A Rancher's Bride

by Vivian Arend

  Then before he could demand she agree to move into his house, or anything else that he wanted to make one hundred percent sure of, she twisted an arm and leaned back…

  Icy cold water shot from overhead, drenching him instantly as he roared in surprise.

  Kelli scrambled off him, but there was no use in her trying to escape. He scooped her up and held her in his arms. “That wasn’t very nice. Now it’s your turn for a little cooling off.”

  She clung to him, shrieking as he dropped them both under the freezing water. As the water heated and any lingering anger washed away, laughter rose.

  He wasn’t sure what the answer was to a lot of the future, but this part he knew.

  Him, Kelli…an empty shower house.

  Round two, coming up.

  17

  Kelli did her best to keep from smirking, but she was pretty sure her amusement was clear as they marched back to her room. Her body was tender in all the right places from Luke’s enthusiastic emphasis of their relationship status.

  But more entertaining? Luke was dressed in mostly wet clothes, naked from the waist up under his jacket because the shirt he’d worn to the shower house was beyond repair.

  With him hard on her heels she paused, hand on the door of her room, to give him a warning glance. “We are not starting anything in here.”

  “Nope,” he agreed. “We’re grabbing some of your stuff so we can head over to my place.”

  She’d never considered herself the type to get butterflies, but something was definitely flitting about in her gut as she took in his serious expression. “You really think that’s a good idea?”

  Luke folded his arms over his chest, biceps pressing against his lined jean jacket. “I thought we got all this nonsense straightened out in the shower house.”

  “My question has nothing to do with you and me being together,” she insisted. “But if we’re going to—”

  Good grief, what was she supposed to call this? It had been simple enough while they were at the gala to consider it a fling, but now that it was something more?

  Oh my God, it was something more…

  Another round of insects took wing in her belly.

  Luke opened her door, placed a hand low on her back and guided them inside. “No reason to freeze while we figure out what’s got your knickers in a knot.”

  “It’s just that I can live here like I always have,” Kelli started, backing away from him as his brows rose toward his hairline. “We’re just starting to…”

  Nope. Still had no idea what to call this.

  A soft hum escaped him. “Oh, I get it.”

  Luke slid his hand to the back of her neck, knocking the towel she’d wrapped around her hair off as he wrapped his fingers around her. He tipped her head to examine her face more closely.

  “You’re right. If we’d started dating even a month ago, I can see you wanting to ‘live’ in your room and come visit my place sometimes.” He closed the distance between them, brushing his lips across hers before inching closer to her ear. “But, sugar plum, now that I’ve had you in my bed for nearly a week straight, there’s no damn way I’m letting you sleep anywhere except right next to me.”

  “Bossy bastard,” Kelli complained.

  He snagged her against him, all warm and hard and perfect. “Just the way you like.”

  Damn if he wasn’t right. Except, something—

  A heavy knock rang against her door, and she snorted before regaining control.

  “I think that’s for you,” she said, not hiding her amusement.

  Luke frowned, but he let her go, backing away and heading to the door. He glanced out the window first, then swore softly as he gave Kelli a warning look. “It’s Ashton.”

  She tilted her head. “I saw him headed this way right before you hustled me inside.”

  “You’re a mean one, Kelli James,” Luke growled.

  He pulled the door open.

  Ashton stood there with a face full of thunder. But he didn’t swing at Luke, which Kelli considered a positive start.

  The foreman glanced at Kelli, looking her up and down with a careful eye before turning back to the man who, for all intents and purposes, should be considered his boss.

  Only Ashton had been around since the days of Luke’s parents, and he was more than just a hired hand. And at that moment, he didn’t look one bit pleased.

  “I need to talk with you,” he growled, going face to face with Luke. Ashton eased back his shoulders as if preparing to take a swing if necessary.

  That was one thing Kelli wasn’t worried about. Luke wasn’t a hothead. He wouldn’t go off half-cocked, but she sure hoped he’d be moderately polite. Ashton was her boss too, after all.

  Then damn if Luke didn’t make as if he was going to meekly follow directions.

  Kelli sighed dramatically, grabbing Luke by the arm to restrain him until she could step in front.

  She gave him a dirty look as she passed. “You know how to argue. You’ve done enough of it with me over the last week. Heck, over the last hour. So I don’t know why you’re all willing to go off without a peep this time.”

  Luke’s lips twitched.

  She focused her attention on Ashton. “And unless I’m jumping to a conclusion and you’re here because you need to talk private ranch business with Luke, then maybe you should be talking to me and Luke. If you plan to butt into my business, that is.”

  Ashton raised a single brow. “Fine. We’ll do this here.” He fixed his eyes on Luke, disapproval visible in every inch of his sturdy body. “You think you’ve been respectful and proper to a woman who’s under my protection? Or should I rightly wallop you from one end of Silver Stone to the other because you’ve been a stupid cuss, and acted without thinking about the consequences?”

  Luke squeezed Kelli’s shoulder before sliding her slightly to the side. “I was thoughtless and stupid beyond measure before Kelli and I headed to the gala. But I can honestly say she kicked me hard enough to knock my head out of my ass. Besides, that mistake helped me realize something I should have figured out a long time ago.”

