License to Love: Holiday Box Set (Contemporary Romance)

by Kristen James

  More importantly, did she care about her dead brother? Care that she came here and replaced him?

  What would a sweet little city slicker do out here without her morning espresso? She didn’t exactly talk like someone from the city, but she dressed like one. He only knew she was from east of here.

  He stalked down to the horse stables, but froze mid-step at the entrance. His Appaloosa gelding, Jeffrey, nuzzled Missy’s hand.

  Thoughts of that darn woman had kept him up half the night, but she looked rested. What was she doing here so early?

  Her face wasn’t guarded. He hadn’t realized just how snobby she’d looked the day before in her nice clothes, but now she smiled at Jeffrey. Her hair hung down her back like a black, shiny mane. It’d been up yesterday, so he hadn’t guessed it was so long.

  Nick was wrong. She was here to take over the stables, starting with his own damn horse.

  The traitor horse reacted to Missy just like he had to Ben, maybe because she seemed to have the same natural ease. The two of them made a nice picture, for sure. That long body of hers would look great riding on a horse.

  She must have listened to his suggestion that she go into town and buy some work clothes. Now in jeans, insulated boots, and a thick, winter coat, she looked like she could belong. On her own ranch, that was.

  Wasn’t it his luck that she was so hot? He loved long hair, and she had plenty. And huge brown eyes in an oval face. Lips that just begged for a kiss. Darn it, he didn’t need to waste his time with fantasies.

  She saw him and stepped back from the horse.

  “Morning,” he said as he rested a hand on the stall. “I see you and my horse are on good terms.”

  “What’s his name?” Her gaze rested on the horse, then Brent, and then the horse again. A teasing smile slipped onto her face.

  “His name’s Jeffrey. And what’s so funny?” He caught himself right before he returned that enticing smile.

  “They say pets and their owners start to look alike. Jeffrey has your long face.”

  One corner of her mouth tilted up before she bit her lip to stop the smile. He saw her white teeth nibble on her lower lip and thought of doing the same. Whoa!

  “So does Dancer remind you of Ben?” he asked, tilting his head to the black stallion that watched her.

  Missy looked back at the wild-looking thing. “I don’t know.”

  Yeah, he had her there. Funny thing was, he felt bad that he'd made her face go all sad. “So, you ready?”

  She nodded, though she couldn’t know what she agreed to.

  “Great, truck’s outside,” he said and noticed how quiet she was. He waited until she slid in and buckled up to start the engine. Her lavender scent smelled strange mixed with the truck’s normal leather smell. She watched out the window as they drove through the ranch. After several quiet minutes, he asked, “Not a morning person?”

  She shrugged. He almost missed it because he was watching the road.

  “Missy?” That made her turn her face his way.

  “Sorry, I’ve got so many things on my mind,” she said, still not focused on him.

  “Second thoughts about being here or worries about the life waiting for you?” He made sure to keep his voice neutral because he actually wanted to hear her answer.

  “I’ll pull my weight, don’t worry. And I’m sticking around, so get used to me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He turned the truck off his gravel road, onto the highway, and sped up. He could handle quiet if she didn’t feel like talking. It wasn’t like they were friends.

  “It’s just being in Ben’s house...” She looked down at her lap.

  Her quiet voice made his heart sink. Maybe he shouldn’t have left her there alone. Too late now… Or could he fix it? “I wasn’t thinking. You can move over to my place if you need to.” What in hell was he thinking now? Her in his house?

  “It's all right. Being there just made me think about him more, wonder about him.”

  Another ping of guilt hit him. “I meant to clean the cabin out at some point. I had no idea you’d be moving in…” Ben had been horribly messy so the cabin was full of not only Ben’s things, but papers and weird odds and ends that had stacked up.

  She shrugged and turned to her window, and a minute later, added, “The cloudy sky looks pearlescent, like the inside of those seashells in the shops here.”

