Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch)

Rocky Mountain Romance

Vivian Arend

Rocky Mountain Romance 

Second chances are the sweetest—and the filthiest.

It took a spectacularly embarrassing break-up to knock Steve Moonshine Coleman off his lazy butt. In the ten months since that night
,
he’s changed his ways. Now that Melody’s back in town, it’s time for this sweet-talking cowboy to convince her to get back in the saddle with him.

A return to her veterinary position in Rocky Mountain House was always in the cards for Melody Langley. Getting back together with Steve? Never part of the plan. He had lots of potential but zero ambition, and there’s no way she’ll accept anything less than a man who can keep up with her, in and out of bed.

But the new-and-improved cowboy is impossible to resist, so Melody issues a challenge. Three months to prove he’s reformed. Three months of Steve orchestrating one sexual indulgence after another—wicked distractions from the old boys’ club Melody faces at work and Steve’s growing responsibilities.

He’s got one shot to prove with more than words what’s in his heart and soul.

Warning: Fifty percent less angst, twice as much filthy-talking, dirty-daring cowboy. Get ready for a whole lot of make-your-knees-weak wooing from a man intent on proving he’s got what it takes, and the woman ready to push him way past his limits.

Rocky Mountain Heat
(Six Pack Ranch #1)

Rocky Mountain Haven
(Six Pack Ranch #2)

Rocky Mountain Desire
(Six Pack Ranch #3)

Rocky Mountain Angel
(Six Pack Ranch #4)

Rocky Mountain Rebel
(Six Pack Ranch #5)

Rocky Mountain Freedom
(Six Pack Ranch #6)

Rocky Mountain Romance
(Six Pack Ranch #7)

Rocky Retreat
(Six Pack Ranch $7.5)

If you’d like to know what new books I have coming, and stay up to date with releases, please sign up for my
newsletter
.

Dedication

For my cousin Pat, who does her own type of wrangling in the law courts of Alberta. I’m glad these books make you smile.

Chapter One

Of all the stupid, idiotic…

Melody Langley stared at the warning light taunting her from her dashboard and cursed the reckless urge that had prompted her to take the back route into Rocky Mountain House.

Curiosity killed the cat.

It was the only reasonable explanation why she’d left the main highway, and instead of driving straight to the veterinary clinic where they were expecting her, she’d pointed her poor, abused Ford onto washboard gravel.

The good part was there should be not a lick of rust left on her undercarriage.

The bad parts? The orange warning light blazing like an evil Cyclops’ eye, plus the temperature gauge shooting higher by the minute, heading into the danger zone at a rapid pace.

“Come on, baby. Ten more minutes, and you can take a break.”

She patted the dashboard in encouragement, laughing in spite of her concern, when a wet nose poked her in the back of the arm as Lady sniffed in curiosity.

Melody moved her hand over the dog’s small head, pausing to rub behind her soft ears for a moment in reassurance. “No, this time you can’t do anything to help. You sit and be a good girl.”

The elderly Bichon settled on its haunches, nestling into the small space left open on the passenger seat.

A loud
pop
rang out, followed by the engine stuttering for a moment, and Melody jerked her full attention forward, both hands back on the wheel as she made her way down the narrow gravel road running parallel to familiar land. In the fields beside her, the first couple lines of cut hay lay in long, extended rows, while a slow-moving tractor dragging a disc-mower was briefly silhouetted against the distant Rocky Mountains.

Coleman land. She was some kind of a fool to have wanted a glimpse. Although—maybe it
wasn’t
foolishness. Maybe it was wisdom to prepare for the first time she ran into Steve.

Not like he’d broken her heart or anything, but if she was prepared, maybe she wouldn’t have quite as strong an urge to punch in his pretty face when their paths crossed.

Punch him or jump him, because as crazy as their baggage was, she still wished things had worked out differently between them.

The rattle under the hood grew louder, the temperature gauge buried in the red, and Melody debated the wisdom of pushing her truck to finish the last part of the journey.

The decision was made for her as another firecracker-like sound snapped, the wheel shaking under her hands right before the engine died altogether. Melody swore and threw open her door, stepping onto the gravel. She paused and grabbed a rag from under the driver’s seat before stomping forward to work the hood release.

Even through the fabric, the heat scalded her fingers, and she’d barely gotten the hood open before a third explosion snapped in her face. She fell to her knees, narrowly escaping a scalding burst of steam that shot overhead. Steam that turned to black and coiled upward like a cry for help.

She scrambled to vertical, circling back to the driver’s door, desperate to grab Lady in case things got dicier. A low rumble pulled her attention to the field beside her, a tractor jerking to a stop on the other side of the barbed-wire fence. There was no time to look—just an impression in her peripheral vision of a jean-clad man dropping from the cab to the field.

Her focus was on more important things as she stood in the driver’s side doorway. “Come on, Lady, come here.”

The dog had burrowed under the pile of stuff she’d crammed into the cab, and not a single spot of furry white fluff could be seen.

“Come, Lady, I got a treat for you,” Melody lied, but it was no use. That last loud noise must’ve been too much for the dog, and she would have to be dug out for her own safety.

