Destined for Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 2) Contemporary Romance (3 page)

BY THE TIME Rex and Treat got through the morning chores on the ranch, Rex needed another shower—a cold one. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jade and how she looked in those tight jeans shorts that barely covered the curve of her ass and the way her lean legs disappeared into those fancy leather boots. She was nothing like the women Rex usually dated. He gravitated toward tall blondes and preferred more demure, feminine women who wouldn’t mouth off at every little thing. Finding those women had always been easy for him. There were enough nearby towns that he could slip in and out when he was in need of a quick release, and he’d maintained those drop-in relationships with women who didn’t seem to want any more than he was willing to give—a quick bang a few times each month, without phone calls or further attachments. He had yet to meet a woman who stirred the protective urges that he had for his sister, and when he did, then maybe…just maybe, he’d want something more. Lately, watching Treat with his fiancée, Max, had stirred a desire in him for something more. But what they had was so pure and natural that Rex wondered if it would ever be in the cards for him. He wondered if he was even capable of such love.

He was brushing Hope and thinking about Jade’s blue eyes when he felt his father’s large hand on his shoulder. He had a momentary worry that his father somehow knew he’d helped Jade, but when he turned and saw his father’s eyes, he recognized the familiar longing. He was thinking about their mother. Hope did that to them all. She’d been their mother’s horse, after all.

“Son. How’s she doing?” The men in the family got their height from their father, who stood eye to eye with Treat at six-foot-six, and their coloring as well, while Savannah took after their mother, with thick auburn hair and green eyes.

“She’s good. I rode her this morning. She did well.” Rex finished grooming her and brought her back into her stall. “Hannah’s coming by later to practice showing Hope for the horse show next Friday.” Hannah Price’s father had bought several horses from Hal Braden over the years, and the fourteen-year-old’s enthusiasm toward horses—especially Hope—had lit up his father’s eyes. When Hannah asked if she could show Hope in the youth halter class, they’d all but jumped for joy. She’d been practicing for weeks, and Rex knew she’d do a damned good job.

“Good. I’ll help her out. You got that meeting tonight?”

Shit
. He’d forgotten about the volunteer meeting for the Weston Horse Show, which was taking place the following Friday and Saturday. He’d been volunteering for the last few years, but after the morning he’d had, it was the last thing on his mind. Still, he’d committed, and Rex took his commitments seriously.

“Yup, I’ll be there,” Rex said with a nod.

“Good, and don’t you let them make you do any of that hokey crap they’ve been trying to do for years.”

Rex laughed. “No hokey crap. Got it, Dad.” As he went to check on the other horses, he listened to his father talking to Hope.

Rex and his brothers had been raised in a very loving, demonstrative family, and although hugs, pats on the back, and
I love yous
were common, whether they were in public or in the privacy of their own home, Rex had noticed through the years that he hadn’t ever felt the same commitment, or deep emotional tug, toward any of the various women he’d dated. He’d begun to wonder if he ever would. The thought brought him back to Jade. He definitely had the urge to touch her, but with his testosterone raging at the sight of her, he wouldn’t exactly call that anything more than a primal urge. Yet still, it made him wonder…

“How’s Brownie doing?” Hal had grown up helping breed Dutch Warmblood show jumpers, and he’d carried the tradition onto his own ranch. Brownie was a generic name that Rex used for the bay foals. This particular foal was almost eight months old and had already shed the pale hairs on his legs to off black up to his hocks. He was a beauty, and as much as Rex enjoyed seeing a new family enthusiastically take on a new family member, he always felt a pang of sadness to let them go.

“Brownie’s strong and handsome,” his father said as he petted Hope. “You’re doing great, old girl. Adriana would be proud.”

His father swore on the ground he walked on that their mother, Adriana, still spoke to him even after all these years. Rex didn’t know what to make of his father’s declarations, but he knew that a few months earlier, when Hal had suffered a bout of stress cardiomyopathy, otherwise known as Broken Heart Syndrome, Hal had been having a full-on, heated conversation about Treat and Max—and he’d been alone in the barn at the time. He’d gotten so worked up that he had all of the symptoms of a heart attack, scaring the daylights out of the entire family. Hal was as strong as an ox, and in the months since, he’d fully recovered. Rex couldn’t imagine a life without his father around, and as he watched him now, he was glad that it was only a broken heart he’d suffered, and not something much worse.

