Disarming the Rancher Page 6

  “I’ve been thinking we should alert the sheriff to what happened earlier,” he started.

  She put up a hand to stop him from continuing.

  “It’s crazy enough as it is and everyone is on alert. What good would it do?” Her body stiffened and her words came out strained.

  “We don’t know how dangerous this guy is or if he plans to come back. I have to alert my family and I wouldn’t be doing my job very well if I let our ranch hands or foreman walk into danger,” he explained.

  Raleigh issued a sharp sigh.

  “You’re right. That was pure selfishness on my part at not wanting to rile up my security detail more than I already have.” Her shoulders deflated. “Of course, I want everyone here and in town to be safe.”

  “I’ll send out a text,” he said.

  Her eyes widened and he could almost see the wheels churning. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

  “Actually, I know I said I’d stay for lunch, but I should probably head back home and tell Hardy we need to move on.” It seemed to hit home that her presence might place everyone in danger.

  “Don’t do that,” he said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Retreat.” His one word seemed to strike a chord.

  “Hey, don’t be a brat,” she defended, fire in her emerald eyes.

  “I’m not trying to upset you and I’m definitely not trying to run you off.” His temper was rising and he had no idea why. He shouldn’t care one way or the other if she stuck around. He shouldn’t need to keep her safe more than he needed air. And he definitely shouldn’t close the distance between them and kiss her.

  “You guys would be better off without me here,” she admitted and the flash of vulnerability in those green eyes hit him at the core.

  He took a step toward her and locked gazes, searching for encouragement or rejection. When her tongue slicked across her bottom lip, leaving a silky trail in its wake, he decided encouragement. An urgency was building inside him that he knew better than to let run wild.

  So, Brax closed the gap, bent down, and pressed his lips to hers. Electricity jolted as she brought her hands up to his shoulders. He half expected her to push him away. She dug her fingernails into his muscles instead. He interpreted the move as more encouragement.

  A second later, he brought his hands up to cup her cheeks, tilting her head back for better access.

  He kissed the freckle above her lip. Then, the one on her cheek before his lips found hers again. Suddenly, catching a breath was difficult as his chest squeezed and a dozen campfires lit inside him. She smelled like a mix of spring flowers after a morning rain and a field of peppermint. She tasted like dark roast. He liked coffee a whole lot better on her tongue.

  Raleigh parted her lips more and he delved his tongue deeper in her mouth, tasting the sweet honey there.

  His mind focused on one thing…more.

  He wanted more of Raleigh. More of her taste. More of the way she touched him. More of the way she responded to him.

  A clearing the throat noise from behind interrupted the moment.

  “Hey, sorry, I was asked to get a special blanket and it’s in here.” Adam eased in, arm still in a sling. He seemed to make a special effort not to look directly at Brax or Raleigh.

  “Great,” Raleigh whispered.

  “No problem, Adam. It’s your home. Take what you need.” Brax tried to play the moment off like it was nothing.

  Adam grabbed a pink blanket with silk material wrapped around the edges. “Here it is. Got what I came for.”

  Awkward was a pretty good word to describe what was happening. Brax just wished he could shield Raleigh from the embarrassment of being caught during their first kiss. The first of many, he hoped.

  “Yeah, no more kidding around, Brax,” she said, taking a few steps toward the hallway, and tripping over her own two feet. She caught herself, hands on the wall, in time to avoid the embarrassment of face-planting. “We have to get back in there.”

  He was thrown for a loop with her comment.

  “After you,” he said, stuffing down the hit to his ego. “But, hey, Adam. Can you stick around for a second?”

  “Yes, and Red Devil has been located and is tucked away in the equipment building for safe keeping, just like you asked,” Adam reported.

  “Thank you for seeing to it the minibike was taken care of,” Brax said as Raleigh smiled her approval.

  “I know the way.” Raleigh pointed toward the kitchen. Her dramatic movements weren’t helping draw less attention to the fact they’d been kissing a few seconds ago. And those had been some of the hottest, sexiest kisses he’d had in a long time. Maybe ever.

  They’d been caught red-handed. Time to fess up.

  “I’ll be right in,” he said to her before walking over and taking her hand in his. He lifted hers to his mouth and pressed a tender kiss there.

  Locking gazes, he saw an emotion flicker behind her eyes that stirred an unfamiliar feeling in his chest.

  And then she withdrew her hand like it had been burned, turned away from him, and couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

  7

  “There might be troubling brewing on the ranch,” Brax said to his brother.

  “So, I saw,” Adam responded with a wink and a smirk.

  Brax waved the comment off.

  “I’m being serious. And this might put people’s lives in danger,” Brax stated.

  All playfulness left Adam’s face. “What are we talking about here?”

  “Raleigh is home because a bomb threat that turned out to be real shut down her tour for the time being. She thought she could slip into town unnoticed, but found out the hard way that wasn’t going to happen,” Brax explained.

  “I’m guessing she’s staying at the place she inherited from her grandmother,” Adam said.

  “That’s right.” Brax folded his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “I found her at the barn last night.”

