Brothers of Miller Ranch Box Set

by Natalie Dean

  “Huh,” she said, which definitely wasn’t an answer at all and made his heart leap in concern. But then she was nodding, as if she was agreeing with a dialogue in her own head. “Yeah. I feel the same. But first…”

  “Yeah?” He expected maybe she was going to lay some ground rules or conditions. And that was perfectly fine with him. She could ask him to go get a star for her and he’d find a way to bring one down to Earth.

  “How about you take me home in that beautiful buggy?”

  “Sure.” He swallowed, trying to pull himself away from her. But his hands stayed where they were, wrapped up in all of her and so, so warm. “But maybe you should call your parents and tell them we’re on our way back.”

  “Why?” she asked, blinking slowly.

  Goodness, they were a pair, weren’t they?

  “Because then they’ll be expecting us, and a little extra responsibility might help me keep my head on straight.”

  “Benjamin Miller,” she said it with mock-dramatics, but the sound of his full name from her still kiss-swollen lips was almost too much. “Are you saying I’m a temptation?”

  “I dunno,” he responded, letting his fingertips slide along the back of her neck again. “Temptation makes you sound like a negative, and you could never be anything but overwhelmingly positive to me. But yeah, I wouldn’t mind kissing you again.”

  Her face grew so utterly mischievous that he knew he was gonna be in trouble. “Then do it.”

  “Dani, you’re going to be the death of me,” he said with a laugh, going instead to kiss the tip of her nose. His body was still thrumming with desire for her, and he knew he needed to cut himself off while he could.

  “Yeah, but what a way to go.”

  20

  Danielle

  “You look happy today,” Mom said, sipping at her coffee while Dani practically floated through the kitchen.

  “I am happy,” Dani answered breezily.

  Still cautious, but also happy. Relaxed. It seemed that Keiko was right, lowering her walls did allow someone wonderful to slip in.

  It’d been two days since the surprise date in the buggy, and just like the perfect gentleman, Benji had taken her home and given her a chaste kiss on the lips on her porch.

  Everything had happened so fast that day, she’d never had time to tell him that he was her first kiss. That she’d never felt close or safe enough with anyone to try something like that. But the moment his lips had touched hers, thoughts of anybody else flew out of her head and there was only him.

  And boy, was he something.

  Dani had always scoffed at books and movies that focused on kisses like they could change the world. It was just one human pushing their mouth bits up against another human’s mouth bits and getting all carbon dioxide with each other. But goodness, she was of a very different opinion now. While yeah, maybe the world hadn’t suddenly shifted on its axis, it felt like her world had, and she was choosing to enjoy it rather than overthink it.

  Which was only slightly difficult.

  That voice inside of her told her that it couldn’t last. That it was a trick. That she was being dumb. But she shoved that down, down, down, until it was just a faint whisper behind all the pleasantness.

  “I’m glad. We were a little bit worried about you, you know.”

  There was that sliver of guilt again. But this time she let herself feel it, process it, and move on. No more ruminating and overthinking about every negative thing that passed through her mind.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot going on in my head, and I feel like I’m just beginning to straighten it out.”

  “I see,” she answered, sipping more of her coffee. “And is that Miller boy the one that’s doing all the straightening?”

  Dani felt herself turn red, but her mother just laughed and continued talking.

  “I like him. He’s a sweet boy. We wouldn’t be remotely where we are now if it weren’t for him and his family.”

  “No, we definitely would not,” Dani agreed.

  “But you’re not doing this because you feel like you owe him something, right? Because charity is something that’s freely given, not used as a bargaining chip later.”

  “Oh no, Mom. It’s nothing like that. I promise. He’s a good guy. I guess we’re kind of seeing where things are going.”

  She didn’t tell her mother about the investment Benji was considering. That felt like it would be violating his trust.

  “I thought as much,” her mom said, rising and crossing to press a kiss to Dani’s cheek. “My girl has always been too strong for things like that. I’m so blessed to have a daughter that takes after the likeness of me.”

  “Oh, so you’re the one who gave me my temper and propensity for conflict?”

  She snorted as she put her empty mug in the sink and for a moment it really was like looking in a mirror. “Back in my day, we called it having a backbone. The world is all too happy to crush people like us, Dani. I’ll always be grateful that you seem to know how to push it right back.”

  The words were surprisingly sweet. Not because her mother wasn’t always loving and verbal about that love, but because her mom certainly seemed to know what to say and exactly when to say it.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Of course, dear. Your father and I are about to head to the city to sign what will hopefully be the last of the insurance papers and visit your brothers. Do you need anything?”

  Dani shook her head. Everything she wanted was already around. What a wild thought.

  “All right. Be good. Try not to work yourself too hard. And, oh, I realize now that I’ve never had to say this to you, but I remember what it was like to be young and in love. If you end up alone with that Miller boy, make—”

  “Mom,” Dani cut her off sternly. “I am twenty-six years old. If you are about to give me a birds and the bees or be careful talk, the need for that has long since passed.”

