Page 23 of Broncos and Ballads (Healing Springs Ranch #2)

Best night ever.

Brock took a sip of the dark-roast coffee and watched the first rays of the sunrise from the hilltop behind the house. On the long, damp grass beside him, Venus drank her coffee, her eyes fixed on the eastern horizon and the majestic show unfolding.

The truth was, he’d rather stare at her than anything else, but putting the full force of his attention on her was liable to send her running as far and as fast as she could get from him.

Because the full force of his attention was too intense and was only growing more intense with every passing hour.

Even if it had been the best night—even better than Berlin—maybe he’d been foolish to spend so much time with her. He should have known that doing so would only stir the craziness inside him and make him more attracted to her.

Instead of suggesting they have another all-nighter, he should have shown her to her bedroom and let her get some rest.

What had he been thinking?

He hadn’t been. That was the trouble. All rational thought fled from his brain around her.

The glow of light rimming the dark pine trees and the rugged boulders all around them was like magic, slowly gaining intensity and turning the sky into a swirl of soft pink and lavender and orange.

“It’s beautiful.” Her whisper was breathy.

A pang shot through his gut. He wanted to hear that breathy whisper every day, every morning, and every evening, directed at him and only him.

He gulped his coffee. As much as he tried to keep his eyes on the vista ahead, his gaze shifted to her.

Her body was relaxed in the oversized sweatshirt he’d bought for her from the gift shop at the hot spring pools.

Her hair was loose and wavy, having finally dried after they’d tried out every one of the pools and the luxurious hot spring itself.

Before going to the pool complex, they’d taken a moonlight horse ride to one of the higher lakes. It was a ride they offered to guests, one he’d often led during his summers home from college when he’d worked on the ranch.

Once at the lake, they’d snacked on the appetizers and sipped wine that he’d brought along. Then he’d taught her how to fish, and they’d caught two fish that he’d fried up for them with the few supplies the ranch staff kept in a shed near the lake.

After that, he’d taken her to the ranch’s rodeo arena, and they’d barrel raced by the light of the stadium. She was an expert rider, had excellent horsemanship, and talked fondly about the two horses she owned and boarded at her family’s ranch in Malibu.

It had been the wee hours of the morning by the time they took their horses back to the barn and unsaddled and groomed them. Even doing that had been fun with her, and they’d traded horse stories from their childhoods.

By the time Kade and his staff of wranglers had been stirring in the apartments above the barn, Brock had whisked her away, driving into town for coffee from a local coffee shop and then up to see the sunrise.

She took a sip from her paper cup and then slid him a sideways glance, catching him staring.

She’d probably caught him staring at her at least two dozen times throughout the night.

As hard as he was trying not to overwhelm her, he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

How was it that she was growing more beautiful every time he looked at her?

If her eyes weren’t so luminous in the dawn light, if her features weren’t so natural without makeup, if her hair wasn’t so long and blowing in the cool breeze…

maybe then he’d be able to keep himself from looking at her so often.

“What?” she asked innocently. “Did I spill coffee?”

“Nope, you’re fine.” He’d kept the comments about her beauty in check so far, and he couldn’t start laying on the compliments now. He had to think of something else to explain why he was staring. “I’ve enjoyed my night with you and don’t want it to end.”

Her face seemed to light up. “More than you enjoyed the night in Berlin?”

“It’s a toss-up. That was one of my best nights too.”

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” She peered at the sunrise again, but something in her tone was off.

“I sure do, darlin’.”

She snorted.

What was she thinking? That he made a regular habit of planning all-night dates with women? Was she a little jealous?

He allowed himself a thin sliver of hope. “Course, I’ve only ever had all-night dates with you.”

“Oh?” Her voice rose. “Does that mean I’m the only woman you’ve been embarrassed to be with during the day?”

“You’re jealous.”

She sat up straighter. “No, I’m not.”

He laughed softly. “I like it.”

“Just because I’m questioning why you’re taking me on dates at night and not during the day doesn’t mean I’m jealous.”

“Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ve never taken a woman on an all-day date either.”

