Flirting with Love (29 page)

“What time’s your gig?” Ross asked.

Jake shrugged. “Dunno. Soon.” His skin was bronzed, his muscles strong, and his cocky attitude was just as sure as it always was. “Wes said you’ve got a serious girlfriend.”

“Yup.” Ross slid him a look that he knew clearly translated to,
Keep your comments to yourself and don’t fuck with me.
And he knew from the smirk and arched brow on Jake’s face that
his
look translated to,
Yeah, right
.

Jake turned around and leaned his elbows on the fence, kicked one ankle over the other, and glanced at Luke.

“Here it comes,” Luke said.

“My only question is, why?” Jake held Ross’s gaze.

“Why what?” Ross asked flatly.

“Why tie yourself down? You had it made. You’ve got a great career. You’ve always had women all over you, so don’t tell me you hit a dry spell. Why give it all up? What do you gain?” Jake watched a blonde walk by wearing Daisy Dukes and cowgirl boots. “Why, oh why, indeed.”

“You’re an idiot.” Ross shifted his eyes away.

Luke chuckled.

“I’m not being funny. I’m really curious. I never thought I’d see the day Pierce and Luke settled down, and I guess of all my brothers, I honestly thought you’d be first.” Jake lifted his cowboy hat as a pair of pretty brunettes walked past. “But you held out, man. Why now?”

Ross shared a knowing glance with Luke—
One day he’ll understand—
then he settled a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Jake, let me put this into words that you can understand. You know that high you get when you’ve got two women in your bed?”

“Hell yes.” Jake’s eyes lit up.

“Remember the feeling when you were in love with Fiona in high school?” He knew he struck a nerve, and he meant to.

Jake’s jaw clenched. “Yeah,” he said in a deep, gruff voice.

“Which was better?”

Jake’s eyes went cold. His hands fisted by his side, but he made no attempt to answer.

Luke and Ross exchanged a knowing glance and pushed from the fence. Ross patted Jake’s back. “I’m going to see my girlfriend, who I’m quite sure makes me feel a thousand times better than any other woman ever could. I’ll catch your show, and we can catch up afterward.”

Jake nodded and eyed another woman. “You’re a buzzkill, man. You had to bring up Fi?”

“Sorry, dude. You asked.”

Luke’s cell phone rang as he and Ross walked toward Elisabeth’s booth. He
uh-huh
ed a few times, then ended the call.

“Bro, you know about some guy named Robbie?” Luke asked.

An icy spear shot through Ross’s chest. “Robbie?” Surely Luke didn’t mean the only Robbie he could think about. Elisabeth’s Robbie.

“Some guy who knows Elisabeth?”

Fuck
. “What about him?”

“Looks like he’s here, and by the looks of it”—Luke nodded at Elisabeth taking fast, determined steps in their direction—“she saw him. Want me to stay or go?”

“Go.”

“Okay, but if he needs taking care of—”

Ross shot him a dark stare. No one needed taking care of, and if anyone did, Ross would handle it.

Luke held his hands up in surrender. “Just having your back, bro.”

“Thanks. I’m good.” He braced himself. In Ross’s experience,
ex
-anythings rarely brought good news, and from the tension streaming across Elisabeth’s face, he knew this time was no different.

“Hey, babe.” He tried to sound casual, but her eyes were damp and red rimmed, and when she looked up at him, they welled with fresh tears. Worry clutched his gut. He didn’t want to think about what those tears might mean. Were they meant for him or caused by Robbie for a whole other reason?

“Elisabeth?” A well-built man with light brown hair and bright blue eyes smiled as he reached a hand toward Elisabeth.
Ross’s
Elisabeth.

Elisabeth turned, and when their eyes met, Ross’s chest tightened. This was Robbie. He had no doubt that the man dressed in khaki pants and a polo shirt much like his own was her ex. When Robbie touched Elisabeth’s hand, it was all Ross could do not to close the gap between him and Elisabeth and put his arm around her. Claim her as his own.

“Robbie.” She said his name just above a whisper, the way she might say the name of a friend whom she hadn’t seen in a long time—different from the way she said Ross’s name, he noticed, which was laced with love.

Then why was her lower lip trembling?

Aw, hell
. Here come the tears.

Ross placed a hand on her lower back. “Lis, you okay?”

She glanced at Ross, then back at Robbie, and her breath hitched as she nodded.

