This wasn’t how Hayden would have preferred to meet Austin’s family. One by one, they’d all come home. Bryant, Doug, and James—whom they’d finally gotten a hold of—were there, gathered around a bonfire.

The official celebration of Jake’s life wasn’t scheduled until the following day. Informally, friends and neighbors had come to express their condolences, deliver food, and offer to help the family with preparations. In addition, the ranch hands were idle. Everyone had rare time off with minimal responsibilities until regular operations resumed.

With gobs of people milling around, an impromptu potluck had cropped up and lasted past sundown. A swarm of children, including Austin’s adorable nieces and nephews, buzzed around catching fireflies, oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

Austin had ushered her around to officially meet each of the four legendary Compass brothers, starting with his own parents.

“We won’t forget that you’ve stepped up in our family’s time of need.” Silas took her offered hand and drew her into a crushing embrace. So that’s where his son had learned it from.

“Dad, tell him to knock it off. He’s making us sound like the mafia or something,” Austin groaned to Colby, who only laughed.

“He does what he wants, you know that.” Colby let go of their wife’s hand as he threw up his own. “Besides, I agree with him. It might have taken you five years to bring a girl home, but you chose wisely.”

Hayden loved their closeness and frank, sentimental exchange. It was something she’d never been part of before. When Silas let her breathe again, his hug was followed up by one from Austin’s mom and then his dad. “It means a lot that you say that. Thank you. But the only reason I was here in the first place was because Austin was helping me out. You have no idea how much he’s done for me. You raised an incredible man.”

Lucy hummed as she took in the way Austin was watching her and the fact that his hand rode low on her spine, even now. Her mom-sense had to be going off full force. She knew what was happening here and didn’t seem to be too upset about it. In fact, she seemed to nod slightly.

Huh.

“You’ve obviously had a rough time lately with your medical issues and your father.” Lucy kindly didn’t mention the black eye and cracked ribs that Austin’s uncle Sawyer had insisted on taking a report on. “To be here, still standing, and supporting our son at the same time… Well, you’re pretty damn strong, like the rest of the Compass women.”

Hayden wished she could call herself one of them permanently. With everything that had been going on, she and Austin hadn’t spoken about the future or where she would go from here.

They couldn’t evade the topic forever, though.

Soon the fairytale would be over.

Their conversation ended there when Austin’s uncles Sam, Sawyer, and Seth joined them, along with their wives. She spent a while talking to each one until Uncle Sawyer pulled her off to the side. “I want you to know I didn’t have a chance to follow up on your reports yet. I was poking around, offering to assist on the cold case regarding your father when we got the news about Jake and…”

“That’s fine. I understand.” She smiled weakly, ashamed to even have to think about Bobby Joe in the presence of Austin’s perfect family.

“What I’m saying”—he looked up and included Austin in his statement—“is that you should be careful until I do. I’d recommend going back and filing for a restraining order once the documentation is in place.”

Hayden hadn’t intended to return. Ever. Disappearing and starting over somewhere new had been her plan all along. “Thank you, I’ll consider doing that once I figure out where I’m going from here.”

“Going?” Uncle Sawyer tipped his head.

Awkward.

Austin didn’t object. But neither did he affirm that she was a temporary resident in his apartment.

“Uh.” Uncle Sawyer cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two alone. I just thought I would mention it to be safe.”

“I appreciate your help.” Hayden stepped forward and hugged him in the Compass tradition. Not before she saw him shoot Austin an unreadable glare over her head. He patted her back gently.

“Anytime.”

With that, they were tugged away again. This time by shouts from the rest of the Compass boys, who were harassing Austin to join them by the roaring fire they’d built. James in particular seemed eager to introduce them to a woman named Ivy he’d met as a smokejumper.

She was stunning, with blue eyes that stood out against her dark brown hair. Though she was petite, she was curvy—pretty much every woman’s ideal figure. It seemed as though she was a great match for James, anticipating what he was going to say and sitting awfully close to him.

Hayden could understand.

She was content to sit quietly and observe their meet-up so long as Austin was nearby. They were funny, naughty, and ultimately charming.

Austin held her hand and occasionally brushed his thumb over it in between jabs at his cousins and drags on his beer. It was the first time she’d seen him drink, and though she started the night out hyperaware of his every reaction, she soon realized he was nothing like Bobby Joe.

Okay, so she’d already known that.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t immediately notice when they quieted down. It was the way Bryant tensed across from her that tipped her off to someone approaching.

“Hey, Vaughn.” James lifted a hand in greeting. “How’s it going?”

“Not the best day in Compton Pass history.” A scrappy cowboy with midnight-black hair stepped up to the cooler at their feet to grab a beer out of the ice, then opened it with his teeth like it was nothing. “Otherwise I’m okay. How about you guys?”

Though he spoke to them all, his gaze bored into Bryant when he asked.

“Fine.” The usually soft-spoken though friendly cousin turned downright frosty. Interesting.

“Vaughn, this is Hayden.” Austin added to Hayden, “He’s our resident tattoo artist. He’s done a bunch of my ink.”

“Good job.” She smiled up at him. “I love his tattoos.”

