Dreaming of Love (31 page)

“Not much. He was visiting Reggie in New York, and when I told them that you were going to finally try to reconnect with Jake, Reggie got all big brotherish and said he was going to check him out. Whatever that means in the world of private investigators,” Shea said with a laugh. Reggie was their eldest brother, a private investigator who lived in New York.

Fiona rolled her eyes. “I’ll be surprised if Reggie doesn’t call Jesse and Brent, just to add a little torture to the next few weeks. As if I’m not nervous enough.” Jesse and Brent were younger than Fiona, and they were also twins. Reggie, Jesse, and Brent could be overpoweringly protective. She was glad to have Shea to buffer her with this situation. But Finn had a softer touch, and she wasn’t surprised he’d called Shea instead of her.

“Don’t worry. I told him to call off the dogs. He knows you don’t need hounding right now. I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, Shea. Do you think there will ever come a time when our brothers aren’t looking out for us?” She was just waiting for their younger twin brothers, Jesse and Brent, to get wind of her going to LA. She half expected them to hire a bodyguard for her.

“No way. I think when a brother is born, they come with protective genes, and we sisters are born with big tattoos on our heads that only brothers can see, which read,
Oh my. I’m a girl. Help me. Help me!
” Shea laughed.

The waiter brought Fiona’s drink. She thanked him and gulped half of it down. Margaritas served two purposes: They alleviated the ability to focus and provided a false sense of courage. She didn’t need alcohol to hinder her ability to focus. The mere thought of Jake took care of that. But she desperately needed the liquid courage.

“The one time I get up the guts to finally try to talk to my ex, he decides not to go out for a beer. Jake always goes out with his brothers when he’s home.” Fiona had been trying to figure out how to reach out to Jake for the last few years, but Trusty was so small, it was impossible not to realize he avoided her every time he was home. Fear of rejection had kept her at bay, but with the trip to his movie set in hand, she felt like it was now or never. She was finally taking the risk, despite the possibility of being rejected.

“Have you considered that maybe he heard you were going to be here and decided to skip it? This
is
Trusty, Colorado, where gossip spreads faster than chicken pox.” Shea finished her drink and sat back, eyeing the men in the bar. “You have a great life, Fiona. And I know you have your pick of men back in Fresno. Besides…” Shea eyed the guys at the bar. “There are plenty of good-looking guys here.”

Fiona glared at her. From an outsider’s perspective, her life probably did look pretty damn good, and in some ways it was. Taking a leave of absence to try to reconnect with Jake had been an easy decision when she’d made it, because she’d made it from her heart, completely ignoring her brilliant brain, which was waving red flags and urging her to remember why she worked so hard in her profession and what she was working toward. For a girl who loved geology more than shopping, Fiona’s job was exciting as hell. And her social life…Well, her social life probably looked good, too,
from the outside
. Trish was a great best friend, and they got together as often as their schedules allowed. Shea split her time between Colorado, Los Angeles, and New York, so they also saw each other fairly often. And while Fiona was asked out a few times each month, she’d gone out on only the occasional date. And she couldn’t really count the invitations, considering that for the last two years she’d turned down all but a few. She guessed that most girls would kill to be asked out by some of the scientists who had tried to woo her. They were well educated, well mannered, and, well,
stable
.
Boring
. Why was it so hard to find a
real
man? The kind who could make her go damp with one hot stare and had hands and a talented mouth that could finish the job. The kind of man who took what he wanted and liked a woman to do the same.

Shea held her hands up in surrender. “I know. I know. You’re done sowing your oats and wasting time. There’s only Jake Braden.
Jake, Jake, Jake
.”

Exactly. Jake Braden is the only man I want
.

Shea lowered her voice. “Fi, it’s been sixteen years since you dated him. Sixteen years. And rumor has it, he’s not the guy he used to be. You broke him, and you broke him bad.”

Like she didn’t know that? Fiona and Jake had dated for two years in high school and had planned to attend the same college, and then they were going to get married. Her life had been planned in a nice, neat package. She’d had every girl’s dream at her fingertips. Jake had been attentive and loving, and he wasn’t the least bit afraid of commitment. The Bradens were a loyal and kind family, and Fiona knew her life with Jake would have been stable and adoring. Jake would have followed his dream of becoming a stuntman, and Fiona would become a geologist, and they’d have lived happily ever after.

