Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch Book 7)

by Vivian Arend

  He’d been all about less complicated.

  They’d fooled around a few places other than a bed—he was sure of it. But it was true that most of the time when they’d had sex, they’d been at her place. He’d been living at the house with the guys, and there was no way he would have taken her back to the house and had someone toddle in and get raunchy around her.

  Perhaps that had been a mistake—but then the thought of any of his friends or family seeing Melody naked just infuriated him.

  Maybe that choice had been a blessing in disguise.

  But after her snarky comment, he had some mileage to make up and no objections to it either. Although, from the photos on the screen, there were obviously a lot of things out there that floated people’s boats but left Steve with a dirty taste in his mouth. He reached forward to click off the link that screamed “Way Too Far”.

  “Geez, Steve. Shut the damn screen off.” The order snapped from behind him.

  Steve slapped at the monitor as he pivoted his chair to discover Gabe Coleman giving him a very dirty look.

  Shit. “Did you knock, asshole?”

  “I didn’t think I’d catch you masturbating in the middle of your damn living room, and no, I didn’t knock, because you told me to come over, you shit.”

  Steve thought back, puzzled by his comment. “When did I say that?”

  “When we were playing cards earlier.” Gabe folded his arms over his chest and glared harder. “What do you want to talk about? Because you obviously have an agenda for the evening that I’m not needed for, and I’d far prefer to be home with Allison getting my rocks off with her.”

  Steve held back from making another glib comment. He had asked Gabe over—it had slipped his mind during the later distractions. “I want to get back together with Melody,” he confessed, feeling a little like a scratched CD, skipping and repeating the same words over and over.

  “Which completely explains why you’re looking at money shots on your computer,” Gabe deadpanned.

  “I’m doing research,” Steve insisted.

  “That’s what it’s called.” Gabe pretended to think about it for moment before pulling an exasperated face. “You know, if I tried that line on Allison, she’d take my balls and shove them up my ass. You don’t have to explain to me—”

  “Melody says I’m too vanilla,” Steve confessed, regretting it the minute he finished speaking.

  Only, out of all the Colemans who he could have admitted that to, Gabe was his safest bet.

  His cousin’s expression lost all mocking as he grabbed the chair next to Steve. “You’re serious? I mean, about wanting to get together with Melody?”

  Steve chose his words carefully. “You know what I was like when I was dating her before. Things were never bad between us, but they were never as good as I could’ve made them.”

  Gabe’s lips twisted. “That kind of sums up most of us guys when we’re not actively avoiding being assholes.”

  “Right, so when I fucked up and she left, I realized I had to change. And I did, I swear I did.” Steve dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. “The trouble is, I spent the last year trying to become a man she could respect. Someone who puts energy into my work and the things I do for the community, but when I asked her to go out with me, that wasn’t on her mind at all. She tossed back that I’m boring in the sack.”

  “But did she say no to dating you?”

  Steve considered. “I kind of thought that’s what telling me I’m too vanilla meant.”

  Gabe shrugged. “Sounds like an opportunity to me. Prove you can step up to the plate with some adventurous sex, and see she doesn’t have any complaints. When you add that to everything else you’ve learned over the past year, you might find you’ve got what it takes.”

  “I’m not about to start taking a crop to her,” Steve grumbled, waving a hand at the computer. “I mean, I’ve seen it. I looked at shit that made my head spin, and it’s not my thing. What if it’s what she wants? Because I don’t think I can fake that, not even for her.”

  His cousin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. A slight furrow appeared between his brows. “Do you think that’s what Melody discovered in the last year? You think she’s got some deep-seated dirty fantasies you can’t answer?”

  “Not the Melody I knew,” Steve said, the confession burning as he made it, “but that’s part of the problem. Maybe I didn’t know her as well as I thought.”

  Thankfully Gabe shook his head. “From what I remember of you two, when you and Melody were getting along, you seemed to coast.” Gabe offered a smile. “I think ladies like to know they’ve got more than your minimal attention. If you make exciting sex a part of your game plan, you should be fine.

  “So I don’t need to research all kinds of exotic sexual practices?”

  “You could, but you should probably do that together.” Gabe’s smile stretched into a broad grin. “Sometimes it’s fun to mix it up, but if I was going to give you any kind of advice, it would be let her know you’re up for anything. That you can’t keep your hands off her.”

  That was something Steve could get in line with. “I hate that I fucked up before.”

  “Hate more that you’ll probably fuck up again, but the real test? Is what you do when you make a mistake.” Gabe rose to his feet, brushing his hands on his thighs. “Besides, if Melody was into kinky shit, it’s not as if she’s going to find very many takers in this neck of the woods. You should make a list of the eligible date prospects for her. You know, just being helpful-like.”

  An evil, wonderful thought overtook Steve. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Don’t tell her I offered it,” Gabe ordered. “Allison thinks a hell of a lot of Melody, and I don’t want her upset because you’ve gone and screwed things up with her best friend. Because then I would have to come and beat you up, and that would take far too much energy.”

  “You would try to beat me up, you mean,” Steve taunted.