  “Up in the loft?” Adam’s face brightened.

  Brax nodded.

  “I can’t count the number of times I heard her up there picking away at the guitar and writing in that notebook of hers.” Adam smiled at the memory.

  “I’m guessing she needed a quiet place. Somewhere to clear her mind after what happened,” Brax presumed.

  “And now she’s concerned her presence might put us in the line of fire.” Adam waved off the threat like it was no big deal.

  Firebrands didn’t scare easily.

  “Caught a guy on an ATV trying to get to her earlier today,” Brax admitted. “Might have been a fan. He didn’t have a weapon and spooked with mine.”

  “The threat to her is real. I have no doubt about that,” Adam said. “She’s been getting national attention with this last album and there’s a lot of anticipation around the next release.”

  Brax shook his head. “How do you know so much about her career?”

  “Mom will tell anyone who will listen.” Adam shrugged. “Plus, the woman practically grew up here at the ranch, even though she was quiet as a church mouse most of the time. Until she got on that minibike of hers. Plus, I like her music.” Adam threw the baby blanket over his shoulder. “What’s wrong with that? Our local girl has done well for herself. I’m proud as punch.”

  “She has talent,” Brax agreed.

  “And how many local folks put themselves out there like she did? She left town at eighteen…a baby.” Adam made a tsk-tsk noise. “I overheard her grandmother and Mom chewing on that for a long time.”

  “Not to change the subject but speaking of our mother, she said she wants to speak to me in private. Says something heavy has been weighing on her mind. Any idea what she might be talking about?” Brax didn’t think his brother would have an answer but it was worth a shot.

  Adam put his hands up in the surrender position. Moving his right arm caused him to wince in pain.

  “How much longer do you have to wear that sling?” he asked.

  “Another day is too long if you ask me. Knife cuts hurt the most. Ever notice that?” Adam asked.

  Brax laughed.

  “We probably shouldn’t have played with them when we were kids,” he said.

  Adam shook his head.

  “The first mistake our parents made was telling us not to.” Adam regained his casual smile.

  “It’s a good thing you have a daughter,” Brax stated. “We already have enough testosterone in this place.”

  “Speaking of which, have you heard from Kellan?” Adam asked.

  “Not much since I overheard him talking about the divorce papers needing signed. At least, that’s the last I heard. He never told me about it personally,” Brax admitted.

  “He thinks he’s too good to talk to anyone on this side of the family now that his side inherited mineral rights after the Marshall’s death,” Adam said.

  “Too bad they can’t drill without our permission.” Brax couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the situation despite the heavier mood.

  The Marshall had put his fighting sons in a precarious position. He bequeathed the ranch and cattle to Brax’s father and the mineral rights to Kellan’s dad. The law stated the owner had to give express permission to drill on their land, so Kellan’s side of the family couldn’t do anything with their precious mineral rights without permission from Brax’s dad. The brothers were fire and gasoline, so coming to a compromise didn’t seem likely in this lifetime. Proof the Marshall had a sense of humor behind a tough as nails exterior.

  Of course, the Marshall had done nothing but encourage his sons to compete against each other since the days they were born. So, he was probably looking on with a smirk on his face.

  The other kink in the plan stated if the last grand
son married before an agreement could be reached then all the land, cattle, and rights was to be split equally among Brax’s generation.

  Most of the Firebrand men were committed to single life in the near future. A couple had already gone through, or were in the process of, a divorce. So, that was about as likely to happen as a snowstorm in August. But it did light a different kind of fire under the elder Firebrand men’s backsides. It told them they didn’t have forever to dicker around.

  Adam reached up with his good arm and scratched his head.

  “As far as Raleigh is concerned, she’s like one of the family and we always take care of family,” Adam said.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Brax said. “Except she doesn’t see it that way. From her perspective, she sees it as putting people she cares about in harm’s way.”

  “Well, I guess I can’t blame her when you put it like that,” Adam stated. “We’ll think of something to say to help her see the light.”

  With her stubborn streak, that was easier said than done. He also took note of what Adam had said about the pressure on her new album. She handled it all well. The lifestyle. The fame.

  He needed to pick her brain a little bit to see if he could help figure out who in her circle might not want her to succeed. An overzealous fan upset she wasn’t releasing music fast enough? Or not happy with her songs or the direction of her career?

  His mind snapped to Selena Quintanilla, a promising young Latina singer, also from Texas, who was murdered by the person who started her first fan club. He made a mental note to ask about any fan clubs Raleigh knew about or interacted with.

  “You better take the blanket to Angel.” Brax nodded toward Adam’s shoulder.

  “When are you planning to send out the text?” Adam asked.

  “Now, before I head back to the kitchen. People need to know as soon as possible,” Brax said.

  “I’ll save you a place at the table for lunch.” Adam patted Brax on the shoulder as he started toward the hallways. He paused and seemed to be searching for the right words. He seemed to settle on, “Just be careful, man. Okay?”

  “Always.”

