Page 13 of A Montana Rodeo Star

Faith breathed it in, losing focus until his words finally resonated. “Oh.”

One side of Brent’s mouth quirked upward. “You made me cookies?” He pulled away and the heat from his nearness went with him.

She shrugged and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I thought it might be funny.” Stupid. This whole situation was stupid. She hadn’t actually been thinking at all.

“I guess it had potential.” He didn’t have to say anything more. He’d probably felt betrayed by her slipup. But then he surprised her. “You didn’t have to cover for me.”

“Yes, I did,” she blurted insistently. “I threw you to the wolves even if I didn’t mean to.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, my mom can be like that.” He glanced once more toward the house and she allowed herself a peek. The door was closed and it didn’t appear anyone was watching.

“Will everything be okay?” she asked, her voice small.

“I think so.” He grinned at her and all the animosity in his eyes faded away. “You’re pretty sharp, you know that? I never would have thought to tell her I was hanging out with your brothers.” He gave her a playful slug to the arm.

A very friendly thing to do.

She shrugged. “I just hope that no one tells her my brothers don’t compete in the smaller competitions.”

“Nah. I think we’re safe there. For some reason no one likes talking about the rodeo with my parents. It’s like the most taboo subject ever. Honestly, I don’t know why they agreed to move out here to be closer to my family. We could have just stayed put in the city.”

“Family is important,” she pointed out. “Even when that family has different beliefs or interests. One day nothing else will matter. People retire from jobs. Political figures change. Wealth and power shift. And what do we have remaining? Our relationships with the people we love.”

“Fair point.” Brent folded his arms and she couldn’t help but notice the muscles flexing there. Brent had always been attractive. He was strong and capable. He had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen. They weren’t light like most blue eyes. They were a deep, stormy color. There were flecks of grey in them. When he laughed, those grey flecks seemed to glow, but when he was mad, they seemed to get even darker.

“Amazing,” she breathed.

He cocked his head and his eyes did that sparkly thing. “You okay, Faith?”

“What? Of course, why do you ask?”

Brent arched a single brow and leaned a little closer, giving her another whiff of that tantalizing scent. “What’s amazing?” he whispered.

She blinked a few times. “What?”

He chuckled.

Then she realized her mistake. Her big mouth! Shoot! She looked away and scrambled for the door handle at her back. “Nothing. I didn’t…”

“You said something was amazing. Come on, Ace. Don’t leave me hanging.”

Ace? Did he just call her that? What did it mean?

Faith blinked again and finally managed to get her fingers wrapped around the door handle. “You have… strange eyes. That’s all.”

He squinted at her, amusement making them sparkle again. “Not amazing, huh?”

She nearly choked. “Well, that’s another way to put it, I guess.”

Brent chuckled. His laugh was one of the best things she’d ever heard. And when he directed that smile her way the old fashioned saying that she swooned was quite appropriate. Every time he smiled at her she swooned. That was the absolute truth.

Uh oh.

Nope.

This couldn’t happen.

Brent was her brothers’ friend. He was off limits. Tate and Jason had made it clear their entire lives. No one could date their friends. They were protective, sure, but they were also smart. Rocky Ridge wasn’t exactly huge. Families did business with each other and those working relationships were important. The last thing they needed was for the town to pick sides if something untoward happened.