Chapter 2
Chapter Two
B ig Bend, Montana, was a lot smaller than Collins Lafferty remembered.
“Smaller, but prettier,” she murmured as she followed her brother inside a bar called The Sundowner. It was early afternoon on a sunny Friday in mid-July, and she was jetlagged, but hoping to see a familiar face. Or two.
Hell, that was a lie. There was only one face she wanted to see, and it was all she could do to keep her shit together. Their plane had landed early, and her brother had wanted a cold beer, which was the reason for their delay.
Kip nodded to the bartender and slid onto the last stool. The place was busier than she’d expected for this time of day, and aware that most of the eyes in the bar were trained their way, Collins tried her best to ignore them. She was used to creating a stir. Heck, she’d been doing it all her life. But her brother added to the interest. As the starting shortstop for the Yankees, he was like a God to millions of fans. Currently on the DL list because of elbow surgery, he wouldn’t be able to play until the fall. And that depended on two things. His elbow and the Yankees winning the pennant race.
“Kip. It’s been a while.” A pretty girl with purple hair, tattoos, and more piercings than just about anyone Collins had ever met, smiled at her brother before turning her way. “I’m Jo.”
“Hi. I’m Collins.”
“I know who you are,” she replied with a chuckle. “The last cover you did for SI is pinned up in the kitchen.” She shook her head and smiled wryly. “Our cook is a fan.” Jo tossed the rag in her hand onto the bar and rested her palms on the surface. “What can I get you guys?”
“I’ll take whatever’s the coldest on tap and—” Kip turned to Collins, a questioning look in his face. “Are you fasting for some photo shoot, or can you drink?”
“Not fasting,” she replied. “I’ll take a whiskey sour.” She sat back. “Make it a double.” Her nerves needed it.
“Slow down, champ.” Kip gave her some side-eye. “I don’t need you coming in hot when we head out to the ranch.”
Right. The Triple B. The reason for their visit. A surprise birthday party for Ivy.
“I still don’t know why you wanted to come.” He accepted his mug of beer and took a good, long drink before turning to her. “Is there something going on with you?”
She’d rehearsed this part. Collins shrugged and grabbed her drink from Jo. “Can’t I miss my brother and want to spend time with him?”
His look told her he wasn’t buying her explanation, so she shrugged and took a sip. “I just got back from Europe, and I needed some R & R. Paris was crazy, and Milan more so. I thought that a trip to Montana would be good for my soul. Maybe I’ll read a book or fall asleep under a tree.”
“You know how to read?”
She made a face and poked him on the chest. “No one cares who I am out here. Hell, they barely acknowledge your contribution to the Yankees.”
“Hey,” Kip replied with a slight grin. “I’ve got some star power in the state of Montana.”
“Maybe in the state,” she quipped, “but I don’t know about Big Bend.”
The two of them shared a plate of wings, though to be honest, Collins wasn’t eating much. Her stomach was knotted, and her nerves were bubbling just beneath the surface. She couldn’t stop thinking about the hottest night she’d ever had with a man. The sex had been incredible. Hot. Passionate. But this thing that had stayed with her was so much more. She couldn’t stop thinking about Benton Bridgestone.
His dark, mysterious eyes. Intense and kind of sad. His male, earthy scent. The feel of his hands on her body. The taste of his mouth.
She gulped half of her drink and tried to quell the heat building up inside her. She hadn’t laid eyes on him in months. No way was this reaction normal.
He would be there, wouldn’t he? Would he remember her? Would he ignore her? Would he?—
“Are you going to tell me the real reason you’re here?” Kip’s question came at her real sneaky like. It was asked quietly, and dry-mouthed, she nearly choked on the whiskey.
She glanced up, a small white lie at the ready, but one look at Kip told her the game was over. He about as serious as she’d ever seen him.
“I know you live a crazy life and that you’ve basically been an adult since you were ten. Mom and dad are never going to win any parents of the year awards.” He took another swig and looked at her sideways. “You’d tell me if something was up, right?”
She slowly nodded. “Yes.”
“Then tell me what’s going on. You’ve been quiet since New York, and quiet isn’t your thing.”
Surprising herself, Collins shrugged and came clean.
“I met someone.”
“Yeah?” Kip leaned closer and frowned. “What’s that got to do with Big Bend?”
Shit. Was she going to tell him everything? Could she hold all of this stuff inside any longer?
“I was in Nashville a few months ago. I needed some downtime after Paris fashion week. The family condo was empty, so I took advantage.”
“And?”
She blushed. Felt the heat rise and looked away. “I met someone.”
Silence followed her declaration, and she chanced a look at her brother. His frown had deepened.
“You gotta give me more than that.”
Here goes.
“In a bar.”
“That’s not earth-shattering news. It’s my preferred way to meet a woman.”
“I took him back to the condo and we…” Shit, the heat turned up all the way and she knew her cheeks were on fire. “Well, we?—”
“Okay. I see where this is headed.” Kip looked pained. Talking about one-night stands with his little sister wasn’t his thing. He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. “But what does this have to do with coming here?”
“This is kind of where it gets a little tricky.”
“I don’t like where this conversation is headed.” He signaled Jo and raised his now-empty beer mug. She quickly brought him a fresh one, then glanced at Collins.
“You want another?”
“No.” Collins nodded at her brother. “I’ll be driving but thank you.”
Once the bartender was out of earshot, Kip looked at her. “Can we just get to the point? Skip all the shit in between?”
“The man was Benton Bridgestone.”
Kip’s mouth fell open. Then he closed it.