Bullshit
. He didn’t want to embarrass her, so instead he held a hand out to Robbie and hoped to hell Robbie would drop her hand, which he’d been holding for too damn long.

“Ross Braden.” He couldn’t help but size Robbie up.
Built. Probably works out. I’ve got a couple inches on him—Get your fucking hand off of my girlfriend.

“Robbie Prather.” He flashed a friendly smile and shifted his eyes back to Ross, finally dropping Elisabeth’s hand.

Ross was quite sure his possessive hand on Elisabeth’s back had registered, as it was still firmly in place.

“What are you doing here?” Elisabeth asked Robbie.

His eyes shifted back to Elisabeth. “I came to see you.”

ROSS HAD ABOUT three seconds to make the toughest decision of his life. Should he walk away and give them privacy, opening the door for Robbie to use whatever tactics he might have on tap to get Elisabeth back in his arms, or should he remain where he was, effectively acting as a barrier between Robbie and Elisabeth? He trusted her. Christ, he trusted the hell out of her, and he loved her.

“I’ll give you guys some privacy.” Ross fought the urge to kiss Elisabeth, further staking claim, and instead he squeezed her hand.

“I…um….” Her eyes grew heavy with an unspoken apology.

“It’s okay. Text me when you’re done. Do you need me to go run your booth?”
Christ, what the fuck am I doing?

“The girls are handling it.”

Ross nodded, then held a hand out to Robbie. “Nice to meet you, Robbie. Welcome to Trusty.”

Welcome to Trusty, my ass. How about you get the fuck out of Trusty
? He walked away, ruing his mother for his goddamn good manners.

Less than a minute later, Luke and Wes were by his side, keeping pace with his fast steps.

“What the hell’s going on?” Luke asked.

Ross stormed toward the demolition derby to see Jake, as promised. He needed something to distract him from wanting to turn around and end this nightmare right then.

“Ross, what the fuck?” Wes grabbed his arm.

Ross narrowed his eyes. “Don’t.”

Wes released him. “Why’d you leave them alone? Callie said Elisabeth fell apart when she got back to the booth, but she never even told her who that asshole was.”

“Ex-boyfriend,” he grumbled.

“And you left them alone?” Luke grabbed his arm this time, and Ross wrenched it away. “Dude, what are you thinking?”

Ross wanted to get as far away from where Robbie and Elisabeth were as he could, because the closer he was, the easier it would be to walk over and take a stand. Noise from the demolition derby filled the air as they neared the arena. Engines roared, tires squealed, and the crowds cheered.

Ross’s mind screamed,
Go back!

He stopped walking and met Luke’s confused and angry stare. “I’m thinking that I trust her, and my standing there will not make her love me any more than she already does. I trust her, Luke. Don’t you trust Daisy?”

“Hell yes, but I wouldn’t trust some asshole with her.”

“The guy’s got a PhD. I highly doubt he’s going to try anything inappropriate in the middle of a goddamn fair.” Ross ran his hand through his hair and paced. Fuck, he hated this.

“So, what’s your plan?” Wes crossed his arms over his chest.

Ross stewed. He didn’t have a fucking plan.

“It’s like throwing her to the wolves.” Luke paced alongside Ross. “What if she needs you? What if he lays a hand on her?”

“Their relationship wasn’t like that.” Which was exactly why he was worried about what Robbie’s showing up meant. “They had a good relationship.”

“What are you, their advocate?” Wes asked.

“No, I’m not their fucking…Damn it, Wes. The guy’s not some cretin, okay? He’s an educated guy who treated her great. What the fuck do you want me to do? I love her, and I fucking trust her. There’s no other option here. I don’t even know what the guy wants, except that he came here to see her.”

“What do you think he wants? He tracked her down from LA. How did he even do that?” Luke asked.

Ross slid him an angry stare.
How the hell did he track her down?
Had they been talking this whole time? No. No way.

“There’s only one thing he would come all this way to do in person,” Wes added.

Ross walked away and Wes yanked him back.

“Open your fucking eyes, Ross. If you love her, you can’t leave it up to her to make the right choice.” Wes held his challenging stare.

“That’s exactly why I’m letting her make the decision. The right choice is whatever she decides, and if you don’t know that, then you really are an idiot.”

