Cowboy's Chocolate Roses (4 page)

"What? Did you just—"

"Now, please listen, before you go all 'you're a crazy woman' on me, okay?" She cut him off, waving her hands around. "If we were getting married, then daddy wouldn't go after you because you'd be family. You only have one and a half months before he can't pull out or change the terms. After that, you and everything you care about will be safe."

A funny look crossed his face, and then he squinted. "I don't mean to sound like an ass, especially after the crap I put you through before, but are you suggesting this because you're worried about me, or about what your daddy will think?"

It hurt a little that he asked, but she reminded herself he didn't really know much about her.

"I won't lie, I'm terrified of telling my daddy, but I'm prepared to. He'll be mad, and I'd dare say disappointed. But at the end of the day he loves me, and after he calms down, he won't care. I can live with that." Pausing, letting out a breath before continuing, "What I couldn't live with is the idea you and everyone who relies on you suffered because of daddy's temper."

Bri hoped Josh knew how sincere she was but before she could ask, they were interrupted.

"Well, hey there. Good to see my brother didn't screw up too bad."

A man who could only be Josh's younger brother—Caleb, if Charlotte had the name remembered correctly—stood in the doorway. She didn't quite know what to make of his statement. A jitter of nerves raced through her. How much had Josh told his sibling? Did he know she carried Josh's child? And would he believe her or assume, as Josh had, that she wanted something from them?

"Caleb, don't be a dick. We're working things out, so don't scare her away, okay?"

Bri smiled, relieved Josh wanted to work through everything. He hadn't answered her question about telling everyone they were engaged, though.

"Gotcha. Well, then, I'm Caleb. We met that night, but from what I overheard earlier, you don't remember." He pointed at his brother. "As for you, a beautiful woman, carrying your damn child, offers to tell everyone you're engaged to save your ass and everything you hold dear, yet you sit saying nothin' like you've been caught with your pants down. Pun intended."

Bri burst out laughing. Caleb had his hands on his hips, drilling into his brother, who just sat taking it. Josh appeared a bit shell-shocked by everything, but his little brother wouldn't give him an inch.

Josh shook himself out of it and frowned. "First off, would you
quit
eavesdropping on other people's conversations. And secondly, for your information I was about to agree, but you came charging in here, butting your nose in."

Caleb blinked, then a big goofy grin appeared on his face. "Oh, well, all righty then. Good to see y'all could work it out. I'm heading out, won't be back 'til late." Tipping his hat to Bri, he said, "It was nice seeing you again, Bri. I hope you do stick around."

Caleb left, leaving Bri and Josh sitting together, neither quite knowing what to do next. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, flicking her eyes up to meet his every so often. Another yawn escaped her, and she realized just how tired she was.

"Bedtime, I think," Josh stated.

"Mm hmm, sounds good to me. I'm sorry I'm tired so early. It seems to be a common occurrence lately. Um, where am I sleeping?" she asked as she stumbled up off the sofa.

Catching her at her elbow, Josh helped right her, and she noticed he kept his hand there. "Don't worry about it. I've heard pregnant women get tired real easily. I'll show you where you can stay. You'll have the room next to mine, it's got everything you should be needing."

Josh took her on a quick tour of the house—he didn't want her to get lost in the morning. Following him down the hallway, her eyes widened in surprise at the sprawling, rambling home. Filled with large, solid furniture, in plenty of earthy tones, the masculine décor suited the owner. She quite liked the simplicity of the design in the complex labyrinth of rooms. She found herself quite taken with the place—and the man. He could be incredibly sweet. But such a study of contrasts—all gruff male one moment and caring gentleman the next—almost like he'd been raised two different ways. She wondered if his parents had been a case of opposites attract.

She wanted to find out.

Coming to a stop outside a room, Josh opened the door, and she peered inside. A queen size bed sat in the middle of the room. Her eyes caressed the beautiful mahogany furniture, the cornflower blue comforter, and the matching curtains. The room was simple, but homey.

