Second Chance at Love (The MacKenna Born & Bred Trilogy)

by Paradise, Tara

  She lifted her head to look at him, a lazy smile forming on her lips. She kissed his lips softly, and then rolled leisurely off of him. Snuggled against his side, she laid a hand over his chest, and was surprised when he covered it with his own. The intimacy of it both touched and unsteadied her. They lay that way together in silence for a long time. When Brooke reached over to pull the extra material of the blanket around them, Logan stopped her.

  Pulling her with him to their feet, he scooped her up into his arms, and chuckled deeply at her squeal of surprise. Brooke sighed. What was she going to do about him? she wondered, as he carried her effortlessly out of the living room and toward the winding staircase. She couldn't help but notice the ripple of muscles in his arms as he carried her weight, and had to admit that she was impressed.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, already sure she knew exactly where.

  “Upstairs to my bed”, he answered, “where I can seduce you the right way.” He reached the bottom of the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  “Don't sell yourself short, cowboy. I'd say that pretty much everything you did was exactly right”. She smiled playfully.

  One eyebrow shot up. “Pretty much everything?” he shot back, poking a finger into her rib. She laughed and held on to him, her arms draped around his neck, as he reached the top of the stairs and rounded the banister toward his bedroom.

  “In that case,” he quipped, “I think I should give it another shot. I've just started to get some of the feeling back in my lower extremities,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Wanna take a guess where, exactly?”

  Brooke squealed again when he tossed her onto the massive bed and dove on top of her.

  It was nearly dawn when Brooke slipped into her parents' house through the back door. Xena lumbered over to greet her. She licked Brooke's hand, and Brooke leaned down to ruffle her fur before she settled near the back door, waiting expectantly. Brooke opened the door to let her out, following her to the treeline at the rear of the property. It seemed to be Xena's favorite spot. She gave the pup a few minutes to do her business, then led her back to the house.

  Stopping in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, she drank deeply. Taking it with her, she continued through the lower level of the house quietly, not wanting to wake her parents. She knew that they would be up soon enough, as both of them had always been early risers.

  She climbed the stairs toward her bedroom, with Xena padding after her, playfully tugging on her hand. Once inside, she closed the door quietly and turned the lock, hearing it click into place. She stripped off her rumpled dress and climbed into the softness of her big bed, pulling the comforter up to her breasts. She was thoroughly exhausted. She heard her new pup plop down next to the bed with a thud.

  She and Logan had shared an incredible night together, exploring each other in ways that made Brooke blush from the top of her head down to her pretty, red-tipped toes. He'd fallen asleep only an hour before, and Brooke had lay cuddled up in his warmth, waiting for him to drift off. That had been at 5:00am, and she'd rolled out of Logan's bed, reluctantly, which was warm and cozy, trying not to wake him. He hadn't stirred, not even once.

  She made her way downstairs, where she gathered up various articles of her clothing, and dressed. Then she slipped quietly out of Logan's house, locking the door behind her. She'd wanted to make it home before her parents woke up. She didn't know why, exactly. She was pretty sure they knew there had been men in her life. That she'd had sex before. She was thirty years old, after all. So then why did she feel like a teenager sneaking in past curfew?

  She had a lot to think about. Falling into bed with Logan wasn't part of the plan, but it was a simple matter to adjust her plans. Falling in love with Logan...well, that was another matter entirely. And something she had no intention of doing. She'd already broken her first rule, and she damned sure wasn't going to break her second.

  Brooke yawned and snuggled deeper into her pillows. Happy Birthday to me, she whispered, a half smile tugging at her lips. Her tired eyes fluttered closed, and within seconds she drifted off to sleep.

  Summer in Montana had always been Brooke's favorite season. In Western Montana, particularly, typical summer highs ran about seventy degrees, and as far as Brooke was concerned, that was perfect. The one thing she'd had to adjust to living in California was the heat. That had been the hardest thing. In every other way, they were a perfect fit.

