Flirting with Love (26 page)

“Well, I’m excited to meet him. So your oldest brother isn’t coming?” Elisabeth felt like she was already part of their big, glorious family.

“No. He had a big acquisition meeting that he couldn’t reschedule. I wish he and Rebecca could come.”

Elisabeth started the movie, and Emily jumped to her feet. “Wait.”

“What?” Elisabeth asked.

“Rebecca should be here. We need to Skype her.” Emily looked around the living room. “Do you have a laptop?”

“Of course. Doesn’t everyone?” Elisabeth rose to her feet, and swayed. She had definitely had enough alcohol. She grabbed on to Emily’s hand for stability, and they went together to get the laptop from the kitchen.

“Oh. Who’s this?” Emily held up the picture of Elisabeth and Robbie.

“Ex. Very long-ago ex.” She reached for the picture, and Emily pulled it out of her reach.

“He’s cute.”

“Yup.” She grabbed her laptop.

“Looks nice, too.” Emily traced the edge of the frame with her finger and looked at Elisabeth.

“Supernice.”

“So? What happened?”

Elisabeth sighed, realizing she wasn’t going to avoid this conversation with one-word answers. She took the picture from Emily and stared down at it. “He dumped me to finish his PhD.”

“Ouch.” Emily scrunched her nose.

“Yeah. It was a long time ago.”

“Are you still in touch?” Emily asked.

“Nope. I haven’t heard from him in more than a year.” She shoved the frame facedown in the box and closed the cardboard flaps. “Come on. Let’s go Skype. I don’t want to waste our time on that guy.”

“You’ll love Rebecca. She’s so great.” Emily lowered her voice to a whisper. “Her mom died, so she needs us.”

Elisabeth stopped cold. “Died? Oh my God.”

“She had cancer. It’s so sad, but Rebecca’s doing great, and you know Pierce takes great care of her—even if she doesn’t let him do everything. Rebecca’s the strongest girl I know.” Emily took out her phone and put the call on speakerphone.

“Hi, Em,” Rebecca said.

The other girls yelled, “Hi, Rebecca.”

Elisabeth’s heart swelled. She loved the camaraderie of the girls. She loved them.

“Becca, we’re all at Elisabeth’s,” Emily explained. “She’s Ross’s girlfriend, and we’re having a girls’ night. Wanna join us?”

“Oh my God! Yes! I’m so bummed that we won’t be there this weekend. I really wanted to come.”

“You should have come without him,” Emily suggested.

“Yeah, that’s what he said, too, but…” Rebecca’s voice trailed off.

“But she won’t leave her love bunny’s side,” Daisy said. Callie elbowed her. “What? I meant it nicely. I wouldn’t leave Luke for a weekend. I’d miss him too much. Maybe years from now, but at this point? No way do I want to wake up without him.”

“I’m so glad you guys called,” Rebecca said. “Pierce has a late meeting, so I’m all alone.”

“Not anymore,” Callie said. “We’ll Skype you, and you can watch the movie with us.”

They set up Skype, refilled their glasses, and settled into watching the movie squished next to one another on the couch. Emily shifted to her side and stretched her leg over Callie and Daisy; her foot landed beside Elisabeth, and she wiggled it.

“Foot massage?” Emily asked with hopeful eyes.

They all laughed, and so began a round of foot massages and musical chairs—and the best girls’ night of Elisabeth’s life.

ROSS SAT ACROSS from Wes and Luke in a booth in the back of the bar. Country music blared through the overhead speakers. It had been a few weeks since he and his brothers had gotten together for a drink, and Ross was having a great time, but he missed Elisabeth. He’d texted her an hour earlier, but she still hadn’t responded. He checked his cell phone again. Still no text.

“Would you put that damn thing away?” Wes said as he checked his own phone.

“Look who’s talking. What the hell happened to you two?” Luke slung an arm over Wes’s shoulder. “We used to come here and stay until one o’clock in the morning. It’s ten thirty and you’re both dying to get home to your women.”

“I was just making sure there weren’t any texts from Chip about the ranch. We had a big group arriving tonight.” Wes shoved his phone in his pocket.

“Yeah, right.” Luke laughed. “And what’s your excuse, Ross? Checking for animal emergencies?”

“Don’t even try to pretend that you didn’t go into the men’s room to text Daisy, you ass.” Ross held his hand out. “Give me your phone.”

“No.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest.

