The By Request Collection. Kate HardyЧитать онлайн книгу.
there, too. They’d had their differences, especially lately. Graham hadn’t exactly approved of the tactics Brooks had used to go after Sutton Winchester.
“Is that so?” Beau asked, puzzled.
“But it’s all good now, right Graham?” Brooks was quick to point out.
“Right.” His brother had the good grace to nod and agree. Brooks didn’t want to dredge up the past, not now, when they’d finally found their family. It was all about the future now.
“Graham, I’ve gotten a chance to get to know Brooks, and he’s told me some about the two of you growing up. I can’t wait to get to know more about you and get acquainted with Eve. I have to admit...there was a time when I didn’t t-think this day...would e-ever come.” Beau choked up.
Graham’s eyes watered a little, too. “Well, we’re here now for a few days and we’ll have lots of time to catch up.”
“You’ll stay for the holiday?”
“Of course.”
“I’m happy to have you here for as long as you want. Let’s get out of the weather. Come on inside. I’ll show you to your room.”
The chauffeur brought the bags in behind his family as they entered the house, but Brooks held back. There was something missing, or rather, someone.
He did a quick scan of the grounds, looking for signs of Ruby. Since their conversation two days ago, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her or his reaction to seeing her with Trace Evans. Jealousy had surged as strong as he’d ever felt it, making him stop and assess exactly what was going on between him and Ruby. He’d never met a woman quite like her, and the thought of her going back to her ex put an ache in his gut.
His hands were tied right now. Ruby didn’t want anyone to find out about their affair, and he couldn’t openly date her. But he wanted to. And that surprised him. He’d never let a woman get close to him. He’d dated, but only halfheartedly and without any notion of commitment. He’d been married to his work and, more recently, too obsessed with finding his true parentage to pursue anyone seriously.
In the back of his mind, he’d always thought that if he met the right woman, all things would fall into place. That had never happened.
With Ruby, it wasn’t just about sex. He’d figured that out straightaway. It wasn’t even that she was forbidden in every sense of the word. Although that had been dangerously exciting. Everything about her seemed to turn him on. Her independence. Her spunk. The way she never gave in or gave up.
But love and romance had taken a backseat in his life lately, and he couldn’t trust what he was feeling. He was out of his element here on Look Away and more vulnerable than he’d ever been before. Yet the more comfortable he was becoming on the ranch, the more he could begin to see himself with Ruby Lopez.
That’s why he’d picked up the phone yesterday and placed a call to Roman Slater to find out more about Trace Evans. A secret little investigation from his friend, a top-notch PI, seemed in order. Brooks had a feeling Trace wasn’t what he seemed. Beau didn’t have a good opinion of the guy, either, and the last thing Brooks wanted was for Ruby to get hurt again.
Then his gaze hit upon the beautiful raven-haired Latina approaching the barn some distance away, and just seeing her again sent his pulse racing. Dressed in a black quilted vest, skin-tight jeans and tall riding boots, she was a vision in her work clothes. He couldn’t believe how badly he wanted to be there when she met his brother. He wanted to be the one to introduce them.
“Ruby,” he called out as he began to take long strides in her direction.
She’d finally spotted him and stopped in her tracks, staring at him from just outside the barn.
“Ruby,” he said again, more softly this time, as he finally came face-to-face with her.
“Hi, Brooks.” Her almond-shaped eyes widened in a curious stare, waiting for him to speak.
“Hi.” He smiled like an idiot. He couldn’t even pretend to be cool around her anymore. “Good seeing you.”
She nodded but said nothing more. Yet the question in her eyes gave him pause.
“Are you working this afternoon?” he asked.
“Yeah, I was planning on taking Spirit out. Why?”
“My brother’s here with his fiancée. They just arrived. I wanted to introduce you.”
“Right now?”
He shrugged. He felt like an ass. And Ruby was trying not to look at him as if he’d lost his mind. Beau had invited everyone for dinner tonight to meet Eve and Graham, and as far as Brooks knew, all of the half brothers and Ruby were coming. “Well, yeah. I want you to meet Graham and Eve right now.”
Ruby’s brows drew together. “It’s important to you?”
“It’ll take only a minute or two, and yeah, it’s important to me.” Ruby was becoming important to him, more and more. It had taken seeing her with her ex to make him realize it. He was having some heavy-duty trepidation about his relationship with her and where it was going. Or not going. He’d grown up in a small family, without a father figure to look up to and sharing this part of himself with her meant a great deal to him.
Ruby eyed him for a short while, making up her mind, and then nodded. “I can do that.”
“Okay, great.” He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her senseless right there on the spot. He wanted to tell her she was more than a fling to him, more than a secret affair. She was beginning to fill up the voids inside him that he hadn’t even known were there. But now was not the time to tell her.
“I’ll just go to my place and change.”
“Change? Good God, Ruby.” He took in that shining sheet of black hair, those incredible cocoa eyes, the way her clothes hugged her body. “You don’t need to change a thing. You’re perfect just the way you are.” He put out his hand. “Come with me?”
She flushed pink at his compliment. “Galahad. You do have a way about you.”
And when Ruby put her hand in his, a sense of peace settled over him.
* * *
The introductions had gone well yesterday and Brooks was glad of it. Who knew Eve and Ruby would hit it off so well? The pretty green-eyed president of Elite Industries, soon to be his new sister-in-law, and Ruby, horse trainer extraordinaire, had talked fashion, country rock music, Cool Springs versus Chicago, and football, of all things. And because Graham and his fiancée were anxious to see some local Texas color, he and Ruby had brought them to the C’mon Inn for drinks tonight.
Now, as the Newport brothers nursed their whiskeys at the very place Brooks first set eyes on Ruby, the girls chatted and filled the corner booth with bright laughter. Both women were beyond pretty. Both were strong-willed and determined and accomplished.
Sitting beside his fiancée, Graham reached for Eve’s hand, claiming the woman as his, while Brooks looked on, wishing he could do the same with Ruby. His brother kept his eyes on Ruby and him, and that twin thing happened. Graham had figured out something was up. Brooks would be hearing about it later. Graham wasn’t one to keep his thoughts to himself.
The conversation turned to the feud between the Winchesters and the Newports, and Eve was trying to put things as delicately as she could. “So, you see, Brooks had this vendetta against my father and dug up some dirt—that proved not to be true, by the way—and went to the media to reveal the whole sordid scandal.”
Ruby’s gaze fell solidly on him. “That doesn’t sound like Brooks.”
“How well do you know my brother?” Graham was teasing, but the comment fell flat.
“I thought I knew him well enough,” she answered.
“It’s a long story