The Rancher's Secret Love (The Montana McGregor Brothers Book 2)

by Paula Altenburg

  “Thanks,” Luke said. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ve put on a little weight thanks to the desk job and my thighs could do with some toning.”

  The women all laughed. He withdrew to one of the chairs near the door while he could. He filled out the form and returned it to Mara. He noticed the mothers were leaving.

  “Mind if I hang around?” he asked.

  “Actually,” Mara said, “I’d prefer it if you came back in an hour. The children need to learn to pay attention to me, not their parents.” Her cheeks dimpled. “Or their uncles.”

  Luke wasn’t sure that leaving Finn here without him was such a good idea. The boy could be a handful. The little girls weren’t much better, however, not from what he could see, and Mara seemed unperturbed, so he didn’t argue. He’d sit in the car for an hour and keep an eye on the door in case Finn escaped.

  When he walked outside, the mothers pounced on him like lions on prey.

  “We usually head down to the Wayside Café for coffee while we wait,” one woman said. “Would you like to join us?”

  Luke was about to come up with an excuse to say no. Spending an hour with a group of women talking about their husbands and kids didn’t appeal to him in the least. Plus, Grand women were nosy. His mother had been one, so he had firsthand experience. He could see this turning into a really uncomfortable situation where he was asked a lot of questions about his nephews and niece, his brothers, and their plans for the future, and he’d have no answers.

  But before he could find one, however, he remembered he’d just left Finn with ten little girls because he’d asked him to give it a chance before he made up his mind.

  “I’d love to join you,” he said.

  The morning was hot and sunny. Again. Not a cloud in the sky. The short walk to the Wayside Café took them down the cul-de-sac to Yellowstone Drive, which meandered the river front—hence the name—and through Grand’s business district.

  Luke discovered that a lot had changed since high school. One of the mothers was a lawyer who ran her own practice. One was a doctor, and another, a marketing executive. Only one of them was a ranch wife.

  “We’re a dying breed,” she said cheerfully.

  Luke understood why. His mother had raised a family, did the ranch bookkeeping, and helped out in the milking parlor her entire married life. She’d raised more fur babies than children. She’d also been deeply involved in the community, immersing herself in fund-raising and social programs. He’d never thought twice about everything she did when he was a kid. Now, he could see how much of her life she’d devoted to family, community, and ranching. Had she ever wanted more for herself? Or something different?

  Regret pricked his heart. He’d never know.

  The group squeezed onto the Wayside Café’s patio, which jutted over the river, and pulled several wooden tables together in the center. Wrought iron bistro tables lined the railings. Fishermen drifted lazily by in their boats. Luke had spent many hours studying here when he was in high school.

  He wrestled an enormous blue-and-yellow striped sun umbrella open to offer the women some shade. Everyone took turns placing their orders inside at the counter before settling in.

  Then, Luke waited for the inquisition to start, wondering if it would begin with the children, his brothers, or Mara.

  “If Finn’s any indication, the children seem to be settling in well,” one woman remarked. Her name was Pam. She was the marketing executive.

  “So far, so good,” Luke agreed, even though really, both boys were having some issues. All of Grand didn’t need to weigh in on them.

  “If Jake wants to get them into counseling, have him call me. I know an excellent child psychologist,” Felicity said. She was the doctor, and she and Liz had been friends. Luke remembered her coming to the house when she was a teenager. Kind eyes and a warm presence about her reassured whoever she focused on that everything was going to be fine.

  “Lacey Anderson has already given him a few names,” he replied, throwing his brother under the bus.

  “That explains why Jake has Mac signed up for soccer,” the lawyer said. Luke couldn’t remember her name. “They dated back in high school, didn’t they? Are they an item again?”

  “I couldn’t say.”

  He regretted bringing up Lacey’s name. Jake had taken it hard when she broke up with him back when they were teenagers, and Luke would like to see them work things out now that they were adults. He had no wish to jinx it. Jake deserved to find happiness. Luke’s real goal had been to deflect their attention from him.

