Hope Ignites

by Jaci Burton

  He and the crew had covered all the tables with the brightly colored tablecloths Martha had provided, and then they'd gone to the shed and dragged out the fireworks he'd bought earlier in the week. There were kegs of beer spread throughout the yard and pitchers of iced tea in the house. As far as he knew, everything was finished except for the food, which was already in preparation. Meat had been cooking since early this morning and would be ready in plenty of time.

  People were already starting to arrive, though some of those were Martha's friends from church who liked to come early and help her set up. He waved to them as he hollered for one of the hands to show people where to park.

  Though most everyone who came every year already knew. Before long, rows of cars had started to pull down the long gravel driveway. He had Caleb and Jared, a couple of his cousins, at the entrance to the ranch to make sure it was people from town and neighboring ranches actually driving through the gates. Those Hollywood photographers weren't welcome today--or any day, for that matter.

  Logan hoped the paparazzi would want to take a day off and enjoy the holiday. But from the reports he was getting from Caleb, they were lined up along the gates taking pictures of people driving in.

  Whatever. They could take all the photos they wanted--at the gate. That was as far as they were getting.

  He'd gone into the house to grab an iced tea, then got waylaid by several instructions from Martha, who needed him to carry a few things outside. By the time he found his glass of tea again, an hour had passed and the ice had melted. Plus, he was sweaty, so he went upstairs to wash off the sweat and change his shirt.

  He made his way back downstairs and heard Des's voice, his lips curving as he remembered the way she'd cried out as he thrust into her last night.

  Since getting a hard-on with a house full of people would be a bad idea, he cleared his mind of thoughts of a naked Des, blew out a breath, and found her and Colt in the kitchen with Martha, some of Martha's friends, and a few people he didn't know.

  Des looked gorgeous today, wearing two tank tops, very short-shorts, and tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a couple of long necklaces. He wanted to drag her up to his bedroom and have his way with her for about six damn hours.

  Or longer.

  "Oh, there you are, Logan," Martha said, giving him a warm smile. "I was wondering if you were hiding from me so I wouldn't give you something else to do."

  "You know I wouldn't do that. What do you need?"

  Martha looped her arm in his. He could tell she was happy and relaxed, instead of jittery or nervous. This was Martha's day to shine. "I don't need anything, but Colt and Desiree brought some friends along. Would you two like to introduce them to Logan?"

  Des eyed him warily. He had no idea what that was about, but she was a woman, and as such, he knew they were subject to moods.

  "Logan," Colt said, "these are our friends from L.A. This is Tony, Callie, and Sarah."

  Logan shook all their hands. "Nice to meet all of you. Welcome to the ranch."

  "It's an amazing ranch, Logan," Callie said. "Just driving over here from the set was an incredible view."

  "Des tells us you have like . . . forty thousand acres or so?" Sarah asked.

  "Somewhere around that, yeah."

  "You must love living on so much land," Tony said.

  "It's all I know, since I grew up here. But yeah, it's my way of life, so I love what I do."

  "I can imagine," Tony said. "Beef cattle? Angus?"

  "Yeah. You know cattle?"

  "I was raised on a farm in North Dakota, so yeah. I sure miss the openness of the land. Would you mind a short tour? If you're too busy, I'd understand."

  Logan accepted the glass of iced tea Martha handed him. "I've got some time for that. Let's head outside."

  "Oh, my God. Look at all these dogs," Sarah said.

  Des smiled as Sarah dropped and petted all the ranch dogs. She had to join in, too, and so did everyone else.

  "The dogs are really popular," Logan said to Tony.

  "We love animals. Most of us live in tiny condos or apartments and don't have dogs or cats. So it's nice to have a big spread like this--and lots of animals to love on. I miss being around them."

  "I couldn't imagine not having animals around. I guess because I grew up with them," Logan said.

  After everyone was finished with the dogs, they moved on down the road, though the dogs followed.

