The Texan's One-Night Standoff

by Charlene Sands

  Brooks spent the remainder of the morning watching Ruby work miracles with this horse, completely impressed with her knowledge and the ease with which she worked. When his stomach grumbled, he grinned. “Are you going back to the house for lunch?”

  “No. I’m not done with Cider yet. I brought my lunch out here.”

  “You’re eating here?”

  “Yep, under that tree you were holding up earlier.”

  He laughed. “Sounds peaceful.”

  She stared into his eyes. “It is.”

  “Okay, then, I should get going. Let you have your lunch.”

  He turned and began walking.

  “There’s enough for two,” she said, a hitch in her throat, as if she couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Hell, if she was inviting, he wouldn’t be refusing.

  He turned and smiled. “If it’s Lupe’s leftover fried chicken, I’m taking you up on it.”

  “And what if it isn’t?” she asked.

  “I’m still staying.”

  Ruby’s mouth pulled into a frown as if she was having second thoughts.

  “As your friend,” he added.

  Her tight expression relaxed, and a glint gleamed in her pretty brown eyes. “I lied. It is chicken, and Lupe packed me way too much.”

  “So then, I’d be doing you a favor by staying and eating with you. Wouldn’t want all that food to go to waste.”

  She rolled her eyes adorably, and Brooks was glad to see the Ruby of old come back.

  She grabbed her backpack, and together they walked over to the tree where swaying branches provided shade on the packed-dirt ground. Ruby tossed her stuff down, but before she sat, he put up his hand. “Wait a sec.”

  She stood still, her eyes sharp as he pulled his shirt out of his jeans and began unbuttoning until his white T-shirt was exposed. “Never did like this shirt anyway.” He took off his shirt and made a bit of a production laying it on the ground. Then he gestured to Ruby. “Now you can sit.”

  Her expression warmed considerably. “Galahad. You’re too much.”

  “That’s what they tell me.”

  She plopped herself comfortably down on his shirt so that her perfect behind wouldn’t be ground into the dirt. “Thank you. You know, that’s about the sweetest thing a man’s done for me in a long while.”

  “Well then, you’re meeting the wrong kind of men. Present company excluded. And boy, am I glad you’re not into all that feminism stuff, or I’d be dead meat right now.”

  She smiled. “Who says I’m not? I believe in the power of women.”

  “So do I.”

  “But I can also recognize a gentleman when I see one, and I don’t feel like it’s diminishing my role in the world.”

  “And this is Texas, after all,” he said.

  “Right.”

  “And I have developed Southern charm.”

  “Don’t press your luck, Preston.”

  Brooks blinked. And then he looked straight into Ruby’s spirited chocolate eyes. “Thanks. It feels good to be called by my father’s name.”

  “You’re welcome. You’ve earned it.”

  He stared at her and nodded, holding back a brand-new emotion welling behind his eyes.

  * * *

  Brooks headed to the main house that evening, thoughts of Ruby never far from his mind. The more time he spent with her... Okay, forget it. He couldn’t go down that road, especially when the main reason his thoughts had splintered was standing not ten feet away on the sweeping porch of the residence.

  As soon as Beau spotted Brooks, he called him over with a wave of the hand. “Come here, son. Meet the rest of the family.”

  The three men—all wearing Stetsons in varying colors and appearing younger than Brooks by several years—stood at attention next to Beau. Brooks’s half brothers.

  He walked up, and Beau gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Brooks, I’m proud to introduce you to Toby, Clay and Malcolm. They’re your brothers.”

  He shook each one of their hands and greeted them kindly. It was strange and awkward at first, but Beau’s boys made him feel welcome.

  “We’re surely glad to meet you,” Toby said. He was the oldest and tallest of the three. “I’m sorry we missed out on knowing you all those years.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry, too. Life took me down a different path,” he said.

  Malcolm stood against the post, his boots crossed, his gaze narrowing in on Brooks’s face. “But you’re here now, and we’re glad of it. You look more like Dad than any of us.”

  Beau chuckled. “Poor guy.”

