by Hart, Taylor
She couldn’t understand how he could say that. This man had lost his parents to a car crash, had lost his wife to cancer, and was now faced with losing the land he loved. Her heart hurt for him. “Let me get this straight—we just trust.”
He nodded. “Isn’t that why you wanted to come back with me? George said you said you trusted me.”
His words sent warmth flooding through her. This man was kind of amazing. “You know, Ross Charm, maybe your real name should be Ross Charming.”
He sputtered out a laugh. “Did George tell you how the kids used to tease us because of our last names?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Hmm.”
Her lips twitched. “Did the kids tease you about being like Prince Charming?”
He sighed, his expression falling. “Yes, and I found it annoying, to say the least.”
She laughed. “But the last name, Charm, does fit you.”
“Naw. I’m not charming.”
She grinned. “You can be.” She grinned widely. “Plus, you’re just generally kinda awesome, too. Maybe not Prince Charming, but . . . I kinda like you.”
Ross left early the next morning, leaving a note saying he would see them after the actor workshops. He took care of the animals and went to the school, making an effort to calm himself before the students arrived. He’d tossed and turned all night, trying to get Red out of his mind. He tried to force himself not to think about kissing her, how easy it would have been to do so. She didn’t belong with him, or even in Casper at all.
The students and their questions were a nice distraction. As he got home and headed into the house, he wondered what he would say to Red, how he would face her, and how he would stand the torture of all these feelings for a woman that he shouldn’t feel them for.
Laughter rang out from inside the house. When he walked in, he found Kinley and Red in the kitchen, flour all over their faces. Kinley let out a loud yell, and before he realized what had happened, a ball of something flew through the air at him.
He dodged, but not quickly enough, and something gooey hit the side of his face.
All laughter paused.
He met Red’s eyes. She was covering her face. She sputtered, and then she and Kinley were laughing even harder.
“Ohh!” He growled like a bear. “You’re gonna get it!”
Red picked up some of the gooeyness—cookie dough, he realized—and threw it at him, squealing.
He found himself in the middle of a huge cookie dough fight. He grabbed a bunch in each hand and slathered it on the girls’ cheeks.
More shrieks of laughter sounded through the air.
They ganged up on him, and he attempted to flee, but Kinley got a leg, and he went down in a push-up position. Not letting him escape, Red went down too. “Get him!” She smashed cookie dough in his face.
He gave up, laughing and rolling onto his back.
“Get him!” Kinley squealed. She scraped dough from her face and pushed it into his.
Red turned to leave, but he grabbed her ankle, and she tumbled beside them.
“Tickle her!” he called out to Kinley.
Kinley giggled, turning and tickling Red beneath the chin. All of them were soon laughing.
“Enough!” Red said after she’d been tickle-tortured long enough.
He laughed and pulled Kinley off, hugging her to him. “No more, bug.”
Red’s eyes met his.
Instant attraction pulsed into him. “That was the best,” he said, grinning.
The next two days fell into an easy rhythm. He would get up, do chores, and then head to his acting camp. When he got home in the afternoons, the girls would be doing various crafts or cooking, or he’d find them wandering around the ranch. One time, Kinley took Red on the four-wheeler. He caught them laughing and going way too fast. When Red took a turn driving, it was clear that she’d never done it before. After a while, though, she looked like a natural.
Ross was amazed at how Red had changed his life. He and Kinley didn’t really know anything about her, yet it felt like they’d known her forever.
During the evenings, they indulged in spectacular dinners and games and talked or watched movies. After Kinley went to bed, he and Red would start watching something, but he always found himself muting the television and just talking with her.
He knew he was falling hard for the woman. He knew it, and he didn’t want to do anything about it. It felt unstoppable.
Everything changed Thursday night when George called. Kinley and Red were in the kitchen with him as Ross answered. “Hello?” He moved out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out the front door.
“We found out who she is.”
Ross’s mouth went dry as he shut the front door behind him. He braced himself. “Okay.”
“Apparently, they thought she was on a trip to . . . check on some business things here. Anyway, they had no idea that anything had happened to her.”
He swallowed, pushing through his nausea. “Oh.”
“We’ll be out to your place in ten.”
His pulse raced. “Minutes?”
“Yep. Gotta go.”
“Okay.”
The call ended. Ross stared at the phone, feeling disoriented and dizzy. How would he tell her? The center of his chest bubbled with emotion, and he stuffed it down. He’d known this wasn’t real. He’d known that someone would come for her, right?
Sucking in a breath, he opened the door. Kinley and Red were standing there, holding hands, looking worried as if they already knew something was wrong.
He felt like he was facing a firing squad. He tried to smile and feel happy for Red. This was good news. “Your family found you. They’re coming.”
Red didn’t change her expression, but Kinley started crying, covering her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to go.”
Red tugged her into an embrace, squeezing her eyes shut.
Ross felt like his heart was being ripped out all over again. Like he’d just found out Brook had been diagnosed with cancer, and his legs suddenly couldn’t bear the weight of it all.
