Taken by Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens #7)

by Melissa Foster

  “I’m not.” Her lips were a breath away, his hands flat against her back. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she closed her eyes in anticipation of their kiss. A couple barreled out of the exit and slammed into them. Luke kept his grip on Daisy and swooped her to the side as the laughing couple stumbled past them, breaking the intimate moment.

  Luke looked into her wanting eyes. He wanted—needed—to kiss her, and he could tell she was hoping for the same thing.

  A man’s voice broke their trance. “You stupid bitch,” he hollered.

  An icy shock ran down Luke’s spine. He scanned the people walking past, and his mind rewound to a party years before, when he’d seen Daisy across a grassy field. She was breathtaking in her frilly tank top and jeans shorts, with white-blond hair that swept across her shoulders. He’d wanted to tangle his fingers in her hair and kiss her luscious lips. And in the next breath she was gone. He’d gone looking for her, and when he found her, she was fighting off a drunken guy he didn’t recognize. Luke had stepped between the drunken slob and Daisy, and he vaguely remembered pushing the guy away before turning around. But when he did, Daisy was gone. She’d disappeared as quickly as she’d appeared—and he’d gone back to his partying like the bonehead kid he was.

  Now he shifted his eyes to Daisy, who was clinging to the waist of his jeans. She was safe. She was right there with him.

  “Damn you. I said back off, bitch.” The man’s voice sent Luke’s pulse racing. He scanned the crowd again and locked eyes with the tall, blond man. Darren Treelong. Goddamn it. Darren was from their hometown, and he was a drunk. He wore his hair in the same style he had in high school, long and shaggy. He was younger than Luke, and Luke didn’t know him personally, but he knew of him because of the rumors that ran through town about his drinking, and that was enough.

  His tightened his grip on Daisy’s hip, and the muscles in his jaw bunched. Daisy turned toward the voice and gasped.

  The woman Darren was yelling at stood with her shoulders rounded forward, her eyes trained on the ground. Luke knew the woman was also from their hometown. She was also younger than him, and he assumed, Darren’s wife. While he knew just about everyone that was his age or older because of his older siblings, he hadn’t been friends with the younger crowd. By the look in Daisy’s eyes, she knew the woman well, and she ached for her. And by the sway in Darren’s stance, and the out-of-control, wide-eyed stare he had on the woman, Luke assumed he was drunk.

  “Janice,” she whispered to herself.

  Luke’s voice was dead calm, serious. “Is she a friend of yours?”

  Daisy looked conflicted. Her eyes darted to the woman and back to Luke. “Not a friend, but we went to school together. Her name is Janice.”

  Janice reached for Darren’s hand. He tore his arm away and raised his hand. In the next breath, Luke stepped between them. Daisy gasped behind him.

  “Hey, buddy. Is everything okay?” Luke asked in a deep and serious voice. He stood firm between Darren and Janice and held his hands out to the side, blocking Darren from reaching Janice.

  “We’re fine,” Janice said with a shaky voice.

  Darren stepped closer to Luke, swaying a little. “Get the fuck away from my wife.”

  Luke held his palms up in surrender. “Hey, no worries. I’m just making sure there’s no trouble here. You want me to call you a cab?”

  Tears streamed down Janice’s cheeks. People looked over, hesitated, then moved past quickly.

  “I’m fine,” Janice pleaded through her tears. “Let’s go, Darren. Please, let’s just go.”

  “Shut up, or I’ll shut you up,” Darren snapped. He pushed Luke’s chest. “I don’t need no fucking cab.”

  DAISY WAS ROOTED to the ground as the memory of the night Luke stood up for her came rushing back. She’d been at a party, and a group of high schoolers from another town had shown up. One of them had been trying to kiss Daisy, and no matter how hard she tried to push him away, he was too strong. Luke had grabbed the guy’s arm and wrenched him away, throwing him into a group of his buddies. She couldn’t remember what Luke had said, probably because at that point she’d run toward her car, but he’d done the same thing he was doing now, putting himself in harm’s way for someone he barely knew. He was at least four inches taller than Darren, his broad shoulders and layers of muscle clearly outweighed him, and still Darren pushed forward, chest to chest with Luke. Luke’s hands fisted. His jaw clenched and unclenched.

