Mrs. Robin's Sons by Kori Roberts (free children's online books .TXT) 📗

not to, Rylee couldn’t help but admire Noah’s muscled form as he bent down in front of one of the cages. It still amazed her how much he and Nick resembled each other, and she wondered if their similarities ended with their physical appearances.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled. “Oh, man, we’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. My parents started this business shortly after Nick was born. When Dad died a few years ago, and Mom retired, Nick and I just continued the business.”

Noah stood up and walked toward her, and she saw a moment of sadness flicker in his gaze. Then he smiled again, and the sadness vanished as quickly as it came.

“Luckily, Nick and I really enjoy what we do, and we work well together. Leslie and José work with us, too, so it’s all good.”

As Noah talked, Rylee’s gaze was focused on his lips. Full, firm, and sensuous, they reminded her so much of Nick’s, and she suddenly wondered if they felt like Nick’s as well.

It took her a moment to realize that Noah had stopped talking and stood looking at her with a knowing expression on his face.

Rylee felt her face heat, and she was sure that she’d turned about ten shades of red when she realized that he’d caught her staring at him.

She quickly looked away, turning her back to him, and focused on a beautiful

Doberman in one of the cages that was whimpering at her for attention.

“It’s cool, Rylee.” Noah spoke softly, his words destroying any hopes she’d had that he hadn’t noticed her practically drooling over him. Rylee squeezed her eyes shut, far too embarrassed to turn around and face him. “Nick and I know how much we look alike. Trust me” — he chuckled — “we’re used to being stared at by each other’s girlfriends.”

Yeah, that was it. Wasn’t it? Rylee desperately wanted to believe that was all it was, because the alternative was something that she just wasn’t prepared to deal with at the moment.

“There is one thing that I’m dying to know, Rylee.” She jumped at the sound of Noah’s voice directly behind her and spun around to face him. He stood so close to her, they practically touched.

“What?” Her voice was tissue-thin, barely strong enough to be considered a whisper as she stared back at him.

When Noah reached out toward her, she stood immobile, her emotions an unstable mixture of apprehension and anticipation as she waited for what would happen next. His fingers wrapped around a lock of her hair at the same time a huge grin spread across his face.

“I need to know the story behind this red hair.”

Rylee’s body relaxed, her heart started to beat, and she felt herself breathe again.

“Oh, that’s easy.” She returned his smile with one of her own. She was used to people asking her that question, knew how uncommon it was for someone who looked like her to naturally have hair that color. “My mother is Irish. I inherited my red hair from her. My name, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” Noah smiled. “So does that make you, Rylee Jr.?”

Rylee laughed. “Not quite. Riley was her maiden name. My father thought it would make a cool first name for me — with a slight alteration of the spelling.”

“So, do you look more like your mom or your dad?” Noah continued to play with her hair. “It depends on who you ask. Some folks say I’m a taller, darker version of my mother, and others say I look just like my father, except with red hair.” She shrugged. “I like to think I’m a pretty good blend of them both.”

“Oh, I’d say you’re a hell of a lot better than just pretty good.” Noah’s fingers released the ends of her hair and slid deep into the thick, wavy tresses, to gently massage her scalp.

The act was incredibly soothing and amazingly seductive at the same time.

“Did you know that Nick loves women with red hair?” he murmured softly, and his hazel eyes studied her intently. She shook her head mutely, far too mesmerized by the look in his eyes, the feel of his hands, and the sound of his voice to do anything more than just return his stare.

“It doesn’t matter how many women are in the room, Nick will always focus on the redheads first.” Rylee didn’t know what to think, didn’t know how to respond, and didn’t bother to try. Instead, she just stood there, took it all in, and enjoyed it.

“Now, I see why he loves it so much.” She struggled to keep her eyes open as Noah’s fingers continued to knead her scalp. “Especially on you.”

Rylee knew they were treading way too close to the out-of-bounds zone, could see them getting deeper and deeper into dangerous territory, and yet she couldn’t seem to stop it.

Thankfully, Noah had enough sense to see where they were headed, and he put the brakes on before they went too far past the point of no return. He removed his fingers from her hair and dropped his hands to his sides before he walked past her to check on another dog.

As soon as Noah stopped touching her, whatever it was that had been blocking her ability to think clearly suddenly dissipated.

What in the fuck are you doing? Rylee’s mind screamed, even as her body still craved his touch. She felt like some horny ass teenager who couldn’t control her hormones. Rylee shook her head, convinced she had a serious problem. She’d finally managed to meet a

gorgeous, sexy, and attentive man, who’d given her more physical pleasure and emotional happiness in the past few weeks than men she’d known for years. Yet, that still wasn’t enough to keep her from lusting after his brother.

“He really likes you a lot,” Noah said, and Rylee flinched. His words served as a necessary reminder that he was supposed to be strictly off-limits. She heard him chuckle softly behind her.

“Look at