  Des watched as Logan bonded with Tony, unable to help the smile that broke out on her face as she listened to him talk cattle-ranch operations. The rest of them followed behind, Des admiring the way Logan's jeans fit his most spectacular butt, the way his scuffed boots looked as he walked like he was such a part of the land. His T-shirt stretched tight across his muscled back, making her itch to run her hands over his naked skin.

  "Oh. My. God," Callie said as they meandered along several feet behind Logan and Tony. "You did not tell me Logan was so friggin' hot."

  Des's lips curved. "I didn't know I was supposed to."

  "Please tell me you have zero interest in him and I can hit on him immediately," Callie said.

  "Screw that," Sarah said. "I'll fight you for him, Callie."

  Des had no idea how to respond to that. "I guess you're welcome to try."

  "I think what Des is trying to tell you is that you can try, but she's wearing him down almost nightly by screwing his brains out."

  Des shot Colt a look, laughing as she answered him. "That is not at all what I'm trying to say. And besides, it's not every night."

  "Aha!" Callie said. "I knew it. Damn you, girl. He is smokin'."

  Her gaze tracked to Logan, who leaned against the fence talking to Tony. "He is, isn't he?"

  And for as long as she remained on this movie shoot, he was hers.

  At least she'd try to make sure it stayed that way. She supposed today would be a good opportunity to check the temperature of Hope, see if any other woman had put a claim on him. If not, great. If so . . .

  Huh. She had no idea what she'd do about that, because they'd never once discussed their relationship, they didn't really have a relationship, had never even gone out on a date, which meant she couldn't really call Logan hers.

  That kind of sucked. But that was the nature of her job and the types of relationships she built when she traveled so much. She couldn't very well expect Logan to enter into an exclusive relationship with her when in less than two months she'd be gone. That would be a ridiculous request. He was free to see whomever he wanted to. And so was she.

  The problem was, she only wanted to see him. At least right now. And while she was only seeing him, she'd be damned if she wanted him to see anyone else.

  So how the hell was she supposed to broach the subject with him? It wasn't like he enjoyed deep, meaningful conversations. Especially about relationships.

  Maybe she should just let things between them go unsaid. Though Des wasn't much for letting things go unsaid. It went against her nature. If she had something on her mind, she usually blurted it out. Things that went unsaid had a tendency to fester and get ugly later. Her mother was always the quiet, keep-your-feelings-to-yourself kind of person. Which is why she'd allowed her father to move her twelve times in thirty years.

  That wasn't going to happen to Des. If she wanted something, she was damn well going to ask for it, just like if she didn't want something, she'd say that, too.

  So after Callie, Sarah, and Colt headed over to join Logan and Tony, Des wandered over, too, trying to keep it light between them, until Tony started talking to the others about the cattle and ranch operations. Des drew Logan aside.

  "I have a question to ask you, and I expect you to be honest."

  "Okay."

  "Are you seeing anyone else?"

  He frowned. "Huh?"

  "You know. Some other woman."

  "No. Why would you think that?"

  "I didn't think that. I was just . . . wondering."


  "The answer is no."

  "Okay. Would you mind not seeing anyone else while I'm here?"

  His lips curved. "You mean like today?"

  She smacked him on the arm. "No. I mean like while I'm here on your ranch."

  "So if you're not on the ranch I can see someone?"

  She pinned him with a look. "Logan, I'm trying to be serious here."

  "Sorry. Des, I don't have relationships with women. Hell, I've seen you more than I've ever seen any other woman."

  Her body tingled. "Great. Then let's keep doing that."

  "Fine."

  "Okay, then."

  He pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. "Just so you know, this whole temporary exclusivity thing goes both ways."

  She palmed his chest. "I'm not interested in seeing anyone but you."

  "Good. Then let's keep it that way. While you're on this ranch."

  Then he surprised the hell out of her by planting one very hot, very deep kiss on her, right in front of her friends.

  "Holy shit," she heard Callie say.

  When he released her, she met his gaze, saw the fire in his eyes, and nearly melted into the ground right there.

  "Deal?" he asked.

  "Yes. Deal."