  “All right, fine, fine. Fair enough. But you are my youngest one. Can you blame me for wanting to protect you?” She reached up to gently caress Dani’s cheek. “My little girl, but so much a woman.”

  Dani pressed her face into her mother’s touch, eyes fluttering closed. Ever since the fire with her brothers, she realized that she’d been holding her parents at bay too. Not wanting to inconvenience them or burden them when everything was her fault anyway. But now it didn’t feel as selfish to lean on them a little.

  “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, dear.”

  They parted a bit after, both of them going about their day, but Dani made sure to run to the end of the garden and wave to them as they pulled down the drive and headed toward the dirt road that would eventually lead them to the highway.

  After that, it was just a matter of busying herself with the chores that three siblings used to do all together. It wasn’t that bad, however, because she knew Benji would eventually show up and cover a lot of the ones her brothers used to do. Sure, she’d rather have her own siblings on it considering the reason why they weren’t around, but he wasn’t a bad substitute in a pinch.

  As if he had heard her thoughts, she was in the middle of refilling her canteen with cold water when there was a knock at the back door. She looked out the window to see Benji standing there, looking handsome and casual in his work clothes, so she motioned him in.

  “Hey there,” she said, nerves and excitement bubbling up in her middle. It was strange to be so honest about her feelings when she normally spent so much time denying them, but not entirely unwelcome. “Did you need something?”

  “Need? No. Want? Yes.”

  He took a couple strides toward her and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Perhaps it all was a bit too fast, going from never having been kissed to suddenly having someone in front of her who was clearly willing to show his affection, but she liked the change. It made her feel wanted in a way she never had before.

  While she’d really never needed a relationship to
feel whole, or for any sort of fulfillment, she realized it was nice to have someone outside of her family to lean on. It made her feel less isolated. More accepted.

  More willing to trust.

  “How about lunch?” she asked, her body heating up just by his close proximity.

  She had never expected to have such a visceral reaction to him, but even just the smell of him reminded her of that amazing kiss and how it had practically made her head spin.

  “Sure,” he said with a soft smile. “Lunch sounds nice.”

  Dani nodded and slipped away from him, going to the fridge to make them a couple of cold cut sandwiches. Nothing fancy, of course, but it was filling and cool, which was nice on a warm summer day.

  “You a ham or a turkey kind of guy?” she asked, happy to have something to take her mind off the many distracting details about him.

  “How about both?”

  “Both?” she echoed. “What is this madness?”

  “I’m a growing boy. I like my protein.”

  “I’ll say so. Condiments?”

  “You got spicy mustard?”

  “Do I have spicy mustard?” she asked sarcastically. “Does the pope wear a funny hat?”

  She grabbed the three different types of heated mustard they had and tossed them over to Benji, who caught each one of them.

  “Huh, I don’t think we even have this many at our house.”

  “Well, we’ve got eclectic tastes here in the house of Touhey. Believe it or not, I don’t even like mustard. Those just belong to my brothers and Ma.”

  “You don’t like mustard?” he asked incredulously. “Huh, I guess there was a reason nobody liked you in high school after all.”

  Her jaw dropped at the joke, and she tossed the entire loaf of bread at him.

  “Excuse me, how dare you relate my very serious trauma to a sandwich topping.”

  “What? It all makes sense now. Who doesn’t like mustard? They must have sensed that something was wrong.”

  Despite the dark subject, the joking made her laugh, and she felt her spirits lifting even higher as she went about making their sandwiches. When she sat next to him, handing him his plate, she ruffled his hair.

  It was uncanny how easily the physical affection came to her. Like the only reason she had been so stressed lately was because she had kept herself so bottled up in her own head. Leave it to Keiko to have everything all figured out and find a solution.

  Benji practically inhaled the sandwich as soon as she set it down, draining the glass as well. She gave him a keen sort of look, then quickly made him another one. She liked being a good host almost as much as she liked seeing him enthusiastically eat what she made. Normally, she would have to worry about the grocery budget and if it was really worth it before having a second helping, but considering all the help his family had given them, she knew her fridge was going to be stocked for a good, long time.

  “What?” Benji asked, realizing that she was staring at him.

  “Just thinking,” she said happily, taking his plate and carrying it over to the sink. She turned on the faucet only to feel his strong form pressed against her back, and then his hands were parting her hair so he could gently kiss at the nape of her neck.

  “You know, when I woke up this morning, I was almost afraid that I had dreamed it all.”

  She stood there a moment, goosebumps rising along her arms as she let herself enjoy his affection, but eventually she turned around, so their fronts were pressed together.

  He was a lot taller than her, so even standing on her tip toes, she had to strain her neck upward. He caught her intent right away though, and soon his lips were crashing to hers once more.

  It was so… nice. Being wanted. Being loved. Having someone there to comfort her. Perhaps it was silly to stake so much on a kiss, but she couldn’t help how much it eased the ache inside of her. No, it didn’t erase the fact that her brothers were in the hospital, or that she had other things to work through. But it did make those things so much easier to bear.

