How could she not love him when he was so caring about her and treated her son like he was his own? The rest of his family treated her and Trevor as if they were a part of their family as well. She choked up the first time Jasmine called her aunt Emily but was starting to get used to it. She found she really liked how it sounded.

She was sitting out on the back deck, when a huge guy with short dark hair and aviator glasses stepped out the door. The man was built like a Sherman tank. She wouldn’t want to be on his bad side, she decided quickly.

“Chad, you made it,” Mark exclaimed, as he came around the corner.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” Chad replied and then the two men headed into the house. Emily had heard about Mark’s longtime friend. She decided they must put something special in the food around this area because all the men seemed to be far too sexy for any normal person’s good.

“Okay Chad I want the guys to think you’re a new hire. Luckily you’ve been out of the country long enough only my foreman knows who you are and I already filled him in on what’s going on, so he won’t say a word. You’re going to get far more information if the guys think you are one of them. I’m sorry you’re going to have to sleep in the bunk house,” he added with an evil grin.

“Yeah, you look sorry about that,” Chad said. “Good thing I’ve slept in much worse places.”

“Yeah, I kind of wish it was a little rougher out there,” Mark continued.

“You’re a peach. Well I better get changed. I want to check things out right away. The sooner we make sure your Emily’s safe, the sooner everyone can relax.”

“I appreciate you dropping everything to do this. She’s the one, Chad. I’ve never felt this way about another woman,” Mark said to his friend.

“I knew the second we spoke on the phone she was the one,” Chad told him, before heading off to change into some less conspicuous clothing. He was going to have a hard enough time blending in with his size and demeanor but add the clothes he was currently wearing and the man looked like the military man he was.

Chad changed quickly and headed down to the bunkhouses where the ranch foreman was. He was alert to everything around him. He noticed the men working on the fence off to his right and the guy to his left feeding the horses. He wasn’t an easy man to sneak around. He would catch this stalker in a matter of days if not hours.

He wasn’t a cocky man, he was just incredibly confident. He’d been in the military for almost twenty years and those years had taught him well. There were few people in his life he would drop everything for. Mark happened to be one of those select men.

If it hadn’t been for Mark and his family, his life would have turned out significantly different. They had believed in him and helped him get out of the horrible circumstances he’d been in, to make a success out of his life.

Chad shook off the distracting thoughts and stepped through the bunk house’s doors. He spotted the foreman right away, along with a couple of other ranch hands sitting down at a table.

He walked up to the men with his usual confidence and introduced himself.

“Hi I’m Chad, Mark hired me and said to come on down here to get set up,” Chad said, while sticking out his hand.

The men eyed him warily, as if sizing up a new cow. The foreman finally stood and Chad was impressed with the man’s acting skills. A normal observer would never know they knew each other.

“Good to meet you Chad, I’m Bob, the foreman here,” he said and clasped his hand.

“Good to meet you as well.”

“Why don’t you get settled in today and get the lay of the land. You can begin work tomorrow,” Bob said, giving Chad the time he needed in order to scope out the area and do some snooping through the hands things.

Once the other men headed back out to do their work, Chad and Bob sat down and discussed things. Bob promised to keep the men away from the bunkhouse between three and five. Chad headed out to survey the grounds.

He didn’t see anything suspicious right off but he didn’t have much time and would have to do a more thorough search the next day. He really wanted to go through the hands rooms. He was far more likely to find suspicious items there.

At three on the dot he slipped back into the bunkhouse, without anyone seeing him and began searching through the men’s belongings.

“It’s time to get out of here for a while. The guys can take care of the kids. I’m in desperate need of a pedicure,” Jessica said to Emily and Amy.

“Ooh great thinking Jess, I’ll let Lucas know and be ready to leave in twenty minutes. I just want to change,” Amy said and then dashed off towards her room.

“That does sound nice. I hate to leave Trevor with everything going on though,” Emily added.

“He’ll be fine. No one can get through our men,” Jessica reassured her.

Emily really loved to think of Mark as her man. She wasn’t really sure where they stood but so far things seemed to be just about as perfect as they could get. Well, as perfect as things could be while she was being stalked by some unknown psycho.

“You’re right, of course. I’ll go change and be down quickly,” Emily conceded and ran up to change.

“Be careful and don’t stay gone to long,” Mark said to Emily. He knew he would be worried about her while she was out. He also knew she needed some time away from the house. Her nerves were fried.

“Try not to max out the charge cards,” Lucas teased them.