  “Mom wouldn’t agree,” Clay said, chiming in. “She was always telling us how handsome you were.”

  “Yeah,” Malcolm said. “Damn near gave us a complex.”

  Beau shook his head. “Your mama thought the sun rose and set on you boys, and you know it.”

  “Seems like your mom was a pretty great lady from what I’m told,” Brooks said. He’d heard from Beau, but just about everyone else on the ranch had nice things to say about Tanya, too.

  “That she was,” Beau said, the pride in his voice unequalled.

  “My brothers and I, well, we’re sorry to hear news of your mother’s passing, Brooks,” Malcolm said. The others nodded in agreement.

  “Thank you. Mom was also quite a woman. And she died unexpectedly. My brothers and I miss her terribly.”

  “It’s not easy,” Beau said, the brightness in his eyes dimming. “But we have each other now, and that’s something to celebrate. Shall we go in to dinner? Lupe promised us a feast, and we’re opening a few special bottles of wine to toast the occasion.”

  “I’m nearly starved,” Toby said, patting his stomach.

  “Yeah, me, too,” Clay said. “Oh, and new brother?”

  Brooks gave him a glance. “Yeah?”

  “I’m apologizing in advance for the interrogation. We’re all so dang curious about your life, I’m afraid we’re gonna grill you. We want to hear about Graham, too. Dad says he’s the spitting image of you.”

  “Yep, there are two of us. We’re identical twins.”

  “You boys will meet him soon,” Beau said as he ushered them all into the house. “I’m hoping Graham will be here by next week in time for our Christmas party.”

  “I don’t mind your questions,” Brooks added. “I’ve got quite a few for you. We all have some catching up to do.”

  In the formal dining room, on Beau’s cue, Clay, Malcolm and Toby spent the next few minutes asking about Brooks’s early life, his college days and how he came to build such a successful real estate development business. “Lots of hard work, long hours and a driving need to make my way in the world,” he answered. “Mom was a survivor, and she raised her children to be independent thinkers.”

  Beau smiled, getting a faraway look in his eyes. Was he thinking about the young woman he’d loved and lost? Then, with a shake of the head, he shifted and turned his attention back to the conversation.

  Lupe came in, carrying plates filled with twelve-ounce rib eye steaks, potatoes, creamed corn and Texas-sized biscuits. “Looks delicious, Lupe. Thank you,” Beau said.

  Toby and Malcolm immediately rose to help her bring the rest of the food in from the kitchen. And just as they were sitting down, ready to take their first bite, Ruby walked in.

  She didn’t immediately make eye contact with Brooks, so he looked his fill. Her jeans and blousy top were white, but her ankle boots were as black as the mass of long raven hair falling down her back. The contrast of black to white was striking, and he took a swallow of water to keep his mouth from going dry. “Hey, everyone,” she said.

  “Better late than never, Rube,” Clay said, teasing. “Had another hot date with a horse?”

  Toby and Malcolm chuckled.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, smiling and scooting her fine little ass into her seat. “At least horses can take direction. Unlike most men I know.”

  Beau choked out a laugh.

&n
bsp; Ruby arched a brow and shot daggers at Clay. Apparently she wasn’t through with him yet. “And tell me again, who are you dating at the moment?”

  “Oh, you’ve dug yourself a hole now, Clay,” Malcolm said. “You know better than to get into it with Ruby. You’re not gonna win.”

  “You see,” she said, “Malcolm understands. At least he has a girlfriend.”

  “This is a picture of what it was like when the kids were growing up,” Beau explained, grinning. “I gotta say, it’s still amusing.”

  Ruby glanced at Brooks then, giving him a nod of acknowledgment. He smiled, acknowledging how Ruby held her own with Beau’s boys. She was a handful, a woman with spunk who took no prisoners and didn’t apologize for it. If only he could stop noticing all her admirable traits. As it was now, she was off the charts.

  Wine was poured and Beau lifted his glass. Everyone at the table took his cue, and the deep red wine in the raised glasses glistened under chandelier light. “To my family,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier to have Brooks here. And soon Graham will join us. I love you all,” he said, his voice tight, “and look forward to the day we can all be together.”

