Rowan

by MarieRochelle

  “No, everything is fine. The calendar is still on. You have nothing to worry about. I’m still going to take some hot pictures of you for ladies to hang on their walls. How about we get started on your pictures?” Akayie said, stopping by a huge oak tree towards the back of the ranch.

  Danya had come down earlier and set up everything for her before heading back to the hotel to make some phone calls back home that needed to be taken care of. As much as kissing Rowan earlier had taken her breath away, she couldn’t and wouldn’t allow herself to lose focus on the main reason she was here.

  “How about you take off your shirt and we can get some test shots?” she suggested, picking up the camera off the small table. “I want to check the lighting with the background, and if everything looks good we can start the process of making you famous.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Daniel said as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

  “Okay, are you ready?” Akayie asked, making her way over to the handsome cowboy.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m ready.”

  Akayie quickly snapped pictures and then at them through the back of the camera. Oh, yeah. The camera loved Daniel and his bedroom eyes. This photo shoot was going way better than she could have ever hoped for. Today was getting better and better and she couldn’t wait to see what else was going to happen while she was living here at Braden Ranch.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Miles Away

  Los Angeles, California

  “When were you planning on telling me about this, or were you going to keep it a secret?” the feminine voice accused from behind him.

  Turning away from the crib he finished getting together less than ten minutes ago, Dante found his very pregnant wife waving two sheets of tan paper in his direction. He had read that letter from Morgan so many times that he didn’t even have to guess what it was. All he did want to know was, how did Amara find it? He had it locked away inside his desk because he was still on the fence about answering it or trying to build a relationship again with any of his younger brothers.

  “How did you find that?” he asked, coming towards her.

  Dante tried taking the letter from his wife, but she put it behind her back. “Does it really matter? I want you to answer my question, Dante Braden. Were you hiding Morgan’s letter from me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” she asked, hurt clear in her soft voice. “I thought we told each other everything. If something had changed you should have let me know. Here, you can take these back. I guess I was wrong about us sharing everything.”

  Amara held out the papers for her husband to take. It crushed Dante to see the pained look on his wife’s beautiful face. She was reading the situation entirely the wrong way. He wasn’t trying to keep anything from her on purpose. He was protecting her from any kind of stress while she was carrying their son. He had to make her understand.

  Taking the letter from her, he laid it down on the changing table next to them. “Baby, you don’t understand. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you because I wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t want to upset you with you being so close to your delivery date. I would have told you after Brody was born.”

  His wife’s eyebrows arched over her beautiful brown eyes. “Oh really,” she said. “Why do I find that so hard to believe? I know how you feel about the Braden Four.”

  Dante groaned under his breath at the nickname Amara had given his baby brothers. For some odd reason, she decided it would be cute to give his four grown brothers a group name.

  “Will you please stop calling Morgan, Lucas, Rowan and Tanner by that name?”

  “Baby, come on, it’s so cute,” Amara said, rubbing her stomach. “Don’t be jealous. You know that I love you. That’s why I’m so hurt you didn’t share Morgan’s letter with me. You’d think that everything was still strained between all of you, but it isn’t.”

  “Nothing has changed,” Dante insisted, worried Amara was reading more into the letter than there really was. “I still don’t want them around you or the baby after he is born.”

  Shaking her head, Amara continued rubbing her belly. “See, that is where you’re wrong, sweetheart. Six months ago, Morgan wouldn’t have even considered writing you a letter, but now he has. Can’t you see that he wants to be a part of our lives? A baby is a special gift for everyone to share and if Brody happens to bring you and your siblings closer together, his birth would be the best gift possible, so why wouldn’t you let our son do this for your shattered family? Do you really want him growing up not knowing anything about his uncles? I don’t have any family to share with my son, but you do.”

  “Sweetheart, I….”

  “No, I don’t want to hear any more excuses why you can’t find a way to rebuild your sibling bond with your brothers. If you stopped fighting and gave making things work half that attention, all of your brothers might actually show up here for the birth of their big brother’s first baby.”

  “Did you notice that Morgan was the only one who sent me a letter?” Dante questioned.

  “Good God, honey. Who cares if Lucas, Tanner, or Rowan wrote the letter or signed the one Morgan sent to you? Morgan did it and he should be the one you care about getting in touch with. The rest will follow and if they don’t, who cares? How can you not answer him?”

  Dante opened his mouth to argue until he saw the tears glistening in his loving wife’s beautiful eyes. She was about to give him the most precious gift in the world. He didn’t want her upset or, worse than that, angry with him.

  Instantly, he refocused his attention on her and gently pulled her into his arms. Lovingly, he rubbed his hands up and down her back. He hated when he and Amara got into fights. He loved her so much and he always wanted her to be happy.

  “Baby, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I know you miss having a family to share your life with and can’t understand why I can’t embrace mine more.”

  Leaning back, Amara stared up into his eyes. “Dante, I understand why you’re mad at your brothers, but all I want you to do is open your heart to the possibility of finding a common ground with your brothers. I want our little boy to come into this world with love surrounding him. Not with all this lingering hate and mistrust from years ago.”

