Branded as Trouble Page 7

  Except for about a hundred acres that, at the time, had been leased out to another rancher.

  The lease had long since expired, and that meant the ownership of the land was in question, and it was a prized chunk of acreage to own because the creek coiled through it. Garrett needed the creek water to keep the ranch growing.

  “Your brothers don’t even ranch their land,” Roman said, though he was certain Lawson needed no such reminder.

  “That might change. Lucian is thinking about bringing in large herds.”

  “Lucifer,” Roman grumbled.

  Lawson didn’t object to the nickname for his oldest brother, especially since he was the one who’d given it to him. Roman’s family wasn’t the only ones on the outs with Jeremiah’s kin. Lawson had parted ways with his three brothers, as well. That was mostly due to Lucian. Roman was a badass novice compared to Lucian and the man’s cut-throat business tactics. Lucian and his brothers already had a huge ranching operation in another part of the county, but if they were looking to expand, they’d definitely be looking here.

  “Did Lucian tell you this?” Roman asked.

  Lawson shook his head. “Dylan.”

  Another of Lawson’s brothers. Roman was a novice womanizer compared to Dylan, but at least he wouldn’t stab you in the back. Dylan fell into the lover rather than the fighter category.

  “I’ve already told Garrett all of this,” Lawson went on, “but he’s not spreading the news just yet. Especially since it might not happen. Dylan’s trying to talk Lucian out of doing this.”

  Okay, maybe Dylan had some fighter in him, after all.

  “Tell Dylan thanks,” Roman said. It wasn’t thanks because of him but because of Garrett. This place did mean everything to his brother.

  “I will. I’m seeing Dylan later this week. He’s coming into town to meet Mila for a drink.” And with that, Lawson walked away.

  “Mila?” Roman cursed in pain when he moved too fast to catch up with Lawson.

  When Roman did step in front of him, Lawson looked at him as if he didn’t understand what had to be a look of concern on Roman’s face. “A friend set them up on a blind date,” Lawson explained. “Of course, it’s not really blind because they know each other. Not well, though... Say, what the hell’s wrong with you? Are you about to keel over again from the pain?”

  Roman took a moment to decide how to answer that. He took another moment to try to figure out why it bothered him that Mila was going on a date with his cousin. And it did bother him. There was no mistake about that. It bothered him because Dylan was a love-’em-and-leave-’em type.

  Just like Roman.

  And considering what Sophie had told him about Vita giving her a condom and Mila using a dating site, maybe she had decided to lose her virginity to Dylan.

  Dylan would take it, too, because he wouldn’t care if he broke her heart in the process.

  “Are you okay?” Lawson asked.

  No. He wasn’t. Roman had to stop Mila from making a huge mistake.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “I DON’T WANT to risk getting seaweed and sand in my hoo-hoo,” Belle said.

  Mila just nodded. Something she’d been doing a lot since Belle had shown up at the bookstore at nine a.m. and had brought her list of fantasy dates with her. The list now included discarded ones, the possibilities and her favorites. Despite the fact that Mila had told her she needed to order some books and do paperwork before she opened the store at ten, Belle had sat down as if this were a social call.

  “That’s why I’ve decided against From Here to Eternity,” Belle added. “Plus, I’d have to drive a long way to get to a beach.”

  Good point, but she had convinced Mila at the no seaweed or sand in the hoo-hoo. At least she was convinced if hoo-hoo was Belle’s word for her lady part. If not, then Mila had no idea what the woman meant.

  “That brings us to the pottery scene in Ghost and the scene from Twilight. The one where they’re in the woods, and he tells her to ‘say it.’ I like that scene a lot.” Belle sighed like a schoolgirl. “I like the one from Ghost, too, but I don’t want to fall in bed with my undies showing.”

  Mila wasn’t sighing. The first one would mean very close contact, and if Belle got someone like Wesley, then it could turn ugly. There was also a problem with the Twilight scene because it was indeed in the woods where Belle would be alone with this guy.

  “Uh, you just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago—” Mila started.

  “Four days,” Belle corrected. “That’s plenty of time, considering I wanted to jump-start my life. This is the slowest jump-start in history, since it’ll take me at least a week to set this up. And that’s after I decide which one.”

  Since it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to use Belle’s health to get her to rethink this, Mila took the list and looked it over again. And mentally ticked them off one by one. Great day, but the woman had lofty fantasies that ranged all the way from Tolkien scenes to Pretty Woman.

  “How about Scarlett O’Hara?” Mila suggested. “You could do the scene where she visits Rhett in jail.” That way, “Rhett” wouldn’t be able to get his hands on her.

  Belle stared at her, huffed. “All right, what’s wrong? You did this fantasy stuff for a couple of years. If it was okay for you, why isn’t it okay for me? And don’t say it’s because I haven’t had a date in over forty years because you haven’t had a real date in ages, either.”

  The woman had a point, but Mila thought maybe she picked up on bad vibes a little better than Belle. Maybe not, though, since she had had that encounter with Wesley.

