Pure Bliss (Nights in Bliss Colorado Book 6) Read online

  Pure Bliss

  Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 6

  Lexi Blake

  writing as

  Sophie Oak

  Pure Bliss

  Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 6

  Published by DLZ Entertainment LLC

  Copyright 2018 DLZ Entertainment LLC

  Edited by Chloe Vale

  ISBN: 9781942297086

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  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

  Author’s Note

  Chasing Bliss, Coming April 23, 2019

  About Lexi Blake

  Other Books by Lexi Blake

  Dedication

  To my husband, for taking this amazing journey with me. Special thanks to Chloe Vale, Shayla Black, and Kris Cook for listening to me talk endlessly about this book.

  As a note to readers unfamiliar with the Texas Sirens series, Trev McNamara’s story is told in full in a book titled Siren in Waiting.

  2019 Dedication

  Dear Reader,

  I’m about halfway through putting these books out again and I’m reflecting on the people who’ve come on this long journey with me. So much of Bliss is taken from my husband’s memories of his childhood growing up in rural Colorado and the band of mountain men (they were boys) he called friends. I want to thank my husband for being okay with me fictionalizing those stories. I hope I stayed true to this special part of his life. To my children for supporting me. To my friends who are always there for me. To the fans who started out with me and these characters all those years ago.

  When Pure Bliss first came out Noah Bennett was something of a controversial character, but I loved the idea of a second chance romance—between brothers. These books are about love in all its forms. Between lovers and friends. Between family members, both blood and found. Between friends. And sometimes it’s about finding a way to love ourselves. This is one of those stories.

  You are enough.

  Have fun in Bliss!

  Love,

  Lexi

  Prologue

  Five years before

  James looked at his brother, his heart in his throat. They didn’t share a drop of blood, but they’d shared every damn thing else since the day Noah’s father and James’s father had decided to marry the same woman. For almost seventeen years, it had been him and Noah and the odd family their parents had created.

  How could Noah walk away when James needed him most? How could he not understand how much trouble they were all going to be in soon?

  “You promised to come back here and start a practice.” James had said the words about three hundred times since his brother announced he was leaving Bliss at his father’s funeral the day before. James was down a dad. How the hell was he supposed to get through this? Brian Bennett’s grave was in the small private cemetery on Glen land. Their mom died the year before, and he didn’t give his own biological father more than a year or so. Fred Glen already looked lost without the two people he’d spent his life with. He wouldn’t eat. He barely slept. His dad was going to fade away.

  And then he would be utterly alone with a huge herd. He was going to have to keep the ranch going all on his own. So many people depending on him. So much history riding on his dumbass shoulders. He wasn’t ready for it. He needed his brother.

  Noah frowned, but he didn’t stop shoving clothes into his suitcase. “I can’t, Jamie. You know how bad I feel about this. I can’t let Ally go all the way to New York without me. You know I’ll do anything else I can to help out.”

  Ally. Ally was the reason his whole world was falling apart. And he had no one to blame but himself. He’d been the one to bring Ally into their lives. She was a gorgeous raven-haired beauty with a banging bod and an open mind. He’d thought she was the perfect woman to share with Noah. Seemingly fun loving, and with a healthy enough sex drive to keep up with two men, Ally was a good-time girl.

  Except she’d decided to play some nasty games with them. And Noah had bought it hook, line, and sinker.

  “You know she hit on Rye Harper two days ago. Callie saw it happen.” James believed Callie Shepherd. Callie had never lied to him, had no reason to. Rye had turned Ally down, but it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they couldn’t trust her.

  Noah’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a lie. The way I heard it, Rye hit on her. I should never have let her go into that bar alone.”

  “She didn’t even tell you she was going.” Ally didn’t tell Noah much. And Noah was being disturbingly stubborn. Noah was the smartest man James knew, but he was being damn dumb when it came to Ally. How could he not see that Ally had gotten serious about him once she realized Noah had recently come into a ten-million-dollar trust fund?

  “It doesn’t matter. I should have protected her. She can be very naïve.”

  James felt his fists clench. Noah was the naïve one.

  It had been six months since James had brought that gold digger into their lives, and Noah still couldn’t see what was right in front of his face. For months, James had been forced to watch his brother fall under this woman’s spell, and he was utterly helpless to stop it. He hadn’t joined them in bed in the last three months, not since he’d caught Ally making out with a biker at Hell on Wheels. He’d overheard her telling the biker all about how she’d found two rich boys to fleece. He’d told Noah. They hadn’t spoken for weeks. “Can’t you see what she’s doing? Why the hell won’t you believe me? I heard her. She’s using us for money.”

