Chapter 15
Nash pulled his truck to a stop in front of Ellie’s cabin.
“Really, Nash,” Ellie said in a fervent tone, “your family is incredible. I can’t believe I was so nervous to meet them.”
Nash couldn’t say he was surprised she’d enjoyed her time at the ranch so much, but boy, was he pleased.
It’d been over two years since he’d brought a girl home, and while he assumed Ellie would hit it off with his family, he hadn’t known just how well she’d fit in with the entire crew.
Even in recollection, Nash was taken aback by the unexpected emotions that sprouted up in him at the sights and sounds of Ellie with his family.
“And I’m not going to lie—seeing you lasso those calves while you were chasing after them on the horse…” She stopped there and fanned her face.
Nash grinned. “Hot?”
“So hot!”
He’d hoped she’d like that. Nash hadn’t intended to show off for her per se, but when the Emerson family showed up in time for cake, ice cream, and games, they’d broken out the dummy calf for the kids to lasso, and Ellie said she wanted to see the real thing in action.
“Well,” Nash said, turning to look at her. “I’ve met your pops—through a Zoom call, anyway—I’ve met your manager in person, and you just met my family. I guess we could say things are getting pretty serious.”
Ellie chuckled. “I guess so.” She bit her lip. “I’d ask you to come inside, but Geneva meddles like a mom on steroids.”
Nash grinned. “Yeah, I was going to ask you about her. I think I read somewhere that your mom wasn’t really part of your life.
I haven’t wanted to pry about it, but now that we’re official and all, I should probably know a little more about that.
” He hated to bring up a painful subject, as he assumed it might be, but they were getting to know each other, weren’t they?
“Yeah, you probably should,” Ellie said. “My mom was never into the whole acting gig. She didn’t want me to be in the public eye, and she fought with my dad about it incessantly.
“Because I was young, and I didn’t see the harm in it, I picked his side, so it was two against one, and my mom finally gave in.
Auditioning required a lot of travel, which strained their marriage even more, and eventually, they decided to split.
It was amicable. My mom remarried quickly and basically started a whole other family. ”
“Wow, really? So you have other siblings?”
“Half-siblings, yeah, but my mom doesn’t really want me to be in their lives. I guess she thinks it sort of puts them in the public eye somehow, so…”
Nash gulped, imagining what that might feel like, being rejected, in a sense, by his own mom. “I’m sorry,” he said, “that can’t be easy.”
“Thanks. It’s not,” she admitted. “I mean, I usually don’t think about it, but when I do, yeah, it doesn’t feel good.
I guess that’s why it was so amazing to just get to be around your whole family like that.
I mean, they literally welcomed me in with open arms. I wasn’t expecting that.
” She sniffed and dabbed her eyes. “Guess it kind of has me in my feels.”
“I know what you mean,” Nash said. A wave of gratitude rushed over him, and for the first time all night, he found himself wishing Wyatt had been there, too.
Sure, the group was large enough as it was, and meeting that many new faces could be a lot.
But the fact was, Wyatt was the only one in the family who knew what it was like to be thrust into a different home with a new set of parents while mourning the loss of your own.
“It’s weird,” he said, “but at first, I felt guilty for developing a good relationship with my aunt and uncle. Like I was somehow betraying my parents or forgetting them, you know? Wyatt fought against it more than I did. Sometimes, we’d even talk about it late at night…
about how we weren’t going to let them take the place of our parents entirely because Mom and Dad wouldn't like that. For a little while there, it almost felt like that whole us against them mentality. But that didn’t sit right with me.
I think it was around that time that I started to realize it was silly to hold back or punish other people for what happened. ”
He nodded as something occurred to him. “Seems like that’s when Wyatt started getting upset with me.
I pulled away, not wanting to isolate and dwell on what happened, and he sort of stopped being my ally and started picking on me instead.
I teamed up with Thatcher, who matched my energy better anyway, and he instantly became my defender.
Wyatt teamed up with Wade and had a similar kinship.
So, I guess it created a different type of us against them deal. ”
Ellie trailed the tips of her fingers over Nash’s palm and nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds like you guys were each dealing with that loss in your own way, doing the best that you could. You say he and Wade live in Texas now?”