  Brooke had slept for only a few hours. There were too many things running through her mind for her to sleep soundly. The few hours she did get were restless. She'd gotten out of bed and showered at nine-thirty, and was down at the stables by ten, preparing Gypsy for a morning ride.

  Rather than take her usual route through the woods to the stream, she'd decided to head out over the hills, where she had the freedom to soar. She wanted to feel the wind in her face and enjoy the freedom that she so desperately needed. Now, as she sat high on top of Gypsy, she looked out over the ridge. It was beautiful. So beautiful that it awed her. She'd grown up here and had enjoyed this view many times over the years, but she felt as if it were the first time she was seeing it. The first time she could really appreciate it. It's funny how things were put into perspective as you grew older, Brooke thought. Her thoughts immediately went to Logan.

  She didn't know what she wanted. All she knew was that she'd missed him, she admitted to herself now. She'd known him since the cradle. They'd shared sorrows and joys. Dreams. Up until they'd broken up and gone their separate ways, they'd spent a lifetime together, literally. He was her best friend, her lover, and everything in between. She should have known that it would never be completely over between them. Not when they'd shared a history, and a bond, like theirs. But how was she supposed to forgive him and go on as if none of it had happened? As if everything was normal?

  Logan had been her first lover, and her first love. She'd made a commitment to him, promises to him. Brooke believed in the sanctity of that. She would never have betrayed Logan the way he betrayed her, no matter what had happened between them. When you loved someone, truly loved someone, you just didn't do something like that. You didn't.

  The thought of him with someone else made her physically ill. The thought of him touching another woman, kissing her, inside her. Brooke couldn't stand it. It made her feel as if she would go insane. Brooke didn't know which was worse ~ that he had sex with someone else, or that he had thrown away everything they had by having sex with someone else who he claimed to have no feelings for. He'd said it hadn't meant anything to him. He'd been drunk and he made a horrible mistake.

  Maybe it would have made more sense to her if he had had feelings for the tramp. Then at least she could understand or could at least try to. He still would have been a cheating bastard, but at least she would have understood his reason for it. He threw away everything they had, everything they'd been to each other, for nothing. For just a tumble in the sheets with the biggest whore on campus. That is what Brooke couldn't wrap her mind around.

  She knew that Logan hadn't been with Jennifer after that. Brooke's friends had made sure to mention it when they'd been in touch. Jacqueline had kept in touch with her for a while, but then gradually they'd lost touch. She'd even come to California to visit Brooke once. They'd had an awesome time, and promised each other that they'd do it again. But then life had gotten in the way. Brooke was busy with medical school. Jacqueline had gotten married and spent a lot of time traveling with her very wealthy husband. And her life was exactly the way she had always wanted it to be. Brooke was happy for her.

  It had been about five years since they'd spoken. She thought that the real reason she hadn't tried harder to keep their friendship strong was because of the history. They'd been best friends for four years through college, had been roommates all of those four years. They'd spent a lot of time together. She and Jacqueline, the two of them and Logan, the entire group of friends they belonged to. Logan and Jacqueline got along well, and it made for
a peaceful and easy friendship. But with Brooke's determination to put Logan and her past behind her once she'd moved to Los Angeles, she felt that she needed to distance herself from Jacqueline, too. In retrospect, Brooke wondered if it had, or hadn't, been the right thing to do. She'd wondered it many times over the years.

  Not long after Brooke had moved and gotten settled into her apartment, Logan came to California to see her. He showed up on her doorstep one day. She was shocked to see him standing there. It hurt all over again. She couldn't do it. He wanted to talk, to explain to her. He said that she'd never given him a chance to explain, to try to make her understand. He pleaded with her to give him another chance, to try to work it out. She was reluctant to let him into her apartment. He wanted to come in for just a few minutes, to talk. She gave him those few minutes. And that was all she'd given him. It was incredibly emotional, for both of them, and it tore Brooke's already broken heart into even smaller pieces.