  The lawyer was nodding as if in complete understanding. “So Jake takes Mac to soccer, which his former girlfriend coaches, and you take Finn to dance, which is run by a woman so hot, if I wasn’t already married, I’d consider turning for her. I see a developing pattern. The boys have a baby sister too, don’t they? And don’t you have another brother who’s single? Who’s running the Grand preschool?” She directed the last question to the table in general, and everyone laughed, Luke included.

  “Wow, women are mean,” he complained, not minding at all that their fun was at his expense. He much preferred their teasing to the usual awkward stretches of silence that nobody knew how to fill whenever his family was mentioned. “Finn’s mom was a dancer. Wasn’t she, Felicity?”

  Felicity took a long sip of her latte and side-eyed him with raised eyebrows before confirming his claim. “She was. But I don’t see what that’s got to do with how hot Mara is.”

  If he tried to deny that he found Mara hot, he’d be chum in the water. No one would believe him. So how should he play this?

  “You’ve caught me,” he said. “I put Finn in dance so I’d have an excuse to get close. You all seem to know her. How should I go about asking her out?”

  More laughter followed.

  “We’re just messing with you,” the ranch wife—Cossette—assured him. “Mara is a wonderful person, but she doesn’t seem to be interested in the local men. She needed to get away from all the attention after her break up with Little Zee and nobody in Grand would talk to the press.”

  She’d been more than a dancer for Little Zee, huh?

  He hadn’t picked up on that, although he probably should have. She didn’t talk about her dance career, only her studio, and she’d assured him she wasn’t interested in becoming involved with anyone either. He was bad at putting the pieces together. He wondered what had gone wrong between her and the pop star. She had to be the one who’d bowed out. He couldn’t imagine any man being so stupid as to pass up on a woman like Mara.

  Present company excepted.

  “So she doesn’t date?” he asked, curious to find out more about her taste in men and where he might fit in. He hadn’t imagined the heat in their kiss.

  “Not seriously,” Cossette said. “Cowboys are a novelty to her. She hasn’t gone out with the same man more than once. Plus, Grand is pretty quiet for someone who’s used to the kind of life a pop star leads. Now that paparazzi interest in her relationship with Little Zee has died down, she won’t be staying.”

  The other women concurred.

  Rather than dissuade him, however, he was further intrigued. He recalled Mara’s words the other night in his car. “Why think it to death? Why can’t we just continue to enjoy ourselves without worrying about what happens tomorrow?”

  “I’m not a cowboy,” he said. And he and Mara weren’t dating—not in the traditional Grand sense. He got why she’d be reluctant to go out with the same man more than once, though. In Grand, that made a woman as good as engaged.

  “Of course you are.” Felicity sounded surprised there would be any doubt. “The McGregors founded Grand. Your family has ranched here since the mid-eighteen hundreds. Once a Montanan, always a Montanan. A PhD isn’t going to change that.”

  It was her surprise—mirrored on the other faces around the table—that finally made him feel as if he’d returned to a place where he had a chance to belong. He’d never had a sense of bei
ng in the right place in Seattle, where his life was all about his career. He’d never had it in Grand before, either.

  But whose fault was that?

  These women hadn’t allowed their careers to change who they were. They were proud of their roots. When had he begun burying his?

  “Besides,” Felicity continued, donning a thoughtful expression, “I don’t believe that Mara isn’t interested in cowboys. The problem is that cowboys see her as a challenge and approach her the same way they would an unbroken prize horse. She’s not ready to be roped into settling down, and even if she were, it’s unlikely a ranch life would suit her. This isn’t her world.”

  Luke took a hit of his coffee and pictured Mara jumping off the ledge of the Empire State Building at Reality Bytes. When her dance career ended, she hadn’t sat around and complained, either—she’d shifted goals.

