Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch Book 7)

by Vivian Arend

  Ashley wrinkled her nose. “You guys ganged up on me. That’s not fair.” She lifted her eyes to meet Melody’s, winking briefly. “And you. Don’t you have a soft spot for animals?”

  “Definitely. But that means I want the best for them, and in the long run, Lucky will be happier outside.”

  They helped Ashley bundle up the little animal and carry it down the stairs to head outside. Melody was momentarily distracted as Ashley pulled pairs of brightly coloured rubber boots from the closet. She slipped her feet into a set with the pink flowers against a yellow background before handing a purple pair to Travis and a blue set to Cassidy.

  Ashley stepped from the room for a moment, and Travis leaned in close to murmur, “Thank you. For a moment I thought you were about to throw us under the bus, especially when I remembered hearing you had a dog with you when you got back.”

  “Umm, you mean Lady?”

  Cassidy grinned as he pulled on the boots Ashley had given him before taking the puppy from her hands. “Something furry and white with sharp teeth. I think that’s what Steve said.”

  “You have a dog?” Ashley popped her head around the corner and directed a glare at Melody.

  Travis folded his arms. “How the hell do you do that? You got bionic ears or something?”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Ashley protested, reaching for the puppy. “If you can have a house dog, then I—”

  “I don’t have a house dog,” Melody informed her quickly. “I brought Lady for the nursing home. She was a companion animal at the local lodge near where I was doing my veterinary training in Saskatchewan, but the owner died. The dog is well-trained around seniors, so I brought her with me, and she’s been adopted by the head of the long-term residency program.”

  Ashley made a face. “Fine. I guess we need to get this over with.”

  The entire way to the barn Melody could not keep her eyes off their boots. “Quite a fashion statement,” she finally commented.

  A rumbling noise of protest escaped Travis, while Cassidy only laughed.

  Ashley twirled to walk backwards, grinning with evident self-satisfaction. “You like them?”

  “They’re much better than plain black rubber boots,” Melody agreed. “I like bright-coloured things.”

  Ashley smirked. “They’re fun, and there’s the added bonus that every time Travis has to put his on, he pouts like a five-year-old.”

  “You’re lucky that I wear them,” he growled.

  “You’re the one who lost the bet,” Cassidy pointed out. “You should know better than to bet with Ashley over something she really wants.”

  The grumbling and good-natured teasing continued as Melody accompanied them into the barn and saw the little puppy settled in place with a couple of the old-timers.

  Ashley was happy, Travis and Cassidy were ecstatic—Melody felt as if she’d done a good job. Something beyond just the letter of what she was hired for.

  “You’re coming to Traders Pub this Friday, aren’t you?” Ashley demanded, slipping her arm around Melody’s as they accompanied her back to her truck. “We’re holding an engagement party for Anna Coleman and Mitch Thompson. We need more women to balance out the horde of Coleman men who’ll be there.”

  A horde that would include Steve. Melody still felt his hands around her face at moments, the kiss shaking her to her toes for all that it had been gentle and sedate. She’d been thinking about his dating plans for the past week, slowly caving to the desire to tell him she would see him again.

  “I don’t want to crash a family party,” she protested.

  Travis grunted before lifting his hand to count off on his fingers. “You’re friends with Allison, you know Hope, you know us, you know Steve and you dumped a pitcher of beer on him—that makes you as good as family.”

  She was really regretting having lost her temper that night so long ago.

  “Please come,” Ashley begged, bumping her hip gently into Melody’s. “I promise everyone will behave. Unless you don’t want to—”

  “And then all bets are off,” Cassidy teased. “Because if you don’t want to behave, Ashley will be first in line to help you make mischief.”

  “We all have our talents.” Ashley beamed as she nodded in agreement.

  Melody was in her truck and headed home before it sank in. She was going to a party, one with Steve Coleman present. She had a feeling he would be waiting for her answer.

  Fool that she was, it appeared Steve was going to get his second chance.

