Read Texas Heat (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 2) Online
Authors: Faith Loveright
Tags: #Romance, #Cowboy
Travis lifted Laurie up in the air and spun her around with a
grin from one ear to the other. “Sweetheart, we’re going to
be so happy together,” he promised as he lowered her feet
back down to the ground with her body held up tightly
against his own.
A scowl crossed his face and he stepped away from her
with his arms wrapped around his own chest in a reassuring
hug. It was a lame attempt to mend the heartache that had
zinged through him with those four terrible words.
“Don’t put unnecessary pressure on me, Travis. My
brothers would have a fit if we got married. They’d say we
barely know each other. We only met a couple of weeks
ago. Eric lost his first wife in a terrible accident, and as a
result, he’s so overprotective of everyone he loves, he often
goes to unnecessary extremes to protect us… even from
ourselves without bothering to listen to all of the
information before he decides that we are going to get hurt
unless he steps in and does something about it. He blames
himself to this day for not being there and doing something
to save Victoria. My little brother hasn’t been the same
since our parents died… He seems to have a death wish and
fights Eric at every turn… But he’s even louder and more
obnoxious in his need to protect me. He sees it as his job
with Dad gone to make sure that no one ever hurts me.”
“You make it sound like
a hopeless case… I’m not giving
up on you, Laurie. I’ve never felt like this. I can’t lose
you… I need you in my life, and I don’t mean just as my
mechanic.”
“Just… let’s get through this visit. After we get back to
Texas, we’ll test the waters with my brothers… see if we
can make things work when we’re not playing the part of a
couple of newlyweds. You need to see what my life is
really like before you can start making such huge decisions
for the rest of your life. I’m not a girly girl or a city girl,
Travis. The dresses and skirts I brought with me are the
only ones I own and the only reason I even had them was
because my mom bought them for me for church … other
than the little black dress and it only stepped out on the
town on the rare occasion that I had a date. I’m a blue jeans
and t-shirt kind of girl. Either that or overalls. Is that really
the sort of woman you want for a wife?”
“I know exactly who you are Laurie. You forget… we met
because my car broke down. I’ve seen you in action.
You’re amazing. I work with animals for a living. That’s
not exactly a sexy job either. When I look at you, it isn’t
your job I see. I see the red hot lover I love holding in my
arms in the dead of night.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at her,
looking into her eyes. “We would be amazing together,
Laurie. I could see to the animals and you could make sure
the farm equipment and the vehicles are in good working
order. I fail to see the down side in this situation.”
“Are you going to back off and give me the
time I asked
for?” she asked, dragging her hands down his chest to wrap
around his waist so she was hugging him.
“I don’t like it, but yes. If that’s what you really need from
me, I’ll wait until we get you back home to mention it
again.”
A crash sounded from inside the house and Travis cursed,
running towards the front door shouting for his mother,
praying she would answer. He’d been so busy falling for
Laurie, there for a while; he’d managed to forget what had
originally brought him back home in the first place.
His mother was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor, flat
on her back. She was as white as a ghost and her eyes were
closed. The way she was sprawled out on the floor
indicated that the fall had been a nasty one. He ran over to
her side and carefully lifted her head from the floor,
cradling it in his lap. “Ma? Talk to me…” he begged
tearfully.
Laurie dug into her pocket and pulled her cell phone out,
dialing 9-1-1. Her hand was shaking as she gave them the
few details she had and then hung up, going over and
settling her hand reassuringly on Travis’s shoulder. “The
ambulance is on the way.”
“I’m not ready to lose her yet,” he told her huskily. “She
practically begged me to reassure her that there was a
chance for her to become a grandmother before she died…
Now that there’s actually a chance that it could happen, I
need more time to give her what she wants so badly.”
“You’re kind of rushing things a bit, aren’t you?” Laurie
asked, leaning down and pressing a soft reassuring kiss to
the top of his head. “We’re just getting things off the
ground in this relationship… Isn’t a bit early to be talking
about having kids together?”