  Brax fished his cell from his pocket. He pulled up the ranch group message so he could include everyone in one shot. He entered the description of the ATV driver as best as he could. From the distance and with the trees, Brax had a general idea of what the guy had looked like. The most important thing was to get an alert out. Then, everyone would be on the lookout for a suspicious person.

  His second text mentioned there was a VIP on the property who was a target.

  Guesses filled up the chat in two seconds. All but one hit a bullseye. Casey’s guess was out in left field. But then, the ranch hand wasn’t getting a whole lot of sleep when he went home on weekends considering he had a newborn. After being around Angel, who held Brax’s heart with her pinky finger, Brax realized how much work those little buggers were. He’d heard the term, sleep like a baby, and would never look at it the same again. Apparently, that meant sleep in three hours bursts twenty-four hours a day. No days off. No change in schedule. Just sleep, feed, and repeat.

  He issued a sharp sigh. Great for Adam, not so much for Brax.

  By the time he jotted a few notes into an app on his phone before he forgot, the hum of chatter floated down the hallway from the kitchen. So did the smell of Mom’s meatballs. Hunger and curiosity got his boots headed down the hallway.

  A half dozen Firebrands added to the five who were already there. Chatter was loud and his heart skipped a few beats when he didn’t see Raleigh sitting there. For a split second, he feared she might have gone on home.

  He walked through the crowd toward the table where he’d last seen her. She wasn’t there either.

  And then he caught sight of her by the sink on the other side of the island. His brother, Corbin, entered through the back door with his guitar.

  Raleigh caught Brax’s gaze from across the room and shot him the most helpless look before recovering with the smile that had looked genuine to him when he’d seen it on stage. Now, he wasn’t so sure it wasn’t the performer in her acting.

  Brax cut through the crowd and then took her by the hand.

  “Excuse us,” he said to several not-so-thrilled faces as he walked her out the back door.

  “Before we say anything or things get awkward between us, what happened in the playroom was a mistake,” Raleigh started right in. She didn’t want to blow a good thing and having Brax on her side definitely qualified.

  “Agreed,” he said.

  She blinked a couple of times unsure she’d heard him right.

  “I said we made a mistake,” she clarified.

  “Yes,” he stated.

  Those kisses were embedded in her thoughts, his lips branded hers. And how was she supposed to follow up that kind of chemistry?

  “It’s just, it’s good being home and I got carried away in the moment remembering how amazing it was here and missing this place,” she continued, talking so fast she tripped over a couple of her words.

  “Won’t happen again,” he said.

  Shouldn’t he be a little put off by her rejection? She wasn’t trying to be indignant but she was a pretty decent kisser. Or at least, others told her so. Had they been lying? Was she mediocre?

  Now, her cheeks really burned.

  “I’m sorry if I wasn’t up to your usual standards,” she said with a little more ire than she’d planned. Yes, she was poking the bear.

  The bear chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “I can’t figure out if you’re trying to let me down easy or put yourself down.” He shrugged and those infuriatingly blue eyes of his held her gaze. The air crackled between them as if it wasn’t hot enough in the middle of June at lunchtime.

  “Let you down easy,” she decided and all the fight left her. “Those kisses were pretty great. I’m not going to lie. But they can’t happen again.”

  “I’m clear on the point, Raleigh.” And why did her name have to sound so good rolling off his tongue?

  “I didn’t realize how homesick I was until now and I don’t want to confuse an attraction for missing this place.” She waved her arms in the air. “Does that make sense?”

  “Sure does,” he said with a cocky grin.

  “What’s that look about?” She balled her fists and planted them on her hips.

  “Nothing,” he countered.

  “It must mean something.” She couldn’t seem to let it go now that she’d gone down the path.

  He shrugged.

  She was ready to scream. A few deep breaths later and her pulse calmed down a few notches.

  Raleigh started pacing the length of the house and back. She needed to burn off some of her pent-up energy.

  “You’ve had a rough couple of days,” Brax started with that whiskey in front of a roaring fire voice. “I’d planned on inviting you to stay at the main house with me but if the ‘me’ part makes you uncomfortable I can grab one of my brothers or cousins.”

  She stopped for a long moment, wishing it was that simple. “I just can’t, Brax.”

  “Is it me?” he asked and it was the first hint of vulnerability in his voice.

  “No. Yes. Kind of. It’s you and your beautiful family,” she said. “I would never forgive myself if something happened to any one of you because of me.”

  “Adam and I talked it over and we’re comfortable with the risk,” he said. “The rest of the guys would feel the same way because we view you as one of us.”

  Having someone around who had her back for a change threatened to disarm her defenses. She didn’t get where she was in her career by sticking around one place too long or letting anyone in. Based on those smokin’ hot kisses and the attraction sizzling between her and Brax, she could get into real trouble if she stayed at the ranch.

  “Your band is welcome and whoever else is traveling with you,” he continued. “It’d be a shame for all this room to go to waste.”

  Well, now she really needed to give it some thought. She chewed on her thumbnail.

  Brax took her hand in his. “Think about it. You can go somewhere else, but your fans will find you. They’ve already proven how quickly that can happen.”

  He was saying all the right things to make her pause and think about it.