One Night With a Cowboy (27 page)

B
ecca held the cell phone in one hand and struggled to hit the button on her key to
unlock her car with the other. Both tasks were harder than they should have been with
her fingers chilled to the bone as they were.

“So what are you doing for Valentine’s Day tomorrow?”

The better question was why did Emma sound so enthusiastic about this dumb holiday
they’d both be spending alone?

She groaned and slid behind the wheel. “I’ll be doing nothing, thank you. And thanks
so much for reminding me of that depressing fact.” She slammed the door and started
the engine, willing the heat to kick in soon.

“Hey, at least you have a boyfriend.”

“Yes, a boyfriend thousands of miles away in a war zone.” She rolled her eyes.

Having a boyfriend didn’t do her much good on a cold gray day like this when she would
really love having Tucker and his big, warm body here to snuggle up against. He couldn’t
even give her an exact date he’d be coming home so she could anticipate when she’d
have him back with her again.

“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter where he is. It still counts.”

Emma was right. Becca’s heart warmed just thinking about him. Tucker loved her, and
she loved him, and whenever the stupid army let him come home, they’d be together.
“You’re right. It does count. At least I’m not totally without a boyfriend on Valentine’s
Day.”

“Like me, you mean? Yeah. Thanks.”

“Just teasing you, Em.” She smiled.

“Mmm, hmm.” Emma didn’t sound convinced.

Becca didn’t worry her sister would stay mad for long. She’d sent flowers and chocolates
to be delivered to Emma’s house tomorrow to make up for the fact she wasn’t in New
York. If she had been, they could have drowned the sorrow of their Valentine’s Day
lonesomeness together.

She gripped the ice-cold steering wheel, knowing full well she’d be home just about
the time the car started to warm up. Next teaching position she applied for was going
to be in Florida. Or maybe Hawaii. That idea was sounding better by the day. Especially
today when she’d forgotten her gloves.

Funny how she’d remembered to order flowers for Emma, yet she couldn’t remember to
wear her damn gloves when she left the house. She’d been forgetting things a lot lately.
This sit-around-and-wait game, wondering when Tucker would finally be coming home,
was enough to make anyone a little scatterbrained.

“So what are you—” She’d been about to ask Emma what she had planned for tomorrow
when her driveway came into view. The sight of Tucker’s truck parked there had her
stopping mid-sentence and slamming on the brake. “Em, I gotta go.”

She hit the button to disconnect the call before she shoved the phone into her pocket.
Swinging in behind his truck, Becca parked so crooked the car was nearly sideways.
She didn’t care as she flung the transmission into park, turned the key to off, and
nearly choked herself trying to get out with her seat belt still latched.

She finally freed herself and opened the door.

Where was he? She’d expected him to be waiting in the truck, but it was empty. Becca
sprinted for her door. It opened just as she approached, and there stood Tucker, inside
her apartment and dangling her spare key between two fingers.

“I see you’re still hiding this under the plant. I can tell you one thing,
that’s
gonna change now I’m back.” He looked so good in his jeans and a long-sleeve shirt
with not even an inch of camouflage anywhere, it was enough to bring tears to her
eyes. It was really over. He was back.

“Oh, my God, you’re home.” She flung herself at him so hard, she probably would have
knocked over a smaller man.

He caught her easily, lifting her in his arms as he crashed his mouth against hers.
The apartment door was still open, and her coat was still on, but she didn’t care.
All she cared about was that he was back, safe and sound and kissing her again.

With her arms and legs both wrapped around him, she pulled away from the pleasure
of his lips to say, “God, I missed you.”

“I can pretty much guarantee I missed you more.” He kicked the door shut and carried
her toward the bedroom. “I gotta warn you, it’s been six months. First time’s gonna
be insanely fast and probably not very good.”

And she could pretty much guarantee the second time would be very slow and incredibly
good.

“That’s fine with me.” As if she could possibly care about that anyway, when he was
home safe and about to make love to her.

“Do you know how much I love you?” He dropped her onto the mattress.

“Nope. I think you have to show me.” Pulling off her coat, she tossed it to the side
and watched as he toed off his boots—cowboy boots,
not
combat boots.

The significance of that seemed enormous as she struggled to keep the tears at bay.
She didn’t do a very good job.

Tucker kneeled on the edge of the bed, still dressed. “What’s the matter, darlin’?”

“It’s okay. Happy tears.” She forced a smile as proof.

“Hmm. I suppose there are going to be more of those coming. At least I hope there
are.” Tucker grabbed her hand and pulled her upright until she was sitting on the
edge of the bed with her feet on the floor. He reached into his pocket and dropped
to one knee.

Realization dawned when he held the diamond ring in front of him. Her eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”

She had a feeling she knew the answer, but she was too shocked to be sure.

“Rebecca Hart, will you be my wife?” He took her left hand and slid the ring onto
her fourth finger. It was a tad big, but it would do for now.

