Branded as Trouble

The lease had long since expired, and that meant the ownership of the land was in question, and it was a prized chunk of acreage to own because the creek coiled through it. Garrett needed the creek water to keep the ranch growing.

“Your brothers don’t even ranch their land,” Roman said, though he was certain Lawson needed no such reminder.

“That might change. Lucian is thinking about bringing in large herds.”

“Lucifer,” Roman grumbled.

Lawson didn’t object to the nickname for his oldest brother, especially since he was the one who’d given it to him. Roman’s family wasn’t the only ones on the outs with Jeremiah’s kin. Lawson had parted ways with his three brothers, as well. That was mostly due to Lucian. Roman was a badass novice compared to Lucian and the man’s cut-throat business tactics. Lucian and his brothers already had a huge ranching operation in another part of the county, but if they were looking to expand, they’d definitely be looking here.

“Did Lucian tell you this?” Roman asked.

Lawson shook his head. “Dylan.”

Another of Lawson’s brothers. Roman was a novice womanizer compared to Dylan, but at least he wouldn’t stab you in the back. Dylan fell into the lover rather than the fighter category.

“I’ve already told Garrett all of this,” Lawson went on, “but he’s not spreading the news just yet. Especially since it might not happen. Dylan’s trying to talk Lucian out of doing this.”

Okay, maybe Dylan had some fighter in him, after all.

“Tell Dylan thanks,” Roman said. It wasn’t thanks because of him but because of Garrett. This place did mean everything to his brother.

“I will. I’m seeing Dylan later this week. He’s coming into town to meet Mila for a drink.” And with that, Lawson walked away.

“Mila?” Roman cursed in pain when he moved too fast to catch up with Lawson.

When Roman did step in front of him, Lawson looked at him as if he didn’t understand what had to be a look of concern on Roman’s face. “A friend set them up on a blind date,” Lawson explained. “Of course, it’s not really blind because they know each other. Not well, though... Say, what the hell’s wrong with you? Are you about to keel over again from the pain?”

Roman took a moment to decide how to answer that. He took another moment to try to figure out why it bothered him that Mila was going on a date with his cousin. And it did bother him. There was no mistake about that. It bothered him because Dylan was a love-’em-and-leave-’em type.

Just like Roman.

And considering what Sophie had told him about Vita giving her a condom and Mila using a dating site, maybe she had decided to lose her virginity to Dylan.

Dylan would take it, too, because he wouldn’t care if he broke her heart in the process.

“Are you okay?” Lawson asked.

No. He wasn’t. Roman had to stop Mila from making a huge mistake.

CHAPTER SEVEN (#ue2624a61-937f-5731-bb4f-ac9624daaae2)

“I DON’T WANT to risk getting seaweed and sand in my hoo-hoo,” Belle said.

Mila just nodded. Something she’d been doing a lot since Belle had shown up at the bookstore at nine a.m. and had brought her list of fantasy dates with her. The list now included discarded ones, the possibilities and her favorites. Despite the fact that Mila had told her she needed to order some books and do paperwork before she opened the store at ten, Belle had sat down as if this were a social call.

“That’s why I’ve decided against From Here to Eternity,” Belle added. “Plus, I’d have to drive a long way to get to a beach.”

Good point, but she had convinced Mila at the no seaweed or sand in the hoo-hoo. At least she was convinced if hoo-hoo was Belle’s word for her lady part. If not, then Mila had no idea what the woman meant.

“That brings us to the pottery scene in Ghost and the scene from Twilight. The one where they’re in the woods, and he tells her to ‘say it.’ I like that scene a lot.” Belle sighed like a schoolgirl. “I like the one from Ghost, too, but I don’t want to fall in bed with my undies showing.”

Mila wasn’t sighing. The first one would mean very close contact, and if Belle got someone like Wesley, then it could turn ugly. There was also a problem with the Twilight scene because it was indeed in the woods where Belle would be alone with this guy.

“Uh, you just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago—” Mila started.

“Four days,” Belle corrected. “That’s plenty of time, considering I wanted to jump-start my life. This is the slowest jump-start in history, since it’ll take me at least a week to set this up. And that’s after I decide which one.”

Since it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to use Belle’s health to get her to rethink this, Mila took the list and looked it over again. And mentally ticked them off one by one. Great day, but the woman had lofty fantasies that ranged all the way from Tolkien scenes to Pretty Woman.

“How about Scarlett O’Hara?” Mila suggested. “You could do the scene where she visits Rhett in jail.” That way, “Rhett” wouldn’t be able to get his hands on her.

Belle stared at her, huffed. “All right, what’s wrong? You did this fantasy stuff for a couple of years. If it was okay for you, why isn’t it okay for me? And don’t say it’s because I haven’t had a date in over forty years because you haven’t had a real date in ages, either.”

The woman had a point, but Mila thought maybe she picked up on bad vibes a little better than Belle. Maybe not, though, since she had had that encounter with Wesley.

“Honestly,” Belle went on, “I see just as much risk in you going out with Dylan later today as in me doing Twilight. And my name’s already very close to the character so that might be a good sign.”

Mila froze. “How’d you know about Dylan?”

Belle froze, too. “Uh, Lawson mentioned it.”

Great day. That meant it was all over town. “It’s not a date. It’s just coffee.” Mila was thinking of it as more of a prequel to a possible date.

Belle just stared at her. “Dylan isn’t the ‘just coffee’ type. He could charm the panties off a nun. Or you.”

Maybe, but it would be a nice change of pace from the other guys in town who were trying to do the same.

“How’d Dylan set up this date with you, anyway?” Belle asked.

“He’s friends with Julie Dayton. She’s the librarian at the school.” Basically, Julie had played matchmaker, and Mila didn’t know whether to thank her yet or not.

Mila braced herself for Belle to tell her all the reasons she shouldn’t go out with Dylan. After all, it wasn’t her coffee meeting that folks were chattering on about. They were also talking about the possible lawsuit that Dylan’s brothers might file against the Grangers.

“I have an idea,” Belle said, lowering her voice to a whisper despite the fact they were the only two people in the entire store. “Go out with Dylan. Let him think you’re falling for his charming ways. It won’t be hard because all those boys are lookers. Anyway, while he’s charming you, you could pump him for information about the lawsuit. You might even be able to convince him to tell his brother to back off.”

Mila lowered her voice to a whisper, too. “No.” And she didn’t have to think about it, either. “This is just for coffee at the café in about an hour. No pumping. No spying. In fact, I don’t plan to stay for more than thirty minutes.”

Her plan also included ordering iced tea so she wouldn’t even have to wait for it to cool. To say she was having second and third thoughts about this was an understatement. Still, she would go since it seemed cowardly to back out now especially since she’d arranged for her part-time help, Janeen Carlin, to cover the store.

Belle didn’t say anything for several long moments. “Do you want a short date because of Roman?”

“What?” A conversation with Belle was rarely easy to follow, and this one was no different. “Why would you think of Roman?”

“Because he’s right outside the window. I guess it’s the opposite of out of sight, out of mind. Instead, he’s in sight, in mind.”

Mila turned toward the window so fast she heard her neck pop. And Roman was indeed there. He was peering through the window at them. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave.

“I hope nothing went wrong with Tate,” Belle commented. “He was supposed to start school today.”