Give Me Fever. Niobia Bryant

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СКАЧАТЬ please. What I’m saying? You couldn’t pull that. Hell, you couldn’t handle all that.”

      Their burly father popped him in the back of his prematurely gray head. “Turn around,” Kael warned.

      As morning worship service began, Kaeden leaned back against the pew to chance a look at Jade. Her eyes were focused forward, but he was able to look at her full on. As much as he hated to admit it, his brother was right. There was no way he could pull a woman like Jade Prince. No way in the world.

      “Uncle Kaeden, pay attention,” Kadina admonished him as she lightly patted his hand in a mothering fashion.

      Humoring his beloved niece, Kaeden Strong did as he was told.

      Jade felt eyes on her.

      She turned her head in time to catch one of the Strong brothers turning his head forward. It was the nerdy one. The accountant. The same one who was standing in the vestibule when she arrived to church. She let her eyes rove over his profile.

      The other Strong men were a sexy set, with their fine and defined features that were made all the more appealing by their prematurely graying hair. That salt-and-pepper mix perfectly matched their bronzed caramel complexions. Even the nerd was cute with his glasses. He just didn’t have the same swagger as his siblings. Everyone in Holtsville joked that the Strongs had twins separated several years by birth. They said Kaeden looked just like Kahron, but Jade begged to differ.

      Kahron was strong in build and Kaeden was very slender.

      Kahron was well aware that he was sexy as shit, and Kaeden gave off the impression that he just wanted to be invisible. Well, to her anyway. Even those glasses, though stylish, were not the right size for his slender face.

      Jade bit her bottom lip and tilted her head to the side. Maybe with contacts…

      “You sure are looking good, Sister Jade.”

      Jade made a face at the smell of bad breath barely covered by Listerine. She said a silent thanks that her head was turned or she was sure that her nose hairs would’ve been singed. “Thank you, Mr. Lionel,” she managed to say while holding her breath.

      “Man, that’s one fine woman,” Kaleb said in pure appreciation of the thicker female form.

      All decked out in their suits, Kaeden, Kahron, and Kade all turned to look in the direction their brother was definitely intently staring. Jade Prince was walking down the brick church steps.

      Kaeden couldn’t agree with Kaleb more.

      “Do y’all see the hips on that woman?” Kaleb asked as he watched her cross the yard to her Jeep. “Lawd, I could just spread those big legs and—”

      “Respect the church ground, man,” Kaeden snapped in irritation, truly more annoyed at his brother speaking that way about Jade than anything else.

      Kaleb looked confused. “What?”

      Kahron and Kade just shook their heads, laughing at their youngest brother, who was by far the wildest.

      “Oh, so y’all wouldn’t tap that?” he asked in disbelief.

      In a New York minute, Kaeden thought, finding himself unable to participate in their usual banter on women when Jade was the focus.

      Both Kade and Kahron threw their hands up. “We’re married,” they said in unison.

      The sound of clapping behind them made all the men swerve around. Bianca was standing there in a pale yellow pantsuit with a smile on her full lips. “Good answer, gentlemen,” she said with a pointed look at her husband and her brother-in-law.

      Kahron pulled her tall frame to his side and kissed her cheek. “You’re all the woman for me,” he told her, his voice low in his throat.

      “Oh, I know that,” Bianca said with confidence. “But even I can admit that woman is fine.”

      The men all laughed.

      Kaeden lagged behind as they all turned to head to their vehicles. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Through his spectacles he watched Jade’s Wrangler go driving by.

      The Strong family Sunday dinners were tradition. Lisha Strong used to prepare the meal alone—with minimal chopping by her daughter Kaitlyn and her granddaughter Kadina. But now that two of her sons had married, she had two daughters-in-law to help lovingly prepare their families’ meal. They laughed. They joked. They shared stories. And they cooked one helluva meal every single Sunday.

      Kaeden stood in the entryway to the kitchen, watching them cook and joke around. He smiled as he remembered the Sundays helping his mom while his brothers would ride horses and explore the hundreds of acres of land encompassing the Strong ranch. He probably could cook a macaroni to put any woman to shame—even if he had no clue how to rope a steer.

      “Kaeden? Why are you just standing there?” Lisha called out to him.

      Suddenly four pairs of eyes were on him. Kaeden shrugged as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants and strolled into the kitchen.

      Garcelle, Bianca, his sister Kaitlyn, and his niece Kadina all smiled at him.

      “Where are the rest of the Strong men?” Bianca asked as she used the side of her wrist to push her riot of curls off her forehead.

      “On the porch talking horses and cattle,” he drawled, hating that he wished he knew more about the family business than the financial aspects. Although his brothers were a far cry from the typical cowboy with the tight jeans, plaid shirt, and Stetson, Kaeden had always secretly dreamed of working alongside his brothers on the ranches.

      “Kadina, go and tell the men dinner is ready,” Lisha said, wiping her hands on a hand towel. “Ladies, please start to carry the food into the dining room.”

      “I’ll help,” Kaeden offered, unbuttoning and rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt.

      “No, I need you to help me, Kaeden,” Lisha told him.

      Kaeden nodded as he placed his hands on his hips. “What’s up, Ma?” he asked.

      “What’s wrong with you, son?” Lisha asked with concern as she watched him closely.

      Kaeden shifted his eyes from hers. One thing that made Lisha Strong a good mother was her ability to miss nothing—good or bad. He shrugged.

      “One thing that makes us a family to reckon with is the fact that we are all in this together—”

      “No matter what role we play,” Kaeden finished for her with a smile.

      “You got it.” Lisha picked up a huge dish of her homemade peach cobbler. “Now let’s go eat. Your father has a big announcement.”

      Kaeden took the cobbler from his mom’s hands. “This should be interesting,” he said as he followed her into the dining room.

      Kaeden sat the cobbler on an available spot in the center of the six-foot wooden table before sitting between Kaitlyn and Kaleb.

      “Good СКАЧАТЬ