“I’m sorry but we cannot make any promises,” Amy told her husband with a wink. Lucas smiled as they headed out the doors. Amy was so much more confident from the woman he’d met years ago. She was still far too frugal but she finally felt like an equal in the marriage. He’d drummed into her head money was nothing without love and she finally felt she could go out with the girls, without having to justify every little purchase. He was relieved about it.

“I love that woman,” Lucas said as the three women disappeared down the driveway.

“Ditto, Brother,” Alex said.

“I’m right there with you,” Mark added. Both brothers turned to smile at Mark. They were happy he seemed to have found the one. The fact she came with an instant family was an added bonus.

“I can’t believe how hard we all fought to hold on to our bachelorhood. What the hell were we thinking?” Alex asked.

“Seriously,” Lucas agreed.

“I thought falling in love with just one woman would be the end of me but watching you guys with your wives and how happy they’ve made you over the years has really put a longing in me for something more. I’ve felt like there was something missing. I still was determined not to get married but since Emily has stepped into my life I can’t seem to think of anything else,” Mark said.

“At least we found our own women without Dad’s meddling,” Lucas said.

The three men laughed at what they perceived as their independence. Joseph happened to be around the corner and heard his three sons talking. He laughed to himself. Someday he would tell them the truth, or maybe not.

“Oh my gosh, this feels so good,” Emily exclaimed, as the woman rubbed some lightly scented lotion into her feet.

“Seriously I think I have died and gone to heaven,” Amy purred, as her feet were sitting in the hot, bubbly, scented water.

“I’m never leaving,” Jessica added, as her toe nails were being painted a deep shade of red.

The three girls were being pampered in luxuriously comfortable chairs and talking about anything and everything.

“I love being a mother but it’s so nice to get away and have some time with my two best friends,” Amy said.

“Agreed,” both Jessica and Emily said.

After they finished with their pedicures and manicures, they walked through the huge Seattle Mall. “I’m in need of some sexy lingerie,” Amy said.

“Great thinking, let’s go to Victoria Secret,” Jessica said.

The two women coerced Emily into buying a couple of outfits that made her blush, even as they sat on the display rack. All three women walked out of the store with new lingerie, lotions and perfume.

“I can’t wait to try this on for Lucas tonight. He’s going to go crazy,” Amy said with confidence.

“Don’t expect Alex and I down until late afternoon tomorrow,” Jessica said with a wink.

Emily was terrified of putting the stuff on. What if Mark didn’t like it? What if he thought she was trying too hard? The girls demanded she wear the bright red one, to match her toe nails and give them a full report on Mark’s reaction the next day.

She couldn’t chicken out, so she would have to get brave. There was no way he was going to turn her down, she knew that much. She just needed to quit being such a wimp.

The three women went through the mall and ended up buying far too many items. Most of the things were for their kids and men but they threw in some new clothes and shoes for themselves as well. Emily felt a little guilty about spending so much money but she hadn’t done any major shopping since she’d gotten Trevor set up for school, so she allowed herself to enjoy the day.

By the time they pulled up in front of the house it was dark and all three guys were pacing on the front porch, waiting for them.

“What took so long?” Mark questioned, concern showing on his face.

“Oh Mark, quit being so overprotective. You know it takes us girls a long time to find those perfect outfits,” Jessica chastised him.

“You three can carry in our bags,” Amy added.

“Except for these,” Jessica said with a wink at her own husband.

The three men spotted the girls carrying the Victoria Secret bags and their irritation instantly evaporated. They knew what that store carried.

“Well it’s really late and the kids are in bed,” Lucas suddenly said with a fake yawn.

“Yeah I’m ready to turn in,” Mark added eagerly.

“Let’s go,” Alex said.

“You three can sit in the parlor with your father and have a drink. We’ve been shopping all day and need to have a bite to eat and then clean up,” Amy said.

“Fine,” Mark grumbled and followed his brothers into the house with his arms loaded down with bags. He was really happy to discover several of them belonged to Emily. She needed to go out and spoil herself more often.

An hour later Mark was done waiting and jogged up the stairs to his shared room with Emily. He stepped inside, locking the door. The bathroom door was shut so he shed his clothes and climbed into the bed to wait for Emily. He’d missed her and wanted her back in his arms.

When the door finally opened and she stepped out, Mark couldn’t even breathe for a few moments. She literally took his breath away. When he finally managed to catch his breath, her scent just about sent him into cardiac arrest.

She shyly walked over to him, wearing two tiny scraps of red lace that didn’t hide anything from his view. The garters at the top of her thighs were begging him to roll them slowly down her legs and the heels on her delicate feet showed the sexy red polish on her toes to perfection. She was a walking dream and he had to control himself not to take her in one quick plunge.