ROSS WALKED AWAY. He left us alone
. What did that mean? She’d seen a flash of worry in his eyes, but it was fleeting, and when he’d shaken Robbie’s hand, he’d greeted him nicely. What did
that
mean? Elisabeth felt paralyzed, though she wasn’t. Her body was trembling. Her insides were on fire, and not in a good way.

“Is there someplace we can go to talk?” Robbie asked.

“Robbie,
what
are you doing here? I haven’t heard from you in a year, and suddenly you show up after I move hundreds of miles away? How did you find me?” She hadn’t expected the anger that simmered inside her, but damn it, this was
her
town, not his. It wasn’t even her town yet, but it was definitely more hers than his.

“I needed to see you, and I knew that if I called, you wouldn’t see me. Elisabeth, can we please go someplace to talk? Someplace private?” He touched her upper arm.

Emily jogged over to them with a stern look in her eyes. Robbie dropped his hand, and she looked between them. “Elisabeth, are you okay?”

“Yeah. We’re fine.” Elisabeth was surprised at her knee-jerk reaction to protect Robbie. Why was she protecting him? Where did her anger go? She wasn’t able to hold on to it. Then again, she’d never been able to with Robbie. They hadn’t ever had a combative relationship. Their relationship had been comfortable, which was in stark contrast to the relationship she had with Ross. They were so much more than
comfortable
. With Ross she could barely contain her feelings each time she saw him, or the way he made her breathing hitch and her heart race. She wanted to crawl beneath Ross’s skin, breathe the same air he did, feel his pain and his joy. She’d never wanted anything even close with Robbie.

Emily stared at Robbie. “You sure?”

“Yes. Really.” Elisabeth saw Daisy heading in their direction.
Oh God
. “I’ll be back at the booth in a few minutes.”

Daisy waited a few feet away. Elisabeth felt the heat of fresh tears over their support.

“Okay.” Emily walked away, keeping a threatening stare locked on Robbie until she ran into some guy and had to watch where she was going.

“Sorry,” Elisabeth said to Robbie.

Robbie shook his head. “What do they think I’m going to do, kidnap you?”

Elisabeth sank to the grass. She didn’t hate Robbie, and she wasn’t afraid of him. She was just overwhelmed and confused. She’d cried herself to sleep for weeks after they broke up. She never thought she’d fall in love again, or would ever want to. She’d thought Robbie was
the one
. It took a long time for her to realize how wrong she’d been. And now, with Ross, she realized for sure just how wrong she’d been.

“Robbie, how did you find me?”

He sat beside her and rested his elbows on his knees. He still smelled like football. That was the only thing she could liken his scent to, and it made no sense. It was a leathery scent that reminded her of the weeks when fall was turning to winter, cool and colorful.
Oh God
, she’d forgotten that imagery.

“It wasn’t hard. Your mom always did like me.” He smiled, bringing back a rush of memories.

In addition to his being a nice guy, he came from the type of family her mother lived to be part of. His father was a world-renowned director, his sisters were A-list actresses, and Robbie was headed in the direction of all the things her mother took stock in—a strong education, wealth, and notoriety. None of that had mattered to Elisabeth. It was his kindness that she’d been attracted to. His desire to help others, and the way he cherished his family.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Aunt Cora had very strong feelings about love and relationships, and although she never thrust her feelings on Elisabeth, she’d simply told Elisabeth that she didn’t think Robbie was her forever love, because he wasn’t in the place her heart knew he should be, and she wasn’t sure his heart was as pure as Elisabeth thought. Aunt Cora had said that sight unseen, based solely on their conversations. Aunt Cora had also shared a few pearls of wisdom, and in the year since Elisabeth and Robbie broke up, she’d come to realize that Aunt Cora was right. It became clear that his efforts were a means to an end. He was a nice guy, there was no doubt about that, but much of his reaching out to the community was an effort to lobby for his future, secure his name in their minds, rather than humanitarian outreach from the heart.

“I missed you.” His sharp blue eyes softened, but he didn’t give her time to react before he spoke again, and it was probably a good thing, because she didn’t know how she felt about him missing her. “This reminds me of CaliFest. Remember when we went?”

She smiled at the memory. It was a good one, and it would have been hard to pretend otherwise. Being with Robbie was like being with an old friend. Everything about him was familiar and comfortable, which was nice after being met with such resistance from the people in Trusty. The anger that had snaked into her chest left as quickly as it had appeared.