Roping The Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins #2) (3 page)

C
urses fly
out of my mouth as I stare into the steel-blue eyes that have been haunting me. The eyes I see every time I close my eyes and think about my future. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, now that I’ve started down this new path.

I’d always has a small crush on Blake, which is why I avoided him, thinking nothing could come of it. We come from two different worlds that are literally miles and miles apart. It could never work between us, and I didn’t want to walk down a path that led only to heartbreak. After losing my mom I knew I was still too fresh to take that kind of pain again. It was best to stay clear of it, but now it seems to be standing right in my path, and the look in his eyes says he's got no plans on moving anytime soon.

He leans against a post on the huge front porch of a beautiful farmhouse. It looks like something out of a magazine. There are rolling green hills all around us, with a big red barn close by. The place looks like something you’d dream of when you thought of a Texas ranch, and I fell in love the second I drove around the bend and saw it. It’s everything I’ve ever wished for in a place to live and work. Including the dark blue eyes that don’t ever seem to leave me when I’m working in town.

Maybe this is some kind of mistake. But my heart tells me that this is more than a coincidence. Like I always thought from the moment I’d seen Blake, if he wants something, he gets it, and I’m not naïve enough to think he had his sights set on me and I didn't know what to do with that and what it means to have a man like Blake set his sights on you. Is it for fun? To pass the time? Or is it something more? His eyes make me think it’s more, but I don't know if that’s the truth or what I want the truth to be.

“Welcome to the Braided Rope.” he says, pushing off the porch and walking towards me.

His easy smile is there, even through the rough shadow of his short beard. The stubble does little to hide the deep dimples on either cheek, and the lines around his mouth show that he smiles often. He’s wearing a white T-shirt snug tight to his muscles, worn jeans, and tan boots that look perfectly broken in. But the worst part is his cowboy hat. It’s black and pulled down low, and it makes him look like every cowboy wet dream come to life. If he were wearing a pair of chaps I might not be strong enough to keep from climbing on him. As it is, I’m having to hold myself back. It’s like I’ve driven up to my own little fairy tale and I want to throw myself right into his arms and into that life. If only things in life were that easy. I know I have to work hard for everything I want in life…and there is no way this could be that easy.

“Don’t tell me this is your ranch,” I say, looking around like someone else is going to pop up and tell me this is all a joke.

“It’s yours now, too,” he says, and for a second I think he means something much more than my home while I get my farm hours. The thought makes my heart miss a beat. Warmth floods my system. “I’m Blake Jennings, and I’m really happy you’re here, Luciana.”

He holds his hand out to me, and I look down at it. His deep voice rolls over my skin like a massage, and I lean towards him involuntarily. I reach out, placing my hand in his, and look up through my lashes to see his smile is gone and he’s looking at me from under the brim of his hat with hard eyes. His jaw is clenched, and his grip on me tightens. For half a second I’m scared, but then that melts away into something so much more. The nervous feeling I had dissolves and a warm heat forms in my belly. I reach up to tuck a stray hair back behind my ear, and have to take discreet deep breaths to keep from passing out. The intensity of his presence is so intimidating yet comforting. He’s like a stallion with all that muscle and restrained strength. He’s holding back, I can feel it. But I don’t know for how long. And that’s what scares me, and attracts me to him.

The sound of a rooster crowing breaks the spell, and I look over to the barn.

“That would be Spartacus,” Blake says, still not letting go of my hand.

“You named your rooster Spartacus?” I can’t help the laugh in my voice.

“Sure. It fits him. He’s always going around telling everybody what to do.” He shrugs, and his soft smile is back. “Let me show you the house and we can talk about what you’ll be doing here.” A teasing glint hits his eyes.

“I didn’t say I was staying.” I pull my hand from his grip and take a step back. I need to get my head in control, and I can’t when he’s so close to me and giving me those panty-combusting smiles.

Ignoring me, Blake goes over to my car and opens the passenger door and takes out my bag. Yep, Blake does what he wants. I open my mouth to tell him to stop, but he turns around, puts my bag on his shoulder, and cuts me off.

“The way I see it, Lucy, you’ve got two choices. Stay here on the farm to do the work you need. Or stay here on the farm and do the work you need. Seems like an easy choice to me.”

I roll my eyes and watch him walk past me. “That’s not a choice. And my name isn’t Lucy,” I say, and then let loose some Spanish. I tell him just because he has a great ass doesn't mean I’m going to do what he says. He stops on the porch and looks back at me, and for a second I worry he understood what I said because I see the heat in his eyes. But he simply winks at me and walks in the door, somehow knowing I'm following him. He does have my bag, after all.

