His Valentine Triplets

But she had been a few moments ago, and that had to speak well for the future. He hoped so, anyway. Next time, I’m going to figure out how those little garter things work, and spend about an hour kissing the judge where I know she likes being kissed the most.

“THOUGH THERE IS NO fundamental reason for me to recuse myself,” Julie said, “I will do as the defendants have requested. Let the record reflect that I do so with a good deal of misgiving for the request that was made of this court.” She pinned Rafe and Sam with a mutinous glare. “Court adjourned.”

“She’s really ticked,” Sam observed. “This will not be good for our neighborly relations.”

Rafe watched Julie sweep from the courtroom on a cloud of displeasure and irritation—with maybe a little embarrassment thrown in. He watched her go, fascinated by the woman he loved wrapped in a real good snit. What Julie didn’t know was that he loved her all the more for her spiciness and warmth, and now that she was good and mad at him, he was dedicated to getting her out of that black robe again. He had a one-track mind when he wanted something, and he wanted Judge Julie Jenkins badly.

They said the best sex was makeup sex—and if that was true, then he was all for making up as soon as humanly possible.

“THAT WAS UGLY,” SAM SAID as he and Rafe walked out into the sunlight. People left the courthouse and were milling around, chatting over what had happened in Julie’s court.

“Not ugly,” Rafe said, thinking about how beautiful she was. “The Callahans are free to fight another day.”

His brother shoved his briefcase into the front seat of his truck. “I’d like to know what Judge Julie was thinking that made her do a turnaround like that. She is not an easy judge to sway. Frankly, I was expecting a lot more fight. And what the hell was all that ‘act surprised about pork bellies’ crap? We don’t do pork at Rancho Diablo.”

Rafe shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now.” He got in the passenger seat and pondered how he might ever put his plan of The Seduction of Julie into place. As Sam had said, she was not an easy woman to sway—and she seemed to hold him in as much esteem as a rattlesnake.

If he didn’t know better, he would think she hadn’t enjoyed his lovemaking.

But he did know better. Judge Julie didn’t have a faking bone in her body, and the woman put on no grand act. He’d be forever thankful for his steer getting tangled in her fence in the first place. Okay, maybe making love in a field on a blanket he’d grabbed from his truck wasn’t a woman’s idea of My First Time, but by golly, he’d waited for years to hold Julie Jenkins, and he’d made the most of it. He’d had her sighing and moaning like crazy, a yearning cat under his fingertips. Today, he’d tried to make her second time something she’d remember with a heaping helping of must-have-more. “I’d just put it up to the fact that she’d heard of your reputation, bro, and went down before the fight.”

Sam shook his head. “There’s something funny about Judge Julie calling uncle that easily. Bode’s hired one of the best teams of lawyers around.”

Rafe clapped his brother on the back. “No one’s as good as a Callahan.”

And it’s true, Rafe thought. I’ve had it from Judge Julie’s own lips. Maybe not in those exact words. Maybe not in any words at all. But I know Julie Jenkins digs her some Callahan cowboy.

FOR A WEEK, ALL WAS SILENT. Rafe saw his brothers at mealtimes and at work, and everybody seemed preoccupied. He wrote it off to the heat. Jonas was moody, but what the heck. When one was a retired surgeon turned rancher, perhaps one got moody. Jonas had always been a brooding cuss, anyway, and as far as Rafe could tell, his oldest brother had been eyeing Sabrina McKinley for the past couple of years, and nothing had changed. If there was one thing guaranteed to put a man off-kilter, it was the unrequited desire for the love of a good woman. It could kill a guy. “Or at least the lust for a good woman,” Rafe amended out loud, earning a glance from Sam, who was studying a mass of papers almost as thick as the Bible. Rafe went back to considering the sales figures for Rancho Diablo, but his mind wasn’t on it. Sam works too hard. He’s been trying to save this ranch for nearly three years now, and I don’t think he’s even looked at a woman in all that time. Callahans should have it easier getting sex than we do.

“The problem,” Rafe said out loud, “is that we all work too hard. And we’re picky.”

“What, ass?” Sam said. “Do you mind taking your braying elsewhere? These briefs are eating me, and I can’t think with you chattering like a teenage girl.”

His brother definitely needed a woman. “You know, Sam,” Rafe said, “since I’m the thinker of the family, I’ve been thinking. And I think it’s time we got you out of the house.”

Sam glared at him. “Thank you, Sophocles, for that bit of news I can’t use.”

“Dude, this lawsuit has sucked you dry.”

“You have a solution?” Sam shrugged. “I’m not giving up on Rancho Diablo, no matter what barrel Bode Jenkins thinks he’s got us over.”