  “Take a step back, dude,” Luke demanded. “I’m not going to let you threaten her. I don’t care if she is your wife.”

  Daisy’s brain kicked in and she reached for Janice. “Come on. Back away. Come on, Janice. We’ll get you out of here.” We? How? Shit, she had no idea, but Luke was right. She couldn’t just let her get bullied. No one else was stepping in to help, and it turned her stomach.

  Janice wrenched herself free. “We’re fine, Daisy. Get him away from Darren or Darren will hit him. Please.” Janice grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled, yelling through her tears, “Please, just let him go. I’ll take him home.” She looked up at Darren. “We’ll go home, right, Darren? You’ll let me drive you home?”

  The veins in Darren’s neck bulged, matching the adrenaline-infused veins on Luke’s arms and snaking up his neck.

  “Cab?” Luke offered again.

  “No fucking cab. She’ll drive me home.” Sweat beaded his forehead and upper lip as he staggered away, mumbling beneath his breath, “Asshole.”

  Luke grabbed him by the arm, and through gritted teeth, he said, “Touch her, and I’ll hunt you down and make sure you can never do it again.”

  Janice dragged Darren away. Daisy stared at Luke’s back as it rose and fell with each heavy breath. His fists slowly unfurled, and she realized she was trembling, as a tornado of fear and admiration stormed inside her.

  GODDAMN IT. LUKE closed his eyes and breathed deeply to regain his composure before facing Daisy. The last thing he needed was to get into another fight. The entire town would know about the confrontation by morning. Damn it to hell. He’d never been able to just sit back and watch guys like that, but since he’d bought the ranch and had begun to settle down from the restless kid he’d always been, things had changed. The other aspects of his life had calmed and settled, but his tolerance for this type of situation had declined and his reactions to such things had become visceral and immediate. He had no idea what had caused the change in his reactions, but he knew too damn well that he needed to try to figure it the fuck out and fix it.

  He felt Daisy’s hand on his back.

  “Hey, you okay?” Daisy asked in little more than a whisper as she came around to his side.

  He looked into her beautiful blue eyes and his gut clenched. “Yeah. Sorry. I…uh…I have a thing about guys like that.” He watched her eyes darting to the people who were milling around them, eyeing him cautiously, and he felt guilty as hell for embarrassing her.

  “All these years, and I’ve never seen anyone do that. I mean, I’ve seen it in movies.” Her voice grew serious. “It was terrifying.”

  Terrifying. Great. He let out a loud breath and looked away.

  “And impressive as hell.” She stepped in the direction of where he was looking, so he had no choice but to meet her gaze. Her shoulders were tense, pulled up high. Her voice was firm and determined, like anger and compassion all wrapped up in a beautiful, confused package.

  “It’s not impressive.” His pulse raced, and standing there was only making it worse. He needed to walk, to drive, to get the hell out of there.

  “Well, I don’t know many guys who would do that, especially to him. Darren’s been in trouble with the law—”

  “Yeah, I know all about trouble with the law.” He headed for the parking lot. “Let’s just go.”

  “Go?” She walked fast to keep pace with him.

  “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to screw up the night.” He ran his hand through his hair, irritated with himself for stepping in
again. Hadn’t he learned his lesson when he was arrested?

  “Go? No.” She stopped walking.

  He turned, frustration building in his chest. The weight of knowing he’d caused an issue that could come back on Daisy pissed him off. Maybe Wes was right and he was the last person Daisy needed in her life.

  “No?”

  She shook her head. “Why should we leave? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I did. Come on.” He headed for the parking lot again.

  “Why? Because you stood up for Janice? At first I wasn’t sure, you know?” Compassion filled her voice as she walked beside him. “But then I looked around and saw all those people just walking by, doing what everyone does—looking the other way as if some woman’s life wasn’t being torn to shreds right there in front of them. Everyone in Trusty has ignored the way he drinks and the way he’s treated her for years. I mean, years. I have never heard about him raising a hand to her, but still. You have to know this, Luke. You live there.” She crossed her arms.