  Noah’s face flushed. He was only a year younger, but he’d been so smart he’d managed to graduate in the same class as James. Noah had a brilliant mind, but a wickedly stubborn heart. “You’re mad because for once a woman loves me more than you.”

  And that was the goddamn heart of the matter. Ally was smart. She’d seen the weak spot in their relationship, and like the cancer she was, she’d zeroed in and started a festering sore between them. “Noah, I don’t care about her. I never really did. She was fun, but that was all she ever was to me.”

  Noah’s face went red, his shoulders squared. “Yeah, I get that. You just wanted to fuck her.”

  “Don’t you talk to me like that. How many women have we gotten between us? Hell, Noah, I can count on one damn hand how many times I’ve slept with a woman without you.
Why won’t you believe me?”

  His younger brother’s face was a mottled red as he scrubbed a hand through his scruffy hair. “She’s beautiful. She’s smart, and you can’t handle the fact that she only wants me.”

  “She only wants you because I turned her down. You think she didn’t try to pull this shit on me first? She came to me because she knew I’m going to inherit this ranch.” The land had been in the Glen family for three generations. Before his father had formally started a relationship, he’d made sure the Circle G wouldn’t pass to anyone but his son.

  Of course, he’d loved Noah as his own. He’d set up a trust for Noah, and Ally knew all about it. Noah had come into his trust two months before. And that was exactly the time Ally had decided she wanted to get married.

  “Fuck you, Jamie. She loves me. She only slept with you to get to me. I never told you that because I didn’t want to hurt you, but it’s the truth. I am sick of living in your shadow. Ally sees the real me.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? My shadow? Are you insane?” Had Noah forgotten their childhood?

  “You were the football star. You were the rodeo star. You were the one every girl wanted, and I went along for the ride.” Noah’s voice was low, as though he didn’t want anyone to know how jealous he was.

  But James had his own envies. “And every teacher we ever had wondered how you got all the brains in the family. I barely made Bs while you were a Merit Scholar. I didn’t get to go to college.”

  Their stepmother had gotten sick. James could remember the day he and Noah sat down and decided that one of them had to stay behind to run the ranch while their dads cared for the woman they both loved. It had been a no-brainer. Noah was brilliant. He’d always wanted to be a vet, and there was no doubt the Circle G could use a vet.

  Noah’s jaw tightened. He picked up the suitcase, locking it shut with a horrible finality. “That wasn’t my fault. And you never wanted to leave this ranch anyway.”

  “I never got the chance.” He’d had everything in place. He’d been ready to go to the University of Colorado with Noah. They had picked out a place to live.

  He’d been standing in the driveway as Noah had driven off.

  “Well, you got the ranch, and I get the girl. I would say we’re even.”

  “Not anywhere close, Noah.” James felt his blood pressure starting to rise. “We paid for your college. All of that money came straight out of ranch funds with the agreement that you would come back here and start a practice. Doc Harris is retiring next year. We won’t have a vet, much less one who can deal with large animals. You can’t walk out on us.”

  Noah’s face went a little white. “You’ll find another vet. Stef Talbot will import one if you get Max or Rye to ask him. They’ll need a vet, too.”

  “Everyone is waiting for you.” Everyone in Bliss had been thrilled when Noah had returned to do his internship with Doc Harris a year earlier than anyone had expected, but then that was Noah. He was a type A overachiever to his core.

  Noah’s face fell. “That’s not my problem. Damn it, I can’t stay here. I love her.”

  How was this happening? “She is using you. She wants your money.”

  “You don’t understand. She’s an actress. She needs to be in New York.”

  She was an actress all right. She had played them both to perfection. “And who’s paying for this trip?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not a trip. I believe in her. We’re going to live in New York while she builds her career. I can work anywhere.”

  “You’re going to leave your family over her?”

  “I love her,” Noah replied simply. “And I don’t have much of a family anymore. Not since Mom and Dad died.”

  “You still have a father.” How the hell was he going to tell his father that Noah was leaving? Hadn’t their father lost enough?

  Noah turned away. He looked out the window. Even from where James stood, he could see what Noah was looking at. This room had a glorious view of the ranch and the mountains. They would sit for hours as kids, looking out over the country. “I love your dad. He’s my dad, too, but you know as well as I do that Ally isn’t cut out for ranch life. You aren’t going to talk me out of this. You can make up all the crap you want about her, but I know the truth. She loves me, and we’re getting married. We’re going to Vegas before we head to New York.”

