Chapter 3
3
SERENITY
H e leans down so he's eye-level with me, placing both his hands on my upper arms. Their warmth through my silk blouse has me paradoxically shivering. My nipples tightening as if I were standing on the sidewalk back home in January, not in a tiny airport baggage claim in August.
Ranger's face looms so close to mine that the brim of his hat bumps against my forehead. His eyes crinkle just slightly in an expression I can't name as he looks at me closely in silence for a beat.
I think he's going to kiss me.
A million thoughts race through my head. Kissing isn't something I have a lot of experience with. Kissing insanely sexy, older, cowboys I'm pretending to date, in public is something I have zero experience with and I'm under the impression that Ranger is experienced in ways I haven't even heard of yet.
Part of my brain is screaming that we're only pretending to be together. It's a panicky voice coming from somewhere far off in my brain. It sounds muffled, as if some other part of my brain is trying to shut it up.
Because-- oh man -- does pretending to be Ranger's girlfriend mean there's going to be kissing? Will it mean there will be more than kissing?
My heart rate goes into double time and I suddenly have questions about our arrangement that have nothing to do with cataloging the details I'll need to know in order to convince his family and friends that we've really been in a relationship for weeks already.
"Madly," Ranger answers my question with a trace of a smirk pulling at one corner of his mouth, but the single word sounds deadly serious.
For another beat of my heart, he hovers there, staring at me intently like he has more to say.
He doesn't kiss me, and he finally pulls away, standing back up to his full height and adjusting the weathered cowboy hat over his eyes before picking up our luggage in one hand and steering me through the building with one hand resting on my back between my shoulder blades.
This boyfriend thing is going to take some getting used to, but I can't pass up the chance to get an inside scoop on the families I'm here to research. That's the kind of thing that will convince my boss that I'm worth more as a field researcher than I am in the office.
After retrieving my large case from baggage claim, we head for the front of the building while Ranger tells me a bit more about himself, his family, his home town, and the reasons he's willing to go through with this whole fake girlfriend plan.
"Dad and I liked each other fine," he's saying as we head for the doors to the loading area, "we just didn't make the best co-workers. When I took the job in Houston, it led to a pretty big falling out between us and we didn't talk for a few years.
"Of course, Mom wasn't going to let that stand forever. She made sure we patched things up before it was too late...and I'm glad she did."
There's a stoic kind of grief in the man's voice when he talks about his father. It's obvious he thinks highly of his parents, but it's also apparent that he's made peace with losing his dad.
"So why didn't you come back till now?" I wonder aloud. "I mean, not even to visit? Your mom sounds like the kind of woman who would want you back for the holidays, at least."
In reply, I get a deep sort of laugh that's a bit more grunt than chuckle.
"Ma's gonna love you," he mumbles under his breath.
"Let's just say, there was some drama before I left town and I haven't been keen on revisiting it."
His phone dings in his back pocket before he can elaborate, and we come to a stop on the sidewalk outside the airport's single, small building while he checks the message.
The relaxed expression that's eased into his rugged features since I agreed to his offer tightens again, and he curses under his breath as he looks up from the screen to scan the parking lot.
"One more thing I need you to do for me," he says, turning back toward me and holding his phone so I can see it. "Make sure you don't let this woman get me alone, hear?"
The screen is lit with a picture of the woman I spied earlier, this time she's pictured in the passenger seat of a car, blowing a kiss at the camera. A message from "Mom" above it reads "We see you outside. B right there."
Before I can ask for more details, a dark blue Expedition pulls up to the sidewalk beside us and two women get out, both headed directly for Ranger without noticing me standing beside him.
The blonde from the photos leaps from the passenger door and wraps herself around him in a hug that says she knows him a lot better than I do-- and wants to make sure everyone knows it.
Fake boyfriend or not, Ranger's mine, and even if he hadn't just told me to keep this woman away from him, I'd still be grabbing her arm and stepping between them.
"Who do you think you are?" The blonde rocks back on the heel of her boot, crossing her arms in way that makes it clear she's used to using those boobs to her advantage, while she glares at me like I'm the one out of line here.