  Chapter Six

  From the moment he heard she’d be attending the engagement party, Steve found himself dealing with the strangest sensation. Like he’d gotten a bellyful of butterflies or June bugs that were dancing in endless circles.

  He was too old and too…well, male…to admit, even to himself, that he was nervous. He’d call it anticipation instead.

  Tonight? Was the night.

  Every time the door opened, though, his stomach took another nosedive. Not knowing when she’d arrive, or if work would call her away from the party at the last minute, sucked. Still, unless something went horridly wrong, this was it.

  No more waiting.

  The pub door opened, and his gaze jerked to attention, followed by disappointment as a couple of young women entered—neither of whom were Melody.

  He eased back in his chair and let out a slow breath.

  “You look as nervous as a virgin on prom night,” Jesse teased.

  Without a glance, Steve backhanded his cousin across the shoulder. Jesse just laughed harder, leaning his chair back on two legs. He crossed his hands behind his head as he glanced around the room, his cocky grin taking in the crowd filing into the pub for a good time Friday night.

  A crowd that included pretty much all the Coleman family over the age of eighteen and under thirty-five. Steve’s brothers were already there, as well as Gabe and Rafe—the Angel Colemans. Jesse’s older brothers were gathered in a loose group near the bar, laughter rising from the Six Pack clan as Jesse’s twin, Joel, clinked his beer bottle into his oldest brother’s.

  Huh. That was what seemed strange. Steve turned back to his cousin. “Isn’t this about the time you usually take off?” he asked Jesse.

  “What are you talking about?”

  As if it weren’t obvious to the rest of them. “Anytime there’s a family event that your twin attends, you make yourself scarce. I’m surprised you’re out tonight.”

  Jesse tipped his chair forward with a rush and reached for the pitcher of beer already waiting on the table. “Not true,” he denied. “I don’t try to avoid family. I wouldn’t live with Rafe and Lee if I were.”

  “But you are avoiding some family. You and Joel are rarely in the same room together.” Steve knew he should drop it, but the whole thing was getting ridiculous. “Whatever bee got up your butt about Joel and Vicki being together, I wish you’d get over it.”

  “Nothing to get over,” Jesse insisted. “Just don’t like to see my brother being played for a fool.”

  Steve gave up. He had other things to concentrate on tonight, and his cousin’s failings with his twin were not front and center.

  A cheer rose, fading to jeers as Mitch Thompson came through the door of the pub without Anna.

  The Thompsons and Colemans and their friends had pretty much taken over the place that night. Steve glanced around, the beat of music on the opposite side of the wall explaining where everyone else was. Okay, so they had taken over half the pub. This side held the pool tables, dartboards, and long, low tables where people could sit and chat and make noise.

  Gabe rose to his feet and slapped Mitch on the back, guiding him forward to one of the reserved seats of honour. Everyone poked in good-natured fun as he prepared to join the Coleman clan, but Mitch kept his cool, answering the teasing taunts with a smile and a wink.

  Steve was still wrapping his head around the idea that his sister was not only engaged, but getting hitched to Mitch Thompson of all people. Th
e heavily tattooed biker wore his attitude of who gives a fuck on his sleeve, and next to Anna, the straight-laced cop? They seemed a mismatched couple.

  That’s when it hit Steve again—Anna was as stubborn and as big of a risk-taker as the supposed bad-boy Mitch, just in her own way.

  “Did she kick your ass to the curb already?” Trevor shouted.

  Mitch waved a hand in the air, one finger higher than the rest. “She’s getting your car hauled to the impound. I warned you to pay those fines.”

  Steve got up and wandered through the chaos, saying hello to people and exchanging brief greetings with those already neck-deep in other conversations. The entire time his gaze stayed locked on the door, waiting to add his cheers to Anna’s arrival, and so he’d see the instant that Melody joined the crowd

  Someone tugged his sleeve, and he glanced down to discover Allison grinning at him.

  She tilted her head to the side. “This way. We need to talk to you.”

