Roping His Bride Page 2

  “The hell is she doing?” I grunt. Rose is just stomping the gas, and her stupid sports car is just kicking up mud. She’s going nowhere fast, and if she keeps it up, that car is never getting out of that mud-hole.

  The wind starts to howl, and lightning splits the sky. The horses go fucking apeshit behind me. But I’m staring at her car. My brow furrows in concern. I glance up at the big, old, half-dead tree that leans over my drive. It’s right over her car, and when the wind howls, it starts to creak.

  My blood chills. Suddenly, I’m running through the pounding rain.

  “Get out!” I roar. I’m waving my arms, and I see Rose shout something at me through the windshield. It looks a whole lot like “I’m trying”.

  “No, get out of the fucking car!” I slosh through the mud to her door. I pound on the glass and then just yank the door open.

  “What are you doing!?” she shrieks.

  “Out!” I roar.

  “I’m trying!” She yells. “I think it’s stuck…”

  “No!” I bellow. “The car! Get the fuck out of the car!”

  “Excuse—hey!”

  I duck into the car and lean over her. I undo her seatbelt, and I grab her. She screams and swears at me. Her fists rain down my back. I resist thinking about how fucking good her body feels under my hands, and I yank her right on out of there.

  “What the fuck are you doing” she shrieks. “Are you out of your fucking mind! Get your fucking hands—hey!”

  I toss her over my damn shoulder, and I run. I’m on the steps to the porch when the thunder booms like a bomb around us. Lightning splits the sky, and we both hear the huge cracking sound. I whirl, just in time to see the top half of the old dead tree snap off and come crashing down, right on her car.

  I set her down on the top step under the roof overhang. Rose just stares at the pancaked wreck of her car in shock.

  “Inside!” I yell over the howling winds. “Now!”

  “What? No, I—”

  A huge fucking thunderclap splits the sky. She screams, and I grab her. I yank her into the house and slam the door shut behind us against the screeching wind. Thunder booms again, and suddenly the lights flicker and go out.

  But hell if I can think of a single thing besides how she felt in my arms.

  3

  Rose

  For about ten minutes, it feels like the world is ending. I sit on the bottom step of the stairs in Tucker’s house, hugging the banister and rocking myself. My heart races. All I know is fear and terror as the storm thunders around the almost pitch-black house. But the world doesn’t end.

  The winds slow. The rain lets up before stopping altogether. The lights flicker back on. And slowly, I stop hugging the banister. A firm hand rests gently on my shoulder. I gasp, jumping to my feet and whirling.

  “Just me,” Tucker growls quietly. I look up into his eyes and realize that they’re crystal blue. And gorgeous, just like the rest of him. I mean the man is crazy hot. Model hot. Dark hair, blue eyes, a chiseled cowboy chin.

  “You alright?”

  I realize it’s the second time he’s asked me in a row. I blink, my face turning red. “Are we… we’re okay?” I mumble out. Oh, very smooth.

  “We’re not in Oz, if that’s what you’re asking,” he grins. He leans close to me and frowns slightly. Hs eyes sweep over me, like he’s making sure I’m not hurt.

  “You okay?”

  “I think so? Yes?”

  “You were screaming pretty loud.”

  My face burns hot. “Sorry.”

  Tucker grins. “Don’t be. That was a mean storm.”

  “My God, yeah, that…” I freeze as I suddenly remember the tree. “My car!”

  I push past him and run for the front door. But even from inside, I can see the damage. I groan, and my shoulders droop. The brand-new Mercedes is now a metal pancake with a big-ass tree lying on top of it. Not to mention, it’s buried halfway deep in mud. I think the appropriate term here is “totaled.”

  “Shit,” I moan. It comes out like air deflating from a tire. Past the car, there are also a few other trees down. A little small barn next to the main one is leaning to the side at a crazy angle. The ground itself looks like a muddy pond.

  “Water’ll go down in an hour or so,” Tucker grunts from behind me. “It’s been dry as hell, so it’s all just standing on the ground right now until it gets soaked up.”

