Love Profound

  PIATKUS

  First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Piatkus

  Copyright © 2017 by Kelly Elliott

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN 9780349418414

  Cover photo and designer: Sara Eirew Photography

  Editor: Cori McCarthy, Yellowbird Editing

  Proofer: Amy Rose Capetta, Yellowbird Editing

  Developmental/Proofer: Elaine York, Allusion Graphics

  Interior Designer: JT Formatting

  Piatkus

  An imprint of

  Little, Brown Book Group

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  An Hachette UK Company

  www.hachette.co.uk

  www.kellyelliottauthor.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  A Note to Readers

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Preview of Tempting Love

  Preview of Guarded Hearts

  Playlist

  Thank You

  Other Books by Kelly Elliott

  A Note to Readers

  Love Profound is book two in the Cowboys and Angels series. The books in this series are not stand-alone books. Stories intertwine between books and continued to grow within each book. If you have picked up this book and have not read Lost Love, I strongly suggest that you read them in order.

  For a list of characters in the series as well as other fun extras, please visit the series website: www.cowboysandangelsseries.com

  Early March

  I stared at my computer screen with a goofy smile on my face. “Come on, April. I’m on a deadline, sweetie. I need you to push that calf on out.”

  “Who are you talking to?”

  I glanced over my shoulder as my smile grew bigger. “April.”

  My brother, Mitchell, rolled his eyes. “The giraffe?”

  With a chuckle, I replied, “The one and only. Come on, tell me you’re not the least bit curious about her.”

  “I’m not the least bit curious about her.”

  I huffed, turning back to my laptop. I was on a deadline with this book and the last thing I really needed to be doing was staring at the ass of a giraffe.

  “Where is everyone?” Mitchell asked.

  “Well, Steed and Paxton are on their honeymoon, in case your forgot, and Mom and Dad took Chloe out for a ride.”

  My older brother sat down in the chair, sighing. “I knew about Steed and Paxton, smart ass. I meant Mom, Dad, and Chloe.”

  “Are you off work today? What brings you by?”

  “I’ve got the week off,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows. “And that’s why you’re here pouting?”

  He frowned. “I’m not pouting.”

  “You’re pouting.”

  “I’m bored. I thought taking spring break off was a good idea, but I’m too used to working.”

  “Want to come to New York with me? I leave tomorrow morning to hang out with Waylynn. Sister bonding trip and all.”

  His eyes lit up. “New York, huh?”

  With an evil grin, I added, “We can get drunk and have fun. By fun, I mean have meaningless sex with good-looking, rich people.”

  Mitchell laughed. “Damn, I don’t think I like the sound of my baby sister talking about fucking people.”

  “I said meaningless sex. I didn’t say fucking.”

  His head pulled back in surprise. “Meli, isn’t that the same thing?”

  “No. When you say fucking it sounds vulgar. When I say have meaningless sex, it doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “It’s fucking, no matter how you spin it.”

  I let out a long groan. “Fine. You could go to New York and fuck a bunch of new women whom you haven’t already fucked in the back of your truck before breaking their hearts when they quickly realized the only thing they’re getting from you is your dick, and only long enough for them to call out your name a few times.”

  His brows rose. “Holy shit, do you always talk so filthy?”

  My jaw fell while I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Are you serious right now?”

  He shook his head. “Dad would wash your mouth out with soap if he heard his little angel talking that way.”

  With a chuckle, I shook my head. “Well, Dad would want to do a lot more to me if he knew all the things I’ve done. How do you think I write such hot sex? It’s called on-the-job training.” Flashing him another evil smile, I winked. “Matter of fact, your friend Rodney might have taught me a new position or two.”

  Mitchell’s face turned red. He stood, nearly knocking over the barstool he was sitting on. “I’ll fucking rip his dick off if he touched you.”

  I grinned. “He did a lot more than touch, big brother.” Leaning back, I grabbed the table and started a pretend orgasm.

  Balling his fists, Mitchell’s eyes nearly popped out of his head while he paced. “I’ll kill him. No. I’ll lose my job if I kill him. I need to find someone who will kill him. But make him hurt first…for a long time.”

  With a roar of laughter, I got up and walked over to him. “Mitchell, do you honestly think one of your friends would ever touch me? Hell, half the guys in this town are afraid to even look at me, let alone sleep with me. Oh, wait, as you put it…fuck me.”

  “Don’t say that.” He covered his ears.

  I rolled my eyes. “Sit back down, and don’t put a hit out on Rodney. He’s a nice guy. I tried hitting on him once. I used my best moves and he turned me down flat. Said he valued his life over his dick.”