She didn’t respond, but a small smile played at her lips.

She’d liked his admission. Did that mean maybe she was starting to have some feelings for him too?

Ever since he’d talked with his dad about Venus, his thoughts had jumbled together, and he didn’t know what to feel or think about her. Dad had said that he ought to do what McQuaid men were good at—showing her how much he loved, wanted, and needed her.

Loved. Wanted. Needed. His emotions seemed to be pointing to all three.

But he’d never been in love before, so how could he tell if that was really what he was feeling?

The truth was, he wasn’t good at picking women—was afraid he’d get the wrong one, afraid he’d miss out on someone special, afraid he’d make a mockery of the McQuaid legacy of love.

Maybe that’s why it’d been easier to keep his relationships from getting too serious. Then he didn’t have to worry about ruining a family heritage.

He wasn’t a strong man like the other McQuaid men. He wasn’t like them in many ways at all. So what made him think he could have the legacy of love relationship with any woman?

“So,” she said cautiously, “why haven’t you taken a woman on an all-day date yet?”

“Because I was waiting to do it with you.”

She shoved his arm. “Be serious.”

He was half serious. He’d never met anyone like Venus, never wanted to be with anyone the way he did her, and never had any desire to spend beyond a few hours with anyone but her.

But he couldn’t say that. What could he say instead?

“I don’t know. Maybe I like the night dates because then I don’t have to worry about our time being interrupted by anyone who recognizes us. ”

“We do have more privacy.”

“And we get to be together without all the pressure of having to put on a show for anyone.”

She took another drink of her coffee and focused on the rising sun. “I’m pretty sure your people want you to put on a show this week.”

He sighed. “Yep. Probably.”

“I know so. Ella Mae informed me a team from Rolling Stone is coming to follow us around for a day.”

“What? No.”

“Yes. I think she said the day after tomorrow.”

Was that why Harper and Ella Mae had chosen the ranch? Because of the interview?

He pushed up from the ground and palmed the back of his neck. “We can’t have Rolling Stone follow us around and report on us like we’re a real couple.”

“That’s what I told her, that it would be hard to pretend for a whole day.” Venus didn’t move from her spot in the grass. “But apparently your people think it’ll be great publicity.”

“I don’t care how great it is, I won’t do that to you. It’s too much to ask.”

She fingered the plastic lid on her cup absently. “How much social media have you looked at over the past week?”

“None.” At least, none after he’d seen the picture of himself saying goodbye to Venus at the airport.

He hadn’t wanted to see any more embarrassing pictures of himself and Venus or the comments about them, so he’d stayed clear of any and all accounts.

If he was honest, he also hadn’t wanted to stumble across pictures of Venus this week either.

He hadn’t wanted to see her gorgeous face and body splashed across the internet and be reminded that she wasn’t really his.

She flipped on her phone and scrolled for a few seconds.

“Those pictures of us from Berlin have gone viral and blown up the internet.” She turned her screen toward him, displaying the picture of him hugging her goodbye paired with big bold print: The country’s new power couple. The king has met his queen.

“Shoot.” It was bad.

She flipped to another article with the photo of him staring after her at the airport. If that ain’t love, what is?

He pressed his lips together to keep himself from saying anything worse. If this was what was all over the internet, no wonder his whole family had been interested in Venus, and no wonder his dad thought he was in love with her.

“‘How long until McQuaid proposes? All bets are on,’” she read. Then she was quiet as she scrolled through a few more, and he was glad she didn’t read any more aloud. It was downright embarrassing to have her see what everyone was saying about how much of a goner he was over her.

She finally lowered her phone, the screen going dark.

Where did he even start? He could at least apologize for dragging her into this. “I’m sorry, Venus. I didn’t realize things would get so out of hand.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’ll call Ella Mae just as soon as possible and tell her to cancel the Rolling Stone interview.”

“No, don’t cancel.” She peered at the sunrise again.

“You’ve already done more than enough to save my reputation and put me back in the good graces of my fans. I refuse to put you through more of this craziness.” He motioned toward her phone.

