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  Rowan Braden loved the nickname his brothers had given him—the Loner. He didn’t mind that his brothers complained that he spent too much time working and not enough on his personal life. He wasn’t interested in love, especially when he had his hands full keeping his short-term employee, Akayie, out of trouble.

  One minute he wanted to toss her off his property—and in the next— he wanted to carry her bundle of sexiness upstairs and make love to her all night long.

  What in the hell was he supposed to do?

  Photographer Akayie Mathis couldn’t believe her luck when she got offered ‘The Men of Braden Ranch’ calendar job. It was just what she needed to help save her failing photography studio, but there was one thing she hadn’t been expecting—Rowan.

  He was the most maddening and arrogant man she’d ever met in her life. She hated her burning attraction to the rancher’s sexy Texas drawl and muscular body. Yet, she couldn’t deny it was there shimmering between them like a low burning flame.

  Would she be able to fight off the long, hot look of his hazel eyes or would she be the woman who would finally tame the Loner?

  Rowan

  The Braden Brothers, Book One

  by

  Marie Rochelle

  MF, INTERRACIAL, IRMC, WESTERN, CONTEMPORARY, AND EROTIC ROMANCE

  Twisted E-Publishing, LLC

  www.twistedepublishing.com

  A TWISTED E-PUBLISHING BOOK

  Rowan

  The Braden Brothers, Book One

  Copyright © 2018 by Marie Rochelle

  Edited by Kat Lively

  First E-book Publication: January 2018

  Cover design by K Designs

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2018, Twisted E-Publishing, LLC.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All characters engaging in sexual situations are over the age of 18.

  Dedication

  To all of my fans who have supported me

  since the beginning of my career. I wouldn’t

  Be here without you guys.

  -Marie

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  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

  About the Author

  Prologue

  “I’m beginning to regret allowing her anywhere on my ranch, more and more. I shouldn’t have agreed to her coming here. Look at her out there, walking around like she owns the place and flirting with my employees,” Rowan Braden complained, staring out his office window. “I knew she’d cause a lot of issues by being here, but I let you talk me into it and it’s turning out to be a huge mistake.”

  He heard the groan behind him, but he didn’t care. She had to go, and the sooner the better. He couldn’t have his men’s daily routines disturbed by a captivating smile and a soft, silky voice.

  “Come on. She hasn’t been so bad. You’re making way more out of a few glances than is really there. Calm down a little and try to relax,” the voice said, trying to reason with him. “I think she’s pretty nice. You’re just mad that most of the guys here turn to look at her when she walks past them. If I didn’t know you, I would think that you’re jealous because she hasn’t smiled at you yet. You’re way too involved in your precious ranch to even notice a gorgeous woman within touching distance of you.”

  “You don’t what in the hell you’re talking about.”

  Rowan hated to admit it, but some of the things Morgan said were the truth. He hated the fact that a part of him was a little envious of the attention the other men got from her. Yet, he wasn’t about to admit it to his brother.

  “Anyways, we all agreed that the money we will be getting from the calendars will be donated to Dante’s wife’s homeless shelter,” his brother Morgan reminded him. “You know Dante still hasn’t completely let us back into his life. This is a good way to prove that we meant what we told him.”

  Rowan felt guilty as it was for driving an even bigger wedge between Dante and his other brothers. Why did Morgan have to keep bringing it up over and over?

  “I know it’s my fault Dante doesn’t want to give you, Tanner, and Lucas another chance. I shouldn’t have been such an asshole to him when he came to see you in the hospital, but seeing Dante standing there in your room after so many years was a shock. You can’t tell me you weren’t taken back by it yourself.”

  Moving beside him, Morgan placed his hand on his shoulder. “Of course, I was stunned to see Dante, but I quickly shoved it to the side, got over it, and then I was thrilled he came. But, I think old wounds from the past made all of us say things we shouldn’t have. Everything got way out of hand between us way too fast. I think by the time Amara put us in our places it was too late in Dante’s eyes. He had already made the decision right then and there to be done with us.”

  Rowan took a step to the side, making Morgan’s hand fall off his shoulder. “I know we…I mean, I was wrong,” he corrected when his brother gave him a look. “Isn’t that why we made the trip to Los Angeles to apologize to him in person? But he didn’t even let us inside his house. He told us to leave and then slammed the door in our faces.”

