After two rounds of sex with Summer earlier today—yeah, in my head she’s Summer but I’ll call her Jenna if that’s the way she still wants to play it—I spend the rest of the afternoon at the town council trying to get building permits to do work on the Cassidy place. I hit a wall at every turn, held back by so much red tape I was damn near ready to strangle someone with it. I’m in a pretty pissed-off mood as I sit at table across from my brother, one eye on him, the other on Summer as I suck back a cold beer. I twirl the bottle, take a long pull, then slam it down onto the wooden table much harder than necessary.

“What the fuck is the matter with you anyway?” Tyler asks, flicking a beer cap over and under his fingers. He’s as restless and edgy as I am tonight, no doubt itching for a fight.

“You know what’s the matter with me,” I say.

“We’ll get the permits. I’m sure of it.”

I’m not, and if we don’t get them soon, Tyler won’t be able to build the addition to the Cassidy mansion. I’ve sunk ever cent I earned into the business, and I’ll be damned if I let it fail because Walker has them stalling at city hall. I have no proof it’s him, of course, but after he learned I wasn’t just here to bury dad, but also to get his business up and running again with all the Owens boys returning home, I knew he’d try to find a way to run us out of town. When I saw him coming from city hall, a shit-eating grin on his face, my gut told me he was the one trying to stall things until I ran the business into the ground, and we all rode back to where we came from. He might have a lot of pull, but money goes a long way, too. What I really need is a crap load of bills to go down there and grease some palms.

From the corner of my eye, I watch Summer. Tray in hand, tight jeans hugging her ass to perfection, she’s serving two dickless assholes a drink, and I don’t fucking like the way they’re looking at her. Tyler turns to see what’s really getting under my skin.

His grin is wide when he turns back to me. “You got something going with Jenna?”

I glare at him. No way would he remember her. He was too young back in the day and she’s changed drastically. “So what if I do?”

He holds his hands up, arms out. “Hey, just asking.” He nods toward the assholes and cracks his knuckles, ready and prepared to pounce at my word. “Want me to help you put their eyes back in their head?”

“Yeah, I fucking want you to.” I eye my little brother. How long will he last here in Blue Bay? No action, no fighting, just good old hard work with a hammer instead of his fists? We’ve all carved out our own paths in life, none of which involved Blue Bay. I called them all back for the funeral, and to help with the business, but I can’t expect them to give up their lives because I need to be the man Dad needs me to be. If only I had done it sooner, made him proud, but no I was too fucking busy out satisfying my own urges and avoiding the disappointed look on his scowling face. And now that I am back, I should be paying more attention to living up to my responsibilities, and less time thinking about sweet Summer Wheeler.

Ty pushes from the table and is about to get up when I give a slow shake of my head. “Not in here,” I say. Summer has only been working here for a week and I don’t want to get her in any kind of shit with Beck. He’s a good guy, we go way back, and I respect his one rule: No fighting in Winchesters.

Outside, however.

The heavy oak door opens with a bang and my mood lightens when I see Jamie saunter in like he’s on fucking vacation. He glances around, and the corner of his mouth turns up when he spots us in the far corner, our backs to the wall so we can take in everything.

I lift my beer in salute, and he walks over. Both Ty and I jump up to hug our brother.

I let Ty go first, then grip Jamie’s T-shirt and pull him in. “About fucking time you got here.” We exchange a hard hug.

“Unlike you two assholes, I had a life and shit to take care of before I could come home.”

I look him over, take in his body art. Who would have thought that my little brother would grow up to be an amazing tattoo artist? “I’m glad you’re here,” I say. With only a year separating us in age, Jamie and I were tight growing up. We did everything together, and I miss him like fuck. But like me, he left here years ago, tired of taking shit from the old man, tired of disappointing him. Yeah, sure, Dad was a pillar of society, like by everyone, but he rode his sons hard. Everyone knew it. What I realize now, but didn’t know back then, was that he was just trying to fill the role of both father and mother and make strong men of us—except none of us responded well to his methods. I pull Jamie back in.

