*****
Tanner’s battered red truck pulled up in front of Zoey’s place at ten o’clock on the nose Saturday morning. Like any good weirdo, Zoey was watching for it from her apartment window. When the two broad-shouldered men climbed out, she could just barely hear their laughter through the thin glass, and a ripple of desire shot through her. Tanner’s cowboy hat was missing, leaving his buzzed head bare to her view, and when paired up with Dalton’s lighter sandy blonde hair they almost looked like a cowboy version of Good versus Evil. She wasn’t sure which option she wanted to taste first, the good or the evil, but at this moment neither was actually a choice.
Hurrying across the large room, she glanced around at the empty corners. She really didn’t have a whole lot that was hers. The sofa and chair along with most of the living room contents belonged to the landlord, as did the bed and dresser. That left her with just a stack of about twelve moving boxes, her bike, her television, and the cedar chest that she and Rachel had found at a flea market when they were seventeen. They had spent a whole month lovingly restoring the piece and it was Zoey’s most prized possession.
When the doorbell rang, Zoey plastered a smile on and swung it open. She was anticipating the blast of sex appeal from Tanner, but the electricity nearly singed her when her eyes met Dalton’s.
“Zoey Carson. Wow! I haven’t seen you since you were in pigtails,” Dalton said. His slightly shell-shocked appearance soothed her ego a little and she sighed.
“Ah yes, Dalton the demi-God who broke dozens of teenage hearts in Stone River when he left for medical school!” She threw back dramatically. His laughter was warm and he stepped forward wrapping her in a hug.
“Damn it’s good to see you too, woman. You grew up good!” Dalton’s hand rested on her hip with his arm holding her close, in an affectionate sort of way, as he looked her over. She returned the favor taking in his golden locks, dimpled chin, and midnight blue eyes. That combo alone would make for a teenage wet dream, but when settled over the top of a six foot tall perfectly sculpted specimen of man meat, it was nuclear.
“I’m not the only one. Age has done you well, Mr. Keegan.” She threw a glance at Tanner, surprised to find him glaring at the pair of them. “Morning, Tanner, is everything alright?”
“It’s fine. If you two are done drooling on each other, I would like to get a move on loading this stuff up. Unlike you two, I have chores to do when we get back.” He sounded gruff, but Zoey saw his eyes roam over her semi-empty place and soften when he realized what a small pile of belongings there was to move. “Did you get everything packed, Zoey?”
“Yep, this is it. Once we have it all loaded I just need to drop the key off to Mrs. Flannigan downstairs. Mr. Langley is going to be by tomorrow to collect all of the keys from her. She has a moving company coming to help move her out today.” She was still standing in the curve of Dalton’s arm, but sensing that it was making Tanner tense she took a step away from his younger brother and slid her hands into her back pockets. “Thank you both for helping me out. I’m sure Rogan, Parker, and Hudson would have, but with Sawyer down and the new baby—”
“New baby? What new baby?” Dalton asked, looking confused.
“The Brooks brothers married Rachel Morgan. You remember Rachel, she and I are best friends. The five of them got married almost a year ago now, and they just had a little girl named Juliet.”
“fu-ck me! You have got to be kidding. Parker Brooks got someone to marry him? And he has a kid? Wait, did you just say all four of them are married to her? How the hell does that work?”
Tanner and Zoey shared a look and a laugh, “Oddly enough, brother, it seems to work for them. She married Rogan legally, but they are all well and truly married to her.”
“And the town didn’t burn her at the stake for bewitching the four of them?” Dalton joked, and Zoey started giggling harder.
“Nope, in fact they seem to have embraced and accepted their family pretty easily. It’s unusual, but as long as they aren’t hurting anyone, they are allowed to love whoever they want.”
“Alright, you can catch up on all of the gossip at home. I’m sure Zoey will be glad to fill you in. Let’s get moving.” Tanner picked up the closest box and passed it to Dalton’s waiting arms.
“You got it boss,” Dalton said with a sharp nod to Tanner and a wink at Zoey before he spun on his heel and marched out of the apartment.
“I see your brother is still an enormous flirt,” Zoey said, picking up a smaller box and following behind Tanner as he carried two boxes at once.
Tanner snorted, “Are you surprised? Dalton’s flirting was legendary. There’s no way Africa could change him that much.”
Zoey dropped the subject as they stepped out into the sunshine and Dalton relieved her of her armful. Tanner might think Dalton had all of the flirting skills, but he wasn’t giving himself enough credit. He had been doing a number on her body ever since she was thirteen and she spotted him and Lindsay Self making out in the back of Dottie’s ice cream shop. How she was going to survive even a couple of weeks in the same house as these two was anyone’s guess.