Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch Book 7)

by Vivian Arend

  Two of them were awake, batting paws before falling over on wobbly legs. They rolled over their siblings who slept soundly in spite of being used as landing pads.

  The mama cat reappeared with the most adventurous kitten held by the scruff as she returned it the nest. Typical barn cat, she ignored Steve and Melody as unimportant as she settled in to wash the face of her nearest baby.

  But as fascinating as the kittens were, Steve was far more aware he wasn’t just next to Melody, he was damn near covering her. His chest pressed to her back, her hip bumping his groin as she adjusted position.

  He fought the devil of temptation and won part of the battle. He stayed in place, teasing himself with a taste of what he really longed for.

  Between one breath and the next, she realized how intimately positioned they were. Her body stiffened, her breathing grew shallower.

  Steve shifted away as if trying to find a better angle to look at the cats. “I think that’s the third batch for this mama. She’s got it down pat,” he whispered.

  Only Melody wasn’t checking the kittens anymore. She’d turned and sat, legs coiled beside her like a fancy mermaid statue, her weight resting on one hand as she stared at him.

  Her expression was a whole lot different than what he’d seen a few days ago on the roadside, and a small burst of hope ignited.

  He changed the topic before the urge to do something inappropriate struck. “You want to go find some food? I’ll protect you from the masses if you protect me,” he joked.

  Melody got up on her knees. “Yeah, I suppose we should join the group. Allison will be wondering where I am.”

  They made their way back over the bales, prickly hay poking through the knees of his jeans and digging into his palms. He stepped onto the boards and reached back to help her. She caught his fingers with hers, willingly accepting the gentle tug he used to help her find her feet.

  But then she didn’t let go.

  Steve glanced at their joined hands before lifting his gaze to meet hers. “Melody?”

  She tilted her head to the side. “I’m…curious about something.”

  Then damn if she didn’t free his fingers and instead plant both palms against the front of his shirt.

  Lord, the temptation to wrap himself around her was strong. “Curious about what?”

  “Kiss me.” Her words were halfway between a command and a dare.

  His jaw hung open for a hell of a lot longer than could be considered proper. “Excuse me?”

  She lifted a brow, her expression growing sultry. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to kiss?”

  He didn’t know the answer to that one. Well, he didn’t know the right answer to that one. “Are you asking how many women I’ve kissed since you and I—?”

  She pressed up on her toes, far enough to bring their mouths into contact, and suddenly it didn’t matter what she was asking other than he was getting to do what he’d wanted to do since he’d seen her on the road days ago.

  It was a soft caress at first, the faintest hint of mint on her lips growing as the kiss deepened. Maybe this wasn’t part of the deal, but he couldn’t resist. Steve curled his hands around her face so he could tilt her upward and taste her more fully. Careful to hold himself in check when what he really wanted was to take a deep, possessive approach that would make it clear that she’d asked for this kiss—but he was more than ready to take.

  Cool down, animal.

  Under his hands she moved her lips willingly against his. They’d had a lot of practice in the past, and not just at kissing. His body responded, eager to return to everything else they used to be good at, as well.

  He shifted his hips to ease the pressure on his cock, focusing on her mouth and the exquisite sensation of her tongue slipping against his.

  She leaned into him, body warm and soft against his growing hardness. A satisfied sound escaped her, sending a chill up his spine. Still he kept in control, paying attention to her clues so when she pulled back, he let her go even though retreat was the last thing he wanted.

  There was a sparkle in her eyes and amusement in her expression. “Thanks.”

  And damn if she didn’t turn and head for the ladder.

  You’re welcome? Any time? His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth as he struggled to find the words to say in response.

  What the fuck just happened?

  She disappeared before he’d come to any firm conclusions. But that was okay, because in a way, their short interlude was too damn amusing to get bent out of shape over.

  It did answer one vital question, though. She was attracted to him—he was sure of it now. He was going to use that information to his benefit. And hers, because this was about both of them getting what they needed.

  One step at a time.

  It didn’t matter where she turned, there seemed to be something going on that involved laughter.

  A lazy, post-dinner mood struck, and relaxing in lawn chairs in the sun while watching good-looking guys—Melody had no problem with her current agenda.

  “Your eyes are the size of plates,” her best friend teased. “Trust me, there isn’t that much interesting to stare at out there.”

  “Speak for yourself.” The pretty blonde who’d settled beside Melody said with a low hum of approval. Ashley bumped their shoulders, pointing toward where the guys had set up a horseshoe pit. “Why is it not the middle of summer and blazing hot? All we need is for them to strip off their shirts and we’d have the best view in town.”

  Melody wasn’t about to argue. “Ice cream, watermelon, and muscular men tossing iron objects. The only thing that would make today better would be chocolate.”

  Out of nowhere, a chocolate bar appeared in her lap. She blinked in surprise as more laughter surrounded her. She glanced up to see Allison wink.

  “Hidden stash in my purse,” she confessed. “I’m trying to give it up, but it’s about the only thing that doesn’t make me nauseous, even in the morning.”

