He looked into my eyes and a shadow passed through his.

“Look at me,” he said gently.

“I am,” I whispered.

“No, sweetness, look at me. What do you see?”

I felt my throat clog.

“Don’t go there. Stay here with me,” he urged softly. I swallowed and he pulled me closer, dipping his face lower. “I took that away, baby. You gave it to me. Don’t go there. Don’t take that weight back. Look at me, see me. Feel this,” he demanded gently, his arm tightening further, pulling me even closer, his hand pressing mine into the warm, hard wall of his chest. “Where are you?”

“I’m with you,” I said quietly.

“Yeah, Tess, you’re with me.”

I held his eyes for a moment then closed mine and did a face-plant in his chest.

The fingers of his hand at mine curled around tight.

“This is free,” I heard growled. I opened my eyes and turned them in the direction the words came from and saw Vance’s infuriated gaze locked on Brock. “No marker. This I do for your woman.”

I felt my belly tighten with shock as my fingers wrapped hard around Brock’s at his shirt.

“I work that angle too,” Hector announced and my eyes shot to him to see he, too, had his furious, dark eyes locked on Brock.

“Uh…” I mumbled but they were on the move.

“You see to your woman and your boys,” Vance declared. “We’ll get to work.”

Um.

Wow.

I didn’t know them, like at all, outside of the fact they were hot. But I liked them.

“Appreciated,” Brock muttered.

They tore their eyes from Brock and looked at me.

“Tess, next time, hope it’s better circumstances,” Vance said to me.

I did too.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Hector, who didn’t know me either, wasn’t done being pissed on my behalf and therefore he scowled at me. Then he jerked up his chin at Brock and they moved to the steps. Brock let me go to start moving with them.

“Uh…” I called. They stopped and looked back at me. “I, um… own Tessa’s Cakes in Cherry Creek.”

They just looked at me.

“Uh, well, you boys look like you aren’t cupcake eaters”—more like rib eyes grilled blue—“but, you know, if you’re ever in the mood, come in, anything you want on the house for, like, eternity.”

It was lame but then again, my cakes were really good. Maybe they wouldn’t think it was lame.

They didn’t. Vance’s handsome face split into a shit-eating grin. Hector’s dark eyes melted, his lips twitched then he gave me a glamorous white smile.

Brock chuckled.

“And, uh…” I started to add, “whichever one of you is on that bike, that bike is hot but be careful. Snow’s coming.”

“Will do, Tess,” Vance murmured.

I got more chin lifts and they headed back out.