  Mitchell’s body relaxed and he let out a chuckle. “You realize you almost had me wanting to kill one of my closest friends, Amelia?”

  I shrugged. “You do know I have had sex before and with some people you know.”

  He shu
ddered. “Why are we having this conversation?”

  “You brought it up!”

  “No, I didn’t. I simply said I was on vacation. You brought up having sex!”

  My father, mother, and Chloe walked into the kitchen and stopped. Mom looked at me and asked, “Who is having S-E-X?”

  “That spells sex!” Chloe called out as she ran by all of us and headed into the game room.

  “Lord Almighty, that child is a good speller,” Mom said.

  “Back to my original question, who is having S-E…oh, hell, sex?”

  “Mitchell…” I said a little too quickly. He turned and glared at me.

  With a serious look, my mother said, “I hope you’re wearing a C-O-N—”

  Standing, he held up his hands. “Mom, please.”

  Mitchell shot me the finger when my parents weren’t looking, and I hid a smile behind my hands.

  “Don’t ‘Mom, please’ me, young man. Practicing safe…festivities…is never anything to shy away from.”

  My hands dropped to my lap as I stared at my mother.

  “Festivities?” Mitchell and I said at once.

  “Little ears around. Little ears,” Mom said with a wink and a smile. “Amelia, the same goes for you.”

  A loud bang caused both my mother and me to let out a scream. Mitchell nearly jumped behind something to take cover.

  My dad stood in the doorway, a large roasting pan at his feet with the contents of a roast and veggies scattered across the floor. His expression was horrified. “Amelia…what?”

  Standing, I chuckled and said, “Well, I think this is the perfect time for me to go play with my niece. Later, y’all.”

  I made my way into my old room, and I couldn’t help but smile when I found Chloe on the floor, playing with all of my old Breyer horses. As I slid to the ground, I spied my favorite one.

  “Spirit,” I said with a huge smile on my face.

  “You named them all?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

  Turning the plastic horse in my hand, I nodded. “If you look on their bellies, you’ll see the name of that horse. Grammy couldn’t remember them all, so she had to write them down.”

  Chloe giggled. “Is it okay that I’m playing with them, Aunt Meli?”

  I reached for another horse. “Of course, Chloe. I got them down from my bedroom closet and gave them to your dad for you to play with.”

  Her grin reached from ear to ear. “Thank you! I hope Santa brings me my very own horse for Christmas. Like Stanley is your very own horse.”

  “Oh, he totally will!” It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

  Chloe’s eyes lit up with hope and excitement, while I cringed secretly. Crap. I basically told her she was getting a horse for Christmas. Steed was going to kill me.

  “Do you think Daddy and Mommy are having fun on their honeymoon?”

  With a grin, I replied, “I bet they are. Your mommy has always wanted to go to Ireland.”

  Chloe picked up a horse and stared at it.

  “Why the sad face?” I brushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.

  “I wanted to go with them, but Daddy said I couldn’t.”

  I let out a soft chuckle. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sure they are both missing you so much.”

  “Then why didn’t they take me with them?”

  Lord. How do I explain this?

  “Well, when mommies and daddies get married, they always go on vacation by themselves. It’s a way to celebrate becoming one.”

  “One?”

  Those blue eyes were staring into mine. “It’s just a phrase.”

  “Phrase?”

  “A saying?”

  “Huh?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Never mind all of that. Okay, let’s try this. Some day when you get married, you’ll go on a honeymoon with your husband. All alone. It’s a tradition.”

  She smiled. “I like traditions! Let’s make a tradition, Meli! Like playing with horses.”

  Chloe grabbed another horse and fell right into a scene from one of her movies. Letting out a soft sigh, I mumbled, “I should have started with that first.”

  “Are you sure you’ve got everything?” Mom asked.

  I stared at my phone in shock. “The live feed is down!”

  “Live feed?”

  “It’s the damn giraffe, Mom. She is obsessed with it,” Trevor said as he took my suitcase from my hand.

  My mother tsked, like only a mom could. “Goodness, Amelia. Do you not have anything else to do besides watch a pregnant giraffe all day?”

  After I had hit refresh and April reappeared on the screen, I dropped my phone into my purse. “Yes, I’ve got a book due in three weeks. I need inspiration to get me writing.”

  “And staring at a giraffe’s ass is doing it for you?” Trevor asked.

  I hit him on the arm. “Shut up. You know how much I love the anticipation of her birth. When I found out about April, I fell in love. Now I need to see her through to the very end. Like when you’re reading a good series and you have to finish it so you make sure everyone gets their HEA!”

  Both Mom and Trevor rolled their eyes.

