Free Love Under Two Jessops by Cara Covington Page A

out of the spa and onto the sidewalk and seemed pleased as hell to see the guy.
    The only thing at that moment that kept Grant in place, rather than marching over and planting himself between that overgrown hippy and his Chloe was the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would only bring him seven kinds of trouble from his woman.
    She might be small, but man, was she mighty.
    “I think he might be one of those artsy-fartsy friends of Jordan’s,” Andrew said.
    That was the conclusion that Grant had come to as well. He was also coming to the conclusion that he really didn’t like the way the man kept looking at his woman.
    “Golly, brother, that whatever-the-fuck-it-is in the back of that truck, there, looks awfully heavy.” Andrew had donned his choirboy face, which of course didn’t fool Grant for one minute.
    Andrew had never been a choirboy.
    “And you know,” he continued, “our Chloe is just the sort of woman who would step right in and try to lend a hand in moving it into her shop. Why, she’s such a little bitty thing. She could hurt herself.”
    Grant grinned, and slapped Andrew on the back. “We can’t have that. We need to go and help her, since it’s our duty and our privilege to look out for her, and keep her safe.”
    “Why, that’s a fine idea, brother,” Andrew said. His smile disappeared, and Grant beheld a snarl that looked like the one he felt like displaying. “Let’s just go do that little thing.”
    Grant had never been one to dawdle going from point A to point B, and right now sure didn’t seem like the time to start. It didn’t take him and his brother very long to cover the distance from the fire hall to the Lusty Glow Day Spa .
    Chloe’s face lit up when she saw them approach, and she immediately headed toward them, obviously as eager to be with them as they were to be with her.
    Grant picked her up and kissed her, a long, lusty, very claiming kind of kiss. When he set her back down on her feet, it was to see an extremely satisfying dazed look in her eyes and a not unexpected smirk on the face of his cousin.
    Chloe shook her head as if coming out of a swoon. She reached up and stroked his cheek, both her touch and the expression in her eyes soft and gentle.
    Then she grinned, and in an almost one-eighty mood swing, took his hand, and Andrew’s and led them toward the Ram. “Look! Look what I’ve got for my spa! Isn’t it wonderful ? Elias Carmody made it for me himself !”
    Grant turned his attention to the hippie—and realized the man was a fair bit older than he’d appeared upon first sight from across the street.
    Jordan seemed to be having trouble controlling his urge to laugh—damn cousins never changed—but finally he coughed and introduced them to his friend, the hippy—though of course he didn’t call him that.
    “Elias Carmody, these are two of my cousins, Grant and Andrew Jessop. Guys, Elias was a friend of Uncle Gray’s—and he’s a friend of mine.”
    That put Grant in his place. Grant extended the hand Chloe wasn’t holding and nodded to the man.
    “Mr. Carmody. Good to meet you, sir.”
    “Just Eli. I’m pleased to meet you both. Miss Chloe just finished telling me that she knew of two big strappin’ men who’d be happy to move this waterfall into the spa for her.”
    Chloe looked up at him. “Sorry that I volunteered you like that without even asking…”
    “Hush.” Grant placed a kiss on her cheek, and then smiled at her. “We actually came over to lend a hand if we could. That waterfall looked heavy even from across the street.”
    Chloe beamed as if he’d handed her a marvelous treasure. “Mr. Carmody is a metal artist. He’s really famous, and has had shows in major galleries all over the country. I even read about him once in Texas Monthly . And just look what he made for me ! It’s a one-of-a-kind working sculpture and he made it for me because Jordan asked him to.”
    Jordan would ask his friend to create something unique for