  Benji pressed into her, kissing her lips tenderly yet passionately. That made her knees weak, but he seemed to anticipate that, as his arms squeezed tighter around her.

  Briefly she wondered if she should stop him, if they were going too far too fast and going to get themselves into something they weren’t ready for. But then he was hauling her up, setting her down on the counter so she was more level with him, and he didn’t have to stoop to kiss her.

  Dani would like to say that she handled it smoothly, but she let out a surprised little squeak. She knew that Benji was strong because of ranch life, but she had no idea he was that strong. She wasn’t exactly a sack of flour.

  She was more like a bushel or two.

  But Benji just chuckled, pulling away from her slightly to rest his forehead against hers. “Is this all right?” he asked.

  His voice sounded absolutely wrecked. Something about the raggedness made her feel somewhat vain, preening at the fact that she was doing that to him.

  “Maybe we should breathe for a moment,” she murmured, laughing a bit awkwardly too.

  “Yeah, breathing is important, last I heard.”

  “Really? Sounds like fake news.”

  “You know what, you’re right. Guess you should just kiss me again.”

  She leaned toward him, definitely ready to fall into the syrupy headiness of his affection, but then her phone rang, nearly jolting her from the moment.

  “I sure hope you’re planning on ignoring that,” Benji said ruefully as she pulled her cellphone from the front of her overalls.

  “Only about seven people have my number. None of them are people I’d ignore.”

  “Huh, I guess one of us has to be responsible.”

  “Responsible, yeah.”

  She finally got her phone out and looked at the screen. It was her Ma, and instantly her stomach dropped out of her body and down towards China. She knew that it was probably just her calling in to say they were going to end up spending the night in a motel, but she felt herself automatically defaulting to the worst assumptions.

  “Hey, Ma, what’s up?”

  “Honey, are you home?”

  Dani could instantly tell that something was wrong with her mom’s tone. She put her hand on Benji’s muscled chest to push him away, hopping to the ground as he instantly moved for her.

  “Yeah, Mom. You okay?”

  “Yes, honey. But is Benji there?”

  Her cheeks burned a bit. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Okay Dani, stay calm for me, please?”

  Her whole body went cold at that. “Mom, what’s happening?”

  “They’re going to try to wake up James. We asked them to wait for you, but they say the doctor only has about an hour and a half. Can Benji get you here? I want you to be here if he wakes up. I know he’s going to ask for you.”

  “What about Chester?” she asked, heart pounding in her chest. They were waking her brother up. After weeks of waiting, worrying, she was finally going to be able to talk to her bother and apologize for ever putting him into that mess.

  “His vitals haven’t been as steady as James so they want to wait a couple more days. Do you think you can come, honey?”

  Dani looked to Benji, who was watching her with a concerned expression. “They’re gonna wake my brother up,” she managed to say, which seemed almost impossible considering that her mouth felt like sandpaper.

  His eyebrows shot up and he stood straight. “Really?”

  She could only nod, her mouth giving up on that whole talking thing.

  “Then let’s go!”

  Her heart squeezed gratefully, and she spoke into the phone again, forcing the words out. “Yeah, Mom. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Thank you, honey. I think I need you here too. Just in… just in case.”

  “Of course, Mom. We’re leaving now.”

  “Love you, Dani.”

  “Love you too.”

  The screen d
oor punctuated her statement, slamming closed as she and Benji hurried toward his truck. He had parked it where he usually did, and within minutes they were jumping inside and flying down the drive.

  “You okay?” Benji asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye while he drove.

  Dani just nodded, focusing her eyes ahead as if she could get them to the hospital faster by doing so. She knew the risks of waking her brother up. The foremost being that he wouldn’t actually wake up. But there were other things too. That the influx of pain would put him into shock even with all the medicine he was taking, that his immune system could tank. She just had to hope that wouldn’t happen.

  She had to hope for the best.

  After all, hoping for the best with Benji had worked out all right. Maybe this would too.

  21

  Danielle

  Dani’s leg bounced as they reached the edge of the city, traffic slowing them down considerably. They’d been making such good time. She hated the thought that a red light or a person who didn’t know how to merge properly on the highway could make her miss her reunion with her brother.

  “It’s gonna be okay,” Benji soothed, keeping his gaze on the road as he tried to circumvent the delays as best he could.

  “I’m trying not to think of how it’s going to be,” Dani admitted, her leg bouncing harder. “I’m just trying to focus on getting there.”

  “That’s not a bad idea. One thing at a time, right?”

  She nodded, throat tight. Her Ma was texting her on and off, giving her progress reports and the like. They apparently had started easing a lot of the meds her brother was on since that morning, but they wouldn’t do the final step until she was there.

  Or an hour and a half passed. Whichever came first.

  Thankfully, the hospital came into sight when they still had twenty minutes to spare. Dani quickly tried to mentally calculate how long it would take Benji to park and then walk up to the elevators and then finally get to her brothers’ room.