“Yeah.” Rafe considered his brother. “Nothing seems to be working, does it? Aunt Fiona’s Plan has gone off the rails. We’ve had weddings and babies out the wazoo around here, and our brothers have populated a small town all by themselves, and still we can’t convince the courts that we should have our own zip code free of Jenkins.”

“Do you mind, Hippocrates? Can I get back to this?” Sam waved some documents.

Rafe grunted. “I’m just saying maybe you ought to get some fresh air. Or get lucky, alternatively, if that’s in the range of your possibilities.”

Sam laughed, and it wasn’t a pretty sound. “And when, pray tell, was the last time a woman opened her door for you, Einstein?”

Rafe couldn’t brag. It would make Sam feel bad. He probably felt that they were brothers in bachelorhood. Of the six Callahan boys, only Sam, Rafe and Jonas were unmarried. No woman was going to throw her cap at Jonas, because he was about as much fun as a wart. Sam had an easygoing style, when he let himself hang loose, which wasn’t often.

Of the three of them would-be champions to Fiona’s Plan to get all the Callahans married—and then award Rancho Diablo to the brother with the largest family—Rafe figured he had the best chance. I have the highest IQ, I have the best hair, I fly the family plane and girls love geeky guys like me. “If you knew anything at all about Hippocrates, brother, you would know that he believed the body must be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. Therefore, with your mind in overload over Rancho Diablo’s attempt to free itself from Bode Jenkins, you’re under too much stress. We’ve got to find you a woman.”

“Excuse me,” Sam said, “but I didn’t hear you tell me when you last saw a woman naked and welcoming you.”

Rafe didn’t reply. He didn’t want Sam to feel bad, and he would never let the cat out of the bag about the judge. Especially since Sam was pitting his wits against Julie’s father.

“That’s what I thought, genius.” Sam went back to glaring at the mountain of paper in front of him.

“Never say I didn’t try to help,” Rafe stated, and leaned back to continue studying ranch paperwork.

The bunkhouse door blew open with the speed of a rocket, crashing against the wall. Rafe’s jaw sagged as Bode Jenkins barreled into the room.

The old rancher was holding a rifle in his hands, pointing it at him.

“Jesus, Bode,” Sam said. “Put that popgun down before someone gets hurt.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Bode said, glaring at Rafe. “You dirty, thieving dog!”

“Are you talking to me?” Rafe stood, pushing Sam behind him. “What the hell, Bode?”

Fiona burst in behind their neighbor and faced him, before kicking him a smart one on the shin. “Bode, give me that gun, and cool your head. Whatever’s gotten up your nose now, it isn’t worth doing time in jail.”

Burke appeared and snatched the gun from Bode, who seemed to give it up without much fight. All the other Callahans filed in, glaring at the rancher, then glancing around the room to make certain everyone was in one piece.

“Do you mind telling us what’s going on?” Jonas demanded.

“I’ll tell you,” Bode said, his voice quavering. The man’s face was red, pinched with fury as he glared at Rafe.

“No, you won’t.” Julie winked and shoved a few Callahans out of the way so she could reach her father. “Dad, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack. Calm down.”

Rafe blinked at Julie, who was stunning in a summery sundress and sandals, with her inky hair swept up in a ponytail. There was just something about her that hit him like a fist to the solar plexus every time he saw her. He liked her in her judge’s robe, he liked her in a dress, and he loved her naked in the moonlight.

But something had her wound up tight. More than the court case. “What’s up?” he asked her. “What’s got Bode steamed this time?”

That got Julie’s laserlike attention. She practically stabbed him with her eyes as she sent him a particularly poisonous glare. “Now is not a good time for you to be speaking disrespectfully to my father. I just saved you from being shot, Mr. Callahan, so if you don’t mind, zip your lips.”

Well, wasn’t that a big dose of judgelike attitude? He grinned at Julie. She liked him, he could tell. No woman was that starchy around a man unless he rattled her love cage. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“Bode, the next time you come running onto our property like a madman—and may I remind you this is not the first time you’ve acted crazy…” Fiona began.

Bode pinwheeled his arms with frustration. “You Callahans make me crazy. Why can’t you just git? This is my land, my property, but you’re like fleas. You multiply like fleas—”

His face turned redder, as if he’d just thought of something horrific. He glared at all of them, reserving his most potent fury for Rafe. “You—”

“Dad,” Julie said, “we’re leaving right now. Come on. There’s nothing here we want.”

Rafe watched her go, tugging her protesting father along with her. Of course there was plenty here Bode wanted. He wanted the ranch, he wanted their home, he wanted the Diablos and the rumored silver mine—