Page 21 of Broncos and Ballads (Healing Springs Ranch #2)
Venus turned off the ignition of the SUV she’d rented and stared at the brightly lit home built on the mountainside. Had she made a mistake in coming to Healing Springs Ranch? Especially without talking to Brock about it?
The back door of the home swung open, and Brock stepped outside.
The outdoor lights illuminated him with all his brawn and muscle.
Wearing his usual faded jeans, a tight T-shirt, and boots, he looked as ruggedly handsome as always, especially as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and started toward her.
After almost a week and a half without seeing him, her stomach did a strange flip at the prospect of talking to him again. Had she missed him? Was she looking forward to being with him?
During the hour drive up from Colorado Springs, she’d wrestled with those questions and still didn’t have answers. All she knew was that she wasn’t dreading a week with him on his family’s ranch, especially with how kind his dad had been in reaching out to her.
As Brock drew nearer, she had the sudden urge to lower the visor mirror and check her makeup. But instead, she forced herself to open the door and step down.
“Hey there, darlin’.” Brock grinned at her.
“Hey.” The sight of that crooked grin directed at her made her stomach do a whole series of somersaults.
At the small crowd of people gathering inside the back door of his house, she guessed his family was waiting for her to arrive as well.
She wasn’t sure what he’d told them about their relationship, but she suspected they didn’t know it was fake.
Even if they did, it wouldn’t hurt to give Brock a hug.
Without waiting for him to initiate, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him.
He reciprocated, slipping his arms behind her and drawing her against his body.
A sense of relief flooded her. Was it because she’d been afraid his silence meant he didn’t like her anymore or want to be with her? Obviously, they were hugging to put on a show for his family. But still…he wouldn’t greet her so warmly if he were upset with her, would he?
She’d actually been surprised when his people had called earlier in the day and said that he wanted her to fly to his family’s ranch and spend the week with him there.
She’d thought they weren’t involving their families, but his manager had assured her the ranch was the perfect place for the vacation, especially because of a Rolling Stone interview for Brock that was scheduled there in a couple of days.
Venus breathed in deeply, catching a faint woodsy scent of Brock’s aftershave. The strength of his body, the thickness of his arms, and the power of his presence were just as she remembered.
After several long heartbeats, he started to pull back, but she clung to him more tightly, not ready for their embrace to end. A part of her needed this, needed him, in a way she didn’t understand.
He hesitated only a moment before relaxing into her and tightening his hold. “You okay?” he asked after a few seconds.
“Your text at the airport said you’d miss me. Did you?” The words she’d been wondering all week fell out before she could stop them.
His fingers slid up her back gently, and he combed at the long strands she’d left loose. He seemed to be stalling, as if trying to figure out how to answer her.
“Never mind,” she whispered, starting to pull back. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
His hand at her back pinned her in place. “Yep, I missed you.”
She halted.
“I thought about you all the time.” His whisper held a sincerity that left no doubt he meant the words.
She melted against him. Oh, she liked him. He was so sweet and considerate and nice to her, and not because he wanted her body or thought she was beautiful. No, she sensed he genuinely cared about her as a person, and there weren’t many who did.
She tugged back a little, enough that she could see his face. “You didn’t text me.”
His grin crept out again. “Guess that means you missed me too.”
“Maybe.” She couldn’t hold back a smile of her own.
His gaze skimmed her face before landing on her lips, as though he was considering kissing her. To put on a show for his family? Or because he wanted to kiss her?
She glanced at his mouth too. Did it really matter why he was considering the kiss? Either way, she was okay with sharing a kiss.
She lifted on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, one that was short but that ended up being harder and more passionate than she’d intended.
Without giving him the chance to say anything or even respond to the kiss, she spun away from him toward the back seat of the SUV, where she’d stowed her luggage.
As she opened the door and reached for her suitcase, his hand landed on her hip, and he closed in behind her. In one movement, he brushed aside her hair, then laid a soft but hot kiss at the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met.
A gasp slipped out, and she couldn’t move—didn’t want to move. She closed her eyes and waited for him to bend in again. She wanted to feel his lips against her skin, this time for longer, wanted his fingers in her hair.
