Count on a Cowboy (18 page)

Brooke trembled. Her body stirred with a need she’d never known before. She wanted to experience this with Trent. She couldn’t bear it if he wanted to stop. She reached up to meet his kiss, and wrapped her arms around him to keep him close.

He kissed her again and his touch was incredible but she needed more.

Suddenly, a sensation caused her to gasp. Her hands slid over his bare back, feeling the muscles ripple against her fingers, then she dug her nails into his flesh when the pleasure grew out of control. “Trent...”

“Give me a second,” Trent said as he got off the bed and stripped out of his pants. He reached into the drawer and took out a foil packet. After taking care of protection, he came back to her... She could only manage to moan at the sheer pleasure of their joining. They needed to talk about what just happened here. At the moment, though, he couldn’t seem to let go of Brooke. He rubbed her arm, cradling her body against his chest.

“Seems you neglected to tell me a few things before your seduction,” he said.

When Brooke remained silent, he cupped her cheek and made her look at him. “Why didn’t you tell me that you never...that this was your first time?”

She shrugged. “For exactly this reason. When you get to a certain age, you’re expected to have experience. I just never had much of a chance to date, and after my mother...” She sighed. “She’d made too many bad choices in men, and I didn’t want to go down that path.” Her gaze met his. “Most people just took for granted I already had.”

Something squeezed around his heart. “Like Rory?”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t blame him. My mother hadn’t been truthful with him. But I wouldn’t have come here if not for my mother.”

Trent realized his life would be less complicated if Brooke hadn’t come to Colorado. But he sure was very glad she was here. “Still, you should have waited to give yourself to your future husband.” Suddenly he hated the thought of another man touching her.

“I guess, but that’s a long way off.”

Her eyes were so incredibly beautiful, so full of wonder. How had she survived working in Las Vegas and remained so innocent?

“I wanted it to be you,” she whispered.

He was touched beyond words, but he couldn’t let her think there could be more. “I’m an ex-soldier, Brooke. I’m set in my ways and I work eighteen-hour days trying to rebuild this ranch. That’s my focus. I have nothing to offer you.”

“Did I ask you for anything?” Covering her nakedness with the sheet, Brooke sat up. “I only wanted tonight, okay. Maybe experience what it was like to be with a cowboy.” She tried to climb off the bed, but he pulled her back and his mouth covered hers.

He ended the kiss, but didn’t pull away. “Don’t cheapen what happened between us.” He could feel every curve, and now that he’d sampled her, he wasn’t sure he could walk away.

He saw tears flood her eyes. She nodded.

“God, Brooke, you make me crazy. You make me wish things could be different.” His hand moved up and down her arm. “I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want you.”

“Stop, Trent. I told you, I don’t need promises. You’ve given me more tonight than I ever dreamed of. Making love with you was a beautiful experience. Thank you.” She glanced away. “Maybe I should go back to the cabin.”

Maybe that was a good idea, but he didn’t like it. He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom across the hall. Damn, what had he done? Why did he keep reaching for things he couldn’t have? Like a brother who would never be able to grow up, and a husband and wife who would never be a happy family ever again. Now Brooke Harper was right on the top of that list.

* * *

B
ROOKE WASN’T GOING
to cry. She got out of bed and hurried to get dressed. If she were lucky, she could get out of the house before Trent returned. Well, she’d handled that well.
Thanks, Laurel, for your advice. Go after what you want
, Laurel had said.

Face it, she might have been good enough to warm Trent Landry’s bed for one night, but he wasn’t about to declare his undying love. Thank the Lord, she hadn’t blurted out any declaration, either.

Now, she was trying to find a way to make a graceful exit. She pulled her sweater over her head and stepped into her skirt. After slipping on her boots, she went to the dresser and looked in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair, and started to leave when she saw the stack of bundled envelopes on the dresser.

She couldn’t stop herself and picked them up. They were all addressed to Sergeant Major Trent W. Landry U.S. Army from Wade Landry. There had to be a dozen letters there.

“Find anything interesting?”