  Glasses clinked and Brooks was touched at the welcome he’d received by his new family at Look Away Ranch.

  They settled into the meal. The steak was the most tender he’d ever had. Texans knew a thing or two about raising prime cattle and delivering a delicious meal. His brothers surely looked the picture of health—all three were sturdy men—and a sense of pride in his newfound family washed over him. He doubted he’d ever feel as close to these young men as he did Graham—he and Graham had shared too much together—but he hoped they’d all become the family Beau had longed for.

  “Dad says our little sis taught you a thing or two about horse training,” Toby remarked. “What’d you think?”

  Brooks hesitated a second, finishing a sip of wine while contemplating how to answer the innocent question. He couldn’t give too much away. He couldn’t say that Ruby was the most amazing woman he’d ever met, or that her talent and skill and patience had inspired him. That would be too telling, wouldn’t it? “What I know about horses, I’m afraid to say, can fit in this wineglass. But watching Ruby at work and hearing her thoughts on training gave me a whole new perspective. It’s eye-opening. It seems Ruby has just the right touch.”

  Toby nodded. “She does. We’ve all had a hand in horse training growing up, and all of our techniques are different, but the honest truth is, when we’d come up against a stubborn one that gave us trouble, we turned to Ruby and she’d find a way. Now she pretty much runs the show.”

  Brooks looked at Ruby, giving her a smile. “I see that she pretty much runs the show around here, too.”

  Beau chuckled. “Didn’t take you long to figure that out.”

  “There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family,” Malcolm said.

  “I can speak for myself, Mal,” she chimed in. “There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Ruby’s eyes twinkled, and in that moment, Brooks felt like one of them. A Preston, through and through.

  * * *

  The next morning, Beau suggested that they spend the day with Ruby. There was more she could teach Brooks, and if he really wanted to get a sense of how the operation was run, he needed to get his hands dirty.

  “Ruby will put you in touch with your inner wrangler,” Beau joked.

  Well, she’d already put him in touch with something: namely, rock-solid lust. The woman turned him inside out, and there was no help for it.

  Before Brooks had even met Ruby, he’d asked for this training, and Beau was more than happy to accommodate his request. But now it meant that Brooks and Ruby would get to spend more time together at the Look Away. Yet Brooks wanted to learn. He needed to catch up on the history of the ranch and the day-to-day operation of running it. It would give him a chance to meet Beau and his half brothers on equal ground. He’d have more in common with each one of them if he could grasp at least a basic knowledge of horses, training and all that went with them.

  So they’d walked over to one of the corrals and stood by the fence, watching Ruby securing a saddle on an unruly stallion.

  The air was brisk this morning, the sun shadowed by gray clouds. He huddled up in his own wool-lined jacket and noted that Ruby, too, was dressed in a dark quilted vest over a flannel shirt. Only Ruby Lopez could make regular cowgirl gear look sexy. “Morning,” she said, greeting both of them.

  “Morning,” he replied. But she had already turned away, busy with the horse, restraining his jerky movements with a firm hand on his bridle.

  “This is Spirit,” Beau said. “He’s got a lot to learn, doesn’t he, Ruby?”

  “He sure does. He’s not taken kindly to wearing a saddle. He’s going to hate it even more once I ride him. But that’s not happening today.”

  The horse snorted and shuffled his feet, pulling back and away from her. “Hold steady, boy,” Ruby said, her voice smooth as fine silk. “You’re not gonna like any of this, are you now?”

  The horse bucked, and Brooks made a move to lunge over the fence to help Ruby. Beau restrained him with a hand to the chest. “Hang on. Ruby’s a pro. She won’t put herself in danger.”

  Brooks wasn’t too sure about that. The tall stallion dwarfed Ruby in size and weight. Watching her outmaneuver the animal made Brooks’s heart stop for a moment. Hell, she could be crushed. She slid him a sideways glance, her beautiful eyes telling him she’d just seen what he’d done. What was it she called him? Galahad. Hell, he was no knight in shining armor. To most of the people who knew him in Chicago, that label would be laughable. But today, right in this moment, he didn’t give a crap about what anyone called him. But he did care about Ruby, and it surprised him how much. He didn’t want to see her get trampled. “Are you sure? That horse looks dangerous.”