  “The abalone shells?” At her soft comment, he glanced over. She was too pretty to be sitting in his dusty truck. Something stirred in him at the sight of her hair, her hands resting one on top of the other in her lap. Casual beauty, he thought.

  Darn it, her looks weren’t his business.

  After a few days of hard ranch work, she’d hit the road for home. Just like Kathryn had two years ago.

  “We need more hay for the horses,” he said. Since she still gazed out the side window, he let himself stare for a quick minute. Nice profile. Nice mouth, too. A man could go crazy thinking about kissing her. But back to ranch business... “There’s two other guys working the ranch with me, Dale and Ivan. You’ll run across them.”

  “They live on the property?” she asked, and the hint of panic in her voice surprised him. So far, she acted as if nothing could run her off.

  He shouldn’t ask about it. Besides, she seemed to be trying to cover for it now. “Dale does, in a small house closer to the main road. You probably didn’t see it through the forest over there.”

  In his side vision, he saw her flick a look over at him. She’d trailed her gaze over him a few times the day before, but he couldn’t tell if she liked what she saw or not. It didn’t matter, but he liked to think she did.

  “Have you always been around horses?”

  “My dad made his living from horses, and I always have, too.” He felt his shoulders relax, though he hadn’t realized before how stiff he’d been. Maybe they could manage this. “When we finish today, you might want to go check out some books on horses. I’ll go over everything with you, but it’d help if you can tell a bridle from a stirrup.”

  “I’m not that slow.”

  “I’m just saying, I’d like you to know what everything is. Horse breeds, grasses, a little about horse care. Check into trail horses, since that’s what we have here.” He glanced over. “That is, if you’re serious about this.”

  “I am.” Her voice wasn’t haughty like before, but heavy. Maybe she did see what she was getting into.

  “This is Jack’s farm coming up.” He pulled down a long gravel drive. Ready for them, Jack waved and swung open the barn door, but he scratched his thick, gray beard as he looked at Missy. Hopping out, Brent told him, “Jack Wilson, this is Ben’s sister, Missy Nelson.”

  “Ben had a sister?”

  At Jack’s words, Brent gave her a look. She narrowed her eyes as she stepped back.

  He knew that she wouldn’t be much help with this. Her petite frame couldn’t be more than five feet five, and the bales were stinking heavy. Still, she needed to see what they did.

  Jack jumped up into the truck bed and stacked the bales as Brent loaded them. He paused after a minute to toss her a pair of gloves.

  “I noticed you don’t have a pair.” He waited while she slipped them on. “Want to help out?”

  He threw another bale into the bed to demonstrate and stepped back to let her try.

  Bending, she grabbed the strings and pulled. “Holy crap!”

  He couldn’t stop the laugh, but he managed to keep it silent. Too bad she caught him shaking when she stood up.

  “Would you like to keep the steering wheel warm?” He grinned with the comment so she’d know it was in fun.

  “You jerk!” She glared. “There are other ways I can help out on the ranch.”

  He sobered because her eyes grew smoldering with anger. They looked amber, and entrancing. He felt his breathing quicken.

  Turning, she walked to the front of the truck and got back in the passenger seat. He went back to work, shrugging at Jack
’s puzzled look. They both looked in the back window at her stiff shoulders and knew to keep silent as they worked.

  “That about does it,” Jack said when he stacked the last one.

  “See you, Jack,” Brent waved and joined Missy in the cab to head back. With her arms folded, she turned her body away and didn’t speak the entire trip home.

  This wasn’t so bad, he thought with a glance her way. If they could stay angry at each other, he wouldn’t have to wonder about her. He wouldn’t have to care why she was so willing to pick up and move here to help with the ranch. Now if could just push it all out of his mind…

  When they reached the stables, he backed his truck up to unload the hay, but he didn’t get out when he turned off the engine. “Listen, I’ll find you something else to do.”

  She nodded.

  Trying not to grin again, he asked, “It was funny, wasn’t it?”