“Not when it seems to be the only thing my mom wants
before this inoperable tumor in her head takes her life, no. I
don’t think its rushing things at all,” he argued, taking her
hand in his own and clinging to it.
The pain in his voice was almost more than Laurie could
bear and tears flooded her eyes as she clung to Travis,
wishing there was more that she could do for him. “This is
why you wanted to come home with a wife in tow, isn’t
it?” she asked, suddenly understanding the desperation
she’d heard in his voice when he had asked her to pose as
his bride for his mother.
Travis nodded his head as a tear rolled down his cheek.
“She’s dying and there’s not a bloody thing I can do to help
her. This is the only thing she’s asked me for, Laurie… She
needs to know that I’m settled and happy in my family life
before she goes. I need to give that to her. She’s the only
family I have…”
“So we’ll make sure to tell her that we were talking about
starting a family when she comes to,” Laurie said, rubbing
her hands over his back in a soothing massage. “She will
have the reassurance she needs, Travis. There’s no reason
we can’t give that to her.”
“And I love that you’re willing to do that, but I don’t want
it to be just empty promises meant to soothe her concern
for me any longer, Laurie. I want to be able to look her in
the eye and tell her that we’re honestly trying and have it be
the God’s honest truth.”
“Does that mean you intend on being honest with her about
everything?” she asked, knowing that he would understand
that she meant their unmarried state.
“No,” he answered. “I want to make the lie a truth. I
already told you that,” he told her, never losing eye contact
with her. He needed her to know that his proposal hadn’t
been just a spur of the moment whim that he hadn’t fully
thought through.
“We seem to be at a bit of an impasse,” Laurie said sighing
heavily. “You told me that we were going to lay off on talk
of marriage until after we got back to Texas where we can
test the waters with my brothers when we both get a chance
to see what our relationship is like without all the
pretense.”
The ambulance arrived moments later and their talk was
put off as they watched from the sidelines as his mother
was loaded onto the gurney and spirited away. Laurie
hugged Travis as the ambulance drove towards the hospital
with the sirens blaring. “Do you want to go after her?” she
asked quietly.
Travis shook his head no and tugged her tighter into his
arms. “I think until they know what’s going on with her,
she’s better off without me there in the room, panicking.
She’ll be better off if I’ve calmed down before I go sit by
her bedside. I have to take comfort in the fact that the
medics said her heartbeat and breathing were both normal.”
“In that case, let’s head back inside for now. We’ll find a
way to get you calm and ready to go to your mom as soon
as possible. I believe I can think of a few ways to do that,”
she said seductively, wrapping her arm around his waist,
settling her hand on his hip.
Travis couldn’t help but smile as he leaned down and
pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head while they walked
back into his mother’s house. This was just one more piece
of proof that this woman was perfect for him in his opinion.
All he had to do now was find a way to convince her to
really think about his proposal.
He didn’t want to wait to be able to call Laurie his woman
for real. What he wanted was to go back to that moment
when he’d asked her to play the part of his wife and change
the wording… asking her to marry him instead. When it
had been about his mother, he had a feeling she would have
said yes, just because Laurie had a really big heart. Now, he
had no idea what it was going to take to get her to say yes,
but he was more determined than ever to make it happen.
Laurie was the perfect complement to him.
The next morning when Travis and Laurie walked into his
mother’s hospital room, the older woman was sitting up in
the bed giving the nurse a hard time. It had been a long
time since he’d seen her like this. She seemed so much
more alive than he’d seen her since before his father had
passed on. He cleared his throat and walked to her side,
taking her hand.
She looked up at h
im with a smile a mile wide. “Trav, it’s a
miracle…” she said, practically glowing. “They ran some
tests after the fall, and the cancer is in remission. The tumor
isn’t any smaller, but it hasn’t grown either. Since I know
you can’t put your work off for the unforeseeable future,
you and your bride can head back home and know that I’ll
be fine. Sooner or later my time will come, but at least I
know that you’re happy and in good hands. Your Laurie is
an amazing woman. Hold on to her, she’s a keeper.”
“I plan
to,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“Believe me, Ma… I know exactly how special Laurie is. If
my heart was any more chucked full of love for her, it
would burst with it.”