  “He could be, but Ruby knows her limitations. She’s got a way about her that outranks his stature. She’s gaining his trust right now. Though it doesn’t look like it, she’s giving him some leeway to put up a fuss. This is his second day wearing a saddle. He’s got to get used to it, is all.”

  “It takes a lot of patience, I see.”

  “Yep,” Beau said. “For the trainer and the animal.”

  For the next hour, Brooks watched Ruby put the horse through his paces. Every now and then, she’d inform him what she was doing and how the horse should respond. Nine times out of ten, the horse didn’t make a liar out of her.

  Beau had excused himself a short time ago. He had a meeting with his accountant, and though he invited Brooks to join in, he’d also warned that it would bore him out of his wits. Brooks had opted to stay and watch Ruby work with the stallion. He could watch that woman for hours without being bored, but he didn’t tell his father that.

  When Ruby was done, she unsaddled Spirit carefully, speaking to the horse lovingly and stroking him softly on the withers. Then she set him free, and he took off running along the perimeter of the large oval corral, his charcoal mane flying in the breeze.

  Ruby closed the gate behind her and walked over to Brooks, removing her leather gloves and pocketing them.

  “Impressive,” he said.

  “Thanks. Spirit will come around. He’s a Thoroughbred, and they tend to be high-strung.”

  “Is that so?” Brooks met her gaze. “Sort of reminds me of someone I know.”

  Her index finger pressed into her chest. “Me?”

  “Yeah, you.” Her finger rested in the hollow between her breasts. If only he didn’t remember how damn intoxicating it’d been when he’d touched her there. How soft she’d felt, how incredibly beautiful and full her breasts were. The thought of never touching Ruby like that again grated on him.

  “Well, you’re half-right,” she said. “Both my parents were Mexican, so I’m a purebred.”

  “What about the other half?”

  “I’
m not high-strung or high-maintenance. I’m strong-willed, determined. Some have called me feisty.”

  “And they lived to tell about it?”

  She snapped her head up and saw his grin. “You’re teasing me, Galahad.”

  What he was doing was flirting. He couldn’t help it. Ruby, being Ruby, was an aphrodisiac he couldn’t combat. And he was beginning to like her nickname for him. “Yeah, I am.”

  She smiled back for a second, her eyes latching onto his. Then his gaze dropped to her perfectly sweet mouth. Suddenly all the things he’d done to that mouth came crashing into his mind. And all the things she’d done to him with that mouth...

  “Spirit,” she said, “uh, he’ll bring in a good sum.” She began walking. And now she was back to business and a much safer subject. It was necessary, but Brooks had to say he was disappointed. He walked beside her as they headed into the stable.

  “He will?”

  “Absolutely, once we find the right buyer.”

  He squinted to adjust to the darkness inside the furthest reaches of the barn. It was even colder in here than outside.

  Ruby grabbed a bucket, a brush and a shoe pick. “Beau’s been great about giving me input on who our horses end up with. Especially the stallions. They’re in demand, but not everyone is cut out to own one.”

  “You mean you can tell when someone is all wrong for the horse?”

  She handed him the brush and a bucket.

  “Pretty much.”

  “That’s a talent I never knew existed.”

  “It’s no different than anything else. You wouldn’t buy a car you didn’t feel was the right fit. A mom of three wouldn’t do too well in a sports car. The same holds true for a single guy on the dating scene. He isn’t going to buy a dependable sedan to impress a girl, now is he?”

  Brooks smiled. “I never thought of it that way.”

  “The horses I train need to go to good homes. They need to fit. Spirit wouldn’t do well with a young boy, for instance. He’s not going to be someone’s first horse. But a seasoned rider, someone who knows animals, will be able to handle him, no problem. Beau has built his business on putting his horses with the right owners. It’s a partnership.”