  The women might have a good handle on cowboys, and on him, too, but he didn’t believe they’d read Mara right. Not at all.

  The sun beat on his unprotected back, heating his skin through his cotton shirt. A young couple in their teens wandered through the glass door onto the patio. They beelined for one of the bistro tables overlooking the Yellowstone River, where they proceeded to hold hands and ignore the view in favor of staring into each other’s eyes.

  He felt a little sorry for them. They’d never survive the real world. Fortunately, he was well past that kind of angst-riddled puppy love. He was looking forward to his next nondate with Mara, where the expectations were set.

  She owed him a coffee.

  “Poor Finn,” Luke said, taking another sip of his coffee. “I dragged him to dance lessons for nothing.”

  *

  “Heels together,” Mara said, reminding the children of first position while they finished their lesson at the barre.

  They were a wonderful group of girls.

  As for Finn…

  She took a few minutes to help him straighten his form, pressing one hand under his ribs and the other at the base of his spine, showing him again how to bend his knees with his heels pressed together while he held on to the barre.

  At first she’d assumed Luke had brought him to class to prove some sort of point and she’d been annoyed. She couldn’t figure out Luke’s thought processes at all. But twenty minutes into the class, it had become clear that Finn had his uncle’s innate flair for movement, combined with a complete lack of inhibition, and she’d become excited instead. It no longer mattered what Luke’s motives might be. Finn was a natural.

  Plus, he was a charmer. It was cute the way the girls in the class all did their best to maneuver into position beside him and he took it in stride. His attention span could use a little work, although that would come with age. A lot of his restlessness no doubt had to do with the death of his parents and the subsequent move to Grand, the poor little guy. Dance might help him express his feelings in a healthy way.

  And those big green eyes of his… Beneath the fringe of red lashes, they were the exact same shade as his uncle’s.

  So, by the time Luke returned to retrieve his nephew, Mara was no longer annoyed. She had a talented new male student who was a pleasure to teach, which was all that mattered.

  The mothers collected their daughters.

  Finn leaped into his uncle’s arms, a move that didn’t faze Luke in the slightest. He pretended to stagger under the child’s weight, which could be no more than forty-five pounds soaking wet.

  “Whoa, bud. How much muscle did you pack on in one lesson?”

  Finn held Luke’s cheeks in his small palms and stared into his eyes, their noses a hair’s breadth apart. Mara had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. It was a classic child move to capture an adult’s undivided attention.

  “I want to come back for another lesson tomorrow,” the boy demanded, leaving no room for doubt as to how serious he was.

  “Miss Ramos doesn’t offer this class on Sundays,” Luke replied. “Besides, I need to get you the right clothes to wear first. How about if I bring you back next Saturday, instead?” He shot Mara an unspoken query, his eyebrows uplifted, and Mara’s breath snagged in her lungs. “That’s assuming Miss Ramos wants you.”

  “I do,” she said.

  She wanted his uncle even more. She couldn’t explain why. Montana was full of beautiful men. So was the world. And yet it was this one, with his layers of complexity, who couldn’t seem to stop his brain from spinning in multiple directions, who fascinated her the most.

  With his nephew perched on his hip, and the pair looking so natural together, he pulled his phone from his pocket. He flicked his thumbs over the screen. Seconds later her phone, on the small table she’d used to register students, pinged that a text had come in.

  She picked it up and took a quick, casual glance at the message.

  “Tonight?”

  She didn’t dare look in his direction. She tapped the screen on her phone and sent him an equally spare response that consisted of the number 8. Then, her heart pounding so hard she couldn’t believe the whole room didn’t hear it, she set her phone down.

  No one had paid any attention, at least, not that she could tell. The mothers were listening to their daughters’ chatter. Luke had Finn by the hand and they were already halfway out the door.

  “Wave goodbye to Miss Ramos,” Luke said, and Finn pumped his arm in a wide arc over his head. A broad smile exposed the gap in his gums where a baby tooth had come out. He was as hard to resist as his uncle.

