Country Courtship (The Texas Two-Step Series, Book 2) (4 page)

By the time Kelli caught up with Lori, they were both nearly breathless. They had ended up in the Media Room, which for once was empty because of all the party action outside.

It was a good place to talk, because the room was sound-proofed. Kelli pulled the door closed, then joined her sister, who had thrown herself into one of the eight plush leather recliners.

At twenty-seven, Kelli was second oldest of the six sisters. Barbara, the eldest, was fifty-second in line for the Valrovian crown. After Kelli came Lori, age twenty-six. Then came the twins, Heather and Thistle, age twenty-three, followed by Abby, the baby of the family, age eighteen.

Kelli and Lori were so close in age that they once had had an equally close relationship. They'd shared their dreams and innermost secrets. They'd made each other promises and pinky swears. Kelli wanted that closeness back. "I've never stolen one of your boyfriends and you know it."

Lori punched the button that extended the footrest. "Couldn't prove it by me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kelli took a seat in the recliner next to Lori.

"I haven't once brought a guy home who didn't go nuts when he met you." Lori crossed her arms. "You're like a horse thief, but worse."

Kelli couldn't help but roll her eyes. They'd had this discussion a zillion and one times, but she'd never been able to get her sister to admit that Kelli was innocent of the charges.

"Remember Hugh? I didn't even get as far as bringing
him
home."

"Is that the guy you brought to Heather's wedding?"

"No, that's the guy
you
were with at Heather's wedding."

"But—" Kelli sighed. She hadn't done anything to encourage Hugh. In fact, she'd tried to keep him at a distance. But he'd been a little friendlier than she would have liked.

Kelli couldn't win when it came to Lori. It wasn't so bad if Kelli made one of her sisters angry, but hurting her sister was simply awful. Kelli didn't set out to hurt Lori, but she was hurt just the same. And Kelli felt terrible about it.

There had to be some way to smooth things out between them.

She reached out a hand and tenderly stroked Lori's arm. "You know I love you, Lori. More than any man I've ever known, except maybe Dad."

Lori didn't respond.

Kelli sighed and rose from her recliner. "You do this to yourself, you know."

"You want to know what I know?"

What Kelli wanted was to have her sister get over whatever sibling-rivalry issue it was that kept them from being close as they had been as children. But every time Kelli thought things were better, something else came up. Sisterly closeness didn't seem likely. "Please tell me what you know."

"I know that whenever I meet a guy I'm interested in and he's interested in me, then he meets you and something changes. He becomes less interested in me and way interested in you."

"Maybe it's less to do with me and more to do with you? You're the one who always puts your men to the test. Maybe they don't like being tested."

Lori shook her head. "I knew better than to try to talk with you. You don't get it."

How could Kelli answer? She hadn't known that Bobby Gray was Lori's date, and even then, she hadn't done anything to be ashamed of.

Lori rose from her recliner, and gave Kelli a slow look. "Leave my men alone."

At that moment Lori's cell phone chimed and she took the call. As Kelli left the room, it seemed clear that Lori had been called into work. She worked as a flight attendant for a major airline and they were always calling her to travel to exotic locations, unlike the calls Kelli received for animal emergencies requiring travel to her so-not-exotic veterinary clinic.

* * *

An hour later, Bobby Gray was seated outdoors at a picnic table next to Kelli's youngest sister, Abby, their oldest sister, Barbara, and Barbara's husband, Ben.

Barbara had taken over the favor Bobby Gray had asked of Kelli and happily informed Monty Joe that Bobby Gray was in a Dallas suburb, nowhere within shouting distance of the Nelson Ranch.

Bobby Gray figured he'd made a tidy profit over the cost of the stud fee, just by switching sisters to do the favor. He would still make a donation to the horse charity because he believed in the cause. He just wouldn't have to hand over enough money to buy a small house.

Unfortunately, his brother wouldn't see it that way.

The sad truth was that Bobby Gray needed Kelli, and needed her badly, before he could return home to the Nelson Ranch. The meeting with the banker would take place in a fancy restaurant in the nearest big town, College Station, in two weeks and Monty Joe's final words had been that Bobby Gray was toast if he failed to bring home the royal bacon.

Bobby Gray eyed the Palmer sisters seated at the picnic table with him. Barbara was married, so she wouldn't do. Abby was far too young. He'd heard of two more sisters, but he hadn't met either of them.

That left Lori and Kelli. Neither of them were speaking to him. That wasn't a problem with Lori, but he experienced a little tightness in the chest area whenever he thought about not seeing Kelli again.

Barbara told him Lori had received a call from her airline and had to leave before the fireworks. But he knew Kelli was somewhere around—he could almost feel her presence. "Barbara, you got any idea how I might convince Kelli to go out with me?"

"There's no way, cowboy. Not since you dated Lori. Makes you automatically off limits."

That wasn't the response he wanted to hear.

The youngest Palmer sister, Abby, interrupted. "What if they're soul mates, destined to be together?"

Now
that
was more like it.

Barbara raised her brow. "And are they?"

Abby continued, "Soul mates, bonded by just their voices—like in
Sleepless in Seattle
. Just consider it—"

Bobby Gray was thoroughly involved in Abby's fantasy, and so it took him a moment to register the fact that Barbara had asked a question. "Are I
what
?"

"Are you and Kelli soul mates?"

"Soul..." He trailed off, considering.

Was Kelli his soul mate? His heart had skipped a beat when he met her. She appealed to him, physically and mentally. And she didn't think of him as only a dumb cowboy. She had spunk and a sweetness about her he didn't usually find in the women he met. Younger girls, yes, but women? Most were jaded, long past having an innocent air about them.

