Light on Love by C.A. Steinhaus

Author:C.A. Steinhaus [Steinhaus, C.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

15

Cooper arrives with breakfast, courtesy of Mary, and a barrage of questions, courtesy of him. He asks about the explosions and what triggered them. He asks about why he was called to stay with Mary in the middle of the night. And he asks where Brett sent Floyd and Grey off to.

The older men are careful in what they share with Cooper, and Laurel smiles when it reminds her of how her older brothers would try to guard her from things when she was younger. She feels a familiar pang of guilt at the thought and how she’s hidden what she is going through from Charlie and Stephen. But when Cooper starts his line of questioning about the fact that Brett is wrapped around Laurel, the guilt is swept away by her efforts to stifle a laugh.

“Come on,” Cooper is saying, waving his hand at them. “We aren’t going to talk about the fact that they’re sitting there like that?”

Brett levels Cooper with a stony gaze and responds dryly, “didn’t Floyd and Mary teach you not to ask personal questions.”

“We certainly did. But I think you brought this on yourself,” Floyd says with a chuckle, as if he’s watching brothers bicker. Cooper doesn’t seem to be phased by Brett’s tone or glare though, and Laurel feels soothed that he has people who can see him as more than a dangerous, deadly, weapon of a man.

“It’s been obvious to all of us since she got here! So did you finally just man up and tell her you’re into her?”

Laurel takes the bait, “what was obvious when I got here?” Cooper’s face splits into a full grin and when he opens his mouth to respond, Brett cuts in.

“Coop, you’d better remember who holds your fate around here before you answer that,” he warns, quirking an eyebrow in challenge. “You want permanent shit duty?”

Cooper leans back in his chair, arms crossed. “I think she’d be happy to know,” he mumbles, but leaves it at that.

Laurel turns to Brett. “I do want to know,” she whispers to him, peering up through her lashes. He squeezes her waist and leans down to plant a soft kiss on her lips.

“I think you already know,” he whispers back.

—

It’s midmorning when the ranch-hands retreat to their respective homes. Laurel watches them disappear around the side of the house before she wraps her arms around Brett’s neck and sighs. She breathes in his scent and lets herself focus on the steady rise and fall of his chest against her. Slowly, she traces a finger down the jagged scars from his ear to his jaw and when she reaches the end, she lifts her head back up to see his rich brown eyes watching her, affectionately amused.

“Thank you for saving me,” she murmurs.

“All that matters to me is that you’re safe,” he responds, but then his jaw tightens, and he breaks eye contact with her. Taking his chin between her index finger and thumb, she pulls his face back towards her.

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