Page 12 of Tempted at Thoroughbred Lake

He mentally groaned, though, when he glanced at the clock and saw that it was already eight o’clock. Not especially late for most, but he was a rancher, and his day usually started two hours earlier. His ranch hands would no doubt be speculating as to why he hadn’t already made an appearance to spell out the duties for the day.

Trying not to wake Ruby, Brennan eased out of bed, located his phone in the pocket of his discarded jeans and sent a quick text to his foreman, Danny Monroe, to let him know that he’d be taking the morning off. Since Ruby’s car was parked out in front of the house, Danny would no doubt be able to figure out what was going on, but thankfully the man wasn’t a gossip.

Gossip, however, would happen. That was just the way it was in a small town. Brennan hoped that Ruby was ready to deal with that, because he wanted a whole lot more nights and mornings like this with her.

“Now, that’s a sight to see,” he heard her say.

Brennan glanced up from his phone and saw that she was sliding her gaze down the length of his naked body. He smiled because he saw the heat in her cool blue eyes. Heat that caused him to hope there’d be a round of morning sex, followed by some breakfast and then maybe more sex. His body just couldn’t seem to get enough of her.

He set aside his phone, got back on the bed and kissed her. Yeah, this was the right way to start the day. The kiss went straight to his groin and clouded his mind enough that he nearly blurted out that he was in love with her. Talk about the absolute wrong time, wrong place. It was too soon.

But it was true.

It had occurred to Brennan sometime shortly after shower sex. That he was not only in love with Ruby but he had been for a very long time. He was hoping they’d get that chance at love they’d never gotten.

She made a sound of pleasure, slid her arms around him and deepened the kiss. His groin definitely approved of that, and he would have kicked this foreplay up a notch if he hadn’t heard a sound he hadn’t wanted to hear.

“Someone’s unlocking the front door,” he relayed to Ruby.

Danny had a key, but the foreman wouldn’t have just let himself in. But Seth would have, and he definitely had a key.

“Mom?” someone called out. Vivian. “I saw your car outside. Seth and I are here.”

Hell.Normally, Brennan would have enjoyed seeing his son, but the timing sucked.

“I’ll be right there,” Ruby answered as she scrambled off the bed.

The race around the room to find their clothes began. It wasn’t easy since garments were scattered everywhere, though they managed to get everything tugged and pulled on. Of course, they still looked as if they’d had a very enjoyable night of sex. Nothing he could do about that. Brennan probably didn’t help matters there by taking the time to kiss Ruby. She took the time, too, to savor it a couple of moments before they both sighed and went to face their kids.

The pleasure from that kiss quickly evaporated, though, when Brennan got one look at his son’s face. He muttered anotherhell.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby and Brennan asked in unison.

Ruby had obviously seen her daughter’s tear-reddened eyes. It coordinated with the miserable look in Seth’s. Obviously, their kids’ night hadn’t been as pleasurable as Ruby’s and his had been.

“Mom,” Vivian said, sliding glances between Brennan and her. “You two are...together.”

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked, maybe to dodge the comment, or, like Brennan, she was just anxious to hear what had caused this swift turn of mood in their kids. They’d been happily giddy when they’d left on their honeymoon only thirty-six hours ago.

Seth cleared his throat, and even though he slid his arm around Vivian, he wasn’t giving his new bride a lusty, love-filled look. “I got a call from the justice of the peace who did our wedding. He said he’d forgotten to renew his certification, so our marriage isn’t legal. We’d need to do it again.”

Of all the things Brennan figured could be wrong, that hadn’t been on his list. He didn’t curse. Didn’t cheer, either, because it was obvious the kids were torn up about this. Whateverthiswas.

One glance at Ruby, and Brennan could tell their kids’ dismal moods had given her some hope. Brennan had hope as well, because if Seth and Vivian had wanted to be married, they likely wouldn’t have come here. They would have just found another justice of the peace to redo the vows.

“Well?” Vivian said like some kind of accusation that she aimed at her mother. “Aren’t you going to say something like this is for the best, that we dodged a bullet or some other nonsense?”

Brennan wanted to spring to Ruby’s defense, but it was obvious that Vivian was spoiling for a fight. Maybe because she didn’t know what to do with all the hurt over Jordy’s death and the anger from the screwup by the justice of the peace. In contrast, Seth just looked weary, as if all the fight had gone out of him. And maybe it had. It was possible hearing news of their non-marriage had prompted a discussion and then an argument between Vivian and him.

When Ruby didn’t bite on the argument Vivian wanted, the young woman turned to Brennan. “You never wanted us to be married.”

“No,” Brennan agreed, thinking for a moment what he wanted to say, what he wanted Seth and Vivian to hear. “But that’s because I know how hard it is to make a marriage work when you’re just eighteen. If you want to do that work, then I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Vivian’s expression registered outrage. Yep, spoiling for a fight, which clearly no one in the house was going to give her. It would have given her a good springboard to storm out with Seth, creating an “us against them” scenario.

“If you want to find another justice of the peace,” Ruby said, her voice calm, “maybe I can go with you. Maybe Brennan, too. Then we can be there to celebrate with you.”

“You don’t want that,” Vivian insisted. “Youcan’twant that.” Tears began to spill down her cheeks, and that prompted Seth to pull her into his arms.

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