Edging into the area, she gently ran her fingers over the bed cover, loving the soft feel of the material. At the window she pushed back the drapes to reveal the green pastureland, with its horses and cattle. The sun slowly hid itself behind the mountains in the distance, and for the first time in a long while, Bri felt a deep sense of peace settle within her.

"Uh, I hope you don't mind. I know it's not very personal…" he trailed off, clearly nervous about her opinion.

She found his concern about her endearing. "It's wonderful, thank you."

"Well, I'll let you settle in. I'll be up early tomorrow—have to mend some fences in the lower pasture—but maybe we can talk some more when I'm done." He wouldn't make eye contact. "Your car will be out front, and I'll leave the keys on the kitchen counter. Goodnight, lavender."

Without warning, Josh reached out and drew her toward him, crushing his mouth to hers. Bri gasped in surprise, quickly recovering, and linked her arms around his neck as their tongues tangled. Before she had a chance to press closer, a low groan slipped past his lips and he leaned back, detaching himself from her.

The man disappeared down the hall in the next instant, and Bri stood staring at an empty doorway, unsure what had just happened. Slowly raising her hand, she touched her fingertips to her still tingling lips.

Well okay, then.

*****

The shrill ring of her phone woke Bri the next morning. Fumbling to grab the device, she knocked it off the side table. Groaning and mumbling, she leaned over the bed to grab it, blinking her eyes open, she found Charlotte's name on the screen. Great.

"Hey, Charlotte."

"Hey, hon. I didn't wake you did I?"

Bri grunted. "What do you think?"

Light laughter trickled through the phone. "Sorry, sweetie."

"You don't sound very sorry. So, what's up?"

"Ah, for starters, I wanted to know how everything went yesterday. I'm assuming since I didn't get a call that things went well?"

Oh, damn. With everything that happened and being so tired by the time they got back to the ranch, Bri had passed out without calling Charlotte.

"Oh, crap. I'm so sorry, Charlotte. I was tired when everything calmed down and calling you slipped my mind."

Charlotte went from amused to concerned. "Calmed down? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a misunderstanding we sorted out.” Bri waited a second before dropping her bombshell. With her sister it was better to get it over with. Charlotte was an all or nothing girl, and that was the best way to handle her. “Listen, I wanted to give you a heads up. Josh and I spoke last night, and we've decided to tell daddy we're engaged."

Silence met her.

"Was that his idea?" Charlotte asked in an icy tone.

"What? Oh, God, no. It was mine. I know what you're thinking, but it was all me. In fact, he made it quite clear at first he had no idea whose daughter I was." Bri frowned.

Her sister didn't like the fact Josh had recently signed a deal with their father, and without going into detail on what had happened yesterday, Bri didn't know how to convince Charlotte to give her some space. She also had a sneaking suspicion if she told her sister what Josh had said and done the day before, Charlotte would probably be here within hours, demanding the man's balls.

She sighed, fingers plucking at the comforter. "I don't want these people, especially Josh, to suffer because daddy has a temper. You know I couldn't live with that."

"Okay, what happens in another month and a half? Are you going to be able to just walk away? You're going to play house and then call it off? Daddy will see right through that, sweetie."

"I don't know what'll happen. We've decided we're going to take some time to get to know each other properly. Maybe by then… I don't know," Bri whispered.

The situation with Josh could all end badly, especially if she fell for the cowboy, but right now, she needed her big sister to have her back. "Please…try to understand?"

"You know I'm here for you, but I don't want to see you get hurt." Char sighed. "I need to ask, Bri. Does he know?"

Bri took a few calming breaths. Had she told Josh about what happened two years ago? She hadn't, but she had a feeling she would have to soon.

"Not yet."

"Bri, you're going to have to tell him. If you want things to work, you can't keep something that big from him. Otherwise…" Charlotte trailed off.