  Ashley stole the chocolate bar and unwrapped it, helpfully breaking it into three equal portions and distributing it among them. “Everything in moderation. Not as if you couldn’t use the calories.”

  “I don’t want to spend the next five months making a baby and the next five years getting back in shape,” Allison complained.

  “Don’t worry too much,” Melody said. “With how much running around you do in the restaurant, as well as everything you’re helping with at the ranch, you’ll be okay.”

  “Agreed.” Ashley stared at her piece of chocolate for a moment before smiling. “It’s like the best aerobic exercise in the world, living on the ranch.” She popped the chunk in her mouth and hummed happily as she chewed.

  Melody copied her, letting the rich morsel melt on her tongue. Dark chocolate slipped down her throat like heavenly pleasure, and she sighed, licking every last bit off her fingers.

  “Don’t look now, but I think you’re being watched,” Allison shared, tilting her head toward where the guys were playing.

  Melody leaned back in her chair, looping her arm around the back of Ashley’s as she examined the horseshoe pit.

  Her friend was right. Something was going on. Something that involved an awful lot of ribbing in Steve’s direction and loud bursts of masculine laughter.

  On her right, Ashley leaned in closer. “Okay, tell me the scoop. I’ve only heard bits and pieces of the story. I know the first year I went out with Travis, you were seeing Steve on a casual basis. But then last year after we came back to town, there was this…”

  “Incident?” If Ashley had to ask, then Steve hadn’t told stories while she’d been gone. Not that she’d expected him to, one way or the other, but it was kind of good to know he hadn’t tried to blame her for anything.

  Ashley twisted in her chair, lips curled into a brilliant smile. “Incident. I like that. Remind me to tell you sometime about the incident Travis, Cassidy and I had the day I came home from volunteering at the school to discove
r they were waiting for me to cook dinner.”

  The woman was so upfront about all three of them being involved. Melody wasn’t about to pass judgment, especially since the trio seemed to be working hard to keep their relationship solid. No one else in the Coleman clan was vocal in disapproval either, which Melody liked.

  Ashley had more energy than Melody did, though. One guy at a time was enough for her. Actually, one guy had been too much at one point, considering how much work Steve had been.

  She could answer part of the question, though. “Yes. We had a bit of a misunderstanding. Also, I was going away for a year to complete upgrades on my training, and I decided a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work very well.”

  To their right, Allison laughed softly. “You have a way with words.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Still, someone is very interested in you, no matter what broke you up last fall.” Ashley gestured toward the guys before turning her attention back on Melody. She laid a hand on her knee and squeezed. “People change. I know I did, and so did Travis. We weren’t right for each other back when you first met me. But the next time, it was like we’d grown up enough to be able to fit. Cassidy just made it better.”

  Allison added her agreement. “Gabe and I as well. I mean, we’d always gotten along, and I never dumped a pitcher of beer on his head, so it’s not quite the same thing—”

  “I will never live that down, will I?” Melody asked.

  “It’s in the annals of clan history. Steve will have it etched on his tombstone. Doused in lager, all men should be so lucky.” Ashley ducked back and laughed as Melody made a feint at her.

  They visited for a little longer, but it was growing late, and Melody was ready to return to the quiet of her small home. She said goodbye to the girls, promised Allison she’d stop by soon, and headed toward her borrowed truck.

  “Wait up. I want to talk to you.” Steve turned from the guys to jog forward, waving her down.

  Melody wondered what was going on as the rest of the bunch all grinned after him, masculine laughter and jousting continuing.

  She slowed her step to allow him to catch up, then turned and marched at a brisk pace to where she’d parked at the end of the drive. “If the Colemans decided to leave Rocky in a rush, you’d decrease the population by fifty percent, unbalance the countryside, and tip us all into the Red Deer River.”

  “Good thing we’re not planning on going anywhere then.” He kept up with ease, those long legs of his eating up the distance in far fewer strides than she had to take. That detail wasn’t something she was going to cry over—the man was bigger than her, stronger than her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t fit in just fine.

  “I had a good time today,” she said. “I’m glad Allison invited me.”

  “You’re always welcome.”

  Silence.

  They were closing in on the truck she’d borrowed from Mathis, and she didn’t want to leave whatever was on his mind ignored. “Something you wanted to talk about?”

  “Not quite sure how to say it.”

  “That’s nothing new,” she muttered.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She shrugged. “Steve, you always knew when to crack a joke, but didn’t tend to say much of anything any other time. Do you need to schedule me for a vet appointment, or—”

  “I want to see you again,” he blurted out.

  Maybe if she’d never imagined hearing those words this would’ve been more awkward, but she’d had enough time to think it over. She’d prepared for every possibility when she’d decided to return to Rocky Mountain House, even this one.

  Prepared, and planned to enjoy it.

  She kept walking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t think we had an actual relationship, not one that I’m interested in rekindling.”

  “I get that. I told you I was a fool, but I’ve changed. I want a chance to prove it.”