  Her head turned. When her gaze locked with his, the truck cab grew suddenly smaller. He saw her Nez Perce heritage in her high, proud cheekbones and skin the color of red baked clay. She had a face someone could stare at for hours.

  But not him. Right?

  Brent knew she had her own agenda—not a relationship—on her mind. Well, she wasn’t the only one.

  Chapter Two

  “So this is the reality behind the mystery,” she said as she threw another shovel of dirty hay, and then watched her breath puff away in the frigid evening air. Smelly cold air, since it carried the smell of the horse’s waste.

  “What’s that?” Brent’s face came into view over the wall that separated the stalls they worked in. “What mystery?”

  “I’ve just never seen cowboys in movies doing this stuff.” Although, she didn’t remember watching too many westerns.

  “Mucking stalls is mysterious? So, what do you know about horse breeding?” He went back to work, but she saw his smile before his face disappeared.

  “Stop right there. I’ll stick to this for now.” She liked his smile. That friendly smile had shocked her when he grinned yesterday, even if he was laughing at her over lifting the stupid hay bales. He had a cleft chin, something she liked in men, back when she was interested in them. The only thing she wanted with Brent was a working partnership… and maybe friendship.

  Working was the operative word in working partnership. They’d been busy all day. Here it was evening already, and they were still cleaning horse stalls. He’d told her they wouldn’t normally do this so late, but he’d spent the day showing her around.

  At least they’d formed an unspoken truce and found a way to work together. His remarks weren’t as cutting as when they’d first met.

  She rested her shovel on the ground for a minute to rub the small of her back. All this work had almost been worth the view of him on a horse yesterday: tall and long and wearing his cowboy hat. She’d gawked at him from around a corner, amazed by his control and grace as he moved around the corral. She liked how he held his back straight when he rode.

  He carried on an easy conversation with the two men who worked at Ocean View too. She found herself almost wanting to talk and laugh with them.

  “Did you read those books I suggested?” he asked while he worked. Hello reality, she chided herself.

  “Yup.” All that knowledge sure did help with this particular job, too.

  “Ready to try riding tomorrow?”

  She popped up this time to look at him. “Riding horses?”

  Straightening, he turned around to look at her. “No, a four-wheeler,” he said with a forced serious face.

  She huffed at him and finished her job, betting he smiled now that she wasn’t watching him. She needed a hot shower to warm her up, a good dinner, and a good book to read.

  Her body wasn’t used to this kind of work, but she welcomed the experience. She also liked how busy it kept her. And boy, did he keep her busy. Not only did he work her till the daylight faded - around five o’clock thanks to old man winter - but he kept her mind busy with fantasies of what his lean body could do for her.

  Not that she’d ever let that happen, but he was just too incredible. He looked like he would know just what to do and where to do it. Missy! Cool it. She needed to get out of there before she moaned at her thoughts.

  “Okay, I’m done here.” She spoke with finality in case he had some other chore in mind. Since he wasn’t finished, she watched him work for a minute, expecting some kind of answer.

  Good thing he wasn’t interested in women, because he could seduce her if he had the right personality. Nice long legs, nice butt. She was more of a face person, and he had one great face. Long and narrow. Startling eyes in a unique blue color. She liked his sandy hair and secretive expression, too. The few times he teased her, he had a gleam in his eyes that dared her to break him.

  “Okay,” he said as he set aside his shovel. He leaned against a rail to wipe his brow with the long sleeve of his shirt. “Are you settled in?”

  Thinking of the messy cabin she now called home, she said, “I thought you didn’t want me to stick around.”

  “No need for you to be uncomfortable while you’re here.”

  “But it won’t be long, right?” Shocked at herself, she took a step toward the door to make a quick escape.

  “Hey, just trying to be nice.” He looked perplexed, maybe even annoyed at her. He had one eyebrow lower than the other in what she already recognized as his scowl.