But instead of another kiss, he shifted past her, took the suitcase from her hands, and lifted it out of the SUV, as if their interaction was a normal, everyday occurrence.
And it should be for her too, except that she felt anything but normal.
Her world felt suddenly tilted, and she was off-balance.
What was wrong with her that she was reacting so strongly to Brock? She shouldn’t be, not when this was pretend.
Of course, if she was really honest with herself, she had to admit that some kind of attraction was starting to develop between them.
It had been growing since that night in Berlin, but maybe she’d just been too stubborn to acknowledge it.
Was that why his lack of texting her this past week had been difficult?
Because she’d wanted to stay in touch? Had missed his humor?
Had missed his kindness? Had missed the easy way she could be herself with him?
She pulled in a breath of night air. She had to stay composed, couldn’t let him see how much his touch had ruffled her.
She closed the door of the vehicle, shouldered her carry-on bag, then faced him again.
“I didn’t know you were coming until about an hour ago,” he said quietly with a glance toward his family.
“Ella Mae called me about it this morning.”
“She and Harper made the arrangements without consulting me.” His voice had a slight edge to it.
“Oh.” So he hadn’t been the one to invite her to the ranch, and maybe he didn’t want her here after all. “We can have our people figure out a different place.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
She took a step back and rested her hand on the door handle. “I’ll go stay somewhere else tonight—”
“No.” He laid his hand over hers, intertwined their fingers, then drew her away from the door. “Of course you’ll stay here until we can get something else lined up.”
She didn’t budge. “I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re not imposing.” His tone dropped. “It’s just that I don’t want to lie more than necessary to my family.”
“That makes sense.” She relaxed again. “Then let’s just tell them that we’re in a relationship but that we’re not as serious as the media is making us out to be. It might not be the whole truth, but it’s not a lie.”
He hesitated. “They’re all pretty nosy, and my dad is already playing matchmaker.”
She laughed lightly. “He seems sweet.”
“He’ll have us married by the end of the week if he has his way.”
“Sounds like an ambitious man.”
“Real ambitious.”
They fell into their easy teasing as they crossed the driveway toward the back door.
When she reached the entryway, Brock made all the introductions—to his sister Emberly, to his older brother Tyler, who was engaged to Kinsey and had a son named Wyatt, and then to his youngest brother Kade, who was a charmer just like Brock.
As they moved into the house, Venus was impressed by the authentic Western style of the decorations.
Real horseshoes, barrels, wheels, and other artifacts had been used to create furniture, pictures, lamps, and more.
Everything coordinated with tans and browns and creams and a splash of green in the plants.
The house was as beautiful inside as it was out.
Even though Brock’s father T.W. had already retired to his bedroom off the great room, Brock took her in to say hi. The middle-aged man was bright-eyed and happy to meet her, and she could easily see that Brock was right about his desire to play matchmaker.
She also met his mom, Leah, who was every bit as lovely as Brock had described. Immediately, Venus sensed the deep affection Leah had for T.W., similar to what her own mom had harbored for Marco. But it was also different, and Venus wasn’t sure how.
Venus had spent the past two days at her family’s ranch in Malibu, hoping to have some time with her mom.
But her mom had just started seeing a new guy and had been busy with him.
Venus had been disappointed that her mom was jumping into another relationship and wasn’t able to see her pattern of one broken relationship after another.
“He’s different,” her mom had said again yesterday, “and I need to give him a chance and see where this leads.” How many times had her mom said that about a new boyfriend? Venus had lost count.
Maybe that was part of the reason why, when Ella Mae had called about the vacation plans, Venus had been ready to go and hadn’t stopped to question anything.
As much as she adored her mom, she’d wanted to get away from having to watch her being giddy like a teenage girl, all the while knowing she would be in tears six months later when the new man didn’t live up to her first love.
Whatever the case, Venus could tell right from the start that she liked Leah and T.W. But it wasn’t long before Kinsey said T.W. needed to get his beauty sleep.