Читать книгу The By Request Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 53
ОглавлениеRuby bit into a pulled pork slider, and barbeque sauce dripped down her chin. She dabbed at it with her napkin. “Yum, I feel better already.”
Serena Bartolomo chuckled as she lifted her slider to her mouth and took a big bite, too. When it came to settling nerves, there wasn’t anything better than the Cool Springs Café’s food, and the combination of being with Serena and downing pulled pork made Ruby’s hysteria from yesterday seem like a thing of the past.
“So, let me get this straight, Rube. You’ve got two hot guys in your life right now, and that’s what’s making you crazy? I should be so lucky.”
Serena had her own set of issues with the opposite sex; namely, she was looking for the perfect man. Someone kind, strong, honest and funny, just like her daddy, and all others need not apply. It was a tall order, and so far, Serena hadn’t found the man of her dreams.
“Luck has everything to do with it,” Ruby said. “Bad luck. I thought I had it clear in my mind what I wanted. If the right guy comes along, fine. That would make me happy, I guess. But if he doesn’t, and I’m certainly not looking, then I’m good with my horses and family. I’m in no hurry to get hurt again.”
“Yeah, Trace did a number on you. I can see you not wanting to jump back into that arena.”
“But you should’ve heard him on the phone, Serena. He was really sweet, and he said everything I wanted to hear. How he missed me. How he’s been thinking about me night and day.”
“Are you buying it?”
“I shouldn’t. But he sounded sincere.”
“The rodeo season is over. What will you do if he comes knocking on your door?”
Ruby shrugged. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t asked herself that question a dozen times already. “I don’t know. Wait and see. I’m not rushing into anything.”
“That’s good, hon.”
She released a sigh that emptied her lungs. “And then there’s Brooks.”
“Yeah, tell me about him.”
“Smart, confident, handsome. We had that one night together. A crazy impetuous fling, and afterward we parted ways amicably, only the next day he shows up at Look Away as Beau’s long lost son. I never thought I’d see him again, and now he’s a fixture at the ranch and I’ve got to pretend nothing’s happened between us.”
“Is that hard?”
She sipped from her float, the icy soda sliding down her throat as she contemplated her answer. “Well, it’s not easy. Especially with the way he looks at me with those dreamy blue eyes. And he’s funny, too. We laugh a lot.”
“Uh-oh, that’s dangerous. A man who can make you laugh—that’s the kiss of death.” Serena began shaking her head. “Do you think of Trace at all when you’re with him?”
“Dios, no. I don’t think of any other man when I’m with Brooks. He may not know it yet, but he’s so much like his father.”
“Being like Beau Preston is a good, good thing.”
“So true. But Brooks has a sharper edge, I think. He’s pulled himself up from humble beginnings, and this whole situation with not knowing who his real father was has hurt him and maybe made him bitter.”
“Wow, that’s heavy. Did he tell you that?”
Ruby dipped her head sheepishly, hating to admit the truth. “No, I Googled him. I wanted to find out more about him. He’s entering the Preston family, and they’ve had enough heartache in their lives. Is that horrible? I feel like I’m spying on him.”
“It’s the way of the world, hon. Don’t beat yourself up. You were concerned about Beau, right?”
“Yes, that’s part of it. Anyway, now you know my dilemma. Brooks is off-limits to me. He’s part of Beau’s family now, which means he’s my family, too. And then there’s Trace. I have to admit, hearing from him last night really threw me off balance.”
“Ruby, we’ve been friends a long time. I know how strong you are. You can handle this. You’re Ruby Lopez. Anybody who messes with you lives to regret it.”
Ruby laughed. “That’s my persona, anyway.”
“Hey, you’re forgetting I’ve seen you in action. You’ve got self-defense skills any woman would love to have.”
“Yeah, I can toss a man over my shoulder, no problem. But can I evict him from my heart? That’s a totally different matter.”
* * *
Texas breezes ruffled Brooks’s shirt on this warmer than usual December day and brought freshness to the morning as he strode down the path toward the lake. He didn’t mind the walk; it helped clear his head. Beau, so proud of his operation here, had recommended that Brooks check out Ruby in action. Hell, he’d already seen her in action. She’d downed a big oaf of a man in that saloon. And then he’d been private witness to her other skills in the bedroom. But of course, Beau had meant something entirely different.