  Brooke was just going on twenty-two years old at that time. It was the most devastating thing that she imagined could happen to her. But she'd been wrong about that. She discovered a couple of weeks later that she was pregnant. She was scared to death about the idea of facing it alone, of being a young, single mother. But at the same time, she couldn't have been happier. The baby was the only part of Logan she had left. She wanted their child, and there was never any doubt in her mind about that.

  She didn't tell anyone about the baby, not Logan and not her family. She couldn't handle the thought of having to deal with Logan if he knew about the baby. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let anything stop him from being a part of his child's life. So she kept it from him. She thought that once she'd healed enough to a point where she could handle telling him, and she could handle having him in her life, even if only for their baby's sake, then she would tell him. But as her pregnancy progressed, it became harder and harder to tell him. She knew it was wrong to keep it from him. It went against everything she believed in. She didn't want her parents to be disappointed in her. And she didn't want them to be put in the middle between Logan and his family. Of course, Karissa tried to talk her into telling everyone, but Brooke made her promise to keep it a secret. And now, eight years later, she was living with the guilt and the regret of her choices, still.

  He heard the horse's hooves before he saw them, a steady pounding on the earth as they crested the hill and came into view. Brooke sat atop Gypsy like a queen on her throne. Classic, regal. The mare slowed from a gallop to a canter, and the wind caught the thick mass of Brooke's dark hair and blew it wildly around her face. She looked serene. Beautiful. Urging the mare forward, she closed the distance between them quickly. By the time they reached Logan, Brooke had slowed the mare to a walk and pulled in the reins.

  Brooke was surprised to see him, and pleased at the same time. He looked amazing. Rested and fresh. She didn't know how he possibly could be considering that he couldn't have had more than five hours of sleep. Yet, there he was, standing in front of her, the energy flowing from him. She dismounted in quick, easy movements that had Logan wondering if she'd continued riding over the past eight years that she'd been away. He couldn't imagine her not. It had been as essential to Brooke as eating and breathing.

  Logan secured the mare to a nearby hitching post. Brooke removed the tack, passing it to Logan as he reached for it. Next, she unbuckled and took off the bridle, and then unhitched the cinch. She began to groom her horse with competent hands, brushing out her coat thoroughly, followed by her mane and tail. Gypsy nudged Brooke's shoulder gently, and Brooke responded by rubbing her nose. She picked out the horse's hooves, making sure no shoes or nails were missing. Finally, Brooke watered her and took her for a slow walk to cool her down and stretch out her muscles. Brooke gave her a chunk of apple, and watched as the mare devoured it. She returned her to the paddock, giving her one last nose rub before joining Logan near the corral.

  “Logan, do you---” The rest of her words were cut off when he unexpectedly pulled her into his arms. He kissed her tenderly, and loved the way she leaned into him to deepen the kiss. She smelled like apple, sweet and succulent, and her scent flooded his senses. When they finally drew apart, Logan tipped her chin up and looked deep into her eyes.

  “Please tell me this is you giving us a second chance.” His words were direct, the emotion in his voice undisguised.

  She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Emotion swirled through her. He placed a finger over her lips, lips that still tingled from his kiss.

  “Brooke,” he began, a persistent nervousness ebbing its way in. He was afraid that she would say the one word he wasn't prepared to hear.

  She smiled then, in that flirtatious way of hers, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Let's not talk about that. Why can't we just enjoy each other,” she suggested. “We have the entire summer to be together, if that's what you want,” she said. “To have fun. To have lots and lots of hot sex...” she trailed off, linking her fingers with his.

  He watched her closely. “And then what? What happens at the end of summer?” he wanted to know.

  Brooke looked at him, her gaze holding his. “At the end of August, I go back to California,” she said, softly. “I have to. I have a home, a job. I have patients who need me.”

  “I need you,” he said, quietly.

  “I can't, Logan,” she whispered. “I just can't.” She shook her head. “We can't just go back and pick up where we left off, as if nothing happened.”