“It’s good to be home,” he says, his voice slightly broken, fractured as he fists my shirt. I work to keep my shit together as I pull back to see him again. He might be a mean motherfucker, in with the gangs down in New Orleans, but when it comes to family, there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to protect them.

We stare, but no words need to be said. He has a shit storm going on inside him every bit as much as the rest of us.

His throat works as he swallows, and he looks at his boots. “I should have come sooner.”

“Yeah,” I say. We all should have. “Well you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

He looks from me to Ty, then back to me. “Who’s back?”

“Just us three.”

“Have you heard from Jared and Jacob?”

I nod, and push back on two legs as I think about the call I made to our twin brothers. They took the news as hard as the rest of us. “They’re on their way.”

“What about Ryan, Carter, and Jace?”

At the mention of our cousins, who we really consider our brothers, I say, “I called everyone.”

He grabs a chair, spins it around, and drops into it. Arms braced on the back, he signals Summer. When she reaches our table, he narrows his eyes and looks her over. “Do I know you?”

“Real fucking original,” Ty says, and shoves Jamie.

“Fuck off,” Jamie shoots back and shoves Ty in return. He doesn’t budge. Instead he laughs and folds his arms across his barrel chest. “Want to take this outside?” he asks.

“Little fucker,” Jamie says, and jumps up to grab Ty in a headlock. He rubs his knuckles over Ty’s head, in familiar Jamie fashion. Except that might have worked when they were eleven and eight, now not so much. “Need me to show you who’s the big brother here?” he taunts.

Here we go.

Ty jumps up, spins and turns the table on Jamie. Chairs fly as he grabs Jamie in a rear naked hold, jumps on his back to lock on, and drags him to the floor. Someone squeals, their drink flying as the two wrestle around on the ground.

Summer backs up, her eyes wide, and I reach for her hand. Her gaze shoots to mine as I stand and put her behind me. “It’s okay,” I say. “This goes way back to when they were kids. Ty owes him a beat-down for the all noogies Jamie gave him.”

“Noogies?”

“I take it you don’t have brothers,” I ask, even though I already know the answer.

“No, only child.”

I keep her behind me and she goes up on her toes to see over my shoulder as the guys roughen each other up. After Summer’s mom died, and she left here with her father, I lost track of her. I don’t even know if her father is still alive. Jesus, what would he do if he found out Sean Owens was fucking his little girl? He was always protective of her, and rarely let her out of his sight when he was here in Blue Bay and not out on a naval ship, patrolling our waters.

He was gone that time I dragged her from the water and gave her mouth-to-mouth. Her mom was on the beach, chatting with her friends, when Summer got a cramp and took in water. When her old man arrived he paid me a visit, told me to stay the fuck away from his daughter. Man, I’d just saved his little girl and that was his response. Then again, I had a reputation a mile long, and was a poster boy for authority issues, so in a way I can’t blame the man. I guess fathers protect their daughters, and I can’t hold that against him. What he’d failed to realize is that I’d never let anything happen to his daughter—back in the day, or now. Then again, maybe I didn’t want him to see me as anything different, maybe I let him see the worse it me because I feared I couldn’t live up to his expectation either.

Regardless, no matter what I was doing, swimming, hanging with my brothers, or tearing up the streets, I’d always kept an eye on her. Most times Jamie was with me. I think he knew all about my secret crush. Now that I know she’s on the run, and there are things she’s not telling me, I plan to keep her in my line of sight until I feel her safety is no longer an issue.

The two guys who’d been eye fucking Summer are looking at my brothers with fear in their eyes. Yeah, they should be scared. I scoff. Those are the kinds of guys Summer’s dad would want her with. Old Blue Bay money. But look at them. One ounce of trouble and they’re pissing in their pants.

I steal a glance around, take in the group of girls sipping their martinis and getting off on this shit. No doubt my brothers will have one of them warming their beds tonight. Ty gets Jamie on the ground, his arm behind his back as he slams his shoulder into the floor.