Melody crawled onto the driver’s seat and shoved boxes aside even as she tried to sound reassuring and calm. “There’s a good doggie. Come on, sweetie, we need to get out of here.
Oh
—”

A loud gasp escaped as she was dragged backwards, a rock-solid arm wrapped around her waist. She flung her arms to the side and clutched at the doorframe.

Her protest lasted about two seconds before her grip slipped and she was manhandled away from her vehicle.

“Get away from the truck,” a familiar masculine voice ordered in her ear, her body held tight against what could have been a wall for how unyielding it was.

At that moment, Melody wasn’t thinking about anything but saving her dog, and instinct kicked in. She jabbed back hard with one elbow, driving it into the man’s ribs with as much force as she could muster. And while she barely got a grunt in response, the surprise was enough his grip loosened. She lifted her feet off the ground and put her full body weight on the arm around her waist, twisting away as soon as she’d gained the room. “My dog is in there,” she shouted, wriggling from his grasp then racing around the back of the truck.

An ominous sound accompanied the smoke. Considering the engine was no longer running, there was far too much noise issuing from under the raised hood of her vehicle.

“Your truck is on fire.”

Melody jerked open the passenger-seat door, heaving objects out and tossing them into the ditch behind her as she frantically searched for Lady. “Brilliant observation.”

She was ready to hit the ground to check under the seat in the hopes that was her dog’s hiding spot. Instead, she was whirled on the spot to face a familiar pair of blue-grey eyes and a determined expression. Steve Coleman caught her by the shoulders and physically pushed her away. “Move. Now.”

“My—”

He was no longer looking at her. Instead,
he
had dropped to his knees and was peering into the vehicle, the fire extinguisher he’d been holding discarded to the ground.

“I’ll get your dog.” He glanced up, jabbing his finger toward safety. “Keep walking,” he ordered before reaching under the seat with one big hand.

So much was happening at once she didn’t know what to look at first as she shuffled away, gaze locked on the drama unfolding before her. Smoke continued to rise as she backed down the road, hands clenched at her sides in helpless annoyance.

Steve swore loudly then shot to his feet, running toward her at top speed, the growling white ball of fury that was Lady grasped in one hand. Three shotgun-like sounds rang out, and Melody didn’t protest when Steve caught her by the hand, damn near dragging her down the road.

Once they were far enough from the crackling firebomb, Steve stopped. He held the complaining dog against his chest, pinned in place with one arm, and she reached to rescue them both.

“It’s okay, Lady. It’s okay.”

She laid a hand over the shaking animal’s head and made soothing noises until the animal stopped trying to leap from Steve’s arms.

Only then did she look into his face.

He was staring, his expression midway between disbelief and amusement. She was curious what he’d say. Some smartass comment no doubt, or perhaps something laid-back and noncommittal. Typical responses she’d come to expect before she’d called things off between them the previous September.

He opened his mouth, but she never got a chance to find out which path he’d choose, because that’s the moment her engine decided to go up in flames.

Somewhere between the mind-boggling boring task of cutting hay and this moment stolen out of an action-adventure movie—somewhere
between
the two was where Steve would’ve preferred to be reunited with Melody.

As he twisted them to the ground, attempting to put his body between her and the truck while simultaneously protecting her from the road, his brain raced through a whole lot of other situations that would’ve been a lot more fun and reasonable.

Having her show up to help deliver calves. Maybe running into her in town at the café. Or what he always thought would’ve been the worst possible scenario—coming across her unexpectedly one night at Traders Pub where the last time they’d met she’d thrown the contents of a pitcher of beer smack dab in his face.

Even with the history behind them, exploding trucks seemed a little melodramatic.

Okay, it wasn’t exploding, but it
was
on fire and had just made enough noise to scare birds off the overhead wire. Maybe dragging her away was being too cautious, but he was trying to be heroic.

Instead, what he got was a short drop with a sudden stop. Sharp road-crush dug into his shoulder as he protected Melody from smacking the ground and still maintained a grip on the furry beast using him as a chew toy.

“Holy cow.” Melody pushed up on one arm, twisting back toward her truck. A stream of creative curses flowed from her lips, but he was far more interested in the hand pressed palm down against his chest. In the way their legs tangled together, her hips resting over his. Familiar and yet brand new—it had been far too long since she’d touched him.

Too long since those pale-blue eyes had stared into his with anything other than frustration or anger.

Melody’s blonde hair was long enough she’d pulled it up, curled into a loose bun held in place by a coloured contraption. Between the streak of dirt on one cheek and the tendrils of hair that had worked loose from her bun tumbling around her face, she looked delightfully disheveled.

He curled himself up, the animal in his grasp shaking violently as it attempted to crawl through his body and escape. “Help me with your dog,” he suggested as mildly as he could in spite of the claws raking his shoulder.

Melody scrambled off him, wrapping her hands around the trembling ball of fur. “Poor Lady. She hates loud noises.”

Steve brushed the gravel off his jeans, his attention back on the burning vehicle. “If you’ve got a good hold of her, I’ll go use the fire extinguisher.”

“My things are in the—”

“Don’t go back to the truck. Promise, or I’ll stay right here and let it burn.” She stiffened, but he didn’t give a damn. “I’ll sit on you if I have to. This is not up for discussion.”