The Texan's Wedding Escape

“Cooper, for heaven’s sake, I’m not ancient,” her mother said. “Give me one of those bags.”

Copper grinned. “Sure thing.” He handed her the smallest one. “Here you go.”

In that one move, he’d saved her mother’s pride, telling Lauren he had enough confidence in his own manhood to allow her mom to help. Lauren made a mental note. Add that to the growing list of things she found appealing about Cooper Stone.

Once inside, Cooper stood in the foyer and pointed to a wide, winding staircase. “I’ve given you both the rooms facing west. You’ll see some amazing sunsets.”

“Thanks, Cooper,” she said. “Gosh, it’s been so many years since I’ve been to your ranch. This place is completely transformed.”

The living room was huge, with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace made with sleek slate and light wood. A sitting area faced the fireplace and another faced a set of windows overlooking the gardens and green pastures beyond. Overhead, thick beams lent a slightly rustic tone to the contemporary décor.

“I’ll show you around a little later, after you get settled in.” He began climbing the stairs and the two of them followed until they reached the first guest room.

“Oh, this is lovely,” her mother said immediately.

“Then I chose correctly,” he said. “I figured you’d like this room, Loretta.”

It was bright and cheerful with white-shuttered windows and ivory furniture upholstered in a floral motif. The room almost looked too girly for a bachelor’s ranch home.

Cooper dropped off her mother’s bags and then led Lauren to the next guest room, done in light blues with pale gray walls and stained mango wood furniture that instantly made her feel at peace. “This is nice.”

“Glad you like it.” He set her luggage down on the bed. “Here you go. I’ll see you later after a quick shower and change of clothes.”

Her eyes dipped to his body, an involuntary movement that brought a flush to her cheeks. If he noticed, he didn’t react.

“Okay, thanks again. See ya.”

“Lauren,” he said, a serious tone in his voice.

“What?”

“Stop thanking me. Please.”

She scrunched up her face. She couldn’t help it if her mother had drilled manners into her, could she?

“I’ll try.”

He gave her a nod. “Good enough.”

And then he was out the door, heading for a shower.

This time, she forced an image of Roger into her head.

Yes, that was a nice, safe place to be.

* * *

Cooper pulled out a pitcher of lemonade just as Loretta walked into the kitchen. “My goodness, what a pretty kitchen you have.”

Cooper only smiled. He’d had this house built seven years ago on the same spot as the old ranch house. His mother hadn’t minded tearing the old place down. She was quite progressive and didn’t like to dwell in the past. She and his dad had had a good life, but after he’d died, she’d spent all her energy on helping Cooper plan out a new modern-day version of the house. And his mother was a perfectionist, down to the last detail.

The enormous room had white cupboards, dark granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. There was everything imaginable, from a brick oven to a six-burner stovetop with a covered grill to a table that seated eight. “My mom’s doing.”

“How is Veronica these days?”

“Mom’s good. She’s remarried, as you know, living down in Houston. Her husband keeps her pretty busy traveling.”

“Well, you tell her I said hello next time you talk to her.”

“Will do. Lemonade?”

“Sure, thanks.”

He poured them both a glass and handed one to Loretta. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me, too,” she said as she glanced out the kitchen doorway. “Cooper, I had to do some scheming to get my daughter here,” she whispered. “But I know it’s the right move. Otherwise, I’d never be so underhanded.”

“What did you do?”

She smiled. “Hired a crew to paint my house inside and out.”

He grinned. “Did you now?”

“Had to, and even paid them extra to get the crew to start today. I needed a reason to get Lauren to move out of the house. She’s a little uncomfortable about it.”

He knew the feeling. Hell, he hadn’t had a woman here since he’d given up dating six months ago. Now he had two females under his roof. “She’ll be fine. I’ll try to ease her mind a bit.”

Loretta’s eyes softened. “You’re a blessing, Cooper.”

“I’m nothing of the sort, Loretta.”

“You’ve got a good heart for doing this.”

He scratched his chin. “About that, Loretta. I hope you know you’re both welcome here, but I’m not exactly sure how this is all going to work. I mean, Lauren’s set on marrying this guy and I can only do so much. I came up with this plan pretty quick and all.” He hadn’t really thought it through, but Loretta seemed set on breaking up Lauren’s engagement, or at the very least, making sure Kelsey was an upstanding man, deserving of her daughter’s hand.

The only real plan in his head was to keep watch over Lauren while he tried to find out Kelsey’s true intentions. His gut was telling him her fiancé was no good, and he trusted his gut. If the guy had been cheating Tony, then he should be exposed for the creep that he was. Protecting Lauren was Cooper’s job now...at all costs. If his secret plan went awry, he could lose Lauren’s friendship, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He owed Tony that much. Hell, he owed the entire Abbott family.

Period.

“It’s a start. We can keep an eye on Lauren better at your ranch, without too much interference from Roger,” Loretta said, breaking into his thoughts. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”

That was an understatement.

“How’s your brother?”

“Jared’s good.”

“Will we be seeing him while we’re here?”