Branded for You (7 page)

When he returned they found a couple of unoccupied chairs and ate pieces of white cake with buttercream frosting. An American flag had decorated the cake and Megan’s piece was frosted blue with a white star in the middle of it.

She bit into the cake, which had a custard filling and was delicious. After a few bites, she looked at Ryan and saw that he was watching her and smiling. “You have blue from the frosting on your lips.”

“Oops,” she said and started to bring a napkin to her mouth.

“Let me,” he said and brought his mouth to hers. He slowly kissed her, running his tongue along her lips. He raised his head and looked at her mouth. “There. You’re blue-free.”

“Are you sure?” she said and he grinned and kissed her again.

After the kisses, they did the best they could to talk over the loud music, but it wasn’t easy. When they finished eating they moved out to the dance floor and fell into another country waltz.

Megan felt almost high as she danced with Ryan. She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. A really long time.

She was out of breath when they stopped for a break and Ryan grabbed two more cups of punch, handing her one. As they were walking away from the punch and cake table, Ryan gestured with his cup toward a man and a woman across the room.

“That’s my brother, Gage, with the brunette.” He looked at Megan. “I’d like you to meet him.”

“I’d love to meet another one of your brothers,” she said.

Ryan rested his hand at the base of her spine as they walked toward Gage. When they reached him and the brunette woman, Ryan introduced them.

“Gage, Chloe, this is my date, Megan Wilder.” He turned to Megan. “Gage and his girlfriend, Chloe.”

Gage shook Megan’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Megan.” Gage was tall and muscular with dark hair, green eyes and she liked the sound of his voice. The cowboy was so sexy that she was certain he had plenty of women chasing him.

Chloe took Megan’s hand but looked wary, as if Megan might try to steal Gage from her. As cute as the petite brunette was, Megan couldn’t begin to believe that could happen, even if she tried.

Another man walked up holding a cup of punch in his hand. Ryan introduced the man as Blake, the oldest McBride brother.

Tall, dark, and dangerous looking, Blake had a hard look to him, and as she shook his hand, Megan could tell he was a man of few words.

“You’ve met all of my brothers with the exception of Creed,” Ryan said as they walked away. “He’s on the road in the bull riding circuit.”

Toward the end of the evening, when Megan’s feet were sore, Ryan took her hand and they walked outside. The night was cool and beautiful.

“I’m not ready for the night to end,” he said as his gaze met hers. “What do you say we go for a little drive?”

“All right.” She wasn’t ready for the night to end, either.

After they went to his truck and he helped her climb in, they headed out. He drove up Senator Highway north out of Prescott until they came to a lookout where they could see the city spread out before them, lights twinkling in the night.

Ryan backed the truck up and they got out and sat on the tailgate, close to each other. It was peaceful and quiet. Magical.

He settled his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his muscular arm. “It’s beautiful here,” she said, her voice breaking the quiet of the night.

“You’re beautiful, Meg,” he said.

She tilted her face to look up at him. He raised his hand and touched the side of her face. “I want to kiss you again,” he said softly.

“I want that, too.” Her voice came out in a whisper.

He lowered his head and then his mouth was firm against hers. He caught the end of her braid in his hand and she realized he had pulled off the clip and was unraveling the French braid as he kissed her.

His kiss was powerful but sensual as he slipped his fingers into her dark silky hair and he cupped the back of her head.

She slid her hands up his chest to his neck and held on as he kissed her until her mind spun. She couldn’t think straight as he tasted her and made her hungry for him in ways she’d never thought possible.

When he drew away, she met his gaze and saw his eyes glittering in the darkness. He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “Even though I don’t want this night to end,” he said. “I’d better get you back to your car at the restaurant before we end up staying here a whole lot longer.”

Chapter 8

Sunday morning, Megan studied her laptop screen as she worked to update a client’s website. Even though Sunday was a day she usually took off, she had to get the updates done and then immediately start working on a new client’s website.

