The Rancher’s Royal Bride (BBW Romance - Billionaire Brothers 4) Read online

  “I have taken horse-back riding lessons.” Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as easy to surprise him as she thought.

  “For how long?”

  She felt his eyes on her hands, her posture, as she remained easy in the saddle.

  “Oh, years and years,” she tossed back, trying to hide a smile, knowing that although it didn’t sound like it, she was telling the truth.

  “Can you trot?” Logan sounded doubtful.

  “Uh-huh.” This was going to be so much fun!

  “I guess we can try a gentle trot.” He encouraged Pepper to quicken his gait.

  Ellie followed suit, relishing the slightly faster pace. But it wasn’t enough.

  “Come on, Salt,” she murmured in the creature’s ear. “Let’s show him!” Nudging her horse into a lope, she passed Logan. The stunned expression on his face made her giggle.

  A few seconds later, thundering hoof beats kept pace with her. “Told you I could ride,” she couldn’t resist calling, stifling the urge to flat-out gallop. She probably would be in trouble if she did that.

  They rode side by side to a herd of cattle munching green grass. She halted Salt, her eyes sparkling. “That was fun.”

  “That was not trotting.” He glowered at her, pulling up Pepper. “Where did you learn to ride like that?”

  She attempted to bite back a grin. “I’ve had riding lessons for years and go riding nearly every weekend.”

  “You look good on a horse.” The words sounded as if they were torn out of his throat.

  “Thanks.” A warm flush stole through her at his praise.

  His gaze rested on her for a long moment, and she wondered what he was thinking. Right now, the only thing on her mind was his dark brown eyes that seemed to intensify even more as he looked at her, his straight nose, gorgeous cheekbones, and firm jaw. And how it was totally unfair that her breath skipped when she was near him.

  “I’ll check the cattle. Stay here.” A hint of crimson stained his cheekbones as he abruptly turned his horse and opened the gate into the pasture.

  Ellie watched him ride among the black cows - or were they steers, she wondered. She was pretty sure they weren’t all bulls. Until now, she hadn’t realized that her knowledge about cattle was sorely lacking.

  Logan rode out of the enclosure and locked the gate. “We need to ride along the fence line and make sure there aren’t any holes.”

  “Okay.”

  Their horses ambled side by side alongside the pasture. She noticed Logan’s gaze flickered from the fencing to her. Conscious of his eyes on her, her tummy fluttering, she still managed to enjoy the fresh air, blue sky, and light breeze that whispered against her hair.

  “The wire’s broken.”

  His words pulled her out of her reverie. How his tall, fit body moved easily in the saddle. How his long, tanned fingers expertly held the reins. Halting Salt, she watched him dismount and tie Pepper to a fence post.

  “Can I do anything to help?” she offered.

  “Maybe.” He glanced up at her, then turned his attention to his saddlebag. Logan pulled out a small kit and hunkered down at the base of the fence. “If you can hold this section of wire, I might be able to repair it.”

  Ellie dismounted and fastened Salt to a neighboring post. Joining him, she crouched down next to him. This close, she couldn’t help breathing in his scent, a mixture of horses, sweet smelling hay, and soap.

  “Where do I hold it?” She hoped she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt.

  “Here.” His forefinger tapped a piece of wire. “I should be able to fix it if you keep it still.”

  “Okay.” She grasped the wire, aware that if he moved to the left, his shoulder would brush hers.

  Logan efficiently snipped and clipped pieces of wire until the small hole in the fence was repaired.

  “Move your thumb and I can cut this piece off.”

  Ellie started to lift off her thumb at the same time Logan moved in with the wire cutters.

  “Ow!” She stared in dismay at the bloody gash on her thumb.

  “Did I hurt you?” He looked at her in concern, cradling her hand in his much larger one. “Let me see.”

  “I … I don’t think it was you,” she said. “I think my thumb slipped on the piece of wire.” She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the smarting injury.

  “When did you last have a tetanus shot?”