  Ashton was still frowning, with narrowed eyes and rigid body, but he waited without offering to kill Luke, so…

  So far, so good.

  Luke slipped his hand around Kelli’s waist and tugged her against his side. “I’m not going to say you can ask Kelli’s permission to bury my body in the back forty, because you don’t need my permission or hers to do what you think is right. But I think she’s forgiven me for being stupid”—he shrugged—“and beyond that, this isn’t your business.”

  Okay, that wasn’t where Kelli thought this conversation would go.

  Neither had Ashton, obviously, his eyes going wide.

  “I respect the hell out of you, Ashton,” Luke continued softly. “I appreciate that you were there for us after Dad died, more than you can know. But I respect Kelli too. She doesn’t need your permission, or your protection, unless she asks for it. Heck, I wish she would take you as backup if she decides to go off on one of her harebrained rescue schemes without me. But about me and her being together?” He shook his head. “Not your concern unless she says it is.”

  Ashton met Kelli’s eyes. “Well, girl?”

  She adjusted her stance and leaned more firmly against Luke. It felt strange as hell to do that in front of Ashton, but maybe the practice during the gala had been enough to give her the confidence. “I don’t need to borrow the backhoe. Not this week, at least.”

  Beside her, Luke made a small sound of amusement. Ashton nodded, still eyeing Luke as if he were a leftover piece of manure in an otherwise clean stall. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

  He adjusted his hat and turned on his heel, closing the door firmly behind him.

  As good as it had felt to hear Luke put her in the driver’s seat, it was having the first barrier crossed—of people knowing about them—that caused a rush of relief.

  She sagged against Luke.

&
nbsp; “That was awkward,” she pivoted against him, draping her arms around his neck. “And it was wonderful. Once you decided to not screw up, that was awesome.”

  He rubbed their noses together. “I’m afraid habit predicts I will continue to screw up in bursts, but I’ll try to make course corrections as quickly as possible.”

  “Appreciate that.”

  He stared down, his lips twisting. “You ready to grab some stuff? Because I’m serious about you coming up to my house.”

  She wasn’t going to lie. Getting the chance to still be in his bed—not a thing a girl wanted to turn down.

  “I’ll come up, but I’m keeping this room,” she informed him.

  He didn’t argue. Just waited as she put a few more things into a bag then he picked up her suitcase and walked out with her.

  It was fast, and yet after being coworkers and friends for so many years, like Luke had said, getting to steal time together in a more physical way was the next logical progression.

  Just like facing Ashton was only the first in a long line of challenges.

  Luke had some work to do, so she ended up eating supper with the other hands. She faced their questions about the gala, but kept her mouth shut for now about her and Luke. Partly because it wasn’t what they were curious about, and partly because—

  Just because.

  After she was done, Kelli made her way to the ranch house, knocking at the back door tentatively in hopes she could catch Tamara in good enough shape for a visit. It was important that she went and shared what was going on before she got cornered into it. Logical, but…

  Logic sucked.

  Lisa opened the door, her friendly face breaking into an enormous grin. “Well, now.”

  “Tamara here?” Kelli asked.

  Lisa jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “You want some supper?”

  “Already ate in the mess hall. But thanks.”

  Kelli took off her boots then slid across to the living room. She stopped, holding back her amusement.

  Caleb sat in his easy chair, looking none too easy. The younger of his little girls was combing his hair. Emma had pulled most of it into teeny bunches so she could wrap elastics around the ends. The process had left tuffs standing upright asymmetrically all over his head.

  Sasha was at his right hand, deploying nail polish. His eyes were closed as if pretending they weren’t there would make the torment go away, or at least be over sooner.

  Kelli glanced to the right. Tamara was curled up in her usual corner of the couch, laughing silently as tears ran down her cheeks. She had a hand slapped over her mouth to keep the sound from escaping.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Kelli said as deadpan as possible.

  Caleb grimaced, keeping his eyes squeezed tight. “If I don’t see you that means you’re not here. And if you’re not here, you can’t possibly know what’s going on, right?”

  “Sounds right to me,” Kelli agreed. “The ostrich-head-in-the-sand trick has a long and honourable tradition.”

  Sasha didn’t look up from where she was adding black dots to the red on her father’s nails. “Kelli says if you can’t fly, be like an ostrich and run like the wind.”

  “That’s a very good Kelli-ism,” Tamara assured her daughter, wiping tears away. She offered Kelli a wink then patted the seat next to her. “You. Drop it right here.”

  She hadn’t been planning on a family discussion, so was thankful when a moment later Emma and Sasha hurried over and gave their mom hugs before tugging Caleb from the room.

  “Night, Mommy. Night, Kelli,” Sasha said.

  “Night, Mama. Kelli,” Emma echoed, blowing her a kiss before returning to help Sasha drag Caleb away.

  Lisa was still in the kitchen, but Tamara spoke softly enough to not be overheard. “All I want to say—promise you’ll remember you’re a part of this family? No matter what.”

  Warmth flooded Kelli’s heart. “I told Luke that when he was being an ass. So, I think it’s a pretty well-established truth.”