Becca’s throat felt too tight for her to even try to speak, not that she would have
been able to through the tears that flowed freely now. She managed a nod and what
sounded more like a squeak than any actual word in the English language, before she
grabbed and kissed him.

He sank his hand beneath her hair and cradled the back of her head as he angled his.
His tongue plunged into her mouth. His weight pressed her to the mattress. She could
feel the outline of his erection crushed between them.

Tucker pulled back just enough to ask, “So that’s a yes?”

“Yes.” She laughed through the tears.

“Good.”

Somehow, reality crept in through her joy. “But what about the university’s non-fraternization
rules?”

He smiled. “They don’t count for married couples. I already asked.”

“You asked?”

“Mmm, hmm.” Tucker’s attention seemed to be wavering as he stared at her lips and
pressed his pelvis harder against her. “Well actually, Logan asked your boss for me.”

She braced one hand against Tucker’s chest and held him back as he leaned toward her
lips. “Is that why you’re marrying me? So we both won’t lose our jobs?”

He pulled back and frowned. “You are a crazy woman, do you know that? I don’t want
to marry you because of a job. I want to marry you because I don’t want to spend another
minute of my life without you. Afghanistan proved that to me. I was going to give
up my billet at OSU and hope to get recruiting duty locally so we could be together—together
and
married. But then I thought, hell, maybe being married changed the rules. Turns out,
it does.”

“Wow.” It was a lot to absorb in a short amount of time.

He brushed one finger down her cheek. “You okay now?”

She flicked the remainder of a tear away, and the sparkle of the diamond caught her
eye. “Yes, very okay.”

“Good.” He ran both palms down her sides and groaned. His eyes narrowed. “Can we get
naked now?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.

Her cell phone rang in her pocket, where it had lived steadily since November when
Tucker had told her to keep her phone nearby in case he could call.

“Give me.” He held out his hand and raised a brow.

She wiggled the phone out of her pants and handed it to him.

Tucker glanced at it and then hit the button. “Hello, Emma . . . Yes, I’m back and
I’m about to ravish your sister. It’s probably gonna take all night, so don’t call
her. She’ll call you. Oh, one more thing. We’re getting married. Talk to you soon.
Bye.”

She heard Emma’s squeals as Tucker disconnected the call and then went another step
and pushed the power button, shutting the phone completely off. He glanced back at
her as he tossed it onto the nightstand. “Thought I’d throw her a bone and give her
the good news.”

Becca laughed. “You’re probably going to drive her completely insane, telling her
that and then shutting off the phone.”

“She’ll get over it.” He shrugged and crawled back over her body until he hovered
above her. “Now where were we?”

At the start of a brand-new, wonderful life together. “About to get naked, I think.”

Tucker leaned lower. “Oh, right.”

 

“T
his’ll be your first time meeting Bec’s sister, won’t it?”

Logan dipped his head in a nod. “Yes, sir. It sure will be.”

“I’m not worried about Emma fitting in. Everyone loves her. It’s the rest of the relatives
I’m concerned about.” Becca screwed up her face into a scowl. “My father, Mr. Punctuality,
is beside himself they’re not here an hour early and it sounded like my mother was
already well into her sherry. She bought a bottle at the duty-free shop at the airport.”

“Sounds like a hell of a start to a party.” Jace walked through the door and scooped
Becca into a hug that lifted her feet right off the ground. “Hey there, darlin’. You
look great, as usual.”

Speak of the devil . . . Jace gave Becca a kiss and set her on the ground.

Becca laughed. “Save some of those compliments for later when my relatives from New
York are here and I’m tearing my hair out. I may need to hear them.”

“You got it. And just send me the signal and I’ll sneak you some booze too, if you
want it.” Jace winked at her and slid a flask out of his pocket.

“I’ll keep that in mind. A visit with my parents might require some alcohol.” Becca
glanced at Tuck. “I’m going to go see if your mom needs any help in the kitchen.”

“Sounds good, baby.” Tuck nodded.

Jace watched Becca leave as he walked over to Tuck. He stuck out one arm to shake
the groom’s hand. “Hey, man. How you holding up? I got the truck filled up with Diesel
and coolers full of ice-cold beer. It’s parked right outside, just in case. You ready
to bolt yet?”

Logan shook his head. Typical Jace. As changeable as the wind. Sucking up to the bride
with one breath, and offering to help the groom escape with the other.

Tuck’s gaze cut to the doorway Becca had left through before he answered, “Not at
all. I’m loving every minute of it. Nothing more fun than planning a big ol’ wedding.
You want a beer? I’m getting myself another one.”

Logan glanced at his own bottle. He wasn’t even half way done with his own beer yet
but Tuck’s was empty. Tuck might pretend he was calm, cool and collected about the
wedding and all it entailed, but the empty bottle told another story.

Out of town relatives. Nervous brides. Rentals. Last minute errands. Saying
I do
for the rest of your life . . . Yup, Logan sure was happy he’d be on the ushers’
side of the altar rather than directly in the line of fire like the groom.