“You want to get a better sense of what we do on Look Away, then go see Ruby down at the lake this morning,” his father had said. “She’s working with a one-year-old named Cider. Beautiful filly.”
The truth was, Brooks hadn’t laid eyes on Ruby yesterday, and he’d missed her like crazy. It baffled him just how much. Now, with his boots pounding the earth as he headed her way, his hands locked in his pockets Texas-style, a happy tune was playing in his head. He liked it here. He liked the sun and sky and vastness. He liked the howl of a coyote, the smell of hay and earth and, yes, horse dung. It all seemed so natural and beautiful. But mostly, it was Ruby in this setting that he liked the most.
And there she was, about twenty yards up ahead, near a nameless body of water his father simply called the lake, holding a lead rope in one hand and a long leather stick in the other. She wore a tan hat, her long raven locks gathered in a ponytail that spilled down the back of her red blouse. Skin-tight jeans curved around her ass in a way that made him gulp air.
He lodged himself up against a tree, his arms folded, to take in the scene for a few seconds before he made his presence known. How long had it been since he could simply enjoy watching a woman do her job? Probably never.
Ruby was sweet to the horse, though she wasn’t a pushover. She spoke in a friendly voice, using the rope and the stick as tools to train the filly. She was patient, a trait he hadn’t associated with Ruby, but then, he really didn’t know her all that well. The time she took with the horse notched up his respect for her even more.
“Why don’t you come away from the tree, Brooks,” she called, catching him off guard. He hadn’t seen her look his way; he thought her focus was mainly on the horse she was training. “Cider knows you’re here, too.”
Brooks marched over to her. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Too late for that,” she said quickly, with a blink of her eyes, maybe surprising herself. He got the feeling she wasn’t speaking about the training session. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here. Beau wants you to see how we train the horses. And I’m just beginning with Cider.”
With gloved hands, she gathered the rope into a circle, her tone businesslike and stiff. It had to be this way, but Brooks didn’t like it one bit. He knew she was untouchable, but of course the notion made him want her all the more.
“For the record, you disturb me too, Ruby.” He didn’t give her a wink or a smile. He wasn’t flirting or teasing. He meant it.
“Brooks.” She sighed, giving him an eyeful of her innermost thoughts by the sag of her shoulders and the look of hopelessness on her face. Then she turned her full attention to the horse, patting Cider’s nose and stroking her long golden mane. “We need to be just friends.”
She was stating the obvious.
“I can try,” he said.
“For Beau.”
“Yeah, for Beau.”
Because they both knew if they got together and it didn’t work out, Beau would be hurt, as well. Brooks didn’t want friction in the Preston family. He was the newcomer. He was trying to fit in and become a part of this family. It would do no good to have a repeat of what happened at the C’mon Inn. His father and this family deserved more than that from him.
Brooks’s brain was on board. Now if the rest of him would join in, it wouldn’t be an issue at all.
That settled, he gave the horse’s nose a stroke. Under his palm, the coarse hair tickled a bit, yet it was also smooth as he slid his hand down. “So, what are you doing with her today?”
“Today, we’re working on gullies and water.” Ruby jumped right in, eager to share her knowledge. “People sometimes think horses know what’s expected of them from birth, but nothing is further from the truth. This girl is water-shy, and she doesn’t know how to jump over a gully. Both frighten her. So I’m working with her today to make her more comfortable with both of those situations. Here, let me show you.” She walked Cider over to a dip in the property, the gully no more than a yard across. “First I’ll let her get familiar with the terrain.”
Ruby released the lead rope and, using her stick, tapped the horse on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not hurting her. The stick on the withers or neck lets her know she’s crowding my space. When she gets scared, she closes in on me. I’m trying to get her into her own space.”
