by Leanne Banks
He wrinkled his brow in confusion. “This ain’t China. It’s Texas. You tell Brock—”
Felicity flipped her hair impatiently. “I’ll try to remember to give Mr. Logan your ridiculous message, but I have a question for you. Why would Mr. Logan want your cows? He has a ton of cows. Not only that,” she said before he could answer her rhetorical question, “his cows are better than your cows. Good day,” she politely added for the children’s sake right before she closed the door.
Felicity couldn’t remember speaking to anyone like that in her life. Aghast, she wondered if she was becoming Texan? She glanced down the hallway to find Addie walking toward them with flour on her hands. “Who was that?” she asked.
Still rattled, Felicity managed a shrug. “Somebody Coltrane.”
Addie grimaced. “Oh, no.”
“He said Daddy was stealing his cattle,” Bree said.
“He’s always saying that,” Addie told her. “Don’t pay any attention to him.”
“I still think I should have spit on him,” said Jacob.
“He needs a good scratch,” Bree insisted.
“He was very unpleasant,” Felicity agreed, resenting how the fragile serenity of the past hour had been shattered. “This calls for something loud on the piano,” she said. “Then chocolate therapy.”
“All right!” Jacob said.
Brock was late for dinner and as hungry as he’d ever been. He was looking forward to a filling meal. The calves were starting to drop more frequently now, which kept him and his hands busy bringing the moms and calves to a separate fenced pasture. He’d been distracted by thoughts of Felicity, and he was ambivalent about seeing her this evening. He didn’t want to see her, and he did.
He got his wish. The first one, anyway. After Brock washed up, he walked into the dining room and immediately noticed that although Tyler and the kids were already eating, there was no plate set at Felicity’s place at the table. His gut gave a little twist.
“Hi, Daddy,” Bree said, giving him a little ray of sunshine.
“Hi, sweet thing. Were you and Jacob lazy bums on your day off?” he asked, teasing her.
“No,” Jacob said, focused on a piece of cherry pie. “We played piano with Felicity, ate chocolate and chased off men.”
“Chased off men?” he echoed, nodding his thanks at Addie as she put a plate of pot roast and potatoes in front of him. His mouth watered from the juicy aroma. He was so hungry he might go for seconds tonight.
“Felicity is gone,” Addie said.
Brock’s stomach took a deep dip. Had she already left? “Gone?”
“Yes. I think the Parkers wore her down. She accepted an invitation to dinner at their house tonight. Ron Smith and Seth Liddy stopped by, too.”
Brock felt a surge of irritation. He frowned. “Did Jay pick her up?”
Tyler nodded. “In his new Suburban, new Stetson and boots so shiny I needed sunglasses to look at them. I told him to make sure she was home by eleven.”
“Tyler says Felicity is our babe-in-residence,” Jacob said.
“We have two babes-in-residence,” Tyler corrected. “Felicity and Bree.”
Bree smiled at her uncle and batted her eyelashes. “Felicity says you’re a flirt.”
Felicity. Felicity. Felicity. If he heard her name another time, he was going to get sick.
“Not me,” Tyler protested to Bree, then turned to Brock. “Speaking of Felicity going places. That was a good idea you had for her to drive one of the older ranch trucks around the driveway. She’s getting better all the time.”
Brock felt his jaw give an involuntary twitch and set down his fork. He could feel his blood pressure rise. “She’s been driving one of the ranch trucks in the driveway?” he asked in a deliberately quiet voice.
Tyler immediately identified the tone and shot Brock a wary glance. “I thought it was your idea.”
“No,” Brock said, and glanced up at Addie’s guilt-stricken face. “You didn’t…?”
“She asked and asked, and you haven’t had time to give her another lesson,” Addie said.
“She could wreck the truck.”
“Well, she gave me a check to hold for a new truck in case she wrecked this one.”
His head began to pound. “And what if she got hurt?”
Addie winced. “I made her promise to go very slowly. She got the driver’s manual and has been studying for the test. She’s very determined and I didn’t feel right stopping her.” She lifted her chin. “Every woman should know how to drive, especially in Texas.”
Brock swallowed an oath and pinched the bridge of his nose. The woman was causing an insurrection.
“Daddy,” Bree said, “you look like you could use some chocolate therapy.”
Jacob nodded. “Yeah. That’s what Felicity gave us after she told Mr. Coltrane to build a fence like the Great Wall of China and that our cows are better than his cows!”
“She faced down Coltrane?” Tyler let out a guffaw. “I would’ve loved to see that. Our cows are better than his cows.”
“Coltrane,” Brock muttered. He was beginning to think Felicity’s effects were spreading like a bad flu.
That evening, Brock sat in the den after everyone had gone to bed. Around ten-thirty, Felicity quietly slipped in the door and began to tiptoe up the stairs. Brock put the cattle-ranching journal aside and strolled to the stairway.
“You’ve had a busy day,” he said.
She stopped mid-step and stiffened. Her body oozing reluctance, she turned around. “Yes, I have. How are you?” she asked politely.
