Janet got the hint immediately. “We’ll get back to you on dates.”
Brooke slipped out while Janet settled the details. For two danged weeks, Brooke had been hemming and hawing, asking herself how she could trust him when, really, she’d been trying to figure out how she could trust herself.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t walk away.
All she needed to do was make a leap of faith.
She texted Flash, Where are you?
My hotel room, was the immediate reply. In Nashville.
Relief coursed through her. Still here?
Never left, babe. I might walk away from you and you might walk away from me when we need to calm down, but I will always come back for you. Been hoping you’ll come back to me, too.
Dear God, he really did love her. I need to talk to you.
Where?
She was more than half tempted to ask for his room number, but she had a drowsy infant in the back seat. Meet me at my house in half an hour.
Just as she pulled out of the parking lot, Flash texted back, Thank God.
* * *
Flash hadn’t waited half an hour. He was on Brooke’s doorstep less than fifteen minutes later, waiting. Dad hadn’t been happy about Flash driving himself, but a man had to do what a man had to do.
Finally.
It’d taken two weeks of every kind of tea and tea accessory known to mankind, but she’d reached out to him.
Please let this be good, he prayed.
Of course, she needed to talk to him, which was kind of a problem because right now, Flash wasn’t doing a whole lot of talking. And kissing—good, deep kissing, the kind that led to clothing-optional activities—was also off the table. Nibbling was strictly forbidden.
Stupid busted jaw.
It felt like an eternity before Brooke drove up, and Flash was thrilled to see she was alone except for the baby.
He hurried to open Brooke’s door but the next thing he knew, she was in his arms and he was struggling to hold back the tears because for two long, awful weeks he’d been afraid he’d lost her, and Brooke Bonner wasn’t the kind of woman a man just got over.
“Missed you,” he mumbled into her hair as best he could.
“Missed you, too. Let me put the baby down and then we’ll talk?”
Reluctantly he let her go. He held the door for her as she pulled a napping James Frasier out of the back seat and then got the front door for her as she carried the baby inside.
They got Bean into the crib without waking him. Flash wrapped his arm around Brooke’s shoulders and held her as they stared at their son.
Yep. This was right. This was where he belonged.
Now he just had to convince Brooke of that.
Silently she led him back down to the library where he’d nearly ruined everything. “God, I’m so sorry,” she said, basically launching herself at him. “Your face!”
Flash grunted at the impact but, hell, he could play with the pain. The bruises had mostly faded to sickly greens and yellows, except where he’d had more work done on his jaw. But he knew he still looked terrible.
He picked her up and carried her to the couch—with its now-lumpy cushions. Then he pulled out his tablet and began typing.
“Are you okay?”
She read the message and then stared at him. “What’s wrong with your mouth?”
“Broken jaw. Wired shut. Won’t be able to do much talking or anything for a few more weeks. I’m officially retired from the rodeo. Doctors say I’m done—can’t risk any more damage.”
She went pale. “Oh, my God! Flash! I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay, babe,” he typed. “Everything’s okay as long as I’m with you.”
Her eyes got all watery again. “It was all real, wasn’t it? The proposals and this huge ring and all that tea and honey and...it’s all real, isn’t it?”
He nodded and touched his forehead to hers. “Love you,” he tried to say.
“Don’t talk, babe. You...” She sniffed and he wiped the tears off her cheeks. “You said so much in all your notes. I was just too confused to see it.”
He kissed her then, gently, before he tucked her against his chest so he could type. “I love you. I think I always have, ever since that first night. But I didn’t fight for you then. I let you go and I’ve regretted it ever since. I don’t want to let you go again. I’m going to fight for you and for our family every day of my life.”
“Oh, Flash,” she whispered through her tears. “I’m so, so sorry because I was doing the same thing I did last time. I shut you out because I was scared. I was doing the exact same thing my mom and Kyle did, and I was wrong. I know you were protecting me, but everything got so screwed up in my mind that...”
“You had to walk away for a little bit,” he typed quickly, his heart pounding. “Just to calm down. I understand. I had faith you’d fight for me, too.” He swallowed, a raspy sound, and then added, “You are, right?”
Because it’d about kill him if she said no. He could let the rodeo go and the world would keep right on spinning.
But life without Brooke...no, he wasn’t about to let her go.
Lawrence men fell hard and fast and forever.
That’s what this was. Forever.