  “A couple of years ago,” she murmured, trying not to wince at the stinging pain.

  “Good.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth handkerchief. “It’s clean,” he assured her, gently wrapping it around her thumb. “In case of emergencies.”

  “Ever … ever had to use it on a guest before?”

  “No, you’re the first.”

  The heat of his hand lingered on hers. The tender way he’d attended to her thumb made her breath skip. She met his concerned gaze, hoping he couldn’t tell how much his touch affected her.

  Ellie realized she much preferred looking into his dark brown eyes, edged with concern, than staring at her thumb. She disliked the sight of blood; either hers or someone else’s. Through the white fabric she could see the dull red color of blood seeping from the wound.

  “We better take care of it back at the house.” Logan helped her to her feet and kept his hand under her elbow the few steps to the horses.

  Tempted to lean into his warm strength, she resisted, not wanting to be a baby about a small cut.

  “Can you mount okay?” He hovered next to her as she gripped the stirrup.

  “I’ll be fine,” she replied, surprised at the fact that now she was reassuring him.

  “No fancy riding,” he warned, swinging into the saddle.

  In other circumstances she might have argued with him, but right now she wasn’t in the mood. Her thumb throbbed and all she wanted to do was get it taken care of.

  Salt was an obedient horse, and Ellie found she could handle the creature easily, even with a thickly bandaged thumb. Logan set the pace at a fast walk. Before long, they arrived at the barn.

  Logan hitched both sets of reins to a post. “I’ll unsaddle them once I’ve looked at your thumb.” He hustled her into the house, guiding her into the bathroom. After washing his hands, he held out his palm. “Let me see.”

  She held out her thumb over the basin, closing her eyes as he carefully peeled off the cloth.

  “Hmm,” he muttered.

  The sound of running water filled the small room, then he placed her hand under a cool stream of water. She couldn’t help the small shiver running through her at his touch. The pain had dulled to the occasional twinge, but she still didn’t want to open her eyes.

  “I don’t think you need stitches,” he murmured, squeezing her thumb gently while it was still under the running water.

  “Stitches?” Her eyelids flew open.

  He turned her thumb this way and that. “No. No stitches.”

  She relaxed slightly, her gaze fastened on her injured thumb and his strong, capable fingers. Long, tanned fingers. What would his hands feel like wrapped around her waist? Caressing her? Brushing back the hair from her face?

  A trickle of blood ran from the wound but the water washed it away instantly, making it bearable to look at.

  “Stay there for a sec while I get the antiseptic.”

  She watched him go to the small cupboard opposite the basin and pull out a small clean towel and a bottle of antiseptic.

  Logan opened the bottle and shook some of the liquid onto her finger. She flinched, the antiseptic stinging the open wound.

  “Put some pressure on it while I find something for it.” He wrapped the white towel around her thumb, his hands lingering a few seconds longer than necessary.

  “But I might get blood on it,” she protested feebly, unable to tear her gaze from his.

  “Doesn’t matter.” He waited until he saw her press down on the towel, then rummaged in a drawer for an adhesive bandage.
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  His hands were gentle, as he wrapped the strip of plastic around her thumb. And then another one. “There. Let me know if it needs changing later on.”

  “I can do that myself,” she demurred. As long as she didn’t look too closely at the wound, she was sure she could manage to replace the adhesive bandage. Although, she certainly wouldn’t object if he insisted …

  His lips quirked. “Somehow I don’t think you like the sight of blood.”

  “Not exactly.” She bit her lip.

  “I’m supposed to be keeping you safe, remember?”

  “I remember,” Ellie murmured. And he had kept her safe. Okay, she had a cut on her thumb, but she didn’t blame him for that. It was the first time she’d ever helped mend a fence, and her thumb had gotten in the way. Her thumb twinged, as if seeming to remind her of that fact.

  But she couldn’t fault Logan on the way he’d taken care of her small injury. She’d seen another side to him, a gentle, tender side, and it only made him more intriguing.