“Tap out, bro, or I’ll break it.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jamie says, and twists, trying to get out of the hold, but no way can he budge the two hundred pounds and then some of solid muscle holding him down. He’s such a stubborn bastard, however, that no way is he going to tap out. Ty will choke hold him until he passes out first. Only problem is a few patrons are getting worked up—they don’t know my brothers are play-fighting. One look at them and you’d think they were trying to kill each other. But since I don’t want any trouble with the law, I need to break this shit up.

I move Summer back out of the way, so she doesn’t get hit with a flailing arm or leg. She reaches for me, curls her fingers in my shirt and the way she looks to me for protection has my insides coiling. I like being her protector. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” She looks at me with those big eyes like she wants to believe me, needs to believe me, then nods her head and lets her hands fall to her sides.

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I know but while I’m around, that’s going to be my job,” I say. I don’t wait for a response, won’t tolerate hearing no on her lips. Instead I kick Ty in the ribs, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough power behind it to get his attention. “Finish it.”

Ty grins. “Tap out big brother.”

“Fuck you,” Jamie says.

I reach for Ty, but when I do, a bolt of pain shoots from my shoulder down to my back. “Christ,” I winch, and Summer steps back into me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just overdid it today on the roof.”

She sets her tray on the table and puts those soft hands on me. “Let me see.” She feels around a bit, and pulls on my arm, moving it back and forth, then she steps behind me and runs her hands along my spine.

“You need an adjustment. Tomorrow before you start on the roof, I’ll try to help you work out the kink.”

At the mention of “kink,” my dick goes hard, and I’m guessing by the blush moving into her cheeks, she knows she picked the wrong choice of words.

“Kink?” I tease. “Don’t toy with me, Jenna, or there will be consequences.”

Heat colors her face, and I step into her, crowd her, let her know I’m ready to fuck again, right here right now.

“I . . . I mean . . .”

I angle my head, stare at her lush lip, all humor gone from my voice when I ask, “What do you know about adjustments?”

“I . . . uh . . .” She stalls, like she’s trying to backtrack, but I won’t have any of that. “Well, my friend is a chiropractor, and she taught me a few tricks, and I think I could . . .”

I glare at her and her voice falls off. How many more lies is she going to spill? Fuck, why is it that she thinks she can’t trust me with her secrets? Especially when she trusts me with her body.

Oh, probably because of my reputation, my authority issues, and I did tell her one-night stands were my specialty—and they were, until she came back into my life. But she’s running from her ex—by rights I should hunt the prick down and beat the fuck out of him for putting her on the defense like this—and I’m not the kind of guy she’d ever want anything more with. She has white picket fence, minivan, and 2.4 kids in her future. No way will you catch me behind the wheel of a minivan, and when it comes to a kid, that’s where I tap out. What do I know about parenting? I’d end up fucking them up. All I ever had was a hard-ass, brutal son of a bitch teaching me how to be a man.

Officer Walker steps into the bar, and when he sees my brother’s on the floor, he puts his hands over his gun. Shit. My foul mood returns and I grab Ty and haul him off Jamie. Walker saunters over to us.

“Problem here?” he asks.

“Nope, just saying hello to Jamie,” Ty says, and straightens to his full height, an intimidating bastard, but Walker doesn’t intimidate easily. Why would he when he’s the law with a gun at his side.

“I told Sean and I’m telling you. I don’t want no trouble.”

Summer shifts behind me and grabs her tray off the table. She scurries to the bar, and Stacey meets her. Stacey nods my way, then says something to Summer. I can’t hear the exchange from my distance, but I’m sure the other waitress is filling her in on the Owens boys—and probably warning her to stay away. Years ago, Stacey had a thing with one of the twins and has been pissed off ever since.

“We’re not looking for trouble,” Jamie says through gritted teeth and I can tell it’s taking all his restraint not to get up in Walker’s face.

Walker turns to me, that same shit-eating grin on his face. “How’s business?”

I fold my arms across my chest. “Booming.”

He scoffs. “That so?” he asks.

“That’s so.”

He turns, and strolls up to the bar. He speaks to the bartender Adam, then walks out of the place, taking a moment to cast us another warning look. What-the-fuck-ever. The man is really starting to piss me off.