  With a slight chuckle, Trevor said, “Come on, let’s get you to the airport. By the way, I’m picking up Wade a few hours after you take off.”

  Narrowing my brows, I asked, “Wade?”

  Trevor shut the back door and faced me. “Yeah. I went to Texas A&M with him. He was a year ahead of me, has a degree in Agriculture.”

  “Why’s he coming here?”

  He smiled and winked. “I hired him for the ranch.”

  I could see the happiness in my brother’s eyes. My father knew how much Trevor loved this ranch, not that my other brothers didn’t, but Trevor lived for it. His goal was to take over the ranch from our father and run the day-to-day business.

  Mom entwined her arm with mine. “He’s proud of you, Trevor. The things you’re doing for the ranch do not go unnoticed.”

  I smiled as my brother tipped his hat to our mother and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “We best get on the road if we want to get you there on time, Meli.”

  Nodding, I faced Mom. “I’ll miss you.”

  Her hand landed softly on the side of my face. Sweet, loving eyes stared into mine. “I’ll miss you, sweetheart. Tell Waylynn I miss her, and I can’t wait to see her again.”

  My hand covered Mom’s. “I will. I’ll only be gone two weeks.”

  She smiled and stepped to the side as I climbed up into Trevor’s truck. I rolled the window down and waved.

  “Oh! If Steed asks, it wasn’t me who gave Chloe the idea of a horse for Christmas.”

  Her grin faded, she closed her eyes, and shook her head while Trevor lost it laughing.

  The two-hour drive to the San Antonio airport seemed to drag. Trevor was listening to some sports talk show on the radio, and I was about to pull my hair out from boredom.

  “So, who is this Wade guy?” I asked.

  Reaching over to turn the radio down, Trevor peered at me before looking straight ahead. “I already told you.”

  “No, you told me you went to school with him and that he was coming to work at the ranch. What made you want to hire him? You have a degree in ranch management.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, well, his degree goes more into the science side of running a ranch. The land, food the cattle graze on, benefits of going organic. All of that.”

  “Organic? Y’all are switching over to organic?”

  With a shrug, he replied, “I don’t know. That’s where Wade will come into play. The guy is smart as all get out when it comes to cattle. Hell, not just cattle. He’s already working on a side gig with some girl in Fredericksburg who makes all natural products from goat’s milk. She’s looking to find someone to buy it from, and Wade’s thinking we might be able to sell her some of our goat milk for her products.”

  “Wow. Wade sounds like a go-getter. Where has he been working?”

  “His da
ddy’s place in Colorado.”

  I turned to Trevor. “Colorado?”

  “Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”

  With a silent chuckle, I shook my head, staring back out the front window. “Not surprised, tickled, I guess you could say. My latest book is based in Colorado. I was actually thinking of taking a trip up there.”

  In my mind I pictured this Wade character as a skinny, nerdy cowboy who loved science, but not enough to give up his roots.

  “Were y’all good friends in college?”

  Trevor laughed. “Yeah. We were. He took me under his wing when I started partying a little too hard. He’s more of a book guy over a partying guy.”

  Ding. Ding. Ding. Yep. Cowboy nerd.

  “Well, maybe he can help me if I have any questions about Colorado.”

  Trevor laughed. “Oh, trust me, he’ll help you with anything the moment he sees you.”

  I was about to ask what he meant, but Trevor pulled up to the curb and put his truck in park. “Alright. Have a safe flight, little sis, and kiss Waylynn for me.”

  I jumped out of his truck and waited for him to get my suitcase from the back seat. “I will, and be careful driving back home, okay?”

  With a full-on smile, dimples to boot, Trevor wrapped me up in his arms. “I love you, Meli.”

  I hugged him back. “I love you more, Trev.”

  Standing on the curb, I watched as he drove off to kill time before Wade showed up.

  I reached for my suitcase and headed into the airport where I checked in and made my way to the gate. As I sat waiting, I stared at the blank Word document in front of me. This was the worst case of writer’s block I’d ever had.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  What was wrong with me? I chuckled. I knew what was wrong. I needed to get laid. It had been far too long. Pretty much ever since Ryan, my ex. The one guy I opened my heart for only to have him stomp on it, the cheating, rotten bastard. I’d been with a couple of guys since, but nothing serious.

  After staring at the screen for ten minutes, I packed up my laptop and began one of my all-time favorite activities. Well, other than watching to see if April had given birth yet.

  I people watched.

  Unfortunately, all the happy couples around left me snarling. Ugh. The one sitting across from me seriously needed to get a hotel room. Rolling my eyes, I looked away. I didn’t want to admit my heart ached to have a man look at me that way. I wrote about love, but it seemed I was destined to never find it.