  She sighed inwardly. It didn’t seem fair that she found him attractive, when he probably didn’t think of her in that way at all. Just her luck to be staying here another ten days with one of the most attractive, interesting men she’d ever met, when all he felt toward her was a sense of duty.

  CHAPTER 4

  The next day, Ellie collected eggs from the chicken coop. Even allowing for her awkwardly bandaged thumb, she managed quite well. A chicken scratched and pecked nearby, her soft clucking making Ellie smile.

  Backing out of the coop, Ellie felt a cool breeze ruffle her hair. As soon as she took the eggs inside, she and Logan were going horse-back riding again. Perhaps this time, he would allow her to saddle and bridle Salt.

  The faint grumble of a car engine caught her ears. Frowning, she stood still. The noise grew louder. It was the first vehicle she’d heard since she’d been here.

  Despite threatening to go grocery shopping, Logan had done an inventory and announced they had enough food for a few more days - evidently going to the supermarket was a chore he disliked.

  No visitors had shown up, either. Which made the encroaching vehicle all the more worrying.

  She had to tell Logan. He was around the yard somewhere; he still wasn’t letting her out of his sight, but right now, she couldn’t feel his eyes trained on her like she had during her first couple of days here.

  Ellie spun around, scanning the small garden. No Logan. She ran toward the garage, hoping he would be there.

  “Oof!” Strong arms held her captive, her breasts pressed against a hard, masculine chest. She tried to control her breathing, unsure whether it was ragged because when she’d been running, she hadn’t expected to smack into a muscular torso, or because that torso belonged to Logan.

  “Car.” They both spoke at once.

  “Inside.” He took her arm and hurried her into the house. “I’m not expecting anyone.” He towed her into his bedroom.

  Ellie watched while he took a handgun out of the nightstand drawer, then rummaged in his sock drawer.

  “You keep bullets in there?” She looked at him incredulously.

  He shrugged. “Do you think a bad guy’s going to look inside a pair of socks for some bullets? I usually keep the gun locked away, but thought it would be prudent to keep it handy while you’re here.”

  She bit her lip, her gaze returning to the deadly weapon.

  “Whoever it is should be here any minute.” He efficiently loaded the gun.

  Nodding in agreement, she remembered the long drive along the dirt road until the farmhouse came in view. “What do we do?” Ellie looked at him with an anxious expression.

  “We aren’t doing anything. I’m going to take a look from the study window and see who it is. You are going to stay right here.”

  “Okay,” she murmured. Her heart hammered. Was her father right and she really was in danger? Trying to tell herself that it could be a lost tourist trundling along the driveway she took a deep breath and watched Logan leave the room.

  Ellie twisted her fingers, her ears straining for any sound out of the ordinary. But all she heard was silence, interspersed with pretty birdsong. Breathing deeply, she told herself everything would be okay. Logan was here. With a gun. She wasn’t sure if that thought comforted her or not.

  Besides, when she was a teen, her father had insisted she learn judo. She’d stopped taking lessons when she went to college and had only ended up with a blue belt. But Dad had made her practice whenever she’d come home from college, and these days, encouraged her to spar with him every month or so.

  “You don’t want to get too rusty, Ellie,” he’d remind her.

  Her body flowed into the natural stance. Just standing that way helped calm her. Her eyes flickered around Logan’s room. His large bed was made with military precision, while his pine nightstand was bare except for a digital alarm clock, the numbers glowing red. A wooden closet similar to the one in her bedroom was the only other piece of furniture in the room.

  A knock sounded at the front door. Her blood pressure pounded in her ears. She heard Logan’s voice, deep and stern. “Yes?”

  A pleasant sounding man’s voice answered. “I’m looking for a young woman called Ellie Sterling. I have reason to believe she’s staying here.”

  “Sorry, I have no idea who you’re talking about. You must have the wrong address.” Logan sounded so sure of himself, she almost believed him herself.