Bri sat upright in bed, a chill skittering down her spine. Her sister never held back. She stewed, but she never hesitated.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

Charlotte let out a deep sigh. "God, Bri. I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"Sorry for what? What's going on? You're really starting to freak me out." Her voice rose slightly.

Her heart beat frantically, and she had a feeling her worst fear would be confirmed. Bri prayed to be proven wrong, and she tensed, her breath coming faster.

When Charlotte still said nothing, Bri snapped, no longer able to hold it in. "Tell. Me. Now!"

The door slammed open and Bri's head bolted up as Josh scanned the room. Wearing jeans and a baby blue t-shirt that clung like a second skin, his hands fisted at his sides and he looked ready to take someone on. If Bri didn't think she might lose it, she probably would have enjoyed the view.

He glanced at the phone before slowly drawing his gaze back to her. "Bri? What's wrong, honey? I was just coming to see if you were awake yet, when I heard you shout."

Bri shook from head, no words coming out.

She needed her sister to answer, had to know if her nightmare had just come true. "Charlotte, please tell me," she asked more quietly.

"Mom and dad have been trying to call you. When they couldn't get through, they rang me. We’ve been so worried Bri. I had to tell them where you were, not why, but I did mention Josh. And God, that is another issue to address after this." Charlotte drew in a shaky breath. "Timothy is out. They're looking for him, but so far he is on the loose. Oh, God, Bri. You have to be careful."

The phone slipped through her fingers. Bri fought hard to breathe. Oh, God no. Even bracing herself hadn't been able to stop the full impact her sister's words had or the meaning behind them. How could they? How could he be out? She couldn't breathe. She tried, but she just couldn't seem to get her lungs to work properly. Bri reached out, trying to clutch onto anything near her, and when she felt Josh, she grabbed him, holding on for dear life. Distantly she heard him trying to calm her, murmuring into her ear; none of it made a difference.

Her vision began to dim at the edges, Bri knew she'd soon pass out; her lungs were on fire from lack of oxygen. Josh shook her, trying to get through to her. His arms tightened around her, and she cried because once he found out, he'd be too disgusted to ever hold her again; he would never want her.

Her heart broke and the world went black.

Bri went limp in Josh's arms, passing out, he hoped. He listened carefully; glad to hear slow, shallow breaths. The meltdown he witnessed concerned him. He wanted to know what the hell had happened. Settling Bri back against the pillows, he grabbed the cordless phone from the side table and dialed his family doctor, an old friend of his. He didn't know if any of this would cause harm to her or their child, and he refused to chance it.

A professional who had studied and worked in the big city, Dr. Melanie Logan had never been able to break the habit of being a small-town Texan girl, which made her extremely likeable. Once Josh explained about Bri's pregnancy and the agitated state he'd found her in, Dr. Logan had agreed she needed to drop by and do a quick examination just to be on the safe side. Hanging up, Bri's phone caught his attention, a garbled, but shrill sound blasting through. Who had she been talking with?

"Bri!" a female voice shouted.

Josh held the phone away from his ear. "Hello?"

"Who is this? Josh? Where is she?" He recognized Charlotte's voice.

"Calm down. Bri passed out. Evidently, she had a panic attack." He couldn't quite keep the censure out of his voice.

Really, he wanted to know what the hell the damn woman had been thinking, upsetting her pregnant sister.

Charlotte spoke with a controlled tone, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, but I'd like to know what has caused this. My family doctor is on her way, and she'll be needing some answers." Not to mention he damn well wanted some.

Charlotte groaned, probably not wanting to say anything. Well, too bad.

"I know she hasn't told you, yet. She was planning on it. She just needed a little time."

Josh had a gut feeling what Bri had been keeping from him. To a point. "Does this have anything to do with whatever happened two years ago?"

"You know?" Shock laced her voice.

"I know something happened, and because of it, she freaked the morning she woke next to me. But no, I dunno the details."

"Argh. God, I'm not going to go into great detail. That's for her to do, but you need to know if a man named Timothy Nelson comes looking for her, you have to keep him as far away from her as possible. Better yet, call the police."

