A Rancher's Bride

by Vivian Arend

  Her charade must have been convincing enough because the other woman didn’t bolt.

  Kelli played a little with her hair, tucking a few lose strands behind her ears before oh-so-casually glancing in the mirror to check out her neighbour. The woman had been cleaning up tears. Possibly applying extra makeup to a bruise.

  This was bullshit. While she had to say something, Kelli knew to move warily. “Sometimes it’s easier to ask a stranger for help than your friends.”

  The woman blinked, startling like one of the deer in the snow field earlier in the week. “What?”

  Kelli turned slowly, lifting a finger toward her own face. “Sometimes accidents happen, and I get that. But sometimes we need a helping hand.” She took a deep breath and tried to make eye contact. Leaning over to make herself look as small and unintimidating as possible. “You need a hand, honey?”

  The woman hesitated as she looked Kelli over. Her mouth opened and closed.

  Then finally, the smallest dip of her chin. “I could use a ride home.”

  Kelli’s mind raced. A ride was definitely doable. If she had to pay for a taxi, so be it. “Is that going to be enough to keep you safe?”

  Another thoughtful nod. “I’ve got roommates. They won’t let anything else happen. I just met him a few weeks ago, and he was really nice until today.”

  “They’re all really nice until they aren’t. The assholes, that is.” Kelli moved in closer. “There are good ones out there. Hey, I’m Kelli.”

  “Gina.”

  “Is he out in the bar waiting for you?”

  Gina nodded.

  “How much longer do you think he’ll wait before he comes looking for you?”

  The woman shrugged. “He’s drinking. No idea.”

  Okay. This might go easier than she thought. “Can you stay here while I get some help?”

  The woman’s eyes widened. “Don’t call the cops.”

  Sometimes that was the right thing to do, but Kelli was more worried about getting Gina out of there in one piece. “I won’t, but I have to get my fiancée. He’s one of the good ones I told you about. We’ll get you home.”

  Gina hesitated, or at least she did until she glanced in the mirror. She grimaced. “Don’t know why you’re willing to help me, but I’m not about to turn you down.”

  Kelli nodded quickly. “Stay here. Hide in a stall if you want. I’ll come back and say my name when we’re ready. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  She rushed back to the dance floor, looking around frantically for Luke. He and their friends were standing to one side, and she slipped up to him, heart pounding.

  Luke slid an arm around her, his smile fading. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need your help.”

  An hour later they were on their way home, and Luke was wrestling with the strangest emotions.

  Jack and Diane had helped get the woman out of the bar without her date spotting her, then Kelli had sat in the middle seat of Luke’s truck, her arm around Gina, as he drove the three of them to Gina’s place in Canmore.

  They’d both insisted on making sure Gina’s roommates were home before leaving. There’d been a flurry of hugs from all the grateful women after they’d escorted Gina up the front steps of her townhouse.

  Minutes after getting back in the truck, Kelli sent a quick text off to Diane to let her know everything had gone well, then read the reply out loud.

  “She says ‘Thank God. Drive safe, and we’ll see you in the morning. We’re calling it a night.’” Kelli curled against Luke’s side, fingers wrapped around his biceps as she leaned her head against him. “Not the ending to the evening I expected.”

  Maybe that was why such a struggle was going on inside his head. Luke was proud of Kelli for having helped someone and kind of choked up that this time she’d been honest enough to come and get him.

  But a big part of him was scared shitless that stepping into dangerous situations was so high on her radar. She was like a magnet for trouble that could get her seriously hurt someday.

  He caught her fingers in his and lifted them to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “You did a good thing.”

  “If the jerk who hit her doesn’t come back. If she’s strong enough to tell him to leave her alone.” Kelli took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They sat in the darkness, the headlights shining on the road as it twisted back into Kananaskis Country.

  This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have while he needed to concentrate on the road. So he pressed a quick kiss to her temple and laid his arm around her shoulders, holding her against him as they sat in silence.

  Comfortable, and yet not. They didn’t need noise to fill the space, not with the years they’d spent working together. But there were so many questions Luke wanted to ask. Things he wanted to understand better than he ever had before.

  He kept her tucked against his side as they made their way back up to the penthouse suite. Jack had left the fire place going, and warmth hovered on the air.

  Luke stroked a finger down her cheek. “Want a drink?”

  She reached for him, tugging him toward the floor. “I need to relax.”

  He helped her settle on the soft carpet in front of the flames but evaded her hands. “I can help with that. Back in a second.”

  By the time he returned from the bathroom she was staring into the fire, a sad look in her eyes.

  He slid across from her, pulling off her socks and watching as her brows rose toward her hairline.

  “What are you doing?”

  He lifted the bottle of body lotion he’d taken from the bathroom counter. “Foot rub?”

  “Oh, God. Yes, please.” She reached over her head and grabbed a pillow off the couch. She jammed it behind her back so she could slouch more comfortably.

  Her eyes closed as he pressed his thumb along her arch. Over and over in smooth glides, he massaged her heels and toes, and they sat in silence except for the fake crackle of the fireplace.