JADE HAD NEVER been nervous in meetings, and practicing veterinary medicine, she’d come into contact with just about every personality under the sun. But when Rex Braden walked into the horse show meeting in Harvey and Ester Gesalt’s yard, wearing black Ariat boots and tight-fitting Levi’s, her pulse sped up and every nerve in her body began to do a fiery little dance. She found herself looking away, as if the black button-down shirt he was wearing was blinding like the sun.

This is ridiculous.

He’s just a man, and a mean one at that.

Jade had badgered her best friend, Riley Banks, all afternoon for information on Rex. She couldn’t get him out of her head. Riley was the eyes and ears of Weston. If there was dirt to be slung, she had her shovel ready before anyone else was even awake. Surprisingly, she’d learned only two things about Rex: He hadn’t dated anyone from Weston since high school, and he was always working. How could a man live for thirty-four years in one town—except for when he’d attended college—and have only two things on the must-know-about-him list? Two! Everyone had secrets and skeletons. God knew she did. She wondered what his were.

She surveyed him as he moved through the small gathering of community members that would be volunteering at the horse show, shaking the hands with the men and nodding at the women. She made a mental list of her own: He wasn’t wearing his Stetson, and his thick dark hair brushed his collar. It was longer than was in style, which told her that he didn’t really care what anyone else thought about him. That didn’t surprise her, given the way he’d treated her earlier that afternoon. As he shook the hands of a few of the other volunteers, she noticed—and added to her mental list—that he had a nice, slightly crooked smile.

“Will!” He patted Will Prather on the back.

She added
sexiest voice around
to her list with a reluctant groan, and
more muscles per square inch of his body than any man she’d ever met
.

He laughed at something Will said and took a step in her direction.

Jade held her breath as their eyes locked, stopping him in his tracks. His smile faded, replaced with a scowl. He turned his back to her and lifted his chin.

She added
asshole
to her list and decided it was time to stop her mental musings, because along with that last declaration, she felt a twang of hurt at how he’d looked at her.

“Well, let’s get down to business. We need to decide who will be volunteering for which event, concessions, etc.” Harvey Gesalt and his wife, Ester, owned the Weston Riding Ring, and they’d hosted the annual horse show for the last seven years. Harvey and Ester were one of those couples that looked alarmingly alike; both stood about five-foot-three inches tall and had short gray hair and leathery skin. They were in their seventies, and inasmuch as they looked alike, they were also very different. In all the ways Harvey was hard—inflexible, demanding—his wife was malleable and amenable.

Jade tried to concentrate on what Harvey was saying, but with Rex just feet away, she could hardly think at all. She wished she’d had a chance to change before the meeting, but she’d been so busy with clients’ animals and then she’d wanted to massage Flame’s leg. As it was, she’d barely made it to the meeting on time.

A couple walked behind her, and she had to move to allow them to pass. Rex turned as the couple noisily thanked her for moving, and he shook his head, giving her a disapproving look for causing a disruption. When he remained standing at an angle instead of turning back toward Harvey, she silently tried to will him to turn around.

Turn around. Please, look away.

 
The air around her warmed, and she began to fidget like a child who had been in church too long—and damn if it wasn’t because of Rex. She tried not to look at his biceps straining beneath his sleeves, and she tried to ignore the way his hair fell in thick, lustrous waves, but every pore emitted sexuality, and having not been with a man in months, Jade was having a hard time ignoring his potent masculinity.

Focus!
Damn, she’d missed the information about the volunteers, which was the reason she was there.

“The concert is scheduled for eight o’clock Friday night, and the band is coming in from Allure. They were highly recommended,” Ester said.

A concert might be fun
. She wondered if Rex could dance.
Ugh, what am I doing? I’ll go to the concert with Riley and dance this lust away.

“We’ll put the sign-up sheets on the table next to the refreshments, and we’ll finalize the list and assignments at the next meeting.”

Jade headed for the sign-up table. The sooner she signed up, the sooner she could leave.