“Hand it over, big mouth. Five bucks says there are at least two texts to Daisy in the last two hours.” Ross narrowed his gaze, and Luke held strong.

For a minute.

“Oh hell. Yeah, so what? If you had Daisy to go home to, would you rather be here or home in bed with her?” Luke took a swig of his beer.

“I’d rather be with Lis,” Ross admitted.

“Says the man who said he’d never settle down,” Wes reminded him. “Pierce, too. What the hell? We all bit the bullet except Jake.”

“He’ll never settle down,” Ross said with a shake of his head. “His loss, too.”

Wes and Luke exchanged a look that Ross knew damn well meant,
I told you so.

“So Mr. I’ll Never Settle Down has met his match. Happened quickly, too, didn’t it?” Luke asked.

“I think I got whiplash.” Ross took a pull of his beer.

Wes leaned across the table and asked with a serious tone and a dark stare, “Is this the big L-O-V-E?”

Ross met his stare and took another drink. Yeah, it was love. He had no doubt about it, but he didn’t need to admit it to his younger brothers before he told Elisabeth.

Luke and Wes exchanged another glance.

“Shit. You think we don’t know?” Luke smacked a hand down on the table. “I was the last one that was going to fall. Remember? Not me. Not Luke Braden. Women were like wine—too sweet not to enjoy a different one every night.”

Ross kept a straight face and held his steely gaze.

“You’re going to hold out on us? It’s us, man. We know. We’ve been there. We
are
there.” Luke ran his hand between him and Wes.

“We’re in the thick of it, Ross. Why’re you holding back? Unless…” Wes sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless you’re not sure.” He slid another look to Luke.

“True. Or maybe she’s not as into him as he is into her,” Luke suggested.

They were egging him on, and it was working. Big-time. When the waitress asked if they wanted another round, he slapped a credit card on the table.

“Struck a nerve,” Luke said. “The only question is, which one?”

“There’s another option. Maybe she seems like she’s sweet and all that, but she’s really a two-timer and our brother here got wind of—”

Ross reached across the table, grabbed Wes by the collar, and hauled him halfway across the table. “Shut the fuck up before I break your goddamn vocal cords.” He shoved him back to his seat.

The waitress brought his card back, and he signed the slip and handed her the receipt, his eyes never leaving Wes, who had a shit-ass grin on his lips.

A cell phone rang and they all reached for their phones.

“Chip, what’s up?” Wes lifted his chin at his brothers. “Yeah. Good. Yup. Tomorrow. Okay, bud. See you then.” He ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

“Y’all are assholes.” Ross rose to his feet.

“Yeah, so are you,” Wes said.

Ross slung an arm over each of his brothers, and they plowed out to the parking lot as they’d done hundreds of times before.

“Daisy’s at Elisabeth’s house,” Luke said as they disengaged from one another.

“So is Callie.”

“Really? I thought just Emily was going over to discuss her kitchen plans.” The three of them whipped out their keys. “Elisabeth’s.”

With a nod, they climbed into their trucks and followed Ross to Elisabeth’s house.

The house was dark, save for a flash of light from the television in the living room.

“What the hell are they doing?” Wes asked. “You hear that?”

They listened as they ascended the porch steps. Luke went to the window and flagged them over with his hand. The three of them peered into the window at the four girls piled on the couch hugging one another, clutching tissues and wiping their eyes.

“Aw, hell.” Ross turned his back to the window.

“Tears.” Luke followed suit.

“Fuck.” Wes fell into line.

Ross leaned back in and looked in the window just as Emily glanced up and screamed. She fell off the couch, and all the girls started screaming.

“Holy shit.” Wes barreled into the house. The girls were huddled together against the wall, still screaming. “It’s us. It’s us.”

“You ass!” Emily threw a pillow at him.

“Wes! What were you thinking? We thought you were Peeping Toms,” Callie said with a harsh stare.

Luke wrapped Daisy into his arms. “Peeping Toms in Trusty?” He laughed and Daisy swatted his stomach.

With the others beating on each other, Ross folded Elisabeth into his arms and brushed her tears with his thumb. “I’m sorry we scared you, babe.” He pressed his cheek to hers and whispered, “I love you.” He hadn’t planned on saying it, and he definitely hadn’t planned on saying it in front of his brothers as they tried to calm their drunken, upset girlfriends, but he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Elisabeth leaned back and blinked her long lashes at him. “You…”

He smiled down at her and nodded. “I do. I love you.”

