Outfoxed Read Free Page A

closer to Gabby to ask her to pass another dish, Rachel grabbed Grady’s arm and forcibly tugged him from the table. He thought about pulling away, but annoying his brother’s mate—a breeding feline at that—might get him seriously hurt. It wouldn’t score him any points with Gabby either.
    He had to clear his throat so as not to hiss in Miles’s direction. “Yes?”
    She dragged him several steps before she answered. “I need your help for a minute.” She waved Burke back. “I’m fine, honey. I just need an extra set of hands to carry something I forgot.” Once in the kitchen, she turned on the faucet and pulled him with her right by the sink. Even for Rachel, this was odd.
    “Ah, Rach? You okay?” He glanced at her barely rounded belly. “The kitten giving you problems?”
    Rachel tugged him close by the ear, ignoring his small yelp, and whispered harshly, “Your brother is driving me crazy with his constant worry. I don’t need your shit too. What’s wrong with you? You’ve been giving Miles dirty looks all through dinner. Cut it out.”
    She let him go and he rubbed his ear, annoyed but knowing better than to take it out on his sister-in-law.
    “I don’t like Miles. Never have. He’s an arrogant prick—ah, jerk.”
    “He’s in trouble. He and his sisters need our help.”
    Grady counted to ten in his head. “I know.”
    “So stop being such a jerk yourself and help him. Burke’s so clingy lately it’s giving me fits, so he’s not going to be much use. Joel and Maggie are going on a trip to Florida for a few days to get away. We’ll make sure Dean and Monty are occupied in Whitefish with the tours next week. It seems to me helping Miles—who will be staying here at the ranch—will give you an excuse to be near Gabby.”
    He blinked. He hadn’t expected Rachel’s help. “Thanks?”
    “Sure. But if I could give you some advice? If you’re serious about her, don’t let her see you dance again. And don’t wear a hat or bow tie. Not a great look on you, Grady.” She shook her head, grabbed the pot of leftover vegetables sitting on the stove and left him standing by the sink.
    Grady took a moment, turned off the water and walked back in a much calmer cat.
    He did his best not to react to Miles. The way the bastard flirted with Gabby, complimented her sister and flat-out impressed Rachel with his knowledge of totems and antiques was enough to drive him insane. He deliberately turned to Stacey.
    She toyed with the food on her plate, sneaking glances around the table. No doubt making snide remarks to herself about the hillbilly Chastells. The woman was a beauty, but such a cold thing. Not like Gabby, who could warm a room just by smiling.
    “You okay, Stace?”
    “It’s Stacey, with an E-Y. And no, I’m not.”
    “What exactly did they do to you down there?” He thought he’d kept his voice low enough, but the entire table quieted.
    “Time to share with the rest of the pride what’s been going on, Miles.” Burke and Rachel shared a glance. “We don’t run things like the Florida pride. We’re family here, all of us. The wolf, the bears, the foxes and the rest of us.”
    “Rest of us superior cats,” Dean tacked on.
    Monty’s lip curled. “You wish.”
    “Well said,” Joel, the lone bear, added. His wife, Maggie, laughed.
    Stacey and her sisters glanced at each other with worry.
    Miles folded his napkin. “I do appreciate you letting us eat before delving into the unpleasantness.”
    Christ, could the cat ever talk without sounding like he had a stick shoved up his ass?
    “Most of you don’t know this, but we have—or I should say, had —a large pride down in Florida.”
    “In the Everglades,” Stacey corrected.
    “But our family kept apart, running a lucrative business in Miami.”
    “Doing what?” Julia asked. The clever fox looked good sitting next to her husband. She glowed with her new pregnancy, and Grady had a sudden thought that Miles and his family being