“Good,” his mother said, nodding her head. “Make sure
you keep her feeling the love for you.”
“I’m prepared to fight with everything I have, if that’s what
it would take to keep her with me for the rest of my days,”
he said honestly, looking into Laurie’s eyes letting her see
the truth behind his words.
Laurie blushed in the doorway and wrapped her arms
around herself. The intensity in his eyes was hot enough to
burn a hole in any resistance she might have been clinging
to and she felt her heart flip over in her chest. In that
moment, she found herself hoping that the fragile feelings
that were developing between them were strong enough to
surmount all of the obstacles that stood in their way.
Between her brothers and the fact that they lived in two
different states, they certainly had more than their fair share
of issues to overcome if they were to actually make a go of
a real marriage.
Travis reluctantly looked back at his mother and offered
her a tentative grin. “We’re going to take you up on your
offer… We really do have a lot to get back to. Between my
vet business and Laurie’s garage, we’ve already been away
for too long. Add the fact that her brothers are starting to
freak out by the length of time she’s been gone, and we
really should be heading back.”
His mother nodded her head in understanding and waved
them off as they took off. Before long they had their
suitcases back in the car and they were heading down the
freeway back towards Texas. Laurie looked over at him as
he drove and swallowed hard as emotion tried to choke her.
This man had come to mean everything to her in such a
short period of time and she had no idea how to deal with
any of the emotions swelling in her. She wanted to believe
that once they got back to her house, Travis would still be
as into her as he had seemed at his mother’s place. At the
same time, she had no clue how to explain their suddenly
intense relationship to her brothers in a way that wouldn’t
lead to them scaring Travis back to wherever he’d come
from in the first place. The fact that he had seen her in full
mechanic mode and still desired her even though he wasn’t
drunk or desperate went a long ways in her book. The idea
of losing that… of losing him, broke her heart.
She wondered if what they shared was strong enough to
survive all of the problems reality would bring now that the
pretense for his mother’s sake was over. She wasn’t even
sure how Travis really felt about her. All she had to go on
were words that could very well have been said solely for
his mother’s benefit.
“Penny for your thoughts,” he said, glancing at her out of
the corner of his eye. “You’re a million light years
away…”
“Just wondering where we go from here. Will you stay on
when we get back to my house, or will you be heading back
to your own house and your practice?”
A ball of emotion swirled in his stomach and he reached
over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly in his own.
“I’d like to stay on for a bit… Meet your elusive brothers
and state my intentions to their faces… ask for your hand
officially like any true Southern gentleman would.”
“I wasn’t sure if you still wanted to…” she admitted shyly,
blushing deeply when the shocked look came over his
expressive features. “If you’re serious about this, I think we
need to talk,” she said carefully, biting her bottom lip
nervously before continuing. “I have a job and a family… I
can’t just up and move to wherever your practice is… I
want to be with you,” she rushed to explain when he
frowned. “It’s just that….”
“If we’re going to b
e together, it has to be in my
hometown. I’m afraid it’s a bit of a deal breaker for me. I
know how much of a rush you were in to get out of Texas
the last time you were at my house…”
Tears filled Laurie’s eyes as she thought of the reality of
Travis leaving and never seeing him again. “I don’t want to
lose you over this, but it’s the only way we’d be able to be
together.”
Travis thought about how miserable he’d been when he’d
first came to a stop in the middle of the desert… how he’d
wondered how any person could ever get used to living in
such a hot barren environment. He glanced over at the
nervous woman at his side and he knew why a man would
choose to live in such a place. If living in the middle of
nowhere, sweating away the pounds miles away from what
would constitute as civilization was the only way to be with
the woman he loved, he would happily do it.
It was a farming community. There was sure to be more
than enough work for a veterinarian. No, it wouldn’t be
with the up and coming big names he’d been working with
back home, but it would be a good solid income. He didn’t
need the fame that came with being the main vet for the
Kentucky derby.
