Nothing But Trouble (26 page)

He'd parked his truck in the circular driveway in front of the main entrance, but the walk to it seemed endless. With each step, he was acutely aware of how much farther it was taking him from Melanie.

He stopped short as the door to the house opened.  He swung around, expecting to see Edmond T. Summers III coming at him with a shotgun, which is what he’d probably be doing if some cowboy showed up on his doorstep with wild ideas to take his precious daughter away.  But to his great relief, it wasn’t Edmond T. Summers III at all.

“Stoney!” Melanie called out, running as fast as she could in high heels that were definitely meant more for showing off her fine legs than for running.

He stopped short, his heart beating like a wild grizzly in his chest.  He stood like stone until she was just close enough to touch.  The smile he thought he never see again was beaming up at him.  She was so close.  He wanted to touch her.  He wanted her in his arms, but he held himself back.

Melanie drew in a few deep breaths from running.  “Just tell me something.”

“Anything.”

“When you just said that I was beautiful, you weren’t just saying I was pretty, were you?”

“You are beautiful,” he said softly.  “It doesn’t matter if you’re all dolled up like this or if you’re full of dust and sweat working in the paddock.  You’re just beautiful to me.”

“And you’re a stubborn old mule.  Stoney Buxton, I love you,” she said, tears filling her eyes.

“I know.”

“And you love me, too.”

He couldn’t deny it.  He did love her, more than anything that had ever touched his life.  His breath caught in his throat.  “You got that one right.”

“So please tell me why in the hell you’re leaving here without me by your side?”

He stared at her for a long moment, choking on words that needed to be said.  He glanced up at the house, and then back at her.  “I can’t give you this, Melanie.”

“I never asked you for this.”

“I have nothing to give you.”

“You have yourself.  You have your love.  That’s all I want.  That's everything I want.”

“You’re not hearing me.  I have nothing.  Nothing but hard work and--”

“Well, that makes us even because as of yesterday afternoon, I’m cut off.”

His brow crinkled.

“That's right.  I'll have my trust fund when I'm twenty-six, but until then, I'm broke.”  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.  She smelled of fresh rain water and felt just as silky smooth.  “And there is no way you're getting rid of me.”

He kissed her then, his heart filling with love beyond capacity.  He swore he was never going to let her go.  But he did let her go, and when he did, he saw how much love she really did have for him.

She smiled up at him.  “Are you still too pigheaded to admit this is the real reason you came all the way to Long Island?”

He scooped her up in his arms again, crushing her against his chest and kissing her soundly on the lips.  He’d missed her plenty these past few weeks.  But until he had her in the circle of his arms, he never realized how much.  “I’m a pigheaded man.”

She chuckled, tears filling her eyes.  “I knew that already.”

  He drew in a deep breath and feathered her cheek with his hand.  “And I love you, Melanie.  I couldn’t stand another minute without you.  But I figured, if I’m going to be a wreck with worry every time you walk out the door, I might as well have you close by to reel in every now and then.”

He glanced back at her parents’ house and then at her.  Slipping his arm out from under her, he backed up a step.  “Are you sure you can be happy giving all this up for me?”

“What do you think, cowboy?”

Stoney held her tight.  “I guess there is only one thing left to do.”

“What's that?”

He smiled.  He didn't think he'd ever be as happy as he was that moment.  “How do you feel about a summer wedding?”

THE END

# # #

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading NOTHING BUT TROUBLE.  If you enjoyed the book, please consider recommending the book to a friend and writing a review at one of the online retailers.

A bit of trivia about NOTHING BUT TROUBLE and my new TEXAS HEARTS series that will be published as ebooks in February 2012.  I loved the secondary character, Mitch Broader, so much in Nothing But Trouble that I wanted to give him his own book.  The problem was, NOTHING BUT TROUBLE was a standalone book.  I had no plans to make it a series.  When I started writing HER HEART FOR THE ASKING, I need a ranch hand and decided to pull Mitch in again. It didn’t matter to me that Mitch had been in Wyoming and now he was in Texas.  I really didn’t think anyone would make the connection.

But I was wrong!  After HER HEART FOR THE ASKING was published I received an email from a reader who had read NOTHING BUT TROUBLE and HER HEART FOR THE ASKING.  She wanted to know when I was going to finally write Mitch Broader’s story.  So I did.  HIS HEART FOR THE TRUSTING was originally published 10 years ago, but I still periodically get comments about Mitch.  If you want to revisit this sexy cowboy, please check into my TEXAS HEARTS series, available February 2012.  I’ve included a little sample below.  Enjoy!