Ruby worked the horse up and down the area. The horse avoided the gulley altogether. Ruby gave the horse room to investigate, leading her with the rope. “See that, Brooks? She’s stopped to sniff and get her bearings. That’s good. Now I’m going to bring her in a little closer. She won’t like it much—she doesn’t know what to do about the gully—but she’ll figure it out. I keep sending her closer and closer to the gap and tapping, like this.” She tapped Cider again and then gave the horse time to overcome her fear. Back and forth, back and forth. Then Cider stopped again, put her head down and sniffed around. The next time Ruby led her close to the gulley, she jumped. “There! Good girl. That’s wonderful, Cider.” She stroked the horse again, giving praise. “Good girl. Want to try it one more time?
“I’ll keep this going,” Ruby explained to him. “Leading her back and forth near the gully. And soon she’ll be a pro at jumping over it. It’s a start.”
“It’s amazing how she responds to you, Ruby. I saw a change in her in just a few minutes. Will she go in the water?”
“She’ll go near it and take a drink. But she won’t go into the water. That takes a bit more time. She’s thirsty now, which will work in my favor. But I won’t push her right now. She can have a peaceful drink.”
Ruby let the rope hang very loose, taking off any pressure, and approached the water. Cider resisted for a few seconds. Then, without being prompted by the stick or the rope, she walked over to the bank and dipped her head to lap up water. “See how wary she is? She won’t put her feet in. But she will, very soon.”
“I never thought about horses not feeling inherently comfortable with their surroundings. I don’t know a whole lot about horses, that’s for damn sure. I guess I figured they were naturally at ease with jumping and going in the water.”
“Yeah, I know that’s the perception. But horses, like children, need to be trained to do the things we know they are capable of doing. They certainly don’t understand what it means when we put saddles on them or bits in their mouths. The truth is, when I train the horses, they tell me what they need help with. And I listen and watch. The reason this method works so well is that I give the horse a purpose. I kept sending Cider across that gully and let her figure out how to solve the problem. It’s a matter of knowing what they need and providing it.”
Brooks spent the remainder of the morning watching Ruby work miracles with this horse, completely impressed with her knowledge and the ease with which she worked. When his stomach grumbled, he grinned. “Are you going back to the house for lunch?”
“No. I’m not done with Cider yet. I brought my lunch out here.”
“You’re eating here?”
“Yep, under that tree you were holding up earlier.”
He laughed. “Sounds peaceful.”
She stared into his eyes. “It is.”
“Okay, then, I should get going. Let you have your lunch.”
He turned and began walking.
“There’s enough for two,” she said, a hitch in her throat, as if she couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Hell, if she was inviting, he wouldn’t be refusing.
He turned and smiled. “If it’s Lupe’s leftover fried chicken, I’m taking you up on it.”
“And what if it isn’t?” she asked.
“I’m still staying.”
Ruby’s mouth pulled into a frown as if she was having second thoughts.
“As your friend,” he added.
Her tight expression relaxed, and a glint gleamed in her pretty brown eyes. “I lied. It is chicken, and Lupe packed me way too much.”
“So then, I’d be doing you a favor by staying and eating with you. Wouldn’t want all that food to go to waste.”
She rolled her eyes adorably, and Brooks was glad to see the Ruby of old come back.
She grabbed her backpack, and together they walked over to the tree where swaying branches provided shade on the packed-dirt ground. Ruby tossed her stuff down, but before she sat, he put up his hand. “Wait a sec.”
She stood still, her eyes sharp as he pulled his shirt out of his jeans and began unbuttoning until his white T-shirt was exposed. “Never did like this shirt anyway.” He took off his shirt and made a bit of a production laying it on the ground. Then he gestured to Ruby. “Now you can sit.”
Her expression warmed considerably. “Galahad. You’re too much.”
“That’s what they tell me.”
She plopped herself comfortably down on his shirt so that her perfect behind wouldn’t be ground into the dirt. “Thank you. You know, that’s about the sweetest thing a man’s done for me in a long while.”
“Well then, you’re meeting the wrong kind of men. Present company excluded. And boy, am I glad you’re not into all that feminism stuff, or I’d be dead meat right now.”
She smiled. “Who says I’m not? I believe in the power of women.”
“So do I.”
“But I can also recognize a gentleman when I see one, and I don’t feel like it’s diminishing my role in the world.”