“Dr. Johnson, how are you?” Caroline Mills owned an eight-year-old gelding, Jasper, who had become disobedient when ridden. When Jade examined him, she found he had a severe muscle spasm throughout his back and hamstring. After just two sessions of acupuncture and hands-on massage, he was back to his old self again.

“Caroline, please, it’s Jade, remember?” Jade disliked the formality of being called “Doctor.” Every time she heard the term, she thought of Dr. Baker, the old man who had been the town vet forever. “How’s Jasper doing?” She glanced at the sign-up table and noticed a line had formed.

“He’s doing great. You really do have magic hands.”

Jade searched the line for Rex. He was nowhere to be found. Now was her chance to sign up and get out.

“Thank you. I hate to be rude, but I’d better get in line,” she said, hurrying over to the table.
How long does it take to sign your name?
Jade tapped her foot, wishing the line would move quicker. At least she’d avoided a run-in with Rex. She let out a relieved sigh just as he came to stand behind her in line. She made the mistake of turning around, and his dark eyes jetted away from her.

He crossed his arms in a defensive pose, and Jade turned back around, trying to ignore the familiar woody, leathery scent of him, which reminded her of the barn. Her stomach tightened. She was hyperaware of his body just inches behind her.

Why was she so goddamned nervous around him, and why was he so damned rude, looking away from her like that? When the line finally moved, she scribbled her name on the sign-up sheet without even looking at what she was signing up for. She could figure that out later. She thrust the pen in his direction with a harsh scowl.
Two can play at this game
.

“How’s Flame?” His eyes were serious.

Surprised that he cared, she answered, “He had a hard time making it down the driveway, no thanks to you.”
Why am I being so snotty?

REX WATCHED JADE stomp away, and he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. When she’d bent over the table to sign her name, her shorts had ridden up just enough to expose the tender skin where her thighs ended and her rear end began, and he’d just about lost it. He’d been with plenty of beautiful women, but there was something about Jade that made his heart soar. He’d first noticed it when she was a carefree teenager, vibrant and eager in everything she did, with a ready smile. Even then she had a body that wouldn’t quit, and now she was harder, louder, and her body had matured in ways that set his blood on fire. That strange combination touched him in all the right places.

Why’d she have to come back to town? He’d done so well not thinking about her when she was away at school. And now, every time he saw her, his body reacted with a visceral, carnal need. As she stomped away, he wondered why the one woman who lit his veins on fire had to be the daughter of his father’s only enemy.

JADE WOKE UP early on Monday morning and went down to check on Flame. She’d given him an acupuncture treatment after coming home from the meeting with the hopes of alleviating any remaining discomfort. She took him out of the stall and walked him for a few minutes, watching his gait, and was relieved to see him back to his normal self. She didn’t want to take any chances. Rex was right. Flame could be temperamental, and he was a big boy.
Rex is a temperamental big boy, too
. If he had even a slight injury, he could reinjure it with one gallop. She decided to give him a rubdown and ice him throughout the day again, just in case.

While she was icing Flame’s leg, she thought of Rex and again wondered if he might soften with the right care. She let her mind drift further and wondered if he would have offered to help if he’d run into her father or her brother down at the ravine. Had he helped her simply because it was her? Even though she knew she shouldn’t, Jade wanted to know even more about him. She was an intuitive woman. She saw the way he looked at her, and she wondered if maybe he was thinking about her, too. She knew she was pushing the envelope with her next thought, and she knew she was rationalizing, thinking that she might be on his mind, too, to put her plan into motion, but she didn’t care. Something told her that she should extend an olive branch and see if he grabbed hold.

She was headed toward the house when she saw her parents walking toward their car.

“Mom, Dad!” She jogged over. “Where are you going?”

Her mother looked pretty in her fitted blue dress. Jade had her father’s eyes, but she had her mother’s dark hair and slim figure.

“Just taking a quick trip to the bank. We’ll be back later. How busy is your schedule today?” Jane Johnson smiled at her daughter.

“I’ve only got a few clients, so not bad. I’m going to ice Flame again later, too. He seems fine, but I want to be sure before I let him run.”

“That’s good, honey. You haven’t heard from Kane at all, have you?”

