The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,85

him for some reason, so he employed it, and he'd noticed that Ryan had picked up on it sometimes, too.

She ended up on his lap, and he kept her there, not allowing her to get up every five seconds to see to needs Adam didn't have.

When she actively fought against his hold as Adam rose to put his plate in the dishwasher and put his beer bottle in the recycling bin, he turned her to him, her nose in inch from his. "Do I need to put you over my lap, Laurie Danielle Rule?"

"No, Sir," she whispered, curling in on herself suddenly.

Jace held her close. "I know how you feel, darlin'. I truly do. But you don't need to wear yourself out doing for him. He's a grown man, he's a crack shot, and it's not going to be his first time at the rodeo. He'll come back to you, safe and sound."

She pressed her wet eyes against his thick neck. "Y-you ca-can't know that, th-though!"

"Of course, I can. He's too ornery to die over there. He's going to live to be a ripe old age and annoy the ever-loving crap out of his family the entire time."

When Adam took a seat near where Jace was holding her, putting his hand on her back, she sat up and dried her own eyes.

"It's okay to be sad that I'm going, lovely. I'm sad, too. But Jace is right. It's felt wonderful to have you fluttering around me all this time, but I can see I should have put a stop to it before this. It's got you all wrapped around the axle about something you can't control. I'm going to do everything I can to come back to you as soon as possible, I promise."

She slid from Jace's lap onto his, then, when Ryan came over, she curled up on his.

"I don't mean to neglect you two—" she started.

"You're not. Don't worry about that, either," he reassured her.

"We're fine, Laurie. No need to worry about us—or him, really."

They continued to reassure her as much as they possibly could, but they knew that only about ten percent of it was seeping in.

"Let's throw a going away party for Ant." It was Ryan's idea, so he was responsible for its organization.

It ended up being a pool party, with everyone inviting their friends. Lita and Hop were there, of course, as well as lots of people from the police and fire departments—some of them women, Laurie was somewhat disturbed to see.

It was a very casual potluck, so there wasn't much for her to do, and she and Lita were huddled in one corner of the deck.

And Laurie did not like what she saw.

It seemed like every woman at the party—besides Lita—was after her men! Some women were even buzzing around Adam, and he was her real husband! She did not like this at all!

Kaytlinn Vogle was the most blatant hanger on. She'd arrived in a barely-there bikini, and she had her hands all over Ryan. Missy St. Peter, bless her, was a little subtler—but not much—as she stood as if she was glued to the grill, making calf's eyes at Jace every time she thought he wasn't looking.

Laurie was likely to deck someone soon.

"Here. Drink this."

Laurie looked at the shot glass. "What is it?"

"Who cares. It's booze. You need something to do besides get all riled up about women who are hanging around men who are supposed to be single. That's how it's done. You can't get mad at them or at your fauxbands."

"Fauxbands?" she downed the shot and wrinkled her nose at her friend's tortured word.

Lita produced a bottle and poured herself a shot. "Well, I'm working on it. There should be a word for it—brother husbands! Like sister wives—"

"I know where you got it from," Laurie glared at her, still unimpressed. "Pour me another one."

Lita was a little too generous with the booze, and Laurie ended up soused at her own husband's going away party. Ryan was the first to notice that she was making a bee line for Kaytlinn, who was even drunker than she was.

Luckily, he caught her before she managed to get to the other girl. "Uh, Adam, I think you need to see to your wife, please."

Adam came running immediately, as Jace stood by the grill—under the eagle eye of his relatively harmless stalker—and watched him lift her into his arms and carry her down the hallway to her room.

He gave her a large glass of water to