“And this is Texas, after all,” he said.
“Right.”
“And I have developed Southern charm.”
“Don’t press your luck, Preston.”
Brooks blinked. And then he looked straight into Ruby’s spirited chocolate eyes. “Thanks. It feels good to be called by my father’s name.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve earned it.”
He stared at her and nodded, holding back a brand-new emotion welling behind his eyes.
* * *
Brooks headed to the main house that evening, thoughts of Ruby never far from his mind. The more time he spent with her... Okay, forget it. He couldn’t go down that road, especially when the main reason his thoughts had splintered was standing not ten feet away on the sweeping porch of the residence.
As soon as Beau spotted Brooks, he called him over with a wave of the hand. “Come here, son. Meet the rest of the family.”
The three men—all wearing Stetsons in varying colors and appearing younger than Brooks by several years—stood at attention next to Beau. Brooks’s half brothers.
He walked up, and Beau gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Brooks, I’m proud to introduce you to Toby, Clay and Malcolm. They’re your brothers.”
He shook each one of their hands and greeted them kindly. It was strange and awkward at first, but Beau’s boys made him feel welcome.
“We’re surely glad to meet you,” Toby said. He was the oldest and tallest of the three. “I’m sorry we missed out on knowing you all those years.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, too. Life took me down a different path,” he said.
Malcolm stood against the post, his boots crossed, his gaze narrowing in on Brooks’s face. “But you’re here now, and we’re glad of it. You look more like Dad than any of us.”
Beau chuckled. “Poor guy.”
“Mom wouldn’t agree,” Clay said, chiming in. “She was always telling us how handsome you were.”
“Yeah,” Malcolm said. “Damn near gave us a complex.”
Beau shook his head. “Your mama thought the sun rose and set on you boys, and you know it.”
“Seems like your mom was a pretty great lady from what I’m told,” Brooks said. He’d heard from Beau, but just about everyone else on the ranch had nice things to say about Tanya, too.
“That she was,” Beau said, the pride in his voice unequalled.
“My brothers and I, well, we’re sorry to hear news of your mother’s passing, Brooks,” Malcolm said. The others nodded in agreement.
“Thank you. Mom was also quite a woman. And she died unexpectedly. My brothers and I miss her terribly.”
“It’s not easy,” Beau said, the brightness in his eyes dimming. “But we have each other now, and that’s something to celebrate. Shall we go in to dinner? Lupe promised us a feast, and we’re opening a few special bottles of wine to toast the occasion.”
“I’m nearly starved,” Toby said, patting his stomach.
“Yeah, me, too,” Clay said. “Oh, and new brother?”
Brooks gave him a glance. “Yeah?”
“I’m apologizing in advance for the interrogation. We’re all so dang curious about your life, I’m afraid we’re gonna grill you. We want to hear about Graham, too. Dad says he’s the spitting image of you.”
“Yep, there are two of us. We’re identical twins.”
“You boys will meet him soon,” Beau said as he ushered them all into the house. “I’m hoping Graham will be here by next week in time for our Christmas party.”
“I don’t mind your questions,” Brooks added. “I’ve got quite a few for you. We all have some catching up to do.”
In the formal dining room, on Beau’s cue, Clay, Malcolm and Toby spent the next few minutes asking about Brooks’s early life, his college days and how he came to build such a successful real estate development business. “Lots of hard work, long hours and a driving need to make my way in the world,” he answered. “Mom was a survivor, and she raised her children to be independent thinkers.”
Beau smiled, getting a faraway look in his eyes. Was he thinking about the young woman he’d loved and lost? Then, with a shake of the head, he shifted and turned his attention back to the conversation.
Lupe came in, carrying plates filled with twelve-ounce rib eye steaks, potatoes, creamed corn and Texas-sized biscuits. “Looks delicious, Lupe. Thank you,” Beau said.
Toby and Malcolm immediately rose to help her bring the rest of the food in from the kitchen. And just as they were sitting down, ready to take their first bite, Ruby walked in.
She didn’t immediately make eye contact with Brooks, so he looked his fill. Her jeans and blousy top were white, but her ankle boots were as black as the mass of long raven hair falling down her back. The contrast of black to white was striking, and he took a swallow of water to keep his mouth from going dry. “Hey, everyone,” she said.
