Crushing on Love (The Bradens of Peaceful Harbor, Book Four) (20 page)

At least for now.

“YOU SURE YOU want me to cut it?” Rachel stood beside Steve in her salon at seven thirty the next morning, holding a pair of shears like a weapon. “Want me to save a lock for Shannon?” She waggled her brows.

“It’s hair, Rach. It’ll grow. Besides, she likes it short, too.”

She smiled. “Just making sure. Okay, say goodbye to these luscious locks.”

Steve didn’t normally think about his hair at all, much less care what length it was. When he remembered—which usually took someone pointing it out—he headed into town for a trim. But as Rachel began cutting, each crisp swish of the scissors brought flashes of Shannon to his mind. Images of her twirling her finger in the ends of his hair as they lay side by side sated from their lovemaking swam before his eyes. Last night she’d pushed her hands into his hair while she rode him, tugging to the point of sweet, titillating pain. He already longed for the feel of Shannon’s hands in his hair, and Rachel had only begun to cut it.

He thought back to when he and Shannon had first reconnected at Rex and Jade’s wedding. Shannon in her pretty short dress, her hair tumbling over her shoulders, begging to be touched. And those beautiful hazel eyes of hers, drawing him in like a fish to water.

He closed his eyes as Rachel chatted about the upcoming barn dance. They’d stayed out late with their friends last night, and they’d had a good time. It had been a while since he’d spent time with friends, and seeing Shannon light up at every conversation, watching her outshine every other person on the dance floor was torture and bliss. His life on the mountain was no match for her. He’d known it from day one, and still he couldn’t keep it in perspective.

When he opened his eyes, he caught Rachel looking at him skeptically. Her green eyes moved from one side of his head to the other. She snipped and clipped and then stepped back so he could see the mirror. She’d slicked his hair back, like he’d worn it at the wedding, and his only thought was,
I hope Shannon likes it.

“There you go, big guy. Clean-cut and sexily scruffy.” Rachel handed him a mirror, but he waved it off. “You don’t want to see the back?”

He ran his hand over the closely shorn hair on the back of his head. “Feels right to me.” He rose to his feet and pulled out his wallet, following her to the front of the salon.

“You two make a cute couple,” she said as he paid. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you look at a woman more endearingly than you look at that mountain.”

“Thanks. And thanks for coming in early to hack off my hair.”

“Anytime. You look good, Steve.” She smiled warmly. “You look happy.”

“Yeah?” He was happier than he could ever remember being, which meant when Shannon left, he’d crash hard. He dug his keys from his pocket and reached for the door. “It’s all her, Rach. My mountain’s got nothing on my girl.”

“Think you can convince her to stay?” she asked.

It was the one question he refused to allow himself to ponder. “She’s got a whole life back in Peaceful Harbor,” he said, and pushed through the door.

He couldn’t ask her to give up her life, but he could sure as hell become more of the man she wanted and deserved while she was here. He pulled out his phone and called Mack. His buddy picked up on the first ring.

“Dude, I got a call from Treat’s attorney. Looks like you’re really trying to make a go of it after all.”

Feeling the breeze against his scalp, Steve ran his hand over his head. He didn’t want to talk about the property. There were major price negotiations that needed to take place in order for the deal to actually go through, and he and Treat had agreed to let their attorneys handle that end.

“Yeah, we’re moving forward. A lot needs to come together for it to happen, but we appreciate the sixty-day window.” He unlocked his truck door and climbed inside. “Listen, Mack, that’s not why I’m calling.”

“Sorry, buddy. What’s up?”

“Do you…
dance
?” He winced as he said the word.

“What?” Mack laughed. “You wanna go to the prom with me?”

“Shut the hell up. Do you know how to dance? It’s a simple question. Yes or no?”

“All right, geez. Settle down.” Mack snickered. “No, I don’t dance. Will tries, but he looks like a one-legged chicken. Why? Shannon got your balls in a knot over not dancing?”

Steve started up his truck. “No. Forget it, man. Talk later.”

He fisted his hand and banged the steering wheel, pissed off that this was going to be harder than he’d thought. He clenched his jaw as he punched in Rex’s number.

“Hey,” he said when Rex answered. “I need a favor, but I need you to keep it to yourself. Think you can do that?”

Rex scoffed. “As long as you’re not asking me to find you a herd of goats.”