“I understand now,” she told him. “I didn’t before. But I talked with my...with Kyle, and he told me he didn’t fight for me, didn’t try to get right with my mom. He only wanted me when I was easy and talented. But that’s not life, is it? It’s hard work. That’s what I want—someone who’s willing to fight for me, who’ll stick it out when it gets hard and help make things better. And that’s you.”
“That’s you, too,” he typed back, his hands shaking.
She shook her head, tears dripping down her face. “Not enough. I need to fight harder. Not just for you, but for myself. For us.”
“We’ll work on it,” he typed back. He couldn’t wait until he could talk to her again. It was damn near impossible to whisper sweet nothings into a girl’s ear on a tablet. “Together. We’re a team. Today, tomorrow, every day.” When she gasped, he gritted his teeth and made the one concession he was willing to make. “We don’t have to get married, but the offer stands. It’ll always stand. I’m not giving up on you or on us. I want this to work. Every day, I’ll prove it to you. That’s a promise.”
She took the tablet from his hands and tossed it aside. “But...what if I want to get married? Is that something you still want?”
Flash groaned. “Yes,” he said out loud, although it sounded like a tire deflating. “God, yes.”
“How will it work?” she asked, stroking her fingertips over his busted jaw.
He picked up the tablet again. “I’m done with chasing the rodeo. It’s time I did the stay-at-home-dad thing. Go with you on tour. Be there for you. For our family.”
“Oh, Flash,” she whispered, carefully throwing her arms around his neck. “That’s what I want. You and me and our family. With less broken bones, though.”
“Working on it,” he got out, holding her tight.
Then he set her aside and got to one knee next to the couch, taking her hands in his. She still had on his ring, thank God. She’d worn it this whole time.
“Brooke, would you marry me?” Although it didn’t come out exactly right.
“For real?” she asked, her eyes shimmering with tears.
“For real,” he replied, kissing her hands.
“Yes, Flash. Because I am always coming back for you, too,” she sobbed.
Flash surged to his feet and pulled her into a hug. This was home. Brooke was home. “Thank God,” he mumbled.
Thank God, he’d never have to get over Brooke Bonner.
* * *
The whole First Family of Rodeo series
from Sarah M. Anderson
<
br /> is available now!
His Best Friend’s Sister
His Enemy’s Daughter
His for One Night
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Engaging the Enemy
by Reese Ryan
One
Parker Abbott pulled into the parking lot of the two-story building that had definitely seen better days.
Better decades even.
He parked, turned off the engine and groaned.
Kayleigh.
His high school nemesis and the one person in town who was most likely to head up the Parker Abbott not-a-fan club.
Usually he enjoyed negotiating deals for their family-owned distillery. But the thought of negotiating anything with Kayleigh made a knot form in his gut.
Perhaps because, deep down, he still saw her as the girl with curly pigtails and thick glasses who had once been his closest friend. Until a falling-out had made them bitter adversaries.
Parker heaved a sigh, pushed open the car door and climbed to his feet.
Waiting five more minutes, or even five more days, wouldn’t make the task ahead any easier.
Parker straightened his tie and grabbed his attaché from the back seat of the car. He wasn’t that preteen boy with a killer crush on Kayleigh Jemison anymore. He was a goddamned professional, and he was going to act like it, even if it killed him.
As Parker approached the shop, he caught sight of Kayleigh’s shock of coppery-red curls through the window. She was gorgeous, as always, with her honey-brown skin and expressive coffee-brown eyes.
Kayleigh was laughing with a customer, but as she waved goodbye to the woman, she caught a glimpse of him standing outside, gawking at her.
Her deep scowl and hard stare confirmed exactly what he’d expected. Kayleigh Jemison was going to give him hell.
He reached into his pocket, flipped the top on a tube of antacids and popped two into his mouth.
* * *
Kayleigh Jemison folded her arms as she stared through the window of her small handmade-jewelry-and-consignment shop.
What the hell was he doing there? It wasn’t Christmas and his mother’s and sister’s birthdays weren’t imminent. And the uptight, Wall-Street-wannabe certainly wasn’t the kind of man who’d wear her hand-tooled jewelry. So why was he here? And why on earth was he staring at her like she was a museum exhibit?
Kayleigh involuntarily dragged her fingers through her wild red curls, trying to create some semblance of order.
It was a slow weekday, so she’d been in the back, stamping and hammering metal pieces to be shipped to customers across the country. She wore a faded old T-shirt and a tattered pair of jeans stained with leather dye. A black bandanna pulled her hair back.
In short, she looked a hot damn mess.
Of all the days for him to show up at her shop... Kayleigh sighed, giving up any hope of redeeming her look.