Her mind kept wandering to Ryan and the fantastic time they’d had at the dance Friday night and later when they were looking over the city. She normally could do website updates blindfolded, but today her lack of concentration was going to get her in trouble.

Images of his sexy grin made her smile. He was so dang good looking. As far as she was concerned, he wasn’t just eye candy or eye broccoli. He could easily be a complete meal topped with dessert.

When she messed up the updates for the third time, she groaned and put her head on her arms on the desk. She needed to get her act together and she needed to do it now. It was stupid to feel like a lovesick teenager at her age.

She raised her head and leaned back in her chair in front of the desk in her parents’ guestroom. If she didn’t have such a tight deadline for the updates as well as the website she’d promised to have up and running this week, she’d go out and start looking for a house now. She pushed hair out of her face. Maybe since she couldn’t get her act together she’d go look anyway, then put in time ’til late tonight.

With a sigh, she stared out the window and watched sunlight winking through leaves of the tree that shaded that side of the house. She hadn’t heard from Ryan yesterday, but she wasn’t surprised since he’d left town to catch a flight from Phoenix to Montana to go to his cousin’s wedding. Apparently they were having a Sunday afternoon wedding because the church hadn’t been available at all on Saturday and not until Sunday afternoon. Ryan had told her the date held significance for the bride and groom and they were determined to have their wedding on that date.

Her thoughts turned to the possibility that her parents could be losing their home and she wondered if they were going to make it. She frowned as she thought about what they’d told her—a man was setting out to destroy the reputation of the Hummingbird Café and put her parents out of business.

Was there anything she could do to help them save their house and their business?

Megan let the thoughts turn in her mind, trying to think of some way to help. She pulled her hair back and fastened it with a band that had been sitting beside the computer then clicked a new tab on the Internet browser and did a search for Prescott area rental homes. She intended to rent for a while before finding a home to buy.

After she put in her criteria, she found three homes she was interested in and wrote down the telephone numbers and contacts. She wanted a fairly small place with three bedrooms or two bedrooms and a den; two baths; no pool; and desert landscaping that didn’t require much in the way of maintenance. She doubted there were many pools in Prescott, but it was still one of her must-not-haves.

Just as she reached for her cell phone to call the first contact, her phone rang. She looked at the caller identification screen and saw that it was Bart’s mother.

Her skin tingled as mixed feelings went through her. She loved Bart’s family, she just didn’t love Bart. She missed Grace and Montgomery Wilder, Bart’s parents.

Megan took a deep breath and answered. “Hi, Grace.”

“Megan,” Grace said. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours, too,” Megan said and meant it. “How are you?”

“Lovely, Megan.” Grace was a refined, educated woman with a pleasant speaking voice. “Are you doing well these days?”

Megan shifted the phone to her opposite ear. “I just moved to Prescott recently.”

“That’s why I’m calling,” Grace said. “Bart told me you’ve moved and I need your address.”

“I can give you my parents’ address,” Megan said. “I’m still looking for a place of my own.”

“We miss you, Megan,” Grace said quietly.

“I miss all of you too.” Megan felt like a large rubber ball was lodged in her throat and she tried to keep the tears she felt out of her voice. “I’m sorry I went underground. It’s just been…difficult.”

“Oh, honey.” Grace sighed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I’m sorry for the way Bart treated you and that he was such an ass.”

A tear rolled down Megan’s cheek. She hated that she still got emotional despite the fact that it had been seven months since Bart had left her for another woman.

“You’ve been nothing but great.” Megan swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“You are a wonderful woman, Megan.”

“So are you, Grace.” Megan sniffed back another tear. “You said you need my address?”

There was a shuffle of papers on the other end of the line. “Christine is getting married to a fine young man named Todd, and we would like to invite you to the wedding.”

“Tell her congratulations, please.” Megan pictured Bart’s beautiful and sweet younger sister. “I would love to go,” she added, “But I don’t think I could handle it just yet. It’s so hard for me to think you’re not my mother-in-law and I’m not family anymore. It would just be too difficult.”