“I had sex with Bent.” She lifted her chin. “He’s Cal’s brother.”
“I know who the hell he is,” Kip swore and looked like he wanted to say some things. But he stopped, shook his head, then muttered. “What in the actual fuck, Colly? The guys have more baggage than Mom takes to Europe.”
“It’s not like I went looking for him. It was totally random. He was there for his brother’s concert. We ended up in the same bar and I?—”
“He’s twice your age.”
“Okay. He’s not that old.” Collins knew this was going to be an issue.
“You’re twenty-five and he’s got at least ten, maybe fifteen years on you.”
“So? What does age have to do with it? You just said that I’ve been acting like an adult since I was ten.”
“This is different. He’s got a kid, and from what little I know, things are messy with his ex and…” He stopped and frowned, his eyes now narrowed as he studied her. “Wait a minute. He doesn’t know you’re here.”
Collins focused on her fingers. Stared at the fake nails the makeup artist had applied in Paris. Nude with black tips. She could literally poke out someone’s eye if she wanted to.
“Colly.”
God, she hated it when he said her name like that. “No, he doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t even know who I am,” she admitted softly, glancing up at her brother.
“I’m confused as hell. How can he not know who you are if you guys did….” He waved his good hand in the air. “Well, you know.”
She sighed and blew out a long breath. Sometimes men were so dumb. “I picked him up in a bar. I took him back to the condo and we had sex.” She cleared her throat. “It was amazing sex. The best sex I ever?—”
“I don’t need the details.”
“He didn’t recognize me from that one time we met, and I never told him who I was.”
She watched as her brother digested her confession. Watched as he considered it, and when he finally looked at her, she could tell he was angry. Or disappointed. Or something.
“You knew who he was.”
She nodded.
“You went after him.”
“I did.”
“And he left the condo without telling you his name.”
“We said no names. We knew what we wanted, and it was supposed to remain anonymous.”
“But you’re here.”
Again, she nodded.
“Why?”
And here they were. The root cause of all her problems. The reason she couldn’t sleep or focus or do anything but fantasize about the only man on the planet who could complete her. Make her happy. Bring her the kind of joy she’d only ever read about in romance novels.
“I love him.”
“You love…” Kip’s expression was comical, and if this were any other time and place, she’d take a photo so that she could remember it. But it wasn’t another time and place, and he looked like he was about to lose his shit completely.
“You barely know the guy.”
“I know him in the biblical sense.” She winked, then smiled for good measure.
“Jesus, Collins. Not the time for jokes.”
“Look, I don’t expect you to understand how I feel.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Try.” He swiveled on his seat and faced her. “I’ve got your back. You’re my sister. But you have to help me out.”
“I met him at Christmastime. We went to the ranch with Ivy.”
“I was there. I remember.”
“We didn’t speak at all. I think I said hello, and he might have said it back, but other than that, we didn’t have any form of communication.”
“Sounds like a great way to start a romance.”
She punched her brother’s arm. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“I’m just keeping it real.”
“Whatever.” Collins took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. This was the first time she’d spoken to them out loud. “I felt something that night. At the time, I thought it was a normal reaction to a very hot man. But then I saw him in the bar in Nashville, and I knew that all those feelings were more than attraction. More than curiosity. More than the need to be with someone. I wanted him on a different level, and I thought that if we had sex, I could get him out of my head.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t happen.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It made things worse because…”
“Because?” he prompted.
“Because he felt the same connection. I know he did. I saw it in his eyes. I knew then that what we’d shared was special. It wasn’t random after all. It was heavy. Real. Organic. Soulmate kind of stuff.”
“You can be insanely attracted to someone without love entering the equation.”
“Maybe you can,” she replied. “But not me.” Kip was struggling with something. It was plain as day. “Just say it.”
He sighed. Reached for her with his one good arm. “Men are wired differently. We don’t have the same thought patterns. We’re not that deep. Our dicks pretty much control everything.”
“And that’s why we’re the superior sex.”
He didn’t take the bait. Didn’t smile. And Collins, already wound so tight she felt as if her head was going to explode, dropped his hand and sat back. “You think I’m being weak and dumb and spontaneous and female, and you’re probably right. But I’m here and I need to see him.”
“There are a thousand reasons why this is never going to work, and none of them touch on the age gap. He’s a rancher. He has a complicated life with a young daughter and an ex who is causing problems. Pretty sure they’ve got a court case going on at the moment. Do you want to get in the middle of all that?”
“Those are only three reasons. Four if you count the court thing.”
“Dammit, Collins. Not the time to be glib.”
“Can we focus on the one reason it could work?”
“What’s that?
“I love him.”
“What you’re feeling is still up for debate as far as I’m concerned. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s not enough.”
“Love?”
“Your feelings.”
Kip was doubling down. His words didn’t hurt, his dismissal of her very real feelings hurt.
“You’re going to ambush this man, and I don’t see that ending well. Anonymous one-night stands are supposed to stay in the dark.”
“I love him. That has to count for something.”
“Like I said, it’s not enough.”
“It might not be right now, but it’s a start.”
“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?”
She asked for the check and slid off her stool. “It’s four o’clock. We’re expected at the ranch in half an hour.”
“It’s Ivy’s night. I don’t want it ruined.” There was warning in his voice.
“I promise not to do anything to make Ivy or Mike Paul mad, but I won’t promise to stay away. I need to see him.”
“You’re really doing this.”
“I am.”
“Shit.” Kip tossed a twenty onto the bar and thanked Jo. “Come on,” he grumbled. “Just remember, I only have one fighting arm.”
“It’s okay.” She grinned. “I have two.”