  “Are you sure you haven’t seen a young woman matching her description in the area?” the stranger persisted. “Strawberry-blonde hair, mid-twenties?”

  “I’d remember if I had,” she heard Logan reply. “Believe me.”

  A pause, and then the stranger said, “Sorry to trouble you, sir.”

  “No problem.”

  She heard Logan shut the door. Relaxing out of her judo pose, she waited for him, although she was sorely tempted to rush out into the hall.

  “He’s gone.” Grim-faced, Logan strode into the room.

  “Who was he?” She looked at him worriedly.

  He pulled the gun out of the back of his waistband and replaced it in the nightstand drawer. Still loaded, she noted.

  Logan shrugged. “I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.”

  “How?” she asked. Her knees started to tremble and without comprehending exactly what she was doing, she sank onto his bed. She’d managed to keep it together while Logan dealt with the stranger, but now …

  His lips twisted into a semblance of a smile. “I got the license plate and make and model of his car from the study window. Cole should be able to tell us who we’re dealing with.”

  “Cole?” She looked up at him.

  “One of my brothers. He’s a PI.”

  “Oh.” She watched him whip out his cell phone and punch the buttons.

  A couple of minutes later, he ended the call. “Cole should get back to me in a few minutes.”

  “That fast?” Her brow crinkled.

  “Yeah. My brother’s good.”

  “How many brothers do you have?”

  “Four.”

  “That must be nice.” Ellie tried to smile. She’d often wished for a brother or sister when she was younger, but Dad hadn’t shown any interest in women while she grew up. She’d asked him about it once, and he’d told her no woman could compare to her mother.

  “Sometimes - most of the time,” Logan allowed.

  “Do you see them often?” She couldn’t help being curious. Logan intrigued her, and learning more about him might stop her legs wobbling.

  “Every couple of months. Apart from Mitch.”

  “Why is that?”

  He shrugged. “He says he’s busy with work, but everyone else manages to make the time. Even Alex, and sometimes he’s on the other side of the country checking out a new business opportunity - when he’s not busy spending time with his wife.” At Ellie’s inquiring look, he elaborated, “He got married a couple of months ago.”

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bsp; “What does Mitch do?”

  “He’s a writer.” Logan frowned. “He makes his own schedule, so he should be able to take a day off now and then and hang out with us. But he always says he’s got a deadline and can’t make it.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t know if he realized, but Logan seemed annoyed when he spoke about Mitch. “Maybe he’ll be able to meet up with you next time.”

  “Maybe.” He looked doubtful.

  Suddenly remembering she was sitting on his bed, she jumped up. “Sorry.”

  “Why?”

  She tried not to blush. “I just needed to sit down for a second, that’s all. And your bed was the only …” looking around the sparsely decorated room, she finished with, “thing handy.”

  “No problem.” He took a step closer to her. “How do you feel now?”

  “Fine.” She pinned a bright smile to her lips. Then the situation really hit her. Her mouth crumpled. “What if Dad’s right? What if I am in danger?”

  He gently placed his large hands on her shoulders. “Then we’ll face that situation together. When Cole calls back, we’ll know exactly who we’re dealing with.”

  “I wish I could talk to Dad,” she murmured, unable to hide her distress.

  “Remember, no news is good news.” He drew her closer to him and looked down at her. “Yeah, that saying stinks,” he said ruefully.

  “I’m … I’m glad you’re here,” she confessed. Although his hands were just touching her shoulders, she felt safe in his loose embrace.

  “So am I,” he muttered.

  Their gazes met and held for a long second, then Logan’s mouth oh-so-slowly descended.

  Ellie’s pulse skittered and she held her breath.

  He kissed her lightly, softly. A tingle of electricity zipped through her. Then his lips claimed hers once more. Ellie sighed against his mouth as the kiss intensified. Just as her arms stole around his neck, he stepped back, wrenching his mouth from hers.

  “Sorry.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  CHAPTER 5

  She stared up at him, her eyes wide. He was sorry? Slowly, she dropped her arms to her side.