  Folding his arms across his chest, Morgan rested his hip against the desk and continued looking at him. “Dante had the right to do what he did after we hadn’t accepted his apologies over the years. We shouldn’t have expected him to bend so quickly when none of us showed him the same consideration.”

  Glancing away from the woman outside causing more harm than good, Rowan shot his brother a hard look. “Are you saying that we are the ones to blame for Dante being gone since we were kids?” he demanded hotly. “I don’t remember having anything to do with him not returning home after he got released from the boy’s detention center.”

  Sighing, Morgan uncrossed his arms, then held up his hands and took a step back. “No, I’m not implying that at all. But we shouldn’t place all the blame on him either. Why can’t we leave the past in the past? I’m tired of using Griffin as a go-between when it comes to my own brother. I hate all this unwanted tension lingering between all of us. I think we need to make another trip to Los Angeles and work on getting things settled once and for all, especially now Dante is about to become a father. I want to be an uncle to my niece or nephew.”

  Rowan wanted to do the same thing as Morgan, but he wasn’t about to have Dante slam the door in his face a second time. He had too much pride for that. He wasn’t the same boy who longed for his big brother to come home all those years ago. He had grown up and saw the world for what it really was. Everyone was in it for themselves and that was the way it
was.

  He shook his head. He wasn’t about to make another trip to Los Angeles. If Dante wanted to see him then he would have to come to Texas.

  “No, I can’t do it. Not now. I need to stay here and keep a watch on her. You know how important this time of year is for the ranch, and my men can’t be goofing off because of her.”

  Rowan glanced away from Morgan back towards the window at Akayie Mathis, the photographer. He’d promised her a thirty-day pass to his ranch. He told her she could take photos for an upcoming calendar called The Men of Braden Ranch¸ along with selling the best shots of Braden Ranch at a local gallery back in New York. As long as they got some of the profits from the gallery sales. However, he was truly second guessing his rash decision.

  They had mostly communicated through emails and phone calls. The only video chat had been done by Morgan because he was scheduled to be out of town on business. So, he wasn’t prepared for how striking Akayie Mathis would be in person.

  Right now, her smooth, mahogany skin looked beautiful against her white-shirt tucked into a pair of dark blue jeans. She wore tan riding boots and her thick black hair was tied back into a cute ponytail that swung above her shoulder blades. Ms. Mathis was different from other women who had visited the ranch. Her natural beauty was attention grabbing and didn’t go unnoticed by the men whose pictures she was taking for her project.

  As much as he tried to fight it, he just couldn’t do it. She kept wandering back into his thoughts when he didn’t need her there. Yesterday, he woke up thinking about her was and actually looking forward to seeing her. But, Akayie constantly acted like he was a pain in her side and it pissed the hell out of him. He wasn’t used to any woman trying to get away from him. They usually ran in his direction. Why did Akayie have to be so different?

  “I have to take care of something,” he told Morgan. “I know you know the way out. We can talk more about Dante later.”

  Morgan glanced out the window and then back at him. “Please don’t go and do something you will regret later.”

  “I don’t have time for a lecture from you. This is my property and I’m the only one who makes the decisions about it.”

  He wasn’t going to listen to any more of Morgan’s unwanted advice. It would be for the best if he took care of this now, so nothing would get out of hand later. Rowan took one last look out of the window before spinning on his heel for his office door. He hadn’t hired Akayie to be the newest diversion for his men. She needed to get her job done before her thirty days was up, because he wasn’t going to let her stay a minute longer.

  Chapter One

  “Ms. Mathis, may I speak with you for a moment?” asked a deep, rich voice from behind her.

  Sighing, Akayie already knew who the person was without even turning around. She spotted him watching her from the corner of her eye less than ten minutes ago. His appearance didn’t surprise her at all because he was usually on her case about something whenever he spotted her walking around Braden Ranch. Rowan Braden was like a guard dog watching over his beloved property. If someone crossed that invisible line in his mind, he was on them in less than thirty seconds flat.

  Why did she ever believe today would be any different?

  She knew that she couldn’t just ignore him because he was right behind her and breathing down her neck. So, she stopped taking pictures of the handsome men in front of her. She was finally getting some excellent pictures of the cowboys working a Mustang in the corral. She’d hoped to get several more pictures taken before Mr. Control Freak found out she had snuck onto one of his “no enter” zones from the list he’d emailed before her flight two days ago. She truly hadn’t planned on breaking any of his idiotic rules. But Morgan had told her the truth; the lighting on this side of the ranch was breathtaking. Some of the photographs she’d already taken were going to turn out incredible.