He couldn’t see the expression in her eyes because of the dim light, but the black dress she wore couldn’t hide her curves. Brock knew exactly how the body beneath that dress felt against his. He took a breath. “Besides learning about chocolate therapy and building fences the length of the Great Wall of China, and checking out the transmission and brakes on the truck you’ve been driving without my permission, it’s been a quiet evening.”
Felicity cocked her head to one side. “I’ll be happy to buy the truck from you.”
Brock felt a surge of irritation. Or heartburn. “I’m sure you would, but I’d just as soon you not break your neck on Logan land.”
“If you think about it, your risk of liability is pretty low. It’s not as if you would get sued. Remember, I don’t have family.”
The loneliness she tried to conceal tugged at him. He joined her on the steps. “There are people who care about you.”
She shrugged, her eyes shadowed. “Maybe.”
“Bree, Jacob, Addie,” he said, then paused. In the face of her loneliness, he couldn’t deny the truth. He tucked his thumb under her soft chin, wanting her to meet his gaze. “And me.”
Nine
And me.
Felicity looked into Brock’s blue eyes and felt her heart jump into her throat. Calm down, she told herself. Brock cared about lots of people.
“I care about you more than I should,” he muttered in a tough and tender voice that felt like a sensuous stroke on her inner thighs.
He lowered his mouth to hers. Felicity parted her lips, his tongue slipped inside, and her meltdown began. The overwhelming wanting he generated invaded her entire system like oxygen. Her mind was filled with the images of making love with him, of touching him and him touching her.
Clinging to a sliver of good sense, she pulled back. “I would never have thought you would be a tease,” she chided him.
He looked at her sideways. “A tease?”
“Yes, a tease. You don’t want me, so why are you—”
“I never said I didn’t want you.”
“You were turned off by my inexperience,” she insisted.
“I was not. I—” He caught himself as he raised his voice. “Hell!” he muttered with force. Then he picked her up and carried her up the stairs.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Just shut up until I close my door,” he said, carrying h
er into his bedroom, nudging the door closed, and dropping her on his bed.
Felicity landed with a bounce, taking in the masculine comfort of his domain. An oak dresser and bureau lined walls which displayed rodeo belt buckles, an Indian breastplate, and pictures of Jacob and Bree. The large oak sleigh bed was covered with a patchwork quilt in shades of blue and cream. The room, like the man, echoed with a sense of family, refuge and unrelenting masculinity at its best.
She would never share this room with him, Felicity warned her heart. Never.
“I never said I didn’t want you, and I was not turned off by your inexperience,” he told her. “Surprised, shocked, but not turned off.”
“Yes, you were,” she said, lifting her hand when he opened his mouth. “You didn’t see your facial expression. You looked close to horrified.”
“I did not!” He took a deep breath as if he were fighting for control. “I didn’t want you thinking we were going to get married.”
Felicity felt a tinge of irritation. “I thought I told you I didn’t plan to get married.”
Brock crossed his arms over his chest and tossed her a skeptical glance. “My experience is that women tend to change their minds.”
“Yes, well, you may have a lot of experience with other women, but you don’t have a lot of experience with me.”
“Are you telling me you haven’t secretly dreamed of a big church wedding with a white dress and a reception with dancing?”
“You have to consider my point of reference,” she told him. “My parents didn’t have a terrific marriage, and my mother took every opportunity to warn me against all the men who would want me only because of the Chambeau wealth.”
“And being with me didn’t change your mind at all,” Brock said, his tone peppered with doubt.
Her pride stung and her heart hurt. How arrogant, she thought, and unflattering. If there were a smidgeon of truth to it, she would never tell him, Felicity thought.
“Exactly,” she said. “Just as being with me hasn’t altered your opinion. Oh, for heaven’s sake!” she said, rising to her feet. “If I’d wanted to get married, Jay probably would oblige, but I’m not—”
“—Jay Parker?” Brock interjected with a frown. “What did Jay do?”
She waved her hand in a dismissing gesture. “Nothing except tell me I was the kind of woman that made him think about settling down. The point is—”
“That snake. That low-down dirty snake. I turn my head for one minute and—” He broke off and swore. “Did he try anything with you?”
“Why would you care?” she yelled. “You said you don’t want anything permanent with me!”
His eyes glinted with anger. “While you are at my house, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe and to keep my neighbors from preying on you.” He lifted his finger. “You haven’t made it easy by cruising around in my truck, hitching rides into town, and accepting dinner invitations from folks you don’t know.”
Felicity could feel their argument escalating out of control, but she was too offended and upset to stop it. “If I’m that much trouble, then why don’t you tell me to leave?”
Complete silence stretched between them.
“Isn’t that what you want?” she asked, wanting him to deny it. “For me to leave?”
“Since you’re a silent partner—”
“That’s bull,” she said, borrowing the term from Bree and Jacob.
He rubbed his jaw and shrugged his shoulders. “The kids—”
“Don’t drag them into this,” Felicity said. “This is about you and me. Do you want me to leave?” she asked and held her breath.
Brock sighed. “I won’t tell you to leave, but I can’t ask you to stay.”