More tears sprang from her eyes. He buried his hand beneath her hair and kissed her. She tasted sugary sweet, and it was a taste he’d never forget.

“Hey!” Emily yelled and slapped Ross on the back. “Look at you two making out while you nearly gave us heart attacks. Thank God we already ended our Skype call with Rebecca. She probably would have called the Trusty police.”

Ross reluctantly parted lips with Elisabeth, then turned to face his sister. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glassy, and she was swaying on her feet. Ross wrapped an arm around her waist.

“You’re either staying here tonight, or I’m driving you home, sis.”

Emily banged her forehead against his chest. “I love your girlfriend,” Emily gushed.

“Me too. What’ll it be? Here or your place?” He glanced at Wes and Luke, holding their girlfriends. Wes and Luke lifted their heads when Ross said, “Me too,” and passed him a smile and nod.

“Mine,” Emily said. “But we have to clean up. We can’t leave Elisssssabeth with this mess.” She swayed back and Ross caught her.

“I’ll clean up. Wes, can you take Callie and Daisy home? Luke, can you help me deliver cars so everyone has theirs in the morning?”

“Sure.” Luke held Daisy against him.

Ross assessed the room. “Pizza, cheese, crackers, chocolate, tears, and margaritas. Looks like we missed a great night, minus the tears.”

Elisabeth ran her finger along the back of his neck. “We’ll have our own party.”

“Promises, promises.”

Ross and his brothers got everyone home safely; then Ross stopped at home and picked up the boys. By the time he arrived back at Elisabeth’s, she was fast asleep on the couch. Knight jumped onto the couch and snuggled in at her feet while Ranger and Sarge sprawled out on the living room floor. Ross cleaned up the living room and then sat in an armchair and drew in a deep breath. This was where he wanted to be, with Lis and the boys.

He gathered her in his arms, and Knight gave him a look of disapproval as he carried her upstairs. He wondered if she’d remember what he’d said when she woke up. He laid her on the bed and undressed her, down to her skivvies and tank top, then drew the blankets up to her chest. She was so damn beautiful as she licked her lips in her sleep and settled into the mattress with a sleepy sigh. Ross stripped to his briefs and slipped beneath the blankets. Elisabeth instinctively snuggled against him.

He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Lis.” He didn’t care if she heard it or not. It felt damn good to say it.

“I love you, too,” she said against his chest, and with the next breath she was fast asleep.

ELISABETH’S HEAD WAS pounding. She must be dying, or someone was surely torturing her. She opened her eyes to the morning light and slammed them immediately shut with a groan. It was Thursday, and she had to take care of the animals and deliver pies.
Oh God. No, no, no
. She rolled onto her side, and when she didn’t roll into Ross, she reached an arm across the sheets and felt for him. The bed was empty. She didn’t dare call out for him, because even her thoughts echoed in her head, as the night before came back in bits and pieces. She smiled at the memory of the girls’ night, then cringed because smiling hurt. The familiar tapping of nails on hardwood came closer.
Click, click, click!
A wet nose pressed against her cheek, followed by a distinct doggy tongue that smelled like one of her puppy cookies. She reached a hand out and stroked the dog’s head. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was Knight. He and Ranger were the only ones who crawled onto the bed, and Ranger did it in stealth mode, pulling himself up by the front paws, whereas Knight came up in one giant leap. As he did now, landing on her feet.

She groaned again and flung her pillow over her head. The bed beside her dipped and the very male, sexy scent of Ross filled her senses. She opened one eye and shoved the pillow to the side, drinking him in. Even through half-open, hungover eyes he looked like the god of hotness.

“My poor girl.” Ross spoke quietly. “I brought you some ibuprofen, but I wasn’t sure of your cure of choice, so I brought tomato juice, which will help level out your blood sugar levels, or water, your choice.”

She pulled the pillow over her head again. “How do people do this?”

“Get through hangovers? I’ve gotten through many. You just face them head-on.”

“I’ve only had one before, and it wasn’t this bad. Can you just shoot me?”

He moved the pillow and kissed her forehead. “No, but I can love you through it.”

She opened her eyes and remembered.
I love you
. She smiled, which sent another bolt of pain through her head. “You love me,” she whispered.

“So I guess you remember.” He smiled down at her and brushed her hair off her shoulders.