"He hurt her." He didn't make it a question.

"Yes. Very bad," she whispered. "He was in prison and supposed to stay there, but our parents were just contacted. He escaped, Josh. An investigation is taking place, and a manhunt is underway…" She broke off on a sob.

"Okay, I got enough for now. Look, the doc will be here soon and I'll call when she clears Bri." He wanted to focus on the woman in front of him. She needed him even more than he'd first thought.

"Okay, thanks, Josh. Hey, I can call mom and dad to let them know I’ve spoken with her, but it would really be best if she called them soon. They worry. We all do, but…she was doing so well. She was finally getting her life back even with the pregnancy, the old Bri, you know?"

He didn't, but he'd sure like to try to find out.

He muttered a goodbye and hung up. Using the cordless, he gave Caleb a ring.

"What's up?" Caleb's cheery disposition was in complete contrast to the emotions running through Josh at that moment.

"I need you up here at the house. It's Bri. She got some bad news, and it was bad enough she had a panic attack and passed out. I've got Mel on her way."

"Shit. She okay?" He appreciated the concern he heard in Cal's voice.

"Don't know. We need to discuss what set it off though. Seems we might have some trouble headed for the Silver Stone."

"I'm on my way, bro," Caleb said, not even hesitating.

Josh gazed down at Bri, gently stroking her hair out of her face. Leaning back against the headboard, Josh's mind spun. He needed to find out the details of what happened. For one thing, he had to know how far this guy would be willing to go to get what he wanted. He also wanted Bri to open up to him. If they were going to make anything work, no secrets could exist, and she had to come to terms with whatever had happened in her past. Bri's reaction this morning proved she might not be doing as well as her sister thought.

When he'd met Bri, he had recognized something in her. A broken part of her, and it called out to him to fix it. Josh could only guess at what kind of cruelty had caused the damage, and he hoped he could heal it, because he'd fallen for her that night, three months ago. When he'd found her gone, the hurt, betrayal, and humiliation over falling for someone who had clearly used him, stung. When she had shown up the day before, all that anger had come back and he'd lashed out.

Apparently, he held with the family tradition of meeting the perfect person and being totally in love—not lust or infatuation, but love—within hours. His father and grandfather had similar stories of meeting the person they'd spend their lives with. Not to say the relationships had been smooth sailing all the time, especially concerning his mom and dad, but the depth of love couldn't be doubted.

Normally a man in control of his emotions, Bri had the ability to send him spiraling. He still couldn't work out how he felt about that. The woman had wormed her way into his heart completely and now she'd come to him, carrying his child and protecting him from the wrath her father could bring down. He might have questioned her motive in helping him, but even when the words had left his mouth Josh knew her intentions were selfless and genuine. Brianna thought of others before herself. Somehow that had landed her in a world of pain, but now she had Josh to protect her. She didn't know it, but she held his heart, and while she might have no real memory of their night together, he hoped he would be able to win hers as well.

Movement under his hand brought his attention to Bri. Her long dark lashes fluttered, her eyes slowly drifting open to reveal a stunning lavender gaze that held so much more pain than he had even realized.

"Hey, you decided to come back to us," he whispered, afraid of spooking her.

"How long?" she croaked.

"Not long. Just a couple of minutes. I spoke to Charlotte and told her I'd give her a call later. The doctor is on her way to check you and the little one out." He used the tone he did when trying to soothe the animals and funnily enough it seemed to be working.

Bri closed her eyes, squeezing them tight. "He got out."

His heart broke at the sound her trembling voice. No woman should ever feel that sort of fear.

"Shhh. You're safe here. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"I'm scared." She sounded so lost.

Wrapping her up in his arms, he rocked back and forth, murmuring into her ear while she sobbed. "I've got you, lavender. He won’t get near you."

Clinging to him, her tears came faster, fierce sobs escaping when she broke down in his arms. He held her tight, letting her know he'd be there. She belonged with him, even if she didn't know it yet, and he refused to let some asshole come in and take what was his.