“I need a fucking beer,” Jamie says. He gestures to Summer again and when she arrives he narrows his eyes and glares at Ty in warning before slowly turning to her. He gives her another once-over, his gaze roaming over those freckles that make her look so adorable. “So I do know you, right?” he asks.

Ty smirks and a snicker sounds in his throat. I join Jamie in glaring at him. He raises his hands in surrender and mouths the words, “Fine.”

“No, I’m Jenna Garridy. I’m a friend of Summer Wheeler’s. You’re probably just confusing us,” Summer says.

A pause, his thumb tapping a beat on the wood table. Even though he still doesn’t look convinced he shrugs and says, “Yeah, that must be it.”

Summer’s fingers fumble with the notepad in her hand. “What can I get you?”

He circles his finger. “A round for us all.”

She nods and dashes to the bar. I could tell Jamie she really is Summer Wheeler, but I don’t. She’s keeping her identity a secret for a reason, one I’m certain has everything to do with her ex. So help the bastard if he shows up here in Blue Bay. He won’t just have one Owens brother to contend with, he’ll have a brotherhood, an army. Not that there will be anything left for my brothers once I’m through with him. But for now, I’ll keep her identity a secret and I’ll keep her in my crosshairs to make sure she’s safe.

“Been by to see Gram?” Ty asks Jamie. As the two fall into conversation, I push away from the table. I pass by the booth where the two dickless assholes are sitting. How dare they have the nerve to eye fuck my girl. My girl? Well for the remainder of the season she is anyway. While I’d like to punch those douchebags in the face, I don’t want to cause trouble for Summer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stake my fucking claim on her.

She has her back to me at the bar. I slide in behind her, put my hands on either side of the bar top and press my mouth to her ear. “I can’t wait to be inside you again,” I say, and her body shudders as I cage her with mine.

“Sean,” she whispers, and her hands shake as she puts a drink on her tray.

I inch back so she can turn. Her eyes darken with desire when they see me, and I brush her bottom lip with my thumb. “Actually, this is where I want my cock next time.”

She darts a quick glance around, but no one can hear me, and because my body is blocking hers, no one can see the way she’s rubbing up against me like a kitten. Next time I get her into bed, she’d better fucking purr for me.

“I . . . I need to work,” she says.

“Okay, but if those little fuckers give you any trouble, you better let me know, and my brothers and I will take this shit outside.”

“Those two. Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with the likes of their kind before. I used to waitress in college.”

“College?”

Her eyes go wide. Clearly, she just told me something she hadn’t meant to. Jesus, she has so many secrets. I should ask, I want to ask, but she doesn’t want to fucking tell me. Guess she doesn’t trust me enough. That bugs the shit out of me, but since I only asked for a casual affair, she doesn’t owe me anything more than that. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch over her though.

“I . . . yeah . . . long time ago.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t like the way they’re looking at you. If they make you uncomfortable at all. Let me know.”

“Sean,” she says. Fuck man, I love hearing my name on her lips.

“Yeah?”

“I think you just made it pretty clear to them not to mess with me.”

I grin. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Her pouty lips turn up and my dick hardens even more. “I need to deliver these drinks.”

I dip my head and lightly brush my mouth over hers. She sucks in a feathery breath, and I step to the side to clear her path. I follow her back to the table, and take my seat. And we start to get caught up in each other’s lives as we shoot back our beer.

An hour later, Jamie stretches and says, “I need to go see Gram before she goes to bed.”

“Yeah, come on.”

I stand but when I do the girls drinking the margaritas saunter up to us, giggling, and twirling their hair around their fingers. I shake my head. Every girl, in every town. All the fucking same. My gaze slides to Summer who is watching the girls touch us.

She’s not the same.

“You guys going somewhere?” the pretty blonde asks, her hand on Jamie’s arm.

Jamie grins. “Yeah, but we’ll be back.”

She pouts. “I thought you might want to play a game of pool.”

“We’ll play,” Ty says. “Just not tonight.”

