Lush by Lauren Dane

and Vaughan
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    chatted up the real estate agent and I just wanted to look at the
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    one house and come back. But of course Vaughan wants to nail
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    her so we had to look at other houses and really, a few we saw
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    were also pretty awesome and great options, so that meant calls
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    back to Ezra. Herding cats. That’s what our mom says we’re
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    like. She’s right.”
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    “I can’t even imagine being a real estate agent and having
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    you three show up. My lord. All that charm in one place. It’s
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    lucky she didn’t pass out. Did you choose one?”
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    “I think so. I sent pictures to Ezra. He’s going to look them
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    over and get back to me in the morning.”
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    “Ezra is the oldest, right? He runs the ranch with your dad,
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    you said?”
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    He nodded, wondering if she knew the story.
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    “He’s the stable one? Ryan is the stable one in our family.
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    Cal is a hothead, though not at work. I’m the artsy one. My
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    Lush
    dad— who is a retired ironworker, by the way— says I’m fl ighty.
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    But he smiles so it’s not an insult. Ryan is a schoolteacher. Math
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    and biology. At a middle school. I don’t know how he does it.
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    But the kids love him. He never loses it with them. He’s the one
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    I talk to about my business stuff. Cal sets up my business paper-
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    work, but Ryan gives the best advice.”
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    Being with her was . . . surprisingly normal. He didn’t sit
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    around after sex, drinking beer and talking real estate with
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    other women. He couldn’t have told anyone about their back-
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    grounds or what their families were like.
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    “Ezra used to be in the band. He started it actually. But it was
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    not easy for him. He decided to leave and focus on the ranch.
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    It was his idea to start the hay crop. He and my dad are a lot
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    alike. He’s a hell- raiser. Or he was, he’s mellowed.” Since he got 14
    out of rehab and worked all day long on horseback or in a truck.
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    The physical nature of the job seemed to fi ll a need in him.
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    “It’s nice you guys can do this for your parents.”
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    “It’s one of my favorite things about fame. Having the money
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    to do things for my parents like this. They’ve done so much for
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    us. It’s a good thing to take care of them.”
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    Later that night, as she fell asleep against him, he realized
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    he’d gotten used to her awfully fast.
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    an I just tell you you clean up well?” Damien looked
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    her up and down. She wore a smart navy- blue dress
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    with towering heels. Truly she was absolutely gorgeous
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    and elegant and he was very glad he was with her that evening.
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    “As many times as you like.”
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    Her smile was saucy. She was saucy. He liked it. Liked her.
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    “I’ve got a cab ordered for us downstairs. We have some time
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    fi rst. Would you like a drink?”
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    “That’s nice of you. Yes. I’d love one. Here or . . . ?”
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    They were set to head off to some swank and ridiculously
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    hard to get a table at restaurant. Adrian had buttered some
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    people up and scored a reservation for two and she’d chosen
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    him as her plus one.
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    Lauren Dane
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    “They have a bar at the restaurant. I looked it up. Not that
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    I needed the bar. I mean I wanted to see what I was getting into.”
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    God, he was fucking this up. She made him nervous. Not
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    because she was