Marriage, Bravo Style!

Settling back into her chair, she stared out across the lawn again, toward where Davis and Aleta sat together, holding hands, beaming like the proud grandparents they were. “They’ve been married for about thirty-five years.” Her voice was flat. “I’m twenty-five. One of them cheated. It wasn’t Aleta.”

He leaned closer to her again and she turned to meet his gaze. Her eyes were stormy now, her mouth set. “You’re angry,” he said. “Maybe we should change the subject.”

“I’m not angry. But suit yourself.”

He wanted to touch her, soothe her. But he kept his hands to himself. “Look. It’s okay. If talking about your relationship with Davis makes you uncomfortable, I get it. And I’m more than ready to move on.”

She sighed, a tender little sound, and the thick fans of her eyelashes swept down. After a long moment, she looked at him again, the hostility gone now. “Sorry. I don’t mind talking about it. I’m not happy with the whole situation, but everyone tells me I need to get over that.”

“But you’re not—over it, I mean.”

“No. I guess I’m not.” She didn’t elaborate.

He didn’t push. “And you were saying, about Mercy being bossy…?”

Instantly, her expression brightened. “Oh. Right. She started bossing me around the first day she moved in with us. A natural big sister. I resented her totally. And I also completely adored and idolized her.”

“Sounds like the perfect big sister to me.”

“She was. She is.” Her mouth was so soft. He remembered how good it had felt, kissing her. He wanted to do it again. Right there, on the back grounds of the Bravo ranch house, during the family egg hunt.

Somehow, he managed not to.

But it was a near thing.

Little Ginny, in a lavender dress with a big satin bow, had just found another egg. She bent at the waist, the wide hem of her dress lifting out behind her. Grabbing the egg, she straightened and held it high. “I got one, I got one!”

Rogan chuckled at the sight.

Elena was watching him. “You like kids?”

“I’d better. I just finished raising three of them.”

“Does this remind you of the egg hunts of your childhood?”

“Yeah. Mostly the later ones, when I was too big for hunting eggs and got to help my parents hide them. I felt so grown-up, I remember, watching my sister and brothers running around the backyard, letting out little squeals of triumph each time one of them found another egg.”

She chuckled. “I always wanted a big brother.” Her expression changed, grew thoughtful. “And now I have seven of them.” She tipped her chin up, cheerful and defiant at the same time. “So I guess being Davis Bravo’s love child isn’t all bad.”

He thought she looked a little bit lost, suddenly. And the need to touch her got the better of him. He reached for her hand, twined his fingers between her slim, soft ones. “Don’t be sad,” he whispered. “Think of Caleb. Can you imagine your life now without Caleb? I know he couldn’t get along without you.”

She almost smiled. “Yeah. It’s funny. We grew close really fast, right after we found out the truth. And you’re right. It’s like he’s always been my brother, somehow…”

The brother in question was sitting with Irina a few feet away. Were his ears burning? Maybe. When they both turned to look at him, Caleb stared back, one eyebrow lifted.

And Rogan was still holding Elena’s hand.

Seriously, he needed to get a grip. What about all those promises he’d made himself, the ones about how he would stay the hell away from her?

And yet here he was, his head bent close to hers, drinking in the scent of her, hanging on her every word, fingers woven with hers.

He should let go. But he didn’t.

A couple of minutes later, she did it for him. Gently, she eased her hand away, a slight smile curving her beautiful mouth, a blush on her cheeks.

The egg hunt wound down. Then Luke suggested a walk out to the stables. He raised horses on the ranch.

The men agreed to go with him, and the women, taking the children, headed for the kitchen to start pulling the meal together. Rogan gathered what little sanity remained to him and went with the men.

But later, at dinnertime, he caught up with Elena again. They sat together. He took great care not to touch her, not even in passing, not to lean too close. Somehow, he succeeded in getting through the meal without putting his hands on her.

After dinner, everyone helped clear the table. They took a break before dessert. Some wandered into the big living room, some of them chose the game room, which had a pool table and cabinets full of board games. Others went out in back again to sit by the pool or under the trees.

Elena stayed with Mercy, Mary Bravo and Irina in the kitchen. Rogan headed for the game room and played pool with Caleb for a while. Surprisingly, his friend said nothing about the way he’d been hanging all over Elena—sitting beside her at dinner and holding her hand during the egg hunt. Rogan was grateful for Caleb’s silence on the subject. Again, he promised himself to show restraint from now on.

That promise lasted about an hour and a half. Until they all returned to the formal dining room for coffee, coconut cake and homemade ice cream.

Elena had saved a chair for him. What could he do but sit beside her, get lost in her eyes, drown in her laughter, become drunk on the scent of her skin?

After dessert, the two of them went into the living room together. They sat close on one of the long sofas there. By the time everyone started making time-to-go-home noises, he had more or less accepted that he really needed to stop lying to himself, stop making himself promises he was not going to keep.

He liked Elena. A lot. And she clearly liked him. She was twenty-five years old. All grown-up. If he wanted to be with her and she wanted to be with him, well, why not? There was no need to make a big deal out of something so simple.