  “You’re right. We don’t need to be so mean to each other. I’m used to competing with everyone at work, I guess.” She wanted to rub her sore shoulders, but she couldn’t let herself in front of him. “Yes, I’m settled in some. See you tomorrow, Brent.”

  Touching his hat, he called, “Your first riding lesson.”

  She couldn’t wait, she thought, but she stopped by the door and turned. He watched her expectantly. “I’m sorry,” she said, “About Ben, that you lost a good friend.”

  That shouldn’t have been so hard, or taken her so long, but she felt her nerves act up while he stared at her.

  “Thanks, goodnight.” He turned away, moving onto another task. She felt uneasy as she left, wondering how he was dealing with the loss.

  The night seemed blacker than any other night of her life. The ever present clouds blocked the moon and starlight, while sending the thinnest ocean mist into the air. The place was majestic, she had to give it that. Not anything like the small, dry town where she grew up in Nevada. Wouldn’t Brent laugh if he knew she wasn’t the city girl she looked?

  She’d even caught herself slipping into the easy talk she’d worked so hard to remove from her speech. After hiding her past for so long, it baffled her that she wanted Brent to know. She didn’t like him thinking she was some snob who looked down at his country lifestyle.

  But why did she care?

  She walked on the road back to Ben’s place, thankful for the pole lights at the edge of the corral. She quickened her pace, pushing her hands down into her coat pockets.

  “Missy!” She heard his footsteps crunching on the gravel as he ran toward her and turned to wait for him to catch up. Those long legs could move, couldn’t they? Her body tingled even while she cursed it.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked and tried her hardest to hide her relief at seeing him. He slowed and pulled in a deep breath.

  “I can’t let you walk home by yourself.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t that big of a deal if he wanted to be a gentleman. That’s what she told herself anyway. He was such a funny mix of naughty and nice. They started off together, and she asked, “Are there cougars out here?”

  “I haven’t seen any this close,” he said. She didn’t like the uncertainty of that answer, but he didn’t sound worried. “So what did you do before you came here?”

  “I married old men for their money,” she said with a sly smile. Ducking her head didn’t hide it, even in this dim light.

  “I deserved that.” His voice sounded like he grinned.
“But I want to know.”

  “Advertising. I spent three years with the same company, building my clientele list, and I was promoted twice.” She’d still be there if it weren’t for the lies and her ruined reputation. She thought of going back, applying at another firm in another city, but Russ, her former boss, would never give her a good reference. “My career might be over.”

  That hadn’t been the best thing to say. He didn’t ask about it, so she hoped he either hadn’t heard or didn’t care. They took several steps in silence. Unbearable silence, but she couldn’t find her tongue to speak.

  “Do you want to go back to that?” he asked softly, his head tilted. Apparently he had heard her loud and clear, and now his eyes were trained on her face.

  She tried to laugh. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t want me here.”

  “I didn’t mean that, and you know it,” he nudged her arm. The touch startled her. Then she realized they hadn’t touched before that. Shrugging, she left the question unanswered.

  They were about to her door when she said, “So you’ve been around horses all your life, but did you grow up in Oregon?”

  “West Coast born and bred,” he said. “I can’t live without the ocean, the mountains, and streams all over the place.” His voice carried pride and love, the way it did when he talked about the ranch. Some people are defined by their home, by their surroundings, but Brent and Ocean View Stables seemed to be two halves to a whole. He had a love for this land that she wanted to understand.

  They stepped up to her door and she found herself wanting to keep the conversation going.

  “You don’t mind the rain and fog?” She gestured around them at the wet darkness. The change was refreshing and invigorating for her now, but that could wear off.

  “We do have dry summers. Nice autumns, too.” He looked amused. “But I like the rain, keeps the tall trees watered.”

  “Don’t cowboys belong in Texas?”

  “Lots of people ride out here. Just wait till you get a horse down on the sand. The trails are great, too, with the view of the ocean.”