Hotblooded (28 page)

But he did prefer things just a bit more muted than Dixie. His gaze hung up on Brooke.

His wife.

They’d only waited four months to get married and he was still getting used to the term. Every time he heard it his chest and throat felt tight. He hoped that never changed.

She was still dressed in her wedding gown and he still wore his tux. Her dress was simple and elegant—sleeveless with a deep V in front and an even deeper V in back. It was a shimmery smooth silk that reminded him of the black dress he’d bought her in Amarillo. It hung just to her knees, showed a lot of skin and there wasn’t a button or white jacket in sight. And her hair was down.

The best part, though, was that the dress was a pale rose color. So pale you had to look close to be sure, but it was there.

“Actually I was talking about her.” David gestured with his glass to Brooke’s maid of honor.

Carla was scolding one of her boys.

Jack swung back to face his brother. “Yeah?”

David grinned. “She handles those boys like a pro. The perfect amount of praise with the discipline. They know they have boundaries but that they’re loved. Impressive. And as a single mom, often tough to do. I’m intrigued.”

Jack chuckled. “I never realized what turns a shrink on.”

David shrugged. “Well, she’s got a great ass too.”

Jack laughed outright at that. He started to tell David that was how things had started between him and Brooke but their mother approached just then.

She dropped into the chair next to him and kicked her heels off with a sigh. “I just had the strangest conversation with Brooke’s stepfather.”

Jack liked Phillip Kotes. Even if he had cheated on his wife and had almost ruined the town Jack loved, Phillip seemed to genuinely love Dixie and it was clear he wanted Brooke to like him.

Jack figured he and Phillip had a few things in common as two men who’d fallen hard for Donovan women—in spite of the complications it seemed to cause. “What did he say?”

“Apparently he offered Brooke a huge amount of money for the Girls Home,” Ann said.

Brooke had decided to turn her mom’s pink house into a second location for the Mary Elizabeth Girls Home. There were already six girls planning to move in at the end of the month. Brooke and Jack would provide the medical care along with their work at the busy clinic in town and they would be hiring locally for housekeeping, cooking, counseling and the other needs.

“But she turned the money down?” he guessed.

“Yes,” his mother answered, clearly shocked. “So he asked if he could give
me
the money and then have me give it to her but not tell her who it was really from.”

“
No
,” Jack and David said at the same time, emphatically.

Ann’s eyes widened. “Okay.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Jack said. He was getting good at talking Brooke into things. It was still a knee-jerk reaction to not want to take help, especially money, from men. But she had to ignore that Phillip was sleeping with her mother. This money had nothing to do with that. It was about the girls they could help. She’d see that eventually.

Just as she was coming to believe that plenty of people in town liked and trusted her. She and Amanda Cartwright would never be friends, and Walter Worthington would never set foot in the clinic, but they were both a lot slower to voice their opinions about the woman who was quickly becoming a Honey Creek favorite.

Ann leaned in, looking at her oldest son closely. “I’ve never seen you this happy,” she said honestly.

He found Brooke through the crowd and caught her watching him with a smile.

“Brooke’s awesome, Jack,” David agreed. “I’m really glad you came to Honey Creek.”

Jack looked at his brother trying to decide if he should thank him or slug him.

“You’re not worried about my mental stability anymore?”

David finished off his champagne. “Oh sure I am. I worry about everyone’s mental stability. And I’m thankful daily that we’re all a little crazy or I’d be out of a job.”

“You don’t think staying with Brooke and Honey Creek is bad for me?”

David shook his head. “Not anymore. Not since
you
realized they’re not bad for you.”

Jack stared at his brother. “I never thought they were bad for me.”

“Yes, you did,” David said, his eyes on Carla as she danced with Billy Perkins. “You told yourself you were only here to be a hero because you were afraid that’s all she really needed or wanted from you.”

Jack frowned. “
You
said I just wanted to be a hero.”

“I was putting words to your thoughts and feeling so you could better face them and deal with them,” David said. “And once they were out you could realize that there was a lot more going on.”

Jack looked at his mother who just shrugged and took a drink of her champagne. His brother was full of shit.

“I suppose you expect me to thank you then,” Jack finally said.

“Seeing you so happy is thanks enough,” David returned with a grin. He stretched to his feet. “Now I believe I’m going to dance with a hot Honey Creek girl.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Ann said, watching David cut in on Billy Perkins—and Carla let him. “You should do it too.”

“You can read my mind almost as well as David can.” Jack got to his feet.

Ann laughed. “Sure. It takes a trained professional to see how much you want to be with your wife.”

He bent and kissed his mom’s cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” She put her hand on his cheek. “You deserve all of this, you know.”

He straightened, his heart full. “I do,” he agreed.

A minute later he took Brooke’s hand. “’Scuse us, Dixie,” he said.

His new mother-in-law smiled at him and he absolutely knew why she’d caught Walter Worthington’s eye.

“About time you come get her.” Dixie smiled at her daughter.

“You don’t mind then?” He pulled Brooke up against his side.

It didn’t matter if she minded, but he wanted to be polite.

“Mind?” Dixie laughed. “You’re not supposed to spend your wedding night with your mom.” She winked at him.

Phillip arrived at her side just then and she snuggled up against him. She might have seduced him out of revenge, but it was clear she’d married him for more.

Jack folded Brooke into his arms on the dance floor.

She grinned up at him. “I can’t believe how many people came.”

Most of the town had turned out for the wedding. “They love you.”

“And
you
,” she said with an eye roll.

“Well, sure, Thelma’s here for me, but the rest are for you.” He squeezed her butt as she laughed.