She jumped at the sound of the familiar voice and looked up to see Trent. He’d put on a pair of boxers. “Oh, sorry, Trent.” She put down the letters. “I didn’t mean to snoop. I mean...they were just there.” She stopped. “I apologize again.”

Trent leaned against the door frame and folded his arms so he wouldn’t touch her. To stay angry was the best defense. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. They’re letters my father sent me while I was overseas. I guess I’m touchy because he died before I made it home. I just couldn’t read the last ones that arrived after his death.” Why was he always spilling his guts to this woman? “Honestly, I’m ashamed that I hadn’t visited him in a long time.”

“Did your dad know you felt guilty about Chris?”

He blinked. “You don’t know how I feel.”

She went to him and placed her hand against his heart. “What happened that day, Trent?”

He shook his head. “Talking won’t help bring Chris back.”

“It might help you forgive yourself. You were only a child back then, too. Why do you feel your brother’s death was your fault?”

“You don’t understand. If I had taken Chris riding with me that day, then he’d be alive now.”

Brooke tried to hide her shock at Trent’s declaration, but she couldn’t pull it off. She wanted to hold him, help share his burden, but she felt him tense. “What happened, Trent?”

He grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled them on. She thought he was going to dismiss her question, then he sank down on the edge of the bed. He hung his head and studied the carpet. She was having none of that and knelt down in front of him, praying he wouldn’t turn her away.

“I was thirteen and my friend Josh had come to spend the night. Chris tried his best to horn in on our time. I kept telling him to go away. Of course, being nine years old, he was persistent. The next morning, Josh and I decided we’d head out early for our ride and ditch Chris.”

Brooke squeezed his hands. “There’s nothing terrible about you wanting to be with your friend.”

Trent swallowed. “What I should have realized was that Chris would try and come after us. For only being nine, he was a good rider and wanted to do everything I did. I have no doubt he would have followed after Dad and gone on the rodeo circuit.” He blinked a few times. “Josh and I were headed to Rainbow Canyon and planned to spend the day. There were some wild horses around there and we got this crazy idea to try and rope them.”

Brooke got a glimpse of a boyish grin before it disappeared. “A sudden storm moved in and we had to head home. That’s when we found out Chris was missing. Mom and Dad thought he was with us. Then his horse showed up without him. They called in a search party...and that night they found him at the bottom of a ravine.”

Brooke’s heart was breaking. For the boy who died too young, and the man who’d carried the guilt all his life. “I’m sorry, Trent. Sorry this awful accident happened to a young boy. But you’re not to blame. And I don’t think Chris would want you to, either.”

Trent didn’t say a word.

“You know another thing, I have no doubt Chris thought you were the best brother. Why would he want to be with you all the time?”

Trent’s gaze met hers and she could find so much to love about this man. Of course he wasn’t ready to hear any of it. “So forgive yourself.”

He knew he was getting too close to Brooke, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss against her sweet mouth. He wanted to pull her into his arms and bury himself deep inside her once again. “Thank you. You’ve helped me more than you know.”

Brooke burrowed deeper against his chest. “You’re welcome.”

Everyone needed love and acceptance, and that included Brooke. She came here to help her mother, but was there more to her story? “What else brought you to the Bucking Q?”

“Why do you think there’s more?”

He pulled back and looked at her. “I’m going to be honest with you. My friend Cody Marsh, the PI, sent his report to me right before you showed up at my door.”

She didn’t hide her panicked look.

“Why don’t we have a look at it together?” He took her hand, then they walked down the stairs and to the office in the back of the house.

“Trent, we don’t need to do this tonight.”

“We do, because Rory will want to know about your mother. And tomorrow, we have another roundup.”

He had her sit in the chair and he went to the printer. He picked up the papers from the report.

Trent leaned on the edge of the desk. “When Rory found out you were here, he asked me to have a PI investigate you and Coralee. Cody Marsh and I were in the army together. I trust him to be honest and thorough.”

Brooke’s eyes widened, and he could see the pulse beating in her neck. “What did he find?”