I look them over. Any other night I might have taken them up on their offer. Now, the only woman I want in my bed is Summer. I cast her a glance again and when my eyes meet hers she jerks away, and goes back to filling her tray with drinks. I follow my brothers out the door, and the girls are close behind. They stand there grinning, and blatantly staring as I jump into the truck and Ty climbs into the passenger seat. He jacks the tunes and taps his fingers on the dashboard as I drive home, Jamie following on his Harley.

Gram is in the kitchen on her laptop, surfing Facebook when we enter. Gotta love a seventy-year-old who keeps up with technology. She jumps up when she sees we have Jamie with us.

“Jamie, my sweet boy,” she says, and he picks her up for a hug. Her long white nightgown flares around her ankles. “Come in, come in. Are you hungry?”

He rubs his gut. “Starved.”

“Hey what about me?” Ty says. “I’m hungry, too.”

Her green eyes crinkle and she reaches up to pinch Ty’s cheeks.

“You’re always hungry.” She turns to me, but I’m focused on the computer. Would Summer have a Facebook account? If so, I might be able to track her asshole ex through it, and pay him a visit.

“You hungry, Sean?” she asks again.

“No I’m good, Gram.”

She folds her arms in familiar Gram fashion. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah, Jenna Garridy. The new waitress at Winchesters.”

I spin and glare at my baby brother, but he’s grinning like the damn village idiot, and unlike Jamie he has no idea Jenna is Summer and is on the run.

“Oh, a girl.” Gram winks at me. “I’ll have to make a visit to Winchesters.”

“No, Gram. She’s just a friend.”

Ty mouths the words, “One you’re fucking,” and I make a mental note to smother him when he’s sleeping tonight. Gram hurries to the fridge, and I walk to the cupboard, grab some pain meds and toss them back. Damn shoulder is aching like a bitch tonight. I should probably ask one of the guys to help with the roof, but then I wouldn’t have Summer all to myself, mine to fuck anytime we like.

I leave Gram and the guys in the kitchen, and head to the bathroom for a hot shower. The water feels good against my aching muscles, and I stay under until it turns cold. I towel off and walk to my room. I fall onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. Hours later sleep still doesn’t come, so I tug on my jeans and head to Jamie’s room. I knock.

“Yeah.”

Looks like I’m not the only one who can’t sleep. I open the door and shut it behind me. Light from the crack in his curtain slants across the wall, and Jamie shuffles to make room for me. I flop out on the bed bedside him, and jab my hands under my head. We lie like that for a long time, neither talking, but both taking comfort in each other’s presence. I missed him so fucking much.

“You good?” I finally ask.

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah.”

He rolls to his side, goes up on one elbow, his eyes dark, dangerous—murderous. “Is Summer in some kind of trouble?”

I scoff and shake my head. I should have known he’d bring it up sooner or later, and I’m glad he waited until we’re alone. “Yeah.”

“How bad?”

I mimic his position. “Don’t know. She’s not talking. But I suspect it has everything to do with her ex.”

“Who is he?”

“Don’t know that either.”

His eyes narrow, zero in on me. “I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks, bro.”

I fall back onto the mattress, dead tired after a long day.

“I’ll fix the front porch and swing,” Jamie says, his voice low as he drifts off to sleep.

“Okay.” A pause and then, “Jamie, are you still good with security systems?” He used to work for Eagle Security in New Orleans before opening his own tattoo shop.

“The best.”

I laugh. No modesty there. “Tomorrow, can you install one in the old Wheeler home?”

“You got it.”

I shut my eyes, visions of Summer in my mind’s eye as fatigue pulls at me, my brother’s comforting presence lulling me to sleep. But then my phone rings, and the nerves along my back tingle in warning. Something’s wrong. I feel it in every fiber of my being. I jackknife up, and pull my cell from my back pocket, and slide my finger across the screen.

“Sean,” Summer says, her voice hushed, frightened.

I climb from the bed. “Are you hurt?” I ask.

“There’s a noise, outside the window.”

“I’m on my way.” I turn to Jamie. “I gotta go.”

“You need me?”

“I’ll let you know.”