  “No, we can't,” he said, his voice laced with regret. “But we can move forward from here.” The look of doubt on her face said enough. She wasn't going to be easy to persuade.

  An uneasy silence followed as Logan considered this. He didn't want to push her, not right now. He had two and a half months to persuade her to stay, to make her fall in love with him. Again. So he'd wait her out. He was good at waiting. He'd waited for her for eight long years already. Eventually, she was bound to see things his way. Wasn't she? He sure as hell hoped so. Logan took it as a challenge, and he never backed down from a challenge, especially when the prize was so great. It was a challenge he intended to win.

  “So what you're saying is that all you're looking for is a temporary distraction, which includes some fun, some hot sex, and no strings?”

  “Exactly,” she said, “but I believe I said lots of hot sex.”

  He chuckled. “I reckon I could oblige,” he said, in the best drawl he could manage,

  She patted his cheek. “I'm counting on it, cowboy,” she tossed back, smiling lazily. Logan watched her as she turned and started back toward the house. He appreciated the way she filled out those jeans, snug in all the right places. No woman could do justice to a pair of Levi's like Brooke could, he thought, his eyes drawn to the subtle sway of her hips as she sauntered away.

  “It's crazy,” Brooke whispered. “But all I want to do is have sex. Constantly. It's like I'm on this crazy sex high. Whenever he's within three feet of me, its like all these little receptors start going off, and I have no impulse control. Yesterday, when he was breaking in the new gelding, I basically jumped him. We ended up in one of the stalls, and, well, let's just say that the horses weren't the only ones being ridden hard.” She smiled, just a little smugly.

  Karissa giggled. Ashley sat, practically on the edge of her seat, trying to suppress her laughter.

  “It's not funny” she said. “Do you know how hay looks so soft and all??” she asked, looking pointedly at Ashley. She eyed Brooke, nodding her agreement.

  “Well, it isn't,” She blurted it out quickly, fully aware that the heat had already risen to her cheeks. “Especially when you're buck naked. I have scratches all over my body from getting tossed into it, and I do mean all over,” she winced, raising her hip slightly off the chair so that she could gingerly rub her bottom.

  That was all Ashley could take. The image that popped into her head of Brooke, Miss Prim and Proper, rolling around in the hay in the middl
e of the day with her hot-as-holy-fucking-hell cowboy made her burst into fits of laughter.

  Brooke's attempt at a glare fell short of the mark, and her lips curved upward. Logan had been taken off guard, and the look on his face made her laugh even now as she brought it back to memory. He'd been more than willing, she mused, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her to the stables. When she squealed, he chuckled, deep and sexy, and slapped her ass before tossing her into a pile of prickly hay. But, Brooke thought smugly, some things were worth the pain and sacrifice.

  Ashley was still laughing when Seth and Chase rounded the back of the house.

  “What's so funny, legs?” Chase peered at Ashley over his Ray-Bans as he leaned a hip on the arm of her chair. “We could hear you laughing from all the way out front.”

  Any other time, she would have had a retort ready, but she couldn't seem to muster up one at the moment.

  She waved a delicate hand in the air, the sun glinting off of the rings she wore on her slim fingers. “Something about Logan sparking Brooke's receptacles and her wanting to rip his clothes off and fuck him every t---” The rest of her sentence was cut off abruptly when Brooke kicked her. Hard.

  “Ouch!” she complained, knowing that she deserved it, yet rubbing her shin, mildly annoyed.

  “Say again?” Seth said, plopping down next to Karissa on the swing. His arm slid behind her head to rest on top of the cushion. His thigh, hard and muscled, pressed against hers, making her suddenly and uncomfortably aware of him.

  “Nevermind,” Brooke answered. “Ashley's mind is in the gutter, as usual.” Ashley snorted, and Brooke narrowed her eyes, giving her a warning look.

  Uh-oh, Ashley thought. Not the look. She was no stranger to it, and she knew exactly how to get around Brooke. Smiling sexily, Ashley sent her an air kiss. Brooke was not amused.