She nodded, her forearm over her eyes.

“So what I’m suggesting is that between us, when it’s quiet and intimate, you give me some of that control. Let me manage things, and just relax.”

Eyes still closed, she nodded. And jumped. “Yes.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I LOVE HORSEBACK RIDING. Thank you so much for having us out today.” Tuesday turned her face up to the mid-November sleet as if it were awesome.

But since her best friend really was in heaven over all the outdoorsy stuff the Hurleys seemed to eat, sleep and breathe, Natalie pulled her hat down a little more and thanked the heavens she’d worn her gloves.

Vaughan and Paddy kept racing with Damien as Mary hung back with them. “God, they’re like kittens.”

Natalie laughed. “If he’s all tired out, he’ll sleep better and stop being so cranky.”

Mary snorted. “This is the second time I’ve been through an album production with them. It’s just getting started. It’ll get worse before it gets better, I’m sorry to say. They’re in each other’s faces so much, judging, creating¸ leaving themselves so emotionally open to one another, it makes them all tense.”

Natalie nodded. “I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it makes sense. I’d be cranky, too, I guess. It’s just...weird to have Paddy be the cranky one. I’m usually the cranky one in our relationship.”

The sex, though, it had been...endlessly inventive, yes, but far more intense. She supposed he was burning off all the stuff from his brothers that way.

Tuesday chortled. “Yeah.”

Natalie took off her hat long enough to swat Tuesday with it. “Hush, you.”

“Whatever he’s doing has calmed you down. I say it like I don’t hear it on the other side of the house. It’s better to pretend.”

Blushing madly, Natalie shook her head. “Stop that! There’s no way you can hear from your side of the house.” Or she hoped so.

“I know. It’s just fun to make you turn red.”

“I’m glad we have our own house with no one close enough. I can’t imagine what goes on at Vaughan’s place. Ezra, well, he keeps his business away from the ranch, and I know what Paddy is getting up to.” Mary winked at Natalie, who groaned.

“One of these days, I’m actually going to meet the mysterious Ezra face-to-face.”

“It’s pretty impressive. I mean, Damien is hard enough to manage, Ezra and all that darkness he carries around would be a full-time job. But he’s no chore to look at and his voice is pretty fantastic.”

Natalie nodded at Mary’s reference to Ezra. “Nice and gravelly. And he loves animals. That’s so sweet.”

“He’s the driving force behind Sweet Hollow Ranch. Even though he doesn’t go out on the road. He’s their big brother and they depend on him.”

Natalie thought there were more layers to Ezra than anyone would ever truly see. “Paddy said he and Ezra do most of the writing?”

“Yes. But things are evolving. Ezra and Paddy are used to doing most of the writing themselves, but this time Damien and Vaughan are doing more.” Mary shook her head as she watched the brothers cavorting all around.

“So far there’ve only been two fistfights. I’m told this is a record. Of course, Damien is the most laid-back. Paddy and Vaughan, my God. I had to use the hose on them day before yesterday.”

Natalie gasped and then choked, laughing. “Really? You have to tell us all about that.”

Mary snickered. “It’s a time-honored way of ending disputes in my family, you understand. I have two brothers, and when they got into fights, my mom would turn the hose on them. Anyway, Paddy and Ezra work together well. Mostly. Paddy’s a perfectionist. He makes them do things over and over and over again until he’s satisfied. When they’re in the studio, Ezra is the leader of the group. Paddy is usually okay with that, but sometimes, you know, he’s fussy. So he and Ezra were pissy with each other, and Vaughan took Ezra’s side, and Damien threw up his hands and walked out, and Vaughan and Paddy started all that pushing and trash talk, and it spilled out of the barn to where I’d just come out. Vaughan tripped on the bottom step, and he took Paddy down with him.

“Then it just got stupid, and it upset my pig, damn it.”

Mary seemed to share custody of a pig named Violet with Ezra. The damned animal grunted in this happy, singsong way anytime she caught sight of Mary.

“So the dog is barking, and the pig is squealing, and Ezra is yelling at them to stop it, and Damien is off to the side laughing and throwing dirt clods at them, making it worse, so I went over, turned on the water and started squirting them. It’s pretty cold so I imagine that water was freezing. It broke up pretty fast after that.”

Natalie laughed so hard, she cried. She’d slowly gotten used to the raucous noise the four Hurley boys made whenever they were together. At heart, it was affectionate and protective. She could deal with that. Plus, they were all sort of hot grunting and rolling around.

The three of them laughed and laughed until the brothers noticed and turned, riding back to where the women were.

“What are you guys up to?”

Mary waved a hand. “Never you mind about that. How about we go home? I have stew making.”

“Seconded.” Natalie held up a hand.

Paddy pulled even with her. “I think given the shade of red Nat’s cheeks are, that a roaring fire and some hot stew is in order.”