soldier probably wouldn’t keep staring at the pretty ranch employee.
“It’s okay,” Ashlyn said hurriedly. “We’re used to surviving in remote locations. We wouldn’t feel right staying here. It’s not our assignment.”
“Assignment!” Fiona glanced around the table. “You’re family! Burke’s never going to rest knowing you’re all out there sleeping on the hard ground. He’s going to think he needs to join you.”
With an under-her-breath murmur, Fiona cracked more eggs into a bowl. Sloan tried not to shovel food into his mouth. He was hungrier than he wanted to let on, and this was the best food he’d had in a long time.
Kendall brought a basket of muffins to the table, sliding in next to him.
“Chocolate chip or blueberry? Fresh-baked, so take your pick. Then pass the basket.”
He did exactly as she told him, although with Kendall sitting next to him, his attention was on her instead of the muffins.
Okay, so she was hot. He’d seen hot before. The worst thing he could do was mess up a mission by thinking the woman next to him was hotter than the muffin he’d just deposited on his plate. He passed the basket, gulped some orange juice. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Fiona. She was suffering last night, worrying about your family out there in the cold.” Kendall didn’t look at him. “We baked muffins this morning to take her mind off things. It was the only way I could calm her down. Anyway, we had no idea you were coming here until the chief showed up, so please feel free to share any details you’d like to.”
Fiona stopped stirring to listen. Jonas glanced over with curiosity. Sam, Rafe, Creed, Pete and Judah had draped themselves over different spots in the kitchen, surreptitiously eyeing their new cousins. Sloan felt the men looking at them, trying not to stare, but the tension was thick as canyon dust.
“Sure,” Ashlyn said. “I’m the youngest. I’d like to say it was hard being the youngest, and the only girl in a family of men, but I’m harder on them than they are on me.” She smiled. “I’ll do the other introductions, because my big brothers are modest and you won’t get much out of them.”
Polite laughter from the other Callahans met his
sister’s words. Sloan was just glad for the chance to eat, if Ashlyn was going to do the chatting. Kendall picked at a biscuit and sipped some water, and Sloan thought she seemed anxious about something. Then again, maybe she was one of those women who didn’t eat much and ran on nervous energy. He gazed at her, trying to define her aura. She glanced at him, and he realized she’d thought he was staring at her. Which he was, but not because he was attracted to her or anything. Definitely not.
Although she was quite beautiful, in a polished, cosmopolitan sort of way. Silver water to his family’s rough stone darkness.
“That’s Galen over there,” Ashlyn said. “He’s the oldest, thirty-five. He’s a hard-ass and a daredevil at times, but he’s a great guy to have at your back.”
“Easy, sis,” Galen said. “They don’t want a bio on us.”
“It’s not name, rank and serial number,” Ashlyn retorted. “This is long-lost family.”
Silence met Ashlyn’s comment. Sloan cleared his throat.
“Jonas is eldest at Rancho Diablo,” Kendall said. “He’s my direct boss, and something of a nerd. He has a darling wife named Sabrina, whom he worked very hard to win.”
Sloan examined the eldest Callahan, a little surprised when Jonas laughed easily at Kendall’s words. The tension in the room evaporated just a bit.
“I don’t know if I’ve won Sabrina yet,” Jonas said, “but I’m trying.”
Sloan thought that was an amazing sentiment. He hadn’t had a serious relationship in so many years that he felt a little pang at the difference in their circumstances. What must it be like to live in this mansion, on this enormous ranch, with a wife and kids you adored?
“Falcon’s thirty-three,” Ashlyn continued. The brother in question inclined his head to Kendall, then looked around at his new cousins. “Falcon’s a bit wacky. He’s smart as hell. Can wear you out with minutia. Loves puzzles. Will go off for days when he’s thinking about something.” She grinned at him. “Isn’t that right, Falcon?”
Falcon grunted at his sister, who was delighted with her teasing. Sloan squirmed a bit, knowing he was up next on the roll call. No one could ever be certain what Ashlyn was going to say.
“Sloan’s my hero,” Ashlyn told Kendall. “He’s third in the family tree, thirty-one years of loner tough guy. Can go for months without talking, can’t you, Sloan?” she asked, winking at him.
“Not months,” Sloan said.
“Okay, he’ll allot himself a word a day.” Ashlyn shot him a gleeful look. “He’s picked up a few decorations, is a really good shot with just about any gun on the planet—”
“That’s enough,” Sloan said. “They don’t want to hear everything about me.”
Beside him, he could feel Kendall’s eyes on him. “I don’t know,” she said. “It can’t hurt to know more about the family I’m in charge of. Every detail helps.”
He looked at her. “In charge of?”
Kendall nodded. “Jonas has assigned me to seeing to your family’s comfort. ‘Liaison’ really means ‘take care of.’”
“Here’s the thing,” Sloan said, addressing his remarks to Jonas, but looking at Kendall, since he just couldn’t seem to help himself. “We don’t need anyone assigned to us for our comfort. No offense, Kendall.”
“None taken,” Kendall said. “I’m just following orders.”
He recognized his own words coming back to him. “We can survive no matter the terrain, and you wouldn’t see us for six months.”
“That’s kind of creepy, though a great talent,” Kendall said. “Jonas, this is your call.”
Sloan wasn’t certain how he felt about the tiny doll calling him creepy. He glanced around at his brothers and sister, puzzled.
“It is creepy,” Falcon said. “I mean, when you think about it, on the surface.”
Ashlyn laughed. “Actually, it’s not creepy to Sloan. He likes roughing it. When we were kids—”
Sloan put down his napkin and pushed back his chair. “Fiona, thank you kindly for breakfast. It was delicious.”
His brothers nodded in agreement.
“Jonas, can I talk to you? Privately?” Sloan asked.
“Sure,” Jonas said.
Kendall watched the two big men go off together. “Well,” she said, “Mr. Stoic certainly wants to talk now.”
Ashlyn craned her head to stare after Sloan, who’d cornered Jonas
