Winners by Allyson Young Page A

sure who she was
angriest at in that moment and thought maybe it was a tie. Melinda squinted
unattractively toward the big vehicle, then morphed
into a seductive floozy when it stopped and Ash and Craig scrambled out. It was
almost funny to view the transformation, but Sinclair was past seeing the humor
in any situation.
    “Ashton! Craig! I was just telling your … umm … Sinclair here that I planned to stop by. Catch
up on old times.” She pranced over and laid a hand on first Ashton and then
Craig. They took on a look Sinclair had seen on an old dog when the vet came
into the office and lifted it onto the examination table.
    Mutters of Hey, Melinda could be heard as both men sidled away, and Sinclair
appreciated their effort to distance themselves, but it didn’t cool her outrage
that they felt the need to ride to her rescue. If she was enough woman to take them on, then she was enough to deal with one
of their former … flames.
    “Actually, Melinda was just asking
me if I liked your brand of kink. I expect we’d be comparing notes next if you
hadn’t arrived …   so precipitously.”
    Melinda gaped, scarlet lips
quivering wide, and she took a step back. Ash moved in Sinclair’s direction,
and Craig circled around Melinda. All it would take was for George to come out
from the barn to complete the circus.
    “I do like it, Melinda. Exclusively. You remember to call first before you stop by .” Yanking the driver’s door
open, Sinclair slid inside, stabbing the keys into the ignition and cranking
over the engine. As she pulled the door shut, she called out her farewell over
the noise before shifting into drive and pulling away. Ashton set his hands on
his hips and stared her way as Craig stumbled to a halt near her bumper.
    Lights in her rearview announced
themselves a couple of minutes later, and she smiled widely. There would be
some posturing at home, maybe even some raised voices, but she was taking a
long, hot bath in the Jacuzzi—with or without her men, and she’d bet on the
former—then going to bed. It had been an exhausting, fruitful day, and
regardless of what happened tomorrow, she’d saved two valuable animals, slain
her demon and felt mighty fine on the face of it. And once Ash and Craig
settled, they’d take care of her like they always did. Their relationship was
far more than just sex, although she wouldn’t minimize how important that was
to her, and them.
    Her men caught up with her as she
pulled her gear from the car, Craig relieving her of her burdens. He gave her a
sheepish look.
    “My overalls need to be washed.”
    “Sure.” Craig bore the plastic bag
into the house, the yard dogs trailing him and his aromatic armful.
    “Coward.” She turned to see Ashton scowling after his brother.
    “Excuse me?”
    “You worried us sick, Sinclair. Late and no phone call. No text. We couldn’t reach you.”
    “I’m sorry. I got wrapped up in the
emergency.”
    “I know. I get it. It’s bound to
happen. But then you said where you were…” Ash’s face was in shadow, but she
interpreted the ambivalence in his tone. If it hadn’t been for Melinda, she
knew there would have been a big, heated discussion, so there was a silver
lining in that regard, too.
    “Whose idea was it to come save me
from the evil Melinda?”
    Ash scuffed a boot in the dust.
“Mine. Not that you needed saving, turned out.”
    “Ash?”
    “What, sweetheart?”
    She stepped into him, and he
wrapped her up, resting his chin on the top of her head. Sinclair breathed him
in. “We’re still figuring things out, Ash. There’ll be times when I can’t fight
a battle and I’ll welcome your help. But I want to ask for it, okay? And I’m
going to be a vet, and do all the things vets do. But I won’t take risks, okay?
Can you give me that?”
    “I’ll try.”
    “I know you will, and believe me
when I tell you how much I appreciate the fact you always have my back.”
    Craig hollered from the house. “The
bath is