He put his hands on Kinley’s shoulders. “Kin-bug, we can’t . . .” His eyes met Red’s. “She doesn’t belong to us.” His voice cracked, and the words were a surprise to him. To us.
Tears streamed down Red’s cheeks, and her face contorted. “I don’t want to go.”
Without thinking, he put his arms around both of them, and he felt tears on his own cheeks. Who was coming, and how would he and Kinley ever survive without Red now?
Red had stoically gathered her bag of odds-and-ends clothes, and now they were all waiting on the porch. George drove up in his police car, and a black SUV followed him. Five desperate-looking men jumped out of the vehicle.
“Mia!” the older gentleman getting out of the patrol car called out.
A name.
“Mia,” Ross breathed out.
Mia blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut.
Ross held on to her, supporting her.
She flashed her eyes open, focusing on the man coming at her the fastest. “Dad?” she asked. Her eyes lit up, and a huge smile crossed her face. She turned to a different man. “Sam?”
One of the men moved quickly to the porch. “They said you lost your memory?”
Before Ross knew it, the guys were on the deck, clamoring around her and taking a chance to hug her one by one, saying funny things.
Mia laughed and turned back to him. “Oh my gosh, I remember!”
She looked so happy, and Ross felt bad for resenting these men, but he tried to smile. “That’s great.”
“We knew there must be a family behind this little lady.” George let out a light laugh, nudging Ross.
All the men turned to look at them.
Ross kept a stiff upper lip. Kinley stood in front of him, glued to him, staring at the woman whose name was Mia.
One of the men threw up his hands, looking from George to Ross. “Mia told
us she was disconnecting for ten days. Told us she was turning off her phone and that she didn’t want us checking up on her. So you can imagine our worry when we couldn’t get hold of her yesterday. Then the hotel said she hadn’t been back into her room. They checked, and her phone was there with her wallet, but no one had seen her. We all flew here immediately.”
Wanting this whole horrible family reunion to be over and feeling selfish about it, Ross forced a smile. “I’m glad you found her.”
Mia’s eyes fluttered, and she broke from her father, beaming. “I remember. When my father got out of the car, it all came back to me.”
Emotion surged inside of Ross, scraping at the back of his throat. “That’s great.”
Kinley threw her arms around her. “Mia is a pretty name.”
Mia hugged her closely, then got down and looked in her eyes. “I’m always going to remember our time together. This was the best.”
Kinley nodded but stepped back, clinging to Ross’s side.
Mia stared at him, and he felt the burning stares of her brothers and father upon him.
He remembered the day of his wife’s funeral. Kinley had held to him that day, just like she was doing now. For days afterward, Kinley had clung to him. His eyes fluttered, and he commanded himself to keep his composure. “I’m glad you remember.” He knew his face probably looked rubbery, and he hated himself for almost losing it.
Mia crossed the distance between them and hugged him.
Surprised, he held her. Wishing things were different.
She gently kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I can never repay you, Ross.”
He swallowed hard, wanting to be anywhere except here. “No problem.” He pulled back, telling himself to keep it together.
George seemed to sense Ross’s discontent, and he cleared his throat. “Well, folks, you don’t know how glad I am it turned out this way.” He moved off the porch. “We should probably get going.”
Everyone began moving to the stairs.
Mia stared at him and Kinley for a moment and blinked. “I’m sorry. Thank you.”
“Are you married?” Kinley asked.
The question took all of them off guard, and Ross froze.
Mia let out a light laugh, then met his eyes for a second before smiling at Kinley. “Nope. Never married.” She winked. “It’s just my brothers and Dad and me.”
Crazy electricity bolted through Ross, leaving him paralyzed.
Mia’s father reached out and took her hand. “That’s right, and we’ve missed you. Come on—we need to get back.” He nodded at Ross. “Thank you. Thank you. From one father to another.”
Ross nodded in return. Yes, this was why he’d done it. “You’re welcome.” And he meant it. Even though his heart was breaking, he was glad she’d come home with him.
“I can send a check to cover any expenses.”
This took Ross off guard. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
They all moved to the SUV, and he saw two of the men drape their arms on each side of Mia.
“Hold up,” George said, pausing next to his car. “I just have one question, Mia.”
She stopped, turning to George. “Yes?”
“What were you doing out hiking on this property?”
Mia’s joy crumbled into what seemed to be embarrassment, and she looked at her brothers, then to Ross and Kinley, then back to George. She broke free from her brothers and rushed up the porch stairs to Ross, throwing her arms around him. Her tears dampened his shoulder.
He held her tightly, blinking furiously and wishing she wouldn’t go. She’d said she didn’t have anyone except her family. Would she want him?
All eyes were on him, and he realized that he was losing her. This whole thing was over. He hugged her back tightly, relishing the feel of her body against his. “Mia . . .” Her name slid off his tongue, and he realized he loved it, and it fit her perfectly.
Tears streaked down her cheeks. “Ross, I . . . ”
It was as if they were the only two people who existed. Since it was obvious she wasn’t married, he did the thing he’d been wanting to do since the first day he’d gone to the hospital to check on her. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.
