Renegade: A Taggart Brothers Novel by Lisa Bingham Page A

the nickname I gave her. Friends gotta have a nickname. It’s what makes ’em friends.”
    Jace opened his mouth to insist that Barry might want to choose a different nickname—one not associated with their late sister. But Barry was sorting his toys and it was clear that, to him, the subject was dropped.
    Jace threw the truck into gear and eased onto the service road that would take him through Taggart Hollow to Annie’s fields, then over the rise to her house. As he drove, Jace triedto convince himself that he was only helping out Annie. She was a good friend, after all.
    But it was no good. He might be more than willing to drop by Annie’s to help make some repairs, but he rarely took off from work several hours early so he could shower. Shave. Throw on cologne. Brush his hat.
    Damn.
    “What’s-a-matter, Jace?”
    Jace shook himself free from his thoughts. “What do you mean, Barry?”
    “You look . . . funny.”
    “Funny how?”
    Barry’s brow creased in concentration. “Like you need to go to the bathroom or somethin’. Do you need to go to the bathroom, Jace?”
    “No,” Jace said firmly, knowing he needed to shut down this line of talk before they arrived at Annie’s and Barry felt the need to audibly worry over it like a dog with a bone.
    “Good. ’Cause you already took too much time in the bathroom getting ready.”
    In a single instant, Barry managed to bring Jace crashing back to earth. Heaven only knew that Barry was right. Jace was jittery and jumpy with anticipation—and there wasn’t a reason in the world to be that way. The woman who had occupied his thoughts for the better part of the day had to be married. M-a-r-r-i-e-d. She had kids. She was loaded up to her eyeballs with palpable stress.
    So why did Jace keep thinking he had more than one way to help her relieve some of that tension?
    “You got that look again, Jace.”
    Hell.
    “I was thinking, Barry.”
    “ ’Bout what?”
    “Whether or not Lily will want to play inside or outside with your equipment.”
    Barry nodded as if totally satisfied with the complexity of Jace’s inner argument. But luckily, before he could comment, Annie’s house came into view and Barry saw Lily onthe rope swing beneath the tree house. As soon as she saw Barry, she waved and ran to meet him.
    “Wait until the truck has rolled to a complete stop,” Jace warned his brother.
    Obediently, Barry edged closer to the end of his seat, one finger poised above the belt release. But as soon as Jace put the truck in park, he was leaping free, excitedly calling out to Lily, “Come on, Emily! Let’s go play!”
    The two children headed toward one of the barns and Jace watched until they settled in a spot in the old corral before he stepped out himself. As he did so, Bronte appeared at the side door.
    “You have perfect timing,” she called out. “I was taking some cinnamon rolls out of the oven when I heard your truck. Come have one while I show you the list I’ve been making. I need a second opinion.”
    Jace’s boots rang hollowly on the side steps as he crossed into the house. Mentally, he added putting in a concrete stoop to his own collection of ideas. But as soon as he moved through the door, he was swamped by the rich scents of baking bread, cinnamon, rich brown sugar, and coffee. When Bronte turned her back to him and bent to pull a batch of rolls from the oven, his gaze zeroed in on her butt.
    Bronte Cupacek had a great butt, rounded and firm and just the right size to cup with his hands.
    Shit.
    He obviously needed to get out more if this was how he acted in close proximity to a woman he’d barely met. A
married
woman.
    She turned and he prayed she didn’t see how far south his gaze had strayed. Thankfully, she seemed preoccupied with setting the hot pan on the stove, then grabbing plates from the cupboard overhead.
    “I checked out the rooms on the ground floor, and I’m thinking that the office would probably make the best bedroom.