Chapter One

AMELIA

“Come on, it’s closing time, we should go.” I pull on my boyfriend’s arm as he takes another shot, and I roll my eyes. “Taylor!” I scold him.

He cocks a grin, and his hand flies up to backhand me across the face. “Don’t tell me what the fuck to do bitch,” his words slur.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” A muscular man pulls Taylor up by his collar and tosses him out the front door.

“Get lost, loser.”

The muscular man puts both hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes. “Are you okay?” My breath hitches because even if I have a boyfriend, I have eyes, and they are looking into gorgeous blue ones. I nod, feeling embarrassed.

“Come with me, I’ll get you some ice.”

For some reason, I can’t meet this stranger in the eye. “That’s not necessary. Really.”

He is already pulling me toward the bar; he wraps the ice in a cloth and hands it to me. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

“Sit. I’ll get you another shot.”

I wasn’t going to argue, I was the only one here with…three muscular men. Holy cow.

“I’m Luke, and you?”

“Oh. I’m Amelia.”

“Ah. Pretty name for a pretty woman.” My cheeks heat as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. Luke is not only very muscular, but he’s tall, handsome as hell, has gorgeous blue eyes, and he is clean-shaven. Two other men approach, and one asks, “Is that your POS of a boyfriend? He always hit you?”

I swallow hard. “Uh. He only does it when he gets drunk.”

“A man should know his limits,” the third man says. “No woman deserves that, drunk or not. No excuses. We will ban him from coming in here. But you are free here anytime.” He smiles, and his dimples show. Luke has short, close-shaven blonde hair, while the other two men have longer, light brown hair, and they both sport beards and mustaches. The three of them must work out a lot.

“That’s Connor,” he points to the first guy that spoke of the two. He then points at the other guy and says, “That’s Jason. Guys, this is our new friend, Amelia.”

“Are you are related?”

Luke grins. “We are best friends, and we own this establishment.”

“Oh, nice.”

Luke continues. “I run the front of the house, Jason runs the books, and Connor is in charge of the staff.”

I nod, sipping the shot he gave me while still holding the ice to my face. “I will get out of your hair.” I stand, and my legs wobble.

Luke is quick to reach for me. “Whoa. You okay, little one?”

My head throbs, and dizziness sets in. “I’m sorry, that smack must have been harder than I thought.”

“Hey. Don’t apologize. You have a car here?”

I nod.

“Okay, here is what we are going to do. You come home with us, and we can leave your car here. I'll bring you back tomorrow. Either way, I would feel better if we could look after you.”

I’m already shaking my head. “I cannot impose on you like that.”

Connor chimes in, “Not taking no for an answer, Amelia.”

“Plus, we need to make sure you are clear from that drunken boyfriend of yours,” Jason added.

I force a smile. “Okay.”

“Just hold tight, we will be done in a few minutes.” Luke covers my hand with his and offers reassurance. And for some reason, I know I am safe with them.

I sit and wait for fifteen minutes before Luke comes out from the back. He makes his way around the bar and offers his hand. “Nice and slow.” His hand feels humongous to mine.

Connor and Jason are walking behind us before Jason speaks, “Please tell us you are going to dump that guy.” Connor nods, agreeing.

“Like I said, he is not normally like this.” I know I shouldn’t make excuses for him.

“Whether he is or not, you don’t deserve to get hit. Some men would treat you so much better.”

I smile. “Thanks.”

“Meet you at the house?” Luke asks Connor and Jason.

“Yep. We will be right behind you.”

Luke smiles at me and leads me to his Land Rover. He opens the passenger-side door and helps me in.

“Thank you.”

He jogs over to the driver’s side and begins the drive. They could be kidnapping me for all I know. But when I look into each of their eyes, they are kind and truth-telling. It seems like Luke drives for about ten minutes before he pulls into a two-story-style cabin home.

It’s big, secluded, and I’m alone with these three burly men. Jason and Connor pulls in behind us, and Luke unlocks the front door and then pushes it open for me to step inside first. I do.

“Wow. This is gorgeous,” I say, looking around. Windows line all around from floor to ceiling. “You all live here?”

Luke chuckles. “We do. Why?”

“Because it’s so…clean and organized.”

“Why are you surprised by that?” Jason asks.

“Because you are three grown men living in a bachelor pad. I assumed it would be messy and unorganized.”

The kitchen and living room is an open concept. The kitchen is on the right, the living room to the left, and there is a huge sectional couch, a big flat screen T.V., and a fireplace just off in the corner.

“Well, we were raised to clean up after ourselves, that no woman is going to do that for us. I know I can speak for Connor and Jason as we grew up together. We are ex-Navy Seals, served together too.”

“Wow.”

Luke nods and sits at the table. Connor jesters toward a chair for me. “Sit. I’ll get you some water.”

“How old are you all?" I ask.

Luke speaks first, “I’m twenty-six.” Connor says, “Twenty-seven”, and Jason answers, “About to turn twenty-seven. How old are you, Amelia?”

“I’m twenty-six.”

The three men offer each other a look, and I don’t know what that is about.

Connor passes me a glass of water.

“Thank you.” He winks, and I think my heart skips.

Jason sits on the arm of the chair. “What do you do for work?”

“I’m a party planner. I have my own business.”

“So you’re a boss babe?” Connor says.

I smile. “I guess so. But this place is amazing.” The cabin has a triangle type ceiling and the windows bring a lot of light in.

“This is mine and the guys space, we don’t normally let anyone come here to disrupt our peace,” Jason says as he sits across from me.

“Exactly. However, you are here,” Luke says. “And I’m not mad about it.”

What the hell does that mean? Connor and Jason both nod in agreeance.

“Come on, let me show you around and where you can sleep.” I swallow a hard lump when Luke takes my hand again, and I feel the same spark I felt earlier that I denied was happening.

The house is huge, and it takes a good bit to know where everything is, but Luke shows me to a spare room. “You can sleep in here, tonight.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

He steps close to me, and tucks the strand of hair behind my ear, as he looks into my eyes causing the pitter-patter in my chest. “It’s more than okay. It’s a spare room. I’ll be in the closest room to you so if you have any trouble, I’m here.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back with a shirt for you.” Luke leaves the room, then he appears in a flash, handing me a shirt that will look like a dress on me.

“Thank you again, Luke.”

“You’re welcome, little one.” He winks and closes the door behind him.

It’s clear these guys are all flirting with me, and I kind of like the attention. But I shake my head from the lustful thoughts.

With Luke’s shirt on, I make my way back to the living room, and thank the men once again, knowing I will never see them again, before saying, “Goodnight.”