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him and her older brother.
    “Ask Caine ,” Grady muttered, using his own rag to brush black smudges off his arm.
    “Actually, it’s pretty obvious.” Emma grinned as she turned to Coop. “So, what’re you doing here? Daddy hire you to help us out for the day, or what?”
    “No,” Coop scrubbed the front of his ruined shirt and only succeeded in making the stain bigger. “I’m—”
    He paused when he realized how embarrassing it was to confess what he was actually doing. Glancing up, he swallowed when he noticed he’d gained the attention of all three of Jo Ellen’s siblings.
    “You’re what?” Caine asked when Coop took too long to answer.
    Cheeks heating, Coop glanced toward the house before he risked a peek at Grady. “I just…I came over to see how Jo Ellen was faring this morning?”
    There, that sounded like a friendly, worried-neighbor thing to do.
    Emma Leigh scrunched up her face into a confused frown. “Jo Ellen? What’re you worried about her for?”
    “Coop here brought her home last night.” Grady suspiciously eyed Cooper with intense, intimidating blue eyes.
    Coop had to look away, so he focused on Em.
    She continued to analyze him before her face cleared. “Oh, that’s right. Someone told me you’d done that.”
    “She was awfully sick,” he explained. “I just wanted to make sure she felt better.”
    Em snorted. “Sick? What, was she drunk?”
    Coop lifted his brows. “Yeah, she was.”
    Emma Leigh’s snigger died as her jaw dropped. “Seriously? The princess drank last night? She drank alcohol ?” Before Coop could respond, she threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, man, I wish I would’ve seen that.”
    “And I wish Mom and Dad would’ve seen the both of you,” Grady cut in. “If they knew you two were at Eden’s party last night, drinking, you’d be grounded until you’re thirty. I’ve a mind to tell them myself. Jo Ellen was so far gone anyone could’ve taken advantage of her. Who knows what might’ve happened if Coop hadn’t found her and brought her home?”
    Coop’s cheeks turned a dull red. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened, and he had been the one to find her and bring her home.
    “Oh, don’t tell on ‘em,” Caine begged. “Em’s paying me good money to keep my trap shut. If Mom and Dad find out, I won’t see a cent.”
    “What?” Grady smacked him on the back of the head. “You should be ashamed of yourself; more concerned about cash than your two sisters’ welfare.”
    Caine shrugged as he rubbed his cranium. “What’d I have to worry about? Coop was there.”
    Coop coughed into his hand, and tried not to feel guilty about last night, but a quick shame filled him. If they knew what he’d done to their sister, all three of them would probably find the nearest tree and string him up.
    He opened his mouth, though he wasn’t sure what he was going to say. As much of an honest idiot as he was, he probably would’ve confessed how he’d let Jo Ellen play with his erection and kiss him…and how he’d kissed her back. But thank God, the crackle of crunching gravel diverted everyone’s attention.
    A sleek, red Mazda Miata—its engine so quiet Cooper didn’t even hear it running—pulled to a stop next to his clunker. He narrowed his eyes as the driver’s side door opened and a tan pair of khaki pants slid out before Travis Untermeyer unfolded the rest of his body from his toy box automobile. When he spotted Jo Ellen’s siblings, he waved congenially and started their way. All four of them waved back, and Coop was tickled to note the other three appeared about as eager to welcome Untermeyer as he was.
    “Hey,” Pretty Boy greeted, his fake smile flashing until he spotted Cooper. Then he pulled to a stop, smirking. “Gerhardt?” He laughed. “Wow, it’s nice to see you finally cleaned up for once.”
    Cooper felt so hot, he couldn’t even answer. He just wanted to reach out and wrap his hands around the dirt bag’s