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He did what she asked and she moved to a higher stair and started massaging his shoulders. He thought she would massage like she touched—gently with no pressure at all. But there was nothing gentle about the way Cloe dug the pads of her fingers into his muscles. It hurt like hell, for a second, then it felt like he’d died and gone to heaven.
His head fell limply forward as he released a groan of sheer pleasure.
“Feel good?”
“Mmm,” was all he could get out as she kneaded his neck and then down to his shoulder blades.
“There it is. Just let me work this knot out.”
At that moment, he would let her do anything she wanted as long as she kept touching him. She had magic fingers. They seemed to know exactly where to press . . . and how hard to squeeze.
That thought was all it took for his mind to wander down a porn path. Suddenly, images of her massaging a lot more than his shoulders and neck popped into his head. Images of her squeezing his pectoral muscles, and then pinching his nipples hard. Images of her roughly kneading his ass cheeks and tightly gripping his—
“Good mornin’!
At Casey’s bright greeting, Rome snapped out of his fantasy and almost took a header down the stairs. He caught himself and turned to find his brother standing there grinning like a cat who had just swallowed the canary.
“Good morning,” Cloe said. “I was just giving your brother a massage. He has a kink in his neck.”
“Now isn’t that a shame.” Casey glanced down and arched one eyebrow. “But it looks like that massage perked him right up.”
Rome followed his brother’s gaze and realized what Casey was referring to. He’d pitched a towel tent. And unfortunately, Cloe had followed his brother’s gaze too.
“Oh!” She quickly looked away. “E-E-Excuse me. I forgot something.” She turned and hurried back to her room, leaving Rome to glare at his brother.
Casey only smiled. “Make that one week.”
Chapter Thirteen
The Holiday Secret Sisterhood had started after Belle had read the book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood when she was in middle school and decided the Holiday sisters needed to have their own secret society. When they were teens, they held the meetings in the hayloft and talked about boys, school, and their stubborn daddy. After they all left home, they had the meetings on Zoom and talked about everything from jobs to boys . . . to their stubborn daddy.
But this morning, the topic was Cloe getting married.
“I told everyone Cloe wasn’t okay after Brandon broke up with her.” Liberty’s voice boomed through Cloe’s laptop speaker. “But did anyone listen to me. No-o-o. And now look what’s happened. She’s gone along with Mimi’s ridiculous scheme and married a Remington!”
Belle, who sat right next to Liberty, patted her arm. “Calm down, Libby. Yelling is not going to help the situation.” She looked into the camera. “But what were you thinking, Cloe?”
Before Cloe could answer, Sweetie spoke. “She was thinking about saving the ranch.”
“By marrying a man she doesn’t even like?” Liberty said.
“I like Rome.” It was true. She did like Rome. The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. She and Rome were a lot alike. They were even tempered, logical, and practical. Which was how they had ended up where they were. Marrying was the logical, practical thing to do. Even if her sisters didn’t agree.
“You don’t get married just because you like someone,” Noelle said. “What about love?”
The question made her think about Rome’s declaration. I’ve lost my faith in love. His reasons for losing his faith had touched her heart, but they had also made sense.
Love was fickle.
“I’m not so sure I trust love anymore,” she said. “It certainly hasn’t worked for me.”
“Because Brandon was a jackass!” Hallie bellowed. She was in the basement of the apartment building she lived in. No doubt working on a new recipe for the perfect beer. “Rome, on the other hand, is hot, rich, and a badass rancher. People think the Remington Ranch is so successful because of Sam. But after talking to Rome at the reception, I think he’s the one behind the ranch’s success. Did you know he has a master’s degree in business?”
Cloe didn’t know that. It made her realize how much she didn’t know about the man she was married to.
“I, for one, don’t think Cloe made a bad choice at all,” Hallie continued. “She got a hot cowboy, Daddy’s debt paid off, and we get to keep the house. How is that a bad thing?”
“Because our sister is stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of her life with a land-hungry Remington,” Noelle said.