  “Honestly,” Belle went on, “I see just as much risk in you going out with Dylan later today as in me doing Twilight. And my name’s already very close to the character so that might be a good sign.”

  Mila froze. “How’d you know about Dylan?”

  Belle froze, too. “Uh, Lawson mentioned it.”

  Great day. That meant it was all over town. “It’s not a date. It’s just coffee.” Mila was thinking of it as more of a prequel to a possible date.

  Belle just stared at her. “Dylan isn’t the ‘just coffee’ type. He could charm the panties off a nun. Or you.”

  Maybe, but it would be a nice change of pace from the other guys in town who were trying to do the same.

  “How’d Dylan set up this date with you, anyway?” Belle asked.

  “He’s friends with Julie Dayton. She’s the librarian at the school.” Basically, Julie had played matchmaker, and Mila didn’t know whether to thank her yet or not.

  Mila braced herself for Belle to tell her all the reasons she shouldn’t go out with Dylan. After all, it wasn’t her coffee meeting that folks were chattering on about. They were also talking about the possible lawsuit that Dylan’s brothers might file against the Grangers.

  “I have an idea,” Belle said, lowering her voice to a whisper despite the fact they were the only two people in the entire store. “Go out with Dylan. Let him think you’re falling for his charming ways. It won’t be hard because all those boys are lookers. Anyway, while he’s charming you, you could pump him for information about the lawsuit. You might even be able to convince him to tell his brother to back off.”

  Mila lowered her voice to a whisper, too. “No.” And she didn’t have to think about it, either. “This is just for coffee at the café in about an hour. No pumping. No spying. In fact, I don’t plan to stay for more than thirty minutes.”

  Her plan also included ordering iced tea so she wouldn’t even have to wait for it to cool. To say she was having second and third thoughts about this was an understatement. Still, she would go since it seemed cowardly to back out now especially since she’d arranged for her part-time help, Janeen Carlin, to cover the store.

  Belle didn’t say anything f
or several long moments. “Do you want a short date because of Roman?”

  “What?” A conversation with Belle was rarely easy to follow, and this one was no different. “Why would you think of Roman?”

  “Because he’s right outside the window. I guess it’s the opposite of out of sight, out of mind. Instead, he’s in sight, in mind.”

  Mila turned toward the window so fast she heard her neck pop. And Roman was indeed there. He was peering through the window at them. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave.

  “I hope nothing went wrong with Tate,” Belle commented. “He was supposed to start school today.”

  Mila had already moved toward the door, but that caused her to go even faster. “Is Tate okay?” she immediately asked the moment she unlocked it and threw it open.

  Roman pulled back his shoulders, surprised by her question. Or maybe he was just surprised that her voice was so intense.

  “He’s fine. I got all the paperwork done for him to go to school here, and I just dropped him off...” His words trailed off when he spotted his mother. “Did I interrupt anything?”

  “No.” Belle snatched her fantasy paper from Mila, folded it and put it in her purse.

  Obviously, this wasn’t something the woman wanted to discuss with her children. Probably because they all disapproved. Sophie and Garrett had already called Mila with their concerns. So had Billy Lee. Apparently, though, Belle had no hesitation about discussing it at length with Mila.

  “I need to be going,” Belle said. She kissed Mila’s cheek and spared her son a glance on the way out. “And you need a haircut,” she added to Roman.

  “Dippity-do,” he grumbled to her.

  Mila didn’t have a clue what that was about, and she didn’t have time to ask Belle because the woman hurried out.

  “Are you here about your mom’s fantasy dates?” Mila asked at the same time that Roman asked, “Was my mother here about your date with Dylan?”

  Neither answered.

  They just stood there, obviously surprised and also waiting for the other to say something. There was no need for her to ask him how he knew about Dylan. Gossip. No need for him to explain how he knew about his mother because he’d overheard their conversation when they were at the hospital.

  And speaking of hospitals, she looked at his side. He wasn’t hunched over in pain as he’d been the last time she’d seen him. “Are you supposed to be driving, walking and such?”

  His mouth tightened a little, probably because he thought she asked in an effort to avoid answering his question. She had. But Mila honestly wanted to know how he was doing.

  “The doctor didn’t say I couldn’t do those things,” he answered. Then added, “I’m fine. Practically good as new.”

  She doubted that, but it was nice to see him up and about, especially since he had given her a scare when he’d collapsed.

  “So, why are you here?” she pressed when he didn’t continue.

  He glanced around. “Books. I thought I’d get some for Tate. You know what he likes, and I thought you could help me pick out a few. I don’t want him to get bored while he’s at the ranch.”

  She doubted that would happen. From what she was hearing, Tate was riding a lot and even helping Garrett with some of the ranching chores. Now that he was back in school and had his therapy sessions three times a week, he probably wouldn’t have a lot of spare time. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for him to have some books on hand.

  Mila headed to the Young Adult section, specifically to the postapocalyptic books that Tate preferred. Roman followed her, and that’s when she noticed he was hobbling a bit. Definitely favoring his right side.

  “I also wanted to thank you again,” he said.