"Well?" asked Barbara.

"Of course they are," said Abby.

"Definitely," Bobby Gray added. It didn't matter if he believed it or not. What mattered was getting Kelli to go to the banker dinner with him. Plus, seeing her again was the only way to find out if it was true.

"You've talked with her for five minutes and are saying she's definitely your soul mate," said Ben.

"Definitely
maybe
my soul mate," said Bobby Gray in the interests of complete honesty.

Barbara snorted, making her nostrils expand, and not in a becoming way.

He widened his eyes at her, projecting innocence for all he was worth. "She's more likely to be my soul mate than any other woman I've ever met." He shot her his most endearing grin. "Now, won't you help me convince your sister to go out with me?"

"You are
so
on your own, cowboy. I don't think anything less than an act of Congress would make Kelli change her mind. It's one of those family things. She adores all of her sisters, but she's exceptionally fond of Lori."

"But—" Bobby Gray tried to interject, but Barbara wasn't having any of it.

She shook her head. "Nothing against you, mind you, but family is very important to all of us. We've been raised to value it and our duty above everything, except honesty, sincerity and integrity."

"Of course," said Ben quietly, and something in his tone made Bobby Gray start paying very close attention. "You might be able to make her change her mind—if she thinks it applies to honesty, sincerity or integrity."

"How would I go about that?"

"Dang if I know. Just saying that it's not impossible."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Like that was the least bit of help.

"I think you're both wrong," said Abby with a tilt of her head. "Kelli and Bobby Gray are meant to be together. It's total nonsense to think she's stolen you from Lori, Bobby Gray. Lori would have had to have you first."

Everyone grew silent and all eyes turned toward him.

Had him first? What were they asking? Good heavens. "Of course Lori didn't have me first—or at any time."

Abby let out a relieved sigh. "As far as I'm concerned, then, that gives you the go-ahead to pursue Kelli. You should definitely go after her."

Barbara snorted again. "I can't believe you're encouraging him."

"Someone has to." Abby fisted her hands on her hips. "All my friends think I'm the best matchmaker in Texas. You'd think my oldest and wisest sister would be a
little more supportive
of her baby sis."

Bobby Gray tuned out their family argument. He'd rely on his strongest trait—charm—to help him with Kelli. He didn't see how dating him could possibly appeal to any woman's sense of integrity, as Ben had suggested.

Too bad Lori had already headed out. Otherwise he'd have been able to get her to give her blessing. It's not as if they were going out with each other.

For Kelli to think she might be "stealing" him from her sister was a total misunderstanding. He was sure Lori would clear it up right away.

In the meantime, he needed to find Kelli to start convincing her that she really did want to go out with him—at least once, in College Station, in two weeks.

Or that's what he told himself.

* * *

Kelli fumed at herself. Why had she let that cowboy's smile get to her before making sure he was eligible? Just like Lori to bring a guy home and then abandon him without the introductions that would have made sure Kelli didn't accidently fall—well, maybe that was too strong a phrase—start to
like
said man.

At least now she knew he belonged to Lori. If Kelli avoided him, maybe her sister wouldn't be upset anymore.

The problem was, he'd been following her around the property all afternoon. She'd been barely able to avoid him.

She caught sight of her dad's security chief and she suddenly knew exactly what she needed to do.

* * *

It took Bobby Gray nearly an hour to locate Kelli. Sunset was advancing when he found her on a make-shift dance floor at the edge of the tree line past the picnic area. Streaks of pink and orange ribboned through the trees, giving her silhouette an almost neon quality. She was doing a line dance—looked like La Grange to him.

Just as he stepped onto the dance floor, armed with a new line he'd worked out about being soul mates, and how she simply had to give him a chance to prove it, his forward momentum was abruptly halted. By two men. Two large men.

The little one was built like an eighteen wheeler. And the other resembled an entire mountain.

At least they weren't toting shotguns, although something about the bulge under their arms told him they were packing. He supposed they were private security guards.

"You Bobby Gray Nelson?"

He hesitated a moment, wondering if he should claim some other name. At first that seemed the lesser of two evils, but then he saw Kelli walking toward them and he pondered whether he couldn't somehow turn this to his advantage.

"What if I say I'm not?" he asked.

"Then we'd have to ask for ID."

"And if I were this guy—what did you say his name is?"

"Bobby."

It annoyed the hell out of him when people called him only half of his name. It was patently clear, judging by the expressions and tones of the men, that Kelli had set him up as a bad guy who must be kept away from her.

It took only seconds for Bobby Gray to come up with a plan. He knew just what to do. Unfortunately, it was going to require a world of hurt. Too bad he'd be the one hurting. But he didn't have any other ideas.

"Well, I'll be seein' you," he said to the men, with a fake turn-away. Then he darted around them and toward Kelli.

The little security guard flash-punched him in the gut.

As Bobby Gray had expected.

And it hurt.

As he'd expected.

He merely hadn't expected to double over. Nor had he expected to land noggin-first on the ground and be unable to breathe for several seconds. He hated to think what his condition would be if the big security guard had gotten his punch in first. As it was, Bobby Gray's eyes and teeth were both clenched, mainly because he'd bitten his tongue.

Then he heard Kelli saying, "Why'd you go and hit him?"

Bobby Gray grinned inwardly. His ploy had been brilliant, but then his ploys generally were. Except for the pain.

He opened his eyes and tried to look at her soulfully. The woman didn't stand a chance.

* * *