  He followed along willingly enough until he ended up at a table tucked toward the side of the room surrounded by Coleman women. He gauged the distance to the door, not because he was afraid of them but because—

  Oh hell, there was no denying it. He was scared shitless, especially when they banded together.

  Best not show any fear, though. “Ladies. Ready for the party?”

  The undisputed ringleader of the Coleman gals leaned her elbows on the table and flashed him an evil grin. “So. What’s this we hear about you being sweet on Melody again?” Jaxi asked.

  He was going to kill Trevor. Or Gabe. They were the only ones he’d said anything to directly, other than Melody, and one of them had to have spilled the beans.

  Steve offered Jaxi his most charming smile. “Do I need to get permission from the lot of you to say hello to a woman in the community?”

  “Yes,” Ashley stated without a moment’s pause, and the rest of the table burst into laughter.

  Jaxi motioned for them to settle down. “Of course not. You’re a grown man. You can make your own damn mistakes. We just want to let you know that, all things considered, you’re our cousin.”

  He waited for the other shoe to fall. “Why do I get the feeling that wasn’t an entire sentence?”

  “Smart man.” Beth’s soft voice held a note of amusement. “Maybe we should go easy on him.”

  “What she means to say,” Allison offered, “is that while you’re a Coleman, Melody’s a part of our community in ways that go back real hard. So whatever you plan on doing, it had better inspire something more then pitchers of beer in the future.”

  Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. That damn mistake would haunt him forever. “Is that all?”

  They murmured amongst themselves for a moment, excitement building as the door swung open and everyone scattered to greet Anna. Everyone, that is, except Jaxi who continued to look at him as if he were in a petri dish.

  He lifted one hand in the air. “I solemnly swear I don’t mean any trouble.”

  Jaxi kinked a brow. “Well, where’s the fun in that? Maybe what the two of you need is a bit of trouble.” She winked before heading to the front of the room and tugging Anna in for a hug.

  Crazy family—but Steve couldn’t stop grinning, and his happiness only grew as Melody finally joined them.

  The neat ponytail she usually wore was missing, and her hair hung loose around her shoulders. She looked a whole lot younger like that, and for one brief moment the idea of making mischief with her set him worrying.

  Then their gazes met across the room, and that fire flashed, and he remembered her challenge.

  No way he was turning back. No way at all.

  It took him forever to approach. So long, in fact, Melody thought maybe he’d decided to drop his idea of them getting back together. She would’ve been disappointed, and a little shocked, but at the same time it would’ve been good to know upfront before she put any more time and effort into him.

  All he did for the first hour and a half of the party was give her a brisk nod hello, offer her a drink and then back off.

  But no matter where she was in the room and no matter who she was talking with? His gaze burned her as if he were eating her up.

  It was the most amazing thing. She moved around a lot, visiting with people and having a good time, but whenever she looked up, he was there. Staring at her—but not in a creepy way, more as if he’d found something so astonishing he didn’t want her to slip out of view.

  She had no idea if that’s what he was actually thinking, but imagining it did her ego good.

  The party had split into three groups an hour ago, after the initial toasts and teasing were over. Mitch had been thoroughly welcomed into their rosters and was holding his own decisively.

  Trevor stood to one side, arms folded over his chest as he glared at Mitch who’d just scored another point in their ongoing insult volleys. “I don’t know if I like this,” Trevor complained to Anna. “Mitch has it way too safe, getting involved with you. It’s not like we can threaten to do anything to him.”

  Mitch shook his head in mock sorrow. “I know. Sucks to have a cop in the family, doesn’t it?”

  A rumble of laughter carried over the group as the good-natured teasing continued, all of it complete with love and a sense of camaraderie in the extended clan.

  This kind of crowd was something she’d never experienced within her birth family. Her, her mom—that was it for family growing up. But Allison had been right that first day when she talked about friends being family. There was nothing more exhilarating than being in the middle of the Coleman clan and watching them take care of their own.