“Oh, by the way,” she said as she wiggled closer. “Dixie gave me lingerie as a wedding present.”

His eyes widened. Lingerie from Dixie? He could only imagine what it looked like. And he suddenly was imagining just that.

“And…they’re pink,” she added.

He groaned. Of course they were. “My new favorite color.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

“Oh?” He wondered if he dared kiss her. It would turn into a lot more very quickly and they were technically in public with both of their mothers watching—one of whom would care.

“Yeah. Because I think the baby’s going to be a girl.”

“What bab…” He pulled back to look down at her.

She had that mischievous smile he loved on her face.

The truth sank in quickly. “A baby girl, huh?” That sounded just about perfect.

“I have a feeling,” she said with a nod.

Gathering her close and tucking her head under his chin, Jack sighed happily. Little girls always thought their dads were superheroes, didn’t they?

“You ready for this?” Brooke asked.

“Nope. But I haven’t been ready for most of what’s happened here in Honey Creek.”

She chuckled. “Me either.”

It was going to be great.

About the Author

Erin Nicholas has been reading and writing romantic fiction since her mother gave her a romance novel in high school and she discovered happily-ever-after suddenly went a little beyond glass slippers and fairy godmothers! She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will
never
read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).

For more information about Erin and her books, visit:

www.ErinNicholas.com

www.ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/ErinNicholas

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ErinNicholas

Look for these titles by Erin Nicholas

Now Available:

No Matter What

Anything You Want

The Bradfords

Just Right

Just Like That

Just My Type

Coming Soon:

Everything You’ve Got

Suppose the solution to all your problems is the one thing you never wanted…

Anything You Want

© 2011 Erin Nicholas

It figures the one time Sabrina Cassidy is determined to do the responsible thing, karma kicks in. After four years on the road chasing her musical dream, she’s stranded six hours from home with no money, a ruined credit history—and morning sickness.

Out of options, she swallows her legendary independent streak and calls the only person who won’t hang up on her. Luke, the man she left behind.

Marc Sterling’s first instinct is to protect his business partner and best friend from another broken heart. That means letting her think she’s talking to Luke, then finding a way to send her in the opposite direction.

When he shows up at her hotel room, there’s something in the air beside their customary insults. Sure, her rebellious attitude, smart mouth—and purple panties—still drive him crazy, but now it’s a different kind of crazy. The kind that has him driving her home instead of to the nearest airport.

And when Luke offers to solve all her problems if she’ll only say “I do”, Marc realizes he’s just crazy enough—about her—to forget whose heart he wanted to protect.

Warning: Contains two people who don’t like each other very much, a Toyota that can’t quite handle the road trip home, and a spontaneous proposal. Or two. Or three. And foreplay with—what else—pie filling.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Anything You Want:

Sabrina was sound asleep on one of the beds with her back to him when Marc opened the motel room door five hours and forty-eight minutes later.

He didn’t know what he’d expected. In fact, he’d purposefully spent most of the trip thinking about anything but the actual reason for his long drive. He’d mentally played with some recipes, listened to talk radio, made some business calls. But it almost felt like he’d been worried about her.

And that irritated him.

He jerked the drapes open, spilling light into the room. That didn’t wake her.

He cleared his throat, then coughed, then coughed louder. She didn’t even turn.

But as the door met the frame in an angry
smack
, she sat straight up in bed, the sheet clutched to her chin, eyes wide. She found him standing near the door and sucked in a deep breath.

“Let’s go, Seattle. I don’t have all day.”

She opened her mouth to scream, then she narrowed her eyes and peered at him. “
Marc
?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I told you on the phone I was on my way.” He strode toward the bedside lamp and switched it on.

“I thought I was talking to Luke.” She scowled at him even as she blinked in the sudden brightly lit room. “I asked for Luke.”

“He was busy.”

“And you didn’t tell him?”

He slammed his hands down on his hips. “No, I didn’t tell him that you called, that you were in trouble, or that you needed him. Because this shit is not going to start again. I mean it.”

“And you decided to drive six hours to tell me that?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I did. Among other things. And you’re welcome,” he said, towering over where she sat with her back pressed against the headboard of the bed.

“For what? The terror that ripped through me as a man unexpectedly charged into my motel room? Yeah, you bet. Thanks.”

“And am I right to assume that you don’t have pepper spray or self-defense skills or any other way of protecting yourself if I actually was someone who was here to hurt you?”

“Other than the butcher knife under my pillow, no.”

Marc glared at her. “You didn’t have to sell all your butcher knives so that you could get across Wyoming before becoming stranded in Dirty Gulch?”

“Muddy Gap.”

“Whatever.”

“You don’t believe me about selling things so I could have money to come home?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m here now so I don’t care.” Why he was being so mean he couldn’t say. Maybe because he’d held back when she’d first called. He’d held back because down in some deep, stupid part of him, he’d been worried about her. She was over three hundred miles away, stranded with no car or money, no friend or even acquaintance nearby, and he’d been worried about her.

Now, however, he was here with her, could see for himself that she was fine, and was here to be sure she stayed fine. There was no need to hold his frustration and bitterness and anger back anymore.

Sabrina swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pulled the sheet tighter around her. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, by the way,” she said, clearly huffy. “So, not that it’s any of your business, but the money issue is new. And I didn’t even intend to call
you
. I called Luke if you remember. You could have delivered a message. You took it upon yourself to come.”

“You had to know that there was no way in hell I was letting him come. Real sorry to foil your plan.”

She snorted. “You’ve never been sorry about anything having to do with me in your life. What plan?”

“The plan to get Luke out here, hundreds of miles from home, feeling sorry for you, coming to your rescue.”