  They were past the days of scuffling like they had when they were preteens. When Gabe’s fist moved in, Steve blocked it and turned their grasp into a warm handshake.

  “Thanks,” he said earnestly.

  “No problem.” Gabe adjusted his hat and headed for the door.

  Steve shut down the computer and pulled out a pad of paper to start plotting. He had a date with Melody. One that she didn’t know about yet.

  Melody inched open the door to let him in. “I don’t know what you think is so important.”

  Important enough he’d phoned to make sure she was home because he insisted on speaking to her in person. She braced herself for another invitation to resume dating.

  Steve laid a hand on his chest as if insulted. “I can’t believe you thought I would let your cry for help go unanswered.”

  Okay…

  That was an unexpected twist. She thought back to what could possibly have been interpreted as a request for help and came up blank. “What is it you want to help me with?”

  “Finding you someone non-vanilla, of course.” Steve reached into his front pocket and pulled out an envelope, extending it toward her. A second before she could wrap her fingers around it he snatched it away. “Oh, wait, I forgot. I only jotted down notes. I’d better help you go through the list, or it won’t make any sense.”

  He had his charming face on, and in spite of her better judgment, Melody couldn’t help feel a flash of attraction.

  And a whole lot of confusion. “You’re going to find me a new boyfriend?”

  “Well, you said you wouldn’t go out with me, which makes me a friend. You’ve been gone for nearly a year, and it’s only right that I extend the hand of friendship so you don’t spend too much time searching through nuggets of fool’s gold.”

  “Which is what a request for non-vanilla sex will produce if I date the locals?” Melody asked, fighting to keep her expression straight.

  They’d settled into chairs kitty-corner to each other, and Steve r
eached across the table to lay his hand over hers. “There are a few fine men in our community you should examine in your quest for some hot, kinky, sexual experimentation.”

  The shudder that rolled through her was impossible to suppress. It wasn’t one of anticipation. It was his choice of words.

  Thinking about some of the local men who hung out at the Community Centre? Totally did nothing for her. Still, she was intrigued. How far was Steve willing to go with this façade because no way he was really trying to set her up with anyone.

  Was he?

  She cleared her throat and went for broke. “Let me have them. I’m all ears.”

  Steve smoothed the page on the table before him. She was surprised to see there were actual notes on the page. He hadn’t simply written a few names—he had more to go along with them.

  As he spoke she was drawn back to staring at his strong lips. “I thought you’d like this presented in the most logical way possible, so I’ve listed them according to age first off. Unless you have some specific requirements you want me to follow. You know, parameters and that sort of thing.”

  “Parameters?” Melody laughed “I draw the line at no one younger than twenty-one and no one older than forty.”

  Steve shook his head sadly. He brought out a pen and clicked it open. “That knocks one candidate off the list right then and there.”

  He drew a bold line through the first name on the page.

  She leaned forward, curious to see who was listed. “You had someone older than forty you thought I should date?”

  “Well, you said you wanted non-vanilla, and while people in these parts are pretty open about talking about their breeding routines for cattle and sheep, personal preferences in the bedroom only get talked about when someone ties one on a little too hard.” Steve shrugged. “It took a bit of work to come up with these possibilities.”

  Melody somehow dragged her expression back to serious. She hoped. “I’m sorry for interrupting. You’ve obviously given this lots of thought. Please, go on.”

  Steve nodded briskly. “Now then, in terms of kink, if I hit something that is a hard no for you, I want you—”

  She lifted a hand in the air and interrupted him. “Holy moly, Steve, I’m not looking for someone I have to call Master.” Hard no. She knew what he meant because of some of her recent reading, but they weren’t words she’d ever expected him to say. “Did you go down to the library and ask for the bright yellow copy of the Dummies Guide to Kink?”

  For an instant his face flushed with embarrassment. Melody was enchanted. This was a side of Steve she’d rarely met, and his earnestness touched something inside her the right way.

  “I just want you to be happy.”

  She looked into his blue-grey eyes, lost for a moment in the intensity of his gaze. As if she were the only thing that mattered at this moment. As if she were the only thing in the entire world. Her heart rate accelerated under his attention, and she caught herself hoping for things she really shouldn’t hope for.

  Then he broke eye contact and leaned back in his chair, paper held loosely in one hand. He began as if they hadn’t nearly eye-fucked each other into sweaty comas. “Leon Treil is living out toward Drayton Valley. He’s got a decent head on his shoulders.” Steve stumbled for a moment before he continued. “And word is his last girlfriend left him because he insisted they dress up every time they had sex.”

  Melody couldn’t stand it. “I’m going to grab some drinks, okay?” She twirled away before he could answer, opening the fridge to hide her smile. “Beer? Pop?”

  “Coke, please.” He cleared his throat. “This isn’t making you uncomfortable is it?”

  “Of course not!” she lied like an ace.

  “I mean, I can go through it quicker if you have something else you need to do tonight.”

  She grabbed drinks, returning to the table once she’d regained control over the urge to giggle. She gave Steve her most innocent look. “No, this is fascinating. Please, go on.”

  “You want me to leave him on the list, or cross him off?”