  And their own meant quite a variety of things. The atypical threesome of Ashley, Travis and Cassidy. The quieter couples like Daniel and Beth, and Gabe and her own Allison. Blake and Jaxi—heir apparent of the next generation.

  Into all of this family she dared to tread. Glutton for punishment came to mind, and she laughed at herself.

  A broad hand hooked over her hip, tugging her against a rock-hard body. “You look as if you’re having a good time,” Steve offered.

  Melody debated protesting his familiarity, then decided against it. Heck, she’d been waiting for this moment all night. Take what she wanted—and this was as good a time as any. Instead of pulling away, she subtly changed her position on the barstool. She leaned into his body and let out a long, happy sigh at how solid he was. “It’s been a fun party.”

  “You haven’t spent any time with me,” he chastised.

  “I’ve been right here all along,” she pointed out.

  “So you have.” He leaned down, his chin brushing the top of her shoulder as his lips hovered near her ear. His warm breath caressed past her cheek, and she shivered, the involuntary move rubbing them together.

  His grumble of approval sent another shock wave skimming.

  “We need to talk,” Steve said.

  Melody bit her lip as she stared at the pool game in front of her, attempting to concentrate on the game while playing an entirely different one with Steve.

  “We do?” she asked innocently. “That’s funny. I thought we had a talk the other day, and we decided you were going to open the world’s most boring ice-cream shop.”

  This time the noise he made didn’t send a shiver over her, it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

  “See, that’s why I came over here private-like.”

  “Private?” She laughed. “We’re in the middle of your relatives, plus another thirty to forty people. You call this private?”

  “I could grab a mic and my guitar, put the question to music and ask you that way—if you’d prefer.”

  He would too. “You always were a showoff.”

  The hand on her hip was no longer still. He’d snuck his thumb between the edge of her jeans and shirt, and lifted the bottom corner of her T-shirt. With his fingers tucked into her front pocket, his thumb drifted over her belly, stroking back and forth, back and forth
. Like a sensual pendulum ticking down the moments until she would spontaneously combust.

  She twisted her head to one side, tilting back to speak toward his ear. “You have my attention.”

  “I’ve been waiting for your answer. I thought about offering you a dare. You know, setting up some sexual adventure to challenge your little vanilla comment, but that could lead to all kinds of problems. At least with this crowd.”

  His thumb dipped under the edge of her jeans, and her breath stuttered out as she enjoyed the rush of excitement spinning along her nerve endings.

  “I thought about starting a drinking game,” he continued. “Last man standing, that kind of thing. I know I could convince at least a half-dozen of my cousins to get involved, but you’d probably drink them under the table.”

  “I think I did that once,” she admitted.

  “Ha. Then I thought about playing pool, either with you or against you, but frankly, that’s not the type of foreplay I’m looking for.”

  Oh dear. They were talking about foreplay already. Melody considered for an instant before nodding. “Go on.”

  “Tell me we’re back together. Tell me I get a second shot at making you happy,” he demanded.

  Turn him down? Impossible. She pivoted far enough to look into his blue-grey eyes as she answered him. “Don’t disappoint me, Steve.”

  His face lit up like magic. For an instant they sat there, grinning like fools at each other before the fire returned and Steve twisted her back toward the pool table.

  At the same time, his hand slipped onto her belly, resting there briefly. Her T-shirt hid what his fingers were doing as he snuck into the front of her jeans. He’d picked the perfect place to do this—no one could see anything with the back of the counter directly in front of them. All it looked like was a serious conversation happening right there in the open, Steve at her back, whispering in her ear.

  “You were pretty hasty the other day, sweetheart,” he noted, changing the subject. “Making that smartass comment after the picnic and then running away before we could discuss it.”

  “We had an entire conversation about that comment at my place,” she protested, fixing her gaze on the pool table. Focusing on the white ball gliding across the surface, connecting with its target and sending a half-dozen balls rolling in different directions. Ignoring the thread of fire inching over her skin as his touch stirred her senses. “And I didn’t run away.”