Page 12 of Falling for the Maverick

Taking her hand, Lucas laced their fingers together. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“I’m parked behind Castillo’s.”

“We need to exchange numbers so I can call and let you know what time I’m going to pick you up for the crawl.”

Reaching into her bag, she handed Lucas her phone, then took his and entered her information. Michelle returned her phone to her handbag, then unlocked the Wrangler and got in. “Thank you for a wonderful afternoon.”

Lucas took off his hat and bowed low. “It was my pleasure.” Smiling, he closed the door and waited until she started the engine and backed out of the space.

Michelle waved at him through the open window, glancing up at the rearview mirror until she could no longer see him. The day had been surprising; she never would’ve expected running into Lucas.

“I’m going on a date,” she whispered. Suddenly she felt like a teenage girl with a crush on a boy who’d finally noticed her enough to ask her out. But she wasn’t a girl and Lucas wasn’t a boy. They were two adults who apparently had come to enjoy each other’s company.

There was something about Lucas that was so different from other men she’d met. He projected quiet confidence that indicated Lucas Brandt was comfortable with who he’d become and with his rightful place in the world. He’d set up the Big Doggo Ranch and his focus was making it a success.

Reaching over to the passenger seat, she ran her fingers across the soft material of the teddy bear. She’d packed away all of the stuffed bears she’d collected as a young girl, and now she had one more to add to the collection.

In a short while, Michelle drove the Wrangler through the open iron gate emblazoned with the large letter C. She continued along the paved road to her parents’ house and parked. She opened the door leading directly into her suite and set the bear on the table in the alcove where he would remain until she decided it was time for him to join the others in a storage container on a shelf in a walk-in closet.

And she had the perfect name for her new little bear: Lucas.

Chapter Four

Michelle’s internal alarm clock woke her at dawn. She quickly got out of bed, aware that if she lingered too long, then she would go back to sleep. Growing up on a ranch meant work began at dawn and ended at dusk—barring an unexpected emergency, like a difficult calving, which needed round-the-clock attention.

She completed her morning ablution in record time, made her bed, then walked into the kitchen to fill a travel mug with coffee before driving to the stables.

Aaron’s pickup was parked alongside the stables, and that meant once again he’d gotten there before her. It had become a running joke between them as to who would get to the stables first to begin grooming the horses and mucking out the stalls. The only time Michelle beat him was when Aaron stayed out too late the night before and usually arrived in a bad mood.

She shut off the engine, got out and walked into the stables. “Good morning, Aaron.”

He stopped shoveling manure into a wheelbarrow. He wore a faded T-shirt, ripped jeans and tattered boots that had long outlived their usefulness. “I suppose it is for you.”

Michelle stared at her brother. “Did I say something wrong?” She and Aaron rarely argued, and when they did, they were able to resolve their differences quickly.

Taking off his work gloves, Aaron rested the shovel against a wall, then pushed his Stetson off his forehead. “No, but I need to talk to you about something.”

Michelle slowly blinked. “What is it?”

Aaron took a step, bringing them less than a foot apart. “I got a call from someone who said he saw you and Lucas together at the pumpkin chucking contest.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Maybe whoever called you should mind his own damn business.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, sister. You are my business, and I really don’t think you should start up with someone like Lucas Brandt.”

“What do you mean?” Michelle struggled not to lose her temper.

“What I’m saying is he may not be good for you, Michelle.”

“And what makes you an authority about who or what is good for me?”

Aaron reached out to touch her, but Michelle took a step back. “I don’t want to fight with you,” he began.

“Then don’t,” she retorted.

A beat passed. “What I don’t want is for you to experience what you went through with your boyfriend in Missoula. You didn’t fool me when you told everyone you moved back because you missed living on the ranch. It took you two whole months before you came to me crying about what that piece of crap Keith Matthews did to you. It was the only time in my life when I truly wanted to hit someone.”

“What does that have to do with me and Lucas?”