  I nod and look back at my car. Tucker seems to follow my gaze. He sucks his teeth. “Well, you weren’t in it,” he mutters.

  “Yeah, but the car,” I moan.

  “You weren’t in it,” he growls.

  I swallow. I turn and look up at him. “Thank you.”

  His eyes hold mine a second. Then he nods and turns to look past me to the yard. “Shit,” he mutters. He moves past me and out the door. He runs down the steps and through the sloshing mud to the little barn. “Come on!” He yells over his shoulder.

  I have no idea why, but I do as he says. I kick my heels off and rush after him. “Ugh, shit,” I make a sour face when I slosh through the mud. But I keep after him until I get to the title barn. Tucker yanks a door open and reaches inside. He comes out with a chicken in each hand, and I realize it’s a chicken coop, not “small barn.”

  “Wanna give me a hand?”

  “Um…”

  “C’mon,” he grunts. “This could tip over any second and they’ll drown.”

  “Yeah… yeah, sure,” I nod quickly.

  He nods his chin at the open door. “Grab the hens first. I’ve got a temporary coop in the barn where they can stay while the water goes down. C’mon!”

  He runs off for the barn. I frown and peer into the little doorway. Ugh. It smells like hay and animal crap. But I take a breath and stick my hand in. I grab one quickly. It starts to freak out instantly, flapping around and crowing. I wince, but I hold on tight. That is, until the damn thing bites me.

  “Ouch! Shit!” I drop the hen and yank my hand out. “Little fucker!” I hiss.

  “The fuck are you doing?” I turn to see Tucker coming back over for more chickens. “Just grab two and go!”

  “It bit me!”

  He frowns. “Chickens peck, they don’t bite.”

  “Well that one bit me!” I point though the door at the one strutting around like an asshole.

  “That one?”

  “Yes!” I say indignantly.

  Tucker looks at me and smirks. “That’s a rooster, not a hen.”

  “Oh, right,” I mumble. “Yeah.”

  He snorts and rolls his eyes. “Just a country girl who grew up working the land, huh?” he mutters thinly.

  I shrug.

  “Yes or no, Rose.”

  “I’ve been to the country,” I say tersely.

  “For fuck’s sake,” he growls. “Is anything you people say even remotely the truth?”

  “Hey! I—”

  “Go stand on the porch and stay out of trouble,” he grunts.

  “Okay, well, fuck you too.”

  “Or you could splash around in those fancy heels some more,” he mutters.

  “Fine.”

  I turn and slosh through the mud back to the porch. I look into the house and get the phone from my bag. But I’ve got zero service. Instead, I watch for a minute as Tucker makes a few more trips to get the rest of the hens inside. He makes one last trip for the rooster that pecked me.

  He walks over, covered in mud. At the bottom of the steps on the side of the house, he uses a garden hose to wash down. Now he’s just a crazy hot, dripping wet cowboy in soaking wet, tight jeans. No big deal, right?

  “Perfect time to check your Facebook,” he says dryly, nodding at my phone.

  “Funny,” I mutter. “I was checking my service, but I don’t have a single bar.”

  “Storm probably took down the local tower.”

  “Can I use yours?”

  “For?”

  “To call for someone to come get me?”

  He chuckles. “Sure, but I’m positive I’ve got no service too. Besides that, I’d be amazed if anyone without a helicopter is going to come get you anytime soon.”

  I stare at him. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that storm probably took out most of the roads between here and town. Trees down, creek bridges out, roads washed away.”

  My mouth falls open in shock. “No, that can’t be.”

  “It very much can be. I grew up here. Trust me. But here, knock yourself out.” He reaches into the front door and comes back out with a phone in his hand. But sure enough, it doesn’t have any service either.

  “See?” he says shaking his head. “It’s the local tower. It’s either down or the local emergency people have commandeered it.”

  “They can’t do that!”

  “To help people and coordinate rescues?” He frowns. “Yeah, princess, they can.”

  “Well, how do we find out if the roads…”

  Tucker sighs. “You don’t listen much to what you don’t like, do you?”

