He leaned in and kissed her again.
“I don’t mean to be unfair about the women here. They’re not all like her, but most are looking to rope a husband, regardless of how little they might have in common with the man they set their sights on. I might be old-fashioned in this regard, but when I get married, I want to know that there’s no one else I’d rather spend time with than the woman I’m with.” His eyes lingered on Elisabeth. He hadn’t wanted to be away from her for a single minute since they met.
“That’s what I meant, when I said that I believed in true love and all things warm and fuzzy. I think nowadays couples think love can be bought.” She sighed. “But the way I feel is that true love can never be bought, or faked, or even manipulated. It’s only got one true form, and it isn’t complete until the two people come together, and then…” She shrugged. “God, I sound like a dreamer.”
You sound like you crawled out of my head. How can we possibly be so in sync?
“There are worse things than being a dreamer.”
There are worse things than being a dreamer? That was the best he could come up with given that he was still a little stunned by what she’d just said.
Ross kept an eye on the people around them as they ate dinner and shared a bottle of wine. He didn’t like the whispering that was going on at a few tables, but he knew that there was a good chance it was more about him being out in Trusty with a woman than about the particular woman he was with.
She must have noticed him watching the nearby tables, because she touched his leg, drawing his attention back to her.
“Tell me about your family, Ross. You seem so close to them. Do they all live here in Trusty?”
Even though Ross didn’t date women from Trusty, the small towns surrounding Trusty were like feeders from a lake. Families were close, and since the Bradens were one of the wealthiest families around, most people knew of them. It was rare that he was asked about his relationship with his family members by a woman he was dating. He took a second to process his answer.
“I got pretty lucky, as far as families go. I have one older brother, Pierce, who recently got engaged. He lives in Reno with his fiancée, Rebecca, and he owns several resorts around the world. You met Emily and Luke, and I’ve mentioned Jake, the stuntman who lives in LA, and then there’s Wes, who also lives in town with his girlfriend, Callie. Wes owns a dude ranch in the mountains and they spend a lot of time at the cabin there.”
“So you have four brothers and a sister? That must have been fun growing up.” Elisabeth shifted in her seat so she was facing him and rested her arm across the back of the bench.
“Yeah, we had a lot of fun. Still do. But we tend to be loud and harass each other a lot.” She ran her fingers along the side of Ross’s neck, making it hard for him to concentrate.
“So you get along with all of them? There’s no black sheep of the family?” She scooted closer to him, her knee resting against his.
“No black sheep, but Jake lives on the edge. You’ll probably meet him at the fair. He’s trying to fly in for a stunt gig Saturday. I used to think Wes lived on the edge, because no risk was too great for him. He’s done everything from skydiving to mountain climbing. He’s definitely an adrenaline junkie, but he’s really settled down a lot since Callie came into his life. But Jake…” He shook his head. “Jake’s a good man, a really good man, but between my dad leaving us when I was five, and Jake’s first love breaking up with him out of the blue, I think it screwed him up in the relationship department.”
“Your dad left, too?” Elisabeth gripped his shoulder. “My father left when I was little.”
“Oh, babe, I’m sorry.” He wouldn’t wish parent abandonment on anyone. The pain of it never really left.
“It’s okay. I never knew him. I was only two when he left, and you really can’t miss a person who you never knew.” Her tone was solemn, but her eyes weren’t filled with sadness or longing. She looked just as peaceful as she had a moment before. “Why do you think Jake is messed up as far as relationships go?”
“He’s just a big player. I don’t think that my father leaving really had anything to do with it. It was probably Fiona, his first love. He thought they were a forever thing, and she broke up with him out of the blue. He’s never let anyone get close to him since.”
“That’s really sad. Maybe he will, eventually.”
“Hey, Ross.” Charlotte Wellington and her husband ran a hay farm on the outskirts of town. She patted him on the shoulder as she walked past and smiled at Elisabeth.
“Hi, Charlotte. How’s Taylor?” Taylor was her two-year-old dog.
Charlotte barely slowed on her way to the front of the restaurant. “Great. His paw healed fine.” She waved, then turned to leave.
They left the restaurant a little while later, and Ross drove in the direction of his mother’s house, but instead of turning onto her road, he continued up the narrow mountain road to Pike’s Peak and backed his truck up to the overlook.
“Where are we?” It was pitch-black, save for the stars above and the lights of the town below.
“You wanted to experience Trusty, so I brought you to make-out point.”
Her eyes widened.
“Relax.” He laughed a little under his breath. “Come on.”
He stepped from the truck and helped Elisabeth out. While she gazed at what Ross considered the most spectacular view in all of Colorado, overlooking his favorite town, he gathered the blankets and the gift he’d brought for her. He spread one blanket out in the bed of the truck, then reached for Elisabeth’s hand.
“What exactly are your intentions, Mr. Braden?” She eyed the blankets.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to get to home base.” But I won’t be disappointed if we end up there. “I thought you might like to stargaze.” He helped her into the truck, and they sat on one of the blankets. He draped the other over her legs so she wouldn’t be cold. He wanted to take her in his arms and slide his thigh over hers to keep her warm, but he also wanted to talk to her, get to know more about her. He pushed away the thoughts of touching her and tried to focus on what she was saying instead.
“This is so beautiful. Is this where you used to come and make out with girls in high school?”
“No. That’s what the woods were for.”
She laughed.
“I’m only half kidding. I’ve never taken a woman here, well, except for Emily. I brought her here when she graduated from high school, before she went away to college. We sat up half the night and talked about how her life would change, and her hopes, her fears, you know, that kind of stuff.”
Elisabeth rested her head on his shoulder, and again that simple touch made him feel like she belonged there. Like she was his.
“You seem like such a good big brother. I wish I’d had someone to look out for me like that.”
“Em’s a smart aleck, but she’s also sensitive, and as brave as she is, she was scared to go away to school. She was used to having a house full of boys to protect her, and she was worried about being out there all alone. She did fine, of course. I guess I’ve always looked after her, and I guess I still do.” He wanted to know more about Elisabeth, not talk about Emily. He inhaled the flowery scent of her shampoo, and she shifted her position beside him. He felt the brush of her breast against his side, and it was all he could do to form a sentence. “Lis, how old are you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
She gazed up at him, her lips slightly parted, a smile that reached her eyes, and he was a second away from lowering his lips to hers. Focus. Talk. Jesus, it had never been this hard to restrain his desires before. He tried to process what she’d just said. She was three years younger than Luke, his youngest brother.
“Were you nervous when you went to school? For that matter, did you go away to school?”
“I wasn’t nervous. I went to UCLA, so it wasn’t a big change for me.” She ran her finger along the ridge of his kneecap. “How old are you, Ross?”
He pulled her closer and had to feel her skin against his lips. He kissed her temple to tamp down the urgency of his desire. “Probably too old to be with you.”
She looked up at him again, this time with her brows pinched together.
“I’m old enough to know what I want in life and young enough to still have time to get it. I’m thirty-five.”
She whistled. “You are old.”
He laughed. “Thanks.” He remembered the picture he’d seen in Elisabeth’s kitchen of her and a guy. He’d put it out of his mind until now. “Lis, did moving here have anything to do with the guy I saw with you in the picture in your kitchen?”
She dropped her eyes to the blanket across her legs.
His chest tightened as he waited for her to answer.
“I thought you saw that,” she said softly.
“Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.” He couldn’t tell if he’d struck a fresh or distant nerve.
“It’s okay. No, moving had nothing to do with him. His name is Robbie, and we broke up more than a year ago.” She drew in a deep breath and laid her hand on his thigh.