I let out a frustrated grunt and follow him. It’s hot as hell outside, and I’ve got on jeans, boots, and a white tank top. I’m used to the Texas heat, but this much is only going to make me a sweaty mess in ten seconds flat. My long, dark, loose braid is flipped over one shoulder, and I brush my bangs out of my eyes as I step into the shade of the porch.

Walking in, I see Blake standing in the living room. The house looks new, and I can’t help but appreciate how nice it is. After living in a house built by my father, I appreciate the craftsmanship of building a home and notice all the details of the wood here. Someone took their time building this and their dedication shows.

“This is really beautiful,” I say, looking at the stone fireplace.

“Thank you. I built it myself,” he replies. I glance over at him, not sure if I believe that. “I swear.” Something about that does something deep inside me. He's built a home. Not only a home for himself, but a home for a family. Showing me a part of who he is. What Blake wants out of life.

He laughs because he must see I’m skeptical about him building it. The place has a homey vibe to it, but it feels so spacious. I shared a room with my sister most of my life, and then moved to the attic when she got married and started making babies. Living with six other people in a house is cramped. All of a sudden, a wave of homesickness hits me. I miss the loud sounds of the kids and everybody yelling. This isn’t forever, but it feels like a big step away from the life I knew.

“Hey,” Blake says, coming up in front of me and taking my chin in his hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Just the first time I’m away from home.” I feel comforted by his touch and the wave passes. I feel silly for reacting childishly, but it’s part of the reason I’m doing this. To grow up and experience the life I’ve always dreamed of. I'm so used to being home and surrounded by people, by family.

“Hopefully I can make that as easy as possible. Let me give you the grand tour.” His steel-blue eyes sparkle with delight, and I can’t help but smile at him in return. He seems delighted to have me here. Excited even, like he's bursting to show me his home. Wanting me to like it.

He takes his hat off and tosses it on the couch, then runs his big hand through his dark locks. God, I didn’t think he could get any hotter, but damn I was wrong. His hair is longer than I expected, and it falls into his eyes as he takes my hand again and leads me to the kitchen.

“This is the place I know nothing about. Apparently food comes out of it, but it only works for me if someone else is doing it.”

I shake my head and laugh as I walk into the space and see how big and new it is. This is the kind of kitchen my mama would have killed for. I’m already thinking of all the breads I could roll out on that huge island.

“Dr. Long said I’d be here working with the animals until I reached my clinical hours. Then you’d possibly have a full-time position for me. Or at least enough work in this area to keep me from having to go back into town and to keep him from having to travel out this way so much.”

“That’s right,” Blake says, leaning a hip on the counter. “I have two brothers and a sister, and we all have land out here with animals that need looking after. We need someone to do vaccination, well checks, and be on call if something goes wrong. We've had a couple of instances before where Dr. Long couldn’t get here fast enough and we lost some animals. We don't want that happening again. It would be nice if we could do it all in-house.”

I nod, understanding that it's a long way from town, and seconds count in emergencies. With this much land and this many animals, I could see why they’d want their own vet.

“Let me show you to your room and we can talk some more. Help you decide.”

His big body pushes away from the counter and he walks over to me. He surprises me by taking my hand again and leading me down a hall. As we pass a few doors, he explains they are empty rooms needing to be filled, bathrooms, and an office. His bedroom is at the end of the long hall, and there’s a door beside it. He opens it and we step inside. It's full of light with a daybed against one wall. There are white pillows and soft blankets laid on it and it looks like someplace you’d want to lie down and take a nap. The room is cozy and smaller than I imagined.

“Sorry about the size, but the other guest rooms aren’t done yet. I built this one as a nursery since it’s close to the master.”

“A nursery?” I ask, looking up at him. “Do you plan on kids?”

The thought of him having a baby with someone makes a little green monster rumble inside me. I hadn’t thought about him having a girlfriend, and suddenly I’m not liking the idea. But I was right. He’d built this home for a family. His family.

“Someday,” he says, reaching out and tucking my hair behind my ear. “As soon as I can.”

The tingle between my legs should be a warning sign. But for a moment I allow myself to pretend he means me.

I
watch
Lucy as she stares at the wild horses running through the field. I’m unable to take my eyes off her as she gazes at them in wonder. The wind blows locks of her hair that have slowly escaped her braid throughout the day. She looks like she belongs here. That thought has been running through my mind all day.