What did it matter anyway?
As far as Parker was concerned, she was beneath the mighty Abbotts. They were the family with the keys to the kingdom in their growing small town of Magnolia Lake, Tennessee, a gem situated in the foothills of the picturesque Smoky Mountains.
The Abbotts, owners of King’s Finest Distillery, the largest local employer, were well-known and beloved by everyone in town.
Except her.
The little bell over the entrance tinkled when Parker yanked open the door, holding it for the customer who was leaving. The woman was juggling her purse, her bags and an unruly toddler.
So he does have manners. He just uses them selectively.
“Parker Abbott, what brings you into my shop today?” Kayleigh stood straight as a rod and tried to relax her involuntary scowl.
She’d returned to Magnolia Lake to start a business after going to college in Nashville and then living in Atlanta. Waging an outright war with the Abbotts would be detrimental to her interests. Besides, despite her disdain for Parker and his father, his mother and sister were nice enough. They’d been longtime customers and had referred lots of other clients. They’d even invited her to sell a few of her higher-end pieces on consignment at the distillery gift shop.
It was a lucrative partnership. So despite her utter disdain for the man who’d once been her closest friend, but betrayed her without the slightest hint of an apology, she would play nice.
For now.
“I wondered if you planned on coming in or if you were auditioning to be a living statue.”
Okay, maybe not exactly nice, but close enough.
He glared at her with his typical Parker Abbott glare, but then he did something beyond strange.
He actually smiled.
Or at least he was attempting to smile. He looked like Jack Nicholson as the Joker.
She kept that observation to herself, but she couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her face.
“Good afternoon, Kayleigh,” Parker said in a tone that was unnaturally cheerful for him. “I was hoping I could have a few minutes of your time, if you’re not too busy.”
Kayleigh scanned the empty store, but bit back a flippant response. “Sure. What can I do for you, Abbott?”
Parker relaxed and his smile looked a little more natural. “Actually, I’d like to do something for you.”
“Is that right?” Kayleigh folded her arms, one eyebrow raised. “Now, what would that be?”
Parker indicated the two chaises placed back-to-back in the center of the store. “Would it be all right if we sat?”
Kayleigh shrugged. “Sure.”
After Parker took a seat on one of the chaises, she sat at the opposite end and turned toward him, glancing at the leather cuff timepiece on her wrist. “You were saying?”
Parker was one of the most impatient men she knew. Why, for God’s sake, wasn’t he getting to the point? She had orders to complete and ship.
“I’d like to buy your store.”
“What?”
Surely she’d misheard him. Why on earth would Parker want to do that? The man had no use for her jewelry; he only wore a watch. In fact he collected high-end timepieces purchased at seizure auctions and estate sales. But that was the extent of his jewelry collection, as far as she could tell.
Kayleigh schooled her features, determined not to show her surprise. “I’m sorry, did you say you want to pur
chase my store?”
Parker straightened his tie and made another attempt at a smile. This one was better. “Not the store, per se. What we’re after is the building. You’d be free to reestablish the store wherever you’d like.”
Kayleigh almost laughed. She pointed to the worn floorboards beneath her. “You want this building?”
She loved this place, but the old girl was falling apart at the seams. She’d bought it five years ago, expecting it to be a long-term fixer-upper. But the building had required expensive repairs to the foundation, new plumbing and electrical rewiring. All of which had cost a bundle but had done little to improve the aesthetics.
The ancient roof had been patched more times than she cared to admit, and the HVAC system for the store was just about on its last legs. The nicest part of the building was the apartment she rented out upstairs. Her apartment, also upstairs, had plenty of shabby but very little chic.
“Why would you want to buy my building? The distillery is ten miles from here. And if you want a building in town, why not one built in that new multipurpose shopping center your brother is building up the road?”
There was a tick in Parker’s jaw and his mask slipped. He seemed to be making a real effort to hide his annoyance, but it flickered in his dark eyes.
“We have plans for it.”
It was evident that Parker didn’t want to share those plans. At least not with her.
“Thank you for the offer, but my building isn’t for sale,” Kayleigh said politely, rising to her feet.
“You haven’t even heard my offer.” Parker stood, too.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re offering because the building isn’t for sale.” She folded her arms again.
“Despite its current condition, I’ll give you the tax-assessed value of the building.”
Though she knew the information was public, it made her skin crawl to think that Parker had gone through her records. She scowled. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
She walked behind the counter, hoping he’d get the hint.
His for One Night Page 17