A noise at the door caught Josh's attention. Caleb leaned against the doorjamb, a frown on his face. When Caleb realized he had his brother's attention, he spoke, "The doc is here."

Josh nodded his head in thanks, then turned back to Bri. "She's a good friend of mine, so I promise you'll be safe. You ready for her?"

"Yeah."

Pulling back, he slipped a finger under her chin and raised her face to look at him. "You gonna be okay with the doc while I speak to Caleb, or do you want me to stay?"

Bri seemed to think it over before she gave him a nod. "I'll be okay. Will you be far?"

"Not at all, honey. I'll be in my study, just two doors down."

"Okay," she whispered.

Untangling himself, Josh stood and went to the door, greeting his friend.

Through school, Mel had the attention of any boy she wanted, and now as a woman, she turned more than a few heads. Standing at six foot with long blond hair and even longer legs, her green eyes roped a man in and her smile had them begging for more.

Things had always been different between her and Josh. He and Caleb had protected her from some older men when they were younger. Afterwards, Josh saw her as a younger sister, someone to keep an eye on. The same couldn't be said for his brother. Caleb had fallen head over heels that day, the family tradition holding strong, and Mel had been doing everything she could to pretend she hadn't noticed.

Mel eyed Caleb warily when she made her way down the hallway. "Josh, Caleb. Where is my patient?"

"Bri is in here. She's calm, but I'm worried about the baby. I know you have a lot of questions, but can you just check her first?"

"Okay. But how do you know this woman, Josh?" she whispered, presumably so Bri didn't overhear. "And whose baby is it?"

She shot an accusing glare toward Caleb, who laughed quietly holding his hands up in a gesture of peace before pointing at Josh. "Whoa there, killer. That's all on him. Don't be lookin' at me like that."

"Not like it would be hard to believe," Mel muttered.

Caleb placed a hand over his heart, blinking in mock innocence. "Aww, honey. I hadn't been knowin' you cared. Never fear though, I'm still very much on the market."

Mel scowled before walking into the room, firmly closing the door in both their faces. Turning, he faced his brother, ready to rip into him about provoking the woman when Caleb's expression fell.

"Before you get onto me, I know. I shouldn't be stirring her, but dammit! What the hell did I ever do to make her think the worst of me?" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Don't know, and we can figure that out later. For now, we need to sort out the mess we've got coming."

Heading straight for his study, Josh flopped down into the chair behind his large desk, Caleb taking one of the two sitting in front and throwing his feet up on the scarred mahogany oak. "So, what's happening? And why is it making that lovely lady of yours have panic attacks?"

"The gist of it is, two years ago Bri was attacked." Holding his hand up to stop his brother, whose feet hit the floor with a thud, shock and anger contorting his face, he continued, "I know, my response as well. From what Charlotte has told me, the incident was severe and the man responsible has been serving time. Whatever happened, Bri still suffers effects today, and that is the reason she ran the morning after we met. Waking next to a man she didn't recognize must have triggered something, causing her to panic."

"Damn. Your size alone must have scared her," Caleb's voice sounded troubled. "Am I right in guessing you meant to use past tense when you said he was locked up?"

"Yeah." Josh raked a hand through his hair, anger and worry warring inside of him. "The Department of Criminal Justice was unable to get a hold of Bri so they contacted her family. The guy, Timothy, escaped."

"Shit." Caleb's sentiments mirrored his own.

He had to keep Bri and their baby safe. His brother had his back, but helping Bri come to terms with what had happened to her would be on Josh. Fear shot through him at the thought he could end up making things worse.

Cal's eyes narrowed. "And they think he's on his way? That he'd be coming for her?"

"Makes sense, doesn't it? But who knows, he could be halfway to New York by now." Damn Josh hoped that were true, however, the realistic side of him scoffed at the idea. If Bri had anything to do with Timothy being behind bars, Josh wondered how far the man would be willing to go, in order to seek revenge.