Raine on Me Read online

  “Where are my keys, asshole? I want them now.”

  “I don’t have your keys.”

  He sounded so innocent that her gaze flew up to glare daggers at him. It became obvious to her that he wanted to play stupid in front of Trina. Brit’s temper hit the roof. She reached around him so she could grab the back of his jeans, leaning against his big body since he was wedged between the cabinet and the open fridge door he still gripped. Her hands cupped his ass where his pockets were but she just gripped firm flesh and no keys.

  “Brit?” Trina gasped. “What is going on? What are you doing?”

  Brit released his ass and stepped back to give River another glare. “Let me tell you something, you big son of a bitch. I’m not one to play games with and do you want to know what’s great about being a physical therapist? I have strong hands.” She kept her furious gaze locked with his wide, stunned-looking eyes as she curled her fingers around the front of his jeans with her right hand, getting a firm grip on a handful of man. She made sure she applied enough pressure to let him know he wasn’t getting away from her without causing injury to himself but squeezed just enough to get her point across. “Give me my keys or I swear to God I’ll castrate you just the way I threatened before.”

  The sound of jiggling keys came from behind her somewhere a second before a male chuckle reached her ears. Jerking her head around, Brit looked over her shoulder, refusing to release River to stare at…River, leaning against the wall just inside the kitchen.

  She gawked at the bare-chested River holding up her key ring, a wide grin on his face, as a pair of highly amused, dark, sexy eyes locked with hers.

  “Looking for these, baby? Want to let my brother go now? By the pale expression and the grimace of pain on his face, I don’t think he’s enjoying you gripping him there.”

  Brit snapped her head back around to stare up at…River, who had grown pale, appeared to be in some discomfort, and continued to stare down at her in shock. She released him as she stumbled back a step, confused as hell. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

  A gentle female hand gripped her shoulder as Trina moved next to her to give the shirtless River a shake of her head. “What did you do, River?” Trina turned her head, her sympathetic gaze meeting Brit’s confused one. “Identical twins, hon. The only ways to tell them apart are by talking to them or looking at the left ear. The one you grabbed is Ryder and he’s got an earring. River,” she jerked her head at the one leaning against the door to the kitchen, “hates needles so bad he refused to get one, thankfully, so I can tell them apart.”

  Turning her head Brit stared at Ryder as he rubbed the front of his jeans where she’d gripped him but he glared at his brother instead of her. “You pissed someone off again and didn’t bother to let them know to check if it is really you before they strike out at you?”

  River chuckled as he shrugged his bare, wide shoulders. “Do you know how many times I’ve gotten slapped for you at some rodeo after I run into some woman you met in a bar and never bothered to call? Hell no, I didn’t warn her.” He walked closer to his brother. “Besides, I didn’t know you were home.”

  Brit remained too shocked to move as she watched Ryder release the front of his jeans as his identical twin reached him so they could bear hug. Instantly comparing them she realized that River stood just a tiny bit taller but body-wise they looked absolutely the same. Their faces were impossible to tell apart.

  “Their hair is the same,” Brit softly stated.

  Sighing next to her, Trina nodded. “Weird, huh? They haven’t seen each other in a few months but from what I hear they both like it cut the same and keep it at the same length.”

  They broke apart and River turned to face her. Her gaze darted back and forth between them, still reeling from the shock. She swallowed and then focused her glare on the bare-chested one.

  “Give me my keys. Now that I know who to really go after it will be you who gets his balls torn off if you don’t hand them over.”

  Ryder grinned. “She does have strong hands. It felt like a vise grip.” He turned an amused look on his brother. “Who is she? She’s cute but not our normal type.”

  “Keys,” Brit interrupted quickly, stepping away from Trina to walk up to River to put her hand out, trying to stop him from saying something that would mortify her. “I’m out of here.”

  “What did you do?” Trina glared at River. “Dale Hass called yesterday morning and asked us to put her up for a month and damn it, we are. Don’t be chasing off the only woman on this ranch because I am looking forward to having one to talk to.”

  River grinned. “I didn’t know someone slept in my bed last night and I accidently woke her up. She got rather pissed off at me and said she’d leave first thing this morning even though I left the room immediately. I swear I acted like a total gentleman, Trina. I took her keys so she wouldn’t leave before I could show her that I wasn’t some pervert who intentionally walked into her bedroom.”

  “You lying son of a bitch,” Brit muttered.

  River’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “You want me to be totally honest?”

  “Just shut up and give me my keys.” She glared up at him, her hand still out.

  He hesitated and then handed her the keys. She calmed as her fingers curled around them until he raised both his hands, showing them to her. She stared at them, saw grease smeared on his skin. Her gaze flew up to his.

  “I borrowed your keys to pop your hood. You’ve got some engine trouble. It shouldn’t take me more than a few days to order the parts you need. I didn’t want you getting on the road to go back home until I was sure your car would make it.”

  “What did you do to my car?”

  His grin spread. “I’m fixing it.”

  He’d done something to her engine and he blatantly taunted her with his actions. “You son of a bitch.”

  He chuckled. “Actually, my mother was a whore, so next time you feel the need, go with that insult.”

  That shocked her to silence.

  Ryder sighed, turning his head to frown at his brother. “Did you have to tell her that?”

  River shrugged. “I wanted her to be accurate. It’s not as though it’s a secret around here.” He looked back down at Brit. “Are you hungry? I’m starving. Trina makes the best breakfasts.”

  “Fix what you did to my car.”

  He shook his head and inched around Brit to walk to the table. “I have to order parts.”

  Spinning to glare at the jerk, Brit watched him calmly sit at the battered table near the back door. He kept his back to her. She took a step toward him, her keys fisted in her hand, the urge to beat on the bastard so strong she didn’t even bother to try to fight it. He deserved to get hit.

  A hand snaked out to grip her arm, halting her, and Brit jerked her head around to give Ryder a startled look. He frowned at her and shook his head slowly, releasing her arm as quickly as he’d grabbed it.

  “It’s not worth it. You can’t beat sense into his thick head. Trust me. We’ve all tried to before. I’ll take a look at your car after breakfast and see if I can fix whatever he did.”

  Trina sighed loudly, bringing plates to the table. “Damn it, River. Can’t you behave just once? You shouldn’t be harassing our guest.” She glanced at Ryder. “Where’s Nav? I thought you said he’d be right along.”

  “He is dropping off the new studs to Adam and Trip. He dropped me off on his way there so I could shower. One of the new studs is an ornery son of a bitch that knocked me on my ass into some horse shit.”

  Laughing, River picked up his fork. “Nav should have waited for me to arrive and taken me with him. You and horses never got along.”

  Ryder brought more plates of food to the table. “That’s why I am in a band. He might have waited but nobody knew you were coming home. I heard you got hurt. You okay?”

  “Hell, you know me. The high prize money tempted me enough and while I won, the dismount got a bit rough. I’m good though.�€