Page 25 of Summer on the Ranch (Royally Wed #1)

‘‘I thought they were replacing me. I thought they thought I wasn’t good enough, that they’d adopted John because they didn’t think I would be able to handle the responsibility of the ranch. He was there as backup in case I screwed up.’’

‘‘Did you ever discuss this with them?’’

He shook his head. ‘‘Eventually I figured out that they’d really wanted another child, and that they thought a boy would be more fun for me. I let all the ambivalence go.’’

‘‘Are you sure?’’ Alex asked before she could stop herself. Then she pressed her fingertips to her mouth. ‘‘Sorry, that just slipped out. You don’t have to answer that question.’’

‘‘I know, but it’s a good point. Sometimes I still work the thought over in my mind and wonder if I’m good enough. But not very often and never for long. I do a good job here, and I know my parents are proud of me.’’

More important, he was proud of himself. But this time Alex managed to hold the words back.

‘‘I worry about John,’’ Mitch admitted. ‘‘No matter how my folks tried to make him feel like one of the family, he’s never completely fit in. Even as a kid he seemed to be searching for something else.’’

‘‘Is that why he disappears?’’

‘‘I guess. Something out there keeps calling to him, and he keeps leaving to find it.’’

Was John her long-lost brother, searching for his true identity, or was he just a man with a case of wanderlust? She didn’t have the answer, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted one. As much as she needed her future settled, Alex wasn’t in any hurry to leave the ranch…and Mitch.

‘‘We are so much alike,’’ she mused. ‘‘You and I,’’ she added when he glanced at her and raised his eyebrows.

‘‘What are you talking about? Little lady, we couldn’t be more different.’’

‘‘You’re wrong,’’ she told him. ‘‘Of course we’re different in that respect. You’re mostly wrong and I’m mostly right.’’

The low growl in his throat warned her of the attack just microseconds before he launched himself at her.

She shrieked and tried to scramble off the sofa, but he already had her pinned.

His long, strong body held her firmly in place while his fingers searched out and found ticklish spots on her ribs.

‘‘Stop,’’ she gasped, trying to push him away. She laughed and yelped and squirmed, but nothing helped.

‘‘You’re just wasting energy, darlin’. I was on the rodeo circuit. If I can wrestle a two-thousand-pound steer to the ground, one skinny, redheaded princess isn’t going to be much of a problem.’’

She pushed at him, but it was like shoving against the side of a mountain. He didn’t budge. ‘‘Violence is the refuge of the incompetent,’’ she said.

‘‘Uh-huh. That’s pretty high-and-mighty coming from someone so completely out of control of the situation.’’ He tickled her ribs again.

‘‘No!’’ She wiggled and squirmed, but it was no use. All she could do was try to capture his hands in hers and hold them. Unfortunately, he pulled free of her easily.

‘‘Dammit, Mitch, let me go.’’

He raised his eyebrows in mock astonishment. ‘‘Was that profanity I heard falling from those royal lips?’’

‘‘Yes, and you’re going to hear more.’’ She glared at him. ‘‘And I’m not skinny.’’

‘‘Did I say skinny?’’

Her bangs were in her eyes. She pushed them out of the way. ‘‘You did.’’

‘‘I apologize. You’re slender, but in the most delightful way. All your curves are exactly as they should be.’’

‘‘You would be the one to know,’’ she grumbled.

His smile turned wolfish. ‘‘I would be, wouldn’t I?’’

They looked at each other. When he wasn’t tickling her, she found that she liked being pinned by him. His legs tangled with hers and his mouth was so close, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to kiss him. The thought made her shiver and sort of melt inside.

Was it her imagination or was he thinking the same thing? His eyes seemed so dilated, they were nearly black. Had his breathing increased?

‘‘Tell me how we’re alike,’’ he said.

‘‘What?’’

‘‘You told me that we were very much alike. I want to know how we’re the same.’’

Is that what he’d been thinking? While she’d been lost in the moment of their closeness, he’d been remembering a snippet of conversation? Obviously she would never understand men.

She started to straighten, but he didn’t move. ‘‘Aren’t you going to let me up?’’

‘‘No.’’

‘‘Oh.’’ She blinked. ‘‘All right.’’ She took a couple of seconds to try to remember what she’d been thinking when she made the comment about them being similar in nature.

‘‘We’re both the oldest,’’ she said. ‘‘We have a strong sense of tradition and of doing the right thing. We believe in the past, but we also look to the future.’’

‘‘I see. If you put it that way, I guess you’re right. I just never saw myself as anything like royalty.’’

He chuckled, but suddenly Alex didn’t find his comment funny.

‘‘Why do you keep doing that?’’ she asked. ‘‘Why do you keep talking about me being a princess?’’

‘‘Because you are.’’

‘‘I know that. But the way you say it, it’s almost as if you’re reminding yourself.’’

His humor faded. ‘‘Maybe I am.’’

‘‘Why? Am I so very different? Can’t you treat me like any other woman in your life?’’

‘‘But you’re not like them.’’

He wasn’t making any sense. ‘‘What am I doing wrong?’’ she demanded. ‘‘Tell me how I’m different.’’

‘‘You just are.’’

‘‘That’s not an answer.’’

‘‘It’s the best I can do.’’

‘‘So you’ll never treat me like everyone else.’’

His mouth pulled into a straight line. ‘‘What do you want to know, Alex? What’s the point here?’’

‘‘I don’t know. I just wish—’’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘‘I wish you didn’t think of me as different. I wish you wouldn’t always worry about the whole princess issue.’’

‘‘I don’t.’’

‘‘Of course you do. Everything is different because of who I am and how you think you should treat me.’’

‘‘It’s not as different as you think.’’

She knew she was acting like an eight-year-old, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. ‘‘So if I wasn’t a princess, everything about our relationship would be the same?’’

He hesitated long enough for her to know that she’d hit on some truth.

‘‘What?’’ she asked. ‘‘What would be different?’’

He started to pull away. She grabbed on to his arms. ‘‘Mitch, tell me.’’

‘‘You think you’re so damn smart, don’t you?

’’ He glared at her. ‘‘All right, princess, try this one on for size. If you weren’t my guest and my responsibility, not to mention royalty, I would toss you over my shoulder, carry you down the hall to my bedroom and make love with you until this time next week.’’