He handed her the report. “You tell me, Brooke.” He wanted her to trust him enough to tell him everything. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

She glanced down at the papers. “It will tell you what I already have, my job at the casino, my address where I live. That my mother is in the Carlton Care Facility with Alzheimer’s and she’s rapidly losing her grasp on reality. I haven’t done anything wrong and I’m not wanted for any crimes.”

“But you left something out.”

She glanced away, then back at him. “Yes, I did.”

He was almost afraid to find out the answer. “Then trust me enough to tell me.”

She sat up straighter. “Laurel isn’t my half sister. She’s my twin sister.”

All right, maybe that did surprise him. Then he realized what that meant. “You’re Rory’s daughter?”

She handed him back the report. “See for yourself. My date of birth is the same as Laurel’s.”

He began to read the information. Twin daughters, Laurel Kathryn and Brooke Marie were born to Coralee Harper in September nineteen hundred and eighty-eight in a hospital outside Atlanta, Georgia. It was the same town Coralee’s parents called home.

Trent looked at Brooke. He wanted to reach for her and hold her. “Then why in the hell did you say you were Laurel’s half sister?”

“Because when I arrived, the Quinns weren’t home. And you were a stranger to me. I didn’t know much about Rory Quinn, either. My promise to my mother was to bring Laurel to see her. It wasn’t my plan to search for my father.”

He didn’t believe that. He leaned forward and gripped her hands. They were cold and clammy. “You can’t say you weren’t curious about him.”

“Whether I was or wasn’t doesn’t matter. Rory Quinn wasn’t crazy about finding me here.”

She held up a hand before he could talk. “It’s not Rory’s fault. I don’t blame him for hating Coralee. She used him, like she’d used a lot of men.” She blinked back tears. “He has his daughter Laurel. He doesn’t need me around reminding him of his past.”

Trent was frustrated, and he hurt for Brooke. Damn the woman, Coralee Harper sure had done a number on her daughter. “Look, Brooke, I’ve gotten to know you in the past few days.”

“No kidding.”

He couldn’t help a smile. He also wished he could take her back to bed and make her forget the rest of the world’s problems.

“I know Rory hasn’t exactly been warm toward you. But you have to give him a chance. Not just for you, but for a future relationship between you and Laurel. You two look so much alike that it’s only a matter of time before someone figures it out.”

Brooke stood and walked across the room. She hadn’t meant for her secret to come out. Not like this. “The last thing I want is to cause any more trouble for the family. I only want to spend a few days with my sister. If Laurel decides to come back to Las Vegas that would be great, but I won’t force myself into the Quinns’ life. And no matter what Coralee has done in the past, she’s my mother, and she’s sick and has no one but me.”
And I have no one but her
, she added silently.

“I get that, but Rory deserves to know who you are. If you don’t tell him and he finds out, it’ll break the man’s heart.”

Then they’d have a matching set, because Brooke’s heart was already broken. Not just because she couldn’t have her father in her life, but because she couldn’t have Trent.

* * *

A
N HOUR LATER
, Brooke turned down Trent’s invitation for supper. She wanted to be alone, to try to figure out what to do. Even with her arguing that she could get back to the cabin without Trent following, she lost the battle.

Once out of her car, he walked her to the porch, waited patiently as she unlocked the door, but when she turned around, he pulled her into his arms.

“Call me crazy, but I need another taste of you, and the feel of your body against mine.” His mouth captured hers in a hungry kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and took what he offered. It was as if they both knew their time was quickly running out. She wanted some memories to take away with her. He finally broke off the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers.

“I better get out of here. We’ve got a roundup at dawn.”

“Do I still get to go along?” She prayed he wouldn’t take that away from her. “I mean, I won’t do anything crazy and fall off my horse.”

Trent squeezed her tight. “You better come along.” He wasn’t ready to give her up, either. “There’s a barbecue tomorrow night to celebrate the end of the roundup.”

“I won’t intrude on the party. I’ll just come back here.” She forced a smile. “I’ll probably be sore from the ride.”

“No, you earned it. You’ve worked so hard.”

She glanced away. “Trent, you don’t have to do that. I know the Quinns will have friends there...they’ll have questions.”