  Melody pretended to think as she opened her bottle of Coke and watched Steve do the same, his strong hands twisting the cap free before he lifted the bottle. She stared as his lips closed over the top, and he drank deeply, his throat moving in smooth, rhythmic pulses. He pulled the bottle away and licked his lips, and suddenly the room was unbearably hot all over again.

  She blinked rapidly to remember what the question was. “How about you tell me everybody you’ve got on the list, and I’ll make a decision at the end.”

  Steve nodded. “All right, then, next up is Davis Grey.”

  “Davis? I heard he was dead.”

  Steve paused then shook his head. “Oh. You’re thinking of Grampa Davis Grey—he passed away in the spring. Davis Junior is doing just fine, and Mark Orson down at the hardware store let it slip one time Junior goes through more udder cream than can be easily accounted for.”

  Udder cream. “What do you think he’s up to?”

  “Lubing something up,” Steve said, not a speck of amusement on his face as if this were a simple conversation about shoeing a horse or tagging cows. “Protecting against chafing shows consideration and forethought.”

  They weren’t sitting here discussing udder cream. She was dreaming the entire thing. “Kinky candidate number three?”

  “Miles Tate.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Melody lifted her chin off the ground. “That’s the pastor’s son.”

  “Hey, you wanted a list, and he’s over twenty-one, and that boy’s freaky according to every rumour I’ve heard.”

  “No. Way.”

  “What people do in private is their own business—as long as they’re not hurting anyone,” Steve pointed out.

  “I agree. I just meant that he’s a baby,” Melody insisted, before realizing all over the ridiculousness of the entire conversation. “You’re telling me you think I should date one of these men.”

  Steve folded the paper, creasing the edge. Her gaze was drawn to his strong fingers and the memories of the pleasure she’d received at his hands.

  “No, I think the best candidate for you isn’t on this list.” He shook the paper in the air before putting it back in his pocket.

  Melody paused then went for it. “Who is it?”

  Steve caught her fingers in his. “I know I apologized once, but I’ll do it again, and dammit, I’ll do it until it sinks in and you forgive me. I was a bastard. A thoughtless uncaring fool, but I’ve changed, and I think you and I together could be a good thing, Melody. I can be the man you need me to be.”

  The temptation was there.

  So were the memories of the frustrations she’d experienced.

  “Steve, you don’t need to apologize anymore. Maybe you’re right—you could probably step up to the plate and rock my world in all sorts of new ways. You’re a smart man, and you’re talented in the sack.”

  What she’d expected was to see him glow at the praise, but he didn’t budge. All the compliments she was giving him, and he still looked as if she hadn’t said the right thing yet.

  She went on. “But I need a man not just in the bedroom. I need somebody who respects me all the time. While I’m at work, and while I’m at play.” How much should she admit? Melody glanced up to find he was watching intently, and the confession spilled out. “I’m scared. Do I dare take another chance on you?”

  Steve tilted his head in response. “And there’s nothing I can say to prove that I’ve changed. You have to take a chance.”

  Melody stared at where the ceiling met the wall, small signs visible there of numerous paint jobs covering previous layers as each new occupant of the house came in and made the place their own.

  She’d simply moved in because the house wasn’t that important to her. What was important were people, and damn if the man in front of her didn’t make her want to give him another chance.

  His fingers tightened around hers, j
ust enough that she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Melody, I respect the hell out of you. You’re good at what you do, and when you left last September, I kicked my own ass for being a shit and screwing up.”

  It was her turn to pause while she dealt with the images rushing her brain. The good memories mixed with the frustrations until there was no way she knew how to answer him.

  And that was an answer in itself.

  Melody turned her hand in his and returned the squeeze before withdrawing her fingers. “Steve, I need to think on it. I’m not gonna kick you out and say no, but I need more time.”

  That expression in his eyes changed. The hope she’d expected to see earlier when she’d complimented his sexual prowess, now that hope was there, and a flutter began deep inside her belly.

  Steve eased his chair back and rose to his feet. “I have no objections to that. I want you to be sure.” He flashed her that smile that always made her knees weak. “And trust me, sweetheart. I can make sure we aren’t too vanilla this time around.”

  Somehow she believed he meant every word.

  Chapter Five

  One blasted emergency after another filled his days, but in a way, Steve welcomed the distractions. He’d temporarily placed control back in Melody’s hands—even though from her expression as they’d spoken the other night, he was pretty sure she’d come around to telling him yes.

  This part sucked. The waiting. But no matter how much he itched to drive up to her door and demand she come to a decision, running off half-cocked was not the way to make anything lasting happen.

  Damn if he didn’t want to anyway.

  To distract himself from his ever-growing impatience, Steve turned his attention to the things he could control. He fixed the tractor engines that had all decided to seize at the same time. He dealt with the animal shelters in the far pastures that had somehow overnight developed dangerous tilts. He and Trevor put in three backbreaking days hauling new timbers to replace rotting vertical posts, the grazing cattle glancing at them off and on as if they were an amusing dinner show.

  In spite of his frustrations, as he examined the tasks he’d completed, the change in his working habits and outlook stiffened his resolve. He would convince Melody they belonged together. He would show her that Rocky was a good place for them both.