“Better late than never, Rube,” Clay said, teasing. “Had another hot date with a horse?”
Toby and Malcolm chuckled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, smiling and scooting her fine little ass into her seat. “At least horses can take direction. Unlike most men I know.”
Beau choked out a laugh.
Ruby arched a brow and shot daggers at Clay. Apparently she wasn’t through with him yet. “And tell me again, who are you dating at the moment?”
“Oh, you’ve dug yourself a hole now, Clay,” Malcolm said. “You know better than to get into it with Ruby. You’re not gonna win.”
“You see,” she said, “Malcolm understands. At least he has a girlfriend.”
“This is a picture of what it was like when the kids were growing up,” Beau explained, grinning. “I gotta say, it’s still amusing.”
Ruby glanced at Brooks then, giving him a nod of acknowledgment. He smiled, acknowledging how Ruby held her own with Beau’s boys. She was a handful, a woman with spunk who took no prisoners and didn’t apologize for it. If only he could stop noticing all her admirable traits. As it was now, she was off the charts.
Wine was poured and Beau lifted his glass. Everyone at the table took his cue, and the deep red wine in the raised glasses glistened under chandelier light. “To my family,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier to have Brooks here. And soon Graham will join us. I love you all,” he said, his voice tight, “and look forward to the day we can all be together.”
Glasses clinked and Brooks was touched at the welcome he’d received by his new family at Look Away Ranch.
They settled into the meal. The steak was the most tender he’d ever had. Texans knew a thing or two about raising prime cattle and delivering a delicious meal. His brothers surely looked the picture of health—all three were sturdy men—and a sense of pride in his newfound family washed over him. He doubted he’d ever feel as close to these young men as he did Graham—he and Graham had shared too much together—but he hoped they’d all become the family Beau had longed for.
“Dad says our little sis taught you a thing or two about horse training,” Toby remarked. “What’d you think?”
Brooks hesitated a second, finishing a sip of wine while contemplating how to answer the innocent question. He couldn’t give too much away. He couldn’t say that Ruby was the most amazing woman he’d ever met, or that her talent and skill and patience had inspired him. That would be too telling, wouldn’t it? “What I know about horses, I’m afraid to say, can fit in this wineglass. But watching Ruby at work and hearing her thoughts on training gave me a whole new perspective. It’s eye-opening. It seems Ruby has just the right touch.”
Toby nodded. “She does. We’ve all had a hand in horse training growing up, and all of our techniques are different, but the honest truth is, when we’d come up against a stubborn one that gave us trouble, we turned to Ruby and she’d find a way. Now she pretty much runs the show.”
Brooks looked at Ruby, giving her a smile. “I see that she pretty much runs the show around here, too.”
Beau chuckled. “Didn’t take you long to figure that out.”
“There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family,” Malcolm said.
“I can speak for myself, Mal,” she chimed in. “There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family.”
Everyone laughed.
Ruby’s eyes twinkled, and in that moment, Brooks felt like one of them. A Preston, through and through.
* * *
The next morning, Beau suggested that they spend the day with Ruby. There was more she could teach Brooks, and if he really wanted to get a sense of how the operation was run, he needed to get his hands dirty.
“Ruby will put you in touch with your inner wrangler,” Beau joked.
Well, she’d already put him in touch with something: namely, rock-solid lust. The woman turned him inside out, and there was no help for it.
Before Brooks had even met Ruby, he’d asked for this training, and Beau was more than happy to accommodate his request. But now it meant that Brooks and Ruby would get to spend more time together at the Look Away. Yet Brooks wanted to learn. He needed to catch up on the history of the ranch and the day-to-day operation of running it. It would give him a chance to meet Beau and his half brothers on equal ground. He’d have more in common with each one of them if he could grasp at least a basic knowledge of horses, training and all that went with them.
So they’d walked over to one of the corrals and stood by the fence, watching Ruby securing a saddle on an unruly stallion.