She has a way with animals like I’ve never seen before. Her touch is always soft and calming, making them come easily to her. They do exactly what she wants them to. Even when I took her out to see our ornery goat Billy, who bites anyone that gets near him. He was rubbing against her like he was a fucking dog wanting attention. I’d started to get jealous a few times. She’d run her hands along their fur and speak to them sweetly in Spanish. I don’t think she was meaning to ignore me, but this is how most of the day went - Luciana lost in the animals and me lost in her. She couldn’t take her eyes from them, and I couldn’t take my eyes from her. She’s perfect. She has so much sweetness in her, and I want it. It shows in everything she does, and I can see why she became a veterinarian. She was born to love and heal. It’s who she is down to her core. I didn’t know such sweetness could even be real.

“Sun’s starting to set and I really shoulda fed you,” I tell her. She’s so small, she shouldn’t be skipping meals, and it makes me wonder if she does that often. Gets so wrapped up in everything around her, she forgets about herself. Well, that’s fine by me. I’ll make sure she’s looked after. Make sure she gets anything she needs.

She turns to look at me, the sun lighting up her dark hair. I’m going to have to get her a hat if she plans on being out like this all day. I’d taken the Gator today instead of a four-wheeler or a horse. I’d wanted to give her some protection from the sun.

I reach out and rub my hand across the top of her head before sliding it down her braid, feeling the heat from the sun on her black-as-night hair. Her eyes widen, probably shocked by my bold move, like I can touch her however I want, but I make no apologies for it. I’ve been trying to give her small touches all day. Get her used to me, little by little. Not only that, I need them. I don’t think I could stop myself from touching her if I tried. It feels natural. Like I’ve been doing it my whole life.

“We’ll come back in the morning if you want,” I add, hating to take her from here if she doesn’t want to leave. Hell, if I’d planned it better we could have spent the night out here if she wanted. She likes being with the animals as much as I do. The thought of her and me out here under the stars makes my ever-present hard-on even harder.

“It’s so perfect here. Almost unreal.” Something passes between us, or maybe only I feel it, before her eyes move back to the horses. Instantly I miss them on me. It does feel almost unreal for as long as I’ve been waiting for this moment.

“He won’t leave her side.” Her full lips part, and she looks back at me, giving me what I love most. Her attention.

I nod towards the wild horses. “I know all I have to do is round her up and he’ll come, too.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows draw together in question, because this isn’t normal. Horses don’t mate for life. Usually stallions breed with one and are on to the next. But not him. Where she goes, he goes. No question. I've never seen anything like it in my life, and I've been around horses since I could walk. Been training them for as long as I can remember.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s actually why I got them. The seller tried to break them apart, I was told, and he went nuts. Once they got him under control he wouldn’t eat. Wouldn’t do anything. They’d talked about putting him down.”

She gasps at that, already attached to the two horses she’s been watching for the last twenty minutes. I had been the same way when I’d seen the stallion. Felt a likeness to him. His devotion for the horse he felt was his. How he couldn’t bear living without her.

“I bought them right on the spot and brought them out here. Still not real sure what to do with them.”

Lucy’s reaches out and grabs my arm. Her little fingers are unable to fully reach around my forearm. It’s the first time she’s been the one to initiate the touch. It takes everything in me not to grab her and pull her towards me and mold her body against mine. Where it belongs.

“What do you mean
do with them
?” she asks, the concern clear in her voice.

“Well, normally my ranch breaks them in and then sells them.”

“You can’t split them up.” Her words are so fast I almost don’t catch them, her passion making her accent bleed through. Something about that turns me on even more. That fire lighting up her eyes.

“No. I can’t,” I confirm. “I’m not sure I can even part with them myself.” That makes her whole face light up, and I swear to Christ, my heart stops for a second. Fuck, I’ll let them move into the house if it keeps that look on her face.

“So then, you do know what you are doing with them?”

“No, I don’t know if I should leave them be, or break them in and try to train them.” She glances back to the horses, and I can’t read her expression. It bothers me that I can’t fully understand her every thought. Know all the little signs of what she’s thinking.

“They look happy out here.”

Luciana looks happy out here, too. It makes me believe that maybe she’d want to stay here too, because, like that wild horse, if someone tried to break us up I’m not sure I could go on either.

“I like watching them like this, too. It’s why I haven’t started to try. I’ve just let them be. I come out from time to time to check on them, but I have a feeling it won’t be long until she’s carrying a foal. Already might have one.”

Her hand on my arms slides down to my hand, her fingers lacing with mine. “I think we’ll keep checking on them, see how things go,” she says, looking up at me. “I'd love to be here when she births.”

