A Texas Soldier's Family

Garrett nodded, his handsome profile brooding yet calm as he surveyed the sagebrush, live oak trees and cedars dotting the landscape. “On the Wind River Ranch, here in Laramie County. My parents bought that back, too. My brother Wyatt started a horse farm there.”

Max nursed quickly—a sign of just how hungry he’d been. When he was done, Hope shifted her sated son upright so he could burp, and used her other hand to refasten her nursing bra. “So you all have ranches then.”

“No.” Garrett paced the length of the porch, both hands shoved in the back pockets of his jeans. The action drew her attention to his masculine shoulders and spectacularly muscled flanks. Without warning, she recalled the feel of his rock-hard leg beneath her palm, the heat radiating from the apex of his thighs. Wondered what it would be like to be held against all that sheer male power and strength.

Then she pushed the disturbing notion away.

Oblivious to the lusty direction of her thoughts, he paced a little farther away. “My dad gifted me a house and a medical office building in town.” He chuckled when Max let out a surprisingly loud belch.

“It’s okay. I’m done,” Hope said.

Garrett turned to face her. Noting she had rebuttoned her blouse, he ambled toward her once again. “Sage received a small café in the historic downtown section of Laramie and the apartment above it.”

Hope spread the blanket out on the seat of the swing and laid Max down so she could change his diaper. “So you’d all eventually settle here?”

He moved even closer, gazing fondly down at her sleepy baby. The tenderness in his gaze was a surprise.

“That was their plan,” he admitted in a voice so gentle it made her mouth go dry.

She drew in a breath for calm. Which, to her consternation, did not help.

She still was wa-a-a-a-y too aware of him. Still far too curious about the man who was proving to be such an enigma—all Texas military gentleman one moment, all tough, edgy alpha male the next. Telling herself to dial it down a notch, Hope cocked her head. “What’s your plan?” she asked bluntly.

His gaze dipped to her lips, lingered. “To sell both properties and move on.”

“Your mom said your tour of duty was about up.”

“Twenty-nine days. I saved my time off for the end, so I’m on R & R through the rest of it.”

“And then...?”

“I either reenlist and become a staff physician at Walter Reed in Washington, DC...”

She could see him doing that. And probably loving it. “Or...?”

“Head up a residency program at a hospital in Seattle.”

“Where your sister Sage is living.”

He nodded.

She could imagine him teaching, too. Having all the young female residents fall hopelessly in love with him. “Do you know what you’re going to do?”

“Still thinking about it.”

“But in either case you won’t be returning to Texas.” As his mother wanted.

His sharp, assessing gaze met hers. “No.”

“Not tied to the Lone Star State in any way?” Despite the fact he and his siblings had apparently all grown up in Texas.

He raised his brows. “Are you?”

Hope nodded, her heart tightening a little in her chest. “I’ve worked in enough places to realize Texas is my home. And where I want Max to grow up.”

Feeling oddly disappointed that it was a sentiment they obviously did not share, and at the same time determined to end the unexpected intimacy that had fallen between them, she finished diapering her son, then lifted Max into her arms. “Where are we going to bunk down tonight?” she asked, shooting Garrett an all-business look. “I assume your mom had some definitive plan when she suggested we come out here. Maybe a hotel in town, assuming there is one?”

Garrett reached for his cell phone. “I’ll give my mother a call, see if I can find out what her ETA is.”

Hope headed to the SUV to get Max settled in his infant seat, so they would be ready to lock up the house and go wherever they were headed next as soon as he got off the phone. To her relief, her little boy, exhausted from the chaotic activity of the day, was already fast asleep when Garrett came out of the house, informing her, “We’ve been directed to the bunkhouse.”

Why did she suddenly have the feeling that was not a good thing? Hope stood, her hands propped on her hips. “When will everyone else be here?”

His expression as matter-of-fact as his low tone, he answered, “Noon tomorrow.”

* * *

HOPE BLINKED. SHE could not have heard right! “Noon tomorrow?”

“My mother decided to stay in Dallas and handle some things there first.”

“Unlike me, you don’t seem all that surprised.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What are you accusing me of?”

She flushed. “Nothing.” She just knew that being alone with this sexy, virile man was not a good idea. “But,” she continued hastily, “under the circumstances, I think it would be better if Max and I went into town and stayed in a hotel.”

He choked off a laugh. “What? You’re worried I’m going to put the moves on you?”

Actually, she was worried she was going to lose all common sense and put the moves on him. But not about to reveal that, she crossed her arms in front of her and quipped wryly, “Dream on, Alpha Man.”

His eyes crinkled mischievously at the corners. “Alpha Man?”

Had she really said that? She must be punchier than she’d thought. Which was par for the course, considering she’d been lured back to work three months before she had planned and then, compounding matters, having to get up at the crack of dawn to take the six o’clock flight from Dallas to DC in order to be seated next to him on the return trip. Aware he was still waiting for an explanation, she lifted a hand. “It was an insult. A friendly one.” Hope bit down on an oath. She was just making it worse.

He laughed, his husky baritone like music to her ears, as he continued giving her a long, sexy once-over. “Sounded more like a compliment to me.”

He was twisting everything around, embarrassing her and putting her off her game. Indignant, she huffed, “Of course you would think that.”

He held his ground, arms folded in front of him, biceps bunched. Again, that long steady appraisal. “Because I’m alpha?”

He definitely was not a beta.

She threaded her hands through her hair, wishing she’d thought to put it in a tight, spinsterish bun before he’d picked her up. “Can we end this repartee?”

His mother was right. They had been flirting. They were flirting now. Heaven help them both.

He leaned in and gathered her into his arms. “With pleasure.”