“If you feel that strongly about it, I don’t see where it
would be a problem. I can be a vet just about anywhere. It’s
one benefit of owning my own business. I can hang my
shingle just about anywhere. Since I missed the height of
the racing season already, I imagine another vet has already
stepped all over my turf back home anyways.”
It was a sad but true statement. He’d known when he
agreed to leave to go to his mother that he’d most likely
lose the contracts with the racing world to another vet. He
hadn’t thought far enough ahead to think of how he would
continue to make a living once he got back home. His
mother and her health had been his only concern at the
time.
Laurie looked stunned that he’d agreed so easily and he
squeezed her hand again. “Don’t look so surprised,” he
scolded softly. “When a man loves you enough to propose
marriage, he knows that there will be plenty of
compromises that he’ll have to make in the future in order
to keep you happy. My business is the only thing waiting
for me back home and with my absence during the worst
possible time; I pretty much already all but kissed that
goodbye. Like you said, you have a family and a business
that aren’t going anywhere. It only makes sense that we
settle there.”
“It’s
just that I guess I’m still struggling to believe that a
man that looks like you could really want a woman like
me,” she admitted shakily. “You have no idea what living
in such close range of my brothers is going to be like.
They’re relentless when it comes to keeping men at bay
around me. When they learn that I’m serious about you and
that for all intents and purposes, due to the fact that in order
to be with me, you’ll have to move away from your work,
you’ll be basically unemployed for a bit… they are going to
move mountains to get you away from me.”
Travis spotted a diner on the side of the freeway and pulled
in, parking the car before he turned to face her, looking
straight into her eyes. “Absolutely nothing they say or do is
going to make me want to leave you, Laurie. I’m not afraid
of your brothers.”
“That’s because you haven’t met them,” Laurie said
laughing. “Jeff is a handful and he’s as anti-marriage as
they come. Eric is even worse, because he’s loved and lost
before and he sees protecting me from the same fate as his
job as the oldest now that our parents are gone.”
He was shaking his head in denial and he leaned over to
kiss her. Laurie moaned and wrapped her arms around his
neck. When the kiss eventually broke, she spoke. Her voice
was deeper than usual and came out in a smoky tone that
gave away her desire.
“What was that for?”
“I just needed to kiss you,” he said honestly. “I’m stronger
than I look,” he added chuckling when she glanced down at
his massive biceps, practically drooling. “Your brothers are
protective of you because they love you. Once they see that
my intentions with you are honest and permanent, I have no
doubt that the three of us will get along famously. Relax,
Laurie. If your brothers are our only obstacle, we’ll be
fine.”
Her hand shook as she lifted it to rub it over the bulging
muscle on his arm. “I know how strong you are,” she
murmured softly, her eyelids going to halfmast. “You
show me every time you hold me in your arms. I just worry
because I know how my brothers can be around men that
come sniffing around me.”
“That and a whole lot more,” he answered truthfully,
leaning down and kissing her lips. In that moment, Laurie
believed him and her heart soared. As crazy as it would
sound to all of her friends and family when she told them
how much she cared about this man, she could hardly wait
to do it. She could only imagine the look on her brother’s
faces when they met Travis and learned of the plans they
had made together. It would almost be worth the chew out
session and fight that they would have to face after the fact.
The only thing that kept her from losing it altogether was
Travis’s insistence that he was strong enough and that his
love for her was powerful enough that nothing either of her
brothers did would take him away from her.
As much as it scared her to trust in the dream this man was
offering her, she knew she had to cling to it. If it turned out
to be real, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for true
happiness. A chance for her to live out a life like Eric
was… in love with a family of her own. Children of her
own. Oh yes… Taking the leap of faith with Travis was
well worth dealing with the fallout from telling her
interfering brothers that she intended to accept the proposal
that had been offered.
Smiling with her lips against Travis’s, Laurie decided to
wait to inform him of her decision until the perfect time.
Surprising him would be half the fun. Waiting to see the
look on his face when she said yes would be one of the
hardest things she’d ever done, but she would do it. She
had no doubt that he would reward her for saying yes in the
most pleasant way a man could possibly say thank you to
the woman he loved. She could hardly wait.