The air was brisk this morning, the sun shadowed by gray clouds. He huddled up in his own wool-lined jacket and noted that Ruby, too, was dressed in a dark quilted vest over a flannel shirt. Only Ruby Lopez could make regular cowgirl gear look sexy. “Morning,” she said, greeting both of them.
“Morning,” he replied. But she had already turned away, busy with the horse, restraining his jerky movements with a firm hand on his bridle.
“This is Spirit,” Beau said. “He’s got a lot to learn, doesn’t he, Ruby?”
“He sure does. He’s not taken kindly to wearing a saddle. He’s going to hate it even more once I ride him. But that’s not happening today.”
The horse snorted and shuffled his feet, pulling back and away from her. “Hold steady, boy,” Ruby said, her voice smooth as fine silk. “You’re not gonna like any of this, are you now?”
The horse bucked, and Brooks made a move to lunge over the fence to help Ruby. Beau restrained him with a hand to the chest. “Hang on. Ruby’s a pro. She won’t put herself in danger.”
Brooks wasn’t too sure about that. The tall stallion dwarfed Ruby in size and weight. Watching her outmaneuver the animal made Brooks’s heart stop for a moment. Hell, she could be crushed. She slid him a sideways glance, her beautiful eyes telling him she’d just seen what he’d done. What was it she called him? Galahad. Hell, he was no knight in shining armor. To most of the people who knew him in Chicago, that label would be laughable. But today, right in this moment, he didn’t give a crap about what anyone called him. But he did care about Ruby, and it surprised him how much. He didn’t want to see her get trampled. “Are you sure? That horse looks dangerous.”
“He could be, but Ruby knows her limitations. She’s got a way about her that outranks his stature. She’s gaining his trust right now. Though it doesn’t look like it, she’s giving him some leeway to put up a fuss. This is his second day wearing a saddle. He’s got to get used to it, is all.”
“It takes a lot of patience, I see.”
“Yep,” Beau said. “For the trainer and the animal.”
For the next hour, Brooks watched Ruby put the horse through his paces. Every now and then, she’d inform him what she was doing and how the horse should respond. Nine times out of ten, the horse didn’t make a liar out of her.
Beau had excused himself a short time ago. He had a meeting with his accountant, and though he invited Brooks to join in, he’d also warned that it would bore him out of his wits. Brooks had opted to stay and watch Ruby work with the stallion. He could watch that woman for hours without being bored, but he didn’t tell his father that.
When Ruby was done, she unsaddled Spirit carefully, speaking to the horse lovingly and stroking him softly on the withers. Then she set him free, and he took off running along the perimeter of the large oval corral, his charcoal mane flying in the breeze.
Ruby closed the gate behind her and walked over to Brooks, removing her leather gloves and pocketing them.
“Impressive,” he said.
“Thanks. Spirit will come around. He’s a Thoroughbred, and they tend to be high-strung.”
“Is that so?” Brooks met her gaze. “Sort of reminds me of someone I know.”
Her index finger pressed into her chest. “Me?”
“Yeah, you.” Her finger rested in the hollow between her breasts. If only he didn’t remember how damn intoxicating it’d been when he’d touched her there. How soft she’d felt, how incredibly beautiful and full her breasts were. The thought of never touching Ruby like that again grated on him.
“Well, you’re half-right,” she said. “Both my parents were Mexican, so I’m a purebred.”
“What about the other half?”
“I’m not high-strung or high-maintenance. I’m strong-willed, determined. Some have called me feisty.”
“And they lived to tell about it?”
She snapped her head up and saw his grin. “You’re teasing me, Galahad.”
What he was doing was flirting. He couldn’t help it. Ruby, being Ruby, was an aphrodisiac he couldn’t combat. And he was beginning to like her nickname for him. “Yeah, I am.”
She smiled back for a second, her eyes latching onto his. Then his gaze dropped to her perfectly sweet mouth. Suddenly all the things he’d done to that mouth came crashing into his mind. And all the things she’d done to him with that mouth...
“Spirit,” she said, “uh, he’ll bring in a good sum.” She began walking. And now she was back to business and a much safer subject. It was necessary, but Brooks had to say he was disappointed. He walked beside her as they headed into the stable.
“He will?”