“I like the sound of that,” I confirm. I like the idea that every day we’ll take a trip out here together. That she’ll be here when the horse does foal, because that would mean she's planning to stay longer than her set farm hours. I wonder if she even realizes what she said. “Come on, let’s get back. We barely covered any land today and have a lot to cover tomorrow. I’ll get you fed and into bed.” I don’t let her hand go as I walk back towards the Gator. I let her climb into the passenger’s seat, and only then do I finally let her hand go. I walk around to the driver’s side, hop in, and take off back towards the house.

When I pull up to the front of the house, I see Dolly leaning against her truck. My hackles start to rise when her mouth doesn’t turn up into a smile like it usually does. Dolly’s always happy, even when she’s being a sassy pain in the ass.

“What’s wrong?” I say, pulling up next to her.

“Ty called and said he hasn’t gotten a hold of Trace all day. You talk to him?” she questions, her eyes going over to Luciana. Dolly gives her a small wave.

I’m not sure if they’ve met before or not, but normally no one is a stranger to Dolly if she has her way. So I’m guessing they’ve shared a hello or two.

“No, but that’s Trace. He can go days without talking to anyone.” It’s not unheard of. Hell, a few times he’s taken off camping on his own land for weeks on end. It's not news that he likes to be alone.

My dad struck oil long ago when we were kids, and all the rigs are on Trace’s land. He just has to keep an eye out and run a few day-to-day things. We have an oil company that manages them for the most part. It’s easy for him to come and go as he pleases. That’s the way he likes it.

“Yeah, but I guess he was supposed to meet with Mr. Benson about some feed and never showed. Nor did he show to pick up the pies MJ made him.”

Trace might like to be alone, but he’s always punctual. If he says he’ll be somewhere, he’ll be there fifteen minutes before that time and then get pissed if you aren’t there at that time, too.

“You didn’t just drive over and check on him yourself?” I ask. Usually Dolly would be all in this wondering where Trace was and what he was doing.

“Ty called me not even two minutes ago. I was already here dropping off your pies from MJ. They’re on the kitchen counter, by the way.”

“All right. I’ll drive over. His road can be a pain. Even more so after last night’s storm. And the fact that he still hasn’t lain new gravel this year.” I sigh, not wanting to leave Luciana. I still haven’t gotten to feed her yet, but I don’t want Dolly getting herself stuck in the mud, not to mention if Trace is MIA, it’s for a reason, and I’m guessing having Dolly ask him five million questions wouldn’t help whatever it is.

I turn to look at Luciana. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Make yourself at home.” I want to lean in and kiss her, but I don’t know how she’ll take it. Plus, Dolly is standing right here.

“I’m going to make something to eat and head to bed,” she tells me as she steps out of the Gator.

“I think I’ll join you. I haven't eaten all day,” Dolly says, and I know that’s bullshit. Dolly can out-eat me and has probably already eaten three times today. She wants to get Luciana alone and dig. “Besides, I didn't know you were staying out here, Luciana. I thought you worked at the vet office in town with Dr. Long.”

“She’s training here,” I tell Dolly, cutting in. I really don’t want to leave now. What if Dolly offers Lucy a place to stay? “Don’t you have school work or something?”

“Don’t you have a brother to check on?” she fires back, and I know I’m not going to win this. Dolly can be just like our ma. If she wants something, she’s getting it, and nothing will stand in her way. Hell, I think we all are like that. Right now she wants to talk to Luciana, preferably with me not around.

“I’d love if you’d join me,” Luciana says, and we both look over at her. “My sister and I normally cook dinner together if we can. I think it’s important for family to be as close as they can be.” She narrows her eyes at me, clearly not liking that I was trying to get my sister out of here.

Fucking shit.

“All right. Save me some,” I tell them, pulling my Stetson from my head and handing it to Luciana. “I’ll be back.”

“We really should save him something or he’ll starve. He can’t cook to save his life,” I hear Dolly say as I pick up the pace, almost running to my truck past Lucy’s beat-up little bug. I really need to get rid of that thing and another vehicle. The sooner I get gone, the sooner I can get back.

After hopping in my truck and taking off, I pull out my phone and call a dealer in town for a quick chat. I tell him what I want, what needs to be towed, and where the new truck should go. I know that’s probably going to be a fight. I don’t care. I’ll give Lucy anything she wants, unless that something puts her in danger. After spending the day with her, I know one thing: Lucy is always worried about the people around her. She likes to make sure everyone else has or gets what they need. Well, I’m going to make sure she’s the one getting what she needs.