Thank you, Lisa Mondello

TEXAS HEARTS SERIES coming FEBRUARY 2012

Her Heart for the Asking – Book 1

Mandy Morgan swore she’d never step foot in Texas again after Beau Gentry left her for life on the rodeo circuit eight years before. But now her uncle’s heart is failing and she has to convince him that surgery will save his life. She never dreamed the first thing she’d see when she stepped off the plane would be her biggest nightmare...the one man she’d never stopped loving.

Beau Gentry had the fever for two things: the rodeo and Mandy Morgan. But for Beau, loving Mandy was complicated by his father’s vendetta against her uncle. This led him to make the hardest decision of his life and he can still see the bitterness and hurt on Mandy’s face. All these years it has killed him to think Mandy had forgotten him and moved as far away as possible from him. But now they’re back in Texas, and he’s going to do all he can to win back her love.

Excerpt:

"We've got a couple of hours ahead of us.  I'm going to get something cold to drink for the ride," Beau said, ambling toward the building.  Turning back, he asked, "You want something?"

Yeah, I want you to go away.  I want to forget the way you broke my heart all those years ago.  But she knew that was futile.  She'd been a fool to think she'd gotten over him.  If eight years and countless dates with very eligible men hadn't exorcised the memory of Beau Gentry from her heart and soul, nothing would.

Mandy glanced at him, defeat sitting just beneath the surface of her composure, and shook her head.

How could he act so normal?  How could he be asking her something as simple as whether she wanted a soda when the last time they'd seen each other had been such a sham?

And how dare he be so handsome after a two hour ride in a hot pickup truck?  His white tee-shirt stretched taut across his muscled shoulders.  She knew first hand just how strong those arms were when they were wrapped around her in a warm embrace.  After years of breaking every wild bronc on the circuit, they were sure to be even stronger. 

There wasn't an ounce of body fat on the man.  His jeans weren't a tight fit, even baggy in a few places where she longed to lazily roam her hand over and on a few occasions long ago had.  But on Beau, there was nothing sloppy about it.  Just high voltage sex appeal that had her rampant heart doing an acrobatic dance right there on the blazing tarmac.

And he was nonchalantly asking if she wanted a soda.

The door closed behind him as he stepped into the building and Mandy watched through the tinted window while he wandered over to the soda machine in the corner and made his selection.  He stood there, his weight shifted lazily to one hip in a never-do-care way.

She tore her gaze away from her torture.  Beau Gentry might look like a dream come true from the cover of Modern Cowboy, but she was an utter disaster after her long flight. 

Suddenly aware she was still wearing yesterday's silk suit, she ran her hands down her skirt in a futile attempt to smooth out the wrinkles.  Giving up, she rummaged through her purse for a barrette and a comb.  Anything to pull together hair that had become unruly from neglect, heat and the wind.  Settling on a hairband and her fingers as a comb, she wrestled her normally-wavy-gone-curly-in-the-heat dusty blonde hair into a pony tail.  She hated that it made her look sixteen again.  But there wasn't much she could do until she could get back to the ranch and unpack her things.

As Mandy watched Beau walk out into the sunshine with two Root Beers and a bag of chips in his hand, she reasoned she wasn't as vulnerable as she had been then.  Letting the likes of Beau Gentry stomp on her heart was something she wouldn't do ever again.  She was a woman now.  She could do this.  She led corporate business meetings.  She used her innovative ideas to dazzle prospective clients into spending millions of advertising dollars with her father's firm.  She'd just purchased an elegant townhouse in one of the trendiest sections of Philadelphia.  All she had to do was pull herself together and she could handle this situation like the professional she was.

"I'm not going," she said, cursing inwardly for sounding like a spoiled child.  So much for the corporate executive touch.

His Heart for the Trusting – Book 2

Ever since Mitch Broader set foot in Texas, he dreamed of owning his own ranch. Now that he’s bought a share in the Double T Ranch, he’s one step closer to the dream. Then his past greets him in the form of a baby basket, complete with infant and birth certificate naming him as the father. He can’t change diapers and work toward his dream at the same time.

When Sara Lightfoot, “Miss Hollywood” in Mitch’s eyes, rescues him with her particular knack for handling his precocious son, he hires her on the spot as a temporary nanny. No matter how much Sara’s dark eyes and warm heart make this bachelor think of settling down and making their arrangement permanent, she’s made it perfectly clear she has other plans that don’t include him or his dreams.

Sara Lightfoot never thought she’d return to her home on the reservation. Now she plans to reclaim the life she left by going back to the reservation as a Native American storyteller, teaching the Apache children stories of their culture. She didn’t expect Mitch Broader’s sexy smile or job offer as a live-in nanny to derail those plans. After all she’s been through to come home, can she open up her heart once again to love?