  “Don’t do this. Don’t leave. I need you here. I don’t think Dad is going to last more than a year, and the ranch is in trouble. Please stay.” He was ready to get down on his hands and knees if it meant keeping his brother away from Ally.

  “I’m sorry.” Noah brushed past him. “I love you, brother, but I have to do this.”

  He was left standing in the hall of the house where they’d grown up.

  “Guess he’s not going to listen to you.” A voice came from down the hall. It was soft and sweet and completely poisonous.

  James turned. Ally had been listening in. Most likely, she’d been laughing the whole time. “I swear to god, I will protect him from you if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Her lips curved up in a secret smile. Ally was gorgeous, but there was a coldness to her that no man would ever thaw. He could see that now. Ally stood there in her designer jeans and a tight sweater that showed off her perfect breasts. She leaned casually against the wall, as though she owned the place. Ally always looked comfortable, as though she belonged everywhere and could take you along for the ride. “He doesn’t want your protection, Jamie. He loves me. He’ll do anything for me. Part of that is because of you. He wants something you can’t have. That was the key to Noah. Once I realized you would never leave this ranch, I decided that Noah would suit me fine. And he was a breeze. Baby brother wants something of his own. So desperately. He wants to be the big man for once. He wants to be the winner. And don’t bother telling him any of this. He won’t believe you.”

  Unfortunately, she was right about that. “His trust fund won’t last forever.”

  She shrugged, staying out of James’s reach. “Then you can have him back in a couple of years. Bye, Jamie. It was good while it lasted. You know, a girl could get used to the whole ménage thing.”

  A few minutes later, he heard the car pull away. He was alone.

  He walked out and saddled up. The ranch didn’t care that his heart hurt. The ranch didn’t care that his rage threatened to explode out of his chest. The ranch just kept going.

  And the ranch was the only thing that mattered now.

  * * * *

  Noah’s heart was in his throat as he looked back at the home he’d grown up in. He stood in the circular drive in front of the only home he could really remember. His car was packed, waiting for him to drive away. How was he leaving this place? How was this happening? The conversation he’d just had with his brother sat in his gut, guilt churning inside him.

  Ally put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be okay. James always is.”

  His brother was the strong one. It was what he’d heard all his life. His brother was the golden boy, ranching coming easy to him. Noah struggled with it. He’d had to work three times as hard to do things half as well as Jamie.

  He was the boy. James was the man. If he stayed here, that was how it always would be.

  Of course a man would stay and honor his promises. That’s what his father would have said.

  Ally looked at him, her gorgeous eyes shining with tears. “Are you thinking about staying? Are you thinking about leaving me?”

  God, she was beautiful, and she needed him. No one ever truly needed him, not the way Ally did. Every woman they’d ever shared had wanted Jamie and taken him on because they were a packaged deal. If he let Ally go, he might be sentencing himself to a life where he was always the afterthought.

  Still, he hated the way he and Jamie had just parted. He couldn’t stand the thought that everyone in this town would think less of him. Was he making a terrible mistake?

  He’d grown up here. He love
d Bliss. Hell, he’d missed Bliss while he’d been in college. The whole time all he’d wanted to do was come home and start his life. Then it had all taken a turn when Ally had walked in. When he’d caught sight of her he’d known beyond a shadow of a doubt he’d met the most beautiful woman in the world.

  And she’d wanted him. Him.

  What if they could make a life here? He knew she had her dreams, but he had his, too.

  “Have you thought about the fact that I can make a good living here?” It wouldn’t be close to what he could make in a city, but the cost of living was low.

  A single tear caressed her cheek and she seemed to shrink back. “You are leaving me.”

  There was such panic in her voice that it made him reach out, to get his hands on her to reassure her. He couldn’t let her think for a second that he would leave her. She had serious abandonment issues.

  “No, I promised you that I would stay with you. I love you. I’m just saying I owe this town. We could stay around and I could repay that debt. I could work as a vet until Stef finds someone else and you could work in the rep theater, get a résumé going.”

  It could work for both of them. She was young and so beautiful it hurt to look at her. She could stay here for a few years and hone her craft, and they could leave when the time was right.

  “I can’t, Noah.” She backed away from him. “I’ve got a big audition in a couple of days. You know that.”

  He did. It was all she’d talked about. “I’ll go with you. I’ll fly us both in. First class. We can see what happens and make a decision from there.”

  “You don’t believe in me.”

  He sighed. “I believe in you, baby. I believe in you so much. You’re incredibly talented, but there are a lot of factors at play in every audition. Manhattan is expensive. Maybe we should stay here for a while and we can fly in and out until we’re sure this is what you want to do.”