  “Prove it?” A burst of laughter escaped before she could stop it. “Steve, when we were dating, half the time you didn’t know what day it was. And I don’t even know that I want to call it dating. More like conveniently seeing each other when it worked out. That part wasn’t just your fault. I’ll take some of the blame, because I was damn busy with my job.”

  “We were both busy, but that doesn’t give me an excuse for being a shit. It also doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m talking about right now.”

  Melody jerked to a halt so she could toss him her most disdainful expression. “What happened between us a year ago, and more? How does that have nothing to do with the fact you want to see me again? You’re not making any sense.”

  His lips twitched upward as his gaze drifted over her, his attraction apparent. “Let’s start with a clean slate. Hi, you must be the new vet in town. I’m Steve Coleman, and you’re going to be seeing a lot of me.”

  Unbelievable. And yet…interesting. The old Steve would have joked around, but never with that intense focus as if he was prepared to actually do something if she argued with him. “Well, it appears you’ve grown some balls since the last time we met, but I don’t know that it’s enough.”

  “Trust me, I’ve got the balls, for many things.”

  She shook her head, clicking her tongue as if in disbelief. “If that was some sly reference toward your sexual prowess? There’s another place you’re mistaken. I’ll give you points for knowing where to find a woman’s clit, and I had more than a few orgasms with you—thanks for them, by the way.”

  His grin broadened, and she was almost reluctant to deliver the killing blow.

  “But, Steve? I’m afraid you’re just too vanilla for me.”

  Melody spun on her heel and marched away, her own grin breaking free as he stood frozen on the spot behind her, sputtering in response. She kept walking, catching hold of her door and quickly crawling into the borrowed beast.

  She got the door shut before he caught up with her, but there was no way she could ignore him. Steve stood inches from her closed door, his expression folded into a frown until she relented and rolled down her window.

  He started in right away before she could speak, his utter shock apparent. “Too vanilla for you?”

  Melody answered briskly. “I found out a few things about myself while I was away at school this year. So, I’m glad we’re going to be friends, and I look forward to working with the Colemans now that I’m back, but that’s pretty much all us time is going to be. Have a nice day.”

  She put the truck in drive and left him standing in the dirt, containing her laughter until she was on the main highway and headed for home.

  This was where the Steve she’d known would saunter back to the party and forget about her. Oh, maybe he’d give a few moments’ thought to challenging her comments, but then something would distract him, and the next time they met? It would be as if this conversation had never happened. He’d ask her out again, she’d turn him down.

  Eventually he’d get bored and move on. It was sad, but inevitable.

  Except…the flash of fire she’d seen in his eyes in her rearview mirror as she drove away wasn’t familiar. Something fluttered in her belly, and she wondered if maybe she’d poked a little too hard.

  Chapter Four

  Steve stared at the empty search engine in front of him.

  Jeez.

  On a typical day he used his computer for work, like checking grain prices or the feedlot calendar. Occasionally he checked out some porn.

  Tonight’s task made him squirm in his seat.

  He wasn’t as ignorant as Melody seemed to think, but at the same time, no way did he want to misinterpret her comment.

  There was also a part of him inside that was absolutely, fucking pissed she’d been experimenting with sex, especially anything beyond the norm, while she was away. It was bad enough to think of her fooling around with anyone else, let alone them having their hands all over her some way that he never had.

 
Even as he thought it, he knew the emotion was outrageous. He had no right to dictate what she’d done while she was gone, or who she’d done it with,

  But damn if he didn’t wish he did have the right.

  He typed in the letters in deep reluctance. Non-vanilla sex.

  The first screen popped up in answer to his search, and Steve felt his eyes rolling back in his head as the topics listed sounded filthier and filthier the farther down the page he went.

  He was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about some of the extreme shit out there. Knife play—

  Christ.

  That didn’t seem her style. He jotted down a few notes as he went along, glancing away from the pictures without examining them too closely because even though some of it was interesting, the shots weren’t of Melody.

  If he had the go-ahead to do everything he’d ever wanted to without having to worry about pushing her too hard—? His face grew hot as his body reacted to the thought. His cock hardened, and he adjusted position uncomfortably.

  No freaking way was he going to jack off, though. He wasn’t sure he wanted to relieve the pressure, turned on by thoughts of Melody and yet equally turned on and disgusted by what he was seeing. Anything people wanted to do—he supposed that was their business, but fuck if it should be slapped up all over the Internet for everyone and their dog to see.

  He wasn’t sure where that opinion put him on the masculine scale.

  Steve leaned back in his chair and stared at the computer screen without seeing anything as he focused on the past. The pictures scrolled by automatically on the website he’d clicked while he drifted in thought.

  Melody had no idea how much he’d been holding back. Not because he wanted to tie her up and keep her in his bedroom—he had heard about that stuff. No, combining his laid-back lazy-ass attitude with everything else that had been wrong in their relationship simply meant that while he’d always made sure she’d had a good time, he’d made extra sure he’d been a gentleman. It was simpler. It was…less complicated.