Jade knew her mother worried about Kane, and she knew how often she bit her tongue rather than bring him up. Jade had been honest and had told them both about how he’d stalked her after she’d ended their relationship. For the first few weeks after she returned home, her father had been painfully protective every time she left the house. She hadn’t heard word one from Kane, and until now, her parents had backed off about him.

“No, Mom. He’s not going to come all the way out here looking for me,” she reassured her. When she’d first moved, Kane had called her several times and had texted often. She’d finally blocked his number, and that seemed to put an end to it.

Her mother blew her a kiss before getting into the car.

Jade headed into the house and began mixing the ingredients for her mother’s famous brownies. She was comfortable in her parents’ kitchen, but she longed for her own once again. She was itching to get her own place, but she still wasn’t sure that Weston was where she wanted to put down roots.

Jade hadn’t done anything fun in weeks, and she needed a little inspiration to lift her spirits. She’d been too busy making enough money to cover her school loans, and recently, worrying about Flame’s leg. Even if Rex wasn’t an appropriate inspiration—
you know better than to do anything to embarrass this family
—as she licked the batter off of her finger, her mind traveled back to that moment in the truck. Being that close to Rex had stirred up all sorts of tingling in those secret places that she’d been trying to forget for the past few months. What would Rex’s mouth taste like? Would he kiss aggressively, or move his tongue over hers slowly and lovingly? Would he taste like he smelled—manly and pungent—or would he taste so sweet she wouldn’t be able to get enough of him?

The oven beeped, pulling her from her reverie. She had to stop thinking of him that way. She’d obviously gone far too long without being intimate with a man.
I really need to get laid
. Maybe she’d go out with Riley to someplace where no one knew her. Yes, that’s exactly what she needed to do. She needed to get out or she
was
going to end up embarrassing herself for sure. But first she was going to take the brownies to Rex.

She put the brownies in the preheated oven and texted Riley.

Free 2night?

Ke$ha came on the radio, and she moved her hips to the beat of the music.
Dancing
.
That’s what I need
.

Her phone vibrated with Riley’s text.
Absofuckinglutely.

She could always count on Riley. They’d been besties their whole lives, and even though they’d gone to separate colleges and Jade had stayed in Oklahoma after school, she and Riley had always remained close. She texted back
. Dancing?

Less than thirty seconds later she had her answer.
Def! Allure? New dance club. Fingers. 8?

Fingers? What kind of name was that for a dance club? It sounded dirty to Jade. She texted back,
Perfect.
She hadn’t gone dancing in years, and now she couldn’t wait.

THE WHITE SUV pulled into the driveway as Rex was coming in from the fields. At first he didn’t recognize the truck as it crept down the driveway, but as it came closer to the house, he recognized Jade in the driver’s seat.

“Oh, shit,” he said aloud.
Just what I need
. Treat was inside handling his resort business, and thankfully, his father had gone into town. He stalked toward her car, trying to ignore the way each nerve rose to the surface of his skin.

When she stepped from her car in a short white skirt that hugged her slim hips and a dark blue tank top that accentuated her breasts, the world stood still. Rex’s legs stopped moving, and he couldn’t get his brain to think past her unimaginable beauty. She turned with a wide smile, and her hair fell into her face. Years of pent-up desire rushed through him in flashes of images: his hands beneath her hair, his lips on her neck, his—

“Hi, Rex!” she yelled with a wave.

He shook the dirty thoughts away and closed the distance between them.  “Jade.” He tried not to sound angry, but even he heard a tinge of panic in his voice as she stole a glance toward the house.

“Well, hello to you, too. I brought you something,” she said cheerfully.

She reached into her car, all those enchanting curves so close he could touch them as she bent over and reached farther. A groan slipped from his lips, and he tried to cover it with a feigned cough.

She came out of the car holding a plate full of brownies and kicked the door shut, hiking her skirt up just a little farther. “You okay?” she asked with an arched brow.

“Fine.”
Cough, cough
.
Shit. I can’t even look at her without getting a hard-on
.

“I brought you brownies.”

His body was still in gawking mode.

“To thank you? For yesterday?” She smiled, holding up the plate of brownies.