She kissed him back.
The kiss was powerful, like it could seal fate. Fire erupted inside of him, and he didn’t care that they were having their first kiss in front of her family; it might be the only kiss he got. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.
Kinley moved out of the way, and he heard her giggle.
Mia pulled him closer, and he was lost in this woman. Everything that had been between them the past couple of days condensed into this moment.
“Mia!” her father called out.
Ripping away from him, Mia turned to her father. “Wait!”
Ross wanted to demand she stay, demand she be his. “Stay here. Stay with us.” He kissed her again. “Please. Stay.”
She took a step back, swiping at her tears. “I . . .” She squeezed his hand before squatting in front of Kinley and holding open her arms.
Kinley hugged her fiercely. “Stay, Red. Stay.”
Mia hugged her for a long time, then stood. More tears trickled down her face. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” She looked him in the eyes. “I’m with Jagger Energy Enterprises. I was here . . .” Her voice faltered, and she clenched a hand into a fist.
Ross’s heart sank, and suddenly, he knew. He knew, and it hit him like a sucker punch.
Mia let out a cry. “I’m so sorry. I was here that day . . .” she trailed.
Anger shot through him. “You were here to steal my land?”
She winced, and then she frowned.
“Let’s go, Mia.” Her father called out to her.
She met his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” With that, she turned and dashed off the porch, running to the SUV.
One of her brothers opened the door for her, and Ross watched, stunned, as they drove away.
Mia woke the next morning with a jolt, thinking that Ross would be gone and it was time to make breakfast for herself and Kinley. She breathed deeply, remembering reality.
She wasn’t on the ranch.
No, she wasn’t in a fairy-tale anymore. Light was barely coming into her hotel room. They’d stayed in Casper another night. She’d stayed up late, telling her father and brothers all about her experience. Her father had insisted she would go to the best doctor in New York and get her head checked out when they got back.
The trouble was that New York felt like a whole different life to her now.
Her brother James had lingered in her room after they had all left. “You have feelings for this man, don’t you?”
It had stunned her that out of all of them, James would be the one to say something. She hadn’t answered.
He’d pulled her in for a hug. “I saw the way you kissed him. We all did. The way you held his little girl.”
She’d fallen into his hug, sinking into despair. “You know we’re going to acquire their property. Dad said that the deal was still on.”
James searched her eyes, and she’d remembered all the times she’d consoled him over a broken heart. “Sis, you don’t have to stay with the company.”
She’d blinked, thinking about what James was saying.
“You want to be a chef, and I can tell you might want something else too.”
She’d let out a light laugh, remembering how she’d cooked for them. “I was a chef the past couple of days. I made eggs Benedict and pizza and cookies. Maybe I wasn’t a fancy chef, but I did a lot of cooking.”
James hesitated, a soft smile on his face. “You look happy about that.”
“I guess I was happy.” She shrugged and thought of her stubborn father. “But we’re buying his property.”
James laughed. “Haven’t you learned anything being VP of Acquisitions?”
“What?”
“We all know you’re the favorite. It’s been clear since da
y one. Dad will do whatever you say. So talk him out of it.”
Now, in the morning light, she knew she would do exactly that. Then she would go to Ross, and she would make things right.
Ross sat in the bank office, angry and hurt beyond anything he could have ever imagined. If it weren’t for the anger, he could reasonably say that he would have fallen apart last night.
She was Mia Jagger? Mia Jagger, the VP of Acquisitions for Jagger Energy Enterprises? She’d been on his property that day making sure it was good enough to purchase? To acquire? He wanted to punch something. He wanted to . . .
Troy, sitting beside him, tapped his shoulder. “Keep it together. Lots of decisions to make.”
Troy had arrived at the house the evening before, coming straight from his trip. All he’d said when he got to the door was, “George told me.” They had talked until late into the night, and Ross had told him everything. About Jagger Energy Enterprises. About Mia. About falling in love with her. About how angry he was.
His brother had listened and then put a consoling hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, bro.”
Sorry was for chumps and losers and people who clearly weren’t equipped to take on Jagger Energy Enterprises. Ross hated chumps.
At noon, the banker showed up, accompanied by a woman in a pinstriped suit and three-inch heels. She’d straightened her bright red hair.
Ross’s heart hammered inside his chest when she moved into the office, sitting across from him and Troy. It was incredible, the transformation from ranch-girl Red to this Mia Jagger, VP at a billion-dollar energy conglomeration. His heart threatened to erupt inside of his chest, pulsing with a tangled mess of feelings.
The bank manager cleared his throat. “Mr. Charm and Mr. Charm, I have news for you.” He hesitated.
Ross glared at Mia. “What? When do you want us off the land?”
Mia shook her head and tsked her tongue. “You’re a bit of a hothead when you care about something. Do you know that?” She slipped a piece of official-looking paper across the desk.
“What is this?” Troy demanded.
The bank manager grinned. “It’s the title to your property, free and clear.”
Troy looked baffled. “What?”