“Where can we meet?”

“I’m at the ranch. Come on over.”

“Too visible. I’d rather do this in private.”

“Do what?” Rex asked. “You make a move on me and I’ll kick your ass all the way to Texas.”

“I’d love to see you try. I need your help with something. It’s going to take about half an hour. You got that much time?”

“Hey, Steve,” Rex said more seriously. “You need my help. I’ll make the time. Come to my barn. We’ll have privacy there. You okay, man?”

“Hell no, I’m not okay. A certain cousin of yours has totally wrecked me.”

He arrived at Rex’s house twenty minutes later and was glad to see Jade’s truck wasn’t there. Steve felt guilty stealing Rex away from his other duties on his family’s ranch, but there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Shannon.

He entered the tall wooden barn and inhaled the scents of his youth: hay, horses, and leather. He walked by the empty stalls, thinking about how much his sister had always loved horses. She preferred riding them to cars, the way Steve often preferred nature to people.

Sensing Rex’s presence, he turned, catching him as he approached the barn, carrying his sleeping son in one arm. The baby had jet-black hair, like Rex and Jade, and he wore the tiniest pair of jeans and flannel shirt Steve had ever seen.

“What’s going on, besides Shannon having your briefs in a bunch?” Rex’s eyes ran over Steve’s head. “Holy shit. She really does have your head turned around. Man, you went from Fabio to Hugh Jackman overnight.”

“That wasn’t because of her,” Steve said gruffly, wondering how Rex could teach him to dance with a baby in his arms. “We’re making a video for the crowdfunding campaign. My old man thought it would attract a wider fan base if I cut my hair.”

Was he really going to do this? Ask Rex Braden to teach him to dance? Steve’s gut twisted and burned. He turned his thoughts to last night.

Yeah. He was really doing this.

“He’s probably right.” Rex set his Stetson on a hook and shook out his collar-length hair. “Lucky for me, I don’t have to worry about what anyone but my beautiful wife thinks of me. I know you didn’t come here to show off your new haircut, so lay it on me. What’s going on?”

“I…uh…”
I’m starting to get used to the taste of pride pie
. “I need you to teach me to dance.”

Rex laughed. “You need me to
what
?”

“You heard me. Shannon loves to dance. I need to learn. But you cannot, under any circumstances, tell her I’m here. For all I know I’ll suck at it.”

Rex shook his head. “I am not taking you in my arms like
Brokeback Mountain
.”

“Get over yourself, Rex. I need help here.”

“How do I get myself into this shit? I’m kidding about the
Brokeback
crack. I got nothing against same-love situations. But I do have something against
me
dancing with a dude.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and brought it to his ear. “Sweet darlin’, I need you in our barn.” His lips curved up in a sinful smile. “I wish, baby. You hold on to that sexy thought and get your sweet little body down here for me, ’kay?”

As he shoved his phone in his pocket, Steve turned his hands palm up. “What the hell? I asked you not to tell anyone.”

“Jade’s not going to tell anyone, and if you want to learn to dance, you need a woman.”

“Don’t you think if I wanted my sister to know, I would have asked her?” Steve paced, until his sister—and Max and Savannah—appeared in the doorway. “Aw, for Christ’s sake.”

“What’s going on?” Max asked.

“Holy crap, Steve. You cut all your hair off. Look at you, all slicked back and sophisticated.” Savannah stood between them, hands on hips, her auburn hair tied back in a thick plait.

She reached up to touch Steve’s hair and he ducked away.

“He cleans up nice, doesn’t he?” Jade hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

This was not what he’d planned.

“I…um…” No way was he doing this.

“He needs to learn to dance,” Rex announced. “And you need to help him.”

Steve glowered at him. “Dude, really?”

Rex shrugged, chuckling under his breath.

“Oh, this will be fun!” Max said, looking around. “Where’s Shannon?”

Savannah pulled out her phone. “I’ve got music!”

“Shannon’s doing research, and you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Especially not Shannon,” Steve insisted.

“Here we go!” Savannah set her phone on a wooden railing, and country music filled the barn.

“Why not? This is so romantic.” Max’s brows knitted with confusion. “She’d love that you were making the effort. I’m going to call her.”

