lori king rough ride romeo (8 page)

emotion in her throat.

“No thanks necessary.” Marilyn scolded, “You’re here for a reason. So that

makes you part of the family.”

Chapter 8

For the rest of the day, guilt wracked Franki over Marilyn’s words. She was

there for a reason, but no one knew it except Roman. It didn’t seem fair to lie to

everyone about her motives for being in Montford, but she couldn’t risk Vivi’s

safety.

Lacy and Franki got along well as they toured the ranch, and Franki enjoyed

the female company. It was nice to have someone to spend time with who had no

expectations from her.

“So, what do you do for work then, Lacy? You said you lost your job?”

“Yeah. I was in marketing and graphic design, and I decided to build my

own business. I do all of the marketing for the ranch now, and I’ve taken on most

of the paperwork side of the business. Drannon never liked doing it, and

someone has to rein in Hawke and his great ideas.” Lacy said with a laugh.

“They all seem so different from each other.”

“Who? The guys? Yeah, they’re very different, but each has his own appeal.

They’ve all survived a lot in their lives, so I suppose that means they all have

scars.”

“Don’t we all.” Franki heard herself mutter.

“Yes, I suppose we do.” Lacy agreed. “My dad held me responsible for my

mom’s death, and it changed the way I looked at life and relationships. I never

really felt worthy of someone’s affection.”

“Drannon changed that?” Franki asked.

“Oh yeah. That and then some.” The redhead laughed loudly at her own

joke and elbowed Franki. “Remember how much more he likes his bed now,

right?”

They entered the biggest barn Franki had ever seen as they shared the joke,

and Franki’s eyes had to adjust to the change in lighting. The overhead lights

probably worked wel at night when they were on, but during the day the barn

was dim and significantly cooler than the outside temperature. Animals chuffed

and reacted to their presence, but none of the sounds phased Lacy. She led

Franki to a stall where a large brown horse loomed over the enclosure’s door.

“Franki, meet Dorothy. This is the lady of the ranch, and Drannon’s favorite

mare.” Lacy explained. She stroked the massive beasts head, and cooed at it like

it was a child.

“Hi Dorothy. Nice to meetcha.” Franki offered, staying a few feet back.

“It’s okay,” Lacy said with a frown, “She won’t hurt you.”

“I’m good. In fact, I think I’m actually going to just head on back to the

house now if you don’t mind.” Franki said. She didn’t want to outright admit that

she was scared of the horse, but she also wasn’t interested in getting up close and

personal with it.

The quiet thump of boots on the foor drew the women’s attention to

Roman as he came their way from the back of the barn.

“Have you ever been around horses, Franki?” he asked, his hazel eyes

skimming her body from the top of her ponytail to the bottom of her old tennis

shoes.

“No, never,” she answered shortly. Pride drove her shoulders back and her

chest forward, but when she realized that drew his attention to her breasts, she

quickly reversed the motion, folding in on herself. The subtle arch of his eyebrow

was his only reaction, but she knew he’d noticed.

“They’re truly gentle animals if you know how to handle them,” he said,

reaching out to pat Dorothy himself. “I could teach you.”

“That’s okay…” she started to say, shaking her head. She’d barely gotten

turned around when she felt his big hands grip her hips and stop her forward

motion. A shiver of lust went through her at his touch. Good Lord, he had big

hands.

“Don’t run away, and don’t show fear. Horses respond to fear.” He

murmured against her ear. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut as

she tried to get her emotions under control. His chest was pressed against her

back, and his hands still cradled her hips, but he made no further move to push

her into anything.

“Maybe just a quick hello?” she whispered.

~ ~ ~ ~

Roman wasn’t sure why he’d interfered with Franki, but seeing her reaction

to Dorothy stirred something inside of him. He knew she wasn’t a country girl,

but seeing her nearly trembling with anxiety about stepping outside her comfort

zone was odd to him. Where was the feisty girl from yesterday?

Invading her space hadn’t even been on his mind, but when she’d turned to

run he couldn’t resist the opportunity to put his hands on her. Then once he’d

touched her, he couldn’t force himself to let her go.

Her whispered words of agreement filled his ears and he beamed with

pleasure even though she couldn’t see it. Turning them both around, he was

almost relieved to see Lacy had moved out of the way and was heading into the

back of the barn as though she wanted to give them alone time. That was just

fine with him. Maybe he could keep rubbing Franki’s prickling exterior away.

Face to face with Dorothy, Franki seemed almost rooted to the spot she

occupied, and he wondered if he was going to have to pick her up to move her

closer to the stall. “It’s okay baby. I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to

you.”

Franki moved, but it was a miniscule amount, and her body was still taut

with fear. Taking a chance he bent and pressed his lips to the curve of her ear,

blowing softly. “Would you rather sneak into an empty stall instead?”

Her response was instant, and furious. Just like that she’d forgotten her fear

of the horse, and turned on him. “What?” she snapped, glaring daggers at him

through narrowed eyes. “Just because I let you tuck me into my bed last night

doesn’t give you any special privileges cowboy. I don’t know what you’re trying to

do, but—”

Dorothy picked that moment to blow a puff of hot air out her nose and

across Franki’s head. In her haste to put distance between herself and Roman,

she’d backed up. Putting her inches from Dorothy’s large muzzle. Franki’s eyes

went wide, and she swallowed hard, looking to Roman for guidance.

“Easy, baby. She’s a good girl, just stand still and she’ll take your scent. Then

you can give her a proper hello.”

Roman watched as Dorothy ran her nose over Franki taking in the stranger’s

fragrance, and then seemingly ignoring her completely to forage for food. Franki,

on the other hand, was all too aware of the big animal still nearby. She stood

stock still staring straight ahead even after Dorothy had shifted her attention

elsewhere.