“Megan, nothing has changed between you and the rest of the family,” Grace said. “We miss you and want you to feel comfortable if you visit, which we hope you will. We still think of you as the same wonderful sweet person you have always been. Every member of the family is angry with Bart for what he did and we feel nothing but love and sadness for you.”

“Thank you,” Megan said.

Grace continued, “We understand that you need your space, but we want you to know you’re a part of this family and always will be. And that goes for any man you might meet and marry someday. This family knows what happened to you. You are deserving of the best and we want the best for you. The rest of the family has given you space because you’ve said you needed that. They just want you to be happy.”

Megan was so choked up she could barely speak. “What you just said means more to me than you know, Grace.”

“I meant every word,” Grace said. “If you change your mind, we would love to see you. It’s been too long.”

Megan took a deep breath as she tried to gather herself. “I miss our lunches.” In the past, Megan and Grace would join each other for lunch once a month. Once Bart had left her, it was just too awkward for Megan.

“I miss them, too, honey,” Grace said. “If you decide to come to the wedding you could stay longer, and we could do breakfast or lunch once the kids are off on their honeymoon.”

“I’d like that, and I’ll think about it,” Megan said. “Are you ready to take down my parents’ address?”

“Just a second…” Grace trailed off. “Now I am.”

Megan spelled out the street name as she gave Grace the address.

“If it works out that you can come, feel free to bring a guest with you,” Grace said.

Despite the fact that she barely knew him, Megan thought about how much fun it would be if Ryan went with her. All the way to Albuquerque? She shook her head at her thought. But it was a really nice thought.

“Thanks, Grace,” Megan said. “Please give Montgomery a hug for me.”

“I will do that,” Grace said. “I hope we can get together soon.”

Tears pricked at the back of Megan’s eyes. “Someday we will.” One of the hardest parts of the divorce was the fact that she wouldn’t get to see Bart’s family regularly like she used to. It had just been too difficult emotionally.

When they disconnected the call, Megan took a deep breath.

And then it hit her again. All of it. The pain of Bart’s betrayal, his verbal abuse, the way he’d left her—it slammed into her with such force that tears started rolling down her cheeks. She held her hand to her mouth, holding back a sob.

When she was first married, she’d imagined a perfect little life. A nice house, two or three children, and a husband who loved her.

Now she was divorced with no children. She missed her ex’s family terribly. It was like all of her dreams had been smashed into bits.

A tissue box sat on the corner of her desk and she grabbed a tissue and pressed it to her face as she cried.

Before they were married, she should have seen the signs, but she’d either missed them or overlooked them. A few months after they were married, he began acting domineering, stayed out late, spent time with his friends instead of her, and then the verbal abuse started.

She thought that maybe his work was too stressful, that he was just blowing off steam. But his words grew more and more hurtful, cutting her deeply. She’d lost weight before they were married, but eventually gained it back. He ripped on her because of her size. Toward the end he’d said to her that all of his friends had a hundred and twenty-five pound wives and all he had was a wife he considered to be too big.

Toward the end she hadn’t known what to do. She’d considered leaving him, but she’d never lived on her own and didn’t know if she could support herself with her home-based business.

And then it didn’t matter. Bart had come home one night, told her he was leaving her for another woman, said a few more cruel things, packed his things and left.

Barb’s not fat like you. The words still rang in her ears.

Even though she wanted children so badly it hurt, maybe it was better that she hadn’t had any with Bart. There were no connections between them now and she could move on with her life, never having to deal with him again.

Except for his family. But that was okay. She wasn’t going to let him end that relationship too.

The tears started to subside. She was over Bart. Some of the pain was still there, but he couldn’t hurt her anymore.

Talking with Grace had affirmed that fact.

Megan took a deep breath and brushed away the remnants of tears with the backs of her hands.