Steve grabbed her hand. “Don’t you dare.” His eyes trailed over each of the girls. “I will walk out of this barn and deny I was ever here if she catches wind of this. Got it?”

“Fine,” Max said. “But for the record, you have no idea how much she’d love to be the one teaching you.”

“First of all, I might suck so badly that she wouldn’t want to dance with me anyway. Second of all, while I appreciate y’all jumping in to help, this was supposed to be a
private
half-hour lesson,” Steve said. “Just me and Rex.”

Savannah laughed. “You thought Rex would teach you to dance? Do you even know my badass brother?”

“Okay, okay. Let’s cut him a break. He’s making a
real
effort here.” Max, the ever-organized coordinator of their group took Steve and Savannah’s hands. “You two are partners. He’s got half an hour, and we’ll need every second of it. Rex, you and baby Hal dance with Jade.”

Jade smiled up at Rex, and they began to sway, melding together like candles in the sun. Steve studied them, determined to learn to dance well enough to share that type of familiarity and intimacy with Shannon.

Savannah put her hand on Steve’s shoulder and guided his hand to her waist. “Don’t get frisky, or Jack will kick your ass.”

“Seriously?” He laughed, standing straight and still as a corn stalk. “You do realize the
only
reason I’m doing this is for Shannon, right? There’s not another woman on earth I’d do this for.”

“Wow.” Savannah arched a brow. “You’re really serious about her. Come to think of it, I’ve known you for more than thirty years and have never seen you dance.”

“I’m not sure you will now, either.” Steve had tried to dance at a fall festival when he was a kid. It was not a pleasant experience. He’d known way back then his legs were made for hiking, not dancing.

“You need to move a little,” Savannah said. “You can do this, you know. The only reason you can’t is because you think you can’t.”

“She’s right, big brother,” Jade said. “Close your eyes and feel the music in your soul.”

Max moved behind Steve and put a hand on his hip, giving him a gentle nudge. “We’re going to do the two-step. That means you have to actually move your feet.”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” he grumbled.

They spent the next twenty minutes passing Steve from one woman to the next, each showing him how to move his feet, where to put his hands, how to stand, where to look, and about a hundred other things they thought were helpful—and he found overwhelming. When Shannon was in his arms, everything felt natural—except dancing.

“Why weren’t we invited to the hoedown?” Hal’s deep voice boomed through the barn. He cradled Adam, Jack and Savannah’s baby, in the crook of his arm, looking every bit the proud grandfather. Next to Hal’s barrel chest and tree-trunk arms, the baby appeared minuscule. Although he was well past retirement, Hal still worked on the ranch, cared for the horses, and loved so deeply, he carried a torch for the wife he’d lost to cancer when their six children were young.

Treat stood shoulder to shoulder with his father, holding the hand of his youngest child, Dylan. Jack flanked Hal’s other side, holding Treat and Max’s daughter Adriana by the hand. Adriana’s eyes lit up at the sight of the impromptu dance lesson.

Aw, hell. So much for privacy
.

“Dad.” Savannah waved Hal over. “We’re teaching Steve to dance, but you can’t tell Shannon.”

Steve straightened his spine under the assessing gaze of the man who preached loyalty and family values and extended an olive branch to strangers more often than the sun rose. The man who had been his father’s best friend and business partner until Earl made the mistake that had cost him forty years of friendship. Hal was not free from blame for that awful situation, and because of that, there had been a time when Steve couldn’t look at Hal without anger rearing its ugly head. Thankfully, that anger had dissipated when the feud came to an end, and as Hal’s wise eyes softened, Steve knew the feelings were mutual.

Hal placed a strong hand on Steve’s shoulder, and a smile spread his sun-drenched face. “Looks like someone’s heart’s been snatched.”

“Snatched, sir?” Steve arched a brow.

“That’s right, son. Once love snatches a piece of you, you’ve got no choice but to surrender your heart.” Hal shifted his eyes to the others. “Looks to me like my niece has got your mind good and confused. Welcome to the beginning of the best part of your life.”

“She blows me away, sir,” Steve said honestly. Realizing he didn’t say it as eloquently as he could have, he said, “What I mean is—”

Hal looked him dead in the eye. “She blows you away. That’s exactly right. The right woman blows you away, pulls you back in, and rattles you until you’re too confused to know what hit you. And it’s the best thing you’ll ever feel. The good parts and the bad.”