Texas Fandango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 3 (13 page)

The damn bright smile of his returned.

“Eek,” she said, covering her eyes. “Tone down that smile. You’re blinding me.”

Instead, he laughed. “First, no, we did not have sex. Feel better?”

She rubbed her temples. “I’m not sure. Go on. What else happened?”

He sprawled across the bed and rested his head in the palm of his hand. “You don’t remember anything?”

She slowly—and gently—shook her head. She didn’t like the mischievous grin that spread across his mouth.

“Well, let’s see. You drank wine…a lot of wine.”

She cringed.

“Then you decided to drive home drunk.”

“Great.”
Not one of her better ideas.

“And you threw up a lot of wine.”

She cringed again.

“And you told me that you loved me.”

This time, she squeezed her eyes together in sheer humiliation. “I didn’t.”

He touched her arm and she met his gaze. “You did.”

She shifted on the mattress, ready to make her run of embarrassment to the bathroom, her brilliant plan being to hide until he left. Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d seen her drunk and probably vomiting up her guts? Now she had to face him after she’d declared her love for him while she was totally wasted?

He tightened his fingers around her wrist. “Don’t leave.”

She hung her head. “I do remember the ride home. Thank you for that. You don’t have to stay. I’m fine.”

He released her wrist as though an electrical shock had hit him. “Sometimes, Kathryn Colleen Montgomery, you drive me crazy. Are you or are you not in love with me?”

“You said I looked like a slut. You hurt my feelings.” Turning her head, she looked away from him, still mortified by his comments. An unwelcomed tear leaked down her cheek.

“I didn’t say you looked like a slut.” He sighed. “But I know I gave you the wrong impression when I wrapped you in that towel. We talked about this last night, but I’m thinking that’s another piece of your missing memory.” He put one finger under her chin and turned her face toward him. “I am so sorry. I was, am, a total ass. When I saw you in that suit, I wanted to kill every man there who’d seen you.” He moved across the bed until he was sitting beside her. “I admit it. I went crazy when I saw you with all those guys in the pool.” He wiped her tears away with his thumb. “Don’t cry. Texas women don’t cry.”

She sniffed. “We were just playing water polo.”

“One of them picked you up and swung you around.”

A smile twitched at her lips. He’d been jealous of Don Atkins. That revelation made her giddy with happiness. “That was Sally Atkins’s husband, you ass.”

He smiled and put his forehead against hers. “I didn’t care. I didn’t—and don’t—want anyone to touch you but me.”

“Explain exactly what you are saying. Use small words and short sentences.”

He laughed, remembering those were his exact words to her about what she wanted from their trip to the Sand Castle Resort.

“I. Love. You.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Is that clear?”

“And?”

“And I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it.”

“And?”

“And what? What am I missing?”

“Don’t you want to know how I feel?”

He got a self-satisfied look. “Don’t have to ask. You love me,” he sang out of tune. “You really love me.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Oh heaven help me.” She looked at him and shook her head with a smile. “I do love you. I love you more than I realized was possible.”

“I know exactly what you mean. I love you. I’m crazy about you.” He pulled her into his arms. “Marry me,” he whispered. “Marry me quick before you come to your senses.”

She chuckled. “Or before I get sober?”

“That too.”

She pulled back and looked into his shining eyes. “I love you, Drake. I think I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”

“I love you too. I’ve waited my whole life for you. There’ve been other women, you know that, but none of them meant to me what you do. Everything up to now has been practice.”

Snuggling next to him, she sighed. “Remind me to write them thank you notes.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’d love to read those notes.”

They lay wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Drake?”

“Hmm?”

“Did Travis tell you to stay away from me?”

He pulled back until their gazes met. “He did. How did you know?”

“Because when I was about seventeen or so, he saw me mooning over you one day. He told me that you had more women at college than any guy he knew, and even though you were his best friend, I was to never ever go out with you. And if he caught me on a date with you, he’d make sure I was sent to an all-girls college.”

Drake laughed. “No kidding. He told me all the Montgomery women were off-limits to me. Of course, he rescinded that when Olivia needed me, but I suspect his hands-off order is still in effect for you.”

“Travis is going to kill you, isn’t he?”

Drake chuckled. “Yeah, probably so.” He pulled her snuggly against him. “Doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but you. He’ll get over it when I’m his cousin-in-law.” He stiffened and pulled away.

“What’s wrong?”

“You never answered me.”

“About what?”

“Marrying me? Remember?”

KC pretended to think about it. She frowned. She rubbed her chin with one finger. She let out a couple of loud and heavy sighs. Then she smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him. He tasted like coffee with cream and sugar. He tasted like her future.

“I love you so very much.”

“I’m counting on that.” He kissed her. “I need you, KC. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning. I want a family with you.”

His words brought a fresh round of tears, but these were tears of joy.

“Oh, Drake. You silly man. Of course I’ll marry you. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Just name a day.”

“New Year’s Eve. At midnight. We’ll start the new year as husband and wife.”

“I can’t think of a better beginning to the new year.”

He rolled on top of her. “What would you think about a little pre-honeymoon practice?”

She giggled. “Well, they say practice makes perfect.”

He kissed her and her heart sighed. Her soul had found its mate.