“Definite yes on the beer.” Jace answered Tuck and turned to extend a hand toward
Logan. “Lieutenant Colonel Hunt, sir. What’s the status of the Oklahoma State ROTC
program?”

Logan laughed as Jace lowered his tone of voice and spoke more like a battalion commander
than a bull rider. “A little slow right now since we’re between semesters for the
summer, but thanks for asking. How you been, Jace?”

“Good. Rodeoing quite a bit now that it’s summer. Dragging Tuck with me when I can
convince him to ride.”

“Just don’t break him, please. Tuck may be a bull rider part time, but full time he’s
one of my soldiers, and one of my department’s best military science instructors.
I need him with two good working legs for when we go back to working out with the
cadets. Got it?”

“Sure thing. Let’s just hope Becca doesn’t break him during the honeymoon.” Jace waggled
his eyebrows. “As for rodeo, he usually ends up getting his ribs broken when he wrecks,
not his legs, so we’re good. Broke ribs hurt like a son of a bitch, but he can still
run with ’em.”

Jace grinned and accepted the beer Tuck handed him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,
Jace. And I only broke my ribs once or twice, thank you very much.”

“Once or twice, my sweet ass. You can’t seem to keep yourself out from under hoof.
You’re too tall for a bull rider, if you ask me. You need to be small and quick like
me. You should have stuck with team roping.”

Watching the two men bicker, Logan sipped his beer and stayed out of the fray. He
wasn’t about to enter that debate. Bull riders were crazy.

Sure, Logan had joined the Army knowing there’d be times during his career he was
going to be up against an enemy who wanted him dead, but to get on the back of a bucking
bull knowing you were going to be thrown in the dirt every damn time? Nope. Not for
him.

While Jace and Tuck continued to banter—something about which bull Jace drew last
time he rode—motion out in the driveway caught Logan’s eye. He turned to watch through
the window as a hot as hell woman in a short, black dress reached one long, bare leg
out of the car. She stepped out of the open passenger door and even doing nothing
but standing in the driveway, she was sexy enough to make a man take notice. Her blond
hair and resemblance to Becca told him this must be her sister Emma.

Logan glanced at Tuck and wondered how bad of a friend he was that Tuck’s soon to
be sister-in-law was giving him a hard-on. Just from his thinking about what the curves
that dress accentuated so nicely would feel like beneath his touch.

Imagine if he ever actually got his hands on her?

An older woman and man got out of the front doors of the sedan and joined the blonde.
They had to be Tuck’s new in-laws. Their presence should have diminished Logan’s amorous
fantasies about Emma. It didn’t. It seemed Emma had captured his attention and she
wasn’t letting go. He managed to block her parents right out as he wondered what her
hair would feel like against his cheek while he ran his tongue down her throat.

“Hey, Tuck. It looks like Emma’s here.” Jace came to stand next to Logan at the window.
He let out a slow whistle. “Boy oh boy, is she looking good.”

The tone of Jace’s voice made Logan turn to get a good look at him. The man had a
knowing expression on his face that didn’t sit well at all. “You know her?”

“Ohhh, yeah.” Jace dragged the two short words out to be obscenely long. What the
hell was that about? Logan’s brows rose. He turned to glance at Tuck.

“Emma was here with Becca the first time she came to Oklahoma for the job interview
at OSU. You know, the night she and I met at the rodeo,” Tuck had answered without
Logan having to ask, but that sure as hell didn’t explain the rest. Such as why Jace
was acting as if he and Emma had done more than just meet that night?

Those were details Logan was more than interested in having. “Yeah, I remember you
telling me about the rodeo.”

But not that Jace and Becca’s hot sister from New York had had a little one night
rodeo of their own.

Of course, Jace liked to exaggerate. It didn’t matter if it was about conquering a
bull or a woman. Logan had known the man for years through Tuck. Since the two had
ridden on the rodeo circuit together before Tuck had enlisted in the Army. If nothing
else, he knew Jace could throw the shit with the best of them. It was very possible
nothing at all had happened between Jace and Emma, except in Jace’s own overactive
imagination.

He decided to run with that theory and see how things progressed. It was far better
than the alternative—assuming Jace had a prior claim and having to back off. A lot
could happen over a short period of time. Look at how one night between Tuck and Becca
had changed both of their lives. Logan had an entire weekend and a wedding reception
to work with. There’d be sentimental speeches and tears, music and a fully stocked
bar. Everything to put the partygoers—and Emma—in the mood for romance.

Not to mention Logan had Tuck on his side, pulling for him, putting in a good word.
At least Tuck had better be on his side. Jace was Tuck’s friend, yes, but Logan was
like a brother. Not to mention his boss and a superior officer. If it came right down
to it, Logan would pull rank. Hell, he could order Tuck to put in a good word for
him with Emma or else.

When it involved leggy blondes with curves like Emma’s, a man had to bend the rules
a little sometimes.