  She got another text a few minutes later.

  “I like my coffee with bacon and eggs.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mara examined her living space with a critical eye, making sure everything was in place.

  The apartment was as long as the warehouse downstairs, although only a third as wide. The door from the catwalk opened into her kitchen. She’d dipped into her savings to make this a home. She’d bought high-end, stainless-steel and ceramic appliances because she liked to cook to unwind while she listened to music. She didn’t own a television. She’d invested in a sound system, instead.

  She’d replaced the chipped laminate island countertop with granite and bought four barstools at her own expense. A dinette set for two nestled under one of the windows, giving her the view of the river she loved. Its waters sparkled with light after dark. The laundry room and bathroom shared space off the kitchen.

  Her living room occupied the center of the wide open space. It contained a cream-colored lounge chair, dozens of throw cushions, and a sleek, orange-leather, L-shaped sofa that divided it from her bed and the tall wooden wardrobe at the far end of the room. A love seat that matched the sofa faced the window. She’d bought a folding screen to section off one corner of her bedroom space and turned it into a dressing area so she could toss her clothes around and leave her makeup out without having to look at the mess.

  Because the loft apartment had once been broken into offices, three large windows provided a great deal of light and a spectacular view. She’d bought blinds that blocked the heat of the sun but allowed her to see out without anyone outside seeing in. Three overhead fluorescent lights each operated off separate switches where doors leading to the catwalk had been. She’d shut off all but the one in the kitchen, and she’d set the dimmer to low.

  This was her first real home and she loved it. Always, before, she’d done so much traveling that in terms of personal space, hotel rooms had held as much meaning for her. But she’d come to Grand needing a place to withdraw from the world and recover, like an animal licking its wounds, and she was protective of the haven she’d made for herself. Other than Diana, and her friend Lacey, she didn’t entertain people here.

  Luke would be the first man she allowed in.

  A bottle of sparkling wine chilled in an ice bucket on the dinette table, along with two crystal flutes. A tray of canapés she’d made that afternoon was stored in the fridge. Soft music strained from the wall-mounted speakers.

  Too intim
ate? Too obvious?

  What did it matter? They both knew where the evening was headed. The trick would be in keeping Dr. Pretty from thinking too much about it.

  She’d chosen a smock-style, flowered sleeveless top that flowed to mid-thigh over cropped white leggings and flip-flops. She wore her hair down, and other than a pink-tinted lip balm and a hint of eyeliner, hadn’t bothered with makeup. Luke hadn’t given her any hints as to what to wear, only that he planned to be here for breakfast, so she assumed they’d be staying in the entire night.

  The doorbell rang at eight o’clock sharp. She took her time descending the stairs, afraid if she rushed, her leg would give out and she’d roll to the bottom. She’d never hear the end of it if she did.

  When she opened the door, Luke greeted her with a bouquet of orange tiger lilies in one hand. He had on a white cotton shirt, hipster jeans, white canvas shoes without socks, and… a tan-colored Stetson. Computer-Geek-Gone-Cowboy was her first astonished impression.

  Or maybe she had that backward.

  Either way, the look worked for him. The black-framed glasses tucked into the breast pocket of his shirt were a nice added touch. She was sure there was some sort of symbolism going on, but she had no idea what it was, or its purpose.

  She did know she found the combination oddly appealing, although she would never have guessed that a geeky cowboy was even close to a turn-on, no matter how gorgeous he was.

  He leaned in and kissed her. “You look beautiful,” he said, handing her the bouquet, and she laughed, because he sounded so pleased about getting his opening line right.

  She clutched the flowers to her chest. “Thank you. I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

  Confusion etched his face. He touched the bridge of his nose, patted his pocket, and then, the confusion cleared.

  “I forgot about them,” he confessed. “I wear them when I’m on the computer. I was grading papers, trying to get ahead on some work while Jake and Zack got the kids ready for bed.”