  The logic of his wife’s words seemed to make all the sense in the world, but he had tried so many times in the past to mend fences with his family after he’d moved to Los Angeles, and nothing had worked. Maybe Amara was right, it was way past time for him to get over his turbulent upbringing to see where Morgan’s letter could take their relationship.

  “Fine, I will think about responding to Morgan’s letter,” he said.

  “No, I want you to promise me that you will email him today. A letter will take too long to get to him.”

  “Alright, I will send Morgan an answer to his letter later on today. But, now how about we do something else?” he suggested, giving Amara a quick kiss on the mouth.

  Smiling up at him, Dante saw the love shining in his beautiful wife’s eyes and, honestly, in the moment he knew that he didn’t need or want anything else but her and their son.

  “What do you want to do?” she asked.

  “How about we go outside and relax on the patio? We don’t have that much longer before our little boy is here and I want to spend every minute that I can with you.”

  “I like that idea,” his wife answered. “We haven’t sat on the patio on in a while. You have been so busy in New York opening your second bar, and the charity takes a lot of my time as well. Today is the first day that we have both been home at the same time.”

  He moved back from Amara and grabbed her by the hand. “Let’s go. I can make us some of my famous wings if you want. I have some extras in the refrigerator.”

  Linking their fingers together, Amara tugged him towards the open doorway “Let’s go, you know that I never turn down your famous wings. I think I love them almost as I love you.”

  Dante’s
rich laughter filled the room as he allowed his wife to lead him out of the nursery. He never expected such an amazing life with a beautiful woman like Amara. He would do anything to make her happy, even if it meant trying to make up again with his less than cooperative brothers.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Standing outside on the vast property of Braden Ranch as the warm night air blew around her, Akayie listened as the creatures of the night made their own music. She couldn’t get to sleep being here on the ranch. So, she decided to come out and take a few pictures of the nightfall.

  Back home lights filled the sky, but nothing like she was seeing tonight. She was so glad she hadn’t turned down Rowan’s invitation to stay here. If she was still at the hotel, she would be missing out on all of this beauty. Raising her camera, Akayie snapped a few pictures of the trees highlighted by the moonlight.

  Did the moon seem bigger and brighter out here since it was away from town? Well, whatever it was, it made the area more hypotonic. She wasn’t about to miss getting all the stunning pictures she could.

  “Are you ever without that camera plastered against your face?” a rich, masculine voice teased behind her.

  Akayie lowered the camera away from her eyes. She glanced behind her and found Rowan standing there looking sexier than the last time she laid eyes on him. He was wearing a cream-colored shirt, a pair of black jeans, and black cowboy boots. “I didn’t realize you were already back from your business meeting. I thought you wouldn’t be back here for another hour, which is why I was taking some pictures.”

  “Yeah, my second meeting didn’t happen. So, instead of staying there I got in my truck and came back here.”

  “Was it to see me?” she asked.

  Closing the remaining distance between them, Rowan traced his finger down the side of cheek and smiled at her. She barely contained her gasp of excitement and, from the look of acknowledgement in Rowan’s eyes, Akayie knew that he must have heard it. She grabbed his finger, moving it away from her face.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, letting go of his hand.

  “I thought I was flirting with a beautiful woman, but if you have to ask I must have been out of the dating pool longer than I thought,” he joked, winking at her.

  Laughing, she removed the camera from around her neck and laid it inside the bag next to her leg. “Now I know you’re up to something. The kiss you gave me this afternoon in the stables, you warning me away from other men, and now you are admitting to flirting with me. Are you to become more than my boss, Mr. Braden?”

  “I kissed you because I find you gorgeous and yeah, I warned you not to get anymore male attention while I was gone. If I haven’t made myself clear, I do want to be more than your boss while you are here. I can’t deny it any longer. I’d been trying to fight my need for you, but today it got the better of me. I wanted to know what you tasted like and it was better than anything I’d imagined. So yes, I want to be more than your boss. I’m making it very clear right now that I’m interested in you.”

  Akayie’s heart jumped at the confession. Rowan was telling her the words she wanted to hear.

  “Don’t you find me the least bit attractive?” he asked. “Would you rather be here with Morgan instead of me?”

  What? She couldn’t believe the words coming out of Rowan’s mouth. How could he even ask her such a question after just telling her that he wanted her? Did he not remember that earth-shattering kiss they shared in the stables hours ago?

  Was he fishing for compliments, or could he actually be worried something was going on between her and Morgan? Yeah, Morgan was a good-looking guy, but he wasn’t Rowan. She was only interested in one man and he was standing right in front of her.

  She sighed. “No, I’m not interested in anything romantic with any of your brothers, especially Morgan. He’s a great guy, but he doesn’t make my─” Akayie suddenly stopped talking realizing she might be saying too much.