Behind me, Ranger clears his throat to answer her, but I beat him to it.
"I'm Serenity. Ranger's girl friend," I introduce myself with as much meaning as I can pack into the words. I hold out my hand to shake hers, with a smile plastered on my face that should make it clear she won't be helping herself to any more touchy-feelies of my supposed man on my watch.
"Range?" The older woman who was driving the SUV joins our tense group just in time to overhear me drop the bombshell. Her face blanches as she looks between me and the blonde and then up to Ranger in search of answers. "Something you want to tell me?"
Ranger
I love hearing the ownership in Seri's voice as she pulls Bernie off of me and introduces herself as my girl.
I love the sour look on Bernie's face as she gives Seri a thorough once-over while she absorbs the full impact of what she just heard.
What I don't love is the hurt in Mom's confused expression as her eyes settle on me, searching for an explanation of just how it is that I've arrived back home with a woman that I've never mentioned before.
Stepping forward to wrap my arms around Mom, she returns our overdue hug for a long moment before pulling away and quirking an eyebrow at me.
It's the same look she's been giving me most of my life, the one that says I better come clean with her or the consequences will be worse.
"Seri," I reach out to put my arm around Serenity's shoulders, drawing her into my side and doing my best not to get caught up in how right she feels pressin' against me there, "this is my mother, Kimberly O'Leary."
The excited little squeal that ekes outta Seri is completely genuine, and it goes through me in the most inappropriate way that has me shifting awkwardly in hopes of avoiding embarrassing myself.
"Mrs. O'Leary!" Seri steps out from under my arm and takes Ma's hands in hers. "Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to meet you."
Of course, I know she means it and it's because of Ma's relationship to the ranch and the local history that Seri's so enthusiastic to learn about, but Mom warms right up to the sweet little thing gushing over her so enthusiastically.
Again, pride flows through me. I'm loving how perfectly Serenity is stepping into the role of being my woman.
Mom takes her eager greeting to mean that even though I haven't mentioned Seri to the family, I must have told Seri plenty about them.
"Oh, just Kim, sweetheart." Mom's wide smile is the real deal as she wraps my girl into a warm embrace, but I know I'll have questions to answer as soon as Mom gets me alone.
Left out of our little reunion, Bernie glowers at the scene from the sidelines, obviously not sure what to make of the plot twist.
"Serenity, was it?" Bernie steps in and my hackles go up. "I'm sure Ranger's already told you all about me, but I'm Bernie."
Seri turns from Mom and faces Bernadine.
As I watch the two women silently sizing each other up, tension crackles between them so charged that I see even Mom takes a step back.
Serenity finally smiles, warm but with unmistakable calculation as she holds a hand out in greeting.
Her head shakes just slightly, making that dark hair of hers shimmy around her shoulders as she regards the blonde in front of her cooly.
"No, sorry." She answers, "Ranger hasn't mentioned you."
Bernie smiles politely as she shakes Seri's hand, but she shoots a glance at me that has war written in it.
"Well, let's get you two back to the ranch and settled in, shall we?"
Either Mom sees the look on Bernie's face, or she just has good timing.
"Serenity looks like she's had a long day." Mom hits the key to open the back hatch on the SUV and I jump to load up our luggage before holding the back door open for Seri to slide in behind the passenger seat.
"Have you talked to your brothers, yet, Ranger?" Bernie shoots over her shoulder from up front as Ma pulls away from the curb and heads toward town. "Gunner was just telling me how much he's looking forward to you being back on the ranch again."
She knows where to strike, that's for damn sure.
Tightening my jaw in order to keep my tongue in check, I bend my neck to one side and crack the joints that have stiffened up in it.
From the corner of my eye, I see Seri watching me with a combination of curiosity and compassion, but this isn't the time or place to fill her in on those details.
Without a word, she reaches across the back seat and slips her dainty little hand into mine. Her touch makes it easy to relax the fingers that have balled into a fist against the top of my thigh. It feels so good to have my hand wrapped around hers that I don't let go all the way back to the Delta O.