  What to ask? Because this was going to be an uncomfortable conversation no matter what.

  She broke the silence. “I’m glad you were there to help me. I mean, to help Gina.”

  “Me too, but it worries me,” he admitted softly. “I know there are a lot of bad situations out there, Kelli, and I’m glad we could help Gina. But if I hadn’t been around, you still would’ve helped her. Yes?”

  She twisted to meet his eyes. “Yes.”

  “Even if it meant you might get hurt?”

  “If I won’t help because I’m too afraid, what if nobody else steps in? What then, Luke?”

  There was no answer to that, because she was right.

  But so was he for being scared shitless that this was going to end poorly someday. “You’ve gotten seriously hurt before, haven’t you? Last summer.”

  She barely hesitated before nodding. “When you flipped out so hard about me having some bruises. I got in the middle, and he wasn’t very happy.”

  “I still want to know who that was,” he growled. “But since you won’t tell me who, will you tell me why?”

  She curled up and put her hands into his, speaking with utter conviction. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not good enough. I mean, I agree it is something that needs to be done, but why are you fighting this battle?”

  She went motionless, which was eerie when it came to Kelli. Her fingers tangled around his as if she were centering herself with his touch. “My mom.”

  It was Luke’s turn to hold his breath. Waiting until she was ready.

  She licked her lips nervously before she gave a small nod, as if she’d gathered her courage. “I don’t talk about her much.” He made a noise, and she sighed in exasperation. “Okay, fine. I’ve never talked about her. I don’t think she was very brave, or very smart when it comes down to it. And yet I don’t know the whole story, so who am I to judge?”

  “Was she with someone abusive?” he asked quietly. My
God. He slipped his fingers under her chin and lifted until her gaze met his. “Did someone hurt you?”

  “I left before anyone could smack me around. And I wanted her to leave too, but she refused.” Kelli looked concerned. “You’re not going to freak out, are you? Or go off the deep end?”

  “Is there a reason you think I’ll do either of those things?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Before I tell you anything else shocking, I’ll finish answering your first question. I think that’s why it bugs me so much I feel like I have to do something. Fifteen-year-old me couldn’t save my mom, but maybe I can save someone else.”

  Too damn brave and too damn strong for her own good. “I have no problem with you saving the world as long as you let me help you. You need to stay safe, Kelli. Promise me.”

  She nodded.

  And then something else sank in.

  “Fifteen?” Luke looked her over. “Explain.”

  “I left. He wasn’t my dad. The guy mom was living with brought home fake ID for me. He said it was so I could grab beer and smokes for him and his buddies, but I didn’t trust him. And I didn’t trust the way his friends who were hanging around were eyeing me—I doubt they had my best interests at heart, if you know what I mean.”

  “So you left.”

  “It seemed the safest option.” For the first time since she started talking, Kelli looked guilty. “I kind of emptied all their wallets and took the money in the freezer when I left. It wasn’t that much, but it was enough with what I’d already saved to get me to Silver Stone.”

  Wait. Luke’s brain skittered off-line again. “You were fifteen when you showed up at Silver Stone? You’re bullshitting me.”

  Her lips twitched. “God, I remember that day so clearly. You guys were branding calves. Total chaos because some of the hands from Uncle Frank’s who were supposed to show up, didn’t. It was perfect because all I had to do was get up on a ride and start working. Before we were done, Ashton was ready to adopt me.”

  Luke was flabbergasted. “Okay, now that you’ve completely thrown me for a loop with all of this, help me with the math. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three. Nearly twenty-four,” she pointed out. “Which is only three years younger than you thought I was, so don’t make a fuss about the age difference between us. If that’s what you were going to do, don’t bother.”

  “Does anybody else know this?” he asked.

  She shook her head then nodded once, reluctantly. “Tansy does. Nobody else, because they didn’t need to, and I’m not even sure why I’m telling you except—” She took a deep breath then adjusted position to crawl over him. Straddling his hips so she sat in his lap cuddled up close. Her palms cupped his cheeks. “It seems right to tell you.”

  “I can’t believe I never asked about your family.”

  “I didn’t volunteer,” she pointed out.

  That didn’t ease the guilt, or the stupidity of his non-actions.

  “Mom left home just after graduating from high school. She said her parents were a drag. Always bossing her around and not approving of her friends or the guys she liked.” Kelli snorted, hard. “Considering what I know about my dad—which is that he left when she got pregnant—and the shitheads she was with later, her parents were probably not wrong.”

  “So you’ve never met your grandparents?”

  “Nope. I don’t think they know I exist. Mom had dual citizenship, and I know her folks lived in the US. She only told me a few things about them, usually when she was drunk or out of it.”

  Kelli had slipped her fingers into his hair and was stroking him gently. Over and over like a touchstone.

  “I’m sorry.” He said it softly, but he felt it to his very toes. She’d deserved more.

  She shook her head. “How I grew up and the fact I left when I did is not really a sad thing. It’s not like when you lost your parents. My mom made choices. They were wrong ones, but she was still in control. Your mom and dad didn’t choose what happened to them.”

