by Debra Webb
Aidan rushed to Frankie and fell to his knees beside her. Almost too terrified to touch her, he took stock. She was breathing, blood smearing her nose and lip. Paul had given her hell in the brief fight, but she’d held her own.
“Frankie,” he said. She didn’t respond. The vicious bastard had executed that last kick where he knew it would do the most damage. Aidan had no idea if it was safe to touch her or to move her. He wouldn’t take any chances. “Talk to me. Come on. Please, Francesca.”
He smoothed her hair back from her face. He’d called for help en route. Where the hell were the authorities? If he’d only moved faster...
“Frankie?” Sophia was up on her hands and knees, crawling toward them. “Oh, my God.” A keening sound issued from her throat.
Aidan handed her his weapon. “Make sure he stays put until the authorities arrive.”
Sophia, her face swollen and battered, accepted the weapon and turned it on her lover. “Devil,” she spat.
“Come on, Frankie.” Aidan clutched her limp hand between his, raising it to his lips. She had to wake up. She had to survive so he could beg her forgiveness and tell her he loved her. He couldn’t accept any other outcome.
“She’s strong,” Sophia said quietly. “Strong and stubborn.”
“He kicked her in the back,” Aidan said, his voice cracking with fear. This couldn’t be happening again.
“You’ll see,” Sophia promised. “She’ll be fine.” A sob choked out of her. “She has to be.”
Aidan wasn’t convinced. There was a bruise blooming on her cheek, a thin line of blood just showing in her hairline. “I’ll kill him,” he whispered. He aimed a look at the worthless coward now curled in the fetal position. “For every scratch, I’ll—”
“Aidan?”
Frankie’s thin voice yanked him away from his dark thoughts. “I’m right here.” He squeezed her hand.
“How?” She tried to look around, grimaced for her trouble. “When...did you get here?”
“Not soon enough,” he said. Sirens sounded in the distance. “Help is almost here.”
The police arrived, bringing a new onslaught of chaos. Paul was arrested and taken away, while paramedics rushed in to tend to the injured.
“I’m okay,” Frankie insisted. She tried to push herself upright, but Aidan stopped her.
“Let the paramedics do their job,” he ordered.
Relieved of holding the gun on Paul, Sophia moved closer to her daughter. “Where does it hurt, honey?”
“Everywhere,” Frankie admitted.
“Thank God,” Aidan breathed. He’d been worried Paul’s malicious attack might have paralyzed her again. Frankie was strong, but he’d do anything to spare her another debilitating injury and arduous recovery. “You’re still going to the hospital.”
She tried to shake her head. “I don’t need to go.”
“Just a precaution,” Sophia added as paramedics treated her. “Don’t argue with your mother.”
“But I do it so well,” Frankie said, her lips twitching into a lopsided grin.
Her hand still in his, Aidan kissed her. “Play nice,” he reminded her, much as he’d done their first day here.
“Yes, dear,” she replied in kind.
He stayed by her side, releasing her hand only when ordered to do so by the paramedic team. He rode with her in the ambulance and walked beside her until they wheeled her away for testing at the hospital.
Over two hours later, Sophia found him in the waiting area and he accepted the coffee she’d brought along. “Any word?”
“Not yet.”
“She’s a fighter.”
“I’m aware,” he said.
“She’s lucky to have a fiancé like you.”
“I’m the lucky one.” He studied his coffee, certain that if he looked Sophia in the eye, she’d see his guilt over lying to her about their engagement. Would it take the sting out of the deception if he told her he loved Frankie and planned to convince her to marry him?
“She loves you, too, you know,” Sophia said.
Aidan kept his mouth shut. Any reply would only make things worse.
“I think it’s best if we reschedule the wedding for the spring. It will give your family more time to adjust to the news.”
Now Aidan looked up. “My family?” The Colby Agency should’ve intercepted any inquiries about his real family to maintain the cover.
“I may be a romantic,” Sophia admitted with a shy smile, “but I’m not a complete idiot. Not about my daughter, anyway.”
Aidan leaned back in the waiting room chair, laughing. “You knew from the beginning.”
“I knew she wanted me to believe it,” Sophia said. “And I might confess to making extravagant plans in an effort to break her. You’re not going to let her off the hook, are you?”
“I love her,” Aidan said. “And I like the look of that diamond ring on her finger.”
“You have excellent taste. In women and jewelry.” Sophia stood, urging him up as well so she could give him a real hug. “Welcome to the family.”
“That might be premature. It could take some time to sell your daughter on that whole love, marriage and commitment idea.”
“Do you like chocolate cake?”
“It’s my favorite.”
Sophia nodded as if that answered everything. “Have faith. My daughter’s a smart girl. She’ll come around.”
He hoped she was right. “The Leone women are a tough breed.”
“Don’t you ever forget it, young man.”