  “Call it optimism,” I mutter.

  “I call it being a pain the ass,” he growls back. “But fine. Follow me.”

  He heads into the house, and I follow him. Through the kitchen, in a little office type room, he turns on a squawking box like a radio with a little mouthpiece on a coiled wire.

  “It’s a CB radio. Hang on.” He dials to a frequency and pushes a button on the microphone. “Hey, fire tower one, this is Tucker James over at the James Ranch. You good up there? Over.”

  A second later, the box squawks back some static, and then a voice.

  “Tucker, how you doin’, man? Yeah, all good up here. Just me. You good? Over.”

  Tucker grins. “Hey, Jenson. Yeah, real howler. Got a fe
w trees down, but the ranch is good. No emergency. But listen, you hear anything about the roads into Saddle Creek? I’ve got an…”

  He glances at me with a hard eye.

  “I’ve got an uninvited guest that needs to get back to town and then to Helena. Over.”

  I smile sarcastically at him. “I didn’t ask to get trapped here.”

  “No, just for my family legacy. Got it.”

  The CB radio statics to life again. “Right, gotcha. I don’t think anyone from out your way is getting into Saddle Creek anytime soon. Roads are shot, Tucker. The emergency workers are having a bitch of a time. They’re pulling some helicopters from the National Guard now. Over.”

  Tucker sighs heavily. He glances at me. “See? No roads.”

  “Yeah but he said they have helicopters. Could one of them fly me to the airport maybe?”

  From his silent, blank stare, I know that’s a no. I think I knew it was a no anyways. But no harm in asking, right?

  “Thanks, Jenson,” Tucker grunts into the mic. “Hey, can you do me a favor? Over.”

  “Yeah, anything I can, buddy. Over.”

  “Mind checking in on my brothers if you can? Over.”

  “Yeah, you got it. I hear anything I’ll let you know. Over and out.”

  Tucker’s bare, muscled shoulders slump. He hangs up the mic and stands. He brushes past me out into the kitchen, and I follow behind him.

  “Brothers?”

  “Yeah, two. You?”

  I shake my head. “Only child.”

  “Shocking.”

  “You know you don’t have to be such a dick. I didn’t knock that tree over onto my own car. I didn’t bring the rains either.”

  He frowns, but at least I don’t get another snarky comment.

  “So, now what?”

  Tucker shakes his head. “Now, it would seem you’re stuck here.”

  I groan. “For how long?”

  “As long as it takes to get you a ride into town. A day, maybe two?”

  I drop into a chair at his kitchen table. My forehead rests on my hand. “Two days? Here?”

  “Don’t forget the lack of cell service.”

  I groan loudly. Tucker chuckles. “Buck up, buttercup. After all, you’re right at home out in the country, right?”

  I glare at him. He grins right back. It’s both sizzling and infuriating.

  “Well could you at least put a shirt on?” I finally mutter.

  Tucker’s smile grows wider. “For you, princess?” He winks. “Nope.”

  He turns and saunters out of the kitchen to the front door. “Now come on, country girl. Let’s rescue what we can from your car.”

  My forehead drops onto the kitchen table, and I groan.

  4

  Tucker

  A few hours later, things have calmed down. The chickens are good. The horses are calm, and the few goats I’ve got in the barn are content. The water is even mostly down, too. It’s muddy as a pigsty across most of the yard. But I know the morning sun will help dry things up.

  I look up at the darkening sky and sigh. My eyes wander across the yard to the house. I frown when I spot Rose’s silhouette in my living room window. I’m guessing she’s still moping on my couch trying to find cell service.

  I sigh again. It’s strange having her here. Hell, it’s strange having any woman here, seeing as I haven’t dated in almost two years. But that woman being here is a real twister. For one, she’s sexy as hell. Dripping wet, scowling, and covered in mud, and she’s still a knockout.

  But she’s also the enemy. She represents the scumbags trying to take my family’s land. The push-and-pull of being attracted to her and wanting to launch her off my land in a catapult is making my damn head spin. And to top it off, she’s not leaving anytime soon. With the roads as bad as Jensen says they are, it seems the city girl pouting in my living room is going to be a fixture there for a few days.

