Two to Spark

Josie hotfooted it to the bathroom. Forty minutes later, she drove away from the house with the cat snuggled up on her lap. “Figures you like me,” she muttered, and she’d swear the cat smiled up at her.

After consulting her directions once more, she turned into an established part of town. It was an older stretch where the houses had been built in the sixties and seventies. People here maintained their lawns and kept their houses neat. Heck, hers would fit right in.

She pulled into the driveway of a medium-size house that looked relatively kept up. It could use a paint job and some repairs around the outer porch, but it had a quaint charm to it. She kept the cat in her arms, not wanting it to escape before she could give it back to Hannah, and approached the front door.

Before she could knock, Hannah opened it. She took the cat and pulled Josie inside before she could escape.

“Come in, come in. I’d like you to meet a few friends. Well, not friends exactly. More like family.”

Josie came to a standstill the minute she saw them, clutching her car keys in her hand.

All four Talbot brothers, in the flesh. Ben with his deep blue eyes and charming grin. Jaden with dark gray eyes and an intensity lacking in his siblings. Harrison with that smugness she wanted to slap off his face. And there—Cooper. Muscular, sexy, and a little bit mean.

]She didn’t think she blinked while the others stared back at her. Mephisto struggled out of Hannah’s arms and darted deeper into the house.

“Shoot. I’ll get him.” The blasted woman left Josie facing the Quad, two of whom had it in for her.

But I’m not sixteen anymore. I can handle this. Can’t I?

Ben whistled. “Holy crap. Is that Josie Young I’m looking at? Honey, you turned out to be one pretty little lady.”

So condescending, though he probably didn’t mean to be. “My heart’s all aflutter,” she deadpanned.

Harrison grinned, and she glared back at him.

“Quit laying speed traps, copper.”

“Oh, Harry. You still doing that to get girls?” Jaden asked. He winked at her. Of the four brothers, he’d been the easiest to get along with. He’d never teased her or flirted. He’d been kind, and so darned cute she wanted to sigh whenever she saw him. “How’ve you been, Josie?”

“Fine. Thanks.” She cleared her throat, drew on her courage, and looked directly at Cooper. She’d seen him around town over the years and had always managed to steer clear of him. Seeing him now made all that time since high school fade, and she wanted him with that same girlish intensity she’d had back then. Now, coupled with a mature woman’s needs, she felt a wave of lust crash over her.

He didn’t speak, but the clenching of his jaw was telling.

Since he’d been such a tool about the whole mess back then, she decided to get everything out in the open before taking off and never facing him again. “So, Cooper, mooned any girls lately?”