Vaughn winked at her. “I do what I can for my clients. Happy to see it’s helping him out. Austin’s been in need of a good woman for a while—”

Austin cut that shit off right there. He told Bryant, “You should see Hayden’s. You’d love it. It’s all about water, the ocean, and a ship. Even a quote about water.” Hayden didn’t blame him either. She didn’t need to know about his past conquests.

“Maybe you’re with the wrong cousin,” Doug teased. His joke didn’t hold a lot of weight since it was no secret, nor any big deal to them, that Bryant was gay.

“Smart guys are pretty hot.” She smiled at him, hoping to erase some of the unease she sensed building within him. “I hear you’re an environmental scientist or will be soon.”

“If I ever finish this dissertation.” He cursed under his breath. “I need to run a few more experiments while I’m home. Maybe even come back for a few months to work on some additional support for my thesis.”

Although no one had asked his opinion, Vaughn chimed in, “Maybe your problem is that you work too much, Bryant. Always did. I remember Jake telling you lots of times to cut loose and have some fun. In his memory, I’d be willing to help you out with that.”

Well, dammmmmmn. Hayden’s eyes grew as big as tractor tires as her gaze ping-ponged between the two men. It was clear to her in that instant that there was some history there, or maybe there could have been. Thinking about the two powerful, well-muscled sexy beasts like them clashing in bed had her so hot she might need to plunge her whole head in that ice bucket to keep from combusting.

“You know I don’t date cowboys.” Bryant sounded as though he might need a dunk or two of his own. A full out ice bath might not be out of the question.

“Always thought that was a stupid rule,” the man practically snarled. “I know you had another one about no tattoos. If you decide to break either, you know where to find me. I’ve got the equipment that did your parents’ ink and the skill to use it.”

“Hang on.” Austin grabbed Vaughn’s arm and swung him back around before he could bail on them. “You mean that? Snake gave it to you? I didn’t know that.”

The guy shook off Austin’s grip but nodded. “Yeah. Another Compass legend, that guy. I miss his bony ass. He taught me everything I know.”

“I used to tease Jake about getting a tattoo of him. He fucking hated that idea.” Austin lit up. Hayden knew him well enough now to know he’d already decided to do it. “Can I come see you sometime soon to make that happen? I have a few other ideas, too. Maybe a portrait of my parents and Jake over a landscape with my truck driving over a road that leads all across the earth. And a compass in there somewhere, of course.”

“Do you have any room left?” Vaughn looked Austin up and down. “You’d need a helluva lot for all that.”

“Saved my whole back for something important. For this.” He nodded.

“Sounds good. Come by next week, whenever you’re free. My new shop is open every night except Thursdays. Bring your cousin—the sexy one—and I’ll give you a discount.” He saluted them with his beer bottle before vanishing into the evening and the crowd lingering beyond the light from the flames.

Everyone stared at Bryant.

“What? I’m not interested, okay?” He scrubbed his hands over his face.

“This is exactly why you’re going to regain your virgin status soon.” James knocked back another swig of something potent. It made Hayden a little nervous, but he didn’t seem to lose control like Bobby Joe inevitably had.

“Hell, if a guy looked at me like that even I might be willing to give it a try.” Doug laughed. “Damn, cuz. I think you’re missing out.”

When Bryant didn’t joke back, they let it drop. Hayden slid her hand across the gap between them and squeezed his knee under the cover of the flickering shadows. He turned his head and smiled sadly at her. What was up with that?

The rest of the night passed in a blur as the cousins tried to one-up each other by telling her the wildest stories about their childhood and Austin.

Their sisters left first, needing to put their kids to bed. The Compass Boys harassed them, calling them old ladies. Hayden suspected they were glad to go home to enjoy the private company of their husbands. The rest of their friends and neighbors went next. Eventually it was just the five of them left, hanging out until the fire died and all the beers were empty.

James made sure to douse the embers with the ice water even though the flames had been well contained by a thick ring of rocks. His job as a smoke jumper probably had something to do with that.

“Ready to go home?” Austin asked.

God, she loved the way that sounded. It might not be for real, but for tonight she needed to pretend everything was like it seemed. Either way, she was pretty sure bedtime wouldn’t be for a while yet.

“Very.” She looped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss. She only meant it to be a quick peck, but it quickly spiraled out of control. When Austin’s hand roamed lower and cupped her ass, he drew her pelvis to his so she couldn’t mistake the stiff cock he had waiting for her.

Whistling and catcalls from the rest of the Compass Boys broke her from the moment.

“Time to go,” Austin told her, then said goodnight to his cousins.

“So I guess we’re not crashing at your place?” Doug asked with a mischievous smirk.

“Not unless you brought earplugs,” Austin shot back.

Hayden didn’t even mind them discussing her sex life when she saw the shit-eating grin on her lover’s face. If she had any say, he’d always wear it because of her.

“Have fun, kids.” Bryant shooed them.

“We will. Night.” She waved and pretended to drag Austin away.

Doug and James laughed, but she caught a heartrending and wistful stare from Bryant before he turned his back on them as if it hurt too much to watch a couple in full-blown…lust.