Branded as Trouble

Mila had already moved toward the door, but that caused her to go even faster. “Is Tate okay?” she immediately asked the moment she unlocked it and threw it open.

Roman pulled back his shoulders, surprised by her question. Or maybe he was just surprised that her voice was so intense.

“He’s fine. I got all the paperwork done for him to go to school here, and I just dropped him off...” His words trailed off when he spotted his mother. “Did I interrupt anything?”

“No.” Belle snatched her fantasy paper from Mila, folded it and put it in her purse.

Obviously, this wasn’t something the woman wanted to discuss with her children. Probably because they all disapproved. Sophie and Garrett had already called Mila with their concerns. So had Billy Lee. Apparently, though, Belle had no hesitation about discussing it at length with Mila.

“I need to be going,” Belle said. She kissed Mila’s cheek and spared her son a glance on the way out. “And you need a haircut,” she added to Roman.

“Dippity-do,” he grumbled to her.

Mila didn’t have a clue what that was about, and she didn’t have time to ask Belle because the woman hurried out.

“Are you here about your mom’s fantasy dates?” Mila asked at the same time that Roman asked, “Was my mother here about your date with Dylan?”

Neither answered.

They just stood there, obviously surprised and also waiting for the other to say something. There was no need for her to ask him how he knew about Dylan. Gossip. No need for him to explain how he knew about his mother because he’d overheard their conversation when they were at the hospital.

And speaking of hospitals, she looked at his side. He wasn’t hunched over in pain as he’d been the last time she’d seen him. “Are you supposed to be driving, walking and such?”

His mouth tightened a little, probably because he thought she asked in an effort to avoid answering his question. She had. But Mila honestly wanted to know how he was doing.

“The doctor didn’t say I couldn’t do those things,” he answered. Then added, “I’m fine. Practically good as new.”

She doubted that, but it was nice to see him up and about, especially since he had given her a scare when he’d collapsed.

“So, why are you here?” she pressed when he didn’t continue.

He glanced around. “Books. I thought I’d get some for Tate. You know what he likes, and I thought you could help me pick out a few. I don’t want him to get bored while he’s at the ranch.”

She doubted that would happen. From what she was hearing, Tate was riding a lot and even helping Garrett with some of the ranching chores. Now that he was back in school and had his therapy sessions three times a week, he probably wouldn’t have a lot of spare time. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for him to have some books on hand.

Mila headed to the Young Adult section, specifically to the postapocalyptic books that Tate preferred. Roman followed her, and that’s when she noticed he was hobbling a bit. Definitely favoring his right side.

“I also wanted to thank you again,” he said.

Mila should have just let that pass, but she couldn’t. She whirled around to face him but hadn’t realized that he was so close. She practically knocked right into him.

“Please don’t tell me thank you. Or hug me.” She hadn’t meant to blurt that last part out, but maybe her visit with Belle had put her close to her tipping point.

“Hug you?” he questioned. Roman huffed. “Does that have anything to do with you seeing Dylan?”

Mila could see no correlation, but obviously Roman could. “No. Why would you ask that?”

He shrugged. “Because I know you’re going out with him today, and maybe you think he won’t like it if you and I are...friends.”

So, perhaps that was the correlation, but it required a huge stretch to get from a coffee date to dictating her friendships. Of course, Roman might believe Dylan would feel that way because of this potential lawsuit. Because Dylan and his family wouldn’t be just suing the Grangers.

They would be suing Roman since he owned the ranch.

Mila forced herself to turn back to the books and took several from the shelf. “Friends,” she repeated. She didn’t make it sound like a question. She just tossed it out there to see how Roman would react.

He hesitated. A long time. “Yeah. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

That hurt. He could have at least said good friends. Or dear friends. Something to distinguish her from the cashier at the grocery store.

Mila handed him the books with a little more force than she’d intended and started back to the front. Again, he followed her.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.

“Yes! No,” she quickly amended, and then went with a “Maybe.”

She was toying with the idea of playing with fire here. If she said she didn’t want to be just his friend, it could put him on the spot. He could reject her.

Heck, he probably would.

She wasn’t anywhere near his usual type, and it didn’t matter that she wanted him to feel more for her. Mila couldn’t force him. And that’s why she needed to keep that coffee date with Dylan.

God, she had to move forward instead of being stuck in gear over Roman.

“It’s okay,” she assured him. It was a lie, of course. Mila stopped, turned and gave his arm a friendly pat.

Or at least that’s what she’d intended. He reached out, lightning fast, with his left hand and caught her wrist. He was so close again. So close that she caught the scent of his aftershave. It smelled expensive. And dangerous.

“Are you going out with Dylan to prove some kind of point to me?” he asked.

Again, with the precursor to playing with fire, she answered, “No. I’m going out with him to prove a point to me.”

That wasn’t a lie. And she could tell from Roman’s expression that he knew that, too.

“I need to take off the swimming floaties of life and venture into the deep end of the pool,” Mila continued, and wished that she’d come up with a better analogy.

“And you can do that with Dylan?”

She hated to say that any man would do, but at this point, any man would. “It’s a baby step. Coffee and conversation. I’ll work my way up to dating and a relationship.”

His grip melted off her wrist, and he looked down at it as if trying to figure out why he’d been holding her in the first place. “Why do you have to work your way up?”

Of course that didn’t make sense to a Granger. “I didn’t exactly come from a normal family, and in high school, boys were afraid of me because of my mother.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were the exception rather than the rule.” And he’d only had eyes for Valerie back then. “So, I dated a couple of misfits who only reminded me how much of a misfit I truly was.”

He shook his head. “But you went to college. You roomed with Sophie. You would have met guys who didn’t know about Vita.”