  He took her by the hand and they waded into the crowd of people. She felt his stamp of possession on her, and as her friends came up beside her, Callie gave her a very smug, very knowing look. She cast a smile at her friends, just daring them to make a smart-ass comment.

  None of them did, whether because of the way she'd glared at them or because they were all too afraid of Logan's reaction, she didn't know. Frankly, she didn't care. She felt sixteen again, like a boy had just asked her to go out with him. She knew it was silly, and yes, it was temporary, but today, she felt really damn good. So what was wrong with that?

  As she gazed up at Logan and he gave her a look of pure hungry desire, she decided there wasn't a single thing wrong with how she felt at the moment.

  Sometimes even temporary flings could be fun.

  Chapter 13

  LOGAN HAD NO idea what had transpired earlier in the day with Des, but she'd asked him about seeing other people, and maybe it was the challenging look in her eyes, or because she'd been with her friends, but something possessive took hold of him at that moment and he'd decided that while she was filming her movie, she was his.

  Hell of a thing, considering he was a man who didn't have relationships, who rarely invited women to spend the night at his house. Yet, here he was at the annual Fourth of July picnic, with nearly half the town of Hope in attendance, and he had his hand firmly grasped in Des's for everyone to see.

  Not that he cared much what anyone thought. He never had.

  But then his brother and Emma came up to them. Of course, the first thing Luke's gaze zeroed in on was Logan holding Des's hand. And damned if he was going to shake loose of her. He'd made a commitment--well, sort of--and he wasn't going to back down, no matter how much of a smirk his brother was giving him right now.

  Emma hugged Des. "I'm so glad you came today," Emma said.

  "I wouldn't miss it. All the food, and I've heard the fireworks show is legendary."

  "Oh, it definitely is. Come on, there are some friends here I want you to meet." Emma tugged Des by the hand. "Logan, I'm going to drag her away from you for a while, if you don't mind."

  Logan nodded. "I don't mind."

  He watched Des walk away, and soon she was lost in the crowd.

  "Beer?" he asked Luke.

  "You know it."

  They headed over to the keg and Luke poured them both a cupful of beer. "Let's go grab a seat somewhere."

  They found an unoccupied picnic table, though it took a while to get there, since they both had to stop and greet several people, including Carter Richards, one of Luke's best friends, who grabbed a beer and joined them.

  They spent some time talking about work, about the ranch, and Carter's auto shop businesses as well as the movie crew that were milling about meeting all the people from town.

  "How's the shoot going?" Carter asked him.

  "Fine, I guess. I've been over there a couple of times to watch them shoot. Looks like it's going good."

  "He's dating the actress who's starring in the movie, though," Luke said.

  Logan shot his brother a look. Luke grinned back at him.

  "No, shit," Carter said. "Desiree Jenkins? She's a beauty."

  "Yeah." Logan took a sip of beer.

  "So how serious is it?" Carter asked.

  "It's not." And Logan wasn't going to get into a conversation about Des with either his brother or Carter.

  "I'm taking you don't want to talk about this." Carter smiled and took a long swallow of his beer.

  "I don't," Logan said.

  "Yeah, but it's so much fun to probe," Luke said, obviously unwilling to let the subject drop. "I saw you and Des holding hands earlier."

  "What are you, twelve?" Logan asked. "Mind your own business."

  "Ooh, they were holding hands," Carter said. "It must be serious. I don't think I've ever seen you out and about with a woman before, Logan."

  "Maybe that's because I keep my personal business to myself."

  "Mind if I join in?"

  Logan hadn't seen his friend Sebastian Palmer in a while. Bash ran the No Hope At All bar in town.

  "Bash. Thought you'd have the bar open today," Logan said.

  Bash swung his legs over and took a seat at the picnic table. "Why would I do that, when I knew everyone in town would be here? Besides, Martha makes great food, and I can drink beer instead of serving it up."

  Logan grinned. "Glad to see you."

  "So what you're telling me is that all the drunks will be on the ranch today," Luke said.

  Bash nodded. "Pretty much." He turned to Logan. "Nice fan club gathered at the gates. How's the movie business?"