  “My brother doesn’t make your…”

  “Rowan, God. I’ve been looking all over the house for you. I can’t believe I found you out here. You are usually sitting behind your desk with a pile of paperwork in front of you and a cup of coffee at your elbow.”

  Rowan cursed under his breath. “Fuck, I don’t have time for this.”

  Moving around Rowan, she spotted Tanner, the youngest Braden brother, walking towards them. She’d heard about him, but this would be her first time meeting him. Turning, Rowan moved back until he was standing next to her. She noticed how tense his body became, and she placed her hand on his arm.

  He glanced down at her with surprise etched across his handsome face. “Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice.

  Rowan touched the side of her face with the back of his hand. “I’m fine,” he answered, giving her a tiny smile. “Tanner, I’m surprised to see you here, especially since our last conversation didn’t end so great. I thought you swore that you weren’t ever going to set foot on my ‘fucking property’ again and that I could to hell.”

  Tanner stole a quick glance at her then looked back at his brother. “I changed my mind,” he admitted. “I really need to talk to you.”

  “Why?” Rowan demanded harshly.

  Akayie saw the situation was about to get out of hand, so she stepped in. “Hi, I’m Akayie Mathis, the photographer your brothers hired for the calendar.”

  “I’m Tanner Braden,” he answered. “Lucas told me that you were here. Sorry I haven’t been by to take my pictures for the calendar, but I have been busy with work. I probably won’t be able to do it until next week.”

  “I understand. How about you give me a call when you are ready? I will be here for a little while. You can get my cell phone number from one of your brothers and arrange a time that is best for you.”

  “My baby brother didn’t come here to discuss the calendar with you, Akayie. Did you, Tanner?” Rowan demanded. “If you’ve come here hoping I’ve changed my mind, then you are wasting your time. I don’t want anything to do with either one of them.”

  “Do you think we should get into this right now?” Tanner questioned, taking another look in her direction.

  “No, I don’t think we should because I already have plans with Akayie,” he said, shocking her. “I promised to take her out to dinner and I’m not about to cancel my plans to have this conversation with you. Akayie, why don’t you go upstairs and change?”

  “Why is she going upstairs to change?”

  “Not that it is any of your business, but I invited Akayie and her assistant to stay here at the ranch,” Rowan answered. “It didn’t make any sense for either one of them to be paying for two hotel rooms when they spend ninety percent of their days here. Besides, if Ms. Mathis has any questions for me, I will be around to answer them. So, our conversation will have to wait until another day. Since I already did have plans with Akayie I can’t break my word to her, now, can I?”

  “Rowan, it will only take about ten minutes. You really need to listen to me,” Tanner said.

  “Not tonight. I need to change as well. I don’t want to take Akayie to dinner in these clothes. Why don’t you try seeing me at a better time?”

  “You can’t keep avoiding them. Sooner or later you’ll have to deal with them. They are your─”

  “Enough, I told you I would deal with this later and I will, but on my terms not theirs. They lied to us for you and you just can’t expect me to forgive them. I need more time, so let me have it.”

  Tanner stared at his brother for a few minutes. “It’s your life and I can’t tell you how to live it, but you need to get over it and make peace with them. I will be back to see you. This isn’t going to stop me.” Turning away, he walked back into the house and around the corner, disappearing from sight.

  “Do you think that you should have talked to him? It seemed like it was very important.”

  “No, it wasn’t. All he wanted me to do was go and visit our parents. They were dead to me a long time ago. I’m not in
terested in hearing any sort of apology from them.”

  “Would you rather not go out to dinner? I know you just told Tanner that to get rid of him,” Akayie said.

  “Not on your life,” he answered quickly. “I want to take you out to dinner and nothing is going to stop me from doing it. How about you go and change? I will take a shower and meet you downstairs in forty-five minutes?”

  A quick image of Rowan’s perfect body wet in the shower flashed in her mind before it disappeared just as fast. She had to get a grip on herself before she did something crazy like kiss him right here and suggest they forget going to dinner altogether.

  “Sounds good to me,” she replied. Moving around Rowan, heading towards the house, she only hoped tonight went smoothly without any more obstacles getting in their way.

  * * * *

  Rowan watched Akayie walking away from him, liking how she sensed that he needed her touch when Tanner was here. He and Tanner had grown apart over the past few months because of their different views about their parents, and it wasn’t entirely about Dante.

  But, he wasn’t going to let Tanner or his parents control his thoughts tonight because it was going to be all about impressing Akayie. He couldn’t ever recall a time when a woman had given him comfort that wasn’t sexual. She placed her hand on his arm out of true concern and nothing else. She deserved to be taken out on the town and shown a good time and he was just the man to show her what made Texas so damn good. Whistling, Rowan slid his hands into the front pockets of his slacks, feeling more alive than he had in a very long time.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “You look absolutely stunning,” Rowan told her for the second time that evening. I almost suggested that we go somewhere else. The black dress you’re wearing is making me have thoughts that I shouldn’t. The zipper going down the side is a temptation worth investigating.”