“Absolutely, once we find the right buyer.”
He squinted to adjust to the darkness inside the furthest reaches of the barn. It was even colder in here than outside.
Ruby grabbed a bucket, a brush and a shoe pick. “Beau’s been great about giving me input on who our horses end up with. Especially the stallions. They’re in demand, but not everyone is cut out to own one.”
“You mean you can tell when someone is all wrong for the horse?”
She handed him the brush and a bucket.
“Pretty much.”
“That’s a talent I never knew existed.”
“It’s no different than anything else. You wouldn’t buy a car you didn’t feel was the right fit. A mom of three wouldn’t do too well in a sports car. The same holds true for a single guy on the dating scene. He isn’t going to buy a dependable sedan to impress a girl, now is he?”
Brooks smiled. “I never thought of it that way.”
“The horses I train need to go to good homes. They need to fit. Spirit wouldn’t do well with a young boy, for instance. He’s not going to be someone’s first horse. But a seasoned rider, someone who knows animals, will be able to handle him, no problem. Beau has built his business on putting his horses with the right owners. It’s a partnership.”
Ruby removed her hat and stuck it on a knob on the wall. With a flick of the wrist, she unleashed her mane of dark hair, and it tumbled down her back. It was the little uncensored, unknowing moves that made Ruby so damn appealing. She was pretty without trying and as free a spirit as the horse she’d just trained.
“What?” she asked, catching Brooks staring.
“Nothing.” He stepped closer. “No, that’s not true,” he said. “I’m standing here, looking at you and wondering how the hell I’m going to keep from touching you again.”
She got a look in her eyes, one he couldn’t read, and bit down on her lip. “We, uh, w-we can’t.”
But it was what she said with her eyes, and her stutter when she denied him, that gave him hope. “It’s hard for you, too. You like me.”
“I like a lot of things. But I love Beau. And I don’t want to—”
“Ruby.” The bucket and brush fell from Brooks’s hands and thumped to the ground. She gasped as he approached. He took hold of her arms gently, and her chin tipped up. He gazed into defiant eyes. Was she telling him to back off or daring him to kiss her? There was only one way to find out. “Ruby,” he rasped and walked her backward against the wall. There was no way anyone could glimpse them from outside. They were alone but for dozens of horses. “You want this, too,” he whispered, and then his mouth touched hers, and the sweetest purr escaped her throat. He deepened the kiss, tasting her again, her warmth, the softness of her lips burning through him.
She threaded her arms around his neck, tugging him forward, making him hot all over. She was a dynamo, a fiery woman who kissed him back with enough passion to set the darn barn on fire. Their bodies melded together, a perfect fit of small to large. They’d made it work one time before, and it had been heaven on earth. He wanted that again. He wanted to touch her and make her cry out. He wanted to strip her naked and watch her body move under his.
One kiss from Ruby had him forgetting all else. It was crazy. It was the middle of the day and they were in his father’s stable. But none of that mattered right now. Brooks couldn’t stop. He couldn’t walk away from Ruby. He grabbed thick locks of her hair, the shiny mass silky in his hands. He gave a tug and gazed down at her, so beautiful, so full of passion. “Is there somewhere we can go?” His voice was rough, needy.
Her eyes closed for a second as she decided, the pause making his heart stop. But then she whispered, “My office behind the tack room. There’s a lock.”
Relieved, he gave a slight nod of his head and then gripping her bottom, lifted her. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he carried her to the office. He maneuvered them inside, turned the lock and then lowered her down. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she moved to the window and twisted the lever to close the blinds.
It gave him a second to do a cursory survey of her office. Warm tones, a wood floor, a cluttered desk and a dark leather sofa were all he needed to know about the decor before he turned to Ruby again, taking her back into his arms and claiming her mouth.
It wasn’t long before their desperate whimpers and growls filled the room. He stripped Ruby of her vest pretty quickly and then worked the buttons of her blouse. She helped, and then he pushed the layers off her shoulders and undid her lacy black bra. Her breasts spilled out, and he simply looked at her in awe for a few seconds before filling his hands. He flicked his thumbs over both nipples. She sucked in oxygen and squeezed her eyes closed, the pleasure on her face adding fuel to his fire.