“This”—she lifted her phone—“all of the attention, has actually been good for my career too.”

His next line of protest died on his lips.

“My agent called yesterday and said the requests for me have quadrupled this week.” She clasped her hands more securely around her cup. “In fact, yesterday she had several multimillion-dollar offers come in from all over the world.”

“Is that good? Are you happy about it?”

“It’s a nice boost for my career, expanding my popularity to a new audience of fans. Yours.”

“Good.”

“Then you don’t mind if I use your fame to increase mine?”

“Course not, darlin’. If I can help you out in any way, I’ll feel a whole lot better about everything.”

“Are you sure?” She peeked at him sideways. “Being connected to you is going to benefit me a lot more than the other way around.”

“That’s not true. You rescued me from doom.”

She scoffed. “I might have rescued you from the critics. But let’s be honest. The negativity wouldn’t have lasted long, even if you hadn’t decided to have me for a fake girlfriend. Your charm would have pulled you through eventually.”

“I thought part of the reason for our relationship was so that we could show Reed a thing or two.” Brock hadn’t brought up Reed’s name yet during their time together, but he was more than a little curious to know what was going on with the two of them.

“Yes, and I thank you for that too.”

Was Reed having second thoughts about marrying Lexi? Was he recognizing the treasure he’d given up? Brock hoped not. But now that they were talking about Reed, he suddenly needed to know. “And how are things going with Reed?” He tried to make his voice sound casual and not strangled.

“We met for lunch last week.”

Disappointment stabbed Brock in the stomach, hard. That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear. But what did he expect?

“Our relationship is making him think harder about what he wants.”

The disappointment only twisted in his gut all the more. “So he’s questioning whether he wants to marry Lexi?”

“He didn’t exactly say so. But he did admit to being a little jealous.” She tossed Brock a satisfied smile. “So thank you for that.”

He needed to smile back and pretend he wasn’t upset.

But the truth was, he was worried. Brock had known the endgame was to shake Reed up, to make him realize what he’d lost in Venus.

The pictures from Berlin had apparently done that.

Maybe that was why Reed had texted him and told him to break up with Venus—because he wanted her for himself.

But Brock didn’t want Reed to try to win Venus back…because Venus was his.

The possessiveness swelled irrationally inside him, and he had to pace away from her so that she wouldn’t see the jealousy in his face.

Venus wasn’t his. Not even close. So why was he thinking that way?

Because he loved her the way the photos claimed? The way his fans claimed? The way all the articles claimed? The way his dad claimed?

Even if none of those sources had noticed or reported on anything, how could he deny the thudding of his heartbeat, the almost painful intensity of his feelings that had been growing by the hour?

Was it love? And if it was, why was he trying so hard to deny it? Because he was still afraid of choosing the wrong woman? One who might still be in love with someone else?

At her touch upon his back, his spine stiffened. He hadn’t heard her get up or approach.

“We can put an end to the charade now,” she said softly. “I know you didn’t want to be at the ranch in the first place, and now to have Rolling Stone following us around for a day…”

He blew out a breath, then shifted again toward the sunrise. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll figure it out later.”

“I’ll do whatever you think is best.” Her face was right there in front of him, so close. All he’d have to do was bend a few inches, and he’d be able to kiss the tip of her nose.

“You know what I think is best?” He just wanted to put everything from his mind and enjoy this moment with her.

“What?”

He smiled and then let his gaze sweep over the mountain peaks and the first rays beginning to glaze everything in shimmering gold dust. “For now, let’s enjoy the sunrise and not worry about anything else.”

She opened her mouth as though she might say something more, but then she nodded and peered out over the landscape. A moment later, she laid her head against his shoulder.

The swell of emotion inside rose so swiftly and powerfully that he had to close his eyes to keep tears from forming. He wasn’t a man who cried often, but at that moment, the intensity of what he was feeling for her overwhelmed him in a way he’d never experienced before.

He could no longer deny the truth. He was in love with Venus Vargas. And that scared him out of his wits.