That was the plan.

Reality wasn’t quite as pretty.

On her mother’s insistent advice, Fiona had ended things with Jake two weeks before they were set to leave for college. She’d taken off for Penn State the morning after breaking up with him, unwilling to stick around for two weeks for fear of giving in to his pleas of staying together—and to see what she was missing. While Jake was hundreds of miles away, she’d buried herself in a new life, which included working her ass off to maintain good grades, sowing her wild oats—which was a ridiculous notion, because she had none—and finally, securing her graduate degree. It wasn’t until a few years later, after her career was settled and she slowed down long enough to breathe, that she realized the enormity of her mistake. She hadn’t been missing a damn thing. Jake was all she really needed.

And now here she was on a Tuesday evening, back where she’d ended things with him so long ago, wishing she could go back in time.

“Well, Shea. Maybe it’s time I put him back together.”

ALL JAKE WANTED was a cold beer and to hang with his brothers. They were all in town for the wedding of their youngest brother, Luke. He and his wife, Daisy, had taken off for their honeymoon yesterday. Jake had another week before he was expected on set for his next movie production. He’d given in to family pressure and had agreed to stick around to help his brothers Wes and Ross fix the roof on Wes’s shed instead of heading back to LA for what would have been a week of partying. Being back in Trusty made him anxious. He loved his family, but the town was about as big as his thumb, and he’d spent a decade and a half avoiding Fiona Steele. He knew from friends that Fiona was in town, and he didn’t need to run into her tonight.

Tonight it was just the guys. Their sister, Emily, had brought her fiancé, Dae Bray, to Luke’s wedding. She and their mother, along with their brothers’ fiancées, were going to Ross and Elisabeth’s house for a girls’ night, freeing up Dae and Jake’s brothers for a guys’ night out. He didn’t give a rat’s ass where they went as long as they didn’t run into
her
.

“Emily said she heard Fiona was going to Fingers in Allure, so we’re cool.” Wes grabbed Jake’s arm and dragged him across the driveway toward their eldest brother Pierce’s rental car, where Ross stood by the open door.

“Come on. It’s not every day we get to have a beer together.” Pierce lived in Reno with his fiancée, Rebecca. Ross, Wes, Emily, and Luke lived in Trusty, and Jake lived in Los Angeles. Nights out with his brothers were indeed a rare occasion.

“Fine, but I’ll take my car. Come on, Dae. You can ride with me.” Jake climbed into the driver’s seat of his rental Lexus SUV. He wanted to hang out with Dae and get to know him a little better anyway, and as long as Fiona wasn’t going to be at the bar, then he was cool with it. God knew he needed a drink—or six—after watching his siblings nuzzle up to their significant others all weekend. He loved them all, but he could take only so much of that lovey-dovey shit before he lost his mind. Give him a blonde under each arm and he was a happy dude.

A few minutes later Jake pushed through the front doors of the Brewery with one arm slung around Wes’s neck as he ground his knuckle into the top of his brother’s head. He pushed Wes away with a loud laugh. Wes smacked him on the back and pointed to the bar.

Music filled the air from the country band playing in the back. As the five men crossed the crowded floor to the bar, Jake spotted at least three hot babes he wouldn’t mind taking home for an hour or two. That was, if he were back home on his estate in LA. Picking up women in Trusty posed issues. He’d have to go to their place, which was good for a quick escape, but it was Trusty, which meant he’d leave a buffet for the hungry rumor mill in his wake. And Jake had no interest in feeding that frenzy.

He wouldn’t be going home with anyone but his brothers tonight.

Pierce ordered a round of beers and made a toast. “To Luke and Daisy.”

They clinked bottles, and Jake sucked down half of his. A hot blonde with hungry eyes standing on the other side of Ross leaned forward and caught Jake’s eye. He cracked his most effective panty-dropping smile and checked her out. Even if he had no intention of hooking up with her, a little eye candy was never a bad thing. Not too skinny, nice rack, and…He leaned back and checked out the rear view. Nice ass.

Ross grabbed his arm and turned his back to the blonde. “She’s been with half of the single guys in town.”

