King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) by Marie Johnston (great novels .TXT) 📗

“Brady, don’t you have hikers to alienate?” He’d come here under the guise of being a camper, using next month’s rent money to fund his trip. Xander and Hector had placed bets on how long he’d last. Rina had set the earliest date, calling him “city boy” instead of his name.

Brady hated it, and hated that he couldn’t charm the pants off Rina, but he’d wormed his way into Hector’s good graces and now he worked as a guide with me and Xander. I helped Eris the more pregnant she got. She taught me things in the kitchen that I would’ve learned had I not grown up an Abbot.

This was the best summer of my life.

Brady straddled one of the cheap plastic chairs Hector kept on the patio. “I saw them all safe to their cabins. Another tour done and another invite to come visit later tonight.”

I wrinkled my nose. All of us got hit on more than I’d thought possible. For safety reasons, Xander and I kept our wedding rings in the bedroom and we swapped stories of bad pickup lines at least twice a week. The price of having young, virile folks coming through.

“Did she take the rejection well?” Surprisingly, I hadn’t witnessed him messing around.

“Always leave them thinking they have a chance.”

The door banged open and Rina exited. “They don’t know you then?” she asked innocently.

I grinned at their banter and exchanged a look with Xander. We had our own bet and it was that my two best friends had a thing for each other and they were fighting it hard. I didn’t know why, but if that made it all the more successful in the end, then I would support their bickering. As for me, I had my guy and the muffled sex was worth it.

Xander hooked an arm around my shoulders. With his body heat plastered against me, I wouldn’t need the fire that Hector planned to start. It was our Friday tradition, and with Eris due soon, it wouldn’t last much longer.

I stiffened and Xander gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze. Neither of us had brought up what we would do once winter came. Hector would help with the baby, but he still needed to work. Rina would be here, of course. They had cross-country trails mapped out, along with winter hiking routes and ice-fishing plans. Anything that could be done in the winter to attract outdoor enthusiasts. If they were successful, and I was sure they would be, they’d need that much more help.

Xander and I could stay and work, but as much as I enjoyed it, I was growing antsy. If we stayed, we’d have to get a place of our own and neither of us wanted to put stakes down that deep. I had a calling. I didn’t know which direction it would push me, but I wasn’t going to figure it out here.

To distract myself from all the questions, I told Brady about Pearl.

“She always had a fancy set of brass ones. So, what about you?” Brady took a drink of lemonade. He’d never been a boozer, but this was the cleanest I’d ever seen him live. I guess the same went for me. My clothing fit differently. I had muscles in new places that Xander liked to explore. As for Xander, he lived the same way he always did and somehow got sexier every day.

“What about us?”

“When are you heading back?”

Xander’s fingers squeezed my shoulder. He liked the question about as much as I did. “We don’t know yet. We’d like to meet little Morales before we leave.”

“Won’t be long,” Rina agreed. “I hate to see you go.” She tilted her head toward Brady. “Him, not so much.”

I laughed at Brady’s scowl and hoped it’d be enough of an interruption to keep from having to answer. I wasn’t sure how Xander felt. He’d mentioned the baby as a sort of deadline, but neither of us had followed up on it.

The issue that went unspoken was that there were months to go before we got any trust money. Working for Hector paid room and board and we didn’t ask for more than that, it wouldn’t be right. Hector had insisted, but they didn’t know about the trust. I wouldn’t feel right taking five dollars when I was supposed to be a millionaire right after Valentine’s Day. So we’d put our earnings away for his family, and we’d give it to him before we left.

Rina rolled her eyes. “He’s asking because he wants the room before it gets too cold.”

Brady’s grin stretched. “Rina just wants me closer to her.” He dodged a pebble she tossed at him and laughed. “But Savvy here hasn’t met the in-laws.”

“I met his dad.” I glanced at Xander. Did he agree that it was time for me to meet his brothers and their wives? The thought of meeting them made our situation real. We hadn’t survived life in DC. In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, it was easy to pretend this was some fairy tale we’d fallen into, one that only required sweat equity for a happy ending.

In the real world, I needed to get along with his family. I wanted to. My family liked Xander. They liked how he pushed me out of my safe zone. My goal for the year hadn’t changed, but instead of working for Chief and saving money to build a foundation for whatever happened, I was working on myself—and this relationship.

Xander met my gaze, then scanned our surroundings like he was viewing the rest of the world. “We don’t have to go to Montana. We could go anywhere.”

Anywhere? The thrilling thought did nothing to clear up my confusion. We’d been together for months. He hadn’t seen his family for longer than I had, and while he was used to long periods between visits, it wasn’t every year he was married.

Xander and Brady started naming places. Romania. Rina told them about the salt mines turned tourist attraction and maybe