Page 101 of Rocky Mountain Home

“Me too.” He rose like a cat and stalked over up to the bed, leaning in with a flirty smile. “I’d suggest we pick up where we were before we were interrupted, but Vicki is right. There’ll be more visitors soon, and you’d probably like to have some clothes on before they arrive, instead of less clothes, the way I’d like.”

A shiver of desire rolled through her. “Didn’t the doctor say something about not getting me excited?”

“I’m not getting you excited,” Jesse said innocently.

Dare took the shorts she wanted out of the bag before offering him a deadpan expression. “Yeah, right. You get me excited just being in the same room.”

His face—like she’d given him a gold star. “You weren’t pissed when I left? Or that I called your family without talking to you first?”

It had to be a trick question. “Was I supposed to be?”

He shook his head.

Dare wiggled the shorts on, lying back to pull them over her hips. Jesse was there in an instant, helping smooth the fabric into place. “You told me you’d take care of me,” Dare reminded him. “I figured that was what you were doing. And you were.”

He stared at her with that unreadable expression for a beat, then leaned in to kiss her fiercely. One hand cupped the back of her neck, and the other found hers on the sheets, fingers tangling together.

Sweet, passionate. Needy and yet giving. She took it and soaked it in.

Then laughed against his lips as another cough echoed in the room.

After greeting his brother Matt and his wife Hope, and saying hello to his nephew Colt who was no longer a baby but a bright-eyed toddler, Jesse took off again.

Dare’s words of praise were like a thermal sweater. Inside and out, he damn near glowed. She trusted him, and that feeling was pretty fucking glorious.

Only now he had work to do.

Tamara might have been off track when she lectured him about being thoughtless, but she’d hit the mark when it came to one thing. He’d been whining and moping inside—face fucking facts, Coleman—about how hard it had been to visit Rocky when there wasn’t a place for him.

So fucking what?

This wasn’t about him, not anymore. It never should have been. It was about what was best for the baby, and for Dare.

Considering when he’d proposed back a month ago it had been with the idea he was manning up, he hadn’t done a very good job of it.

It was time he manned up for real.

The drive to Six Pack ranch was familiar enough he could do it in his sleep, but he eyed the passing scenery with a different eye now than the day before. Then he’d been looking for familiar sights. Now he looked for what was different.

He’d been gone for half a year, but his entire world was no longer the same. Everything had changed—was it the same here?

The only signs of change, though, were good ones. Crops rising strong, herds grazing contentedly. There seemed to be more cowboys riding over the sloping foothills of their land than he could account for with only family, and Vicki’s comment about the bunkhouses being full came back to mind.

Shit. He was more than a stupid idiot, he was a blind, stupid idiot. What if his brilliant idea turned out to be a fool’s errand? No use in turning back. He’d be better off knowing, and maybe this would be a first step in rebuilding a connection to family.

Driving in circles, he realized, was a waste of his time. He hauled out his phone and sent a text to his brother.

Jesse: you free? I’d like to talk

It was only a moment later but it felt like an eternity before Blake responded: I’ve got a few minutes. Come by the office in the barn

The place was hopping as he parked in the yard and headed toward the room where his dad used to keep the old ranching records. Mike had done most of his office work in the house, but it seemed there’d been a change—another one—since Jesse had left.

He knocked on the door before pushing it open, whistling softly at the new setup. What used to be a dark room crowded with beat-up filing cabinets from the thrift shop was now a bright space with rows of neat shelves and two desks, edges touching opposite walls. They’d put in new windows and painted the walls white, and the whole place looked shiny and efficient.

“Place looks great.” Jesse approached the desk Blake sat behind, dropping into one of the straight-backed wooden chairs opposite him.

“Thanks.” His brother closed the ledger he was working on and gave Jesse his full attention. There was no judgment on his face, only concern. “How’s Dare?”