That hurt. She’d wanted just a little encouragement from him, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t give it. Felicity supposed that was what she got for pushing. She bit her lip. “Good night, Brock,” she said and headed for the door.
He reached out to clasp his hand around her wrist. “You’re upset.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She shook her wrist free. “I’m not your responsibility.”
“I don’t want you upset.”
“You’ll get over it,” she said and reached for the doorknob.
Brock put his hand to the door. “Felicity,” he said in a voice that made her heart ache.
Her emotions ripping at her, she stared at the oak floor. She couldn’t meet his gaze. “Is it so hard for you to say you like me being here?”
She heard him whisper a terse oath, then he took her by her arms and pushed her back against the door. “There’s plenty to like about you. I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t want you, and it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with your money. But let’s not fool ourselves, we both know you’re leaving. It’s just a question of when.”
Felicity’s heart squeezed tight. She saw something in his eyes, a wanting, that gave her an inkling that perhaps he cared more than he showed. It made her bold. “If you could have me any way for any amount of time, how would you want me?” she asked, and immediately put her finger to his mouth. “Don’t answer. I just want you to think about it.”
Felicity’s question buzzed around Brock’s mind like a fly the rest of the evening and the following day. It was a stupid question, he told himself for the tenth time as he met her for another driving lesson. Stupid because it didn’t matter what he wanted. He and Felicity couldn’t be worse suited for each other, and there was always the Logan Curse.
He had more important things to think about than Felicity’s question this morning, though, and so did she, but he would save that news for later. He figured he and Felicity needed to keep their concentration solely focused on her driving if they were going to get out of this experience alive.
She dangled the keys to the old truck as she walked down the front porch steps. “Ready?”
He stifled a sigh. “As I’ll ever be.”
She smiled and gave a chiding shake of her head. “You’re going to be surprised. You won’t need a neck brace after this ride.”
“Traction?” he asked, unable to resist teasing her.
She tossed him a level gaze that was sexy in a wholly feminine way. “Antacids. Prepare to eat your words, cowboy.”
They got into the car and Brock watched Felicity fasten her seat belt and adjust the mirrors. She put the key in the ignition and smoothly accelerated. She didn’t chat with him, just focused on driving. When she had successfully completed two trips down the drive, Brock was impressed.
“Turn right out of the driveway,” he said.
Felicity swung her head to look at him in amazement. “A real road?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, a real road.”
“Omigod,” she said, taking a quick breath. “I can do this,” she said more to herself than him. She tossed him a quick glance. “Don’t say anything unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Brock frowned in confusion. “Why?”
“Because,” she said, carefully turning onto the real road.
“Why because?”
“Because I’m pretending you’re Tyler. Now be quiet.”
Brock didn’t like her answer one damn bit. Tyler! Why the hell would she pretend he was Tyler! He knew his younger brother appealed to the ladies. Brock had always been the back-breaking hard worker. While Tyler worked hard, too, he also played hard and was something of a charmer. Slipping in and out of relationships with women was easy for him.
Sliding a glance over at Felicity as she hunched over the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip, he wondered if her affections had changed with the wind and she was interested in his brother. He wondered if his brother had gotten caught in her spell.
A bitter taste filled his mouth. He didn’t like either possibility. Although Tyler was plenty experienced with women, Brock knew Felicity would have the poor guy in knots in no time.
At the next intersection, he said, “Take a left and turn around.”
She gave a sma
ll jerk, then murmured something encouraging to herself and straightened. Brock directed her to a quiet area and instructed her to pull onto the dirt road. He was going to straighten Felicity out. He couldn’t allow her to disrupt anything else on the ranch, including his brother.
She pulled to a stop and leaned back against her seat, then glanced at him and sighed. Her smile held a hint of triumph and pride. “No whiplash. No traction. When you eat your words would you like sugar and a cherry on top?”
The way she rubbed it in would have usually amused him, but Brock didn’t feel like smiling. He cracked his knuckles. “Why did you want to pretend I was Tyler?”
Felicity’s smile faded and she glanced away as color bloomed in her cheeks. “He’s different than you.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said, unable to keep a thread of impatience from his voice.
She sighed, smoothing a long strand of hair from her face. “Tyler doesn’t make me nervous,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze.
It took a moment to register her comment and its ramifications. Brock felt an easing inside him and more than a trace of foolishness. “I make you nervous,” he concluded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She glanced at him sideways. “I don’t think your ego needs any more feeding.”
His lips twitched in amusement. This was almost worth the agony he’d gone through during the last twenty minutes. “Why?” he persisted.
She gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I want to impress you. You have no idea how intimidating it is to be around someone with so many practical skills when I have nearly none. Being around you makes me want to learn to do some of the things I’ve always paid others to do.”
“Like tune the piano and drive a car,” Brock said.
Felicity nodded.
“Make your bed,” Brock teased.
Felicity gave him another sideways glance. “You’re pushing it. Tell me, Brock,” she said, smiling and switching gears, “what does being around me make you want to do?”
“Besides tear out my hair?” he asked.
Felicity shook her head and pressed the door handle.