With a shake of his head, Roman reached out and took Franki’s hands

leading her several paces away from the stall. “Okay, maybe that’s enough for

today.”

Her entire being seemed to melt inside out as she let go of her fear and

breathed deeply.

“You’re real y afraid of her, huh?” he asked incredulously. Dorothy was by

far the sweetest animal on the ranch, and he’d never really been around anyone

with a horse phobia.

“I had no idea I was until that moment. I’ve never been around horses.” She

admitted, rubbing at her arms like she was suddenly cold. How in the world she

could be cold in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt in June was beyond his

understanding, but he reached for her anyway.

She took an immediate step back evading his touch and shook her head.

“Thanks for the intro but I need to get back inside.”

Before he could argue or question her further, she was gone. Racing down

the aisle to the barn door and out into the sun. Leaving him alone with his

confusion and a hard-on. Damn it. How the hell did he manage to get into these

messes?

Chapter 9

Three days later, they were no closer to an answer, and Roman could sense

Franki’s growing unease. There’d been no new contact from her sister, and no

clues to help them find her. He was at the end of his list of possibilities, and he

could tell his brothers were growing suspicious of his never-ending questions. If

they didn’t uncover something monumental soon he was going to have to spill the

beans and ask for more help no matter what Franki thought.

“Did hell freeze over and no one told me?”

His brother’s deep voice echoed through the kitchen, and Roman turned on

the bar stool to look at Vin. “What?”

“I don’t remember the last time you were awake before me, and this week it’s

happened three times in a row. Have you suddenly given up sleeping, or am I

getting old?”

Rolling his eyes, Roman turned back to his bowl of Lucky Charms, “You’re

getting old.”

Vin’s hand connected with the back of Roman’s head making him yelp and

spew his cereal all over the counter. “I might be older than you, but I’m also

bigger, and meaner, so don’t push it, Romeo.”

“Asshat.”

“Ball sack.”

“Crotch monkey.”

“Children, please. There are innocent ears in the room.” Marilyn said,

ending their taunts with a grin on her face as she tied her apron on. The front of

the white cotton material read “’iss the cook” and it had become a running joke

at Crawley Creek ever since the K wore off. More than one ranch hand had

offered to “iss” Miss Marilyn over the years, but she took it good-naturedly and

kept moving.

“Where?” Vin asked, his eyes going wide. “There ain’t a soul on the ranch

that’s innocent now that Drannon despoiled Lacy.”

‘Despoiled? What are we now? Lords and ladies?” Roman asked

dramatically. “Besides, I think Lacy had a hand in that despoiling, too.”

“I sure did, and I enjoyed every minute of the despoiling!” Lacy’s long red

hair was tied up in her standard braid and hung over one shoulder as she entered

the room and headed for the coffee pot. Roman’s heart instantly warmed as he

was surrounded by people he loved. Even though Lacy had only been part of the

family for a few months, she fit right in, and made the place seem almost whole

again. There was laughter, and sweet voices, and Roman couldn’t remember the

last time Drannon looked so happy.

“What is that donkey crap you’re eating, boy?” Marilyn asked as she

propped her hands on her hips and glared at his cereal.

“Lucky charms. Want some?” he offered, gesturing with his spoon to the

brightly colored box.

“Have you suddenly taken to disliking my cooking?” she asked, frowning at

him.

“Never.”

“Then why would you eat that sugary crap?”

Marilyn was sensitive about processed foods in general. She felt like anything

worth doing was worth doing right, and as her main job on the ranch was

cooking, she didn’t tolerate well anyone invading her space.

“I didn’t want to wake you early just for me, so I made do. I promise I’ll hide

it away when I’m done.” Roman said, making the sign of an X over his heart as

he made the promise.

“See that you do. I can’t stand seeing those fruit-loopy things in my kitchen.

Not when I have eggs and bacon laid out for the morning.” She spun to the fridge

and began pulling out ingredients. “Lacy do you want scrambled or fried this

morning, sweetheart?”

“Either is lovely.” Lacy answered, taking up a seat next to Roman and

opening the newspaper. Vin settled on the third stool and stole a marshmallow

from Roman’s bowl when Marilyn wasn’t looking.

“I’d prefer fried.” Vin said winking at Roman.

“That’s nice Vincent. You’ll get what I give you.” Marilyn answered without

hesitation.

“Why does Lacy get a say in it?” Vin protested.

“Because she’s prettier than you.” Roman offered, smiling at Vin’s middle

finger gesture.

“Aw, thanks Romeo! You’re my favorite brother.” Lacy said, giving him a

peck on the cheek. Roman looked up just in time to catch Lacy and Marilyn

exchanging a look that set his suspicions spinning. They were up to something.

Before he had a chance to question the two further, Drannon and Hawke

joined them, and everyone moved into the dining room to give Marilyn space to

work. Roman made a point of rinsing his bowl out and tucking his favorite cereal

in the back of one of the tallest cabinets so that Marilyn wouldn’t toss it out, and

then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he grabbed an orange and went to

get his boots on. He wanted to run into town and feel out a few of his friends for

more clues. If he could just pinpoint a place that would fit the general description

Franki had, maybe they’d stumble over more hard evidence and she’d be wil ing

to call in Bran.

“Where are you running off to?”

The question caught him off guard, and he stutter-stepped just long enough

to nail his shin on the bench by the door.

“Ouch! Cheese and biscuits that hurt,” he yelled, rubbing at the stinging

fesh. Franki stood on the bottom step of the grand staircase watching him, and

he silently cursed his luck. He’d hoped to get out the door before she woke so that

she wouldn’t ask to go. The last thing he wanted was the townspeople shading her

opinion of him with reality. He was doing his damnedest to charm her without