  Mila should have just let that pass, but she couldn’t. She whirled around to face him but hadn’t realized that he was so close. She practically knocked right into him.

  “Please don’t tell me thank you. Or hug me.” She hadn’t meant to blurt that last part out, but maybe her visit with Belle had put her close to her tipping point.

  “Hug you?” he questioned. Roman huffed. “Does that have anything to do with you seeing Dylan?”

  Mila could see no correlation, but obviously Roman could. “No. Why would you ask that?”

  He shrugged. “Because I know you’re going out with him today, and maybe you think he won’t like it if you and I are...friends.”

  So, perhaps that was the correlation, but it required a huge stretch to get from a coffee date to dictating her friendships. Of course, Roman might believe Dylan would feel that way because of this potential lawsuit. Because Dylan and his family wouldn’t be just suing the Grangers.

  They would be suing Roman since he owned the ranch.

  Mila forced herself to turn back to the books and took several from the shelf. “Friends,” she repeated. She didn’t make it sound like a question. She just tossed it out there to see how Roman would react.

  He hesitated. A long time. “Yeah. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

  That hurt. He could have at least said good friends. Or dear friends. Something to distinguish her from the cashier at the grocery store.

  Mila handed him the books with a little more force than she’d intended and started back to the front. Again, he followed her.

  “Are you mad at me?” he asked.

  “Yes! No,” she quickly amended, and then went with a “Maybe.”

  She was toying with the idea of playing with fire here. If she said she didn’t want to be just his friend, it could put him on the spot. He could reject her.

  Heck, he probably would.

  She wasn’t anywhere near his usual type, and it didn’t matter that she wanted him to feel more for her. Mila couldn’t force him. And that’s why she needed to keep that coffee date with Dylan.

  God, she had to move forward instead of being stuck in gear over Roman.

  “It’s okay,” she assured him. It was a lie, of course. Mila stopped, turned and gave his arm a friendly pat.

  Or at least that’s what she’d intended. He reached out, lightning fast, with his left hand and caught her wrist. He was so close again. So close that she caught the scent of his aftershave. It smelled expensive. And dangerous.

  “Are you going out with Dylan to prove some kind of point to me?” he asked.

  Again, with the precursor to playing with fire, she answered, “No. I’m going out with him to prove a point to me.”

  That wasn’t a lie. And she could tell from Roman’s expression that he knew that, too.

  “I need to take off the swimming floaties of life and venture into the deep end of the pool,” Mila continued, and wished that she’d come up with a better analogy.

  “And you can do that with Dylan?”

  She hated to say that any man would do, but at this point, any man would. “It’s a baby step. Coffee and conversation. I’ll work my way up to dating and a relationship.”

  His grip melted off her wrist, and he looked down at it as if trying to figure out why he’d been holding her in the first place. “Why do you have to work your way up?”

  Of course that didn’t make sense to a Granger. “I didn’t exactly come from a normal family, and in high school, boys were afraid of me because of my mother.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “You were the exception rather than the rule.” And he’d only had eyes for Valerie back then. “So, I dated a couple of misfits who only reminded me how much of a misfit I truly was.”

  He shook his head. “But you went to college. You roomed with Sophie. You would have met guys who didn’t know about Vita.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t meet anyone who was more interesting than the characters in the books I was reading.” And certainly not more interesting than Roman. “The weeks turned int
o months. Then years. Eighteen-year-old guys don’t mind a shy, awkward date, but that doesn’t fly when you’re thirty-one.”

  Roman studied her, processing that. It was all true. Well, everything after the part about her being okay.

  “Don’t let Dylan hurt you.” But it was as if he’d said too much because Roman lifted the books. “Can you go ahead and ring these up? I need to get started on those other errands.”

  “No charge. They’re a gift.”

  After she’d scolded him for thanking her, Mila thought maybe he’d scold her right back for giving his son books. But he only nodded and went toward the door. He stopped again.

  Causing her heart to stop, too.

  For a couple of moments, she thought he might say something about them. Not that there was a them, but in those moments, the fantasy started. Roman, shirtless, turning to her, dragging her into his arms and kissing her.

  But that didn’t happen.

  He walked out, leaving her to stand there and curse herself. She was still cursing when Hilda Meekins, the mail carrier, came by. Mila dredged up a smile for her so that Hilda wouldn’t think anything was wrong. Mila especially didn’t want her thinking something was wrong since she’d seen Roman leave. In fact, Hilda still had her attention on Roman and nearly walked into the door.

  “Yum,” Hilda said. She handed Mila a stack of letters she took from her mailbag. “I think I had an orgasm just walking past him.”

  Mila knew how the woman felt. Well, she could imagine it, anyway.

  She looked through the letters while Hilda went to the window so she could no doubt continue to gawk at Roman. The first six were bills or info about new books, but the last one got her attention.

  It was from her mother.

  A first. But it was also a first for Vita to take a vacation to go see her family. The postmark, though, was from Wrangler’s Creek, which meant her mom must have mailed it right before she left. Strange, though, that she hadn’t just given it to Mila when she’d driven her to the airport.