“Do I care?” Jake arched a brow.

“You sure as hell should.” Ross was the Trusty town veterinarian. He, like Jake and their other brothers, had never dated women from Trusty. It was easier to date women from neighboring towns and avoid the gossip.

Jake ran his hand through his thick dark hair and sucked down the rest of his beer, set the bottle on the bar with a loud
Ahh
, and motioned for another.

“Emily said you weren’t exactly picky,” Dae said. All of the Braden men were more than six feet tall, with dark hair and hallmark Braden dark eyes. Dae fit right into the tall, dark, and built-for-a-fight mold, although he wore his hair much longer than the close-cut styles Jake and his brothers sported.

“Life’s short, man. Gotta share the love.” Jake thanked the bartender for his drink and leaned his hip against the bar, allowing himself a better view of the tables and the dance floor in the back of the bar. “I don’t remember there being this many good-looking women in Trusty.”

Wes turned around and eyed the dance floor. “Your standards have gone to shit, bro.”

“Ouch, man. That hurts.” Jake laughed.

“Come on,” Pierce said. “Let’s get a booth in the back where we can talk.” As the oldest, Pierce was used to directing. Their father had left before Jake was born, and Pierce had stepped in and watched over them all. Pierce owned resorts all over the world, and there had been a time when Pierce matched Jake woman for woman—a playboy without any interest in settling down. But meeting Rebecca Rivera had changed all of that. Jake was the last single Braden, and he intended to keep it that way.

“Sounds good to me. I forgot how meat-markety bars are. Haven’t been in one for a while,” Ross said as he followed Pierce away from the bar.

Jake watched them take a few steps. They were a good-looking bunch, no doubt, but something about the way his brothers carried themselves had changed since they’d each entered couplehood. The sharp edges they’d honed hadn’t exactly turned soft—Braden men were alpha to the core—but Jake noticed less of a swagger and more of a confident, my-woman’s-waiting-at-home hitch in their gait.

“I’m gonna grab another beer. Meet you there in a sec.” Jake waved them off and eyed the blonde again. She was twisting her hair around her finger and eyeing him like he was a big old chocolate bar.
Oh yeah, baby. You can have a piece
.

She smiled and sauntered over. She arched her back and leaned in close, giving Jake a clear view down her sweetly low-cut blouse.

“Jake Braden, right?” she said in a heady voice.

“The one and only.” He held her seductive gaze, but hell if in the back of his mind he didn’t hear his brother’s words.
Your standards have gone to shit, bro
.

Standards. Jake wasn’t sure he had many of those left, and he liked his life that way. Uncomplicated. No ties to anyone other than himself and his family. He swigged back his beer and ordered another.

Blondie slipped her index finger into the waist of his low-slung jeans. Her eyes widened as she wiggled that finger against his skin, searching for drawers she wouldn’t find. Jake grinned.

“You’ve got quite a rep around here.” She glanced down at her finger, still hooked in the waist of his jeans. “Is it true that stuntmen do it rough?”

Jake leaned down and put his mouth beside her ear, inhaling the scent of her sweet perfume and letting her anticipation build before answering. He knew how to play the game. He was a master at it. Hell, most of the time he felt like he’d invented it. He did a quick sweep of the bar, readying to tell her just how good he could be—
rough and raw or gentle as a field of daisies
—when his eyes caught on Fiona Steele sitting at a booth near the back of the room and staring directly at him. His gut clenched tight.

Fuck
.

Blondie tugged on his waistband, bringing him back to the current situation, where he was leaning over a twentysomething blonde who may or may not have slept with half of Trusty. His brain was stuck. He couldn’t think clearly. Fiona was there, and she looked so damn good that he felt himself getting hard. If his dick were a guy, he’d knock the hell out of it. He’d done a damn good job of avoiding her for all these years—well, except last year, when in a moment of weakness he’d tried to find her the last time he’d been back in town. He never had found her, but he’d found a brunette from another town more than willing to take the edge off his pent-up frustrations.

He forced his eyes away from Fiona, grabbed his beer from the bar, and stalked toward the back of the bar without a word to Blondie.

“Hey!” Blondie called after him.

He kept his eyes trained on the back wall of the bar with one goal in mind, to find his brothers and drink himself into oblivion.