  He’d heard the rumors.

  “Then you come along, and you didn’t share classrooms with her for twelve years, or watch her bury her father in fifth grade…or get teased by her in high school. And you stepped in and put a stop to it.”

  “Daisy, I didn’t put a stop to it. Guys like that will go home and do God knows what to her when he has her alone—and maybe worse than he would have if I hadn’t stepped in.”

  “No, he won’t,” she said softly.

  She took a step forward, reaching out to him as if her touch could make it all okay. Luke knew better. Nothing would make it all go away. Something was driving him to step in like that and he needed to understand what the hell it was. Later. Right now he needed to get the hell out of there.

  “Yeah, he will. Come on.” He walked determinedly toward the parking lot.

  “Wait.” She grabbed his wrist. “I heard what you said to him at the end. Darren might be a mean drunk, but he’s never actually hit her that I know of. Has he?”

  He shook his head. He didn’t know Darren or his wife well; he only knew of them. There had been stories around town for years about his drinking and the way he mouthed off, but never about him hitting his wife. But when he saw him raise his hand, Luke wasn’t taking the chance.

  “You’d have heard if he did. Trusty doesn’t keep secrets very well.”

  “Exactly. Another reason you don’t need to be seen with the likes of me.” He took a step forward, and she held on tight. He looked down at her hand gripping his wrist. “Daisy, listen. You’re a beautiful, nice person. You’ve probably got guys lining up to take you out. Let me take you home, and tomorrow, when the shit hits the fan, you can write tonight off as a bad decision.”

  “A bad decision?” She let go of his wrist, and he wished she’d grab it again. “Wow, really? I’ve been blown off by guys before, but not after begging them to spend time with me. Fine. Let’s go.”

  Christ. Most women would be glad to leave trouble behind. They walked in silence toward the parking lot, and when they cleared the carnival exit and the crowds fell away, Luke slowed his pace.

  “I didn’t mean that I made a bad decision by going out with you.”

  “I know you didn’t.” She held her chin up high, her shoulders back, and stared straight ahead as she stomped toward the motorcycle.

  “Daisy, you don’t know anything about me. You’ve been away for years.” He stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “I need to find my way around trouble, not start it.”

  She pressed her full lips in to a firm line.

  He’d hurt her feelings. Luke could sweet-talk a woman into bed in under ten minutes, but he sucked at dealing with real emotions or connecting on a deeper level—and sweet-talking Daisy into bed hadn’t ever been on his agenda. He wanted more from life than sleeping with women, maybe even more with Daisy. Changing his personal life wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped, but after what Wes had said, the last thing he wanted to do was prove he was exactly who Wes expected him to be.

  “I’m trying to save you from getting wrapped up in this shit and having to deal with it back home. Why are you so angry?” He searched her eyes, but she looked away, her arms crossed, brick wall securely erected between them.

  “Because.” She blew out a breath and dropped her hands with a frustrated groan. “Because I was having fun being with you. Like, the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. I wasn’t thinking about the rumors circulating about you getting arrested, or about how my body gets all hot for you for reasons unknown, or any of that. I thought, maybe, just maybe, we could have fun together. Then you go and get all heroic, and I’m a little rattled, and then I’m insanely impressed. And now you’re telling me that I made a mistake. So that means my judgment is all fucked up, and I don’t see it, because I’m still looking at you and wanting to get to know you better.” She crossed her arms again. “I swear, just being in Trusty messes with my head.”

  Luke was struck dumb. She wanted to get to know him better? After everything he’d just said? He was too nervous and befuddled to think straight. He fell back on his fail-safe response and flashed a cockeyed grin. “You’re getting all hot for me?”

  “Oh my God. Is that what you got out of that?” She pushed past him.

  He grabbed her and drew her back, bringing them thigh to thigh, her breasts pressed against his stomach. Her eyes filled with worry—and the urge to kiss her was so strong that Luke had to pull back to keep from settling his mouth over hers.