  Why couldn’t he have found her ten minutes from now? She wouldn’t have cared at all. She needed these shots and he was about to rip them right out of her hands. She might as well get it over with, because Rowan wasn’t about to go away. He loved getting his point across way too much to just turn around and walk away from her. He wasn’t a let it go kind of man.

  “Ms. Mathis, are you listening to me?”

  Lowering the camera away from her face, Akayie rolled her eyes before plastering a smile on her face, turning around and looking up at the constant thorn in her side, Rowan Braden. Without a doubt, she was acutely conscious of his tall, powerful physique. The rich outlines of his shoulders strained against the fabric of his checkered shirt. He carried himself with a commanding air of self-confidence that rolled off him in waves. He not only wanted respect, but demanded it.

  Well, if he wanted to hurt her feelings and think she would pack up and leave without doing her job, he was out of his mind. The Men of Braden Ranch Calendar was going to be one of the sexiest and hottest assignments of her life. She wasn’t about to let his disagreeable attitude ruin anything for her. So, he might as well give up and move on to something else because she was here to stay until the last shots were taken.

  “Yes, Mr. Braden. I’m listening to you. You’re standing right in front of me. There’s no way I couldn’t hear you. What can I do for you this morning?” she asked, hoping it wouldn’t be what she thought it was.

  “Why are you on this side of the ranch taking pictures?” he demanded. “I specifically added anywhere near the stables or corral to the ‘no access’ list. My men can’t be getting distracted by you taking pictures of them. They need to focus on my thoroughbred horses. My employees need to give their full attention on the job I’m paying them for, nothing else,” Rowan told her harshly. “Not you.”

  How dare he snap at her! Why couldn’t his personality be more like Morgan’s or Lucas’? They were so friendly and ready to help her at a moment’s notice when they were around. All Rowan did was bark out orders and expect her to follow them to the letter. Well, he was going to learn that he couldn’t just get on her case because he felt like it.

  “I wasn’t trying…”

  “I’m not going to take any more time out of my busy day to keep an eye on you,” Rowan said, cutting her off like she hadn’t spoken a word. “I can’t make sure you’re at the specific places I ordered for you to stay. If you can’t follow my rules, maybe you need to leave and I can hire someone else to do the job you can’t seem to do.”

  Akayie tried hard to control her temper, but lost the battle rather quickly. Rowan needed to know that he couldn’t talk to her any way he wanted and, furthermore, she wasn’t breaking any of his ridiculous rules. “First, stop yelling at me. I won’t stand for it,” she snapped back, watching his eyes narrow at her. “Secondly, Morgan gave me permission to use this part of the ranch yesterday when he showed me around, since you were too busy with whatever you were doing to make an effort to do it. If you don’t believe me, call your brother and he’ll tell you the same story I’m giving you now. I wouldn’t have ever come over here if he told me I couldn’t do it.

  “I know how to do my job, Mr. Braden, and I’m damn good at it. You might know about breeding thoroughbred race horses for the Kentucky Derby, but my field of expertise is photography. I can look at any scenery or person and know in less than five minutes if it’s camera worthy. However, if you want to go with another photographer because you can’t handle the sight of me, fine. Go ahead and do it because you have that right. Just know you won’t get the quality you are looking from another person.”

  Frowning, Rowan glared at her. “You know that I’m the one in charge around here, not Morgan or Lucas. Ms. Mathis, you are supposed to listen to me, not them, when it comes to taking pictures for the calendar,” he informed her.

  “I thought you and your brothers agreed to allow me to shoot at Braden Ranch because I’m the best at what I do. I didn’t know you were overseeing everything. If I had known I wouldn’t have signed that damn contract. So, let me know right now if you want me to stay or not. I’m
tired of you coming up to me with some kind of new issue.”

  “Are you done?” he asked, pushing his black Stetson back on his head. His hazel eyes bored down into her without blinking, or with an ounce of emotion.

  She tried to relax, but he held her gaze and it was making her nervous as hell. She prayed that she hadn’t overstepped her bounds with him and he actually kicked her off his property. As much as she hated being around him and hearing him lecture her about everything and anything, she truly needed this job to keep her studio up and running. Maybe she shouldn’t have bragged to so many people back home about getting this lucrative job. If she failed at it, they wouldn’t have a problem adding it to the list of things to criticize about her.

  “Yes, I’m done,” Akayie answered, worried about what Rowan was going to tell her.