  “I don’t think we have to rate how sad the tragedies in our lives are for them to be devastating,” Luke pointed out. “But I’m glad you told me. I’m honoured that you trust me, and I won’t share it around. I promise.”

  She leaned in and kissed him, lips soft and delicate against his. And while it would’ve been easy to take that and turn up the heat, it didn’t seem right.

  They certainly had the chemistry, and if they’d kept fooling around it would have been natural and logical. But he didn’t push, keeping the kiss gentle, and after a few moments Kelli broke the contact between their mouths and leaned in, hugging him tightly.

  He stroked her, undoing her braids and pulling his fingers through her hair until it lay over her back in a soft curtain. Tender touches that connected them as intimately as being inside her body.

  They sat there, holding each other, until Kelli was on the verge of falling asleep in his arms. He brought her to the bedroom and tucked her into her Spiderman pyjamas before crawling into bed and wrapping himself around her.

  Whatever mistakes he’d made in his past, it felt as if he’d turned the corner. He still wasn’t sure how Kelli had ended up at Silver Stone of all places. That would be a story for another time, but fate had brought her there, and now after so many years, fate had brought her into his arms.

  Where she belonged—

  —and wasn’t that thought enough to rock him off his logical, orderly, simple feet?

  Yet it only made sense. Having her beside him felt perfect.

  Maybe it was wild to be thinking this way when she’d only suggested a fling, but what was growing between them was far deeper than a fling. This was right.

  He wasn’t going to turn away a gift straight from the hands of fate.

  14

  The next couple of days passed in a blur. There were pockets of activity tucked between quiet moments chatting with all the gala attendees. Kelli was fascinated and entertained and exhilarated and exhausted.

  The last one was because of the sex. Oh my God, the sex.

  Luke had woken her up both nights. Said it was her fault because she’d kicked out and woken him first, and him using his fingers to drive her to a fever pitch was his way of getting even.

  Middle-of-the-night sex was the kind of justice she had zero problems with.

  The morning sex had been pretty spectacular as well. She liked waking up warm and cozy in bed with him, his arousal thickening against her as she wiggled in tight.

  He’d teased and tormented until she trembled, and then tucked her under him and took her against the mattress hard, driving into her until she was ready to scream. She’d had to bury her face against his chest to stop from waking the entire hotel—yeah, she was going to miss this when it was over.

  The sweet little moments of affection outside of the bedroom, though, were the ones that set her heart going like a freight train. The way he’d tug her against his side, or would casually catch her fingers in his as they spoke with other attendees…

  Kelli warned herself to enjoy every minute but not to read anything into it other than two people who, while definitely compatible, simply shared a common goal. They’d moved well beyond their initial problem of Luke’s overstepping propriety. She didn’t think anyone suspected his significant other mistake. She forced herself to feel very happy about that for Silver Stone’s sake.

  Heading back to reality was going to suck.

  There were other things to be happy about for Silver Stone. She’d been able to chat about how fantastic the operation was with everyone by that point. Probably ad nauseam, if she was honest.

  The final full day arrived, and she and Diane went to breakfast alone, the guys having taken off to go cross-country skiing or some such nonsense.

  They shared their meal with the owners of another smaller stable who’d been invited to the gala. The young couple were hoping to take their family operation to the next level. They were in the process of shifting their family t
o the next level as well, as the woman was a good six months pregnant and her husband was in charge of the two-year-old who’d been strapped tightly in a high chair to keep him in place.

  Kelli grinned as the young family left, and she reached across the table for her third and what should be her final breakfast doughnut. Diane poured more coffee into her cup and sat back, gazing over the brim thoughtfully as she sipped.

  Her new friend seemed intent on focusing anywhere in particular rather than on Kelli’s face.

  “Is something wrong? Am I wearing my breakfast?” she asked.

  Diane offered a quick headshake. “I was thinking how sad it is we have to go back to reality tomorrow.”

  Now there was a sobering thought. Her idyllic fantasy getaway was drawing to an end. Still—

  “There are things to look forward to back home, as well. I’m eager to try that technique you suggested on Chili Pepper.”

  “I’ll have to get Jack to bring me up to Silver Stone so I can see you working with her myself.”

  Wouldn’t that be exciting? “You guys are always welcome.”

  —horror slammed into Kelli as she realized her mistake.

  It was the same one she’d given Luke hell for, in a way, which meant she should have seen it coming. It was her own damn fault for agreeing to the deception in the first place.

  Jack and Diane would come to visit Silver Stone, which was wonderful and fantastic. And considering what Kelli now knew about the things that Diane planned for the future, it could mean wonderful things for the ranch.

  But it also meant they’d expect to see her and Luke together.

  The idea churned everything inside and shredded Kelli’s happiness to ribbons.

  She scrambled for something to say that didn’t involve blurting out the truth, because, although that’s what she wanted to share, she couldn’t. Not without talking to Luke first.

  So she held her tongue. But her doughnut didn’t taste nearly as sweet. It had turned to sawdust on her tongue, and it was nearly impossible to swallow around the knot in her throat.