.

  But, no, she had to prod the beast.

  “It means I’ve noticed a lot of things seem to go wrong around you, Calamity Jane.”

  She gasped in an insulted breath. She thought she preferred being called a little fool.

  “They do not!” she protested, trying to turn to look back at him. But he kept her firmly pressed against the counter. And she couldn’t help but react to his closeness. Her whole body went into hyperdrive, she felt like her insides were melting, her knees growing weak.

  She needed to get past this weird attraction she felt towards him.

  “Yeah? Tell that to my grandmother’s lamp.”

  Oh, God. He would have to bring that up.

  “I was dusting it. It was an accident. I’ll pay to replace it.”

  “Its value was in its sentiment,” he replied, making her feel even worse. “Of course, it also had a monetary value of around two thousand dollars.”

  Two thousand dollars! No way could she find that kind of cash. “For that ugly old thing?”

  Whoops. He stiffened behind her.

  “Um, sorry. Really, I am. I know it was your grandmother’s and I feel terrible about what happened. I didn’t mean to knock it over.”

  “Just like you didn’t mean to flood the laundry room?” he asked in a low voice.

  “I didn’t realize the plug was in the tub. I cleaned it all up.”

  “The floors need replacing.”

  “I’ll pay for that too.” Shit. Shit.

  “Bill’s mounting up.”

  Didn’t she know it.

  “Then there’s West’s bruised ass.”

  She tried to turn again. He held her still.

  “I apologized to West. I didn’t mean to flood the laundry and I thought I’d cleaned up the water well enough. I didn’t think it would still be so slippery.” The quietest Malone brother had slipped on a wet patch of tile in the mudroom, which doubled as the laundry room. He’d fumed all day yesterday. And the scowl he wore whenever he saw her . . . she shivered slightly.

  “Do you think he’s still mad at me?” she whispered.

  He narrowed his gaze at her. “You have nothing to fear from West.”

  “I’m not scared of him.” Liar. Liar.

  “Lying isn’t allowed.”

  “Just how many rules are you going to make?” she demanded, fed up with him and his high-handed ways.

  “Many as you need.”

  “As I need? All right, I’ll make it easy on you. I’m a grown woman. I’m reasonably intelligent. And I don’t need any rules.”

  He just huffed out a laugh. “You forgot that you have a good sense of humor.”

  “I wasn’t joking,” she said through gritted teeth. Although it was nice that he thought she had a sense of humor.

  “Whose house you living in?”

  She figured that was a rhetorical question and didn’t answer. Her hand was about to freeze off, and she reached for the tap to turn off the water.

  “Don’t even think about touching that,” he told her in a low, commanding voice.

  She froze. Fuck. She hated when she did that. Just obeyed him like some mindless fool.

  “Whose house are you living in?” He repeated the question. Okay, maybe he wanted an answer.

  “Yours,” she spat out.

  “And whose protection are you under?”

  “Yours.”

  He leaned in until his lips were practically touching her ear. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. “And so you are going to obey my rules, are you not?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  She froze. He couldn’t mean that. He was just doing it to mess with her head. Finally, he backed away from her.

  “Keep that hand under the water. I’m going to go get the first aid kit. You move, and you’ll be in trouble.”

  There was some idiotic part of her that wanted to ask what sort of trouble he was talking about. But she hadn’t lost all sense of self-preservation. He returned quickly and turned off the tap himself. Then he gently dried her hand.

  She looked down at the palm of her hand. It was red, but the throbbing pain had pretty much disappeared.

  “It feels much better now. I should be fine without anything else.”

  He didn’t even acknowledge her. He just pulled some burn cream out of the first aid kit, along with a bandage.

  “It’s just a small burn,” she insisted. “I’ve worked in kitchens for years. I’ve had plenty of burns. I don’t need burn cream or a bandage.”

  “Don’t recall asking you what you thought you needed.” He proceeded to gently rub cream on her burn then he wrapped her hand up.

  “Just how am I supposed to cook dinner with this on my hand?”

  “You’ll get by.”

  “I’ll get by? I’ve got potatoes to peel. Veggies to chop. I can’t do this with this great big monstrosity on my hand.” She reached for the bandage and he grabbed hold of her good hand.

  “Do not take that bandage off your hand, understand me?”

  Damn it. She knew when she wasn’t going to win an argument. And she didn’t much like arguing anyway.
Finally, she nodded. “Fine, but don’t blame me if there are no veggies with your dinner tonight.”

  “Doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m going out. Try to stay out of trouble.”

  He gathered up the first aid gear and walked out of the room without so much as a backward glance, leaving her standing there like a fool.

  Shit. Fuck.

  He walked into his office and went immediately over to pour himself a glass of whiskey. He took a deep sip, hoping it would erase the scent of her from his memory. The feel of her against his body. He reminded himself she wasn’t in the lifestyle.

  Getting involved with her would be a mistake. She wasn’t a sub at the club he could just walk away from. She lived with him. There would no way of keeping her feelings out of it. That female was a ball of emotions. Mia wasn’t someone you just played with and then walked away from. She deserved happy ever after. She was sweet and kind.

  And he’d been an ass. He didn’t much care what people thought of him. He lived life his own way. He felt bad for being so cold to her, but it was the best way he knew to keep a barrier between them. There was just something about her that called to him.

  Underneath her fragile exterior, there was a tough core. He hadn’t seen it in the beginning, not with the way she tended to bite her tongue and pull in on herself, but a few times now she’d shown him the real Mia. The one she kept hidden. Sure, she was someone who liked to keep the peace, but push her hard enough and she’d bite back.

  He hadn’t thought he would find that appealing. But he was glad to know she was tougher than she looked. She had to be to have lived through what she had.

  He ran his hand over his face. The jealousy he’d felt when he’d walked into the kitchen and seen Butch and Tanner shirtless and standing so close to her, it didn’t make him feel good. He didn’t want to be jealous of them. He didn’t want her to mean anything to him.

  Which is why he’d snapped at her that his brothers were off limits. Damn it. Mia was everything he wanted in a woman. Soft, sweet, beautiful inside and out.

  And totally off-limits. For him as well as his brothers.