As he bent his head and drew her nipple into his mouth, she moaned low and painfully deep. Her hands were in his hair, holding him there, as if he needed the extra encouragement.
“Galahad,” she whispered softly.
“Hmm?”
“Get naked.”
She was impatient, and maybe he was, too, because if he stopped to analyze this, to really think about what was happening and where, rational thoughts would intrude and possibly kill the moment. He couldn’t have that. He was too far gone, and so was Ruby. He could tell by the sounds she was making and the desperate look in her eyes.
This was dangerous in so many ways, and yet neither of them could put a halt to what they were doing, so he quickly unfastened all the buttons on his shirt.
And then Ruby’s hands were on him, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside. Her fingertips began grazing his skin, probing his chest as she planted kisses here and there. She reached for the waistband of his jeans and pulled his zipper down. “You’re right,” he murmured. “You are feisty.”
“Determined,” she corrected him, and he actually chuckled through the flames burning him to the quick.
“Your turn,” he said, dipping into the waistband of her jeans. Within seconds, he had her naked and trembling. He couldn’t blame her; he was equally turned on. All the secrecy and danger might have added to it, but it could simply have been Ruby. She was a man’s dream. Maybe she could’ve been his dream in a different life.
She was feathery light in his arms as he lifted her and carried her to the sofa. He laid her down and gazed at her for a moment. Her hair, her skin, her body, everything that was Ruby made him shiver and want to please her. He came down next to her, squeezing in beside her on the sofa. He kissed her hard then, crushing his mouth to hers while moving his hand to her sweet spot. She bucked as he began to caress her. “Enjoy this, Ruby. Don’t hold back. You understand?”
She nodded eagerly.
And he worked up a sweat pleasing her, using his kisses to muffle her whimpers and moans. And when her final jolt released her ultimate pleasure, he was there with her to press his mouth to hers and swallow her soft cries.
It was a heady thing, satisfying Ruby, but they weren’t through yet. He rose up immediately, and she helped him take off the rest of his clothes. He grabbed for the packet he carried in his pocket and sheathed himself before coming up over Ruby. She stretched her arms up, reaching around his neck to pull him down and kiss him again. He was ready, so ready, and when Ruby invited him into her warmth, he joined them together in one breathtaking plunge.
Aw, hell. It was better than he remembered. He stilled, absorbing the feel of her, loving the body that so readily welcomed him.
“Don’t hold back, Galahad. You understand?”
Good God, Ruby was something. He kissed her again and again, and as he moved deeper, filling her body, she moved with him, keeping pace, rising and lifting and enjoying.
It happened swiftly, neither one wanting to wait, both desperate to find that place that would unite them on the highest ground. She called out his name, and quickly he muted her with a powerful kiss. Then her hips bowed up, and he propelled her even higher with one final all-consuming push. The rush made her convulse around him, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He came as close to heaven as any mortal man could.
Afterward he lay holding Ruby in his arms. “You all right?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
He kissed her forehead, stroking her arm and grazing his fingers over the peaks of her lush breasts. Then he slid his hand down to her legs. He caressed her there, taking in the smooth, soft skin under his palms, not knowing when he’d have the privilege of doing this again.
He heard the thud of footsteps coming toward the office. Voices filtered in.
Ruby’s eyes rounded, and she gasped. “It’s Sam and one of the boys,” she whispered. “He may be looking for me. I left Spirit in the corral, and the grooming equipment is all over the ground. Damn it.”
“Shh. Don’t panic. I locked the door.”
“But Sam knows I never lock the door when I’m working. If he knocks on the door, I won’t be able to look him in the eye. Not with you in here. I’ve got to go.”
She rose and donned her clothes hastily, then wove her fingers through her hair to tame the messy locks. “Get dressed, Brooks. And don’t come out of the office until I get them out of here.”
“Ruby, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they saw me in your office.”
“Are you insane? I’d never be able to pull that off. Sam will know something’s up and it’s the last thing either of us need right now. Stay until it’s safe for you to leave.”
She opened the door and was gone.
Leaving him locked in the office, buck naked.
What the hell?