“Yeah, they finished basic training a while back and plan to become Navy SEALs someday. The process is said to be impossible for most people, but if anyone can do it, I believe they can. Wyatt has this stubborn determination that not many people possess. He’s loyal, too.
He’s got an unwavering sense of right and wrong.
” Nash let out a sigh as he considered that.
“He doesn't really know it, but I look up to him.”
Ellie squeezed his hand. “That's nice. I'm sure he’d like to hear that one day.”
Nash nodded, knowing she was right.
“You don’t have any aspirations to go into the armed forces, do you?” she asked.
Nash shook his head. “I’m a rancher through and through. My only aspirations beyond that are to become a husband and a father, teach my kids to love God, family, and the land, as they say.” He pinned his lips closed as his face flushed; hopefully, that hadn’t been too forward.
“Hey,” he said, ready for a shift in topic.
“I don’t want this night to end yet, and I happen to still have some of the camping supplies in the back of my truck.
And I might have even picked up some of that disgusting turkey jerky you like so much.
” He shot her a wink. “We could blow up the air mattresses, spread out the sleeping bags, and cuddle.”
“Cuddle?”
Nash glanced at her with an arched brow. “Sure, get a little closer.”
Ellie leaned in, pressed an alluring kiss to his lips, and mumbled softly against them. “Getting a little closer sounds very nice,” she purred.
Nash let out a low growl. “I’m glad you agree.”
They wasted no time taking their conversation to the back of the pickup, where Nash prepared the bedding and queued a playlist he’d made earlier that week of their favorite songs, a blend of country, pop, and folk.
“This is what I’m talking about,” he said once they were settled.
“Yes,” Ellie agreed. “This is nice.”
While Nash lay flat on his back, propping his head with one forearm, Ellie lay on her side where she’d curled into him.
"So where in Texas are you going to shoot?" he asked. Texas was a huge state, and Nash figured they probably wouldn't shoot anywhere near Wyatt and Wade, but he was still curious to know just how far from their place it might be.
“Dallas,” she said.
“Whoa, that’s close to where they’re stationed, I think. Isn’t Dallas close to Fort Worth?”
Ellie chuckled. “I’m not the best one to ask. But you could always ask your brother Wyatt how close it is. And maybe we can leave a few days before production starts, and I can meet them.”
Nash liked that idea. “That would be awesome. Yeah, I’ll have to give him a call.”
“Best to do it before he sees us on the front page of some tabloid,” Ellie said.
Nash chuckled. “What would they be pictures of?” he asked.
“The two of us making out in the back of your pickup,” she said.
“Oh, like this?” Nash shrugged onto his side, shouldering his weight as he leaned in to nuzzle Ellie’s neck.
There was that lilac scent he loved, a scent that would forever remind him of her.
Ellie tipped her chin back, giving him better access as he trailed hot kisses up to her earlobe.
He gave the soft lobe a playful bite and growled, earning a cute little squeal from her.
Ellie raked a hand up the back of his neck, her fingers firm against his scalp before she fisted his hair. The alluring action moved things from playful to passionate in a blink. Heat sparked low in his belly as he enjoyed the sensations pulsing through him, anxious to sample her lips once again.
He moved over her, shouldering his weight enough to slide one leg between hers. He glided the loose neck of her sweatshirt down one shoulder and pressed a series of kisses around the silky slope, across the delicate length of her collar bone, and then slowly over the tempting hollow of her throat.
This time, Ellie let out a whimper, her breaths turning jagged and hitched.
When he couldn’t wait any longer, Nash moved in to kiss her mouth at last, freeing the passion building to the point it hurt.
Ellie surprised him by matching that passion with a fervor of her own, assuring him that she felt it too, the immense chemistry surging between them, begging for release.
He savored the silky heat of her full, heavenly lips, the intoxicating stroke of her velvety tongue, and the feel of those hands as they toyed with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.
The air mattress worked in his favor, pressing her into him from every angle. He wrapped a hand around one hip, pulling her ever closer as he enjoyed the feel of her beneath him. If Ellie Blaire had some sort of magic spell, Nash had fallen victim to it, and he didn’t mind a bit.