She’s off-limits.
“Brownies? No need. Really. Anyone would have helped you.”

She licked her lips, and he stifled another groan.
Time for another trip out of town.
He had to get her to leave before he said or did something he’d regret, or rather, he should regret.

“I don’t think they would have.” She pushed the plate toward him. “I know I can’t stick around, with our families feuding and all, but no matter what their issues are, I didn’t want to seem inconsiderate. Here.” She shoved the plate toward him again, and this time, he took it.

“Thank you. That’s mighty kind of you, but really, you should be going.” He opened her car door for her and hoped she’d just jump in and leave.

“Look, I know our families don’t get along, but do we have to be so mean to each other?”

“I’m a Braden; you’re a Johnson. We shouldn’t even be talking.”
And I shouldn’t be fantasizing about taking you right here against your car
.

Her smile faded to a disappointed frown. She narrowed her eyes. “Are you really as cold as you appear, Rex Braden?”

He couldn’t slow his racing pulse.
I’ll show you just how hot I can be
. He took a step forward, his hands fisting and opening repeatedly just to keep them from touching her. He’d dreamed about that body of hers, that luscious mouth, those legs wrapped around his waist, and since seeing her at the ravine, he’d taken three cold showers. He barely made it from breakfast to lunch without his body getting so overheated he was sure Treat could smell the testosterone coming off him in waves.

“I think you’d better go,” he said, eyeing the open car door.

She spun on her heels, but before closing her door, she said, “And here I thought there was something more to you than an arrogant, self-centered Braden. Enjoy the brownies.”

He watched her pull out of the driveway and cursed under his breath. Why the hell was he even in this position? What was he thinking? Things were fine before he helped her. He should have turned and ridden off the minute he’d seen who it was down at the ravine. He should have never given any Johnson the time of day, much less the beautiful one that made his heart sing.

“Who was that?” Treat called from the front door.

Rex looked down at the plate of brownies and had a complete brain freeze. Treat met him on the front porch and took the plate from his hands.

“Brownies, yum.” He took one off the top and bit into it. “Aw, these are incredible. Who made them?”

Rex went to the sink and ran the water until it was freezing. Then he splashed it on his face. Treat leaned against the counter next to him and laughed.

“What’s her name?”

They’d confided in each other about women their whole lives. Rex knew he couldn’t pull the wool over Treat’s eyes, and besides, he’d watched Treat change over the last few months, and he knew that if any of his siblings would be sympathetic, it would be him. Treat had gone from building a resort empire to building a life, his own family. Once he’d committed to Max, he’d become completely focused on her needs, putting her feelings first, spending time with her, loving her whether she was happy or sad. When they were together, they were always touching, nuzzling against each other, and sharing secret laughs. Rex couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

He looked at his oldest brother now, and he wanted to share his feelings and his concerns.

“You can’t tell Dad,” Rex said as he dried his face with a towel.

“What are we, twelve?” Treat teased. He ran a hand through his thick dark hair. Treat had taken to forgoing shaving for a day or two each week, and today he sported a thick five-o’clock shadow, giving him a rugged look. At six-foot-six, he reminded Rex of the Marlboro man from the old commercials. “First of all, why would I tell Dad anything about your sex life, and second of all, why would Dad care?”

Rex sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “About yay high.” He held his hand up to his neck. “Long dark hair, gorgeous. Just came back to town a few months ago.”

He watched the lifting of Treat’s eyebrows and the coy smile that crept along his lips as understanding dawned on him.

“No.” Treat shook his head. “No way.”

Rex shrugged. “It’s not like I’m chasing her.”

“Jade Johnson, Rex? What are you thinking?”

“That’s just it. I’m
not
thinking. Other than every time I see her I can’t stop fantasizing about what it would be like to…”

Treat was still shaking his head. He laughed a hearty, deep laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Rex asked.

“You’re so fucked.” Treat’s phone vibrated and, still laughing, he read the text and responded.

“Don’t you feel like you have a leash around your neck carrying that damn thing around all the time?”

“Are you kidding? I love to hear from Max.” His phone vibrated and he read the text, then said to Rex, “The best I can do is help you to get your mind off of her. I’m meeting Max tonight for a few drinks. Come along.”