  Which means she’ll be spending the night. Several of them. My jaw tightens. So do certain parts of my jeans. But I let that dirty train of thought go and march towards the house. Sure enough, Rose is trying to wave her phone at my ceiling, looking for service.

  “You could try the roof.”

  She gasps and turns quickly, surprised by my voice in the doorway. “You think that’ll work?”

  “Nope,” I grin. “But I’d be amused.”

  She smiles sarcastically at me.

  “You hungry?”

  “I’m fine.”

  I roll my eyes. “You going to say no to food the whole time you’re here to prove a point?”

  She turns her back to me. “I’m just not hungry,” she mutters.

  “You might be here longer than you think.”

  Rose whips her head around. “What?”

  I chuckle. “You thought you’d be heading back home in the morning? Just one night and the miles of rural road would be magically fixed?”

  “I was doing my best not to think about staying here for an entire night,” she says tersely.

  “Well, get used to the idea. You’re here tonight, tomorrow, and I’m guessing the night after that.”

  Rose looks stricken. “No, that… no that’s not happening,” she says quickly.

  “Unless you’ve got a helicopter, yeah, it is.”

  “That’s ridiculous!”

  “Like I’m happy about it?” I snap. I sigh. “Look, you hungry or not?”

  Rose frowns. Her pretty pink lips pucker into a pout. But damn is it cute.

  “Hungry,” she finally admits.

  “Alright. I’m cooking.” I turn to walk out of the room. “But I hope you like horse.”

  “What?!” She shrieks. But I just keep walking, laughing my ass off.

  “Thank you,” Rose says genuinely.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “This is really, really good.”

  “Not bad for horse, huh?”

  She rolls her eyes and laughs dryly. “Yeah I’ve been missing out.”

  It’s not horse. Just some good ole’ fashioned beef steaks. I take the last bite of mine and sit back in my chair. Rose and I are on the back porch of the farmhouse. I’m pretty proud of this spot back here. I’ve done a lot of work on the house and the barn since taking over the ranch. But this deck and the grill area are a source of real pride. The perfect post-storm sunset is really selling it right now, too.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Rose murmurs.

  “Sure is. See why I don’t want a fucking mall to go up?”

  “Tucker, it’s not a mall…” she frowns. “But yes, I do. So, this place has really been in your family for six generations?”

  “Yep,” I nod through a sip of my beer.

  “And you grew up here?”

  “Yeah. My brothers Russel and Luke and me. When my dad passed, it was a bit much for my Ma all by herself. She’s down in Texas with my aunt now. And I was more than happy to take over this place.”

  “Not your brothers?”

  I shrug. “They’re around. My kid brother Luke’s got his own place up the road a bit. Russel’s the older one, and he’s kinda got his own thing going on too.”

  She nods, and we sit in silence for a minute. I gotta admit, it’s a pretty nice minute: just me and Rose and the sunset. We sit in comfortable silence as the sun drops beneath the horizon. But finally, I stand.

  “Well, we should get you set up for the night.”

  “Tucker, I…” she smiles a little awkwardly. “I really do appreciate it.”

  “It’s no trouble,” I grin. “The horses won’t mind you sleeping next to them one bit.”

  Her face goes white for a second. But I can’t hold back my grin. She rolls her eyes and grins when she realizes I’m being a dick.

  “Very funny.”

  I laugh. “C’mon, city girl.”

  Earlier, I managed to crowbar open the caved-in trunk of her car for her stuff. Only thing is, it’s not much, and there’s no clothes. It’s not like she expected to spend the night anywhere around here, I guess.

  Luckily, Rose looks to be the same size as River.

  I knock on the half open door of the guest room. “You decent?” I step in to see Rose blushing.

  “Yes, I’m decent,” she stammers. “It’s not like I have any clothes to change into anyways.”

  I raise the pile of folded stuff in my hands. “Got you covered.”