About the Author

Cynthia D’Alba was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, she’s thrilled to be making her home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. When she’s not reading or writing or plotting, she’s doorman for her two dogs, cook, housekeeper and chief bottle washer for her husband and slave to a noisy messy parrot. She loves to chat online with friends and fans. You can find her most days at
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www.everybodyneedsalittleromance.com
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Look for these titles by Cynthia D’Alba

Now Available:

Texas Montgomery Mavericks

Texas Two Step

Texas Tango

Their love never died, but her secrets could break his trust beyond repair.

Texas Two Step

© 2012 Cynthia D’Alba

Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1

After six years and too much self-recrimination, rancher Mitch Landry is ready to admit he was wrong. He’d loved Olivia Montgomery but commitment wasn’t high on his list back then. That was his first mistake. He’s just divorced his second, and he’s set to do whatever it takes to convince Olivia to give him another try.

Through hard work, determination and more than a few tears, Olivia survived the break-up with Mitch. She’s rebuilt her life around her business and the son she loves more than life itself. She’s not proud of the mistakes she’s made—particularly the secrets she’s kept—but when life hands you manure, you use it to make something better of yourself…lest you get stuck in it.

At a hot, muggy Dallas wedding, they reconnect. Olivia’s first instinct is to play it cool, but after one devastating kiss things flare out of control, real fast. Maybe a quick roll in the hay will get him out of her system once and for all. Funny thing about hay though, once it’s tangled in your hair, getting it out risks revealing things that were never meant to see the light of day.

Warning: Contains hot sex, a vindictive ex-wife and hot chocolate-chip cookies.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Texas Two Step:

He kissed her and the world stopped revolving. She swayed into him. Ran her fingers into his thick, wavy hair. Stroked his tongue with hers. Tasted the champagne inside of his mouth. Sucked gently on his tongue. Soaked him up like an arid desert in an unexpected rainstorm.

Olivia could have blamed the dim lights, or the romantic setting, or even Mitch’s raw animal magnetism for her response to his kiss. Instead, she admitted she wanted this night, this man, his touch, his kiss. All of her fantasies started this way.

Could reality be as good as her imagination?

What would it be like to be with him again? Make love with him again?

There was curiosity, but that wasn’t what was driving her response to his kiss. Desire ran rampant through her veins. A soul-deep lust consumed her.

Their love story was history, so she’d waste no time planning a future that would never come. She’d take what he offered, take what she wanted. Here and now, not a future. Tonight was all there was. She’d not walk away from his arms until she’d gotten what she needed.

Mitch’s mouth scorched her lips as he took her mouth with a rough passion that left no doubt of his intentions. He pulled the pins holding her chignon and threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head in place as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.

Returning his kiss with a fervor matching his, she allowed the all-consuming yearning to fill her. The desire to touch him, be close to him, make love with him overwhelmed her.

She flattened her hands against his chest. His heat seared through the shirt’s material and burned into her flesh. She stroked hard muscles sculpted from years of physical labor. His nipples stiffened to her caress. The soft cotton of his shirt teased the nerve endings in her palms.

He leaned his huge body over her and cupped her breast in his work-roughened hand. He squeezed and flicked her now distended nipple.

Ripples of sexual longing echoed through her. She moaned into his mouth and, arching her back, pressed her breast firmly into his palm, wordlessly begging for more.

Mitch gave her what she wanted, fondling and stroking her breasts until she wanted to rip her clothes off. She groaned, burning with a frantic desperation to feel skin against skin.

Olivia slipped the buttons on his shirt through the holes with ease. She separated the shirt’s edges until she could feel the crinkle of his chest hair and the direct hot flesh of his chest beneath her hands.

The tantalizing scent of Mitch filled her nose. She’d probably smelled the same cologne on other men, but the cologne’s interaction with Mitch’s body chemistry produced a bouquet unlike any other on Earth. She lowered her head to his chest, first kissing then flicking her tongue on his turgid nipple before wrapping her lips around it. His skin was a dichotomy. Sweet and salty. Dangerous and comforting. Past and present.

There’d be no turning back for her now. She’d had a sample of her addiction, and she had to have more.

When she sucked his nipple between her lips, he groaned and slid his hand under the hem of her dress. Her abdominal muscles danced and jerked when his thick fingers touched her inner thigh.

He stroked fingers along the inside of her thigh, the silk of her stockings tickling and enflaming her flesh at the same time. “Your silk stockings drive me wild,” he said, nibbling along her chin. “Your skin was always silky and smooth. I love to touch you. I’ve always loved to touch you. I loved the way you moaned and twisted at my touch. The way your eyes would glaze over when I stroked you.” His hand moved higher, stopping at the top of the stocking. “But tonight, I want—no, need—to see you in these stockings. These stockings, my necklace and nothing else.” His voice was coarse and guttural and harsh.

Olivia quivered at his words. Emotional fires she’d suppressed since finding out she was pregnant with Adam flared. She’d believed them stomped out and dead. She’d been wrong. She was dry tinder to his lit match.

He stood, took her hand, pulled her to standing.

Her legs were weak and rubbery, threatening to collapse under his relentless assault.

Gazing intensely into her eyes, he said, “I want you. I want to be deep inside you. If you want to stop, say it now, because in a minute I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”