  Logan shrugged. "Hell if I know. I just rent the land."

  "And he's dating the leading lady," Carter added.

  Bash gave him a look. "No, shit. That didn't take long. I never knew you had such smooth moves."

  "We're not dating." Christ, all he'd done was hold her hand. And this was just with the guys--his friends, who were gossiping about it like the Sunday after-church ladies.

  "So you're not with her?" Bash looked confused.

  "Not in a relationship sense, no."

  Luke laughed and slapped him on the back. "Poor, Logan. You don't even know how to define your relationship with Des. Does she know this?"

  "Know what?"

  They all stood as Des came over to the table. "Your boyfriend/not boyfriend has no idea how to explain what the two of you have going on," Luke said.

  Logan panicked, just knowing that they were all going to tell Des how he'd colossally fucked this up. And then she was going to be pissed, and this easygoing thing between them was going to be over.

  Des quirked a smile and slid into a spot next to Logan. "Oh, that's easy. We're having smoking hot sex as often as we can get our hands on each other."

  Leave it to Des to shut everyone up.

  Luke cleared his throat and Carter laughed.

  "I like this woman," Bash said, grinning at Logan, then stood and leaned over the table, his hand outstretched toward Des. "I'm Bash."

  She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Bash."

  Carter introduced himself, too, and Logan exhaled. "Have fun with the girls?"

  "I did. And my friends seem to have disappeared."

  "They'll be fine. I saw Colt leading them down the path a ways toward the corral. I think he's showing them the horses."

  "Okay."

  Luke brought Des a beer. "Thanks," she said. "So, you've all been gossiping about Logan and me? I expected that from all the women, not a bunch of guys."

  Bash laughed. "We weren't exactly gossiping. We just asked a simple question that Logan had a problem answering."

  "I see." She looked over at him. "The sex a
nswer usually shuts everyone up."

  Logan nodded. "I'll be sure to use that answer with the ladies from church."

  Des laughed. "Okay, maybe not them. But everyone else would be fine."

  "You really don't care much about gossip, do you?" Logan asked.

  She took a sip of beer. "Not really. So much is written about me in the gossip columns, anyway. Most of it untrue. Why would I care if you say something and it gets out? It's true, isn't it?"

  She was so refreshingly honest, she kept him off balance. "I guess it is."

  Des turned to Carter and Bash. "So tell me about yourselves. I know Luke's the cop. What do you both do?"

  "I own some auto repair and body shops in Hope and in Tulsa," Carter said.

  "I could have used you when I backed my Honda into a fence post," Des said with a wry grin.

  "Recently?" he asked.

  She laughed. "No. Back when I was a teenager. I try to avoid being an idiot these days. And I've since learned how to use a rearview mirror."

  Carter nodded. "I don't think many of us escaped the teen driving years unscathed."

  "I did," Logan said.

  "So did I. That's because we learned to drive as soon as our legs were long enough to reach the pedals," Luke said.

  Logan nodded. "Yeah, living on a ranch has its advantages. We were maneuvering tractors around before any of the rest of you got your permits."

  "Braggarts," Bash said. "Some of us didn't get early driving lessons and had to learn the hard way."

  "So you're saying you had your share of car issues?" Des asked.

  Logan let out a snort. "How do you think he earned the nickname Bash?"

  "Oh." Des looked at him. "That bad, huh?"

  "Hey," Bash said. "My name is a shortened version of Sebastian."

  "And because you drove too fast and got into three fender benders in the first six months after you got your driver's license," Logan added.

  "Really," Des said.

  Bash shrugged. "Those weren't all my fault."

  "Yes, they were," Luke said. "You were a road menace."

  "But you all still got in the car with me."

  "You got your license first," Carter said. "We had no choice."

  Des laughed. "And what do you do for a living, Bash?

  "I own a bar."

  "In Hope?"

  "Yeah."

  "How fun." She turned to Logan. "We should go there some night."

  "If you'd like."

  "Do you have music?" she asked Bash.

  "Yeah. And pool tables, and TVs. A little of everything."

  "Awesome. We'll definitely come by."