Aidan thought his future mother-in-law, though a little daunting, would be an asset. He checked the clock on the wall, hoping it wouldn’t be much longer before he could see the woman who’d captured his heart. While they waited, he and Sophia tossed around real wedding plans, just in case Frankie agreed to stick with him.
Medical staff came and went, and Aidan’s patience was gone by the time the doors parted and Frankie appeared.
She walked toward him carefully, her face pale and her smile wide. It took him a minute to process that it was her, upright and steady. Leaping to his feet, he hurried forward, wrapping his arms around her and breathing her in. “You’re okay? You’re really okay?”
Her cheek rubbed against his chest as she nodded. “Told you I wouldn’t break.” She hugged him gingerly, mindful of his stitches. “Thanks for saving the day.”
“Anytime. Every time. You can trust me.” He dropped to one knee, holding her left hand in his.
“What are you doing?” Her big brown eyes were round with surprise.
He felt people staring at them and didn’t give a damn. “I won’t waste one more second. I love you, Francesca Leone. Marry me.”
“Oh, Aidan.” She covered her lips with her free hand. “I—”
“Say yes.” He cut her off, terrified she wouldn’t say what he needed to hear. Gently, his thumb stroked her finger just above the ring. “Please, say yes, make me the happiest man on the planet. Say yes, for real this time. Forever.”
He heard a sniffle and knew Sophia’s heart was on her sleeve. But Frankie continued staring at him with an unreadable expression. What was going on behind those stunning eyes?
“Aidan.” She pulled him to his feet and kissed him as tears slid down her cheeks. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “You’re more than I deserve.” She stopped his protest with another soft kiss. “I love you, too. For real. Forever.”
Chapter Fourteen
Chicago,
Friday, April 15, 6:30 a.m.
Victoria sipped her coffee and hummed in satisfaction. “Lucas, this coffee is amazing. Is it something new?”
Her handsome husband winked at her. “I selected various beans and ground it myself.”
Victoria smiled. “Well, it’s wonderful.”
“Thank you, my dear.”
She thought of her friend Sophia and all she had suffered with the devastation leading up to her husband’s death last year. Not to mention all those months of being estranged from her daughter. The mystery shrouding that terrible time remained unsolved. Aidan and Frankie had uncovered the evil that had kept mother and daughter apart, but the rest...there were still few answers.
“You’re worried about Sophia,” Lucas guessed.
He could always read her so well. “She’s flying to Chicago on Monday. We’re having dinner. I told her you’d be joining us.”
“Of course. Is this about what happened to the general?”
“She says she has a business appointment, but I’m hoping she’ll allow the Colby Agency to help her find the truth.”
Lucas nodded. “If anyone can find it, the agency can.”
“I’m certain we’ll hear all about Aidan and Frankie’s wedding plans.”
Lucas reached across the table and squeezed his wife’s hand. “There’s nothing like a wedding celebration to remind us all how special true love is.”
Victoria was lucky to have found true love twice in her life. She hoped Sophia Leone would be as fortunate.
Only time would tell.
* * * * *
Look for Sophia’s story coming
next month in HEAVY ARTILLERY HUSBAND!
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WHAT
HAPPENS
ON THE RANCH
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
Delores Fossen
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter One
ANNA MCCORD FIGURED she had committed a couple of sins, maybe even broken a few laws, just by looking at the guy in the bed. He was naked, so it was hard not to have dirty thoughts about him.
Drool, too.
Mercy, he was hot.
Thick blond hair all tousled and bedroomy. Lean and muscled. At least what she could see of him was muscled anyway. He was sprawled out on his stomach, his face cocooned in the fluffy feather pillows of the guest bed. He reminded her of a Viking just back from a good pillaging, minus the bed and feather pillows, of course.
But who was he?
Even though she should have bolted out of there the moment she opened the guest room door and saw a partially exposed butt cheek, Anna stayed put. Someone had obviously glued her feet to the floor. Glued her eyeballs to the hot guy, too.
She glanced around the room and spotted a clue as to who he was. There was a military uniform draped over the back of a chair and a duffel bag on the floor near the bed.
Anna didn’t actually need more clues to know he was an Air Force officer and likely a friend that her brother Riley had brought home. But she also saw the dog tags. The ball chain holding them was still around the hot guy’s neck, but the tags themselves were lying askew on the bed like smashed nickels.
Maybe he sensed she was there, because he opened an eye, and the seconds trickled by before it must have registered in his mind that he had a woman ogling him.
He made a grunting sound mixed with some profanity and rolled over, no doubt because that was the fastest way he could reach the sheet to cover himself. However, the rolling over gave her a view of his front side.
Definitely more dirty thoughts.
“Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here,” Anna said, as if that explained the gawking. The drool. The long, heated look that she was giving him.
But both the heated stuff and the drool came to a quick halt when Anna got a better look at his face. “Heath?”
He blinked. “Anna?”
