And he had been since about ten minutes after Elena drove away the night before, once he could no longer smell the tempting scent of her perfume. Once he’d returned to his senses.
What was the matter with him, to go leading her on like that? Walking her to the door. Flirting with her outright. Kissing her. He had more sense than that.
A man didn’t make moves on a woman like Elena without knowing exactly what kind of signal he was giving her.
It had been wrong, what he’d done. That one amazing, unforgettable kiss would have been more than enough to get her thinking they were going somewhere with each other—at the very least, on a first date.
He thought about that. About how maybe he should ask her out. And then he could explain his situation. He could tell her frankly that if she wanted anything more than his company or maybe a hot night of good sex—or two—he wasn’t her guy.
But considering his behavior last night, going out with her seemed like just begging for trouble. If he couldn’t keep his hands off her when they were at Caleb’s, with her adoring and protective big brother nearby, how was he going to exercise restraint if it were just the two of them?
No.
A date was not the answer.
Avoidance was. She was going to think he was a jerk, and he deserved that. Really, if you got right down to it, he was a jerk for sending her signals when he had no intention of following through on them.
Rogan went to the Bravo ranch determined to stay as far away from Elena Cabrera as he possibly could.
That plan lasted about an hour.
Until he saw her again. She walked in the front door of the big Bravo ranch house and he was a goner.
Was it possible she could be even more gorgeous that day than the night before? She wore a close-fitting white-dotted dark blue dress and a short-sleeved white jacket. She had her hair swept up, soft little curls escaping to kiss the back of her slim golden neck. He wished he was one of those little curls so he could brush against that neck.
It was hopeless. Really. No way could he resist her.
He hung back as she hugged her sister and exchanged greetings with Caleb, and then he moved in.
She turned and smiled at him, dimple flashing. Pure temptation. “Rogan.” She laughed and the sound was as fine as the scent of her. “It’s been so long.”
“Hours,” he said. It came out in a growl.
Ridiculous. Insane. Totally unacceptable.
He only wanted to be near her. Was that so damn wrong?
He knew it was.
Still, wrong or not, he stayed near her.
First, they wandered into the kitchen together and chatted with Mercy and Aleta and a couple of the other Bravo wives.
And an hour later, there was an egg hunt out on the back grounds for the kids. Only a few of them were the right age for it, but they seemed to have a ball. Their parents followed them around and everyone else got comfortable on patio furniture arranged around the pool and on the edges of the lawn.
Rogan and Elena found chairs side by side and watched the kids racing all around in the grass, under the oak trees and even along the pretty trails of the formal garden, doting parents following after them. Lucas—Mercy and Luke’s toddler—was especially cute. He was in too much of a hurry for his fat little legs and he kept falling over into the grass. But falling didn’t stop him. He would struggle upright again, grab his basket and lurch off in a different direction, laughing the whole time.
Besides Lucas, there was seven-year-old Kira, Matt and Corrine Bravo’s older girl, and three-year-old Ginny, Mary Bravo’s daughter from her first marriage.
As Rogan watched, Lucas took another header onto the grass. His big cousin Kira, who happened to be a few feet away, darted over to help him up.
“Lucas,” she scolded. “You have to be more careful.”
“Kira, no!” he commanded, batting her hands away. “I do it, me.”
“Oh, fine. You just go ahead.” Kira made a disgusted sound and whirled away, the full skirt of her pink Easter dress belling out around her.
“Kira is the greatest kid.” Elena leaned close to him, bringing a sweet hint of jasmine that made his head swim. “But also really bossy. Sometimes she reminds me of Mercy.”
He turned his head to meet those brandy-colored eyes. “Mercy was a bossy big sister?”
“Oh, yeah. She and her mom didn’t come to stay with us until she was eleven—did Caleb tell you my parents adopted her after her mom died?”
“He did mention that, as a matter of fact.”
A frown creased her smooth brow. “Really? What else did he mention?”
“He explained all the…complicated family relationships—in a very general way.”
She rolled those amazing eyes. “Well. If you know that Caleb’s my half brother, it’s not that hard to put it together, anyway, I guess.”
Settling back into her chair, she stared out across the lawn again, toward where Davis and Aleta sat together, holding hands, beaming like the proud grandparents they were. “They’ve been married for about thirty-five years.” Her voice was flat. “I’m twenty-five. One of them cheated. It wasn’t Aleta.”
He leaned closer to her again and she turned to meet his gaze. Her eyes were stormy now, her mouth set. “You’re angry,” he said. “Maybe we should change the subject.”
“I’m not angry. But suit yourself.”
He wanted to touch her, soothe her. But he kept his hands to himself. “Look. It’s okay. If talking about your relationship with Davis makes you uncomfortable, I get it. And I’m more than ready to move on.”
She sighed, a tender little sound, and the thick fans of her eyelashes swept down. After a long moment, she looked at him again, the hostility gone now. “Sorry. I don’t mind talking about it. I’m not happy with the whole situation, but everyone tells me I need to get over that.”
“But you’re not—over it, I mean.”
“No. I guess I’m not.” She didn’t elaborate.
He didn’t push. “And you were saying, about Mercy being bossy…?”
Instantly, her expression brightened. “Oh. Right. She started bossing me around the first day she moved in with us. A natural big sister. I resented her totally. And I also completely adored and idolized her.”
“Sounds like the perfect big sister to me.”
“She was. She is.” Her mouth was so soft. He remembered how good it had felt, kissing her. He wanted to do it again. Right there, on the back grounds of the Bravo ranch house, during the family
