Her brows pinched. “Sandwich?”
“Yeah. My brothers laugh at me for comparing our jobs to sandwiches, but I really do see it that way. The bread’s the danger, the meats and cheeses information that work together or against each other, and finally you sprinkle on lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and so on to create one big case.”
“And my going to Seattle is the meat?”
“That’s right,” he drawled.
She leaned on her shovel and brushed a wisp of hair off her face. “What kind of meat? Are we talking turkey or ham?”
His lips twitched. Nothing about her situation was in any way humorous, but the fact she could joke around made him remember her dry wit as a child. His brothers hadn’t appreciated it, but since he was older, and more mature than his years even then, he did.
“Definitely ham.” He liked what he saw far too much.
The previous night a sexy woman in a red thong with a pierced clit wiggled her ass in his face, and she didn’t have a fraction of the effect on him that Pippa did at this minute—disheveled, tired, frightened…beautiful.
Shit. Rule one of personal protective services? Don’t get involved with your ward.
Her link to his family already threw a heap of dirt over that rule. But this was more. Ross never lied to himself. He couldn’t stand in front of Pippa and say he didn’t feel attraction on a big level.
Bigger than any he’d felt in years, if he was a straight-talker—and he was.
This flashed through his mind in an instant, but it took him a minute to gather his words and the gumption to say them to her.
“Pippa…”
She waited.
“What do you say about one of my brothers taking over your case? I have a big contract to negotiate and a ton of things to manage with the company—” He broke off as he saw her expression.
He could only describe it as utter devastation.
Well, I did basically say she’s less important than negotiating a contract. Goddammit.
Her lips wobbled and her eyes flooded with tears. Red patches hit her cheeks. But the look she gave him really did him in.
He stepped up to her. “Hell. I’m sorry, Pip. I shouldn’t have suggested it. Forget I said anything. I’ll figure it out, delegate more.”
A step closer put them within touching distance. The urge to draw her into his arms twisted him up bad, but he resisted. Not only was she his ward, but she was his family friend. Crossing boundaries would be a disaster.
She stared at her boots for a long heartbeat, giving him a chance to study the faint freckles across her forehead, probably put there by the Montana sun. Finally, she glanced up and dashed a tear off her cheek. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day.”
“It’s me that’s sorry.” He started to reach to pull her into his arms.
“Ross! Oh here you are. Momma said to come and find you when I got home.” Corrine’s voice echoed down the long barn.
They both turned to his little sister, walking down the center aisle as if she strutted on a runway. Corrine may look like a rodeo queen, though she worked harder than most men on the ranch.
She didn’t know it, but he couldn’t be more glad to see her. This conversation with Pippa threw him into a world he had no clue how to navigate.
“Pippa, you remember Corrine.”
She stepped out of the stall and hurried forward to embrace his sister. As she brushed past him, he caught her scent. What made him pull in a deep breath at that moment?
She smelled like…
Like apple blossoms.
And honey.
Something welled inside him, as if he’d known those scents all his life and she’d only just reminded him how much he loved them.
Shaking himself, he watched the women’s reunion. Over Pippa’s shoulder, his sister met his gaze. A question lingered in her eyes, but he only nodded.
She stepped back. “Is that my jacket?”
Pippa stammered, “Y-yes. Ross loaned it to me. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. And I’m jealous because you look better in it! But I did buy you a new one.” His sassy fireball sister swung toward him. “Ross?”
“Why don’t you go inside with Corrine? I’ll finish up.” And call a meeting with his team to fix a plan concerning his new ward.
Pippa faced him, and he gave her a nod and as much of a normal smile as possible when his insides felt like big, knotted ropes and a black cloud of disaster hung over him.
He definitely needed to talk this through.
As soon as Corrine led Pippa from the barn, he snatched his phone from his pocket and ordered everyone to the conference room.
“And I don’t mean the damn strip club,” he growled.
* * * * *
Deep in thought, Ross stared at the light dancing across the surface of the long walnut table. The WEST Protection headquarters was situated on the Wynton Ranch on a south-facing slope, so the room flooded with late morning sun.
The scrape of a chair on the floor brought his attention to Josiah. Behind him, the rest of his brothers, cousins and friends, all but Boone, filed into the conference room.
He waited until every man sat before he spoke. “I picked up an old friend at the airport. She requires protection.”
Josiah’s brows shot up. “Pippa?”
“How the hell did you hear that already? You weren’t anywhere near the house when she arrived.”
Josiah shot him a come-the-hell-on look. “Not as if it isn’t my job to be observant and overhear things.”
He removed his Stetson and set it on the table before him. “You talked to Corrine.”
“Passed her on the way down the driveway—going to buy your new ward a wardrobe.”
“I never should have trusted Corrine. She probably blabbed to everyone in Stone Pass that Pippa’s here.”
“Give her the benefit of the doubt, brother,” Noah spoke up from the opposite end of the table. “The only people she’d say a word to is Josiah, Boone, or me.”
Josiah bobbed his head.
“None of that matters right this minute. I called a meeting for another reason. I need one of you here to man the phones while I’m gone.”
“Where are you going?” Josiah asked.
“Seattle.”
“Flying?”
“Road trip.” He couldn’t see a way to fly with a woman who didn’t have any identification, and getting clearances for a personal jet would take more time than he could waste. He went on, “We can’t let this contract for the Grammys pass us by. It means putting our name at the top of the list of security services. Dammit, it’s the worst possible time for me to leave.”
“So hand her off to someone else,” Josiah said.
“I can’t do that.” The panic reflected in her eyes when he suggested the same thing to her in the barn really touched him in a way he didn’t want to think about.
“Which one of us is sitting around waiting for a phone call?” Josiah nodded toward Noah. “I say the youngest does it.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “I thought the youngest always shovels the manure?”
“I just did that,” Ross muttered, analyzing the field in his mind and the players on it. “Boone’s on duty at the capital with the governor.”