  Tamara grinned. “Good for you.”

  She closed her eyes and curled her arms around her stomach.

  Kelli laid a hand on her knee. “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Just nauseous. Again. Or still, whichever way you want to look at it.”

  Tamara’s sister stood beside them, bending down to nudge her shoulder gently. “More fluids.”

  “You’re such a taskmaster,” Tamara complained, but she opened her eyes and accepted the cup.

  “I learned from the best,” Lisa said. “I’ve got this one sister, and she used to be a nurse. She was the biggest pain when it came to being sick. She always said it was important to do what was right, no matter how much people complained about being bossed around.”

  “Shut up,” Tamara muttered with a smile. “You’re not allowed to toss my own lectures back at me.”

  Lisa offered Kelli a wink. “Good to see you back and looking so chipper. Did you have a good time at the gala?”

  My God, was it written on her forehead what she and Luke had been doing? No way was that innocent expression on Lisa’s face anything but fake. “What did Luke do after I left the room? Break out photos or a video of everything we got up to?”

  Lisa raised a brow. “No, is there footage? Because, damn.”

  Tamara snorted.

  Now Kelli didn’t know which of them to give the evil eye. “Does this mean it’s a very public knowledge that Luke and I are—?”

  She still didn’t know what to call it.

  Fortunately, Tamara didn’t seem to have the same trouble finding words. “Dating? Yeah, we kind of all know. Caleb was clueless when the idea came up the other day, so Lisa took advantage of his naiveté to earn a few bucks.”

  “Good grief, you guys are terrible,” Kelli complained. “On top of everything else I was worried about, I thought you’d be at least moderately upset. I’ve been trying to figure out how much trouble this relationship could cause if things don’t work out.”

  “You’re both grownups,” Lisa pointed out. “Neither of you are going to do something horrifically stupid like cheat or get spiteful. You seem to honestly like each other.” She raised a brow. “It’s not a bad way to step into a relationship.”

  Kelli supposed that was true. “I do like him. A lot,” she admitted.

  Lisa and Tamara exchanged glances before turning back, both of them smirking. “Honey, tell us something we didn’t know.”

  “Seriously? You did not.”

  Tamara lifted a brow.

  Lisa gave a shrug. “He seems like a really good guy. So enjoy yourself, but know that we’ve got your back.”

  “Only if you promise no more bets based on my relationship,” Kelli countered. “Because that’s just wrong.”

  A heavy sigh escaped Lisa as if she was oh-so-hard done by. “You’re ruining all my fun,” she complained.

  “No bets,” Kelli insisted.

  “Okay, fine.” The other woman headed to the kitchen, speaking over her shoulder. “Let me grab the tea and cookies. Because there’s no time like the present for you to spill the beans about your week at the gala.”

  “Regarding Silver Stone and the horses, as well as your personal gossip,” Tamara said quickly.

  “But not necessarily in that order,” Lisa quipped.

  Kelli caught them up on the gala, sang Diane’s praises loudly, and somehow avoided sharing anything too intimate regarding what had happened between her and Luke.

  But she blushed. A lot.

  When the visit was over and she meandered across the long expanse between the main ranch house and Luke’s place, the icy cold air didn’t touch her. Kelli was too wrapped up in the warmth of the women’s friendship.

  The sight of Luke standing in his living room window, watching her approach with a smile on his handsome face, well—

  She might not know exactly where this was going, but she planned to hang on with both hands as long as she could.
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  18

  That night was a first for Luke.

  It wasn’t that his ex-fiancée had never been in his house, but when he thought back, he realized she’d rarely stayed the night. Rarely been around other than for a few hours or because they’d stopped in on the way to an event.

  Kelli? She filled his house with more life and energy than any one person should possess.

  It was right to have her there, sitting kitty corner to him as they went over the notes from their time at the gala. They put together a list of potential follow-ups for the next day, and the next week, and the next month.

  Working together like partners, and maybe that was a big part of what had been missing in his previous relationship. Spending time with Kelli was right, and natural, and easy in all the good ways.

  He had a hard time wiping the grin off his face at how good and right and easy it was.

  And the sexual chemistry they had going on? Off the fucking charts. Temptation slipped in between one breath and the next, derailing whatever they were doing to shoot the agenda in a completely different direction.

  Like when he’d leaned over her shoulder to see what she’d written on her notepad. It was far too easy to drop a little closer and nuzzle against her neck.

  Aroused and distracted, he had to kiss that one spot. Which led to another kiss, and another until Kelli dropped all pretense of work and turned. The next thing he knew they were headed to his bedroom, paperwork forgotten until the next day.

  That night she fell asleep in his arms and he found himself listening to the sound of her breathing, and it was easy to feel like this was coming home. This was right.

  She still had shifts to work according to Ashton’s schedule, which meant the next day she was the one kissing him sweetly at four a.m., before evading his grasp and sliding from bed.

  Kelli held him to his promise and took over training Chili Pepper. Three days later, Luke rested his arms on the rail and watched as she leaned over the saddle, arms hanging on either side of the filly’s neck as Kelli drooped like a rag doll.