The Rancher’s Plus-One by Joanne Rock

Author:Joanne Rock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises ULC
Published: 2023-03-03T13:28:55+00:00

* * *

Retreating to the villa’s kitchen to retrieve the dessert after a delicious meal prepared by Levi, Kendra glanced back at the patio table and its occupants.

Quinton. Gavin. And, of course, Levi.

All three of them with the tall, proud bearing she recalled in their father, Duke. But whereas Quinton and Levi shared their French Creole mother’s darker hair and skin tone, Gavin’s coloring was lighter, his medium brown dark hair longer. Levi was the sole Kingsley son to inherit his father’s blue eyes, but that wasn’t what drew Kendra’s attention to him at the head of the table again and again.

Levi commanded the gathering with the easy air of someone who’d been in charge for a lifetime. His manner was milder than either of his more outwardly passionate brothers. Yet they both looked to him like the rudder sure to steer true.

And yes, she couldn’t deny that quality in him drew her as well. She’d wearied of being the only person in her family to make careful, considered choices. While Levi had definitely overstepped with his decision to purchase Gargoyle King to “help” her family, she’d had time to reflect on his motives and she could see the situation from his perspective—understand that he hadn’t intended the act as a betrayal of her trust. He really thought that he was helping at the time.

How many people in her life had ever done something with the main purpose of helping her? She’d been stunned to realize that Levi had bought out her dad for her sake. Even as she’d been angry that he would make an offer like that without consulting her, another part of her had been touched at the effort he’d made to alleviate her worries.

Which was why she’d ended up in a lip-lock that replayed at length in her dreams at night. Fortunately, she knew better than to act on those feelings these days. Even if Levi had meant well when he’d turned her life upside down, he’d still charged in without consulting her first, deciding what was in her best interest without her. And that all seemed a little too close to what her mother sought in a man for Kendra’s comfort. She refused to be a decorative accessory in a rich man’s life.

Tearing her eyes from where Levi sat outside, Kendra opened the refrigerator and slid out the covered tray she’d prepared earlier. The dessert board had been her sole contribution to the meal. Strawberries and blueberries fresh from the farmers’ market, alongside cheeses and chocolates.

She popped a blueberry in her mouth as she carried the treat-laden silver platter out of the house and onto the patio overlooking the pool. Levi passed her as he headed into the kitchen, his arms full of the dishes he’d cleared from the table. Quinton was opening a bottle of port with a corkscrew while Gavin paired his phone to an outdoor speaker. As the soft strains of a jazz tune filled the patio, the outdoor lights strung around the deck flickered on from some unseen timer system.

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