  “Daisy, I suck at this stuff.” He didn’t recognize his own voice, which had suddenly begun spouting honesty like it used to rattle off pickup lines. “I didn’t know what to say to you, so I tried to make you laugh. It’s what I do. I can flirt my way out of any situation, and I’m not proud of it.”

  She arched one of her thinly manicured brows, her mouth still set in a firm, angry line.

  “Okay, maybe a little proud, but…You just said you wanted to get to know me better.” Suddenly the truth became hard again, like pushing rocks from his throat. “You might find that I’m not who you think I am.”

  “So what?” Her eyes were fierce, her body rigid against him.

  “So what?”

  “Yeah. So what?” She pulled from his grip. “So I’ve wasted a night.”

  He took a step back, unsure of what to say. So I’ve wasted a night?

  “I…” One look at the determination in her eyes stole his breath. He scrubbed his hand down his face, completely baffled as to the right thing to do. He wanted to kiss her until the tightness in his chest eased, until he couldn’t remember what had caused it in the first place, and at the same time, he liked her—really liked her—and he wanted to release her from ever knowing him so he didn’t cause her pain or shame. He drew his shoulders back and gathered his courage to do the right thing.

  “I’m done wasting other people’s nights.”

  Chapter Five

  THERE WEREN’T MANY things that could take the piss and vinegar out of Luke after a night like last night, but as he stepped onto the dewy grass of his three-hundred-acre ranch and inhaled the pungent scent of horses, hay, and the crisp morning air, he felt the tension that had gripped him like a vice begin to ease. He’d stewed all night over his reaction to Darren, and as much as he wished he hadn’t stepped in, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done the right thing.

  He went through the motions of his morning chores—checking the fencing for damage, ensuring the horses were well and accounted for and the waterers were working. The sun rose over the crest of the Colorado Mountains, illuminating the peaks and valleys of their majestic silhouette, and as the last hope of dawn gave way to the morning light, he breathed a little easier and thought about Daisy.

  Beautiful, smart, feisty Daisy.

  She’d surprised the hell out of him last night, but Wes’s comment had grated like sandpaper the whole way back to her apartment. The look on her face when he�
�d left her at her apartment made him tense again. Luke knew how to handle most women, but all of Daisy’s reactions were anything but what he was used to. Even after their ruined evening, she’d reached out to him, wearing her desire for him on her sleeve and wanting to understand why he was pushing her away. How could he explain it to her when he didn’t understand it himself?

  Luke couldn’t think about Daisy and all the things he needed to figure out right now. His horses needed him, and at least understanding them came easily.

  Luke raised gypsy horses, and he’d quickly become known as one of the finest gypsy breeders in the United States. He had six mares, a mature stallion, one young stallion, and three young stock counting on him. There were stalls to be cleaned and horses to be groomed and checked, and three of his mares were heading toward the fence. They were a needy group, always hungry for affection, and as they crossed the pastures, feathering completely covering their hooves, their abundant, silky manes and tails flowing in the breeze, pride swelled in Luke’s chest. He’d used a good chunk of his trust fund and hand-picked quality, thickly feathered horses, and he cared for them as if they were his own kin—which, at the rate he was going, might be about the only kin he ever had.

  As they pressed their muzzles against his chest, nudging one another out of the way, vying for his attention, his remaining tension faded away. The horses had a way of doing that. He understood his horses so well he practically knew what they were thinking, but women? If only…

  His vibrating cell phone pulled him from his thoughts. The sun had barely risen, and after last night, he knew damn well who it was going to be. He pulled his phone from his pocket and headed for the barn as he answered.

  “Go ahead, Wes. Rip me a new one.”

  “Whoa, bro. Give me a…” Wes grunted, and the telltale sound of wind caused a staticlike sound on the line. “Break.”

  Luke pulled open the barn doors, inhaling the familiar scent of leather, hay, and his magnificent horses. “Please tell me you’re not calling while scaling a mountain.” Luke walked to the door that led up to the apartment above the barn that Emily was renovating and opened it.