Good gravy. It was Heath Moore, all right. Well, a grown-up Heath anyway. The last time she’d seen him had been nine and a half years ago when he was barely eighteen, but he had filled out a lot since then.
Oh, the memories she had of him came flooding back.
He’d been naked then, too—for part of those memories anyway, since she’d lost her virginity to him. Though she certainly hadn’t seen as much of him during that encounter in the hayloft as she’d just witnessed. He had filled out everywhere.
He sat up, dragging the sheet over his filled-out parts, and still blinking, he yawned and scrubbed his hand over his face. More memories came. Of his memorable mouth. The equally memorable way he’d kissed her.
She fanned herself like a menopausal woman with hot flashes.
“Why are you here?” she asked at the same moment that Heath asked, “Why are you here?”
Anna figured he was going to have a lot better explanation than she did. “I thought I might have left a book in here,” she told him.
A total lie. She had been in search of a book that the housekeeper, Della, had said she’d left in her room on the nightstand. But when Anna had seen the guest room door slightly ajar, she’d opened it and had a look.
She made a show of glancing around for a book that had zero chance of being there since it was all the way at the end of the hall.
“This is your room now?” Heath asked.
“No. But I come in here sometimes. For the view.” Anna motioned to the massive bay window. She wouldn’t mention that every bedroom on the second floor had similar windows, similar views. As did her own room on the first floor.
Heath glanced in the direction of the bay window as if he might get up to sample that view, but his next glance was at his body. Considering he was naked under the sheet, he probably didn’t want to get up until she’d left, and that was her cue to leave. First though, she wanted an answer to her question.
“Why are you here?” she repeated.
“Riley. He saw me at the base in San Antonio and said I needed some...R & R before I left on assignment. He was headed back here to the ranch to finish out his leave, and he asked me to come.”
All of that made sense because Riley, too, was an Air Force officer and had indeed been at the base the day before. Yes, it made sense except for Heath’s hesitation before R & R.
“You weren’t here last night when I went to bed.” She would have noticed Heath, that’s for sure.
“We stopped for a bite to eat, then to visit some mutual friends, and we didn’t get in until late. We didn’t want to wake anyone up so Riley just sent me here to the guest room.” Heath paused. “Riley’s my boss.”
Uh-oh. That wouldn’t play well with Riley if he found out about her lustful thoughts over his subordinate. It wouldn’t play well with Heath, either, since he probably didn’t want to do or think anything—or have her do or think anything—that would cause his boss to hit him upside the head with a shovel.
A threat that Riley had first rattled off nine and a half years ago when he thought a romance was brewing between Heath and her.
If Riley had known what had gone on in the hayloft, he might not have actually carried through on the shovel threat, but Anna would have never heard the end of it.
And there was that whole underage-sex thing.
When Heath had first started working at the ranch, he’d been eighteen. But she’d been only seventeen. Riley and her other brothers had made a big deal about the attraction they’d sensed going on between Heath and her.
The term jail bait had been thrown around.
Since Heath had been making a big deal of his own about going into the military, it was an issue. Heath wanted to go in
to special ops, which would have required a lengthy background check for a top-secret clearance, and Riley had brought up her age for the sole purpose of scaring Heath into keeping his jeans zipped.
It had worked. Until the day Anna turned eighteen, that is. After that, she’d made the trip to the hayloft with Heath, and she had the memories of the orgasm to prove it.
Heath smiled at her, but it felt as if he’d had to rummage it up just to be polite. Again, the nudity was probably driving that. But the nudity didn’t stop him from looking at her with those sizzling blue eyes. Also bedroomy like his hair. He slid his gaze from her head to her toes, lingering in the middle. Lingering especially on her breasts. Perhaps because she was wearing a T-shirt and no bra.
“Riley didn’t mention you’d be here at the ranch,” Heath said.
“Oh? Well, usually I leave the day after Thanksgiving, but I decided to stay a little longer.” Since it was already two days after Thanksgiving, she probably hadn’t needed to add that last part. “I’m in law school at University of Texas, but I finished my courses early this semester. I’m also planning a transfer. I need a change of scenery...or something.”
And a life.
And perhaps sex, but she’d only gotten that idea when she’d seen Heath naked.
“Yeah, a change of scenery,” he repeated, as if he were aware of what she meant by the or something.
“So, how long will you be here?” Anna tried to keep her eyes directed just at his face, but her gaze kept drifting a bit to that incredibly toned chest. Either he’d gotten very good with contouring body paints or the man had a six-pack.
“Until the cows come home,” he said.
That’s when she realized both her eyes and her mind had seriously drifted off, and she didn’t have a clue what he’d been talking about before that.
The corner of his mouth lifted. A dreamy smile, and he hadn’t had to rummage up this one. It was the real deal.
“I’ll be here about two weeks,” he said. Probably repeated information. “How about you?”
“Two weeks. More or less. I was going to stay until the final exams were over and the campus was less busy. Then, the plan was to talk to my advisor about the transfer.”
